Undercover In Conard County. Rachel Lee

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       Chapter 2

      Three days later, just after dark, Desi returned to the station exhausted. She threw her paperwork and citation book on the desk in the office, locked up her pistol, then sagged in exhaustion. Paperwork could wait, she decided. There was enough in her summons book and other notes for now.

      She climbed her outside stairs to her apartment over the station. Nothing grandiose about it. Once upon a time it had been a bunkhouse for wardens, but as wardens settled in this area and bought homes and raised families, it had become a leftover from another era. So part of it had been transformed into an efficiency apartment. The rest...well, it was still kind of a bunkhouse, but one with only two mattresses on cots. Once in a while, one of her fellow wardens would camp out there for a night. At least they’d given the apartment its own bathroom.

      She hopped into the shower, cleaning the day off herself, then dressed in jeans and a green sweater. If she got called out for any reason, she was halfway ready to go.

      There was no time of year when her life was totally quiet, but things heated up during hunting season. All kinds of people out there, even with licenses and permits, still shaded their way around the law. Easy enough, usually, when they were blending in with so many other hunters.

      Three long days, she thought, but at least no blatant trophy kills. Hunting season seemed to bring the not-entirely-lawful out of the woodwork, apparently thinking they’d pass unnoticed when hunters were everywhere.

      Uh, no, she thought as she toweled her hair a little more then headed for her kitchenette. It got to be ridiculous sometimes. She’d had to escort four hunters off posted property. She’d come up on more than one group where people were firing from the road. In those cases, when they killed game, she not only had to cite them for the infraction, she had to recover the carcass. Lots of heavy work, not always aided by hunters who were angry with her because they had to pay a fine and had lost the meat, license or no license.

      A tip had kept her out later last night, and sure enough, after hunting hours closed for the night, two hunters were busy ignoring the time. At least they hadn’t gotten nasty about it.

      On the other hand, she’d talked to a lot of nice folks, some of whom she knew. And Jos Webber, another warden assigned to this area, had agreed they ought to team up even if it expanded their usual patrol areas. Something about this hunting season seemed off and she and Jos agreed a little extra caution wouldn’t hurt.

      The phone rang while she was reheating some leftover stew, and she answered it. “Game and Fish, Warden Jenks here.”

      “Hey, Desi,” said the familiar voice of Craig Stone. He was a lawman and biologist for the US Forest Service, and sometimes their jobs overlapped. “I hear you lost a bighorn.”

      “That’s putting it mildly, Craig. Have you been seeing any poaching?” His forest abutted her area, and reached further back into some of the mountains.

      “Not yet. We decided to close ourselves to hunting this year, though. You must have gotten the memo.”

      “Yeah. And all I could think was, great, it’s going to be my problem.”

      Craig laughed. “Look at it this way. We find any hunters on our land, they’ll go immediately to jail. Maybe that’ll help you.”

      “Jail for how long?” she snorted. “Trespass doesn’t put anyone away for long.”

      He didn’t laugh this time. “I know. And I know how thinly spread you all are. So basically I’m saying, if you need help, call. I realize I can’t legally do much on your land, but I can help.”

      “Thanks, Craig. It’s appreciated.” Then she thought of Kel. “I have someone I’d like you to meet.” As soon as she said it, she winced. She was supposed to be protecting the guy’s cover, not bandying it about.

      “Sure. When?”

      “I’ll let you know.” And maybe that would get her off the hook. She could just let it drop. She asked after his wife, Sky, and their toddler, then said good-night to Craig, realizing this day had managed to sap her. She’d barely eaten, she was tired and she probably wasn’t at her best mentally, to judge by her slipup just now.

      “Food,” she said aloud. “Then rest.” With the phone right beside her head. Such a glamorous job.

      A laugh escaped her as she began to scoop hot stew from the pot into a bowl. Really, all she had to do was remind herself of springtime, when she’d be out looking for newborns in the wild populations, when she’d be counting herds and checking to make sure nothing impeded their necessary migrations.

      And after that was summertime when the biggest problem she usually dealt with was fishermen who were either unlicensed or who took more than their catch limit. That was rare enough around here because there weren’t a lot of good fishing holes. But there were a few. Conard City hadn’t been built without an eye to a nearby water source. And of course, there was always some game poaching going on.

      She sat with her feet up on a battered coffee table, trying to decide if she wanted to watch television or just enjoy the peace and quiet when there was a knock on her door.

      Aw, man, she thought, putting her hot stew aside and going to answer it. There, in the dark of early autumn, stood Kel Westin.

      She blinked at him as he said, “Hi.”

      “What are you doing here?” she asked. “This is hardly undercover.”

      “No one saw me. No one who matters anyway. I walked and you’re a little outside town.”

      “A little.” Slowly she stepped back. “Well, I guess you’re more interesting than TV. Come in.”

      He grinned. “Better than TV? I don’t know whether that’s a compliment or not.”

      “Keep wondering,” she retorted as she closed the door behind him. “Want me to heat you some stew? I was just about to eat.”

      “I ate at the diner. Go ahead and dig in.”

      So she returned to the battered sofa and picked up her bowl and spoon. She watched as he wandered around familiarizing himself with the layout.

      Something about the way he was looking, moving...she’d seen it before. “Military background?” she asked.

      He faced her, hands in his pockets. “Yeah. Rangers.”

      “It shows. When you’ve got the place memorized, have a seat.”

      He looked almost rueful. “That obvious?”

      “Only to someone who’s seen it other times. We have a lot of vets in this county, a lot of special-ops types. So yeah, I know how they get the lay of the land.”

      So she waited while he finished scoping the place. He probably wouldn’t be comfortable until he knew the exits and windows, and whatever else might concern him. But eventually he sat in the armchair across from her.

      “To what do I owe this honor?” she prodded.