Stone of Vengeance (7 page)

Kate liked the change in him. The bruise along the line of
his jaw had faded and warmth lit his eyes. Today he seemed to really see her, Kate the person, not Kate the sheriff.

Their conversation was marked with laughs and banter until Kate asked, ‘How did you end up working for Swen?’

At her question he grew grave and thoughtful. ‘Just got back to Rock Creek. I had worked for him once before in a roundup when I was little more than a kid.’ Ty slanted her a glance, then went on hesitantly, as if this were something about which he seldom spoke. ‘Swen gave me a job to do and I let him down. Got drunk and ended up in jail, wound up costing Swen money. I thought he’d fire me. I came around to apologize, but he only told me, “You don’t have to answer to me, you have to answer to yourself”.’

‘And that’s what you do now?’ Kate returned lightly, wishing she had not brought up this serious subject.

‘I looked up to Swen, mostly because he’s the only one who ever gave me a second chance. Not to mention good advice.’ Ty’s smile appeared again. ‘Of course, most of it I didn’t follow. Couldn’t really, because trouble seems to track me around. I should have stayed with him then instead of striking out on my own. Made a big mess of those next years.’

‘What did you do?’

Acting as if he wanted to avoid any answer, he said evasively, ‘Just wandered around, mostly.’

‘In Wyoming?’

‘For the most part. I just went back to drifting. Ended up working on a ranch over in Coal County. I was having
problems
with my boss there, we just didn’t see eye to eye. So
when I ran across Swen one day in Casper, and he said he needed me, that he was having a lot of trouble at the ranch, I jumped at his offer of a steady job. So here I am. But now, Kate, tell me all about yourself.’

‘Not much to tell,’ she replied. ‘I was born in Detroit. My parents were both opposed to my taking up police work. Mum wanted me to go into teaching; that’s what my sister Allison plans to do.’

‘They don’t like the danger involved in your job. Can’t blame them for that.’

‘I graduated from the Michigan Police Academy, where I got my degree in Criminal Justice. The boys here will never let me live it down.’

His clear, brown eyes met hers admiringly. ‘I think we’re a lot alike, not afraid to take a chance and follow our hearts. I needed a job where I could be free, not confined behind a desk all day.’ He watched her carefully.

‘I went into law enforcement because I like to see wrongs righted.’

‘So do I,’ Ty replied, ‘in my own way.’

His words made her think of Tom Horn’s slant on justice. The thought caused the closeness between them to take distance. ‘Are you certain there’s no truth in the lawsuit Kingsley intended to bring against Swen?’

‘Swen, a cattle thief?’ Ty shook his head. ‘At first I thought Kingsley had got that foreman of his, Hal Barkley, to set this all up simply to cause trouble for Swen. But now I’m not so sure.’

‘Why?’

Ty’s eyes, like his hair, seeming an indefinite colour, now glinted with flecks of yellow light. ‘Like I told you the other day, we may be dealing with a professional ring of thieves hitting both ranches. Kingsley must have found some evidence out in the vast canyon between our lands that he misinterpreted and linked with Swen.’

The bright sheen disappeared from his eyes and left them dark and moody. ‘Anyway, it’s not over yet. Whatever’s going on, I intend to settle it.’

Once again the Tom Horn image merged with Ty’s. ‘Not a very wise idea,’ Kate said, ‘to take the law into your own hands.’

He made no reply.

‘That’s what Tom Horn did.’ In the stillness Kate thought of Charles Kingsley lying dead in his study, then of Tom Horn, a hired gun who had been willing to go to any lengths to protect his boss.

‘Don’t worry. I’m not like that.’

Suddenly, as if to bridge the great empty space between them, Ty reached across the table and caught her hand. She felt the warm, strong pressure of his grasp and wished that the two of them had met under different circumstances.

‘You’re the first girl I’ve seen who makes me think of flowers. May I send you some? A dozen red roses.’

‘I couldn’t accept any gifts from you.’ Kate smiled to take the edge from her words. ‘Besides, I’m a wild flower person.’

‘Then I have a great idea. Let’s go out and view the autumn flowers. Since you’re not working today, why don’t you head out to the ranch this afternoon? I’ll put together a
picnic. We’ll saddle up the horses and ride out into the canyon land. It’s beautiful there.’

