Equine Detectives

by Yankee01754

Cody and Nick are reunited with their former CO's niece - a young woman who needs their help in finding out who's trying to keep her off the rodeo circuit.

Equine Detectives

By Janet Brayden

The crowd roared with appreciation as the horse and rider thundered back across the finish line after circling the last barrel. The announcement of their time brought an even bigger round of applause for they were in the lead with two riders to go – both of whom were tough competition. Neither of the last two riders was able to best the time just set.

"Let's have a big hand for number one twenty - Cayce McKenna," the announcer said as the young rider and her horse left the arena. "She and her horse, Blackfoot Medicine Man, have established the best time in the barrel racing event. Her final score – 14.303 seconds."

The crowd erupted in applause as a tall, slim cowgirl with light brown hair rode back into the arena astride a tall buckskin stallion. The pair circled the arena in a victory gallop as she held the belt buckle she'd just earned aloft and the blue ribbon fluttered from her horse's bridle.

Cayce and Doc, as she called her horse, exited the arena and headed for the area where her truck, trailer and jeep were parked. All along the way fellow competitors, and ranchers, congratulated her on her win.

"Great job, Miss Cayce," her foreman, Alex Gifford, said as the pair rode up. "That's what - $1500 in prize money over the last couple of shows?"

"Yup!" Cayce handed the reins over to Alex, took her hat off and wiped her sweaty forehead with a bandana she pulled out of her pocket. Beating the dust out of her hat she replaced it on her head, then she tried to beat some of the dust out of her clothes. "If we can keep it up, and take some decent prizes at the next few shows, I'll be able to pay off the rest of the bill for the renovations and repairs of the house and the barn. With any luck I'll even have some left over to put in the bank."

"The prize money is good but don't forget you're attracting potential customers for the horse training business as well," the tall, broad-shouldered redhead patted his young employer on the shoulder. "Don't forget that we've got teams entered in the cutting contests, steer wrestling and calf roping as well as your barrel racing and pole bending."

"Yes, and some team roping and trail classes as well," she said with a smile. "It's shaping up to be a good season for us this year. Hopefully, between us all, we'll bring in enough to get us through the winter."

She climbed into her jeep after a quick detour into her mobile home to retrieve her leather shoulder bag and car keys. When she came out she was also carrying a small suitcase, which Alex stowed, in the back of her jeep.

"I'm heading out to look up my friends," she told Alex. "You take Doc and head for home. I haven't seen the guys for a while – we keep missing each other - so I'll probably end up taking a room at a motel somewhere before driving home tomorrow when we get through talking. I'll call the ranch and leave a message with Josefina."

"You going to keep that fancy show saddle of yours in the jeep all night?" Alex asked indicating the big silver trimmed saddle in the back seat of Cayce's jeep.

"No. When I get a room I'll bring it in with me. I'm not going to take a chance on leaving it unattended overnight. The jeep isn't that secure."

"I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to carry it around with you. The silver is worth a considerable amount of money."

"That's true," Cayce conceded, "but how many thieves are there in the city that are going to steal a forty pound saddle or take the time to pry the silver off? It'll be safe enough."

The two parted ways and Cayce headed off toward the waterfront to find her friends – two ex-Army lieutenants that had served under her uncle. She was blissfully unaware of the angry eyes that followed her and the van that pulled out behind her jeep a moment later.

*************************************************************

"We agreed to this?" Nick Ryder asked his partner, Cody Allen.

The blond grinned at his frustrated friend. "Now Nick, just because we got involved in Natalie's case the last time Murray had friends over…"

"Not just any friends," Nick corrected Cody, "intellectuals with a strange sense of humor."

"You only say that because you never understood the Pi joke," Cody ribbed him. "Come on it's not that bad. It's not often that Murray asks us if he can have a party. Just grin and bear it and get your uniform on – it beats going out and renting a costume."

"Ok," Nick said begrudgingly.

Five minutes later both of the senior partners of the Riptide Detective Agency were dressed in their best uniforms – Cody a lieutenant and Nick in his Reserve Captain's uniform. When they reached the main salon they found that their friend, Murray Bozinsky had also opted for his uniform. The difference was that Murray was a retired Colonel. Nick and Cody noticed that, as usual, Boz had his eagles on backwards. No matter how many times Cody and Nick lectured him on that the Boz believed that his eagles should face him so he could see them.

"My friends are starting to arrive," Murray said unnecessarily as Wonder Woman and Batman, aka as Linda Craig and John Peterson, boarded the Riptide followed closely by Dracula and a goblin.

Nick rolled his eyes but at the warning look from Cody, kept his mouth shut this time. If he opened it he knew he'd embarrass himself or he'd make some stupid remark that would lead to Cody pounding him into the ground – verbally anyway.

*************************************************************

The party was in full swing when a red jeep pulled into a parking space near Nick's classic '67 Corvette. The driver, oblivious to the fact that she was being followed, gave the 'Vette an admiring glance as she headed down the ramp leading to the Riptide's slip.

Cayce McKenna walked down the ramp checking a slip of paper against the signs that she saw.

"Well, this is Pier 56," she said to herself. "Cody's boat is the Riptide and it's in Slip 7." Looking around she spotted the boat but hesitated slightly before approaching. Seeing the partygoers she suddenly felt shy about approaching for fear that she would take her friends away from their guests.

Murray saw her coming and welcomed her with open arms although, if he were honest with himself, he didn't recognize her as a member of the Hi Q club.

"I'm so glad to see…meet you," he gushed as he ushered her aboard the Riptide.

Looking confused, Cayce agreed, "I'm glad to meet you, too, Mr. ?...."

"Bozinsky. Murray Bozinsky," Murray told her. "You're a new member aren't you?"

"Member of what?" Cayce was getting more confused by the minute.

"The High-Q Club. Say that's a wonderful costume you're wearing – so authentic!"

Cayce looked down at her dark green pants topped by a green and white satin blouse with brown boots and a white Stetson hat.

"Costume? These are my show clothes. The horse show just ended and I came to visit with Cody Allen and Nick Ryder – they're old friends of the family."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Murray exclaimed in embarrassment. "You see I'm having this costume party for my friends…"

"The High-Q Club?" Cayce asked with a smile.

"Yes. I thought you were a new member of the club and that you were here for the party. I'm so sorry!" Murray was blushing now.

"Don't worry about it," Cayce told him with a grin. "I'm flattered – really I am. I don't think I'm quite on a level with you and your friends though – not if High-Q means what I think it does."

"Yes, well, you came to see Nick and Cody and they're not here right now. They went to get some more munchies for the party. Won't you stay and wait for them?"

"No, I don't think so. We haven't seen each other in several years so we'll want to talk and that's kind of hard to do when you're hosting a party."

Cayce rose to leave and shook hands with Murray as she did. "I'll come back tomorrow. I already told my housekeeper and foreman not to expect me until at least tomorrow." Turning back as she set foot on the dock next to the Riptide she added, "Tell the guys I was here and I'll look them up tomorrow."

Cayce headed up the ramp toward the roadway that led past the pier intending to get in her jeep and look for a place to stay for the night. She would, as she had told Murray, come back in the morning to catch up with Cody and Nick. She never got that far for as she passed through the gate that led to Slip 7 and others she was attacked by two men who tried to drag her to a waiting van. She wasn't one for screaming but she let out a yell when she felt their hands grab her arms and start pulling her toward their vehicle.

********************************************************

"Do you think this will last them a while?" Nick asked Cody indicating the numerous bags of pretzels, chips, crackers and whatnot that they'd bought at the market.

"I hope so," Cody said. "We've got enough to feed an army."

Nick chuckled at his partner's comment. The High Q club members certainly had good appetites. They'd made short work of the hors d'ourves that they'd spent all morning preparing.

They were about a quarter of a mile from the gate when they saw two men jump a third person as they came through the gate they were headed for. Not liking the odds the guys dropped their bags and ran to assist the struggling "cowboy".

Cody was the first to arrive on the scene but Nick was hot on his heels. Cody grabbed the larger of the two men and pulled him off of the victim. He landed a left hook on the assailant's jaw that seemed to bounce right off. The attacker retaliated with a right to Cody's stomach that doubled him over for a minute.

Nick managed to land a few good punches on the guy that he'd pulled off the would-be victim but he took a punch that had him seeing stars for a moment or two. As he knelt on the hard top trying to get his bearings again the two goons started for their victim again. Cody and Nick shook off the blows they'd received and tackled the two men again. This time the assailants took off running for their van with the detectives hot on their heels until they pulled away with screeching tires. Cody and Nick gave up and stood with hands on knees trying to catch their breath.

"You okay, Cody?" Nick asked his partner.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Cody wheezed. "You?"

"I'm fine," Nick said even though he was still a little fuzzy.

Together the partners walked back to where the would-be kidnap victim was dusting herself off. She was leaning over beating some of the sand and dirt off of her clothes when the men approached her. Hearing their footsteps she looked up and said, "This is a fine welcome! I come to visit friends and somebody tries to rob me!"

"Cayce?" Cody ventured to ask. "Cayce McKenna? Is that really you?"

"Yes, it's me," she grinned.

The guys reached and pulled her into a bear hug. She very willingly returned the hugs. When she'd been the ward of her Uncle Brian McKenna, a major in the army, these two men had served under him upon their return from Vietnam. They'd been her favorites among the MPs that she'd known in her childhood and teen years.

"You look great!" Nick told her. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"I did tell you!" Cayce was thrilled to see them. "I left a message on your answering machine this morning."

The two men looked at each other. "Murray."

"We're sorry, sweetie," Nick said. "I guess in all the hubbub of getting ready for Murray's party we didn't even notice that there was a message on the machine."

"That's okay," Cayce told him. "You came along just when I needed you – just like always."

"How's the major?" Cody asked about her uncle.

"The 'major' is now a Colonel and he told me to tell Pitbull's 'loony tunes lieutenants' that they'd better take good care of me while I'm visiting or else!" She grinned at them.

"Major McKenna is a colonel?" Nick asked.

"Yup, he got promoted a couple of months ago."

"No one deserves it more than Major McKenna did," Cody told her. "He's a good man and a good soldier."

"He sure is," Cayce agreed, "and he was a wonderful guardian after my folks died when I was little. I don't think I could have been happier until I got to fulfill my dream of owning a horse."

"We have a lot of catching up to do," Cody said, "but first of all tell us what just happened. What did those two guys want?"

"I have no idea," she said as she fixed the braid in her hair, which had come loose. "I went down to find you guys but there was a party going on at the boat so I left. I was planning to look you up in the morning. When I got back up here, to the parking area, they came out of nowhere and started dragging me toward their van."

"Why would anyone want to kidnap you?" Nick asked her.

"Beats the heck out of me," the young woman replied. "I think they maybe wanted me to give them my valuables but a forty pound saddle trimmed with silver would be kinda hard for them to get rid of. I figure they saw me get out of the jeep and saw the saddle in the back and decided I must be worth some money to them."

"They're gone now whoever they were," Cody said. "We ought to report this to the police."

