Conard County Watch

by Rachel Lee

  The forest almost seemed to hold its breath. Then the crack as the rifle fired, and there was no mistaking that the bullet ricocheted off rock. He knew that sound all the way to his soul.

  Was the guy going to shoot up the fossils? How much damage could he do with a three-shot limit to his bursts? Plenty.

  Then Cope saw him. Saw that he was aiming carefully, as if it weren’t just enough to shoot the rock, as if he had picked out specific targets.

  Cope’s mental calculations happened at the speed of light. Just as the guy was about to shoot a third bullet, Cope got close enough to leap, knife in hand.

  The fool hadn’t hooked the strap of his weapon around his shoulder properly, so the AR flew a few feet away before landing on gravel. Cope gave it no thought as he landed on the guy and gave him a solid punch to the solar plexus.

  Gasping for air that he couldn’t draw, the guy’s eyes widened, reflecting moonlight. Cope socked him again, then put his knife to the guy’s side.

  “Don’t move or you’ll get this in your spleen.”

  For an instant, everything froze. Cope wished for some lock bracelets, for another body to help out. What was he going to do, hold this guy all night?

  But then the man rolled suddenly beneath him, breaking free, kicking Cope in the side of his head the instant he got to his feet.

  Cope felt the world try to spin into darkness, but he fought it down as he reached his own feet and took off after the running man.

  At least he didn’t have his AR15 anymore. But heaven knew what other weapons he might be carrying, and Renee was down there. Alone.

  Forgetting any need for silence, he took off like a bat out of hell without any concern for his own safety.

  Renee. She was the only thought on his mind.

  * * *

  Renee heard the pounding feet coming her way. She immediately checked the shotgun to make sure she had a shell in the chamber, then held it tightly, getting ready. At least with a shotgun she didn’t have to worry all that much about her aim.

  She might know how to use the gun, but that didn’t mean she was capable of hitting a target dead-on.

  Her nerves tightened even more as she waited. God, she just wanted this to be over with. To have her whole team safe, and this miscreant, whatever he was up to, unable to bother them anymore.

  Then he burst out of the shadows into the firelight and froze when he saw her shotgun. After a moment, the grungy-looking guy said, “You won’t shoot me.”

  “Just stay where you are or you’ll find out.”

  He hesitated, shifting from one foot to the other, looking back up the path down which more pounding feet were coming. She hoped it was Cope.

  “I’m gonna leave,” the guy said, evidently deciding whoever pursued him was a bigger threat than a woman with a gun. He took two steps toward the road when Renee pulled the trigger.

  He froze.

  She didn’t know if she’d missed him purposely or not, but she had. Regardless, now he was afraid to move.

  Ten seconds later, Cope appeared at a dead run, kicked the guy in the back of his legs and knocked him to the ground. “Rope?” he said.

  “Plenty,” she answered. Still holding the shotgun, she went to the box that held nylon rope. She handed a coil to Cope, who proceeded to hog-tie the guy. He wasn’t going anywhere.

  Cope looked down at him. “What the hell were you doing up there?” he demanded.

  “Following orders, dude. Just following orders.”

  Before Cope could question him further, the cavalry began to arrive. Claudia and Gray Cloud came in the same vehicle. They took in the situation and soon Gray Cloud was on his sat phone calling the sheriff and Jake Madison. “We need help.”

  Chapter 14

  Three nights later, after a busy day at the dig site, the group sat around the fire sipping cocoa and coffee and talking about what they had learned.

  Claudia and Gray Cloud had basically uncovered the issue. Gray Cloud hadn’t gone on a vision quest at all. Instead he and Claudia had entered the bowels of the courthouse and begun viewing enough microfiche and film to kill their eyesight.

  It took a while for Gray Cloud to uncover a pattern of relatively recent land purchases around the tribal land and along the base of Thunder Mountain. It had taken Claudia even longer to dig around into mineral surveys to find what she needed. As she was doing so, Gray Cloud had gone to talk to Earl Carter, a lawyer, and his son, Judge Carter. The talks had been revealing.

  There was indeed a rich vein of promethium along the lower slopes of Thunder Mountain, rich enough to mine. There was, however, a problem. Some property owners didn’t want to sell. Among them was the tribe, who counted its piece as sacred land.

  The mining company, headed up by a guy named Caron Broadus, was trying to keep a lid on the reason for their purchases, talking about a resort. As they accumulated more and more property from ranchers who were having a hard time, and as those who wanted to keep their land unthinkingly sold nearly forgotten—and they thought useless—mineral rights, they got closer and closer to the reservation land that held the strongest vein of promethium.

  But the tribe remained adamant in its refusal to sell.

  Hence, the right of eminent domain entered the picture. Once the mining company owned enough mineral rights around the sacred land, it could claim the tribe’s land for mining.

