Life at the Ranch

by Malone, Misty

  “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  The next day they did exactly as planned. Bo got his men working on the fence, and went on down to work on his own section of it. They all had instructions to call if they needed help and he'd be there to help, or send someone else.

  Shortly before lunch Austin called with a problem. He was repairing a gate and needed some hardware. It looked as though a cow had been knocked into the gate at one point and the hardware was bent, not allowing the gate to open. Bo took the opportunity to go into town to get what they needed. He could surprise Alicia and take her out for lunch.

  He stopped to get the hardware he needed first, then went in search of Alicia. He found her car in front of a vacant building, and went in and surprised her. She explained that she found this vacant building and stopped to look in the window. The owner was driving past and saw her, so he stopped to talk to her, and let her look at it. She introduced the men, who started talking as they went through the building. It turned out they had a few things in common. They went to the same college, although several years apart. They talked about the professors that they both had.

  After they looked at the rental they went to lunch. Then Bo gave her a quick kiss before returning to the ranch.

  Chapter 9

  At supper that evening Alicia told Bo and Wyatt about the buildings she'd found for rent, and how much they would cost. They were discussing them when the doorbell rang. Wyatt went to answer the door, and came back a minute later with Sheriff Culler and Deputy Sam Cryton.

  Bo stood as they walked into the room. “Not again,” he muttered as he held his hand out to the sheriff. “Good evening, Sheriff, Deputy. Do we have another new case, or information on one of the old ones?”

  “Unfortunately, Mr. Hamilton, I'm afraid we need to talk to you about a new incident. I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner.”

  “Not a problem, Sheriff. This must be important, though, if I'm Mr. Hamilton tonight. Wyatt, is it okay to use your office again?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Bo led the way toward the office, but stopped at the door. “Alicia, would you please call Clint and ask him to come over if he can? He needs to talk to the sheriff, too. We need to get to the bottom of these.”

  He led the two men into the office and closed the door. He didn't even take time to sit down before turning to the sheriff. “Now what's happened?”

  “Where were you today?”

  Bo's eyebrows rose. “Today? During the day? They're getting awfully brazen. I was here working most of the day, except when I went into town to the hardware and lunch with Alicia. What time are we talking specifically, Sheriff?”

  The two law officers shared a quick glance before the sheriff answered. “You may have lucked out. Another house was broken into, but it was sometime around lunch. The owner left the house at 11:00 for a dentist appointment and got back around 1:45, to find the back door unlocked and things stolen.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen. “Does this look familiar?”

  Again, it was in an evidence bag, but Bo looked at it and shook his head. “Not particularly, no. I'm not saying it couldn't have been mine, but it's just an ordinary pen. There are numerous pens on my desk at the barn that I use regularly. I don't pay much attention to them, but I believe they all look rather similar to this, so I can't really say. Why; was this found at the scene?”

  “It was, and it has your fingerprints on it. Do you mind if we look on your desk for other pens like this?”

  “Be my guest.” He shook his head as he thought a few minutes. “So you need to know if anyone saw me in town today other than Alicia; am I right?”

  “Yes. Anyone that comes to mind?”

  “We looked at a vacant building she's thinking about renting. The owner of the building showed it to us. We went to the same college, so he and I talked some. He can probably tell you more about what time that would have been than I can. It was right before we went to lunch, but—” He paused. “Wait. I went to the equity before I met with them. I talked to Steve, the manager there. He helped me get the hardware I need. I went there first, then to look at the building with Alicia, and then to lunch at June's Diner. I left here around 11:00 and got back a little after 2:00.”

  “We might have another new witness,” Deputy Cryton said to the sheriff.

  “I was thinking that, too,” the sheriff said. “I hope so, because frankly, people are starting to get very antsy. They want this guy caught.”

  “As do I,” Bo agreed. “But again, for the record, it wasn't me. Did any neighbors see or hear anyone; is there anything to tie it to me other than the pen?”

  “No,” the sheriff answered, “but a pen with your fingerprints could be hard to explain.”

  There was a knock on the door to the office. “Bo, Clint was already on his way here to talk to you, so he said he'll be here in a matter of minutes. He asked that we try to keep the sheriff here so he can talk to him.”

  “Thank you, Wyatt,” the sheriff said. “I”ll stay to talk to him.” He turned back to Bo. “I hope your friend has better luck with this than we have, because everything we've seen or heard all points back to you.”

  “Someone's doing a pretty good job setting me up. Is there anything else you need from me, or are you ready to talk to Alicia? I assume you want to talk to her alone again to see if she says the same thing?”

  “I do. If you'll send her in, it won't take but a couple minutes, and then I'll come out and answer any questions you guys have while we wait for Clint. Well, wait. I better go with you so I can vouch that you two didn't talk before I talk to her.” At Bo's raised eyebrows, he explained further. “Someone doing such a good job of making everything point to you, I need to have reasons why you're not in jail. When I explain myself I don't want any loopholes, such as you could have told her what to say before she came in to talk to me.”