Just at that moment, she saw Jeff walk by the café, slow his steps and look in. His jaw tightened as his gaze fastened on her and Ty, then he moved quickly away. Kate wondered how long it would take Jeff to get word to Ben Addison that she was having dinner with a prime suspect in the Kingsley case.

Kate removed her hand from his. ‘Ty, I’d like to, but I can’t.’

Kate continued looking at the vacant window where moments ago Jeff had stood watching. She wished she wasn’t the sheriff and that Ty wasn’t a major suspect in her
investigation
. But that was fact and that fact prevented her from following her heart.

Back at the office, Kate kept thinking about the
statements
both the owners of the Rocking C and the Double S had made concerning stolen stock. Both ranches claimed to be the target of cattle thefts which, according to Ty, were still occurring. That meant that the rustlers, able to make such bold strikes, possessed some sure and easy method of turning the stock into quick cash.

On the computer Kate pulled up a listing of Wyoming’s livestock auctions. The closest one, as well as the largest, was Pauley’s Auction Barn in Downing. She jotted this address down, as well as several others.

Feeling hostile eyes on her, Kate glanced up to see Jeff’s tall solid form blocking the doorway to her office. The way his broad jaw thrust forward added an unusual look of
aggression 
to his generally laid-back appearance. As did his stance, rigidly straight, hands at his sides as if ready for some
dark-alley
shoot-out.

‘Just what on earth do you think you’re doing?’

Kate shrugged. ‘Investigating.’

‘Is that why you were just holding hands with Ty Garrison? Is that the way you investigate?’

When Kate made no reply, Jeff’s voice grew louder. ‘You’re not playing test scores at your highfaluting little college now. The driver of that truck meant to harm you. You’d better start putting two and two together, young lady. You had just left Swen’s ranch. No one but them knew you were anywhere in the area. Swen wanted to stop your prying, so he sent Garrison after you. So tell me, what do you mean getting all chummy with Ty Garrison, of all people?’

Kate thought she saw a spark of something – was it
jealousy
– in his eyes. She looked at him with surprise. Could Jeff harbour a special interest in her and was that the source of his sometimes merciless teasing? No, she had pegged that correctly from the beginning when she had chalked his
attitude
down to petty professional envy, envy that was surfacing again now.

Jeff stepped closer to her, hands on his hips. ‘Even though you seem to think you’re invisible, the whole town saw you with him.’

‘I needed information,’ Kate said. ‘Ty believes we may be dealing with professional cattle rustlers who are hitting both ranches.’

‘Of course, he’d say that,’ Jeff replied caustically, ‘to divert suspicion away from himself.’

Kate knew that Jeff wasn’t going to listen. His mind was dead set against the Double S. He had already pegged Ty and Swen as co-conspirators. But Kate wasn’t that hasty to make a judgment. Kingsley’s being able to identify the cattle rustlers could very well have been the cause of his murder. But if someone were rustling cattle from both ranches, and the thefts hadn’t stopped with Kingsley’s death, Swen and Ty might also be in danger.

‘I want you to back off, Kate,’ Jeff said belligerently. ‘I’ll handle the Double S myself.’

‘I can’t do that. My investigation.…’

‘Not just yours, Kate,’ he cut her off. ‘Mine, too.’

For a short time, when he had accompanied her to Casper, Jeff and Kate had been able to work on the case together harmoniously. Now, Jeff seemed once more her opposition. All along she had chalked up his attitude to petty rivalry and was able to overlook it, now she felt threatened. If she couldn’t pacify him, trouble would erupt, trouble she might not be able to handle.

‘What do you think I should be doing?’

‘Certainly not dating Ty Garrison.’

‘Ty invited himself to my table. What was I supposed to do, grab my plate and run away? It certainly wasn’t a date.’

‘Tell that to Ben, not to me. I’ve seen the way Garrison looks at you.’ Jeff swung around, as if feeling the same flare of anger that was sweeping through her. ‘If you want my opinion, I think you should take yourself off this case!’

It took some time after Jeff had stormed out for Kate to get back to the task at hand. She finished her research on the computer and concluded that Pauley’s Auction Barn would be her best bet at finding out more about both Swen and Charles Kingsley’s operations.

