Roped (Gail McCarthy Mysteries) Read online

  R O P E D

  Also by Laura Crum

  Cutter, Hoofprints, Roughstock, Slickrock, Breakaway, Hayburner, Forged, Moonblind, Chasing Cans, Going Gone, Barnstorming

  L A U R A C RUM

  ROPED. Copyright © 1998 by Laura Crum. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Crum, Laura. Roped / Laura Crum.-1st ed.

  p. cm. ISBN 0-3I2-I9325-4

  1. McCarthy, Gail (Fictitious character)-Fiction. 2. Women veterinarians-California-Santa Cruz-Fiction. 3. Santa Cruz (Calif}-Fiction. 1. Title.

  First Edition: September 1998 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

  For Andy Snow, who also remembers the old Brown Ranch. You in a greenhouse, me on a horse-who would have thought?

  Special thanks to Andi Rivers, my sister and friend.

  Thanks also to all the people who have been so supportive during the past year: Barclay and Joan Brown, Jane Brown, Wally Evans, Sue Crocker, Brian Peters, Bob Bishop, Dr. William Harmon, Ruth McClendon, Marlies Cocheret, Cathie Jaroz, Paula Rodrigues, Judy Nielsen, Denise Shawlee, Lynne Shawhan, Laurie King, Linda Allen, Lia Matera, Shery Hulse, Betsy Bambauer, Ray Harris and crew, Jack and Deb Hogan, Tom and Jean Lukens (and Andy and Quinn), Jeanette Bothwell, Kendra Hanson, Joanie Gatz (the real life owner of Dragon), Bob, Stephanie, Austin and Bonny Rivers, Justin, Sid, Simone, Mimi and Luke Brown, Lon Brown, Todd Brown, Craig Evans, and all the others, too many to name, who have touched my life and added to this book.

  Finally, I would like to thank my family, the Browns, who have been running a family ranch for four generations. Much of what I am I owe to them.

  AUTHOR'S NOTE

  All the human characters in this book are completely imaginary, and though Santa Cruz County is a real place, the Bennett Ranch and the town of Lone Oak exist only in my mind.

  If you would like to find out more about my mystery series, check out my web site at: lauracrum.com or email me at:[email protected]

  Table of Contents

  Chapters:

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY-ONE

  TWENTY-TWO

  TWENTY-THREE

  TWENTY-FOUR

  TWENTY-FIVE

  TWENTY-SIX

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  ONE

  I saw the leg break. I was standing behind the chutes in Glen Bennett's roping arena, watching the teams go, when the sorrel horse stumbled in his second or third stride out of the box and came up with his hind leg swinging loose.

  Oh, no. Please, God, no. I prayed the words. Next to me I heard a man say, "Jesus."

  The horse was still running, but with his broken leg flopping disjointedly outward with every stride. Incredibly, he kept going, chasing the steer as he had been trained to do, struggling to gallop on three legs.

  "Pull up!" Shouts from the crowd.

  The blond girl who was riding looked down, aware that something was wrong. Her partner yelled at her to stop, and she checked the horse to a lurching halt, horrified comprehension dawning on her face.

  I watched as if turned to stone while she jumped off and saw the leg dangling uselessly. Her partner got off, too, and put a hand on the leg and moved it gently. No doubt about it at all. The leg had snapped above the hock -a compound fracture. Not fixable.

  "Gail." Lonny Peterson's voice behind me brought me back to my senses.

  "I'll go get my stuff," I told him.

  Turning away from the tragedy in the arena, I headed toward Lonny's pickup, where the emergency kit I always carried with me was stashed. It was Saturday, my day off, but since I was a horse vet by trade, I came to ropings and other horsy events prepared.

  In the periphery of my vision, I could see a little knot of people gathering around the injured horse. The blond girl who had been riding him was sitting on the ground, sobbing. Poor girl. Poor horse. But there was nothing I could do except put the animal out of his pain with merciful quickness.

  Grabbing the emergency kit from the floor of the truck, I hurried back toward the arena. Glen Bennett intercepted me at the gate.

