Undercover in Conard County

by Rachel Lee

  Parsing them was the tough part. Real? Not real? Twinges from the past or something going on now?

  He was on his second cup of coffee, thinking about finding a grocery to buy some food for Desi’s cupboards and fridge, when he heard the trucks out front rev up and pull away from the station. The confab appeared to be over.

  He thought about going downstairs, then decided to wait. He didn’t want to force his company on the woman. But soon enough he heard her climbing the wooden steps outside.

  She entered the apartment with a smile, still wearing her red shirt and jeans, vest hanging open. Her nimbus of curly dark hair looked windblown and her cheeks were rosy. “How’s it going?”

  “Got my storefront,” he said as she closed the door. Then a thought popped into his head. “You never did say what happened with that eagle.”

  “The one the kid shot with an arrow? Wonder of wonders, Mike Windwalker says the bird can be released in just a couple more days. Mrs. Eagle is going to be thrilled.”

  “That’s great news.” Best news he’d had in a while, he realized. Did that make him pathetic or not? “I made coffee and I was thinking about going to the grocery. I should replace the food I’ve used and add some more.”

  She reached the coffeepot, still wearing her jacket, and paused to pour. “No need. I think most of what you’ve eaten has been at the diner.”

  Not exactly true, but he wasn’t going to argue. He felt strangely awkward, as if their heart-to-heart last night had left him uneasy somehow.

  She turned, leaning back against the counter, mug in both hands. “Calvin Lake, one of my wardens, found another trophy kill. This time a bull moose.”

  “God! Where?”

  “Close to the edge of this section. Might have been an accidental crossover from a neighboring area, but that’s still illegal, as is wasting the meat.”

  “At this point it hardly matters if the hunter had a permit.”

  “Exactly. So we were talking about what we might be able to do. Five of us. Hardly an army. But I did talk to some hunters in the backwoods who promised to keep an eye out and let me know if anything made them suspicious.” She sipped her coffee. “I hope you can catch these guys, Kel, because I’m pretty sure we won’t be able to without more resources.”

  He sighed. “This is a flyer, you know. We can’t trace them. The money...well, it’s either all in cash or being handled out of state. No phone numbers to be traced. We’ve gone back five years trying to get a handle on just one person but we haven’t gotten it. They’re good. Too good. We need someone with loose lips, or we need to catch someone in the act. We need evidence and we need names.”

  “I know,” she answered. “It’s just so hard to believe that an operation like this could fly under the radar.”

  He snorted. “Look at the Mafia. How many years did that take? It’d be easier to collect the evidence if we had one subject. But even then it could take a long time.”

  She nodded. “So you want to go to the market?”

  “I was thinking about it. Only fair I should buy my share of the food.”

  She surprised him with a crooked smile. “And I don’t have much around here. I don’t usually buy for more than a couple of days at a time. Who knows what I might want three days from now?”

  That made him laugh, but as she grabbed her keys and suggested they go together, he realized it wasn’t the market he wanted, so much as he wanted to test himself. To see if he still felt watched. If he was on the edge of another slide into temporary instability. Because if he was, he needed to warn her and the guys who were coming to hunt with him, if it lasted.

  Because he might not be entirely trustworthy.

  * * *

  The grocery wasn’t exactly modern, but it was spotlessly clean and well lit. Definitely not a chain, though. It wasn’t crowded, making it more comfortable for him, but occasionally they passed people, all of whom greeted Desi in a friendly fashion before moving on. No time for introductions and he was glad to leave it at that.

  He threw items that appealed to him in the basket without asking if they were okay because he intended to pick up the entire tab. He suspected she might argue, but although she minimized it, he had been eating her food and drinking her coffee.

  Then they came on a couple with a small child, maybe three.

  This time he got introduced because the man wanted to chat. Turned out he was the chief of police, Jake Madison, a strong-looking man with dark hair and a friendly smile. He introduced his pretty, very pregnant blonde wife, Nora, and their towheaded son James. “So have you learned anything about the poacher?”

  Desi shook her head. “I wish. I sent some tissue samples to the lab to see if the sheep was sick, but we’re not going to get very far without something more. Were you able to fix your fence and keep the wolves away?”

  Madison nodded. “It didn’t bring down much fence. Larry and I fixed it in a few hours. I’m thinking that barbed wire probably damaged the sheepskin if the bighorn broke through itself. So maybe I had some fencing down before it came through. No way to tell. As for the wolves, once the carcass was gone and we’d deodorized the place, Larry and I took turns keeping watch. As best I can tell, the wolves disappeared back into the mountains.”

  “Well, that’s good news at least.”

  “Yeah.” Jake smiled, then his gaze traveled over Kel. “I’ve heard about you. Starting an outfitter’s business?”

  “That’s the plan. I’ve got two clients coming in a couple of weeks.”

  “I suppose since you’re with Desi you’ve got an outfitter’s license. I couldn’t find it online but I did find you have an application in.”