A
s Kate approached Pauley’s Auction Barn, the strong scent of hay and cattle made her think of county fairs, of ribbons pinned on prize-winning livestock. The parking lot was crammed with pick-ups and four-wheel drives, many hitched with stock trailers. Kate circled the driveway and found a place to park near the stalls and corrals that spanned the area beyond the main building.

Kate remained in the Landcruiser watching the milling cattle and the cowboys in worn boots and Stetsons who were speculating over prices and values. Taking on the same appraising manner, Kate left her vehicle and walked along the fence examining the consigned livestock.

In no time she spotted a brand she recognized, the Rocking C of the Kingsley ranch. The rocking part, probably to make it different from other ranches by that name, was not attached to the C, but set several inches beneath it, forming a bow that looked like the mouth of a happy face. After
examining
the Kingsley cattle, she moved on.

Further down the line, she located the Double S brand.
The overflowing corral pointed to the fact that Sam Swen was the auction’s biggest consigner. Nothing surprising about that; Pauley’s was the closest cattle auction to Swen’s ranch, naturally he would do most of his selling here.

Kate leaned over the fence to take a closer look. Was it her imagination, or did some of the brands look rough and uneven? Swen’s brand, consisting of two large S’s so close together that one was almost a shadow of the other, stood out much thicker and bolder than Kingsley’s imprint of the Rocking C. Kate took out a pad and pen and easily
transformed
a Rocking C into one of Swen’s large S’s, then she added another close beside it.

Yet she couldn’t forget that Swen had complained of missing cattle, too. She drew a double S this time, but no matter what she did, the connection between the C and the rocking bar could not be hidden. It would be impossible to change an S into a Rocking C or at least very difficult. She imagined with some careful work it could be accomplished, but probably not without leaving behind some tell-tale signs of brand tampering. The fact that it would be so much easier for Swen to alter Kingsley’s brand to his own than vice versa gave more credibility to the fact that Swen had been stealing from Kingsley and not the other way around.

Still it didn’t seem likely that Swen would risk selling Kingsley’s cattle at the same auction where the Rocking C did their trading. Unless Swen had got too bold, too sure of himself and Kingsley had, at this very auction, found proof that Swen was selling his cattle. If so, then Kingsley’s evidence for his lawsuit must have centred around alteration
of his brand or some discrepancy in sales records held by the company.

Kate, while she was here, would talk to the proprietor of Pauley’s Auction Barn. From Swen’s record of sales over the past few years, she might be able to detect suspicious rises in the number of cattle he had been selling; rises that might coincide with the dates on Kingsley’s missing stock.

Feeling suddenly uneasy, Kate glanced around to see a skinny man, hands in the pockets of his jeans jacket, watching her. He turned away so swiftly she couldn’t see his face, only strands of stringy pale yellow hair poking from beneath the hat that slouched over his eyes.

She started towards the main building, drawing to an uncertain halt beside a sign that read, ‘Auction 2p.m. Today’. She looked behind again, but the man who had been watching her must have ducked into one of the adjoining buildings. She passed through the double doors into an arena surrounded with bleachers, alive with loud
conversation
and movement, with the excitement of an auction.

Kate followed a circular side corridor, which dead-ended into an open door marked ‘OFFICE’. She stepped into a waiting room cluttered with worn books and piles of
cattle-and-feed
magazines

‘What can I do you for?’ a voice called out over the
waist-high
partition. As he spoke he rose, leaning his arms on the frame that separated them and beaming an appreciative smile. ‘Auction starts in twenty minutes. Too late to consign today.’

‘I’m not here to sell cattle.’

The smile grew wider, showing a spread of yellowed teeth. He sported a scraggly brown Willy Nelson style beard and a red baseball cap with the name Pauley’s Auction Barn emblazoned across the top. ‘Then what can I do for you, little lady?’

‘I need to talk to the manager.’

‘That would be me. Hank Pauley. In the flesh.’

‘I’m Kate Jepp from the sheriff’s department.’

Pauley’s smile quickly faded. A wad of Skoal hit the nearby waste can, thudding as it struck the metal edge. ‘Where’s your uniform? Where’s your badge? How do I know you’re who you say you are?’ he asked suspiciously.

