Page 4

S aturday morning dawned bright and clear, and Mandy faced her mother over the breakfast table. It was Saturday, and she would be off early today. “Will you be okay if I go to the lake for a few hours after work?” she asked. “I’d like to start working on my tan today, and I thought I’d see if Beverly wanted to go with me. Summer will be here before you know it.”

“Oh sure,” Sara replied. She waved her hand at Mandy, engrossed in the papers she was studying. “I have a lunch date with Randy myself.”

“Is he taking you out?”

Sara looked up. “Yes, to that new restaurant over in Mule Valley. I hear it’s a good one.”

“Well, have fun then,” Mandy chuckled as she got up and kissed her mother’s cheek. “I’m going to call Az and see where he is. He was supposed to pick me up this morning.”

“Your truck is in the driveway; he brought it home last night.”

“Aww—what a sweetheart,” Mandy cooed sarcastically. “Not!” She could hear her mother’s chuckle behind her as she grabbed her purse and cell phone and headed for the front door.

Mandy took great pleasure in thumbing her nose at Az’s jeep when she drove by the sheriff’s office, her anger still simmering beneath the surface. She’d checked her butt in the mirror this morning and it was still pink in a few spots. She grimaced at herself in the mirror as she wiggled to get comfortable on the covered bench seat.

“He should be horsewhipped, right, Mags?” She muttered the question to the loyal Mags, who was lounging on the seat beside her. Mags woofed in agreement, and Mandy patted her head with a chuckle.

When the bell chimed over the market door at 11:00 a.m., Mandy looked up to see Az sauntering toward her. “Oh my, look at the time. I’m off for the day.” Breezing out from behind the counter, she headed for the back of the store, completely ignoring the advancing Az. She’d just been getting ready to leave for lunch and the lake anyway, so the timing was perfect to dodge him. Leave him pining after her, she thought with a snicker.

“Hold it right there.”

She fumed at the naked command in his deep voice, wondering if he had always sounded so stern, or if she was suddenly more sensitive to the nuance. Either way, she ignored it and kept walking. When her elbow was grasped and she was whirled around to face him, she stared at him in icy silence.

“I asked you to stop, Mandy, I want to talk to you.”

“No, you didn’t ask me, Az,” she pointed out. “You ordered me to stop. I don’t take orders from you.” She jerked her elbow out of his grasp, aware of her grandmother watching them from the service counter. The feel of his fingers lingered on her arm, stirring strange sensations in her lower regions. “What do you want?”

His eyes narrowed warily. “I wanted to see what you were doing tonight, and whether you would like to go to dinner with me. Sounds like you’re not interested. though.”

Mandy’s heart took an excited leap. She wanted to go with him, yet she didn’t. She was still angry with him for spanking her. Right now, she wanted to make him squirm. “I hadn’t made plans today, beyond swimming and sunbathing at Possum Lake, but I’ll have to check and see what Mom is doing,” she replied cooly.

Az’s dark brows took a downward dive like two spears slanting in. “You’re not going to Possum Lake; I don’t want you up there right now.”

Mandy stared at him in disbelief. “Excuse me? What did you just say?”

“I said, I don’t want you going to Possum Lake today. I’ll let you know when you can go again. In the meantime, it’s off limits.”

Mandy heard the mocking tone in his voice and mentally started counting to ten. Not only was he telling her what to do again, but he was laughing at her while he was doing it. Not even deigning to answer, she spun on her heel and stalked off indignantly towards the bathroom before she completely lost her temper and started throwing canned green beans at his head.

“Mandy, wait, let me explain,” he said as he caught up to her again and whirled her around for the second time. “Something is going on at...”

A feminine voice interrupted him. “Az, I haven’t got all day. It’s now or never.”

Mandy looked down the aisle to see Courtney Beauchamp turning her back on them, her ample rear swaying back and forth in blue cotton shorts as she walked away. Mandy gritted her teeth and jerked her arm out of Az’s grasp, a stab of white-hot jealousy coursing through her. “You better catch up with your girlfriend before she leaves you behind,” she said snidely.

“I do have to go, Mandy,” he replied, sounding frustrated. “I’ll pick you up at 7:00 this evening.” He began to hurry away after the retreating girl, much to Mandy’s disgust. “I’ll explain about the lake later.”

Mandy watched him go, seething at the fact that Courtney once again seemed to have Az on the run. She’d been after him all during high school, and he’d seemed to lap it up. “Big jerk,” she muttered.