"You know what Quinlan's gonna say," Nick protested. "He's going to think we made the whole thing up when Cayce, here, can't tell him why anybody would want to kidnap her – or hurt her."

"If we don't report it, and something happens to her," Cody argued, "he's going to come down on us like a ton of bricks."

"Who's Quinlan?" Cayce asked.

"Police lieutenant who's living for the day he drives us out of King Harbor," Nick told her.

"He sounds interesting," Cayce said. "Let's go see him."

********************************************************

"What's with the uniforms? You planning on doing a little trick or treating tonight? And who's this supposed to be – Annie Oakley? Dale Evans?"

Lieutenant Ted Quinlan was living up to Nick and Cody's expectations. Cayce's Western show clothes brought out the wise remarks as much as the presence of the Riptide detectives.

"Lieutenant…" Cody started to speak.

"Never mind, Cody," Cayce told him. "I can speak for myself." Turning to the balding man with the scar on his face she said, "My name is Cayce McKenna. That's C-a-y-c-e – not C-a-s-e-y as you might think. The guys brought me here to report either an attempted robbery or an attempted kidnapping – we're having a slight difference of opinion over that."

"Oh, and why's that?" the officer wanted to know.

"I have no enemies so far as I know – outside of friendly ones from the horse show and rodeo circuit but I have a silver trimmed western saddle in the back of my jeep which is worth a considerable amount of money. I figure that these guys saw the saddle in the back of the jeep and saw me in my show clothes. They put to and two together and decided that I must be worth some money." She grimaced. "Alex told me not to take the saddle with me. I guess I should have listened to him."

"Who's Alex?" Quinlan wanted to know.

"Alex McGregor. He's my foreman. He was with me at the show but he's on his way back to the Lazy M with my horse."

Looking at the two men with Cayce Quinlan asked them, "Why do you think it was an attempted kidnapping if she's so convinced it was just an attempted robbery?"

"The guys that jumped her weren't dragging her anywhere near her jeep," Cody explained.

"That's right," Nick agreed. "They were dragging her toward a van."

"I don't suppose you happened to get the make and model or the license plate?"

"No," Cody replied while Nick shook his head.

"I did," Cayce told them. "It was a Chevy. I think it was a 1980 but it could have been an '81 or an '82. It was dark green but looks black when it's in the shade."

The three men stared at her in astonishment.

"What makes you so sure of that?" Quinlan asked the young woman.

"Two things. One – I own a ranch up near the Nevada border – in the Lake Tahoe area. When I was looking into a new van for the ranch I studied a whole bunch of them before I bought one.

"The second thing is that I wouldn't last very long in the cattle and horse business if I wasn't observant enough to notice what color an animal was or which predator was responsible for the tracks I found near my herds or my buildings." Cayce laughed at their faces. "Besides which my grandfather drilled that into my head while my grandmother, who taught me embroidery, said I had an eye for colors like she'd never seen. I can see five shades of green, red or blue where others see only one or two. As Grandpa Sonnett used to say – 'no brag – just fact'."

"I'll file a report but if those guys were just thieves they didn't get anything they'll probably just move on." The officer dismissed them with a final remark, "If I were you, Miss McKenna, I'd get that valuable saddle of yours out of sight. Those thieves might decide to try for it again."

Frustrated, Nick and Cody escorted their young friend out of police headquarters. Cayce could see by the looks on their faces that they weren't happy.

"Cheer up guys. The Lieutenant's right – the thieves didn't get anything so they're probably long gone."

Cody and Nick exchanged uneasy looks. They weren't as sure about that as Cayce was. A few minutes later the trio climbed into Cody's Jimmy with Nick gallantly sitting in the back after assisting – over her protests – Cayce to sit in the front with Cody.

"I'm not a baby, Nick! I can get in the truck by myself for crying out loud!"

"I know you're not a baby," the dark haired detective replied, "but you are a lady and I'm supposed to be an officer and a gentleman – at least that's what Major McKenna always tried to beat into my head."

"Fat lot of good that ever did," Cayce grinned. "You were a gentleman when you wanted to be and only when you wanted to be – like when there was a pretty girl around. The officer part came in handy when you wanted to pull rank on some lowly non-com or private."

"She's got you there, Nick," Cody jibed.

Cayce turned on the blond, "You were just as bad – just not quite as aggressive toward those of lesser rank. If there was a pretty girl around, though, you turned on the charm – complete with dimples."

It was Nick's turn to laugh as Cody rolled his eyes. They never did have much luck when they matched wits with Cayce McKenna. She'd been a bright girl as a teenager and she was just as bright as an adult.

The trio headed back toward Pier 56. A brief argument arose as to whether or not Cayce would stay at Straightaway's – or any other motel by herself that night. After what had transpired on the pier the two detectives were reluctant to allow her to do so. They'd find a way to accommodate her on the Riptide until she went home the next day.

"We can move Murray in with one of us and the other will sleep on the couch in the salon," Cody said.

"I'll sleep on the couch," Nick offered.

"No, you won't," Cayce argued. "I'm taking a room at Straightaway's like I planned when I came to town."

"No, you're not," Cody told her firmly. "Until we know what's going on you're staying with us. Murray will put the Roboz on alert and we'll all be fine."

"Cody…"

"Cayce Jillian McKenna!" Nick exclaimed in exasperation. "Do you want us to call Colonel McKenna and tell him what happened? He'll insist on you staying with us or going straight to the nearest post for protection."

"Guys…"

"Cayce, you're staying with us and that's final!" Cody told her in no uncertain terms.

"Ok, ok," she said in resignation. "I'll stay with you guys tonight." Then she asked, "What the heck is a roboz?"

The two men grinned. "You'll find out."

*******************************************************

After a quick stop at Cayce's jeep to pick up her saddle and her suitcase, the trio went back to the Riptide. The men insisted on carrying the heavy stuff while Cayce carried some of the munchies and a few cassettes she slipped into her pocket. One of them would entertain Murray's guests in just a few minutes.

"Hi guys! What took you so long?" Murray greeted his partners as they came aboard.

"We ran into some trouble on the way back," Nick told him. "Cody'll tell you all about it while I put these things below.

As Nick headed down the stairs with Cayce's suitcase and silver trimmed saddle Cody explained what had happened and why they were so long.

"Murray Bozinsky this is Cayce McKenna. Cayce this is our partner, Murray Bozinsky."

"Mr. Bozinsky and I already met, Cody," Cayce smiled as she shook hands with Boz once again. "He mistook me for one of his guests a little while ago. He was quite welcoming, too, I might add."

"Yeah?" Cody smiled fondly at the thin scientist. "I imagine he was. Boz is like that." Turning back to his partner he told him, "Cayce's going to stay with us tonight. Two men attacked her on the pier a while ago. We're not sure what it was all about so we don't want to take chances on her staying by herself at Straightaway's. We told her you'd put the Roboz on full alert." Looking around he spotted the little orange robot carrying a tray full of drinks. "Why don't you introduce Cayce to the Roboz? She's very curious."

"Oh, all right," Boz said. "Roboz come here."

The little orange robot glided over to its owner. "Roboz, this is Cayce McKenna. She's going to be staying with us tonight." Grinning proudly Murray said, "Cayce meet the Roboz. I designed him myself."

"It's nice to meet you Roboz," Cayce said with sparkling eyes. Looking up at Murray from where she knelt on the floor in front of the Roboz she said, "He's adorable!"

Murray grinned proudly. He'd spent a lot of time developing the Roboz but sometimes he got frustrated when he couldn't quite get the little robot to do things he intended for him to do.

"All set," Nick said as he rejoined them. "I put Cayce's saddle and suitcase in our stateroom for now."

"You know this really isn't necessary, guys," Cayce tried protesting again. "I can get a room. I'm interfering with your party – I wasn't invited and I'm certainly not expecting you to ask them to quit partying early."

"Nonsense," Murray said. "If the guys think you need to stay here then you stay. You're not interfering with the party and you're automatically invited since you're a friend – even if you're not a member of the High-Q Club."

"Thanks, Murray," Cayce said with a smile. "Let me earn my keep. I didn't bring my guitar or my violin with me but if you've got a cassette player around I'll gladly sing a Halloween song for you. I've got a tape with the music to Ghost Riders in the Sky. It was originally a hit record for Vaughn Monroe back in 1949. I personally like the Sons of the Pioneers version but I've also got Gene Autry and Johnny Cash on tape at home – if not in the jeep."

"Sure!" Murray was thrilled. He'd not planned on having live entertainment. It sounded like fun.

A couple of minutes later he had his cassette player up on the main deck where the party guests were all gathered at his request.

"Hey gang! Miss McKenna, here, is going to sing for us. She says she has a great Halloween song for us – better even than Monster Mash."

"Just call me Cayce," she insisted. "I hope you like it."

An old cowpoke went riding out on a dark and windy day
Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way
When all at once a mighty herd of red-eyed cows he saw
A-plowing through the ragged sky, and up a cloudy draw

Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns were black and shiny, and their hot breath he could feel
A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky
He saw the riders coming hard and he heard their mournful cry

Yippie-aye-ay, Yippie-aye-oh, ghost riders in the sky

Their faces gaunt their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat
They're riding hard to catch that herd but they ain't caught them yet
'Cause they've got to ride forever on that range up in the sky
On horses snorting fire, as they ride and hear their cry
Yippie-aye-ay, Yippie-aye-oh, ghost riders in the sky

As the riders loped on by him, he heard one call his name
If you want to save your soul from hell a-riding on our range
Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride
A-trying to catch the devil's herd across these endless skies
Yippie-aye-oh, yippie-aye-ay, ghost riders in the sky

As the music floated over the audience many of them could be seen repressing shivers that ran down their spines. The sky above them had turned somewhat stormy and, even though they were on a boat in King Harbor, many of them could have sworn they were on the plains of Texas, Montana or Wyoming. When Cayce was through and the music had faded there was a thunderous applause – the sound of which made the young woman blush furiously. Singing was a hobby as much as entering fairs, horse shows and rodeos except that the latter helped bring attention to the cattle and horses she raised.

"That was great!" Boz enthused with a huge smile.

"Thanks. I'm glad you liked it. I'm partial to the Sons of the Pioneers version myself. I'll play it for you some time."

Shortly after that the party broke up. The men took Cayce over to Straightaway's for dinner. It was a relaxing time for her but Nick and Cody, on the other hand, kept a watchful eye out for the men whom they were convinced had tried to kidnap Cayce earlier in the day. When they were through eating the men unobtrusively closed ranks around their guest as they walked back to the Riptide. As they approached they could hear the phone ringing – rather insistently it seemed to the little group. Nick ran ahead and answered it on the fifth ring. It was for Cayce.

"Hello?" Cayce was puzzled as to who would be calling her there though she had left the phone number in case of an emergency.

"Josefina? Sí, I'm in King Harbor with Nick and Cody and their amigo – Murray. What's wrong?"

There was silence in King Harbor except for a woman's excited voice coming over the telephone wire. The men could hear what sounded like Spanish and Cayce responding in kind.

