Page 4 of River Ride

“Cuff him, Harlan.”

Dad was in motion, and he had the Carpenter boy by the leg and jerked him off his horse too. “Virgil, cuff the boy.”

“Don’t touch my son or you’ll be sorry you were ever born,” hollered Carpenter.

“I doubt it,” mumbled Travis. He pulled his cell out and called Kody Kollard. “Kody, I’ve got a situation near Black Eagle Pass you should see. Got us a dead poacher and I figure when there’s one, there’s more than one.”

“Give me directions, Travis, and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Copy that.”

Next call was to Ted.

“Yeah, boss.”

“You and Billy get the horse trailer from the ranch and bring it to the crime scene. The victim was on horseback, and I’ve got to get his horse out of the woods.”

“Copy that, boss. Going to get the horse trailer at the ranch.”’

Me and Virge walked our prisoners to the Bronco and secured them in the back. While we were out in the open, we waved to Doc Olsen who was driving along the county road in his van looking for us.

Driving off-road, Doc’s van didn’t get as far as the Bronco, so Virge drove through the field and picked him up. “Long hike, Doc.”

“Especially for an old fella like me.” He laughed.

When we got Doc Olsen as far as the crime scene, he knelt next to the body of the poacher and examined him. He looked at the wounds, took the body temperature and all the rest of it.

“Three shots to the heart? That’s a little brutal for trespassing,isn’t it, Travis?”

“Overkill in my book, Doc. A warning shot should’ve been sufficient.”

The doctor checked the victim’s pockets and came up with a wallet. “Wayne Treadway. Want to write down his address for the notification?”

“I do. Thanks.” Travis wrote down the name and address.

Me and Virge helped get Wayne into the body bag, then we had to carry him to Doc’s van. Heavy guy. Figured he was about a hundred and sixty pounds of dead weight.

We had to set Wayne down one time and take a breath before we could keep going. When we finally got there, we were winded.

Doc opened the double doors at the back of the coroner’s van and we were loading the body when Ted drove through the field towing the horse trailer.

“Good,” said Travis looking at me. “You and your brother go with Ted and get the horse loaded. I can see Kody coming down the road in the Fish and Wildlife truck. I’ll wait for him and show him what we’ve got.”

“Copy, Dad. Loading the horse.”

Travis turned to Billy. “Sit in the Bronco with the rancher and his son and see what you can find out. Anything about more poachers in the area. This is a pretty angry rancher. Three to the heart, Billy? Come on. Carpenter wasn’t trying to scare off a trespasser. There’s something else going on.”

“Copy that, Travis. I’ll see what I can get out of him.”

“Find out how old the son is too. I’m not a hundred percent sure who did the shooting although the father is claiming it.”

“Got it.”

Travis walked into the trees with Kody Kollard, the game warden who had replaced Linda Tucker after she’d been attacked and brutalized by a group of hunters.

“The body was lying right there next to the river,” Travis pointed. “Sack of feed beside him. Horse tied to that tree over there.”

“A lot of poaching going on this summer,” said Kody. “Can hardly keep up with the calls from the angry ranchers.”

---