Gold Dust by Reavis Z Wortham

Author:Reavis Z Wortham [Wortham, Reavis Z.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781464209642
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, Inc.
Published: 2018-06-14T19:46:42+00:00

Chapter Thirty-eight

The cattle rustlers were sitting in The Rig, a smoky honky-tonk restaurant southwest of Fort Worth, eating steak and washing it down with whiskey. Everyone who pushed into the warm interior shivered in relief to be inside the dim building lit by neon beer signs. Loud country music made it difficult to hear each other talk.

The bartender came to their table, wiping his hands on a stained apron tied around his waist. “Owen.”

The greasy-haired rustler looked up and squinted his close-set eyes. “What do you need, Dennis?”

“Phone call for you.”

Owen met his partner’s lethargic gaze and cut another bite of T-bone. He didn’t like Dale’s gray color that matched the half-eaten, well-done steak on his plate. Dale stifled a phlegm-thickened cough. “I bet it’s Ben.”

“It would be, since he’s the only one who knows we’re here.” Owen followed the bartender to the phone sitting beside the register. “Yeah?”

The man, who sometimes helped them move questionable cattle, got right to the point. “Somebody wants to buy some cows.”

“Got a name?”

“Nope. It’s a phone number. A feller I know in San Angelo knows a feller in Round Rock named Lucas DeWitt, who gave the number to a woman named Anna.”

“A woman?”

“That’s all I know. A woman who’s looking for cattle.”

“Why don’t she go to a sale barn?”

“How the hell do I know? You want the number or not?”

“Sure.” Owen motioned for Dennis who brought him a pencil and order pad. He licked the dull point. “Shoot.” He wrote down the number and hung up. “Dennis, gonna call long distance.”

“I’ll put it on your bill.”

He dialed the number and a female voice answered. “Hello?”

“I hear you want to buy some cows.”

“Sure do.” The voice brightened. “Who is this?”

“Oh, let’s say Mr. Smith.”

“All right, Mr. Smith. I’m looking for thirty or so head.”

“What breed?”

“What do you have?”

“Whatever you want.”

“I hear music. That’s pretty confident from a guy doing business in a honky-tonk.”

“I’m a broker, and I work out of this restaurant. If you’d do a little reading in the library, you’ll find that cattlemen have been doing business in restaurants since the Civil War.”

Owen might look like an addled high school dropout, but he’d graduated with honors. He was too lazy to make money by hard work. He intended to let others do the work and he’d get rich off them.

The woman on the other end hesitated, as if the dressing-down hurt her feelings. “I see your point. Look, I’d like to buy some Herefords if you have any stock. I hear you can deliver.”

“Sure can, depending on this cold front. They say there may be some falling weather out of this norther. When and where would that delivery be?”

“How about my daddy’s ranch in Roxton?” She read him the route address and gave him directions.

Dale was staring absently at his steak when Owen returned to the table. It took a moment to realize Owen was back. “Was it Ben?”

Owen shook his head in disgust. “A woman wants to buy some cows.”

“A woman?”

“That or a man with a really sexy voice.

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