The Lone Rancher - By Carol Finch Page 0,73
owned the place. He rested his oversize head on his oversize paws.
“There, you see? Dog has made himself at home already.”
“The answer is still no. Get your own wife and dog,” Burnett said. “I’m not sharing either one.”
Quin sighed in frustration and resumed his seat at the table. “Thanks for nothing, Burnett.”
“I’m here to track and scout, Cahill. That’s all the help you get,” he said, then grinned before he dived into the tasty pancakes.
Amazed and impressed, Adrianna watched Lucas and Quin move methodically around the site where the dead man had collapsed. They expanded the perimeters, looking for footprints and evidence of the three outlaws that had been at the scene.
Lucas squatted down on his haunches, his midnight-black eyes focused on the set of horse prints that were barely visible in the loose rock. “Someone wiped the area clean,” he concluded. “Except for this overlooked partial print.”
“The same way the wagon wreck site might have been wiped clean, so as not to arouse suspicion,” Quin murmured contemplatively. He picked up a broken branch that was thick with leaves. “This is likely the makeshift broom they used.”
When Dog appeared on the rocky ledge above, and then barked, the threesome hiked uphill to see another boot print they had overlooked.
“I wonder if this thug was the gang’s lookout,” Quin mused aloud. “He had the best view of the area from here.”
Lucas nodded his raven head. “He was probably the sharpshooter, in case you caused more trouble than anticipated.”
Adrianna shivered, unnerved by the possibility that Cahill might have been gunned down if he had been able to identify his assailant.
“We’ll follow the sparse tracks to see if all three lead to town or to a nearby ranch,” Lucas suggested as he sidestepped downhill. “These outlaws are holed up somewhere.”
Adrianna pulled the watch from her pocket to check the time. “Blast it, I need to leave. I promised to be back before noon.”
She glanced at Quin, whose closed, controlled expression revealed none of his feelings. Adrianna tried her best to mimic his expression. “Thank you for helping us, Lucas,” she said when he halted beside her. She pushed up on tiptoe to press a kiss to his bronzed cheek.
“You’re welcome, but we’re a long way from identifying or locating these outlaws,” Lucas reminded her.
“If we can prove Cahill was a victim, not the shooter, we will be moving in the right direction.” She zigzagged around the boulders to reach her horse. “Cahill doesn’t look good in jail. The iron bars clash with his complexion.”
Leaving both men chuckling, she trotted Buckshot through the trees and across the meadow to reach the house. As expected, Bea, Butler and Elda waited beside the loaded buggy. Butler had already tossed Adrianna’s carpetbag beneath the seat and he was ready to roll.
“Find anything useful?” Butler asked as he boosted Bea and Elda onto the two-seated carriage.
“Afraid we didn’t find much,” Adrianna grumbled. “Lucas and Cahill are trying to pick up a trail leading away from the site, but most of the area was brushed clean.”
“Confounded thugs were thorough,” Bea muttered as she settled her calico skirts around her. “Who would have thought you could expect exceptional housecleaning skills from a band of murdering thieves?”
Adrianna thought about that for a long moment. The more she contemplated, the more she believed the men involved in the murder had also been on hand to remove evidence and tracks from the wagon wreck that killed Quin’s parents. There were several similarities. Maybe this wasn’t just a devious attempt to extort money from Cahill as she first thought.
She frowned, befuddled. So why had the bandits decided to extort money and bring up incriminating information two years after the fact? Or had one gang member taken it upon himself to contact Cahill. Maybe his cohorts discovered his plot to make extra money for himself and disposed of him.
Adrianna scowled, frustrated with the chaos Cahill faced. She wanted answers, just as Cahill did. Someone around here had to know something. At least one of the three other men had to have seen what happened to the dead man. And what, if anything, had the dead man known about the wagon wreck? Adrianna wanted Quin to know the truth. It wouldn’t bring back his parents and he might not be able to reconcile with Bowie, Chance and Leanna, but still…
Her thoughts scattered as the carriage passed the small pasture north of the 4C bunkhouse. Adrianna snapped to attention. She recognized the second horse—the strawberry roan—tied to