A moment later they saw all the color drain from their visitor's face as she asked, "Is he okay? What about Doc?"

More rapid fire Spanish. Cayce drummed her fingers nervously on her right leg.

"Sí, I'll be careful. Yes, I'll tell them what happened." She glanced at her friends' concerned faces as they watched and listened. "I don't have much choice in the matter since they're right here listening. I'll be home late tomorrow. Okay. Bye."

As she hung up the phone it was obvious that she was in deep distress over the conversation. Nick took the cordless phone away from her while Cody guided her to the bench. She sat down heavily trying to compose herself. Her eyes were somewhat teary and she was shaky as well.

"Cayce?" Cody turned her face toward him. "What's wrong? Who was that on the phone?"

"That was my housekeeper, Josefina Delgado," Cayce told them. "My foreman, Alex McGregor, was run off the road on the way back to the Lazy M this afternoon. He's got a slight concussion and had to have some stitches in his head from where he hit the steering wheel. He's also got a badly sprained wrist, which puts him out of the team roping and the calf roping competitions at the next rodeo we're scheduled for. My prize barrel racer, Blackfoot Medicine Man - aka Doc - was shaken up but not hurt. He's nervous as all get out though, and won't let anybody near him."

"Does anybody know what happened for sure?" Nick asked his eyes like blue ice at seeing her so upset.

"There were three witnesses. They all said the same thing – the van deliberately forced Alex off the road. They turned tail and ran when they realized they were seen and might be recognized."

"That's two incidents in one day, Cayce," Cody said. "It sounds to me like somebody's trying to keep you out of the rodeos."

"I don't know why," Cayce said. "It's not like I've got anything absolutely sewn up. There's some tough competition out there. I can think of three, or four, riders who are just as good as I am that could take top money. I really only do this as a hobby and to attract customers who want me to train their horses or breed their mares to my stallions."

"Are you hurting for money, Cayce?" Boz asked.

"Yes, and no," she replied as she tugged on one of her braids. "What I'm really hurting for is competent help. My last bookkeeper messed up my books so badly I've been months getting them straightened out and now, being on the road so much during the summer and early fall, I've fallen behind on my entries."

"My handyman fell from a ladder and hurt his back. He's been laid up for months and the routine repairs – let alone any extra work I want done – has been on hold for all that time. The garage I had doing the repairs on my all my vehicles went out of business and I still haven't found an aviation mechanic to work on my helicopter. I need that whirlybird in the air by winter in case I have to fly hay to a stranded herd – plus I drop hay on some acreage I own over the Nevada state line that's reserved for a wildlife refuge."

"Have you been having a lot of problems?" Cody inquired.

"Kinda. I can't prove that anyone's been sabotaging me if that's what you mean," she told him, "but there's been one incident after another after another. Fences cut. Fields burned. Cattle turning up missing. Equipment damaged. I've missed a few appearances at horse shows and rodeos because of it. Of all the hired help the only ones I can count on are the ones that have been with me from the beginning – some of them worked for Great-Grandad McKenna and wouldn't dream of looking elsewhere for work. The new help spends a lot of time complaining when they don't get paid on time. It could all be coincidental but then there's this accident and those guys on the dock…it's like somebody doesn't want me to succeed but I don't know whether it's in the ranching business or when I'm showing my horses like Doc. The rodeos and horse shows I enter are important. When I do well I get more clients for lessons or horse training. One of these incidents – or even two – wouldn't put me in such a bind but all of them together are causing me a lot of grief."

"I think you need help," Nick said with a look at his partners. "We'd like to if you'd let us."

"You don't know anything about ranching – or horses," she reminded him.

"That's true," Boz said, "but you said you were in need of a bookkeeper. I can do that."

"He does our books," Cody told her, "and that's no easy task the way Nick and I lose receipts and write things down on scraps of paper and such."

"Nick's a good mechanic," Murray continued. "He's got his own helicopter so taking care of yours shouldn't be hard."

"Yeah and Cody does most of the repairs on the Riptide and the Jimmy," Nick said. "You need us, little girl, so why not let us help?"

For the first time since her troubles had begun Cayce was looking hopeful.

"You mean it? You'll come up and help me out for a while?"

"Yes," Cody smiled as he put his right arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. "And we won't charge you for it. Maybe we can find out who – or what – is causing all this trouble while we're there."

"If you come to work for me," Cayce told him with a hard look that included the other two, "you'll get paid. Whatever your normal fee is you'll get it."

"Cayce, we can't ask you to do that," Nick said.

"You're not asking me – I'm telling. If you're going to work for me you're going to get paid."

There was no changing her mind. Cayce Jillian McKenna was a stubborn Scots/Irish woman who, when her mind was made up, could not be persuaded to think differently. The detectives decided to give in rather than make a big issue out of it.

"This is boss!" Murray grinned from ear to ear. "We get to work on a real western ranch just like in the movies!"

Cayce grinned. She was really beginning to enjoy knowing Boz – he was a lot of fun and not nearly as serious as Nick and Cody were when they were around her. Her smile was short lived.

"What's the matter sweetie?" Cody asked.

"I hate to do it guys, but I think I ought to cut this visit short and go home tonight. Josefina is a nervous wreck and I need to see about Doc and visit Alex in the hospital…"

"You're not driving home," Nick told her. "You're too worked up and distracted. I'll fly you home in the Mimi. You can tell your people that you left your jeep with a friend and hired me to fly you home and start work first thing Monday. Tomorrow being Sunday you can show me around so I can get the lay of the land."

"Nick's right," Cody agreed. "You're way too nervous to drive yourself. Your mind is on other things."

Nick looked at Cody in amazement. There were very few times when the blond didn't have something to say about how terrible the Mimi was. The fact that he didn't make any wisecracks showed how concerned he was about the young woman.

In no time at all Nick had packed a few things – including his .45 and some ammo – and had hustled Cayce out to the Mimi. The sight of the pink helicopter with the face and the name did cause Cayce to giggle momentarily but she was quick to climb aboard and took the co-pilot's seat next to Nick. Cody and Boz would drive up – Boz in Cayce's jeep and Cody in the Jimmy – the next day so that they arrived for their new "jobs" early on Monday. They planned on arriving at different times so that nobody knew they were together – let alone that they were working with Nick. Cayce received a big hug from Cody by way of reassurance. Whatever – or whoever – was causing her all this trouble was going to be found out and taken care of by the Riptide Detective Agency.

******************************************************************

"This is so boss!" Murray was very excited. "A real ranch with horses, cattle and cowboys!"

"And dust, and sun and snakes," Cody teased. "There are rattlesnakes to watch out for and sunstroke and the dust…"

"You're not going to spoil my fun, Cody Allen," Boz told his partner. "I'm sure there's plenty of things to see besides those hazards. I'm going to do some research. The library must have some information on ranching and cowboys. We might need it."

"You do that, Murray. I'm going to map out a route and hit the sack. Don't stay up too late – we need to leave fairly early in the morning and it's a long drive."

Murray didn't hear a word as the blond left the computer room. He was deeply engrossed in his research and putting together a list of words – with definitions – that he thought they might need.

******************************************************************

"I really appreciate this, Nick," the young woman in the co-pilot's seat said. "I'm really worried about what's going on and it would take me all night to drive home."

"Don't you worry about it, kiddo," Nick told her. "We're going to find out what's going on and who's responsible for it. Then we're going to put a stop to it." He reached over with his left hand and gave her right hand a squeeze. "Cody and Boz will join us in the next couple of days and we'll get right to work. And Boz will have your ledgers straightened out – and up to date – in no time. I can't tell you how many times he's done that for the agency."

"I hope so," Cayce sighed. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

An hour later they reached the Lazy M located outside of Sunny Acres. Cayce guided Nick to the area behind the house where she usually kept her own helicopter except that it, being disabled, was currently stowed away in the small hanger she had had built for it when she first inherited the ranch and moved onto the place to run it.

When the Mimi was safely on the ground, and the rotors had stopped turning, Nick climbed down the outside and opened the cargo bay door to let Cayce out. He climbed in and grabbed their suitcases and then followed her to the house. He walked very closely to her to lend emotional support. With his hands full he couldn't put an arm around her shoulders or anything and it would have been a dead giveaway that he was more than just the "new aviation mechanic".

As they approached the house a medium sized dog with a brown, black and white coat – mostly reddish brown – that barked furiously until Cayce spoke to it, greeted them.

"Rusty! C'mere boy."

The dog stopped barking and ran to his mistress giving a little whine as he circled her and the stranger with her and then pressed his nose into her hand. She knelt down to put her arms around him and give him a hug.

"Nick, this is Rusty – the best cattle dog I've ever had the pleasure of working with." Holding the dog's collar until he settled down she said to the dog, "Rusty this is Nick. He's a friend and I want you to treat him like one, okay? Now shake hands with him."

Nick held his hand out cautiously and was rewarded with the dog's right front paw being offered to him.

"He loves to be scratched behind the ears and under the chin," the young woman told her friend.

Nick was rewarded with a lick of his hand when he gave the dog some scratches in his favorite places. He was pleasantly surprised as the only other dog he'd had much experience with had been Bucky – a dog belonging to a goofy woman that Cody had dated (though Cody said that Charlene had dated him and not the other way around). Bucky had been a holy terror as the saying went. He'd terrified Cody, ignored Nick and obeyed Boz – adored Boz. Rusty was quite different. He'd stopped barking as soon as Cayce spoke to him and he was quite willing to be friends with whomever she was friendly with.

"Quien es?" a woman's voice asked from the kitchen door.

"Me, Josefina, Cayce," Cayce responded.

"Senorita Cayce! Ai yi yi! You are all right!"

Josefina Delgado was a fifty-five-year-old Mexican woman who had been hired as a housekeeper by Colonel, then Major, McKenna ten years earlier when Cayce was only fourteen. The woman had adopted the McKennas as her family and came to work on the Lazy M when Cayce inherited the ranch. She was short, somewhat stout and wore her black hair piled on top of her head. Cayce was like a daughter to her and she scolded, cajoled and praised the young woman, as she felt was necessary. Now she pulled the young woman into her arms and hugged her.

"Mamacita, por favor, you're squeezing me so tight I can't breathe," Cayce laughed.

The Mexican woman released her but started a tirade in Spanish, which Cayce answered in the same manner. Turning to Nick she said, "This is my mamacita, Señora Josefina Delgado. Mamacita, this is Señor Nick Ryder. He's going to work for me for a while as an aviation mechanic – that is to say he'll be taking care of my helicopter and maybe the trucks and such, too. I'm told he's very good with engines."

"Mucho gusto," the woman responded.

"Likewise," Nick said with a smile. His Spanish was very limited but he knew that she was acknowledging the introduction.

"Where's Alex?" Cayce asked. "Is he in his quarters or did they keep him overnight at the hospital?"

"He is home," Josefina replied. "Señor Wood picked him up and brought him home.