  Kel almost stiffened, but caught himself in time. “Yeah, they say it won’t take much longer on the app. As for the guys coming, the law says I can act as their guide as long as I don’t charge them, so if my license isn’t approved they may get lucky.”

  Jake nodded. “It can take some time to get things squared away on the website. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “It’s okay,” Kel answered. “But you can call the department if you want.” He knew that would be safe because all official channels would back him up.

  Jake smiled. “No need. I know how Desi feels about poaching. If she finds an unlicensed outfitter, she’s apt to treat him worse than a charging bear. I hope your business goes well.”

  Kel stopped him as he started to move on. “Do you have a lot of trouble with hunters on your property? Are you posted?”

  “I’m posted all right. And four or five times a season somebody decides to ignore that. It’s enough to make a man think about electrifying his fence, at least parts of it.”

  Kel laughed. “Unfortunately, I bet all those parts are inconveniently far away.”

  Jake’s smile widened. “True. Which is not to say I haven’t caught hunters entirely too close to the house. But Desi can tell you all those stories. Nora and I need to get going before the tot gets hungry.”

  Nora spoke for the first time since saying hello. “Desi? If you find time, we’re having a little get-together at the ranch on Sunday afternoon. Bring your friend and an appetite.”

  “Thanks, Nora. I will if I can find time.”

  Nora laughed. “I know you won’t. Maybe in the springtime.”

  “Nice people,” Kel remarked as they moved on. “Did I just get a warning?”

  “Maybe.” Desi looked up at him from the corner of her eye, a smile tugging at the edge of her mouth. “See what I mean about a network?”

  Kel laughed again, fighting down an urge to hug her because she looked positively cute right now. “I’ll mind my p’s and q’s. So I’ve already had a background check? Pretty fast.”

  “I’m surprised you wanted it to hold up. Jake’s a smart man, and so is our sheriff, Gag
e Dalton. They smell anything funny and you may have to explain yourself to more people than you want to.”

  Kel thought about that as he made an extravagant purchase of T-bone steaks. “You got a grill?”

  “Out back if you want to stand in the cold. Propane, not charcoal.”

  “I can stand it. I’ve stood worse conditions.”

  He watched her expression grow thoughtful and was sorry he’d destroyed the light mood. He hadn’t meant to; the truth had just popped out. “Tonight then, if you’re going to be around.”

  “Yeah, I get tonight off unless something really big happens. It’s a busy time of year so we spent the meeting figuring how to cover for each other. Trying to take into account who has kids they want to see, a doctor’s appointment, whatever.”

  They used the cart to get the groceries to her truck. He’d gone a little overboard and she hadn’t objected when he paid, probably because of the way he had splurged. No reason she should pay for his expensive tastes.

  As they were driving back to the station, however, he began to consider if he’d done the right thing by hanging so tight with her. Not just because she might be in danger, but because would anybody, including the ring he was after, actually believe he was operating without an outfitter’s license? The immediate assumption was that she would do exactly what the chief of police had done: check him out, friend or no friend.

  He pulled out his cell phone and called home base while they drove. “We got a problem I hadn’t thought of. I may need to take a few more people into my confidence, and make sure nobody gets the idea I’m licensed if they call.” He listened to Farley. “Yeah, I know, but we’re putting the senior warden out here in a difficult position. Police are checking up on me. I can talk my way through it, but it’s not going to point the bad guys to me.”

  Farley was listening but still concerned. “Look,” he said, “I get why you put in my app, but make it look like it’s been yanked because I was bad once. Okay? And I’m going to talk to the local law about what’s really going on. We’ve asked the senior warden to keep it under her hat. I’m sure the sheriff and police chief can, too. They all deserve to know what I’m up to.”

  When he hung up, he realized they’d pulled into the station parking lot, and Desi was looking at him, smiling faintly.

  “What?” he asked.

  “You’re an honest man,” she said simply.

  “I try to be. I’m not cut out for undercover work, as I’m discovering. I keep making mistakes. I should never have listened when my bosses told me to hook up with you as if I’m edging my way around you. Well, your chief of police made it clear today that it’s not working. He cares enough about you that he wanted to make sure I wasn’t lying to you. So...I screwed that one up, and now that I have, some of those who might be worried about you need to know what’s coming down the pike. Because I need to lose that application soon. The sooner the better. And what if your sheriff decides to check after it’s gone? No, I need to cover your butt and mine by telling the truth.”

  “I hear you.”

  He felt himself returning her smile. “You’re not a fool, Desi. But you’ve got friends around here who care enough about you to find out if you’re being misled. That’s pretty special. It’s also a situation someone didn’t count on. Good job, Warden.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “Because you’ve got the most effective network in the world. People who give a damn.” With that he slid out of the truck and took a deep breath of the fresh air. Evening was just beginning to move in. Maybe too late to cook steaks tonight. But when would he have the chance again? The way this woman worked, there wasn’t a whole lot of leftover time.