“The Beauchamps have lost some cattle,” Grams spoke up. “I’m guessing she’s in town on behalf of her brother to report it.”

Mandy snorted and didn’t reply. Courtney was as conniving as ever, and she didn’t trust her. “Later, Grams.”

When she drove out of the alley in her pickup, she saw them together in front of the store. Courtney was leaning against the white police truck, and Az had his arm resting protectively along the roof’s edge, giving the impression of intimacy with the pretty, auburn-haired girl. His white teeth flashed in a grin at something she said, and she moved closer to him, putting her hand on his broad chest.

Mandy couldn’t help it. Anger and jealousy flared, and she peeled rubber while pulling out onto the main street. He couldn’t stand still long enough to explain his dictates to her, but he could make time to flirt with Courtney?

She was still furious when she pulled up in front of Beverly’s blue, two-story Victorian home with white shutters and a concrete porch on Apple Street. Her friend was waiting at the end of the sidewalk. Mags woofed and stuck her head out the door when Beverly opened it.

“Move over, Mags, give me some room,” the small, dark-haired girl said with a laugh, pushing the dog over. She took one look at Mandy’s face and her eyes widened. “Wow...what has you in a tizzy?”

“Nothing,” Mandy muttered, sending her vehicle speeding towards the cutoff to Possum Lake. She’d be darned if she would listen to Az. If it wasn’t important enough to explain, then it wasn’t worth worrying about as far as she was concerned.

“Is it because Az made you leave the Saddle last night?”

Beverly was making herself comfortable with Mags lying her head in her lap. Mandy could feel her friend’s inquisitive brown eyes studying her. They had been good friends since they were kids.

“That’s only part of it,” she replied. “He had the nerve to come into the grocery store and tell me I couldn’t go to Possum Lake. How arrogant is that?”

“Why not? What did he say? Did he have a reason?”

“No, he was too interested in following Courtney Beauchamp out of the store to bother explaining,” Mandy snarled. “He said he would tell me tonight,” she added, turning her blinker on as she slowed for the turnoff to the lake.

“You two are going out tonight?”

“He thinks so, I don’t.”

“Why not? And what do you mean—he thinks so?” Beverly was trying to follow the gist of the conversation, but there were too many hidden innuendos that she didn’t understand.

“I mean, I wouldn’t go out with him now if he paid me,” Mandy snapped. “Not after his little exhibition with Courtney on Main Street.”

“What exhibition? What’s going on?”

Mandy looked over at the bewildered girl and realized that Beverly was trying to follow the gist of her remarks, but her bitter, short jabs at Az weren’t gelling for her. So, she explained everything in detail that had been said and done, and in a calmer tone, as they made the short drive to the lake. When she finished, they were both silent for a few moments.

“Mandy, maybe there is a good reason for us not to come up here,” Beverly replied, looking around uneasily as Mandy pulled her small truck into the gravel parking lot above the beach and butted the back tires up against a railroad tie.

“What reason could there possibly be? Other than him being bossy?” She flung open the truck door and dropped to the ground. “Are you coming? I brought lunch.”

Beverly opened the door a bit hesitantly. “Well...there have been those cattle rustlings, you know. What if he knows something about it and it involves the lake area?”

“Like what?” Mandy scoffed, looking around her. They were the only people here as far as she could see.

Possum Lake was quite extensive, but this was the main beach and her favorite spot. It was a little early in the year for sunbathers and swimmers, so that would give them plenty of privacy to start their tans. Beverly’s words had made her feel a little uneasy, though, so she surveyed the wooded edges of the forest carefully. The beach was in a broad open area with two parking lots. They could easily see if anyone were to drive up the road or walk out of the trees.

The dam was three hundred yards off to their right, the noise from the giant sluiceway giving off a gentle roar as the water fell through it for two hundred feet. A metal grate walkway stretched across the dam, and people could cross to the other side of the lake if they wanted to. The walkway was lined with six-foot, see-through metal walls on both sides. It wasn’t a place for small children to be alone, but adults could open the gate latch and walk out over the lake easily enough.

Beverly shrugged. “I don’t know, but since he’s working for the sheriff’s office, it stands to reason they might know something.”

“I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be here,” Mandy replied stubbornly. “Besides, we have Mags. If anyone comes within a hundred yards of us, she will let us know about it.”

Mags woofed in agreement and shot Beverly a doggie grin.