"I'm going down to the bunkhouse to see him," the rancher said. "You can leave my bag on the porch." She pointed to a spot where Nick could put the luggage. "Come along with me. You might as well meet the men now – especially Alex since he's the foreman."

Nick followed Cayce to a large one-story building built of logs located about one quarter mile from the main house. She stopped and knocked on the door. It was a matter of courtesy and propriety. She may have owned the ranch, and she may have been the boss, but that was it. She was female and they were not and she wouldn't dream of barging in on them.

"Is it safe to come in?" she asked when she had gotten someone's attention. "Are you all decent?"

"Yeah, come on in," someone hollered.

Opening the door Cayce, followed by Nick, entered a brightly lit room furnished with a long picnic table and benches as well as a couple of couches, easy chairs and bunk beds. A door in the back led to Alex McGregor's separate quarters. The door was closed when Cayce and Nick entered the bunkhouse.

"Guys, this is Nick Ryder," Cayce introduced the detective. "He's going to be working here for a while as a mechanic – especially on the helicopter. Nick these are your co-workers. That's Smokey Jim Kennelly with the black hair and blue eyes sitting in the green chair, Woody Hartnett, Carl Ryan, Brian Hays, Keith Campion – also known as KC for obvious reasons…."

Nick acknowledged the introduction with a handshake and was welcomed to the Lazy M – until they got to the last man.

"…and this over here is Frank Harding."

Harding gave Nick an unfriendly look and ignored the extended hand.

"Smokey, how's Alex?"

"He's got a whale of a headache and his wrist hurts him some but the doc told Woody he'd be all right in about a week's time."

"Woody?"

"That's what he said, Miss McKenna," the blond man who went by Woody told her.

"I'm glad to hear it. If he's not asleep I want him to meet Nick. Then he and I are going to have some supper and talk over his duties. He'll be bunking with you guys." She turned to knock on Alex's door. "Oh, and I hired a new bookkeeper and a handyman while I was in King Harbor. They should arrive some time tomorrow or the next day. I hope you'll all help them settle in. They all come highly recommended to me."

The young woman tapped lightly on the door to the foreman's private room. Upon hearing the summons to enter she opened the door and motioned for Nick to follow her.

"Alex, how are you feeling?" Her green eyes were dark with concern when she was the bandaged head and wrist.

"Not too bad, all things considered, Miss Cayce," was the reply. "Have you seen Doc yet?"

"No, not yet. I will before I go in for supper – Josefina's fixing it now. I wanted to see you first." Indicating her friend, the detective, she added, "Alex, this is Nick Ryder. He's going to work for me for a while as a mechanic – on the Baroness and the vehicles. I'm told he's very good and we need someone, on site, who's capable of keeping our vehicles running properly." She motioned Nick forward, "Nick this is Alex McGregor. He's the foreman and definitely my right hand man."

"Nice to meet you, Alex," Nick said shaking hands with the man.

"Same here, lad," McGregor said. "If you can keep those miserable trucks and such running, and that eggbeater of Miss Cayce's, you'll have a friend for life." McGregor smiled ruefully, "I'm not much good with mechanics. Give me a horse any old day of the week. I'm real old fashioned about such things."

"We all have our talents," Nick said modestly. "I wouldn't know what to do for a horse but I do know engines. I have a helicopter of my own – I flew the boss lady up from King Harbor in it."

"You'll laugh when you see it, Alex," Cayce told him with sparkling eyes. "It's an old Sikorksy he's painted pink with a mouth on it and it's called the Screaming Mimi. She's a classic."

McGregor raised his eyebrows. "A pink helicopter named the Screaming Mimi? This I have to see."

"Tomorrow," Cayce told him. "You take it easy tonight and tomorrow you can be doing some bossing around when you feel up to it. I had a concussion a few years ago so I don't even have to see the discharge instructions. Rest, making sure you can wake up, and no heavy food until tomorrow. I'm sure Josefina has brought you some soup so you just take it easy, get some sleep and I'll see you tomorrow. Nick and I have some business to talk over while we eat."

Cayce and Nick bade her foreman, and the other ranch hands, good night and went up to the house where a meal of fried chicken with mashed potatoes, corn, tossed salad and fresh biscuits awaited them along with milk and coffee with peach pie for dessert.

After supper Cayce briefed Nick on the ranch operations and showed him around. Their last stop was at the corral where Doc was pacing restlessly back and forth. Every little noise had the stallion on edge. It was obvious that the "accident" had taken its toll on the animal's nerves – at least for the time being.

"Doc," the young woman called softly. "Come here, boy."

The stallion's ears perked up but he still paced restlessly.

"Doc! Come here!" Cayce called more urgently.

This time the stallion took a few steps toward her but stopped short of actually going to her. Cayce tried again but still nothing would bring the buckskin any closer than fifty yards away. He was very traumatized from being banged around in the trailer a few hours ago and anybody who came near him was suspected of trying to get him into another trailer. Not even his mistress could get through to him.

"Cayce," Nick said with an arm around her shoulders. "I don't know anything about horses but I think you're making him nervous with all this noise. Why don't you leave him alone until morning and then see what happens."?

With a sigh Cayce agreed and the two went their separate ways. Cayce to the house to try and do some bookwork and Nick to the bunkhouse to stake out a place of his own after he had retrieved his own suitcase from the Mimi. At Cayce's strong suggestion he'd left his favorite blue and white Hawaiian type shirt at home on the Riptide and had packed jeans, his khaki shirt, the red and black plaid and a few other things including the coveralls he sometimes wore when working on his beloved helicopter.

It wasn't long before he'd staked out a bunk, taken a shower and hit the sack. Cody and Boz would be arriving sometime tomorrow. He hoped to have a chance to talk to Alex McGregor, privately, about the accident. He instinctively felt that McGregor could be trusted to keep quiet about why he was really here. Beyond that he wanted to get a good look at the engines of Cayce's vehicles and the brakes and such see if they'd been tampered with. That wouldn't be too hard since his cover was that he was going to work for her as a mechanic for a while.

******************************************************************

Cayce slept poorly that night. As much as she'd denied it to the Riptide detectives she was shaken up by the apparently kidnapping attempt. She couldn't figure out why anybody would want to kidnap her. She wasn't really hurting for money but she wasn't fabulously wealthy either. She was a fair competitor in the horse shows and rodeos she entered. She did what she had to in order to win without stepping over the line. For her it was practice, practice, practice until she had it right. She saw to her horses' grooming and to her costumes. She was willing to lend a helping hand to anyone who was down on their luck or pressed for time before a class or an event.

Why would someone run Alex off the road? Especially when he was pulling a trailer? Nothing made any sense. It was almost sunrise before she finally fell into a sound sleep – mostly from sheer exhaustion. Josefina looked in on her at 7AM but left without waking her when she saw that her niña was resting. The men would just have to eat their breakfast and work on whatever they'd been working on the day before until Cayce woke up.

******************************************************************

Cody parked the Jimmy, near the house, around ten o'clock that morning. He'd left King Harbor around six and had had to stop for gas once. As he got out of the truck he stretched the kinks out of his back. Then he walked up to the front door of the ranch house and knocked. Josefina greeted him.

"May I help you señor?"

"I'm here about the mechanic's job. Miss McKenna hired me yesterday."

"Miss Cayce is in the office working on the books. I will tell her you are here Señor…"

"Allen, Cody Allen."

"Señor Allen. Please, wait here on the porch while I get her."

The blond took a seat in one of the chairs on the porch while he waited. The foursome – the detectives and Cayce – had decided it would be best if nobody knew that they knew each other. He'd have to play this out like a new employee just reporting for work no matter how much he, and the others, were worried about all these "incidents" and "accidents" that had befallen Cayce, and the Lazy M employees, in the last month or so.

His blue eyes scanned the area around the house noting that it was built similar to the old style ranch houses. It was brown with three stories including the attic. Cayce had red rose bushes planted by the front corners of the house while smaller flowers he couldn't identify were planted in the beds in between.

About a quarter of a mile away he could see the big red barn where he supposed the horses were kept. He saw a tall, tan colored horse pacing restlessly – or nervously if that were Cayce's horse she'd told them about – in the corral next to the barn. Three or four men were doing different chores around the barn while one was carrying bags of groceries into what appeared to be the bunkhouse. Idly he wondered if Cayce had room for him in said bunkhouse with all the others or if he would be staying in another building – such as the barn. Or maybe there was a room in the garage.

"Mr. Allen, thank you for coming." Cayce appeared at the door. Her hair, normally neatly braided, hung down her back in a solitary ponytail. She was clad in dungarees and a tan shirt. On her feet she wore a pair of plain moccasins. The young woman was a bit pale and her eyes, normally sparkling with fun, were dull. She opened the door and led him to the back of the house where she had her office. It was equipped with a Compaq personal computer and an Alps printer. Filing cabinets lined one wall. The bookshelf over her desk held a dictionary, a thesaurus, a business English writing guide plus some veterinary medicine and horse training books.

The desk itself, a massive object made of oak, was littered with invoices, letters and ledgers. A map of the Lazy M covered some of the other papers. A picture of Cayce and her parents and one of her uncle in his dress uniform standing next to her in her cap and gown from High School and college also stood on her desk.

The walls were covered with diplomas from Cayce's High School and College where she'd had a double major in business and animal husbandry. Commendations from various organizations that she'd organized fundraisers for and pictures of Cayce on various horses she'd owned over the years, and competed with, hung on the wall by the door.

When Cayce closed the door behind her Cody walked over and took her in his arms. It was obvious to him that the string of accidents and apparent sabotage were taking their toll on her. The young woman was normally lively and cheery with a smile for everyone and light in her green eyes. That light was missing and she wasn't smiling or cheery.

"You doing okay, kid?" he asked.

"I'll be okay," she said. "Nick got me here last night and he's settled in the bunkhouse. He told me to expect you and Murray some time today. Now that you're here I've only got my 'bookkeeper' to wait for."

"He's really excited about it, too," Cody chuckled. "He loves undercover work and he's been reading up on rodeos and horse shows and ranching since you left last night. Don't be surprised if he starts using words that sound like they're from the movies. You've given him something new to learn about and he's all set to do whatever. He says he wants to take riding lessons while we're here."

"I think that can be arranged," Cayce said with a glimmer of a smile. "I'll see that someone gives him some lessons while you're all here and I can always come down to King Harbor and take him to the local stable when I have time. I might even know somebody who lives a little closer that would be willing to work with him."

Walking over to her desk she indicated that Cody should sit in the chair across from her. When he was seated she handed him a list of accidents and mechanical failures and such that had been plaguing the Lazy M and its rodeo and horse show entries over the spring and summer.

"I'll look this over and Nick and I will find ways to get together and get with Boz to discuss what's happening."

"You guys don't know how much I appreciate your help," Cayce said. "You were always like big brothers to me when I needed help growing up. I think I'll adopt Murray, too."

"He'd like that," Cody said with a grin. "He'll have two little sisters if you do. Melba's very bright but she's a bit of a flake. Drove Nick and me nuts when she visited a while back." With a fond look at the young woman in front of him he added, "At least you've got some common sense."

