“Isn’t that enough? Plus, what would be her motive? The ammo thing doesn’t really fly, as any idiot would know not to store explosive ammunition anywhere near horses.” And, even though Matt didn’t say it out loud to his friend, the simmering attraction he felt for the redhead also had something to do with it.
Ha. He needed to make sure he thought with his head, not with his groin. Which was ironic, in its own way. He’d never had a problem getting women, and most of them, like the models he occasionally dated, were happy with his no-commitment philosophy as long as he occasionally bought them a bauble or two.
Maybe that would be the solution. But though he knew if he picked up the phone and called, any one of them would come running, the knowledge did nothing for him. He simply wasn’t interested.
No, he was better off keeping his focus where it belonged’on his plan to draw in Diego Rodriguez. He was too close now to screw it up.
Meanwhile, his most valuable horse had completely vanished.
“I don’t see him.” Once again, José shone the flashlight beam out into the pasture. The high-intensity light illuminated a good area, but there were no signs of the stallion.
“Keep looking,” he ordered tersely, turning in the opposite direction with his own light. “The sun should be up soon.”
“Do you wanna check out the’”
“No.” Matt cut José off before he could finish the sentence. He gave a second, meaning-filled glance behind them. “You never know who might be following or listening.”
José grimaced. “Got it.”
They branched out, Matt calling Saint’s name in a low voice, the way he might have called for a dog. The horse knew his voice and had even come to it once or twice, though no time had been spent actually training for this. In the predawn light, he doubted it would work this time, either.
Add to that the fact that the stallion was no doubt terrified and possibly wounded... No, they’d have to find him and corner him before he got a chance to run again.
Matt could only hope he wasn’t hurt too badly.
Twenty minutes passed, then thirty. José had begun to slow down, his defeat evident in the rounding of his broad shoulders.
“You can go in if you want,” Matt offered. “I’m going to keep looking.”
“I still think it’d be better to wait until full light. Go back to the house, grab a cup of coffee and something to eat, and head back out.”
“Eat?” Matt asked. “I doubt anyone’s getting much breakfast this morning. Not with the barn still burning and the fire department there trying to put out the fire. Also, Doc Bertram is working overtime checking out my horses, so I’d say if anyone deserves breakfast, it’s him.”
José acknowledged the truth of that statement with a weary grimace. “Still, right now with these flashlights, it’s like looking for a needle in a damn haystack.”
The old cliché made Matt shake his head. He felt a deep exhaustion as well, but refused to give up until he found his horse. “Saint’s worth it,” he said. “Besides, you know as well as I do how many coyotes roam these parts. I can’t risk it. If he’s wounded and they catch wind of the scent of his blood...”
They’d surround the horse and take him down. Maybe. Still, he couldn’t take the chance. Not only was Saint a valuable purebred stud horse, but he was Matt’s personal mount.
When they reached the end of that pasture, they stopped. “No sign of him.” Matt tried not to sound defeated.
“The gate’s closed to the next one,” José pointed out. “He didn’t come through here.”
“He can jump.” Pushing away the exhaustion, Matt rubbed the back of his neck. “Normally, he doesn’t, but if he’s out of his mind with terror, who knows?”
“So you want to check out the next pasture, then?”
It was dangerously close to the caves. Matt wasn’t about to take the chance of Skylar following them. Though there was nothing illegal about the amount of ammo he had stockpiled, he needed to keep the location secret if his plan was ever going to work. Everyone’including the ATF’had moles. Once the cartel learned of the location, they’d simply take what they wanted.
It was how they operated.
He walked a dangerous tightrope and he knew it. While he had no plans of doing anything illegal’other than taking down the man who’d slaughtered his family, that is’he’d do what he had to do in order to ensure success.
Ironically enough, though, the one thing the ATF suspected him of was the lone act he wouldn’t commit. No way in hell would he be selling ammunition to the Mexican cartel to fuel their war.
“Hey.” A feminine voice behind them had them turning. Matt shot José a wry look that meant I told you so.
“Having any luck?” Skylar asked, walking up to them without using her flashlight. Though he supposed since they’d just been using theirs they were easy to spot, he didn’t like it. Still, the darkness did appear to be lifting, even though the sun hadn’t risen.
“I thought you were searching the other way,” Matt said.
She shrugged, apparently unconcerned. “I took a quick look, didn’t see anything and headed this way.”
Lying. He didn’t know how he could tell, but he knew. He shouldn’t have been so surprised.
“Maybe you should have gone back to your trailer after all,” José drawled.
Ignoring him, she focused on Matt. “I take it you two haven’t had any success?”
“Do you see a horse?” José sniped.
Slowly, Matt shook his head in warning. “No, we haven’t been able to find him.”
“That’s odd.” Shining her flashlight out ahead of them, she sighed. “I’ve searched two pastures, even though I had to climb over one fence. I know most horses won’t jump a fence unless provoked, so I have to ask. Do you think there’s a possibility the stallion was stolen?”
For a heartbeat Matt could only stare. “Why would you think that?”
“The barn fire could have been a diversion.”
“But they would have gotten Saint out first,” José said, his tone indicating he gave no credence to her idea.
To be fair, Matt took a few seconds and considered it. “Anything is possible,” he finally said. “But I don’t think that’s why the fire was set.”
“Then why?” she asked, the slight edge to her voice letting him know he’d fallen neatly into her trap.
As if he’d tell her the fire had most likely been a warning from one of the large Mexican drug cartels. Since they all were at war with each other, they didn’t like their suppliers dealing with other factions.
Despite the fact that Matt was not yet officially supplying them with anything, José had made sure the word got out that he had ammo to sell.
This fire was meant to be a warning. La Familia, the largest of the cartels, didn’t take kindly to any opposition. The fact that several groups, including Diego Rodriguez’s, had shown an interest in the ammunition had no doubt angered them. The fire was their way of showing him exactly what he needed to do. Matt felt quite certain he’d be getting another message soon to reinforce that point, whether verbal or written.
Meanwhile, Diego Rodriguez was lying low. He knew full well the dangers of forming his own cartel and going against his former. This much ammo would certainly help him in the inevitable war that would follow.
Diego needed this ammunition. That much Matt knew.
Which