“I’ve got two brothers, Gage and Edge, but they’ve never been interested in ranching. They wanted to see the world, make their own way. Gage is, well, I guess you’d call him an adventurer. Travels all over the world looking for one thing or another. Edge is in the military, deployed God-only-knows where. What about you? Any siblings?”

“Nope, only child. My dad died when I was in college. My mom died a few years after I graduated. I still miss her.”

He nodded as if he understood. “Why’d you go into law enforcement?”

“Actually, I’m mostly into the investigating part of the business. I go in and figure things out, give the information to my client, and let them take it from there. Sometimes they go to the police; sometimes they handle it a different way.”

He wondered what she’d do if she knew he planned to administer his own deadly justice to the man who’d killed Heather. “Seems like an interesting job. How’d you get started?”

“It was kind of an accident. I took a drama class in high school and found out I was good at playing different roles. But I had no desire to actually become an actor. A few years back, I got sucked into helping a friend who had a problem with one of his employees. I played the part of a new hire, managed to find out who was embezzling company money, and realized I had a particularly useful skill set.” She looked at him and smiled. “Now here I am.”

He started to ask something more when his cell phone started ringing. The service out there was spotty at best, but it was better than nothing.

“Logan.”

“Kade, we got another dead steer. Same as before, bullet in the head. I figured you’d want to take a look.”

He muttered a curse. “On my way.” Tossing his cell up on the dash, he slowed and began to make a U-turn. “Change of plans. That was my foreman. Looks like you’re going to have to make that drive into town tomorrow.”

“What’s going on?”

“Another dead steer. That makes two. Not much chance it’s a hunter now, but I need to take a look. It’s closer if I just drive straight from here. You all right with that?”

“Absolutely. I’m an investigator. Maybe I’ll see something you miss.”

It was possible, he supposed. He drove back the way they’d come but turned the pickup onto a rutted dirt road a half mile back.

He’d expected Ellie to badger him with questions. Instead, she rode silently beside him. In the easy quiet that settled between them, some of his tension eased.