Beverly stared. “You know, sometimes I think that dog understands everything you say.”

“Of course she does.”

Mags just stared back.

The girls walked down to the beach and spread their towels out on the sand while Mags roamed around, sniffing and snuffling at everything in her path.

They were feeling relaxed as they stripped to their bikinis and chatted amiably while they ate their picnic lunch. After clearing away the mess, they had just lain down on their towels when Mags began barking and dancing at the water’s edge. Mandy and Beverly both shot up, the dog’s frantic movements making them uneasy again.

“What is it, Mags?” Mandy asked, running down to the dog and looking out over the water. She shaded the sun from her eyes with her hand as she searched for the source of Mag’s concern.

“I think she is barking at that wooden thing in the water,” Beverly said, shading her eyes and pointing out towards the middle of the lake where something that looked like a round piece of wood was floating slowly towards the dam. “What is it?”

Mandy studied the wood, finally realizing that the majority of it must be underwater. It was slowly spiraling in a circle as it floated. A small wave bobbed it sideways, and when part of it popped up from beneath the water, she recognized it. “It’s a barrel.”

Mags sniffed the air, whining and running along the shore, following the slow progress of the barrel.

The girls followed her, also intrigued by something that seemed to be floating out of the barrel from a hole in the side.

Mags sniffed the air and barked, putting her front paws in the water along the edge as she paced herself with the moving barrel.

As they came closer to the dam, the lake narrowed, and the barrel moved in closer toward the shore. Another fifty feet and it would enter the downward pull of the sluices.

“Come here, Mags.” Mandy grabbed Mags’s collar, worried that the frantic dog would jump in the water. It was at that point that the barrel twirled again in the faster moving water and let go of the protuberance poking out from the hole. When the object popped fully up, the girls let out a gasp.

“Oh my gosh! It’s part of a cow’s leg with the hoof attached,” Beverly shrieked. “That is so gross!”

Mandy was having a difficult time holding onto Mag’s collar, but they watched as the tumbling barrel took in more lake water now that the bovine leg had unplugged the hole. When it turned upside down, she could see the letters stamped across the lid in bright fluorescent green.

GENETICO .

Then it disappeared into the sluice where it bobbed against the rush of the water behind it, trying to push the barrel through a too small opening.

The girls watched in horror as it burst open. Mags too-small, but she stopped pulling at her collar. For an instant, what was parts of a cow, including the head and the escaped leg, bounced and bobbed against the sluices before being inevitably sucked in.

The clang of the gate banging shut broke the stillness of horror that had settled over them at the macabre sight, and the girls looked up to see a man just coming off the dam, headed in their direction.

And he was carrying a rifle.

“Let’s get out of here,” Beverly squealed, turning and sprinting for the truck.

Both girls were spooked as they raced towards their beach gear. Mags was barking and running around them as if it were all a game. It was no game to them, though. Mandy was shaking as she grabbed her bag and ran for the truck, not even making the time to grab her towel.

When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw the man had stopped and was watching them. She clambered into the cab, sand and all, slammed the door locks down, and shoved the key into the ignition, her fingers shaking.

“Go, Mandy, go,” Beverly urged, her face as white as a sheet. “Go, before he starts shooting.”

Mandy shoved the pickup in reverse and spun out, then wheeled around and headed out of the parking lot, going for Possum Lake Road. The man could have almost intercepted them if he had chosen to, but he just stood there watching them. That made her feel a small bit of relief. She didn’t want to run over somebody, but she would if she had to.

As they came level with the man, Mandy glanced over at him. He was too far away to see his features clearly, and he had on sunglasses and a ballcap, but she could have sworn it was Sam Pickering. She’d never seen Sam with a ballcap before, though. Besides, he’d sworn that Genetico had nothing to do with the missing cattle.

Was he lying?

“Where did he come from?” Beverly’s voice was still high-pitched, her body shaking as she voiced the question. “He wasn’t there when we pulled up.”

“He must have parked across the dam,” Mandy replied. “And he could have been on the catwalk, and we wouldn’t have noticed him. Maybe he was standing there watching that barrel, too.”

“Geez, Mandy, that was gross. We have to tell the sheriff. What is Genetico doing to those poor cows? Are they doing horrible experiments and then chopping them up? And why are they putting them in barrels and dumping them in the lake?”

“I don’t know, Beverly.” Mandy chewed on her lip. Az must have known something about the cattle’s disappearances and was trying to warn her of possible danger, but she’d completely ignored him—because of Courtney.