  "Can you load that horse up with enough painkillers so we can move him in the stock trailer?" Glen's voice was level, but concern was evident in the lines of strain around his eyes. The roping arena belonged to Glen-his concern was natural. But it was more than self-interest. I'd known Glen since I was fourteen; he loved horses, had owned and raised them all his life.

  I could understand why he wanted to move the horse before we put him down. A dead horse in the middle of the arena creates all sorts of problems, aesthetic and practical.

  "Let me look at him," I said. "If he isn't in too much distress, sure."

  "I'll have Tim get the trailer."

  Tim, Glen's son, standing behind us, nodded at the words. If Glen looked concerned, Tim looked predictably relaxed. In his late twenties, with lazy, quiet brown eyes and a loose, casual air, Tim didn't seem to get worked up over anything. Before Glen could say more, Tim ambled away-not fast, but not slowly either-presumably to get the stock trailer.

  Gritting my teeth, I approached the horse. He stood on three legs and sweat was beginning to break out on his neck, but he looked more confused than distressed. I filled a syringe with three cc's of rompin and torbugesic and injected it into his jugular vein. In a matter of seconds, his expression calmed.

  I turned to Glen, who had followed me. "Where's the owner? I think it's OK to move this horse, but I should talk to her."

  Glen gestured toward the parking lot, and I could see the still-sobbing blond girl being led away by an older woman to a waiting pickup. "She's just a kid," he said. "They're neighbors of mine. I told her I'd take care of the horse."

  "You can give me permission to put him down, then?"

  "I guess I'll have to."

  We both knew this was a ticklish subject. Lawsuits could result if the people involved decided that Glen or I had made a wrong decision. Running my hand down the horse's hind leg, I palpated it gently.

  "This can't be fixed," I said.

  "I know. Go ahead and put him down. I'll take the blame, if there's any to take. Let's just move him out of here first."

  Tim had pulled the stock trailer through the arena gate and had driven up next to the horse. Glen and I loaded him as gently as we could. The shot had taken the edge off his pain, and he hobbled gamely in on three legs, willing to do what he was asked, even under these conditions.

  "I'll stay in the trailer with him," I told Tim. "Drive real slow."

  Tim nodded and got into the cab of the truck without a word. I could hear Glen talking to him in a low voice: "Put him in back of the barn, by the driveway where the tallow truck can get to him; there's a tarp in there by the hay you can cover him with." Then the trailer was moving forward at a crawl and I stood by the horse, steadying his head and talking soothingly to him.

  He stood quietly and I stroked his neck, feeling tears rise in my eyes. Damn. I rubbed my hand roughly across my face.

  I didn't know this horse. I'd never seen him before, as far as I was aware. A common-enough sorrel, he looked
like he had some age on him, and it was clear he had a kind eye and a nice temperament. I blinked more tears out of my eyes and patted him gently.

  He was just another good horse. But neither I nor any other horseman can explain the magic of a good horse to those who don't understand them. The wonderful, biddable, docile nature of these swift, powerful, excitable creatures, the magical quality of their longtime partnership with man. I loved this horse-as I loved all good horses. It was a feeling deeper than logic, and it could make my job harder than it needed to be, which it was doing now.

  The stock trailer came to a stop. I wiped my eyes hastily, and Tim came around to help me unload the horse. The gelding got out as willingly as he went in, and I loaded the kill shot.

  No point in putting it off. Giving the horse a final pat, I told Tim to steady his head while I injected the shot into the jugular vein. The horse went down quickly and easily, and Tim and I jumped away from his falling body as he collapsed onto the ground, his eyes instantly and permanently blank.

  I checked his heart with the stethoscope. All quiet. Giving the sorrel shoulder a final pat as I stood up, I met Tim's eyes. "Too bad," he said. "This was a good old horse. Dad raised him."

