She set down her invoice pad. “How can I help, Deputy?”
“Last night, three horses went missing from the Sanford place.”
Mel drew back in alarm. “You’re kidding!”
“It’s the third incident this month,” Aaron said. “I’m pretty sure we’re dealing with rustlers.”
“I can’t believe it.”
The first missing horses had been considered a fluke. A few even claimed they’d escaped their pasture and joined a wild herd often spotted near the Salt River. Then, after a second group of horses disappeared, people took notice. But horse rustling? That seemed like something out of the Old West. Not modern day.
“Why?” she asked, still grappling with the news. “None of the horses were particularly valuable. Mostly ranch stock.”
“Slaughter?”
Mel’s off-and-on sensitive stomach gave a lurch. She regularly dealt with the death of animals, many of the circumstances heartbreaking. As a result, she’d learned to cope. Still, the idea of horses being stolen for the purpose of profiting from their slaughter sickened her.
“Aaron’s visiting all the area ranch owners,” Ethan said. “Seeing if they’ve noticed anything suspicious in recent months and asking them to check with their employees.”
“What can I do?” Mel asked Aaron.
“You travel the valley on a regular basis,” he said. “Just keep your eyes and ears open. Contact the station if you spot anything out of the ordinary. Unfamiliar vehicles parked where they don’t belong. Strangers lingering or asking unusual questions. Don’t worry that you’re being overly paranoid.”
“Of course,” Mel said. “Absolutely.”
“I appreciate it.”
After another nod, he and Ethan wandered a short distance away, continuing their conversation. Mel studied them before returning to her invoice. She’d give it to the horse owner on her way out. After checking her schedule, she phoned her next customer and gave him a heads-up on her impending arrival.
She was about to climb into the truck when Aaron unexpectedly appeared in her peripheral vision. She turned, her hand resting on the door. “Hi.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Why?” She automatically glanced about to see if they were being observed. Another nervous habit.
“You look pale.”
“Do I?” Mel touched her face, only to let her hand drop. “I got up early. And,” she added, suddenly recalling, “I missed lunch.”
“You work too hard.”
It was true. She did. But she had no choice. Not if she expected to make her monthly payments to Doc Palmer.
“Speaking of which, I’d better go. I have another appointment.” She smiled, wished for just a moment they were alone and started to slide in behind the steering wheel. She didn’t suggest calling him later. Chitchatting on the phone wasn’t something they did.
Aaron’s next words stopped her. “See you tomorrow. At the party.”
“You’re going?” That was a surprise. Mel had reviewed the guest list last night and knew his name wasn’t on it.
“Dolores invited us. She and Nancy are in the same Bunko group.”
“Right. I forgot.”
“You don’t mind?”
Mel dismissed his concerns with a nonchalant wave. “Dad’ll be glad to have you there. All of you.”
By all of you, Mel meant Aaron’s almost three-year-old daughter and his mother-in-law, Nancy, who’d lived with him and his daughter since the death of Aaron’s wife.
Granted, their arrangement might seem a bit unconventional to some, but apparently it worked. Nancy’s late daughter had been her only child. Watching her granddaughter during the day, sharing Aaron’s home, allowed her to stay connected while also providing him with a trustworthy and devoted caregiver. At least, that was how he’d explained it to Mel.
All at once, Ethan returned from wherever it was he’d gone and hailed Aaron.
“Go on,” Mel told him, and hopped in her truck. “I’m running late as it is.”
“Do me a favor. Eat and get some rest.” Before she could start the ignition, he placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.
She wanted to be mad. He was breaking their strictest rule. Except it was hard to be mad when her shoulder tingled deliciously at his touch and continued to even after he’d moved off.
Mel shut the truck door and drove away, almost forgetting to drop off her invoice with the horse owner on her way out.
Reaching the end of the long drive leading down the mountain from the ranch, she stopped and let the truck idle. Since she and Aaron had begun seeing each other, they’d both worried how people, like Nancy for instance, might be hurt. It was yet another reason for the two of them to keep their relationship casual and private.
Lately, however, Mel worried about her vulnerable heart. She hadn’t counted on her feelings for Aaron growing and did her best to hide it from him.
She let out a long sigh. What had seemed so simple at first was slowly becoming complicated. Aaron and his family attending her father’s party, and his mother-in-law developing a friendship with Mel’s stepmom certainly wasn’t helping matters. Neither was her upset stomach, which gave another lurch.
Nerves. And stress. Those had to be the reasons. Mel refused to consider anything else.
* * *
AARON WAS MAKING his third trip of the day to the Sanford place. The first time he’d arrived at 6:20 a.m. in response to the 9-1-1 call. He’d returned at 9:50 a.m. when Ken Sanford, Sr. called to say he’d discovered fresh tire tracks behind their far pasture—no one had driven the dirt road since before the last rains.
Now, Aaron was heading to the ranch for another look around, planning to focus on the cut fence where the thieves had entered the property. When his cop’s gut told him to persist, he usually did. There was always the chance he’d missed something during his previous inspections.
Horse rustling. Who’d have guessed he’d be investigating a crime of that nature in this day and age? A search of records at the station revealed the last such incident committed in Mustang Valley had been in the 1930s. Wow.
Aaron observed every detail as he drove, despite frequently traveling this road. He couldn’t help himself—too many years on the force. That didn’t stop the other half of his brain from wandering. Specifically to Mel. Not that he didn’t always think of her when they weren’t together.
She’d looked unwell earlier, and that bothered him. He understood the lines of fatigue on her pretty oval face. With her demanding schedule, that wasn’t