  “I see.”

  Bo nodded and went with the sheriff back out to the dining room. Alicia came over to him and straight into his arms. She looked up at him, a question on her face. “The sheriff needs to talk to you a minute, then we'll talk.”

  “Did something else happen?” She turned to look at the sheriff, and her look wasn't overly friendly.

  Bo used a stern voice to remind her, “He's just doing his job, Alicia. You remember that. Answer his questions, then we can talk.”

  She nodded and went with the sheriff toward the office.

  Bo stopped him with a quick question. “Can I tell Wyatt yet, or do you need to talk to him, too?”

  The sheriff paused. “From what you said, go ahead. He'd probably say the same as the hands here?”

  “Pretty much,” Bo confirmed.

  “Then go ahead. We'll be out in a couple minutes.” He and Alicia went to the office.

  Wyatt turned to Bo. “What happened this time?”

  “Another burglary, today around lunchtime.” He was interrupted by a knock on the door. “That's probably Clint. I'll go get it.”

  He left, and returned a few moments later with Clint. “I was just telling Wyatt what happened, Clint. Sit down and I'll get you some coffee and explain it to both of you.”

  “I have the coffee,” Maria said as she entered the room. “You explain. May I hear, too?”

  “By all means, Maria. Thanks for the coffee.”

  She nodded, and he went on with his explanation. “There was another burglary today around noon. The homeowner came home to find he'd been broken into. They found a pen that wasn't his, and it has my fingerprints on it. It looks like one of them off my desk in the barn.”

  “That's an obvious setup,” Clint said.

  Bo looked at his friend. “Why do you say that?”

  “Look at you right now, Bo. If I asked you for a pen, what would you say?”

  “I don't have one on me.”

  “Exactly. How many cowboys do you know that carry a pen with them?”

  “Good point,” Wyatt said. “We don't use pens much
on our jobs, except if we're at a desk doing the paperwork. But I don't remember ever seeing a pen in a cowboy's pocket.”

  “And if you do see a pen in a man's pocket, how often do you see it falling out? No, this was an obvious plant. That's what I came to talk to you about, Bo. I think someone broke into your place and stole your key chain to plant at the scene of one of the robberies. Now that we know they have your pen, I have to wonder what else they have.”

  “If someone broke into my house to get the key chain, they could take any number of things and I wouldn't even know they were gone. I mean, stuff like a pen, how would I even know it's missing?”

  Wyatt had a thought. “Bo, do you know for sure where your key chain was?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, if the pen looked like one from your desk, could the key chain have been there, too? Maybe they didn't break into your house. Maybe they got stuff off your desk.”

  Clint picked up on his thought. “Maybe we need to inventory your desk. Maybe the sheriff and I need to take a good look at it, maybe take some pictures. They may have hit the jackpot when they found your key chain, and planted it at the first scene because it was clearly yours. Then once things were pointed in your direction, anything with your fingerprints on it would suffice. They would keep tying you to them.”

  Bo nodded his head. Clint went on. “Maybe it's an ongoing thing. Maybe every time they decide to do another break-in they go to my desk and take something to plant.”

  Wyatt's shock was obvious. “Are you saying maybe it's one of the men?”

  “I don't know that any of them would do something like that. None of them hate me that much, that I know of anyway.”

  Clint stepped in. “We can't rule it out, though. If one of them is setting you up, they would try to act normal. The men would certainly have an opportunity. Do you keep your office locked?”

  “No. maybe I should start.”

  “That probably wouldn't be a bad idea,” Clint said. “But they could already have a stash of things. You never said, Bo; is it possible they could have gotten your key chain from your office, or was that kept in your house?”

  “I really can't answer that. I had it in the house, but I kept that in the top desk drawer when I was the foreman at my neighbor's ranch, and I planned on keeping it there on this ranch, as well. It was nice to open the drawer and see it. I don't know if I'd brought it out yet or not.”

  “You don't remember when you saw it last, or discovered it was missing?”

  “No. I don't remember seeing it for a while after I got here, but I didn't look for it at the time, either. I was so busy trying to learn everything about this ranch, I didn't pay any attention to it. When I first thought of it and couldn't find it, I looked pretty good, but never did find it. That was probably only a month ago. It may have been there right up until then and I probably wouldn't have noticed it.”

  “Or it could have been missing for quite some time,” Clint said. “You do remember seeing it here at this ranch, though?”

  “Yes, I know I had it here because I remember seeing it in my bedroom. I put it on my dresser, thinking when the desk at the barn was mine I'd put it in the middle drawer. I don't remember if I ever actually put it there, though. I just thought of it one day and couldn't find it. A search turned up nothing.”

  “Did the sheriff check your house, look for any signs of a break in there?”

  “Yes, I did,” Sheriff Culler answered from the doorway. “I didn't see anything, but you're free to look, as well. I may have missed something.”