"Thanks – I think."

"Why don't you show me where I'm to bunk down and introduce me to my fellow employees – including Nick?"

"All right. I've told the men that I've hired a mechanic, a handyman and a bookkeeper so they'll be expecting to meet you when you arrive. There's no time like the present."

The two of them stood and exited the office. The first co-worker Cody was introduced to was Josefina whom he was told was a substitute mother for Cayce and took care of the house, laundry and many of the meals. She did the shopping for her employer and for the men. The Lazy M had a full time cook to see that the men's meals were prepared in the morning and at night and put up sandwiches for them to take with them when they were on the range on horseback and wouldn't be back until supper time. Those that worked around the barn and the forge would find sandwiches in the refrigerator along with bottles of spring water and cookies, or cake, and fruit for snacking and dessert.

Once outside they met up with Rusty who was sticking close to the house. He and Doc were buddies and he knew that something had upset the big stallion. However, he did come when Cayce called him though it was apparent that Doc was more important to him.

"Mr. Allen, this is Rusty. He's already met Mr. Ryder. He's supposed to be out working with the cattle but he and Doc are such good pals I suppose he knows that something's upset that stallion and he won't leave until he's sure Doc is ok. Doc's full name – his registered name – is Blackfoot Medicine Man. You'll see it on any entry forms I may ask your help with and on the feed chart in the barn. I'll show you around as I may ask you to load hay bales and store feed sacks. Your job will basically be to do whatever Alex – he's the foreman – or I ask you to do from loading hay in the loft to mending fences to repairing stairs and ramps around the buildings."

Cayce had to keep up a formal atmosphere with Cody because several of the hands were close by and could easily overhear anything she said to him. They walked over to the barn where Cayce showed her friend a couple of stalls that had loose boards that needed repairing or replacing. This would be his first task and would allow him to familiarize himself with the barn and surrounding area. The tool shed happened to be nearby and would be a good place to meet Nick without it being obvious since all of the tools for mucking out stalls, pitching hay and repairing leather were in the room plus saws and hammers and other assorted tools and every type of nail, screw and bolt and other hardware needed to keep things in working order.

"You can start with those stalls," Cayce told him. "The tool shed is unlocked most of the day. You'll find hammers, rakes, shoves, pitchforks, drills, some power tools plus nails and screws and such. We try to keep a running inventory on the hardware so we can go into town and pick up what we need at the hardware store. The sign out sheet for power tools is hanging on a clipboard to the left of the door as you walk in. I like to know who has them and where they're using them. If you find one that is not functioning right let Alex or myself know so that we can get a replacement and dispose of the old one. Cookie serves chow around six and he's very touchy if you don't appear when he calls. You should find an empty bunk in the bunkhouse but if not there's a cot in the tack room that we've been known to use when need be. Alex McGregor – my foreman – will show you around more of the place later. I have a bookkeeper to get ready for."

Cayce left him there after showing him where to find the lumber he might need to do the job at hand. After he was through with that a truckload of hay arrived and he helped two of the hands load them into the hayloft. It was well after one o'clock by the time he and Nick were able to get together for more than a minute.

At precisely one-fifteen Murray arrived in Cayce's jeep. He glanced at his partners and then proceeded to the house where Cayce greeted him like a long lost friend. She took him straight back to the office after passing through the kitchen so he could meet Josefina who was fixing a beef stew for Cayce's dinner. One look at Murray and the motherly Mexican woman was clucking her tongue and making plans to try and fatten the slender computer whiz up. Cayce giggled as Josefina had been trying to fatten Colonel McKenna up for years and still the man was six-three and one hundred and forty-five pounds.

Once she and Murray were in the office Cayce proceeded to explain to him where everything was. The computer part wasn't hard – the programs were extremely simple for the computer whiz. Cayce, while no expert, wasn't exactly a genius but tried to keep the software up to date. Murray immediately had some suggestions which Cayce promised to let him put into place.

"Cash and checks go in the safe, here," she explained, "until I can get to the bank. I try to have any prize money we win deposited as soon as I can. Each member of my team roping pairs plus the bulldoggers, bronc & bull riders get a percentage of what they earn just so they don't miss out on some extra cash. They know most of it goes back into the ranch so there's usually no problem."

Showing him the file cabinet she explained, "Contracts, bills and invoices are kept in here as are orders for feed, hay, lumber and such. Each one is from a different source. The electric company and all will be easy for you but if you get bogged down on which supplier delivers hay, oats, corn and which one is the salt blocks and such I can make you out a list. Crown is the name of the blacksmith. He comes every couple of months to replace shoes on the horses. I'm expecting him in a couple of days since Doc needs new shoes before the next show we're scheduled for."

Reaching into the top drawer she pulled out a folder marked "Entry forms" and showed him the schedule she had made up. There were entry forms dating back as far as January for the small horse shows and indoor rodeos. The upcoming schedule was written on her calendar and kept on a spreadsheet on the computer. It showed which horses were to compete in which events and which riders would be on which horse. It also showed how each one had placed and how much money and/or what prizes they had won.

The computer whiz sat down at the terminal and started bringing the Lazy M's books up to date. Cayce left him to it to have a quick lunch and then proceeded to check on the progress of her crews. She found Nick hard at work checking out the engine on her helicopter.

"What do you think of my Baroness?" she asked him.

"Baroness?" Nick asked with raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, planes and boats and such are usually referred to as she right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So I painted her red and named her The Red Baroness – I couldn't call her a baron now could I?"

"No, I guess you couldn't," Nick agreed with a chuckle. "She's almost as good as my Mimi."

Cayce chose to ignore that remark. She knew Nick loved his Mimi – she'd heard about her even before she'd flown in her the night before. Taking out an aerial chart she took Nick away from the tune up for a couple of minutes.

"This is an aerial map of the Lazy M," she explained. "When supper is over, and before it gets dark, I want you and I to go up in the Baroness – or the Mimi if you prefer – so I can show you the whole spread. Tomorrow I'll take Cody out in my jeep or one of the pick ups and show him the lay of the land by driving around. Between you you should get a pretty good idea of where my boundaries are and the roads and trails that lead into it."

"Sounds like a good idea," Nick said. "What will your ranch hands think?"

"Oh, I always take my new employees on a tour of the place," she explained. "If they're going to work for me they need to get to know the place inside out. That way if there's an emergency they know how to get to the place where help is needed or back here to the ranch buildings to get to a telephone. I usually have somebody manning the radio but not always so if there's nobody in the office, or the bunkhouse, that can pick up their transmission they can comeback here and use one of the landlines."

The two agreed on a time and Cayce went down to the corral where Doc was to try and work with her horse. Fortunately Doc was much calmer now – until they got near a trailer. He nearly unseated the young woman when he shied away but she stuck, as she would say, like a cocklebur to the saddle and calmed him down. Then they went for a long trail ride. After the unnerving trailer ride of the day before Doc needed some peace and quiet and a ride on some of the trails running through her place seemed to be just the ticket.

Cody, watching from the barn door where he had paused to take a five minute break and have some cold water, almost ran toward the pair but Cayce had Doc under control in a few seconds and they continued on their way while the detective went back to work in the barn.

Smokey Jim Kenelly joined him there. Smokey Jim was forty-years-old with sandy hair and brown eyes. He'd gotten his nickname from his ability to spot a forest fire that threatened not only acres of trees but, if not checked, potentially threatened the Lazy M and other ranches in the vicinity as well as the little town of Sunny Acres where the ranchers did their banking and other business such as purchasing hay, straw and wood shavings, salt blocks and lumber. Most of the items that were needed for repairs, bedding or food for the animals that were not grazing on open range and enclosed pastureland were purchased in Sunny Acres.

"How's it going?" Smokey asked Cody who was struggling with a warped board in one of the stalls that needed replacing.

"Except for this…stubborn…" Cody grunted, "board it's going fine!"

"Need a hand?"

"Nah, I've got it," Cody responded.

But he didn't have it and it popped right back into place again. Smokey stifled a grin. Every handyman they'd had around the place for the last two years had been too stubborn to ask for help and a couple of them had suffered serious injuries as a result.

"You sure you don't want me to lend you a hand?" he asked again.

"I'm…sure," Cody replied.

The board squeaked and creaked and finally let loose sending Cody stumbling back several feet until he collided with the far wall of the stall he was working in. Kennelly reached out to try and slow Cody's momentum but he was just a couple of seconds too slow. The blond detective wound up sitting on the floor gasping as he tried to catch his breath. The board he'd been trying to remove in order to replace it lay in his lap with his hands still clutching it.

"I offered to help you, you know," Smokey reminded the stunned "handyman".

"Yeah, I know," Cody grinned. "Too much stubborn pride. My mom always said I had a stubborn streak a mile wide. I guess she was right. I let my pride get in the way when that board refused to give when I wanted it to."

"I'm Smokey Jim Kennelly," the cowboy introduced himself with an outstretched hand. "You're the new handyman I reckon."

"Yeah, Cody Allen." Cody reached out to shake Kennelly's hand.

"Gonna be with us long, Allen?"

"I'm not sure," Cody answered vaguely. "Miss McKenna sure does seem to need a lot of work done around the place so I may be a few weeks anyway."

Smokey looked around the barn and the grounds with a frown.

"It seems like every time we start to gain ground something happens. We go out on a rodeo tour and something breaks down. Miss Cayce goes to a horse show and she gets a flat tire. By the time it's fixed she's late getting to the fairgrounds and her class is over and done with and she loses out because she never got to compete." Smokey's gray eyes were smoldering. "Now there's the incident with the foreman and Miss Cayce's horse, Doc. That horse is a sure fire winner in the barrel racing and pole bending competitions but it'll take a miracle, after that so-called accident, to get him in a trailer. I'm surprised he even let her near him. He was really nervous when we got him home last night."

"I heard about some of these 'incidents'," Cody said. "I also heard that somebody tried to kidnap her in King Harbor."

"Could be. Competition is tough and some people will do anything to win," Kennelly agreed. "The Carpenter girl has been trying to beat Miss Cayce and take top prize money in barrel racing all season but she only wins first place when the boss lady and Doc don't compete for some reason. Not so long ago Doc had a serious case of colic – we almost lost him. The vet was able to pull him through but it was a mighty near thing."

Smokey squinted up at the sun from the doorway where he and Cody had moved.

"I reckon I'd better get back to work. I have a couple of saddles and bridles that need to be taken to the tack shop in town to be repaired." He shook his head, "It sure is a shame the way things keep falling apart around here. Miss Cayce has worked hard, since she inherited the place three years ago, to keep it in tip top shape."

The cowboy moved off to the tack room to get the damaged equipment, loaded it in the back of a red Dodge pickup truck and headed off toward Sunny Acres. Cody went back to his repair job in the barn but tucked the information from Smokey away in his mind. He'd talk to his partners – and hopefully Cayce – about it later.

******************************************************************

Nick was fuming. He was so angry, at what he'd found upon starting to inspect the vehicles belonging to the ranch, that Cayce would tease him about steam coming out of his ears.