  A dirty trick, but a legal one.

  The fossil dig had thrown a big wrench into the plan. If that land became a protected historical site, there wouldn’t be any mining at all. The first thing Broadus decided to do was stop the dig. If that didn’t work he’d probably planned to try to grease a lot of palms to get around it, but that wasn’t an infallible way to get what he wanted once the area held a different kind of treasure.

  Stockman proved an interesting character who claimed he’d never been able to figure out what Broadus was up to, he’d never wanted to hurt Larry, and the only thing he was going to shoot the night Cope found him was fossils. Destroy the site.

  It was convoluted and they all talked it over, trying to organize the craziness in their heads. They supposed it made sense.

  “But to think they were going to get rid of us with some spooky sounds,” Maddie scoffed. “I think we’re tougher than that.”

  “What they needed,” Claudia said, “was time to make their eminent domain case airtight. We were interfering with that. So scaring us away one way or another seemed smart.”

  “Dumb,” said Larry, who was getting around much better on his walking cast.

  Along about nine, the group decided to head into town. Some wanted to play darts at Mahoney’s. Others wanted a piece of pie from Maude’s diner, and they all planned to sleep in more comfortable beds at the motel.

  “I can take just so much sleeping on the ground,” Bets said, and Maddie agreed. Soon Renee and Cope were once again alone.

  “I have the feeling,” he said a short while later, “that they’re trying to give the two of us some space.”

  “Space for what?” she asked, then her cheeks flamed as she realized. “They can’t know?”

  “That we’re lovers? I’ve learned over time that something like that tends to show no matter how hard you try to conceal it.”

  Renee put her face in her hands. “Eeps,” she said. Then giggled. She really wanted to enjoy another night with Cope.

  “But first,” he said slowly as her hand reached for his, “I want to get a little bit serious.”

  She stared at him. He was going to tell her that he enjoyed the fling but he didn’t want her to make more of it than it was. Except she feared she already had. Still, he hadn’t promised her a damn thing, and she had only herself to blame if she expected more.

  “Don’t look like that,” he said softly, and reached out to run his finger along her cheek. An instan
t shiver ran through her. “I’m not ditching you.”

  “Oh.” She wasn’t sure that made her feel any better. She’d probably made a juvenile mistake with her heart.

  “No,” he said. “The thing is... I want to date you.”

  “Date me?” She was having trouble connecting her disconnected thoughts. She thought he was dumping her and he was saying something else.

  “I think you know what dating is,” he said drily. “And I’m serious. I realized you don’t know me all that well yet, but I want you to know that never, ever, not once in my life have I felt about a woman the way I feel about you. I don’t want to lose you without at least taking the opportunity to win you first.”

  Win her? Her heart quickened. She pretty much thought she was already won. “Cope...”

  “Shh,” he said. “You don’t have to answer. Just think about it. And just don’t say no. Dating is a tryout, right? You should have the time to make up your mind about me.”

  She swallowed hard, her mouth going dry. “I think it’s already made up.”

  He looked down. “That bad?”

  “That good.”

  His head jerked up. “What are you saying?”

  “You idiot. Of course I want to date you. Of course I don’t want to lose you. You’d better be prepared to stick around until you’re sick of me.”

  A slow smile dawned on his face. “That’ll never happen.”

  “You don’t know me that well, either. So yes to the dating, but at some point I might get impatient and want more.”

  “Sweetheart, you can have as much of me as you want. Forever.”

  The he rose, lifted her right out of her chair and carried her into her tent. “Forever’s a long time,” he murmured.

  “Not long enough,” she answered.

  Bliss. She could almost feel the mountain’s blessing.

  * * * * *

  Don’t forget previous titles in Rachel Lee’s

  Conard County: The Next Generation series:

  Conard County Revenge

  Undercover in Conard County

  Conard County Marine

  Conard County Spy

  Conard County Witness

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  Ranger’s Justice

  by Lara Lacombe

  Prologue

  She was very nearly perfect.

  He stood over her, head cocked to the side as he ran his gaze over her still form. Limbs arranged just so, hair an artful tangle obscuring her face, one sightless eye playing peekaboo from between the strands. Yes. This would do.

  He stripped off his gloves and shoved them into the bag at his feet. Walking over to a small shrub nearby, he broke off a dry branch and set about erasing the footprints he’d left in the sand. It was tedious, almost boring work, but it was important he destroy any evidence that might point in his direction. The police might catch him someday, but he still had much to do.

  Finally finished, he stood on the rocky trail and surveyed his work. Pride surged through him, along with a pang of regret. He wanted nothing more than to stay with her, to tell her all the secrets of his heart. But as much as he wanted to linger, it was too big of a risk. The first orange tendrils of dawn were streaking across the sky, and hikers started early in the park. Better for him to leave. She wouldn’t be lonely long—someone would find her soon enough.

