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It was a black Porsche

Tanner had brought along a pair of night vision binoculars Now, as the car stopped short of the pasture gate, he focused them on the s to make a positive ID of the driver No surprise there Even in silhouette there was nochin

Tanner whispered a string of curses Why hadn’t he suspected Garn all along? Ferg’s son had an insider’s knowledge of the ranch and its cattle He would kno to open the pasture gates And it was no secret that the young ’s prize steers would be like a gaame to end

A larger vehicle—a truck pulling a stock trailer—ruhts off Garn cliht and shone it on the lock while he worked the co the truck to drive into the pasture The two men who climbed out of the truck selected three steers and herded them up a ramp, into the back of the trailer The tieneral description of the rig

One man locked the trailer and climbed into the driver’s seat of the truck The other ht to peer inside and check the contents, then nodded his acceptance

With the truck and trailer back on the gravel road, Garn swung the gate shut, closed the padlock, and used a handkerchief to wipe it clean of prints Then he tossed the envelope into the Porsche, clihts in the direction of the ranch house

And that was that

Once Garn was safely out of sight, Tanner stood, stretched his legs, put away the binoculars, and hiked back to where he’d left the pickup

From the bunkhouse he would call the dispatcher at TSCRA headquarters and have them put out an APB on the truck and trailer With any luck at all, the cattle buyers would be picked up within the hour

The real question hat to do about Garn, whose only cri in the theft of his own faes? That question would have to wait until tomorrow

In the bunkhouse, Tanner made the call to headquarters His job was done for now, but he had one duty left He wouldn’t go to sleep until he’d ht

He went back outside, then cli the west border of the ranch to the creek Switching off the headlights, he parked in the trees and walked to where he could see the trailer, dark and peaceful in the ht

He didn’t want to disturb her sleep But as theswept over him, a hard reality struck Now that he’d solved the mystery of the stolen cattle, his time here, with her, would be over

Toood-bye After that, he could be transferred anywhere in the region Or o back to Wyo and help his brother on the ranch Either choice would iven the nature of ti her for the last time From now on, it would be up to Bull and Jasper to look after her and make sure she was safe