Bridal Falls Ranch Ransom Read Online Free

ranch hands I’ve hired, but no background checks. I suppose you’ll want to take a look at them?”
    “It could be helpful. See if anyone on the crew has something to hide.”
    Devon shoved a notepad and pen across the desk to him. “Give me your email address and I’ll forward them this afternoon.”
    He scribbled the information on the paper, amazed technology had found the Bridal Falls Ranch and its foreman even in such an isolated area. The files would provide him with the stealth needed to investigate each member of the crew from his laptop. He put the pad back on the desk.
    “Can I get my BlackBerry to work out here?”
    Devon Hall chuckled. “In these parts, J.P., a BlackBerry is something you pick off a bush in late September and ask your momma to put in a pie.”
    “Understood. Duties?” he asked, snagging his crumpled hat off the desk and molding it back into shape with his hands.
    “Miss Brooks wants you close to the main lodge, so you’ll be here on the homestead.”
    “Won’t the other ranch hands wonder why I’m not in the saddle?”
    “Maybe, but I’ll handle them. You’ve got a couple of weeks before they start asking questions.”
    “With any luck, I’ll have this case wrapped up by then.” He stared at Devon, wondering how much Eve had told him about being harassed by a kidnapper. “What exactly did Miss Brooks say I’d be doing on the ranch?”
    “To the crew, you’re another hired hand, but Miss Brooks told me you’re here to find out who’s stealing semen from our Brahman bull breeding program. It’s used in artificial insemination and frozen in liquid nitrogen. Someone took a couple of cylinders three weeks ago. Our prize bull Dust-Up’s genetic material is worth big bucks, and the Bridal Falls could take a substantial financial hit if his offspring show up somewhere else. Miss Brooks wants the culprit found ASAP.”
    He gritted his teeth and nodded. It was an interesting cover he’d never expected to be wearing. Sperm theft investigator?
    “Could be in excess of a million dollars once the stolen lineage is established and the young bulls are used in their own breeding programs.”
    “Is there any way the culprit could be a threat to Miss Brooks’s safety?”
    “It’s possible, if she were to catch him in the act. Don’t know how he’d respond.”
    Devon’s answer didn’t sit well in the back of his mind. It added another level of threat to Eve’s situation. Granted it probably wasn’t as lethal as the kidnapper who’d already threatened to hurt her, but unpredictable nonetheless. He’d have to take it seriously.
    “Come on, I’ll get you lined out on your bunkhouse room.”
    He followed the foreman out of the office and paused at the distinctive drum of horse hooves striking hard-packed earth and the bellow of cows searching for their calves in the commotion. A pack of horsemen three deep and half a dozen strong wrangled a herd of cattle toward an open gate leading into a massive pasture thigh deep in grass.
    “It’s branding season. You’re one of five temporary hires I’ve got coming in this week. We sure could use your help if Miss Brooks is okay with it.”
    “Just say the word. I’ve spent some time in the saddle.”
    He walked next to Devon Hall, picking out the small cabin he aimed for and analyzing its proximity to everything on the ranch. He’d have an unobstructed view of all the goings-on, the main lodge, the barn and Eve’s upstairs window.
    A charge pulsed through him, grounded by the image of her hand pressed against the screen, begging for hope only he could give her. He didn’t know what her reasons were for hiding, but he intended to find out. Until then he would respect her need for anonymity, even if he found it crazy-odd.
    “We’ll need you when it comes time to cut the calves out of the herd and drive them into the holding pen. Their mamas get a little aggravated.”
    “No problem.” He took the steps behind Devon onto the