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.“You’re finally going to do something because it’s the W Bar?” called another.“What about the rest of us?”“Let her talk,” cried one of the ranchers.“Yeah, I’d like to hear what she has to say,” Reda declared.Waters scowled at Jacklyn, visibly upset that she’d come, and maybe even more upset that Reda Harper had been heckling him.He turned his scowl on Dillon and cursed.“I’d like to hear what Dillon Savage has to say for himself,” Waters bellowed.A few in the crowd were agreeing with him as Jacklyn stepped up on the stage.She glanced around the room, recognizing most of the faces.Waters’s son, Nate, was slumped in the first row, looking bored.As she stepped behind the podium, Dillon joined her, standing back but facing the angry crowd.“Yeah, what the hell is the story?” called out one of the ranchers.“You get a rustler out to catch rustlers? What kind of sense is that?”She raised a hand.When the room finally quieted, she waited for Shade Waters to sit down, glancing at him pointedly until he took his seat.“Most of you know me.I’m Stock Detective Jacklyn Wilde,” she began.“And I know most of you.Because of that you know I’m doing everything I can to catch the rustlers.” She hurried on as the room threatened to erupt again.“Dillon Savage is helping with the investigation of the rustling ring operating in this area.” As expected, a wave of protests rang out.Again she raised a hand and waited patiently for the room to go quiet.“I will not debate my decision to have Mr.Savage released early to help in that investigation.You want the rustlers caught?” she demanded, above the shouts and angry accusations.“Then listen to me.”“We’ve listened to you long enough,” Shade Waters said, getting to his feet again.“It’s time we took matters into our own hands.”“That’s right!” A dozen ranchers were on their feet.She saw her boss and several others come in through the back door.Chief Brand Inspector Allan Stratton walked up the aisle to the stage and stepped to the podium, practically shoving her aside.Jacklyn edged back, hating the son of a bitch for upstaging her in front of the ranchers.“Finally we’re going to get some answers,” Waters called.“You sent us a damn woman, when we need a man for this job.”Others began to applaud Stratton, echoing Waters’s sentiments.Jacklyn felt her face flame.It was all she could do not to walk off the stage.She felt Dillon move to her side, as if in a show of support for her.The move would only antagonize the ranchers, and worse, Sheriff McCray, whom she spotted standing on the sidelines, glaring at her.Stratton raised his arms and waited for the room to quiet down before he spoke.“I don’t have to tell any of you how hard it is to stop rustlers.Livestock are a very lucrative source of income.”There were nods across the room, some murmurs.“A thief who breaks into a house and steals a television or CD player can try to sell the equipment either at a pawnshop or on the black market, but will likely only get about ten percent of the actual value of the property,” Stratton continued.“Someone who steals a cow, on the other hand, can sell the animal at a packing plant or an auction market and receive one hundred percent of the value.”There were more murmurs of agreement, but some restless movement as the smarter ranchers began to realize Stratton wasn’t telling them anything they didn’t already know.“Improvements in transportation, the interstate, bigger cattle trailers, all make it easier for criminals to load up cattle and haul them across state lines before you even realize the animals are missing,” he continued.“I don’t have to tell you that thieves can steal more and move farther and faster than in the old days.A rustler can steal cattle here today, and this afternoon or early tomorrow morning be in Tennessee or California.”“Don’t you think we know all that?” one of the ranchers demanded.“What I can tell you is that we need to work together to stop these rustlers,” Stratton said.“You know a lot of us can’t afford to hire more hands or buy special equipment,” a man said from the front row.“The state can’t afford to hire staff to watch your cattle, either,” Stratton said, as if it hurt him personally to say that.“That’s why we need each of you to help us.Experienced cattle thieves will watch a ranch for a while, get to know the schedule of the owner and hired hands, and the times of day when no one will be around.You can keep an eye out for strangers hanging around or hired help that’s too curious.”Jacklyn couldn’t believe Stratton thought the rustling gang was that stupid.They weren’t like some bumbling amateurs who left a gas receipt or wallet at the scene of the crime.These guys always got away clean.Except possibly for a good-luck coin.And even that could have been dropped by anyone at any time.But for sure, the rustlers wouldn’t be asking stupid questions of ranchers.“You can also run checks on the men you hire,” Stratton was saying, over an uproar from the floor.“I know society is so mobile that you’re lucky to get a ranch hand to stay a season, let alone longer, and most ranches don’t keep good records when it comes to seasonal help.”The crowd was getting restless.Stratton had to raise his voice as he explained how every rancher should brand even dairy cows.“One white or black cow looks exactly like another.We have no way of telling them apart.”“I thought some states were using DNA?” a rancher asked over the growing murmuring.“It’s expensive, and we have to have some idea where the cow was stolen so we can try to match the DNA,” he replied.“The best place to stop rustlers is at livestock sales.We need those people to be attentive.There are also radio-frequency chips that we’re looking into.It’s an expense for all of you, I know, but—”“It sounds like you’re expecting everyone else to do your job,” a rancher called.“Yeah,” Waters agreed.“What’s the bottom line here? You’re telling us you aren’t going to do a damn thing?”“The only way we can beat the rustlers is to work together.” Stratton was forced to yell to be heard over the uproar.“You have to trust—”Jacklyn walked over to the podium and kicked it over.Stratton jumped back as if he’d been shot.The boom as the podium hit the floor sent a shock wave through the room, instantly quieting everyone.All attention was fixed on her.She barely had to raise her voice.“You want to know how easy is it to steal your cattle? Simple as hell.If there is nobody watching them tonight, the rustlers are out there taking a dozen, two dozen, three dozen right now.You probably won’t even know for weeks, maybe months, that they’re gone.As for the rustlers, they made a quick getaway.Your cattle could be in another state.Or already butchered.Doesn’t matter, because they aren’t going to turn up.You just lost ten, twenty thousand dollars.”She looked out at the stunned audience of ranchers.“That’s the reality.I plan to catch these rustlers
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