Free Cowboy PI by Jean Barrett Page B

was ready to believe he had finally given up and rode away.
    After that she forgot about him. The trail had become so rugged it claimed the full attention of everyone in the outfit. Samantha spent the rest of the afternoon struggling to keep in the saddle while praying that Irma behaved herself.
    The sun was low in the sky when they neared the stream where they would make camp for the night. And that’s when Samantha saw him, a distant but unmistakable figure high on the ridge. They hadn’t lost him, after all. She felt vulnerable all over again.
    Samantha found a moment to talk to Roark while the cattle were being watered at the stream. “Our friend is back.”
    “I saw.”
    “There’s something else. Ramona claimed she didn’t know what I was talking about when I mentioned him to her, but I think she’s lying. I think she has noticed him up there. I don’t know if this is what has her so strained, but she’s upset about something.”
    Roark was thoughtful for a few seconds. “Looks like we need to discuss the subject with Ramona.”
    “I tried that at the break this morning and then again at lunch. She has nothing to say.”
    “Let’s see if this time we can persuade her.”
    They waited until the herd had been settled on the broad meadow beside the stream where the longhorns were content to graze, and then Roark drew the trail boss aside and explained the matter to him. Shep was reluctant at first and then agreed to accompany them. They approached the truck where it was parked on the far side of the meadow. Roark came right to the point.
    “Ramona, what do you know about this guy who’s been shadowing us all day?”
    The cook looked up from the stew she was preparing for their supper, a defensive expression on her round face. “Nothing. Why should I know anything?”
    “Then you wouldn’t have, say, any connection with him?”
    “That’s crazy. Where did you get such an idea?”
    “It’s just that it’s funny, him being out there all this time,” Shep said.
    “Well, what has that got to do with me?”
    “Just wondering,” the trail boss mumbled.
    “You can stop wondering. Anyway, I don’t know why you can’t leave him alone. He isn’t hurting anyone being out there, is he? He hasn’t even tried to come anywhere near us, so why all the fuss?”
    Ramona’s sudden anger was uncharacteristic, not at all like her, Samantha realized. Shep tried again.
    “If you would just—”
    She stopped him brusquely. “Excuse me. I’ve got work to do.” Seizing a triangle, she banged on it with a large spoon in the time-honored practice of a chuck wagon summoning the drovers to their meal.
    For Ramona the subject was ended. But not for Roark. He waited until the others arrived on the scene, and when the cook was occupied serving them their supper, he took Samantha and the trail boss off to one side.
    “Shep, you know Ramona. Would you say she is hiding something?”
    “Maybe,” Shep said, unwilling to commit himself beyond that.
    “I think she’s worried, anyway,” Samantha said.

    Roark nodded. “Which means it’s possible that, even if he was in the distance, she got enough of a glimpse of this guy to not like what she saw.”
    “Are you saying he’s someone she recognized?” Samantha asked. “Because if that’s true, why wouldn’t she just admit it?”
    “Who knows?”
    The lanky trail boss ran a hand through his graying hair and frowned. “You think we really do have a problem here?”
    Roark didn’t immediately reply. He gazed for a moment in the direction of the grazing herd. “Now that we’re not tied down with the cattle, what do you say, Shep, after supper you and I pay a visit to our friend up on the ridge? I think it’s time we had some answers from him.”
    Shep had no objection. “I guess we have enough daylight left for that.”
    After eating, and just before the two men rode off together, Samantha found herself promising Roark that, yes, she would keep alert in his