Kate handed him ID marked ‘Belle County Sheriff’s Department, Kate Jepp, Deputy’.

He studied it in a manner more belligerent now than suspicious, then returned it. ‘So what do you want?’

‘I need to take a look at the sales records of both Charles Kingsley and Sam Swen.’

‘Why?’

‘You’ve heard, haven’t you, about Mr Kingsley’s death? This is a routine part of our investigation.’

‘Routine, is it? Why’s that?’

‘Did Mr Kingsley ever talk to you about his cattle being rustled?’

She waited for his answer. No matter what he claimed, Kate had already begun to question his honesty.

‘He never mentioned it to me,’ Pauley returned curtly.

‘I’d like to start with Swen’s bills of sales for the last two years.’

This request brought a dark, sullen look to his eyes, a look of resistance. ‘All sales made through my auction house are confidential.’

‘Then it looks as if I’ll have to return with a court order.’

‘You just do that,’ Pauley snapped. ‘I don’t like being bullied, you need to understand that. And I’m not showing you anything until I see something official.’

Pauley had won that round, and probably would the next one too. If some dirty dealing were going on, he’d use the time it would take her to get a warrant to make a new set of records, ones that would show no abnormalities. ‘Have you seen any evidence of tampering, of brand alteration in the cattle?’

‘Lady, I’m a square-shooter. If I don’t like the looks of the brand, I call Ben.’

‘To my knowledge you’ve never done that.’

She should have stifled that comeback. Kate’s words brought an ugly, downward twist to his lips, a forewarning that he would say no more on the subject.

They stared at one another. Out in the arena a booming voice sounded over the loudspeaker. ‘The sale starts in ten minutes. Be sure folks to get a number. You’ll want to be ready to bid. As you know, Pauley offers the best deals ever to go over the block.’

‘As you can see,’ Pauley said, ‘I have a business to run. And I can’t be letting you keep me from it.’

Kate couldn’t force him to cooperate. All she could do was accept his dismissal and leave. She did so quickly, almost running squarely into the same man who had been watching
her earlier. He stepped away from where he had been lurking close to the open doorway listening to their every word. Hurriedly, he pulled the brim of his hat lower over his face and ducked past her into the office. But not before she glimpsed his face, his long, angular features, his pasty skin.

Frightening, she thought. She increased the pace of her steps, glad to join the crowd of people waiting for the sale to begin.

Not until she was safe in her Landcruiser heading out of town did she begin to breathe easier. Even though she hadn’t found any clear-cut evidence, she had felt undercurrents of something amiss, which alerted her that she was on the right trail.

At the outskirts of the small town of Downing, she turned on to a deserted road that offered a shortcut back to Rock Creek. Soon, hers was the only vehicle around. No movement, only miles of hills and sagebrush and a narrow asphalt trail filled with pits and ruts. Kate still wasn’t used to driving thirty or more miles without seeing so much as a town or even a gas station. She wondered if she would ever quite get used to the total isolation of the Wyoming countryside.

Kate had driven for a number of miles before she noticed the Landcruiser was becoming very difficult to steer. Then a fierce wobbling started at the back wheel. Before she could pull over to stop, the vehicle veered crazily to the right. A loud thud sounded. She frantically gripped the wheel, but no longer had any control. Despite her attempts to keep it on the road, the Landcruiser careened to the side and
plummeted
over a steep embankment. She braced herself,
expecting the heavy vehicle to roll, instead it came to a jolting stop midway down the slope.

Images flashed before her eyes, of night and the black truck that had crashed into her squad car. Eyes tightly closed, she slumped over the wheel, trying to catch her breath, trying to stop trembling. She could have been badly injured. As it was, she was only shaken and stranded.

The Landcruiser sat at an uneven tilt. With some effort Kate pulled open the door and climbed out to appraise the damage. She had supposed she had blown a tyre, but to her amazement the one on the back passenger side had pulled completely loose from the axle.

She stood, chilled by the sweeping wind. What would cause this to happen? As if in answer, the thin cruel features of the yellow-haired cowboy flashed before her. He had
definitely
been watching, eavesdropping on her conversation with Pauley. With the sale beginning, he could have returned to the fast-emptying parking lot and sabotaged her vehicle.

