Page 41 of Cautious Love

He chuckles. “A gentleman never tells.”

“Yeah, well, that would mean you’d have to be one first.”

Cooper laughs and hops onto Goldfish. “We’re out at pasture H!” he yells and canters out in that direction.

I get my horse Spark saddled up and ride out behind him. I’m sure the other hands are prepping in the other barn for the herd, or they’re all out there trying to wrangle. Spark dips her head excitedly and takes off. We haven’t ridden in a while, and I’ve missed her.

Smiling to myself, I lean in and let Spark open up a bit. She’s always loved going fast, even if I don’t always want her to. It’s why I named her Spark when I was younger. I could see it, and it doesn’t take much to light her up.

There will come a day when the town doesn’t vote me in as Sheriff because someone better and younger will be ready to do the job, and when that time comes, I know where I’ll go. I’ve always known it, and days like these I find myself looking forward to it.

My phone rings, and I groan, pulling it out of my pocket as I come up to the pasture. It might be my day off, but I never get to clock out.

Fletcher waves to me, and I hold up my finger, telling him I need a minute.

Fletch and the boys are working the cattle now.

“This is Ledger.”

“Hey boss, it’s Will and Luke, you’re on speaker,” Will says.

“What’s up?”

“You know we’ve been talking to Kate. I’ve been working her and was able to get a few pieces of information. She mentioned large drops and some timing. But the problem is I don’t think we’re going to get the details,” Will says.

I groan silently at the sky. I knew this wasn’t going to work. Blood and loyalty can be a powerful thing, and Kate Kensington might be crazy, but she’s loyal. “So then why are you two buffoons still pursuing it?” I ask them.

“We think there’s another angle,” Luke says.

“At what cost?”

“Uh … go undercover.”

I huff. “No way. I won’t approve that.”

“But wait, you don’t know what our plan is,” Will says.

The guys gather the cattle, and wish I was doing that, instead of listening to this hair-brained scheme that will either get us sued, lose badges, or worse, get someone killed. These guys are under my directive, and it’s part of the job knowing you will have to put yourself in harm’s way, but it’s another entirely, giving someone permission to do it, knowing exactly what the enemy is capable of.

“What’s the plan?” I sigh.

“Will already has an established connection with Kate. We think if he leans into it, meaning he complains about how he isn’t paid enough, he’s tired of doing so much work not gettingthe reward. Crap like that. We’re thinking if he hints to her that he’d be interested in making some extra cash, she might be able to set up a sit-down. Then, if we can get in front of Kensington Sr., he might see having a cop on his payroll as a bonus. We’ll have access and be able to get something foolproof enough to get some movement on the case, like a reason for a wiretap.”

Spark shifts under me, getting antsy.

It’s not a half-bad idea. But the forever reminder is that this is a small town. Going undercover when you live and work in the same small town is a difficult thing to do. Going undercover in a place where people will notice Will, an officer, talking with alleged, albeitknown,criminals. It’s hard to conduct an undercover operation when the people of the town don’t know how to shut up.

“Ledge! We need ya!” Fletcher yells.

I wave at him.

“If you can get something more than hearsay that we can use for the warrant, I will approve the undercover. But I have to admit it’s far-fetched to think that people aren’t going to notice Will cozying up to Kate. Other people work on that ranch that aren’t drug dealers.”

“We’ll figure it out. We’ll find you something concrete and bring it to you. But, boss?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you…” Luke trails off, and I can hear them talking, but can’t make out what they’re saying. Reception can be terrible out here.