  Probably good, because if he hung around her too much, he’d be trying to get her into bed. The need was growing in him, a constant humming when she was around. It was getting harder to behave himself.

  But he was playing a dangerous game, apparently not very well, and that concerned him even more.

  Not for himself, but for her.

  Chapter 7

  The ponytailed man was sitting with his friend, the bearded man, the two of them sharing some beer and nuts while watching a recorded football game they’d missed on Sunday.

  “The client list is getting full,” the bearded man said. “Usually I don’t like latecomers, but it looks like we’re going to have a banner year.”

  “I saw. You checked everyone out?”

  “Like always. You know we have to worry less about phonies now that everything is word-of-mouth. I check older clients about new clients in addition to everything else. We’re safe. Except from competition.”

  “Yeah, competition. Another one has turned up near Yellowstone. Anyway, I’ve been running checks. Two haven’t applied for licenses. One has an application in the system, but I heard just before close of business that it’s going to be denied.”

  “Which one?”

  “The one in Conard County. My source says the guy’s hanging out with the warden there. Her old friend it seems.”

  “Hmm.” The bearded man fell silent. “Hanging with the warden? Either he’s good at lying or she’s that blinded.”

  “If he’s an old friend of hers, she might well be blinded.”

  “Could be. Or they could be working together.”

  The ponytailed man put his beer bottle down. His heart accelerated. His buddy was edging too close to the truth, and he didn’t want that. It might reveal too much about his contacts. “In what way? She’s willing to turn a blind eye?”

  “Or maybe he’s helping her.”

  Slowly the ponytailed man turned toward him, wondering how to redirect this. “What exactly are you saying?”

  “That maybe she wants to get one of us. The bighorn Rod did last week...big mistake. On a rancher’s land, for God’s sake? Might as well post a sign. No way the carrion feeders could clear out a carcass that big fast enough on private property.”

  Ponytail man nodded. “Point taken.”

  “Hell, he might as well stamped it with a sign. We know the wardens are hot on poaching. They have no idea how many animals we take down because we don’t leave a trail very often. Now she knows she’s got a trophy hunter for sure, and she managed to find some other carcasses over the last two years. They could be random poachings, but one on the chief of police’s property? Posted property? We’ve got too much skin hanging in the breeze.

  “They can’t prove anything. Not yet. But you do a background on this Kel Westin. Former army Ranger. I ask you, who is he a bigger threat to? Us or the animals?”

  Ponytail man took a couple of swigs from his longneck before replying. “Us,” he said finally. “So you think she’s got an old friend helping her?”

  “That’s my read. The license app? Cover. They’re working together.”

  “Then I guess we need to stay away.”

  “Oh, don’t give me that crap,” bearded man said. “There’s a lot of trophy animals in that area. We can’t meet our demand if we pull out, not without making it obvious what’s going on by having so many more game animals poached in other areas. No, we can’t just shut down our operations there.”

  “Then what?”

  “We may have to take them both out, the warden and her friend. But we’ll have to wait a bit and see.”

  Ponytail man wasn’t opposed, but he hoped his friend kept his yap shut. “Don’t tell the others what you’re thinking. The fewer who know, the better.”

  The other man nodded. “Amazing how fast someone can disappear for good out there.”

  * * *

  As cold as it was, the baking potatoes took longer than usual on the grill behind the station, then when it came time to cook the steaks, Kel turned the heat way up to sear them. He used the finger test to determine when they were medium rare, then carr
ied the bowl of potatoes and covered platter of steaks upstairs, hoping they wouldn’t be cold by the time they reached the plate.

  Over the years he’d gotten used to eating a lot of cold food, but that seemed like a rotten thing to do to a steak.

  When he entered the apartment, he smelled broccoli, probably from the casserole on the counter. “Desi?”

  “I’ll be right out,” she called from what sounded like her bedroom.

  He started setting two places at the counter then froze as a thought struck him. Something wasn’t adding up. He was a man used to following orders, then thinking on the fly as situations developed. He never made the plans.

  He certainly hadn’t made this one, and for the first time he wondered why the hell they had wanted him to apply for a license. The idea was to convince the bad guys that he was running an illicit operation like them. So why should it be possible for someone to check up on him and find out he was being considered for a license?

  What the hell would that accomplish, except to possibly remove him from suspicion by the ring? And that wasn’t the point of this operation at all.

  Unless they thought they might learn something from who called to verify that he was getting a license? Same with the other guys in their various parts of the state?

  It might be. Damn. He started moving again, finishing the place settings as he heard Desi emerge from her bedroom.

  Something stank, but he’d spent an entire career feeling that something stank then just followed his orders and pursued his assigned objective. Usually the stink had been more imagined than real, and he seldom trusted his own instinct when it came to laying a plan anymore. Above his pay grade, as they used to say in the army.

  For the first time he wondered about the plan. About the people who had made it. Having him embed with Desi had been their plan. It put her at risk. Had they just assumed she’d check on his licensing? But why, when he was supposed to tell her exactly what he was doing here?