The seat found a sore spot on her bottom when she hit a pothole, and she winced. It reminded her of what had happened last night. How would he feel when he found out she had gone to the lake after he told her not to? Especially after what just happened? She fidgeted uneasily. He had better not try to spank her again.

“I wonder if they’ve chopped up any people and put them in barrels?” Beverly’s imagination was working overtime. She was prone to panic attacks under extreme stress. This situation could certainly qualify.

“I doubt it,” Mandy scoffed uneasily, trying to be matter-of-fact. “There must be some other explanation. Sam said Genetico wasn’t doing anything with cows.”

“And you believe him?”

Mandy shot her a glance. “I don’t see any reason not to, Beverly. Calm down, will you?”

“I’m trying, I’m trying. But oh, my gawd...we could have been barrel meat if that man had caught us.”

Mandy rolled her eyes, but she let Beverly ramble on. It would relieve her stress. Her thoughts were still on Az, although she was listening to her friend with half an ear. Az seemed to have changed so much, and she didn’t know him anymore.

She realized the spanking he’d given her at fourteen wasn’t anything like the one he’d given her last night. She also realized that the Az she’d known all her life would never have kissed her like that, either. Chances were, this new Az might spank her for disobeying him. Her stomach danced at the thought.

They were driving along the west edge of Az’s ranch on Possum Lake Road when they spotted another vehicle heading their way. It looked like one of the police trucks, like the truck Az had been in earlier.

Mandy’s heart dropped into her stomach, and her pulse picked up. When the pickup drew near, it slowed and turned into a stop sideways across the road, causing Mandy to have to slow down and stop.

“Oh no, that’s Az,” Beverly squealed unnecessarily. “And he doesn’t look very happy, Mandy. Boy, I’d sure hate to be in your shoes right now.”

Beverly’s comments did nothing to ease the cold feeling in the pit of Mandy’s stomach as Az stalked around the front of his vehicle, his long legs eating up the ground. He looked very dangerous suddenly, and she felt the cowardly urge to drive away. Too bad he’d parked across the road; she couldn’t just leave him in her dust.

Instead, she opened her door and slid on shaky knees to the ground, her chin lifting bravely as she walked around the front of her truck to meet him. Mags danced excitedly around her, then ran to Az to poke her nose inside his hand. His large hand, she silently noted, remembering the sting of those lean fingers on her tender buttocks.

“Az, you’ll never guess what we saw up at the lake,” Beverly gushed, running around her side of the truck.

Mandy was relieved when Az’s piercing gaze settled on her friend. She felt like she could breathe again...for the moment.

“And what might that be?”

The question was low and silky, its deep male tones sliding over her nerve endings, and Mandy shivered involuntarily. She could sense the held in anger. It emanated from him like a seeping cauldron.

In short, he was furious.

***

A FTER BEVERLY’S EXCITED explanation , Az’s stony face softened slightly when he realized how scared the girls had been. He reached out and put his long arms around them both, relieved that nothing bad had happened. The fact that it could have made him sick with fear for Mandy. There was no point in belaboring the fact that they shouldn’t have been there; he held Mandy responsible for that and would settle with her later. Beverly had always gone along with her friend.

“I’m glad neither of you was hurt, but this is a break in the case. I want you girls to follow me into town to speak with the sheriff. He needs to know this.” He turned to Mandy. “Are you going to be okay to drive?” He could feel the trembling in her body where his long arm stayed around her waist.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Mandy replied stiffly.

He leaned down and whispered privately in her ear. “We are going to talk about this tonight, little girl.”

An involuntary shiver shook her frame.

Good. He wanted her to be worried.

Fifteen minutes later, they were all seated in the sheriff’s office, explaining what had happened. Sheriff Dorney rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“You say Sam Pickering was up there, Mandy? Did he make any threatening gestures?”

“No. The man was carrying a rifle, but he didn’t act threatening, and I can’t swear it was Sam,” Mandy replied. “I’m just saying it looked like him.”

“He started towards us.” Beverly leaned forward in her excitement. “It scared me to death. I thought he was after us.”

“He could have been—which is exactly why I didn’t want you girls going to the lake in the first place,” Az inserted sternly. “After Skeeter Davis pulled a rifle on my brothers and me last night, I was worried. Since someone is dumping up there, like he said, it could be more than just cow parts.”

