spouting off her accusations. Missoula was a big little town. And there were some very bad people living in the outlying counties, men who had no appreciation of smaller ranches attempting to make a dent in their profits.
“I don’t want to argue with you, Mustang. I am sorry about accusing you, but there is something going on in this town. All I care about are the animals. Okay?”
I shook my head. “And we’re not going to argue, but that’s not good enough. I have no intention of leaving that dog tonight, so we have plenty of time to talk. Spill it, cause you’re hiding something.”
“Why? So you can chastise me further, acting as if I don’t know what I’m talking about?”
“Have you ever thought that maybe I would want to help you?”
“Fine,” she said in exasperation, her lower lip twitching. “You’re right. Why don’t we get some coffee?”
“Only if you have something a little stronger to go with it.”
Her features softened and she almost broke into a smile as she nodded. “I think I can arrange that. Let me make sure the monitor is on.”
I watched as she moved a sophisticated-looking system toward the dog, positioning a screen directly in front of him. After pressing a few buttons, she seemed satisfied.
“Now I can keep a watch on his vitals as well as ensure he’s not under any duress.” Danni turned on a lamp, the warm glow providing little more than a nightlight. She was certainly an animal lover. “Come on, Zorro. We have a visitor.”
She led me back to her house, immediately moving into the small kitchen. Instead of bothering with making coffee, she brought a bottle of whiskey and two glasses back into the living room. “This is all I have, other than wine. Somehow, I don’t take you as a wine lover.” There was a hint of a tease in her voice, a welcome change.
“You’re right about that.” I studied the fireplace, surprised she didn’t have a fire going.
She pointed to the overstuffed chair that had seen better days before easing down onto the couch that wasn’t in much better shape, remaining quiet as she poured a hefty amount of liquor in both glasses. I realized her hand was shaking when she pushed a tumbler in my direction.
“What have you gotten in the middle of?” I asked as quietly as possible.
“I don’t know for certain any longer. Maybe I’m just overreacting.”
“Ya think?”
Danni took a sip of her drink as she huddled on the edge of the seat. “Have you heard about any Ponzi schemes going on around here?”
“Ponzi schemes. What the hell does that have to do with ranching?” While I’d heard enough, I wanted to hear her take on what she’d learned.
“There is a rumor that a group of unnamed individuals has formed a corporation for the sole purpose of defrauding their investors, even enlisting their help to garner additional people to come on board.”
“Hence the reference to a Ponzi scheme.”
She nodded. “Exactly. They handle a significant portion of their business at these auctions as well as through private sales. There are millions of dollars at stake, some ranchers investing everything they have to try and provide a better life for their families.”
“I’ll be honest with you. If that kind of thing was going on, this idiot attempting to defraud them would be run out on rails. That’s how tough they are. And they would have the manpower to make that happen.”
“What if one of them is actually the head of this investment group?”
“That’s a pretty tall accusation. You’re saying the ranchers are involved as investors in this magical corporation?”
“That’s what I’ve read, but maybe many of them are working together in order to run the smaller ranchers out of business, purchasing their cattle at a low price then promising them a significant return at a later date.”
I thought about what she was saying and while I hadn’t been around Missoula for very long, there were very few of the wealthy ranchers who would dare get into anything of that nature, if any. However, I was no fool. There were always schemes to make money, Hawk already warning me about a few of the big names who’d been around for decades. Still, her accusations were a tough pill to take. “Danni, I’m going to give you the same piece of advice that I did before. Don’t go off half-cocked with shit like this, no matter what you were told or what you read. If you have any