  “We were just talking this through, and it's also possible they got the key chain and the pen from his desk in the barn. He doesn't keep it locked.”

  “So any of the ranch hands would have access to it?” The sheriff took out his notebook and made a note.

  “They would,” Wyatt confirmed. “We don't know of any of the hands that seem to have anything against Bo, but like Clint explained, they may not openly show it, either.”

  “That's true,” the sheriff said, “but you haven't had a disagreement with any of them, or any kind of a showdown?”

  “None that I can recall,” Bo said.

  Alicia had come out of the office and into Bo's arms, where he held her. She looked up at him. “We have to find whoever's doing this. Someone's out to get you.”

  “I know, honey, and we'll get them.”

  “I'm glad you came in to have lunch with me. Otherwise you wouldn't have had an alibi for this one.”

  “I know. I thought of that, too. I'm glad Austin needed parts for the gate he was fixing.”

  They talked with the sheriff and deputy a little longer. Clint asked several questions, and he and the two law officers discussed several possibilities. The three of them went to look at Bo's house, and then his desk, where they took several pictures. They did a count of items on his desk. If another pen with his fingerprints showed up at a crime scene they could count pens again.

  In the meantime, Clint installed a hidden camera in the office. If someone came in to get another item to plant, the hidden camera was pointed right at the desk and should pick it up. He didn't tell anyone he put that there other than the sheriff and deputy. They were afraid Bo or Wyatt would act differently and someone would pick up on it.

  * * *

  Things settled down again, and Alicia and Bo got back to getting her business opened. They looked at four available buildings in Lindale, and were both impressed with the same one. They agreed they didn't need a large building, but location was important. They found one that was lower rent because it didn't have much of a parking lot. It did, however, have an alley on one side of the building, and the parking lot, small as it was, was in the back and the other side of the building. The side was only large enough to park two cars along the side of the building. They thought it was small for parking, but would be perfect for a drive through window, providing the city would allow them to put an exit back out onto the main street. Having a drive up window so people didn't have to park and get out of their car they both believed would be a huge draw.

  They checked with the mayor and the city law director, who both thought it would be okay, but agreed to look into the legalities of it for sure. The law director called Alicia the next day with the news they'd hoped for. The city could not spend any money on it, but it would indeed be legal, as long as the exit was to code as far as width and slope.

  They checked into the licenses they would need and began applying for them. Bo suggested they have the health department go out and make sure the building could be made into something that would pass their inspection before they had the architect they selected start his design.

  That proved to be a good move, as Tom Davidson, the architect, admitted he had a preliminary layout in his mind, but had to completely change it in order to meet a couple of the health code requirements. For instance, he assumed having a sink in the bathroom, one at the dishwasher he had planned, and one at the prep table would be sufficient, but he found out they also needed one specifically designated for employees to wash their hands. That changed things.

  He also was unaware that people were not allowed to walk up to a drive through window in Lindale. What that meant was if people walked to work or rode the bus, they wouldn't be allowed to simply walk up to the window to pick up their food. They would have to come inside. That meant he had to include in the design a door leading from the outside to a small waiting area inside, separate from the food preparation space. It needed to be a separate little room, with a minimum of three chairs for people who might come early and had to wait a few minutes.

  These were all things he could work with, but was glad he knew about them before he started his design. The health inspector gave him his card and assured him he'd be happy to work with him. When Bo suggested he approve Mr. Davidson's plans before they had the contractor start on the remodeling, both men agreed.

  A week later the plans were approved and Chad Kline, the contr
actor, was ready to start. The building itself was sound. He didn't have any work to do other than the inside remodeling, and felt sure they could have it ready in six weeks.

  With that schedule in mind, Bo and Alicia started looking for equipment. Bo was impressed with her yet again. Throughout the whole planning, she was careful with her spending, insisting she didn't need new equipment or the best of anything. She kept insisting that if her business was successful it would be nice to replace the equipment with new as it broke and needed replaced, but used would be fine until then.

  She was on her computer again, looking for used equipment, and found a place that sold used restaurant equipment. It was almost two hours away, but she called them. One of the two owners took a list of what she was looking for. He suggested they meet at her business location in a few days, and he would look at the space she had available and bring pictures and prices with him of what she was looking for. If she was interested in any of the items she could go look at them in person. She agreed, thanked him for working with her, and made arrangements as to when they would meet.

  Bo was with her when he came with the information, but he stood back and watched her. She knew exactly what she wanted, and she'd been doing her homework on the Internet. She knew what the equipment cost new, and she found some other places that sold used equipment. There weren't any others close, but she was able to get a good idea what things were selling for, or how much below the price of new.

  She listened carefully as he explained the pieces they had in stock of each item she was interested in. She looked at the pictures, and asked about the price. She made notes as they went through. He assumed she was planning on talking it over, and then possibly going to look at some of them. They finished going through her list and she told him the items she was interested in. She studied her list a few more seconds. “So, your price for all of those items would be $18,400?”