"What a mess!" he exclaimed when he lifted the hood on the rack truck.

There were loose wires and puddles of grease and antifreeze as well as brake fluid under the hood and under the truck. This truck needed a major overhaul as soon as he could ascertain exactly what the extent of the damage was.

The Chevy station wagon that he inspected next had two flat tires. Upon closer inspection he found that nails were embedded in both of them. While it could have been an accident – a nail could be picked up anywhere at any time if there were construction sites in the vicinity – it didn't seem very likely to him that anybody could have picked up two nails at the same time.

He decided he'd start with the wagon since all he'd have to do would be to jack up the car and take off the bad tires – putting temporary spares in place long enough to take it to the nearest tire store – or garage that sold them – and get four new ones. His plan was to put two new tires on the car and have the other two new ones held in reserve. The spares were in relatively good shape and would do for short-term use in an emergency.

"How's it going?" Cayce came up to Nick as he was putting the second spare on the station wagon.

"You've got a big mess on your hands, kiddo," he said with blue eyes blazing as he wiped the grease off his hands with a red bandana. "This wagon had nails embedded in two of the tires. You give me directions to the nearest tire store or garage and I'll get two replacements plus two spares. That truck," he indicated the rack truck, "has got loose wires, leaky brakes, a leaky radiator and I don't know what else! I'm going to have to do a complete overhaul on it before you use it and that's going to take time. I'll need Cody's help – if you can spare him – to get it running again. It's definitely a two man job."

"I knew about the tires," Cayce said. "I don't know where we could have picked up the nails, though. Cody's working in the barn and the mechanic I had was very careful about keeping me in good tires. I haven't been near a construction site in months – that I know of."

"When's the last time anybody drove this car?" Ryder asked her.

"A couple of weeks ago, maybe," Cayce said after thinking about it for a minute. "I don't think we've driven it since the show in San Francisco because Alex and I decided to take the truck and the jeep to Los Angeles."

"And the stake truck?"

"Whenever the last load of hay was picked up – a month ago maybe. We hardly ever use it for anything but – unless there's a brush fire in the hills up in back. Then we load men, and tools, into the truck and head for the fire."

Nick tucked this information away much as Cody had tucked away the information he'd gotten from Smokey Jim in the barn. He needed to brainstorm with his partners to see if they could find a pattern and from the pattern ferret out the culprit that was causing their friend so much trouble.

"Listen, Cayce," Nick said with a gentle tug on one of her braids, "don't you worry about it. With a little help from Cody I can get these vehicles running again and then I'll take a look at your Baroness – but don't you try to fly her until I've had a chance to look her over as well. Now scoot on back to the house and see how Boz is doing with your bookwork."

Cayce smiled at her friend, "Okay. I'll send Cody along in a while. I need to see how he's coming on those repairs in the barn."

As she walked away, though, the dark haired detective could see the combination of tension and dejection in the slump of her shoulders. He hoped, with all his might, that he and his partners would soon be able to figure out who was behind this sabotage and whether, or not, it was related to McGregor being run off the road. He hoped Colonel McKenna didn't get wind of this or he'd be on the first plane from San Antonio to California to be at his niece's side – even if it meant going AWOL to get here. He and Cody weren't going to let that happen.

******************************************************************

Murray typed away at Cayce's computer. He'd gotten most of the invoices for the local feed store loaded so now he was working on the tack shop and the repair bills for the vehicles the ranch owned. He shook his head sadly when he saw how much money Cayce was losing due to poor bookkeeping habits. From what he could see her previous bookkeeper had been careless and his handwriting was so bad that Murray was having difficulty transferring the figures in the hard copy ledgers to the ones in the bookkeeping program Cayce had installed on her computer. He marked a number of entries to ask his client about in the hope that she would be able to tell him what they were. The numbers were difficult enough to read but figuring out the abbreviations he used for different things was even worse. So far the computer whiz had only been able to match half a dozen of them with actual entries – business names and categories – in the database.

When Cayce came in to check on his progress Murray was disturbed by how pale she was looking and how depressed she seemed. Setting aside the paperwork for the time being he went over and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Want to tell me about it?" he asked gently.

"There's so much going on I don't even know where to start," she said while fighting back tears. "Nick says my rack truck is a mess and he's going to need Cody's help to get it back in order. The station wagon has two flat tires with nails in them. The barn has repairs that need to be done – Cody's working on them now but he'll lose time when he helps Nick. There are three loads of hay expected soon that will have to be stored in the loft and I can't spare any of my regulars to do it. This is rough country and we still patrol – check on the herds – on horseback where a truck can't go."

"Doc still won't go near a trailer and we have three more shows and a couple of more rodeos to compete in before we hunker down for winter. I won't kid you, Murray, it's really important that Doc and I get back on track. He'll run the barrel-racing course without a problem but to compete I have to get him to the shows and the rodeos and I can't do that if I can't get him in a trailer. We're on track for winning top prize money this year and that helps my business. I train barrel racers in the indoor ring in the winter and outside in spring or when there's no snow on the ground. It's good for business when I show a top performer like Doc. If I can get him to these shows, and rodeos, and he performs like the champion I know he is I can make good money on stud fees. I've done well but now it's like somebody's out to get me only I don't know who – or why!"

"Don't you worry about it, Cayce," Boz told her. "Nick and Cody and I will find out and we'll put a stop to it."

"I hope so 'cause I don't know how many more disasters I can wither before I would have to quit the show ring and focus all my attention on the ranch. I enjoy competing but I won't neglect the ranch for it. If I miss too many shows people will take their business elsewhere."

Murray patted the young woman's shoulder, again, and repeated his assurance, "We'll find out who it is and put a stop to all this." Picking up some of the paper on the desk he said, "Now explain to me what your former bookkeeper was doing. I can't make heads or tails out of his handwriting on some of these pages."

******************************************************************

"Cody, we've got to talk." Nick was anxious to share the information he had and he was sure Cody had some to share with him and Boz. The problem was how to meet without being overheard or making the ranch hands suspicious. Not even Cayce's foreman knew why they were really there.

"I know," Cody said as he looked around. He had joined Nick in the work of repairing the damage and doing the routine maintenance on all of the Lazy M's trucks and cars. To be on the safe side they were checking out Cayce's personal vehicle – the jeep she'd driven to Los Angeles to visit them in King Harbor – as well. Nick wasn't taking any chances.

"Can you get away around midnight?" Nick asked. "I'll slip out about eleven-thirty and meet you by Doc's corral. It's far enough from the bunkhouse that we shouldn't be seen."

"Good idea," the blond agreed. "How do we get Murray out there too? I'd like to know what, if anything, he's found out while working on Cayce's books."

"Get word to Cayce," Nick said. "Send her a note or find some reason to go up to the house. I know – she needs to give us a map of the area so we can find our way to town and know where the businesses are that we're going to deal with for her. Have her ask Boz to give it to us. He's staying in one of the guest rooms. I doubt if anybody would be suspicious of a houseguest who wants to get some fresh air. If we just 'happen' to be there that's chance for him to get his information to us."

************************************************************************

As it turned out Cayce had made up a map and written up a list of errands for the guys to run for the ranch so there was no need for their midnight meeting. Boz came out of the house with the list and orders from Cayce to use the station wagon since Nick was taking it to get tires anyway. The three of them could go into town at the same time and talk while they were together.

The Riptide detectives hopped into the station wagon and headed into Sunny Acres which was located about fifteen miles from the ranch. It was a small town with a tack shop, feed store, gas station, one convenience store, dry cleaners and Laundromat, two banks, a newsstand and post office. Cayce, Josefina and the men's cook got their bulk groceries from Oxford, which was thirty miles away. They'd have a chance to go to Oxford in the next day or two to pick up the order and, while they were there, they could snoop around for more information that might help them solve Cayce's problem. There was also a sporting goods store, a florist, a computer store/repair shop and a small family style restaurant. The veterinarian that treated the Lazy M's stock was located on a side street just off the center of town. Murray fell in love with the town at first sight.

"This is so boss!" he exclaimed. "So Americana!"

"Yeah, it sure is," Cody agreed. "Let's split up. What is it Cayce needs us to get?"

Nick took the list from Murray. "She has a couple of saddles, some harness and a bridle being repaired at the tack shop. She wants to send some flowers to her uncle's secretary for her birthday – she gave us the address for the Colonel's office. She needs some banking done – I guess that's for you, Boz, since you're acting as her bookkeeper right now."

"Yes, Cayce gave me a letter of introduction, which will allow me to make deposits and write checks on the ranch accounts. I need to go to that computer store and check out what they've got for hardware that I can use to update her computer and see what's available for accounting software," the bespectacled computer whiz said. "Her computer needs to be upgraded – or replaced – sometime soon. I'll order the flowers, too."

"I guess that leaves me with picking up the newspapers and the medications from the vet. Maybe I can get some information about what's been happening from them. Smokey told me that Doc was real sick with colic not so long ago. Maybe the vet can tell me something more about it."

"Ok, I'll take the station wagon over to the garage and get the tires and then pick up the stuff at the tack shop," Nick said. "Let's meet at the restaurant in an hour."

The trio split up with Nick getting back into the station wagon to head over to the garage and then the tack shop. Cody went to the newsstand and to talk to the veterinarian while Murray went to the computer store. As was normal, when he got into such a shop, the Boz got really involved in talking to the owner and gleaned a little information about the town and how proud they were of the Lazy M and it's owner. It made Murray feel good to know that they were helping Cayce with her problem.

******************************************************************

"Hello? Anybody in?" Cody closed the door behind him to keep the chill out. Northern California was starting to get cool and he was glad he had his navy blue sweatshirt on over his shirt and jeans. It was keeping the worst of the chill off.

"Yes, may I help you?" a middle-aged woman with salt and pepper hair stepped into the front room from what Cody assumed to be an examination room for small animals such as dogs.

"Dr. Miller?" When the woman nodded Cody introduced himself. "My name is Cody Allen. I'm working for Cayce McKenna at the Lazy M ranch for a while. She asked me to stop and see you about some medications she needs."

"Yes, Mr. Allen. Cayce called and told me to expect you." She walked over to a counter where a large bag marked McKenna was sitting. "The items she needs to restock her equine first aid kits are in here as well as the heart worm medication for Rusty. Cayce knows how much to give and when." Frowning she murmured, "It's a crying shame that she's having so much trouble. Doc is a champion if I ever saw one and he could be worth a lot of money in stud fees if they can just wrap up this season with some decent prize money."

"Dr. Miller?" the blond responded.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Allen," the veterinarian said. "I was talking to myself. This past year – no make that a year and a half – has been a strain on the poor girl. Her grandfather left her a successful working ranch but it's like somebody's out to ruin her since she started competing seriously in the horse shows and rodeos around the state."

"How do you mean?"

