training purposes. Apparently they left land mines and booby traps behind.”
Something like that, Kate thought now, as she eased through the hole she’d cut in the fence and headed for a spot she’d been wanting to check out. She knew it was like finding a needle in a haystack, but she wasn’t giving up. What she was looking for was here—she could feel it.
Overhead, a hawk soared on a thermal. Nearby a squirrel chattered at her from a pine bough. Her boots crunched on the dirt as she walked along the edge of the crumbling rock foundation of what had once been an outbuilding of some sort.
Ahead she saw the house, barn and more outbuildings. They’d all weathered to a dull gray over the past thirty years. And while all were still standing, the years hadn’t been kind to them. The hollow was reclaiming the land. Weeds grew high up all sides of the buildings. Water leaked in the roofs, rotting the wood beneath. Critters had moved into each dwelling, making nests, chewing their way through the walls.
There was a desolation about the place she suspected had always been here, though. She avoided the buildings, keeping to the trees and a faint animal trail she’d found that headed higher up into the hollow.
The lower part of the land lay in foothills but quickly rose in a deep, fairly wide canyon with rock cliffs, towering pines and a meandering creek that any other time of the year ran slow and clear. Now the creek raged as snow still melted slowly in the shade along the north side of the cliffs.
She hadn’t gone far when she found the spot she was looking for. She turned on the metal detector, anxious to get to work. It wasn’t long until she realized the problem she was going to have using the metal detector. She was looking for a metal box and the area was littered with parts of old cars, food tins, nails and other junk.
Still her heart raced each time the device went off—like right now. She was getting a good, strong indication of something belowground. Turning off the metal detector, she grabbed her small digging tool and began to upend the earth around the spot.
Almost ready to go back to the pickup for the shovel, her tool struck something that sounded solid. She dug faster, realizing she was losing her light with the waning daylight. She unearthed enough of the object to see that it was an old vehicle bumper.
With growing disappointment along with aching muscles, she’d started to fill in the hole when she felt the skin prickle on the back of her neck. She spun around, half expecting to find someone standing behind her.
A breeze teased at the loose hair around her face. She brushed it back, staring downhill toward the road she’d come in on. No sign of anyone, but there were too many trees and buildings between her and the road where someone could hide.
A meadowlark sang from the spring grass nearby. The breeze sighed in the tall pines. Her heart began to settle down again, but one hand still gripped the gun in her jacket pocket.
Someone was out there, watching her. It wasn’t her imagination.
* * *
S HERIFF F RANK C URRY was waiting for the new owner of the Branding Iron Café when she returned. He was surprised to see that her jeans and Western shirt were dirty, as if she’d been digging in a garden. But Kate didn’t have a garden.
“Sheriff,” she said when she saw him. “I didn’t expect to see you twice in one day.” She opened the back door of the café and he followed her inside. “Coffee?”
He shook his head and took the booth they’d shared earlier that morning. It had been a long day and Kate LaFond looked as tired as he felt.
“You get into the hog wrestling at the fair?” he asked, indicating her dirty attire.
“Just went for a hike,” she said. “Took a little spill.”
He didn’t believe her, but he also didn’t call her on it. “So you like running the café here in Beartooth?”
She smiled. “I doubt you were waiting for me in the heat of the day to ask me
Something like that, Kate thought now, as she eased through the hole she’d cut in the fence and headed for a spot she’d been wanting to check out. She knew it was like finding a needle in a haystack, but she wasn’t giving up. What she was looking for was here—she could feel it.
Overhead, a hawk soared on a thermal. Nearby a squirrel chattered at her from a pine bough. Her boots crunched on the dirt as she walked along the edge of the crumbling rock foundation of what had once been an outbuilding of some sort.
Ahead she saw the house, barn and more outbuildings. They’d all weathered to a dull gray over the past thirty years. And while all were still standing, the years hadn’t been kind to them. The hollow was reclaiming the land. Weeds grew high up all sides of the buildings. Water leaked in the roofs, rotting the wood beneath. Critters had moved into each dwelling, making nests, chewing their way through the walls.
There was a desolation about the place she suspected had always been here, though. She avoided the buildings, keeping to the trees and a faint animal trail she’d found that headed higher up into the hollow.
The lower part of the land lay in foothills but quickly rose in a deep, fairly wide canyon with rock cliffs, towering pines and a meandering creek that any other time of the year ran slow and clear. Now the creek raged as snow still melted slowly in the shade along the north side of the cliffs.
She hadn’t gone far when she found the spot she was looking for. She turned on the metal detector, anxious to get to work. It wasn’t long until she realized the problem she was going to have using the metal detector. She was looking for a metal box and the area was littered with parts of old cars, food tins, nails and other junk.
Still her heart raced each time the device went off—like right now. She was getting a good, strong indication of something belowground. Turning off the metal detector, she grabbed her small digging tool and began to upend the earth around the spot.
Almost ready to go back to the pickup for the shovel, her tool struck something that sounded solid. She dug faster, realizing she was losing her light with the waning daylight. She unearthed enough of the object to see that it was an old vehicle bumper.
With growing disappointment along with aching muscles, she’d started to fill in the hole when she felt the skin prickle on the back of her neck. She spun around, half expecting to find someone standing behind her.
A breeze teased at the loose hair around her face. She brushed it back, staring downhill toward the road she’d come in on. No sign of anyone, but there were too many trees and buildings between her and the road where someone could hide.
A meadowlark sang from the spring grass nearby. The breeze sighed in the tall pines. Her heart began to settle down again, but one hand still gripped the gun in her jacket pocket.
Someone was out there, watching her. It wasn’t her imagination.
* * *
S HERIFF F RANK C URRY was waiting for the new owner of the Branding Iron Café when she returned. He was surprised to see that her jeans and Western shirt were dirty, as if she’d been digging in a garden. But Kate didn’t have a garden.
“Sheriff,” she said when she saw him. “I didn’t expect to see you twice in one day.” She opened the back door of the café and he followed her inside. “Coffee?”
He shook his head and took the booth they’d shared earlier that morning. It had been a long day and Kate LaFond looked as tired as he felt.
“You get into the hog wrestling at the fair?” he asked, indicating her dirty attire.
“Just went for a hike,” she said. “Took a little spill.”
He didn’t believe her, but he also didn’t call her on it. “So you like running the café here in Beartooth?”
She smiled. “I doubt you were waiting for me in the heat of the day to ask me
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