Free Trial by Fire by BA Tortuga Page B

fever, being stuck there with the damned thing, which wasn’t like a pup or even a calf that could fend for itself.
    “I’ll go to the truck stop over by Sulphur Springs as soon as Shiloh gets back from covering at the ranch, then. They don’t know me there,” Kade said. “They have that shit.”
    “Call Shi. Tell him to stop for beer and burgers too. I got a vicious headache.”
    “Good deal.” Kade got on the horn, and Norman rubbed the back of his neck.
    Norman hadn’t thought this through when he’d done it. Hell, none of them had. They’d been bullshitting a few nights ago, talking on how it weren’t a bit fair that them Sheffields used honest working folks like them for set up and pull down instead of for roping like they ought.
    Then Norman had heard that Australian feller talking about wanting the baby, and he’d thought maybe he could sell the brat back to the highest bidder.
    Course, then they’d realized they’d all have to check in at the ranch before they called in a ransom demand so no one would suspect anything.
    “I might come with you,” Norman said. “Shi has a million brothers and sisters. He ought to be taking care of this thing.”
    The Sheffields had a zillion damn people on the fucking ranch anyway. They had no way to tell who all was where and when.
    God, the damn thing wouldn’t stop screaming. “Pick it up, would you?”
    “You pick it up. I don’t want to get my skin cells on it! I watch them cop shows!” Kade was starting to sound like a titty baby too.
    Norman’s head was going to explode.
    The sound of Shiloh’s old clunker truck came from outside just then, making them both sigh with relief.
    The kid came in, loaded down like a damn pack mule. “Y’all! You can hear her all the way in the parking lot! And those dogs were all right at the door. I had to run them off. Are they from the ranch?”
    Like it was nothing, Shiloh dropped the bags, picked up the baby, and started walking her around, bouncing her up and down.
    A few more wails, one hiccup, and the kid shut right up. Bang. Oh, thank God.
    “Dogs can’t follow trucks, you moron. You bring beer?”
    Shiloh shook his head. “Lady at the truck stop wouldn’t go for it, man. I ain’t but nineteen. Guys, there’s all these cops, like everywhere. FBI and sheriff’s deputies and shit. They think we’ve gone done and killed her.”
    “What?” Norman wasn’t no baby killer. “Why would they say that?”
    “We ain’t called up with a ransom. ’Parently we’re late.” Shiloh looked over with huge scared eyes, his face all bruised up from where he’d fought them on the barn fire. Stupid shit, caring if a horse died when they were going to make millions.
    Christ, had him and Kade ever been so young? Ever?
    “Well, then, we need to call. Or y’all do. I’ll go to the ranch so one of us is there when they get the call.”
    He swore, first thing he was gonna do with his part of the money was buy his own truck so they wasn’t always using Shiloh’s.
    “How much do we ask for?” Kade asked.
    “Huh. Well, we know they just valued the Sheffield ranch at what? Ten million? Something like that.” Norman pondered. “That Aussie feller has a lot more land, though.”
    “More land?” Shiloh blinked over at him like a goat looking at a new fence. “Christ. Like the King Ranch?”
    “Bigger,” Kade said. “I looked it up, and his public holdings are, like, four million acres. Four million acres, and only a hundred and fifty folks live on it. Add to that, them folks got some sort of corporation deal—patents and trade deals and all. I’m talking all this money just pouring and no one to spend it on. He’s like a gazillionaire.”
    “Four…. Jesus.” Shiloh just stared.
    Norman got it. That much land was impossible to ride fence on. A man had to use helicopters to herd cattle. That was no way to live.
    “So, we ask for ten million?” Kade asked.
    “Yeah. Yeah, that’s fair. You tell ’em we want