Page 28 of Smokescreen

“That sounds like the perfect opportunity for me to meet more people and gather more information.”

“That’s what I thought as well.”

They continued trotting along beside each other.

“Also, I have an appointment in town with my lawyer today,” Reid said a moment later. “I’m meeting with him about this will Lucy showed me. How do you feel about tagging along?”

Olive gripped Bella’s reins as she bounced along. “I think that’s a great idea. I’d like to hear his take on the situation. But, of course, I’ll appear to do that from the perspective of your girlfriend and not an investigator.”

“I trust you will.”

“I’m having one of my colleagues look into Lucy’s background a little more also. Hope you’re okay with that.”

“Go for it.”

Perfect. Olive wanted to figure out why the woman suddenly wanted some of this property. It seemed suspicious. She didn’t seem the type to have ranching aspirations.

Reid paused near a gate.

He opened it and let Olive through before entering the pasture himself and closing the gate behind him.

He stared out over the land. “These are some of my cattle that graze this portion of my property. This side is a little landlocked. It butts up against the highway to the north.”

Olive looked out over the pasture, the herd too numerous to count as they wandered the rolling green hills. “How many cattle do you own?”

“About twenty-five hundred.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “That’s a lot of beef.”

She knew a little about the cattle industry. Depending on the cow, a rancher could get up to a thousand dollars per head.

However, in order to maintain that many cattle, a rancher had to have the proper amount of land—one or two acres per cow. Also, between food and medical expenses for each cow, the business wasn’t as lucrative as most people believed.

“Do you think your cattle could be the resource someone’s going after?” she asked.

Reid’s lips flicked downward in a quick frown before he shook his head. “Cattle are profitable. But I don’t see why someone would sabotage my ranch in order to obtain my livestock.”

“That does seem like a stretch. Then again, everything does. But we’ll figure it out. We just need more time.” Olive paused and drew in a deep breath of fresh air. “You know, I could get used to a place like this.”

Reid threw her a grin. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“I can see why you like it here. The big city has nothing on this.”

“I agree.”

Just then, she noticed Reid’s gaze tighten. “What is it?”

“Follow me.” He nudged his horse, and the creature began galloping across the pasture.

Olive followed suit, trailing behind him.

She had no idea what could have caught his eye.

As she glanced farther in the distance, she spotted an inconsistency in the fence line.

Part of it appeared to have fallen down.

That meant some of Reid’s cattle could have wandered from the safe perimeters of the ranch . . . and into danger.