Colorado Abduction. Cassie Miles

got plenty of other guns.”

      “Well, sure.” He raked his fingers through his thinning salt-and-pepper hair. “Most everybody has backup weapons. But we want all the firepower we can get. Especially since some polecat is shooting at us.”

      “And I suppose you’re missing your pretty new Glock nine millimeter?”

      “Ain’t she a beaut?” A proud smile stretched his face, and she noticed the wad of chewing tobacco that made a pouch in his cheek. “I bought it when all this sabotage started up. Gave my old piece to MacKenzie, that new kid.”

      “I’m assuming,” Burke said from the sofa, “that you legally transferred ownership.”

      “Speaking of sabotage,” Carolyn said, quickly changing the subject. If Burke got official about the paperwork for all the firearms on this ranch, there would be trouble. “What’s your opinion, Lucas? Who do you think is behind it?”

      “Don’t know who,” he said, “and I don’t know why. But it all started when we moved a couple hundred head onto the south grazing pasture, near the Widow Grant’s property.”

      Dylan grumbled, “Don’t start.”

      “Carolyn asked a legitimate question,” Lucas said. “And she deserves an answer.”

      Apparently, there had been a dispute between these two. “Please, Lucas, continue.”

      “The first time I found a fence post torn down, I told Dylan that we should herd them cattle to a different area. He wouldn’t hear a word of it. Then we had another incident. And another. Dylan still wouldn’t change his mind. He sure can be pigheaded. Not meaning any disrespect.”

      “I didn’t move the cattle,” Dylan explained, “because I’m trying a new system of rotating the herd.”

      On the sofa, Burke leaned forward. His heels hit the floor with a loud thump—a subtle but effective way to get their attention. “Lucas, can you tell me why having cattle in that pasture might provoke vandalism?”