Just before I exited, she put her arm out and stopped me. “I believe you were sent here to find out what’s rotten at Mule Shoe.” She moved her arm. “Go ahead and make your report in Targhee Falls to whomever you work for, then get back here before something even worse happens.”

I hurried away, Angie’s words bouncing in my brain. Cookie, Roy, Angie . . . how many other people knew why I was here, and how did that figure into what was going on?

I had a few minutes before I had to leave—time to write a few notes. Moving to the front porch of the lodge where I could watch for the departing wagon, I selected a seat and opened my notebook.

Angie was the last person I saw, so I wrote down her name. Think about the art room. I paused. Although the room had been ransacked, nothing, really, had been destroyed. The pencil sets were intact, nothing had been broken. Could Angie . . .

The ground shifted. Holly and Maverick, resting in the shade in front of me, leaped to their feet and began barking.

“Ha! One got past you.”

Cookie charged out the door and looked at her watch. “What the . . .”

The ground continued to tremble. Both dogs looked left and kept barking.

The rumbling grew louder, turning into a thunder of hoofbeats. The entire herd of horses burst into sight, raising a cloud of dust.

“Not again!” Cookie put her hand over her mouth.

The horses were followed by Wyatt on foot. He spotted us and walked over. “Between the helicopters and that last earthquake, the horses are all on edge. They found a spot in the fence to push through. Don’t worry, the main gate is closed, so they’ll just circle around and head back—especially if I rattle a bucket of oats. But I gotta tell you, I’m tired of chasing horses. Never did catch Shadow Woman’s old mule, and one other horse is gone.” He stomped off, muttering.

I turned to Cookie. “You said ‘not again.’ I know the horses got out earlier today. Has this happened before?”

“It happens. Barbed wire would keep them in better, but they can injure themselves on it. When they break out like this, it’s just best to get out of the way and let them run. They’ll return to their pasture soon enough.”

Almost before she’d finished speaking, the horses had swung around the outside of the cabins and were galloping toward the barn.

The ground shook again. The dogs hadn’t stopped barking. I couldn’t tell if it was another earthquake or the racing horses, but my neck was on full-scale fire.

*  *  *

Liam stuck his head into Roy’s office. “Getting late and a storm’s comin’. Can you help me?”