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“Will you let me know
    once you’ve told them?”
    “Sure thing.” A noise from the barn made him look in that di-
    rection.
    Everyone else did, too.
    30
    The woman and man from the coroner’s office were wheeling
    the gurney down from the barn. A filled blue plastic body bag lay strapped onto the top of the gurney. The EMTs, Charley and the
    wranglers followed silently, heads bowed as if in a funeral procession. Jorge wasn’t in the group, though. Claire assumed he had
    stayed with Gunpowder to continue calming the horse.
    No one spoke as the gurney passed Claire’s group. Charley and
    the wranglers stopped next to them to watch the gurney continue
    on, and Charley put his arm around Jessica. The only sound came
    from a black crow’s raucous caw in the distance. A man walking
    his golden retriever along the road stopped and reined in his dog.
    Both stared as the EMTs helped the coroner’s team lift Kyle’s body into the van.
    The two patrolmen got in their cruiser, and the EMTs climbed
    in their ambulance. They followed the coroner’s van out of the lot.
    Detective Wilson said his goodbyes and told Charley and Jessica
    he would call them after notifying the Mendozas.
    “And you’ll let us know what the autopsy says?” Charley asked.
    “Yes, I’ll tell you the final conclusion,” Wilson replied. “But if you want the full report, you’ll have to request it from the coroner’s office.” He paused. “If I was you, I’d start thinking about what to do with that horse. If it’s a killer, you don’t want it around tourists.”
    A pained look crossed Charley’s face, but he nodded.
    As Wilson drove off in his unmarked car, the wranglers shuf-
    fled nervously, hands in their pockets, heads down.
    Charley heaved out a great sigh. “No trail rides today. Pedro
    and Gil, turn the horses out to pasture. Then I want you to clean Gunpowder’s stall thoroughly. The cops released the scene to us.
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    Since there’s blood on the straw, put on some of the latex gloves that are in the stable’s medical kit.”
    The two men turned and headed for the barn.
    Charley motioned for the last wrangler to join him, Jessica,
    Claire and Roger. “I want to introduce you to Hank Isley. He
    would have been the rear guide for your trail ride, with Kyle as
    the lead. Hank, this is my sister Claire Hanover and her husband
    Roger.”
    Hank muttered, “Nice to meet ya’,” as he shook their hands.
    He looked to be in his early twenties. His light brown hair
    curled over the collar of his Western work shirt and a handlebar
    mustache drooped on either side of his mouth. Like all of the men, his face was tanned from working outdoors.
    Charley put a hand on Hank’s shoulder. “Since we’ve got no
    rides going out today, how about if you take the truck and fetch
    and unload this week’s hay? I was going to do it, but I’ll need to talk to Kyle’s family instead.”
    A dark look passed over Hank’s features, as if he disliked his
    chore assignment, but he just nodded and said, “Yes, sir.” He
    turned and walked away.
    Charley looked at Jessica. His eyes widened as if this was the
    first time he had noticed that his wife’s face was tear-stained. He enveloped her in an embrace. “Sorry, honey. This has been hard on you, hasn’t it?”
    Jessica nodded into his chest then pulled back. “I’ve got to can-
    cel the afternoon ride then talk to Kyle’s family. I can’t help but remember how we felt after Faith died. I don’t know how I’m going
    to face them.”
    “We’ll do it together,” he replied.
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    “This kind of thing really needs a woman’s sensitive touch.”
    Charley stepped back and frowned. “I can be sensitive.”
    Claire decided to change the subject. “What can we do to help?”
    She took hold of Roger’s hand.
    Charley gave her a pained look. “Nothing right now. But come
    back with your friends another day. Something tells me we’ll need the money.”
    Claire squeezed Roger’s hand. Oh, God!