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good
together. I wanted her in my life more than any other girl I'd met.
I had to find the right words. The right time to say them. And the
right place.
    ...Sweetheart, you're
my girl, I'm sorry about all that shit, let's give it another
go ...wouldn't cut it. It had to be
profoundly deeper than that. Somewhere I hadn't been
before.
    I finished my cigarette and stubbed it out
on the floor beneath my boot. Turning my bike, I set off for home.
I'd had a tiring day, out on the ranch all day. It wasn't until I
got home that I remembered about Mickey. I wondered if the Sheriff
had searched his place yet.
    As I walked across the yard to the
bunkhouse, I picked out my cell and discovered a missed call from
him. I pressed return call.
    “ Hello, Olson County
Sherriff's Department.”
    “ Hello Sheriff, It's
Joshua Lyle, returning your call.”
    “Yes, hello, we searched
Mickey Green's place of residence...”
    I waited with some excitement as the Sheriff
explained that they had found a box of rounds. They matched those
extracted from the dead cattle and also matched the model of gun
that was used. But, there was no gun found on his property. In
addition, Mickey had slipped out the door immediately they arrived
and had driven off somewhere.
    I was so goddamn fucked off about that. “Why
couldn't you have cuffed him? Now he knows he's a suspect. He
probably keeps the gun in the car and right now he's disposing of
it or hiding it somewhere,” I complained.
    “We had no authority to
arrest or detain, unless we had the weapon in our charge. We would
have gone on to search his vehicle as well. But we are entitled to
inquire further into his purchases. We know he bought a Smith and
Wesson M & P. That avenue may yield some results in getting our
hands on the gun itself. We can get a court order and demand he
produces it.” The Sheriff explained testily.
    Despite his assurances, my heart sank. It
was unlikely they'd find anything. He could say he lost it or sold
it.
    I expressed my thanks for their help, for
what it was worth, and shoved my cell away.
    “Fuck the fucker...” God,
I was so angry. I stalked off, walking round the back of the main
house in the dark. I needed to cool off some before I hit my bed
for the night.
    I smoked another two cigarettes, before I'd
got my thoughts back in order. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. We
couldn't prove anything against him, but at least we all knew the
lie of the land. Maybe that would be enough to stop him repeating
the crime? He knew we'd look at him first, if it happened again.
Okay, so he wouldn't be punished for what he did, but hopefully
that would be the end of it.
    It was well after 1 a.m. when I finally went
inside. I said, “hey, night owl,” to Pete as I passed him in the
common room where he was making himself some coffee.
    “Want some?”
    “Not for me, I really need
to sleep. Coffee ain't gonna help.”
    I walked down the corridor and entered my
bedroom to gather my stuff for a shower.
    But before I could do that a loud noise
erupted outside.
    A car horn blared so long and loudly it
would have woken the dead.
    I dropped what I'd been doing and made my
way outside with a few of the other guys who were still awake.
    There was Mickey's car, the bright red
paintwork shining like a beacon under the yard security lights.
    “That's enough
already, ” I shouted at him.
    The horn stopped and my ears rang. Pete
stood at my side as we watched Mickey get out of his old Chevy and
walk toward us. My father left the main building, wrapped in his
robe, with Rob in close pursuit, and we all converged on our
unwanted and uninvited guest.
    He was soon surrounded by six of us.
    “What you doing here,
Green?” my father asked him angrily. He rubbed his red and bleary
eyes. He'd obviously been fast asleep.
    “Came to see you Lyle.
It's about time we cleared the air.”
    “I have nothing to say to
you and no air to clear.”
    “I think you owe me an
apology. In front of these good