"Take Blackfoot Medicine Man – Doc as she calls him. That horse is a registered Quarter Horse worth a lot of money but it's not the money that means anything to Cayce. No sir, she loves that horse and she takes very good care of him. A few months ago he had a severe case of colic – we almost lost him. I know that Cayce would never overfeed him or give him too much cold water when he's hot. Yet the last day of the Stockton Quarter Horse Show that's exactly what happened. Somebody, and as I said I know it wasn't Cayce, gave him too much of something and he came down with a severe case of colic."

******************************************************************

At the garage Nick was hearing pretty much the same thing. Cayce took good care of her vehicles. Preventive maintenance was done, necessary repairs were made and her bills were paid on time. The mechanic told Nick that recently she'd had more than her share of problems with vehicles breaking down lately including flats, leaky radiators, leaky gas tanks and a trailer hitch that may, or may not, have been tampered with.

"I sure am glad it was discovered before Doc was in that trailer," the man said. "Miss McKenna could have had an injured horse on her hands and missed out on the fair that she took six blue ribbons and a trophy in."

******************************************************************

Murray didn't garner much out of the owner of the computer store other than the fact that he'd been doing business with the Lazy M since Cayce had taken over three years earlier. She tried to keep her computer up to date but didn't go all out since she used it mostly for bookkeeping and letter writing. She did, however, keep track of the national horse show and rodeo standings during the winter to see who it was she might be going up against when Spring came and she started competing again herself.

The florist had little more to say other than the fact that Cayce was a nice girl (he was in his sixties – to him Cayce was little more than a child) and always paid her bills on time. He'd been delivering flowers to her, and for her, for several years now. Before that it had been for her grandfather from whom she'd inherited the Lazy M.

******************************************************************

The three men met for lunch at noon. The restaurant had brick walls, black and red linoleum on the floor and the chrome on the table and booths shone brightly as did the copper pans that hung up on the wall just outside the kitchen where the wait staff picked up their orders when they were ready.

The aroma of steaks and burgers grilling, plus tomato sauce and spices and French fries tilled the air making their mouths water. It didn't take long for the three of them to order steaks with fries and coffee. While they waited they discussed their findings of the morning.

"The guy at the garage says that Cayce's been having a lot of trouble over the last few months. Most of it was just things that can happen at any time – well except maybe the leaky gas tank. That doesn't happen very often. Normally he doesn't get much more than preventive maintenance to do on her vehicles. The bit about the trailer hitch bothers me though. Why would someone damage, or loosen, a trailer hitch right before she's to compete in some horse show or something?"

"Dr. Miller, the vet, says that if she didn't know Cayce better she would have thought that she let Doc overindulge in grain or apples or cold water just before a show but there's no way she would do that. Cayce loves that horse and she loves to compete – we know that. She's a tough competitor but she's honest. Somebody has it in for her and we need to find out who and why."

"You know what I think?" Murray pondered. "I think we're missing something. There must be a link between Cayce's problems, her competing and her winning."

Nick and Cody looked at each other and shook their heads in amazement. Their partner had just hit the nail on the head while they'd been missing the point.

"He's right!" Cody exclaimed. "There must be a connection. Murray is there any way, or any place, we can find out when these "accidents" occurred in relation to Cayce's success or loss in one of these shows she's been in this year?"

"There must be," Nick said. "Do we know what the names of the shows were and where they were held?"

"Cayce has a lot of that information on the computer," Murray told his partners. "She's had me loading what she calls 'win, lose & show' information into a spreadsheet along with who entered which event or class and what the results were. That might help us a lot."

"I think you're right, Murray," Nick said. If we can compare the dates that she won – or lost – big prize money to the dates that these 'accidents' occurred that's a start. Is there any way you can find out who her competition was?"

"Her records don't show that," the Boz said, "but if I go to the Library I might be able to find out. The newspaper should have accounts in the sports section. We'll have to put together a list of dates and places first, though." Looking at his partners he asked, "Do we know if this newspaper is a daily or a weekly?"

"She gets the Sacramento Bee and the Sunny Acres Clarion," Cody said with a look at the papers he was carrying around. The Bee is a daily and the Clarion is a local weekly. There ought to be news in one or the other."

"Hey!" Nick exclaimed. "Her last show was a couple of days ago. When does the Clarion come out?"

"On Wednesday night and she gets it on Thursday or Friday – whenever somebody comes into town or is headed out to the ranch," Cody said.

"Let's you and I go to the newspaper office," Nick said as he finished his meal. "Boz, you go to the library and see what you can find out using one of their computers."

The men paid their bill and left a generous tip for their waitress then hurried off to do their respective errands. They hopped into the station wagon – Cody driving this time – and dropped Murray off at the library. Nick and Cody found the library and parked the car. Once inside they asked at the main desk about where they could find back copies of the newspapers. They were directed to a room near the back of the library where all the old newspapers for the last month or so were kept on shelves.

Eagerly Nick and Cody scanned the headlines and sports sections of both papers. Cody found about half a dozen articles about Cayce's triumphs in the local paper while Nick found lists of competitors and how they placed in the horse shows and rodeos. Cayce had done quite well but there were a couple of other names that appeared in the lists and articles as well. Melissa Carpenter seemed to consistently run second to Cayce and Doc lately – when Cayce was able to compete. Both men found items that indicated that Cayce McKenna, or the other Lazy M competitor if it had been one of the ranch hands, had missed out on competition due to an injury to horse or ride or because of equipment failure. Some of the equipment failures had been breakdowns of the truck or jeep or something was wrong with their saddle or ropes. More than one cowboy had been disqualified because their cinch came loose, their piggin' string – that small piece of rope used to tie a calf's legs in the calf roping competition - or a rein had broken.

As they read on the partners made notes to compare with what Boz had. They had half a dozen names to investigate but they'd wait until they got back to the Lazy M to have Murray run computer checks on them. For that matter they wanted security checks run on all of Cayce's employees no matter how much she might protest. It didn't necessary mean that the unfriendly Frank Harding was necessarily a problem but they weren't taking any chances.

An hour later they departed the newspaper office. As they approached the tan station wagon belonging to the Lazy M a quartet of men dressed like cowboys approached them. Cody noticed them first and nudged Nick to be on the alert.

"Hey you!" the largest one – a man of well over six feet and two hundred pounds – yelled. "What are you doing with the Lazy M's station wagon? Cayce McKenna ain't in the habit of lending that car out to anybody."

"Not that it's any of your business," Nick said, "but we're working at the Lazy M."

"I ain't never seen you there before," a second man said.

"We're new," Cody explained. "We just started."

"Doing what?" the apparent ringleader asked. "You sure don't look like no cowboys."

"She hired us to work as mechanics and a handyman," the blond stated. "Now if you'll excuse us we have to meet somebody and get back to work."

"No, you're not excused," the big man said. "Why would Cayce McKenna hire somebody who don't know horses or cattle? That don't make sense at all."

The men with him murmured agreement, each one of them looking ready for a fight.

"It doesn't matter what you think makes sense, pal," Nick said with an edge to his voice. "Miss McKenna hired us. If you don't like that take it up with her but let us get on with our business."

"You got a smart mouth on you boy!"

"So I've been told," Nick replied as Cody rolled his eyes and tensed up waiting for the inevitable.

The ringleader took a swing at Nick, which he ducked. When he straightened up he swung at, and connected, with the larger man's jaw. A second later two of the smaller men had jumped into the fray and Cody was trading punches with the both of them. It was to this scene that Murray returned.

The thin scientist tried to join in the fray but the men tossed him aside as if he were a small child. Cody reeled back from a solid punch to his jaw and fell against the station wagon. Nick managed a couple of good punches but was soon borne to the ground when two of them jumped him at once. A tall, medium built man of about forty-five wearing a police uniform came along as Nick was getting pounded on by the two men and Cody was staggering back into the fray trying to help his partner and avoid the two men intent on beating him to a pulp.

"Break it up!" he yelled. When that didn't get their attention he took his service revolver out of its holster and fired two shots in the air. "I said break it up!"

The men who had attacked the detectives reluctantly gave up the fight. Boz got to his feet showing little damage. His jacket was smudged and his taped glasses were askew but other than that he was fine. Not so Nick and Cody. It was apparent that Nick was going to have a black eye and Cody already had a few scrapes and a cut lip.

"What's this all about?" the officer demanded to know.

"These guys are driving around in the Lazy M's station wagon," the big man said indicating Nick and Cody. "There ain't no way that Cayce McKenna's gonna let a couple of strangers drive one of her vehicles – not with everything that's been happening lately!"

"What business is it of yours," Nick asked again, "if she let's somebody drive her car that you don't know?"

"I'm makin' it my business!"

"You fellas got any identification on you?" the lawman asked.

"Sure we have," Cody said pulling out his wallet. "Here's my driver's license. I'm Cody Allen and these two are Nick Ryder and Murray Bozinsky. Miss McKenna hired us to work for her for a while. She said she's been having a lot of trouble keeping her vehicles, and her helicopter, in good repair. She also said that she had some work around the barn and such that she needed done. We met her in King Harbor after that last horse show she was in down in Los Angeles. Nick came up yesterday, and Murray and I today, to start work. If you don't believe me why don't you call her? She'll vouch for us."

"I'm going to do just that. You're all coming with me to the station until I can talk to Miss Cayce and clear this up. If she vouches for you you'll be free to go about your business. If not I'm locking you up until I find out the truth."

All seven men were herded to the police station, which was just a few doors down. They were put into cells for "disturbing the peace" while Sergeant Ellsbury placed a call to the Lazy M. Cayce was not readily available so he left a message with Josefina to have her call him back when she was free. Ten minutes later she returned his call.

"Miss McKenna, could you come into Sunny Acres and identify some men for me? Mike King, the Andersen boys and Paul Coopersmith confronted them over having the Lazy M's station wagon." There was silence for a minute and the sergeant's eyes twinkled. "Yes, Miss Cayce, I'll be sure to give them the message. All right. We'll see you in about half an hour then."

When he had hung up the phone he looked at the Andersens, King and Coopersmith with something akin to pity in his eyes.

"She says to tell you four that if these three are her hired men, and she finds them 'damaged' in any way, your heads are going to roll and it will be a long time before you're welcome on the Lazy M again." The sergeant laughed. "You four never have learned not to mess with that girl when she's mad. She makes mincemeat out of you and you still mess in her affairs."

The three detectives looked at each other. It seemed they had just picked up four suspects without even getting to the computer checks yet. Cody and Boz sat on the lower bunk while Nick scrambled up into the upper and stretched out to doze while they waited for Cayce to show up. Twenty-five minutes later she walked in the door. The expression on her face, and the fire in her green eyes, told the Andersens and their pals that they were in a lot of trouble.

"Where are they?" she asked Sergeant Ellsbury.

"Right this way, Miss McKenna," he said as he guided her to the holding cells.

The sight that met her eyes did nothing to diminish the smoldering fire that was her temper. Cody's lip was swollen and cut and his blue denim shirt was ripped at the shoulder. Murray's clothes were messed up but he didn't seem to have any visible injuries. Nick's left eye was blackened and somewhat swollen. She glanced at the Andersens and their friends and they backed off into a corner very quickly. It was obvious that the strangers had told them the truth or Cayce wouldn't look so mad.