Beverly protested. “Hey, don’t blame me. Mandy never told me you said to stay away until after we were already on our way.”

Sheriff Dorney looked directly at Mandy. “I don’t want you making any more deliveries to Genetico until I’ve checked this out.”

“All right, Sheriff,” Mandy assured him. “I’ll let Grams know.” She stood up. “Are we finished here? I need to go home and get a shower. I’m dropping sand everywhere.” She scrunched up her small nose.

Mags stood up as soon as Mandy made a move.

Az put his hand beneath Mandy’s elbow. “I’ll see you girls to the truck.” His hand was very possessive as he all but frog-marched Mandy down the hallway and out the door, much to her indignation. He could feel the tenseness emanating from her. Too bad, she would probably be a little more upset tonight.

When they arrived at the driver’s door of Mandy’s pickup, he placed his hand on the door handle, keeping her from opening it. Once Beverly was safely inside, he asked softly. “Why did you disobey me this morning, Mandy?”

Her eyebrow shot up in disbelief. “Since when are you my boss? You’re not my keeper, Az Newcomb, and I don’t have to answer to you.”

His eyes narrowed to slits. “You didn’t listen, and look what happened.”

“If you hadn’t been so busy with Courtney Beauchamp, maybe you would have had time to explain why I shouldn’t have gone. As it is...don’t expect blind obedience from me, Az. Even if you had the right to tell me what to do, which you don’t, I don’t take orders very well.” She looked down her small, slender nose at him.

“Mandy...”

His words were cut off when a black Land Rover suddenly whipped around them and screeched to a halt at the curb. The door swung open, and Sam Pickering stepped out of the truck, holding a deadly-looking rifle.

“Sam!” Mandy’s shocked voice came out in a squeak as Az roughly shoved her behind him. Sam wasn’t wearing a cap, but the sunglasses and red t-shirt matched the man at the lake.

Mags woofed and ran to Sam, looking for the customary biscuit he would give her when she saw him during their deliveries. He chuckled, reached into his jeans pocket, and brought one out for her. He held the rifle pointed down at his side, a sardonic grin on his handsome face. “Relax, cowboy, I’m not here to shoot anybody, I’m here to see the sheriff.”

Mandy stepped out from behind Az, and he let her. Mags hadn’t seen a threat; she knew Sam, but he didn’t care for that.

“Was it you at the lake a little while ago, Sam?” Mandy asked.

“Yes, it was. Why did you run off like that? I just wanted to talk to you.” He looked quizzically at her.

“I...we...that is,” Mandy stammered, her face turning pink.

“She did the right thing,” Az interrupted. “After what she and Beverly saw go into the sluice, they had a right to be nervous.”

Sam frowned. “Yes, I saw it too. I got a message to meet a man there, but no one showed up. I was still waiting when I noticed the barrel because Mags was barking at it. I think I was supposed to see it, though.” He patted Mags on her silky head as she nosed at his jean pocket. “No more, girl. You got the last one.”

“What do you mean?” Az asked, ignoring his jealousy over Mags.

“I got a call this morning, a little before 3:00 a.m. A male voice told me that Genetico was doing experiments on cows, and he had the proof. He told me to meet him at the dam in the middle of the crosswalk at 8:00 a.m., and he would show me.”

He glanced down at the rifle. “Naturally, I brought some protection in case he was some kind of kook.”

“You shouldn’t have tried to meet him alone.” Az frowned again.

“Do you realize how many weird calls we get about the missing cattle?” Sam asked impatiently. “Nine out of ten of them are crank calls. That’s what I figured this was, but I decided to check it out anyway. I wasn’t expecting to find anything.

Naturally, I was surprised when Mandy and her friend showed up, since the voice on the phone was male.” He grinned at Mandy and eyed her appreciatively. “You look great in a bikini, sweetheart. If you ever change your mind, let me know.”

Az shot him a freezing glare. “You better go talk to the sheriff. Since I’m helping him with this investigation, I’ll be back in there in a minute.”

He watched as Sam sauntered away, and then turned back to Mandy. “You go on home and get your shower. I’ll be at your house at 7:00 tonight to take you to dinner.”

Mandy lifted her nose in the air. “There you go again, telling me instead of asking. When will you learn, Az Newcomb?”

Az leaned in close—so close she could see the dark specks in his turquoise eyes. “Someone will be learning a lesson tonight, and it isn’t me. Guess who that leaves?”