Well, she would bet her next paycheck that Flint knew something about Nate’s trafficking business. “Then tell me what you know about this tiger. Who planned the hunt?”
Flint looked sincere. “Nate did. He brought it in the van. In a cage.”
She’d already guessed that. “How did he get lined up with a tiger?”
“Nate said a guy out of California sold it to him, brought in from Mexico.”
Glenna’s theory was checking out, but how would Nate ever make this kind of contact in the first place? “I don’t get it. How did Nate connect with someone selling a tiger?”
Flint’s shoulders hitched forward. “Some guy he met in Vegas at a casino.”
“You have a name?”
“No. Nate only told me about it last week, because he was bringing the tiger in. I guess it all started a few months ago, moving drugs and animal parts from California to Nebraska, where another guy picked them up. That guy would drive the stuff out east to sell. Nate said he was trying to make money to pay back the Redmans, and he had to do it. He didn’t want to.”
“Was Wilson Nichol involved in this business?”
“Not that I know of. And I bet he wasn’t.” Flint winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Nate didn’t care too much for Wilson, him having history with Kasey and all.”
In Timber Creek, everyone seemed to know everyone else’s business, and Mattie wanted to mine what Flint knew about the Redmans. “What about Tyler? Was he involved?”
“No, ma’am. Tyler came on this hunt because Kasey asked him to. But he was pressuring Nate for the money to pay back his mom and dad, I do know that.” Flint dropped his chin to his chest. “I shoulda done something about this hunt. I shoulda told somebody. I knew this wasn’t right.”
“You’re telling me now, and I appreciate it. I’ll make sure your dad knows you did the right thing and told the truth.” Mattie eyed Flint, wondering how much further she could push him. “Do you have a way to get in touch with Tyler?”
Flint straightened. “If you’ll give me back my phone, I can find out where he is and tell him to come on down to get this tiger.”
“But he didn’t answer when I called him earlier.”
“He’s not carrying the cell phone with that number. They’re all carrying throwaways.”
Mattie pulled his phone from her pocket and swiped to his contact list. “Do you have their numbers programmed here?”
“Yeah. Under Z. ZT, ZZ, and ZB. For Tyler, Zach, and Ben.”
He reached his cuffed hands toward her to take the phone, but she held it and swiped down the list herself. She opened the details under each listing to check the phone numbers, looking for the number she’d memorized from that last incoming call made to Wilson Nichol.
And there it was under ZZ. Wilson’s last call came from the phone assigned to Zach Irving.
* * *
Carrying Cole’s rifle slung across her back, Mattie ran through the forest, Robo setting the pace in front of her. She’d struck a course uphill and stayed away from game trails, keeping within the shelter of evergreens whenever she could. She watched her footing, working hard to step between the ankle-turning stones, while keeping an eye on Robo’s back.
“Let’s find the bad guy,” she murmured to Robo, knowing he would smell the riders coming long before she would hear them.
The rain had ceased and blue sky appeared in patches, the afternoon sun peeking through clouds to create shafts of light that stretched from the heavens to the earth. The twittering birds had fallen silent, as if they knew people with malicious intent were passing through. When the hair on Robo’s back bristled, she felt gooseflesh prickle her shoulders.
She spoke quietly to her dog. “Robo, here. Heel.”
She crouched behind a ponderosa pine, one arm around Robo, while she waited. His tongue lolled in a pant, and her dog studied the uphill terrain, making her follow his gaze. She strained to see through the trees.
Robo’s ears pricked, and he ceased panting for several seconds while he cocked his head to locate the sound. Mattie tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and listened with all her might. Then she heard the distant sounds as they approached—the click of shod hooves against stone, the jingle of curb chain on bridles, someone whistling a tune. Whistling!
She unslung the rifle from her back and held it across her knees as she hunkered behind the heavy pine boughs. She exchanged several deep breaths, drawing out the exhalation while she worked to slow her heartbeat and fill her chest with oxygen to feed her muscles for when she needed to run again.
Robo tensed under her arm, and she glimpsed the movement of riders flashing in and out of the trees as they made their way downhill. “Easy. Wait,” she whispered, moving one hand to her dog’s collar.
Within a few more minutes, she could make out features and faces. No surprises here. Tyler Redman led the way on a stout red gelding, while Ben Underwood and Zach Irving followed behind on their own mounts.
She spotted the whistler. Irving rode with his lips puckered, emitting the light tune “A-hunting We Will Go.”
Mattie whispered to Robo to stay quiet and then held her breath as the horses inched past about fifty feet from her position, their hind legs tucked under to keep their footing as they half slid and half stumbled down the steep slope. Though the shot had probably come from about a half mile away as the crow flies, there had been much more ground territory to cover to reach the tiger’s last stand.
These men were armed with powerful rifles that had scopes, and one of them, namely Zach Irving, was a murderer. After they passed, she waited until they’d gone another fifty feet downhill, and then she and Robo fell in behind them. She crept from tree to tree, keeping Robo at heel and following the group at a distance.
She knew they’d reached the checkpoint when she heard Brody’s shout. “Halt! Don’t move! Timber Creek County Sheriff. Don’t move!”
With a burst of speed, Mattie sprang forward, carrying the rifle as she ran. She reached the game trail in a few strides, her feet churning down the steep, rocky slope. She scanned the hillside, looking for cover. Spotting a boulder off to her right, she headed for it, telling Robo to come with her.
The three riders bunched. Zach reined his horse hard, pivoted into a turn, and headed back uphill.
“Halt!” Mattie shouted and stepped out to show herself. “We’ve got you covered. Hands up where I can see them!”
Robo stood beside her, his muscles quivering, his toenails digging into the ground. Ready.
She aimed her rifle at Zach Irving. “Halt! Zach! I’ve got you in my sights!”
He pulled his horse to a sliding stop and bailed off. Landing on his feet, he tugged hard on his mount’s reins and positioned it between him and Mattie. He swatted it on the rump, sending it in her direction while he used the cover to take off into the trees. He dodged around a boulder and disappeared.
“Robo, take him!”
Robo shot forward, vanishing behind the cover of the evergreens.
Mattie flew after her dog. When she rounded the boulder, she glimpsed Robo, a black shadow streaking through the forest, silent and lethal. She pushed herself hard, her boots smacking against rocks and fallen tree branches. Robo, growling and snarling, disappeared into a draw.
Mattie reached the top of it and spilled down the side, losing her footing and her rifle as she tumbled on the loose stones. She slid to the bottom, where Robo had Zach pinned by one leg. Zach hollered and roared, kicking Robo in the head with his other boot.