But it was just as likely that some station attendant had forgotten to tighten the lug bolts when she had taken the vehicle in for new tyres a few days ago. Right now, that was what she preferred to believe.

Kate shivered and reached into the front seat for her jacket, fumbling in the pocket for her cellphone. She suddenly had a visual image of it lying where she had left it on the kitchen table. That was the trouble with cellphones; she never had one handy when it was really needed.

Kate slipped on her jacket. She located the tyre where it had come to a smashing stop in the rocky gully below. The
accident had caused a split along the rim, but she had a spare that should get her home.

Another gust of wind caused a chill to rush over her, even through the heavy jacket. All alone, on a seldom used road, she couldn’t help feeling vulnerable. Once more, the disturbing thought slipped into her mind that the cowboy might have set a trap, intending to waylay her.

The thought brought with it fear and increased activity. She rolled the ruined tyre up to the Landcruiser where she took out the spare and the jack. She finally got the jack to hold against the uneven ground but knew, even as she did, that the task before her was hopeless. The way the heavy vehicle was positioned so askew, she would never be able to lift the back high enough to replace the tyre. Because of the precarious way the Landcruiser swayed to the side, steel from the tyreless frame embedded into earth, she wouldn’t even attempt to drive it back up to the road.

Breathing hard, Kate abandoned her efforts and made her way up the slope. She stood, shivering as she looked up and down the road for the signs of a ranch, seeing only the dead stillness of endless grassland.

She waited, feeling helpless, desperately hoping that some motorist would happen along. Kate had no sooner made the wish, than she heard the sound of a distant motor.

Had it been approaching from the direction of the auction barn, she would have been afraid, but this vehicle was coming from Rock Creek, so whoever was behind the wheel could not have been following her.

A polished Dodge truck with a showy, silver Double S
ornament on the hood pulled to a stop. Sam Swen, taking his time, stepped out. He remained motionless for a while, the wind tugging at his tweed jacket and ruffling through his silver hair. Kate’s heart sank. He was last person she wanted to see now. His sudden appearance couldn’t spring from pure coincidence.

Swen’s eyes, grey and narrowed, flitted toward the Landcruiser. ‘Looks as if you could use some help. Did you have a blowout?’

‘The tyre just came off – worked itself loose.’

‘Strange,’ he said, moving closer to appraise the situation. ‘I’ll have to get your Landcruiser out of that ditch before I can change the tyre. I’ve got a chain in my toolbox, so I’ll just pull it up to level ground.’

He started to say something else but was stopped by the ringing of his cellphone. He took it from his pocket, saying, ‘Swen.’ He listened for a while, then spoke again, his voice lowering. ‘I’m going to be a little late.’ The response of the person on the other end of the line caused him to frown, to step away from Kate, as if to ensure privacy.

Dread filled Kate. She couldn’t make out what Swen was saying, but as sure as if she had heard his every word, she knew the call concerned her. When he hung up she said, ‘I appreciate your help. If you can get the car levelled so my jack will work, I can do the rest. No use your missing an appointment.’

‘Call me old-fashioned,’ Swen said, ‘but I’d never leave a lady stranded on the road. Now, you just step back, and I’ll have you up and running in no time.’

Effortlessly, working with agile motions like a young man, Swen expertly guided the vehicle up to the road. He got out and going around to the aluminum toolbox said, ‘Got a hydraulic jack that will work much better than what you have.’

‘I could never have moved the vehicle without help,’ she told him, and added, even though she didn’t feel that her words contained any truth. ‘I’m so lucky you came along.’

‘This old road doesn’t get much traffic,’ he responded.

‘Where were you headed?’ she asked.

‘I was just on my way to Pauley’s Auction Barn. Like to watch my stock sell. Keep up on the prices firsthand.’

‘I just came from there myself.’

‘You don’t say.’ He cast her an amused glance. ‘I hope you don’t plan on getting into the cattle business. I don’t need the competition.’

‘I went there as part of my investigation,’ she replied. As she spoke the words, she became more aware than ever that they were all alone out here, not another person in sight. She thought again of the peroxide-haired cowboy, who could be on Sam Swen’s payroll.