Rachel Lee - Undercover In Conard County

This caused all the men to stand to pull wallets out of their pockets. Kel felt uneasy as six men nearly surrounded Desi, but so far nobody was acting hostile. As each handed over his license, she studied it. “A moose permit?” she asked one of them. “You’re lucky.”

The guy laughed. “Been trying for ten years.”

“I hope you bag a nice one. And if you do, I guess you’ll be glad your buddies can help you carry it out.”

“You bet. That’s one of the reasons they’re here.”

“Just remember, gut it where you kill it, and tag it for transport. Wouldn’t want you to lose it.”

“Me neither,” the guy answered.

“Well,” said Desi, “you’re all square. Just a couple of things.”

“Yeah?”

Her voice tightened a shade. “Bright lights were seen here from below. You aren’t hunting with them, are you?”

“Hell no,” came a chorus of answers.

“Then don’t turn them on again tonight or I’ll have to come back and cite you. And I am going to have to cite you for that fire. You know you’re not allowed to have one out here. But first let’s put it out.”

“Just trying to stay warm,” someone grumbled.

“I understand that, sir, but it’s against the law. You wanna put it out right now, I could let you off with a warning. If you do it right.”

Still grumbling, but quietly, the men doused the fire with water.

“Guess we’ll have to go get more water tomorrow,” one said. “Dang.”

Desi squatted and felt the wet fire pit. “Turn it over, would you?”

One of the men got a small shovel and turned the ground over. Desi felt again. “A little more water to be safe. It’s still warm.”

A few minutes later, she stood, brushing her hand on her jeans. “Okay. No fire, no bright lights. What were you using them for anyway?”

“Setting up camp.”

Her voice turned a little sarcastic. “Really? I’m not saying you’re lying, but we both know you were probably doing more than that. Too bright and on too long. Don’t let me see them again. And if I get another call from down below about them, you won’t be hunting here for a while, okay?”

One of the men raised his arm. Kel acted instinctively and in a few strides was standing next to Desi. Jos had the same reaction, and he was on her other side just as fast.

“What?” said the guy who’d raised his arm. “I was just frustrated.”

“No reason to get frustrated,” Desi said mildly. “If you took your hunting classes, you don’t need me to explain the law. What’s more, we fly a plane over here at night sometimes, so you could get caught again. Since you already have a warning, nobody’s going to give you a second chance. Clear?”

Desi pulled out her book, and taking each hunter’s license and ID, wrote him a warning, then passed him a copy. When she was done, she wished the man well with his moose hunt, reminding the group that the national forest was closed to hunting this year.

A half hour later, they were hiking back through the woods to the road, this time with the aid of two flashlights.

“I’m thinking,” said Jos, “that they were pushing the law.”

“It occurred to me,” Desi said drily. “I hope they got the message. But when you wait ten years for a moose permit, maybe it’s a little harder to follow the rules.”

Kel thought that was pretty generous considering the men had been committing two serious violations. If he had the time and opportunity, he hoped he could figure this woman out a little better. In some ways she appeared to be a bundle of contradictions.

Lugging the big can of water and the shovel, he studied what he could see of the back of her head, and decided this was a good view, too.

Back at the trucks, they all shook hands, then Jos took off into the night. Kel helped Desi load the water can and shovel into the bed of her truck, and stood by while she removed the ammo from her gun and put it in the rack in the back.

“This place will be crowded before dawn tomorrow,” she remarked as they jolted down the road. “Well, as crowded as can be in the middle of nowhere.”

“Will you come back then?”

“Depends on how the rest of this night goes.”

He waited a moment, then asked, “What did you mean about me staying in the bunkhouse?”

“I’ve got a couple of cots upstairs off my apartment. They mostly get used by wardens staying overnight, but you’re welcome to one if you want it. Didn’t I just announce you were visiting me? Like that won’t get around.” She laughed quietly. “I don’t date. Everyone’s going to hear. Anyway, if it won’t interfere with your plans, help yourself.”

“But won’t I get in your way?”

“Not likely. This is the time of year when having a flexible schedule often means I have trouble finding time to put my head on a pillow.”

In his end of the business, as an investigator, he never really got into the ins and outs of a warden’s life. He supposed with so many people hunting in the fall, she probably had a full plate between patrolling for violations and the calls she received from people reporting them. He wondered about other times of the year, but didn’t ask.

He did know how much the wardens relied on people to inform them of possible violations. Some ninety wardens couldn’t be everywhere in a state this size. For every square mile of public land, there must be a helluva lot more private lands where game caused problems, where hunters went even when they shouldn’t. Impossible to keep an eye on everything.

“I’m going to introduce you to some people,” she said unexpectedly. “Some of the ranchers who border the public lands. They can be eyes and ears, if you want.”

“You trust them?”

“Most of them are cops, special-forces types or married to them.”

He smiled into the dark. A fascinating list.

“Like you,” she added, surprising him by teasing. “Do you trust yourself?”

“Of course. But this undercover op may be getting awfully big.”

“Well, I can talk to them myself, but you’d be safer out there if they knew what you were doing.”

He should probably think about it. “Let’s not tell anyone just yet. I’ll give it some thought, but for now I’m just an old friend visiting. Anyone who would doubt that?”

“Not really. I know people around here, but I’ve only been in this area for five years. There’s a lot about my past no one would know in any detail.”

That was an advantage he supposed. “Regardless, I need to know some of that past and how I fit in because somebody’s going to ask questions.”

She hesitated. “You going to take up the offer of the bunkhouse?”

“Now that you’ve announced me, I suppose I should.” He’d come out here with one plan only, to keep his eyes peeled for questionable activity and to try to draw a threat his way. Somehow, everything was changing. His plan about appearing to be trying to get close to her hadn’t involved sharing quarters. He’d better get on it before it all went sideways.

Chapter 3

Kel went back to the motel to gather his personal gear. Desi wondered if she were busy losing her mind. The guy had come out here to try to stick his head in a noose, and she was inviting him to stay with her?

She paced her small apartment, reminding herself that he’d suggested that looking like he was cozying up to her would fit the role he was playing. Well, this was going to get really cozy now.

She knew that some of these illegal outfitters could net upward of fifty thousand dollars in a hunting season. Because they stayed small to avoid trouble and notice, they didn’t guide as many hunts, and didn’t provide all the comforts. Two or three guys, a tent, trail food and bring your own gun. But still cheaper because they took hunters who weren’t licensed, which was a big savings for the nonresident hunter, and a savings for them because they didn’t do the big production method.