“Does Eve know about this deal that Wilson was working on?”
Tyler took on a pained expression. “Yeah, she was with me vaccinating calves when Wilson came out to talk to me about it. I’ve never seen her so mad. She told him to get his nose out of our business.”
Everything he said was leading to Eve. Mattie just wanted to pinpoint one more thing. She held up Zach’s phone again. “Could Kasey have had these cell phones on Sunday?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think so. Kasey has been out of it since Nate. She asked us to take over.”
Not one hundred percent definitive, but enough to point a finger in Eve’s direction. “So Eve is up at your campsite waiting for you to come back. Can you call her?”
Tyler shook his head. “There’s no cell phone service up that high. I don’t think she even brought a phone with her.”
Mattie pointed at the log where the others were sitting. “Go ahead and sit back down.”
“Someone needs to go up and let her know what’s going on before sundown,” Tyler said with concern. “She’ll be worried and start looking for us. I can take you there.”
Mattie didn’t like the sound of that. Tyler wasn’t in the clear yet, and the last thing she wanted was to be up in the high country with a brother and sister who might have plotted the murder of two men. “Go ahead and sit down,” she repeated, and made sure he followed through before going to talk with Brody.
* * *
Cole had stabilized the tiger’s shoulder with bandage and tape, doing the best he could for damage control. After raising the blindfold, he tapped the cat’s eyelid. A little twitchy. He injected another small dose of BAM into the buffalo cap on the IV he’d placed earlier in the foreleg beneath the injured shoulder. If this tiger came out from under the sedative, he would be less likely to use his damaged leg to swipe with those dangerous claws.
Glenna shook out a large wildlife net and spread it on the ground alongside the cat. “Let’s wrap him in this first. Then I have a light tarp we can use to secure him.”
While squatting at the head and shoulders of the limp animal to pick it up, Cole noticed the sharp teeth inside the slack jaw and hoped the sedative held long enough to recover him at the zoo, where personnel would know how to handle him. On the count of three, he and Glenna lifted the cat and lowered him onto the net, where they trussed him like a Thanksgiving turkey.
Cole glanced at Flint. “How’s that travois coming along?”
Flint had woven rope between two poles to make a hammock-like sling.
“Almost done. Just tying off the last rope.”
With the net securely in place, Cole and Glenna made short work of wrapping the tiger inside the lightweight canvas tarp. His limp tongue protruded from his mouth, and Cole moistened it with water from his canteen. Flint brought over the travois, and the three of them started the process of loading the bundled tiger onto the hammock.
“Do we have a horse that will pull this?” Flint asked. “I mean, this tiger’s asleep, but the horses are still going to be afraid of it.”
“One of mine will do it.” Cole had already thought of that, and Mountaineer was his top pick. The horse was steady and had previous experience hauling logs and firewood from the forest. He would do the job. Unfortunately, that left Mattie without a mount, but Duke was stout enough to carry the two of them.
Cole headed toward where he’d tied the horses. One of the Redman geldings had come running downhill without a rider earlier and had crowded in among them. After releasing Mountaineer’s tie rope, Cole secured the other gelding into the open spot.
Mountaineer gave the tiger a walleyed look while Cole led him past. He sidestepped as Flint and Glenna lifted the poles on the travois, but Cole coaxed him to stand still while they pulled the contraption forward and anchored it to the saddle. They were ready to go.
This method of sedation meant they needed to get this tiger off the mountain ASAP. They didn’t have time to wait. Cole looked to see what was going on with Mattie and Brody, who were wrapping up their conversation. He caught her eye, and she walked off to the side, nodding for him to join her and Robo. He handed Mountaineer’s reins to Flint and followed.
She stopped a short distance from the others. “You’re ready to go?”
He nodded. On close inspection, he could see the scratches on her face and dirt on her clothes, but he knew she’d brush him off if he mentioned it, so he held his tongue about that. “I had to use Mountaineer, but Duke can carry the two of us.”
“We’re not going with you, Cole.”
Her words surprised him. “Aren’t we all going down together?”
Mattie met his gaze. “Eve Redman is still up at their camp. We need to get her and bring her in, too.”
Cole glanced at the three prisoners, cuffed and sitting on logs or leaning against boulders. “Are you all going?”
“We don’t know yet. Brody called the sheriff for backup.”
Cole didn’t like the idea of splitting off from Mattie to leave her in the wilderness, but she wouldn’t be alone, and he had to move that tiger. Mountaineer began to paw the ground, punctuating Cole’s feeling of urgency. He needed to get this show on the road.
“I’m going to take Flint with me. I need his help, and it’s best not to leave him with these other guys,” he said, taking Mattie’s hand. “Call me when you get back to town.”
She squeezed his before releasing it, her eyes dark and serious. “I will. Be careful with that big cat.”
As she turned to stride toward Brody and the captives, Cole had the feeling he didn’t know the complete picture. But he couldn’t do anything about it. He headed back to take charge of Mountaineer while sending a message to the powers that be to keep her safe. Because heaven knows, this woman I love and her dog are the first ones to rush into harm’s way when they’re needed.
* * *
Mattie watched Cole’s departure with an empty feeling, but she pushed it aside to go retrieve her backpack. Brody had already told her he wasn’t going to let her go after Eve Redman alone, so she’d have to wait until others arrived from town.
She wanted to take care of her partner while she waited. Robo had covered a lot of territory since his last meal, which had been well before sunrise, and he was beginning to look in need of food. She took out two collapsible bowls from her pack, splashed water into one, and poured a generous portion of his kibble into the other before sinking to the ground to sit cross-legged beside him. She nibbled an energy bar while he ate.
Robo scooped up a large mouthful, scattering nuggets as he chomped, staring into her eyes and waving his tail. Propping her head with one hand, elbow to knee, she stroked the glossy black fur on his back.
After finishing his food, Robo lapped half a bowl of water and then gave himself a mighty shake. She stroked his fine head, hugged him, and rose from the ground to approach Brody, who’d just ended a cell phone call.
“How much longer before help arrives?”
“The sheriff’s hustling up horses and manpower, but he’s run into problems. He suggested we take these guys down lower, and they’ll meet us on the road to take them in. Then we can come back here to go after Eve.”
Mattie considered it, but the sun would be setting in a few hours, and they didn’t have time. “Can you handle these three by yourself?”
Brody gave her a scornful look. “Of course.”
“Right,” she said, lifting a palm in apology. “If you wait here with these guys, Robo and I can go get Eve, and then we’ll all go down together.”
Brody lifted a brow. “How do you propose to find this campsite?”
Robo had been trained to backtrack a captured fugitive to find evidence that had been dumped or hidden along the way. “Robo can follow Zach Irving’s scent trail all the way to the campsite.”