Earth and Sky

cover the rent on a single room, and when she’d tried her hand at stripping like Danielle, she’d found she couldn’t do it. The offer to cook at the ranch was a godsend. And she admitted to missing the kids too.

    The drive back was long, but Hunter and Grant spent it discussing what they were going to do to entrap Delco while he was executing his horse-stealing scheme. First thing the next morning, they stopped at the sheriff’s office to get his cooperation, since they hoped they could catch Delco in the act and have him arrested.

    Afraid that Delco might still have connections at the ranch, they worked out around-the-clock surveillance, with only a few people in the know of what was really going on. Those people were Hugh, Tim, and of course Hunter and Grant. Hugh had chosen not to involve Izzie because she was nearing the end of her pregnancy and easily upset.

    Despite the new snowfall, they moved a handful of the horses a little farther away from the house to a meadow that had a nice, sturdy lean-to where they could hide and an excellent vista over the field from the shelter. The meadow was remote enough to make any horse thief feel secure, and they’d moved enough juvenile horses to act as bait. Now all they had to do was wait.

    After about a week of dreadfully boring and freezing-cold stakeouts, everyone was growing restless. They’d perpetuated the myth of a cougar being on the prowl to cover up their story to the ranch hands who kept them company and who weren’t in the know. That gave them an excuse to carry shotguns, in case Delco wasn’t working on his own. It also kept them fairly sharp, since the ranch hands knew what a hungry cougar could do to a man if the animal was cornered.

    Grant and Hunter usually took the night shift, because it gave them some privacy and an excuse to huddle close together to stay warm. Now that Christy was there to take care of the kids, they could afford to get away. They also figured that nighttime was the best chance to catch Delco red-handed.

    They had just said their goodnights to the sheriff over the radio when they heard the sound of a truck. In the cold night air and the darkness of a new moon, the horses easily grew restless under the lean-to. Hunter was soothing them as Grant carefully stuck his head out to see if he could catch sight of anyone. It took some time, but eventually Grant came back in, blowing into his hands to keep warm.

    “It’s him, all right.” Grant was smiling from ear to ear. “And he’s not alone. There’s another guy with him.”

    “Who?” Hunter asked, whispering.

    “Remember Rory? That drifter Hugh hired just before me who didn’t show after a few weeks? Looks like it’s him.”

    “Damn, you mean Delco’s actually been doing this since even before he broke up with Izzie?”

    “Horses started disappearing before that guy started working here, right?”

    Hunter nodded. “Snake,” he spat, cursing Delco. “We need to nail them, Stud. I want that pea-brained rodeo cowboy put away for a long time.”

    “Even if we catch him he might be out again in no time, Cowboy,” Grant answered pragmatically.

    “I know.” Hunter sighed. “So how do we do this?”

    “Call the sheriff back. Tell him to get over here. You stay here and I’ll walk around to catch them from the back.”

    “No,” Hunter said urgently. “I’ll go around the back!”

    “This isn’t the time to have our first big argument, Cowboy,” Grant whispered, leaning into Hunter’s personal space. He gave Hunter a quick peck on the mouth. “You talk to your sheriff buddy. They’re your horses.”

    Hunter conceded, nodding at Grant. “Fine.”

    Grant took one of the shotguns and started to turn, but Hunter held him back, pulling on his coat.

    “For Christ’s sake, be careful out there, okay?”

    Grant nodded. “You too. Make sure he doesn’t corner you in here.” He didn’t linger, knowing full well he would much rather not leave the shelter for anything other than to seek out their warm bed. He wanted to put this behind them, though, so Hunter could stop worrying about his horses.

    Walking away from where he’d seen the men exit the truck and trailer, Grant rounded the lean-to and ran toward a scattering of trees, hoping they’d give him enough shelter to get closer to the men as they neared the horse shelter. As he crouched down in the undergrowth, he saw them throw a heavy blanket over the barbed wire, pushing it down.