  “Goodbye, lady,” he whispered. He blew a kiss on the wind and smiled sadly. “I enjoyed our time together. I’ll see you again.”

  With one final glance back, he turned and set off down the trail.

  * * *

  Park ranger Quentin “Quinn” Gallagher crested the small hill and paused, adjusting his hat against the glare of the morning sun. The ground was still cool from the night, but the air was warm and it wouldn’t take long for the heat of the day to set in.

  The trail in this section of the park was rocky and on an incline, and he stepped carefully as he set off again. He hadn’t run into anyone so far, but that would likely change on his trek back. This was one of the more challenging trails in the park, and experienced hikers liked to test their mettle against the sloping switchbacks and narrow path. The reward for their determination was one of the best views in the park, which, in Quinn’s mind, made up for all the work.

  He enjoyed hiking for pleasure, but for today’s journey he was focused on work. Yesterday, two campers had reported a section of safety railing was deteriorating to the point of falling down. Since the area in question was in an especially treacherous area, Quinn had volunteered to check it out today. He had a few supplies in his backpack, but if things looked as bad as the campers had described, he’d probably have to close the trail until they could bring a crew in to repair the damage.

  The muscles in his legs burned pleasantly as he moved up the mountain. Big Bend National Park was no match for the Rocky Mountains, but the Chisos range was nothing to laugh at, either. The landscape changed as he made his ascent up Emory Peak, the low, green scrubland giving way to exposed rock. Small clumps of weeds sprouted tenaciously in the gaps between rocks, and he passed the skeleton of a rabbit, the bones bleached white from exposure. Quinn knew he was getting close as he spied the large solar panel and tall antennae at the top of the peak—the equipment was part of the two-way radio system employed by the Park Service in Big Bend. It wasn’t the prettiest of additions, but the setup served an important purpose.

  He rounded a curve and a flash of pink caught his eye. He paused, scanning the area again with a slight frown. The land in this part of the park was all browns and greens—pink was definitely not a normal part of the scenery. Probably trash left behind by some hikers, he thought sourly. Most people were respectful of nature and took pains to collect their debris, but there were always a few bad apples who couldn’t be bothered to do the right thing. He peered against the glare of the sun, hoping to catch the flash of color again. A breeze drifted by, and he saw pink flutter in the wind. Over there—about twenty feet off the trail.

  Quinn carefully moved off the trail, mindful of where he stepped so as not to cause too much damage to the landscape. As he approached, it looked like the pink was a bit of fabric caught on the branches of the bushes that dotted the area. Maybe a scarf, or perhaps a discarded jacket cast off by a hiker who got too hot on the trail.

  He bent down to untangle the fabric and froze as he got
his first good look at the spot. His body seemed to recognize what he was seeing before his brain registered the scene—the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and a chill swept over him.

  “Oh, my God,” he whispered. His stomach twisted violently, and he turned away as a wave of nausea propelled his breakfast up and out of his body. He retched into the bushes, then reluctantly turned back, his hand pressed to his mouth.

  The woman was on her back, impossibly still, her arms bent at the elbows and hands resting over her heart. Her knees were bent and the soles of her feet were pressed together, leaving her legs splayed out in a grotesque parody of a yoga pose. She looked almost peaceful, except for the horribly tangled hair arranged across her face, obscuring her features. One cloudy blue eye was visible in a gap between the strands, staring lifelessly at the sky.

  Quinn’s heart pounded in his chest and blood thundered in his ears. For a moment, all he could do was stare at the body and try to comprehend what he was seeing. Working as a park ranger, he was no stranger to death—he’d come across the carcasses of animals from time to time, but that was just a part of nature. This—this was something else entirely.

  He reached out and touched the side of her neck with his fingertip, feeling for a pulse he knew wasn’t there. Still, he had to be sure.

  Her skin was cold to the touch, her flesh unnaturally stiff under his finger. He snatched his hand back and rubbed it over his pants, trying to erase the feeling of death before it could fully take hold of him.

  He closed his eyes as a memory assaulted him, filling his senses.

  Ashley. His wife. Her body lying twisted on a different trail, bones broken from the fall that had taken her life.

  A wave of helplessness made his knees buckle, and Quinn fell to the ground, tears streaming down his face. He had arrived too late to save Ashley. And now it seemed history was repeating itself.

  Except... He frowned as his whirling thoughts began to settle. Ashley had fallen over the edge of a trail while hiking in Yosemite National Park, landing on a small outcrop twenty feet below. That didn’t seem to be the case here. While the woman’s body lay in a small declivity in the land, there was no overhang nearby, no cliff she might have tumbled off. It was as if she’d dropped from the sky, placed here by some unseen hand.