  Poor Glen. No wonder he had been willing to take responsibility for the horse. Though it was like Glen to do whatever needed doing. It was a measure of how highly I respected the man that I'd been willing to put the horse down without overt permission from his owner, a veterinary no-no. But I was sure Glen Bennett would take care of it, as he'd said he would. It was Glen's way.

  "I'll go get the tarp." Tim disappeared into the barn.

  I stood there staring down at the horse's body, thinking that this could be Gunner. I'd been planning on competing in the second jackpot of the day. An accident like this one could happen anytime, anywhere. My horse could be lying there dead.

  The thought was almost intolerable. Tears rose to my eyes again, and I hastily brushed them away. Shit. It was just too much. Not now. Not today.

  I was wiping my nose with the tail of my shirt when Lonny and Glen appeared around the corner of the barn. Damn. I tried to compose my face.

  If Lonny noticed my distress, he didn't show it. Glen had eyes only for the horse. Tim reappeared dragging a tarp, and the men covered the carcass. Tim volunteered to call the tallow truck and moved off. Lonny neither met my eyes nor touched me. I stood there, feeling friendless, and hoped I wouldn't burst into outright sobs.

  I'm not usually such a big baby. Putting horses down is part of my job. Not the most pleasant part, but an important part. Saving mortally ill or injured horses unnecessary suffering is a good thing to do, and I knew it. It was just that the last month of my life had been more than ordinarily stressful, and I didn't have any reserves of strength left.

  Lonny was seeing his wife again. Lonny, my boyfriend of almost four years, had never quite brought himself to divorce his estranged wife, for financial reasons, he said. Sara, the wife in question, had seemed quite content to live with her doctor boyfriend and accept a monthly check from Lonny. Then, two months ago, the doctor had moved out on Sara and my happy life had disintegrated.

  Overnight Sara had decided she didn't like living alone; living with Lonny was apparently preferable. She'd begun calling him, inviting him to dinner, making overtures. Some of which Lonny'd accepted. And I was furious.

  Call me unreasonable; call me stupid; call me anything you like. I'd never been jealous in my life, and jealousy was chewing a hole in my gut.

  Glen straightened and said impartially to Lonny and me, "He was thirteen years old; I raised him. He was always a good horse. His name was Streak."

  Distracted from my problems, I put a hand on Glen's arm. "I'm sorry, Glen."

  He shook his head. "It happens. Nothing anyone could do."

  Both he and Lonny stared somberly at the covered shape under the tarp, and I knew more or less what they were thinking. The same things I'd been thinking. Requiem for a good horse. An unexpressed hope that their own wouldn't be next.

  Two men in their fifties, in many ways very alike, in others very different, Glen and Lonny had known each other virtually all their lives. Both of them had spent most of those lives owning horses and going team roping; both of them, I had reason to know, truly loved their horses. There the resemblance ended.

  Glen was movie-star handsome, if you didn't mind an older hero, with square shoulders and a body that remained trim and hard. He had a square jaw to match the shoulders, winter blue eyes, iron gray hair. Above and beyond all that, he had an indefinable charisma, an inner force that attracted women and men, though in different ways. Men followed Glen; women fell in love. I'd idolized him when I was a girl.

  Lonny, on the other hand, was big and untidy, with a rough-featured face that most would call homely and a slight roll over his belt. It was the warmth and boyish enthusiasm in his green eyes that made him appealing, that and a certain sense of virile physical power combined with a sharp intelligence.

  Damn. Cataloging Lonny's virtues was making me feel even more miserable. Abruptly I turned away from the two men and the dead horse, then turned back and spoke to Lonny. "I'm sorry. I'm backing out of the next pot. You'll have to find another partner."

  "But we're entered." Lonny still wouldn't look at me.

  "I'm sorry," I said again. "I can't do it. Not now."

  "All right. If that's what you want." Lonny's voice reflected no recognizable emotion.

  "That's what I want." Almost stumbling in my efforts to hurry away, I walked around the comer of the bam and toward the hitching rail where I had tied Gunner, tears rapidly blurring my vision. I had to get out of here. Find somewhere I could be alone to cry.

