Texas Lonestar (Texas Heroes Book 4) by Sable Hunter, Texas Heroes Page A

couple?” He meant to tease, but Lennon started sniffing.
    “They’ve been inseparable for over eight years. No matter how many chickens came or went, Banty never showed interest in anyone else. He hovered around her, keeping any others away from her. He’s going to be so lonely.”
    Dallas felt odd that a couple of birds could have a more meaningful relationship than he’d had with his wife. “Let me put the chicken in the barn. I’ll bury her for you in the morning.”
    “Thank you. You’ve done that for several things around here lately,” she said, thinking of the cow and the deer that had been shot. He’d taken the backhoe out and dug a pit, disposing of the carcasses.
    “You’re feeding me, giving me a free place to stay,” he murmured, not knowing what else to say. Dallas placed a hand on her back as she finished gathering the eggs. All the while, the small rooster followed them around as if he expected the pair to make things right for him.
    Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a gunshot tore through the night and Lennon jumped, throwing eggs up in the air. “Damn!” Dallas exclaimed, placing a hand on his own gun and dashing from the henhouse and out into the dark.
    “They’ve shot another cow!” Lennon cried, following right in behind him as he ran to his truck. As soon as they were in, Dallas headed out the gate and down the road, expecting to find someone fleeing the scene. Instead, he saw nothing. No one. Parking at the gap, he grabbed a flashlight from beneath the seat. “Let’s see if we can find anything.”
    “Okay.” Lennon went with him, catching his sleeve to stay alongside. Without thinking, Dallas grabbed her hand. Once they were in the pasture, he scanned the area with the beam of light, seeing the herd grazing peacefully to one side. “What do you see?” she asked.
    He started to say ‘nothing’, but then the flashlight beam landed on something… “My God,” he breathed. “It’s not an animal, it’s a person. Someone’s been shot!” Together they took off, running toward a form that Dallas could see on the ground about fifty yards in the distance.
    When they arrived at the body, Dallas went to his knees, finding a man of obvious Hispanic descent. “This looks like someone who might’ve just crossed the river today. I bet he hid out till the sun went down, then decided to walk out.” He wasn’t unfamiliar with undocumented immigrants finding their way across the Rio Grande.
    “But who would shoot him?” Lennon was stunned. “Is he dead?”
    After examining for a pulse and the wound, Dallas answered. “Yes, shot in the heart.” He didn’t like this; he didn’t like it at all. Staring at the poor individual, he got a distinct chill. The man was small and the way he dressed was very familiar. “I think the same person whose been killing your livestock killed him.” And the scary thing was–from a distance, the shooter might have thought he was aiming at Lennon.
     

CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
     
    The rest of the evening was chaos. Dallas called his department to inform them of the situation, receiving further offers of help if it was needed. Next, he phoned the local law and they came out to investigate while the coroner picked up the body. If Ferguson was surprised to see him, he didn’t say so. In fact, he had very little to say. Unfortunately, Dallas didn’t really expect too much effort to be put into the investigation. Immigrants were found dead all the time near the border. One section nearer Brownsville was called The Desert of the Dead. He listened as they spoke of coyotes and drug cartels. Dallas knew those things happened, but he was convinced this incident was different.
    As soon as everyone departed, Dallas escorted Lennon back inside. George had stayed with Sally, who was now sound asleep. “I want you to stay inside as much as possible,” he told Lennon.
    “Why?” she asked, studying his face in the lamplight. He pressed his lips together and it