  Walking up to Gunner, I patted his shoulder, feeling, even in the state I was in, a little glow of comfort and relief at the sight and the feel of him. Gunner, my big stocking-legged bay gelding with his friendly, clownish expression, was a perpetual comfort in hard times. I climbed on him and pointed him up the hill, away from the arena, toward a solitary oak tree I was familiar with. I knew Glen Bennett's ranch well; I'd spent many hours here as a teenager.

  Gunner took the trail in a long, swinging walk, and I let out my pent-up breath. Thank God. At the moment, the one thing in the whole world I wanted was a piece of solitude.

  Waves of heat seemed to crackle in the yellow grass around me. Though it was only ten in the morning, I was already sweating. Sweat broke out on Gunner's neck, too, as he climbed the hill. Going to be a hot one.

  It was May in Central California, a time when we occasionally got heat waves. This one had been on for a week already, with the temperature hitting a hundred every day up in the hills. The grass had gone from green to bleached gold, and ranchers were bemoaning the early end of the feed.

  Gunner lengthened his walk as we neared the oak tree, clearly guessing my destination and as eager for the shade as I was. The heat was already oppressive.

  We ducked under the canopy of branches and out of the sun's glare with mutual relief, and I turned the horse so we faced back the way we had come. A small breeze swept up the hill and fanned my face, stirring Gunner's mane. Below us was the roping arena and the crowd of ropers, beyond that the little town of Lone Oak, and beyond that a tapestry of rolling, tumbling coastal hills, thick with wild oats, live oak, and greasewood, falling away to the blue curve of Monterey Bay in the distance.

  My God, it's beautiful. I forgot what had brought me here; I forgot the urge to cry. Santa Cruz County must be one of the loveliest spots on earth. I was lucky just to be alive and in this place.

  Of course, I'm prejudiced. I was born and raised in Santa Cruz County; to me, it's home. Yet one of my wealthy clients, a woman in her seventies who had been a world traveler, had once raised an arm at the view from her place, similar to this one, and told me, "Take a good look. There's nothing like it anywhere. When I was young, the Riviera looked like this, but it's been overrun. This is special."

  I believed her, too. The coast
of Central California is special, particularly the gentle half-moon of Monterey Bay and the round-shouldered mountains that frame it. The town of Lone Oak is in the hills just south of Santa Cruz and is as picturesque a place as you could imagine.

  To speak of the town of Lone Oak is misleading, really. Lone Oak isn't actually a town, it's more of a place, and there are lots of oak trees. What passes for the town is a store/gas station and a bar/restaurant at the junction of two winding country roads that intersect on the spine of the coastal ridge. The lone oak for which it was named is a huge, ancient tree that sits in solitary splendor next to Glen Bennett's roping arena, which is a stone's throw from the bar and the store.

  The Bennett ranch surrounds Lone Oak, and the Bennett family owns the town, what there is of it. It's just far enough away from Watsonville to the west and Morgan Hill to the east and the roads are narrow and winding enough that the place is still relatively isolated. Lone Oak is a tiny slice of Santa Cruz County the way it used to be.

  Gunner pricked his ears sharply, and I followed his gaze. A woman was riding up the hill toward us. A blond woman on a bay horse. In a second, I realized who it was. Lisa Bennett, Glen's daughter, my high school friend. A woman I hadn't seen in over fifteen years.

  "Shit," I said softly.

  Gunner cocked an ear back at me, and I stroked his neck. It wasn't that I didn't want to see Lisa; I didn't want to see anybody. The urge to cry had evaporated, but I still wanted to be alone.

  Lisa rode steadily on, coming my way. I had to be her destination; there wasn't anything else up here but trees and rocks. Gunner nickered at her horse, and the bay nickered shrilly back.

  Automatically, I sized the horse up as he approached. Solid bay and not too tall, the little gelding had a willowy, deerlike quality to him that was somewhat unusual for a team roping horse. He looked more like a cutting horse. He also had a pretty head, a bold, bright eye, and a graceful, balanced way of moving. Nice horse, I thought.