"These three men – Ryder, Allen and Bozinsky – were hired by me a few days ago," she explained to the officer. "I had some errands I needed done in town while I met with a couple of prospective clients for barrel-horse training and one that's interested in breeding their mare to one of my stallions. I asked these three to do the errands for me and gave them the keys to the wagon so they could pick up some things at the tack shop plus newspapers and medications and the mail. I never expected these – these idiots to act like they're my security force or bodyguards or whatever the heck they think they are!"

She turned to the four men who had attacked her friends. "It's about time you morons realize that I will hire who I want, when I want and have them do whatever I want without consulting you or telling you about it! I'm sick and tired of your nonsense and I've a good mind to press charges on behalf of these gentlemen!"

Cody stepped in before Cayce could blow their cover while she was blowing her top.

"There's no need for that, Miss McKenna," he said. "You've vouched for us and I'm sure these gentlemen are sorry about it."

Nick snorted, "Yeah, sure they are."

Cayce flashed him a quick grin when the others weren't looking. Sometimes she and Nick thought a lot alike and this was one of those times.

"Are my men free to go, sergeant?" she asked.

"Sure are," he replied. "Thanks for coming down so quickly. I know you're busy this summer with the horse shows and such."

He took the key ring off his belt, found the right key for the cell that the Riptide detectives were in and let them out.

"What do you want to do about these four?" he asked.

"Let them sit there for a couple of hours and think about what they've done. If my employees need medical care I'll be sending the bill to the Double C. I'm sure their boss would be very happy to pay another doctor bill on behalf of these four. I'll call you if I change my mind and decide to press charges."

With that she stormed out of the police station with the three Riptide men on her heels. Cody especially wanted to talk to her to try and calm her down. What had just happened wasn't necessarily his idea of fun but sometimes it went with the territory.

"Cayce, Cayce, calm down," the blond said.

"Why? Why should I calm down? Those guys have done some boneheaded things in their attempts to 'protect' me but this tops it!" Cayce practically had steam coming out of her ears.

"Listen, kiddo," Nick said, "you keep acting like this over three 'employees' and you're going to blow our cover."

"No, I won't," Cayce declared. "I blew up the last time they interfered too. Smokey wound up with a mild concussion when he tried to break up a fight between the Andersens and a couple of the boys from the Double Bar K at the show in Stockton last month. You guys got off easy. You are okay aren't you?"

Nick winced as he gave her a little wink. The black eye was swelling up something fierce at this point.

"Sure, we're okay," he reassured her. "We've had lots worse than this haven't we guys?"

"Yes," Cody agreed. "Much worse."

Murray was uncharacteristically quiet as he thought about the times that his partners had been injured "in the line of duty". Cody had been hospitalized after a car wreck, he'd had to have stitches and keep his arm in a sling after being slashed in a fight trying to rescue Nick's girlfriend, Peggy, and Nick had been thrown from a moving car he'd jumped onto resulting, fortunately, in nothing more than his being shaken up and a little sore.

"Murray?" Cody noticed his silence.

"What? Oh, yes," the third detective said, "the guys have been hurt much worse than that." He didn't go into detail.

"Well, if you say so," Cayce said. "We'd better head back to the Lazy M and see to those injuries you do have – unless you want to visit the clinic down the road."

"There's no need for that," Cody told her. "We'll get an ice pack for Nick when we get back and I can clean up. This lip of mine just needs the same - a little attention with an ice pack."

"Well, ok," she said, "but either you or Murray do the driving. I don't want Nick trying to drive with that eye swollen the way it is. I was going to give him an aerial tour of the ranch later today but he's grounded," she ignored Nick's protest at that, "until that eye is better. Instead, after you guys get cleaned up I'll take you – and Murray if he'd like – on a ground tour."

"Agreed," Allen said. "Let's go – and from here on we're just you're employees. Remember that."

******************************************************************

Upon arrival back at the Lazy M Cayce sent Nick and Cody down to the bunkhouse to clean up with orders for Cody to bring his ripped shirt up to the house when he had changed into a different one. Either she or Josefina would wash and attempt to mend it for him. She told Nick where to find the ice bag and told Cody to be sure and lean on the heating pad for a short while. She'd noticed him rubbing his left side where she'd been told he'd banged into the car during the fight.

An hour later she took them, and Murray, on a quick tour of the ranch promising a better look – and some maps and charts – when they had time. There was a show coming up in a few days and there was a lot to do to get ready.

Nick guaranteed her that all of the vehicles that they would need – the station wagon, the stake truck and the pick up truck – as well as the large trailer, which could be used as a dressing room would be ready to go. He and Cody worked very hard at ensuring that the engines were in good working order and that the tires, wheels and brakes were all right. They checked the steering on all the vehicles as well. Nobody had been near them since the detectives had arrived on the scene and Rusty had started acting as a watchdog sensing that his mistress was worried about something.

Cody and Nick, as employees, retired to the bunkhouse around ten that night. Murray, as an old friend who was helping Cayce out with her bookwork for a while, got one of the guest rooms in the house. Nick and Cody intended to give the Boz a hard time, once this case was over, about living the "life of Riley" while they ranked as second class citizens.

"Come to think of it," Nick said to Cody on the sly, "we're going to have to find a way to pay Cayce back for this, too."

"Nick! We're here undercover remember? We can't exactly stay at the house and be a regular employee." Cody's blue eyes twinkled. "However, I'm sure we'll find something to razz her about – eventually."

In the office, the first thing the next morning Cayce asked Murray to call Dr. Miller's office. A couple of the horses needed their teeth floated – meaning that sharp points had developed and they needed an expert's care to file them down.

"Dr. Miller's office says that she'll be here around eleven," Boz reported when he had hung up the phone.

"That's great. Here's a list of the horses that need their teeth done," Cayce handed him a sheet of paper with their names on it. "I'd do it myself but Dr. Miller does it better and she's got the medications for the ones that get nervous when they see the file."

"She uses a file?" Murray was stunned.

"It doesn't hurt them, Murray," Cayce explained. "Unlike humans horses don't have any nerve endings in their teeth. If their teeth aren't filed down every now and then it hurts their mouth to have a bit placed in it and they don't get much out of their feed because they can't chew it properly. They get cuts on the inside of their cheeks. In the old days, when horses were grazed more than they were fed in their stalls, the dirt and pebbles they might bring up with their grass helped keep their teeth even." Reaching for a book on horse care from the shelf over her desk she showed him a picture and explained, "Horses chew sideways. This causes uneven wearing which allows sharp points to form on their teeth. Floating is simply 'preventive maintenance' you might say. It's kind of like sanding a rough spot on a piece of wood."

"Oh," Murray said. "That's very interesting."

"I have to go to town to do a couple of errands," Cayce told him. "If Dr. Miller arrives before I get back she'll know which horses are due but I wrote up a list for her just in case. "I'll tell the other guys to keep an eye out for her but it never hurts to have backup," she grinned at the computer whiz. "I appreciate all you're doing to help me out, Murray. I'd never have time to do everything if I'd taken the time to straighten out the bookkeeping, too."

"You're more than welcome," the computer whiz replied. "You can pay me back with riding lessons."

"That can be arranged," the rancher told him with a smile as she left the room.

Pony tail whipping in the breeze that was blowing Cayce stopped to let Nick, Cody and a couple of the others who were working close to the house and barn know that the vet was coming sometime that morning to see to some of the horses. With Nick's confirmation that it was set to go she got into her jeep and headed down the driveway toward the road that would lead to town.

About an hour after Cayce left a truck pulled into the yard. A tall, heavyset man with dark hair and gray eyes stepped out carrying what appeared to be a doctor's bag. Cody was in the tool shed and didn't see him. Murray was in the office looking over Cayce's entry forms for the next three horse shows and the last rodeo so that he could fill them out for her and write the checks for her to sign. Since all the regular hands were busy it was Nick who greeted the stranger.

"Can I help you?" he asked the man.

"Yes, I'm Dr. Kelleher – the vet," the man said.

"I thought the vet's name was Miller?" Nick asked.

"Yes, Dr. Miller owns the practice," the man replied smoothly. "I'm Dr. Miller's partner. She takes care of the smaller animals – dogs, cats, rabbits and the like. I treat the horses and cattle."

"Something I can do for you, doc?" Nick was put at ease by what he thought was a reasonable explanation.

"I'm here to treat some of the horses," the phony veterinarian explained. "Miss McKenna asked me to check over Commanche, Stewball, Moonglow, Bright Angel and that champion barrel racer of hers – Blackfoot Medicine Man."

"They're all in the barn so far as I know," Nick told him. "Come on, I'll show you the way to their stalls."

Totally unaware that this man wasn't who he said he was Nick led him back to the stalls. Then, not having any reason to distrust him, he left the phony vet outside Commanche's stall and went back outside to retrieve some tools from the tool shed that he would need. He was currently checking over the Baroness and the Mimi for mechanical problems. Cody met him in the doorway.

"Who's the truck belong to?" he asked Nick.

"The vet – Dr. Kelleher."

"The vet's name is Miller," Cody said with a hint of alarm rising in him.

"This guy's Dr. Miller's partner," Nick explained what he'd been told.

"Dr. Miller didn't mention anything about a partner to me when I talked with her yesterday," Cody was getting a bit more anxious, "and I didn't see anything that indicated that she even has a partner in the office and the sign outside on the building doesn't say anything about two vets."

"Well this guy says that Dr. Miller handles the small animals like dogs and cats and stuff and he takes care of the horses."

"Nick," Cody said in a strangled tone, "Dr. Miller told me that she's been taking care of Cayce's horses since she inherited this place three years ago. This guy's a fake!"

A look of horror at what he might be allowing came over Nick's face. He and Cody broke and ran for the barn. Murray came out of the house around the same time.

"What's the hurry guys?" he asked.

"There's a guy in the barn that claims to be a vet," Cody explained.

"Cayce said she was expecting Dr. Miller," the Boz told them. "Some of the horses need their teeth taken care of – she called it 'floating'."

"This isn't Dr. Miller," Nick told him. "We've got to get in there and stop him from doing whatever he's doing."

The three detectives ran toward the barn. It was Cody who reached the aisle leading to Doc's stall first. Instinct told him that that was where they needed to go. The man calling himself Dr. Kelleher had a needle in his hand and was about to insert it into Doc's neck when Cody yelled at him.

"Hey, you! Put that needle down and step away from that horse!"

The man merely sneered at him and reached toward the horse again. Doc wasn't making it easy for him, though. He didn't like this man and he wasn't going to stand still for whatever he had in mind with whatever that pointy thing was in his hand. Doc would put up with a lot but, like a lot of humans, he had a bit of a phobia about needles. He tossed his head and pawed the bedding in his stall. He snorted and rolled his eyes. The imposter calling himself a veterinarian couldn't get a grip on Doc's halter to hold him still making it easier for the two detectives to more forward albeit cautiously.

"You heard the man," Nick said. "Put that needle down and back away from that horse.

"Why don't you make me?" the man responded.

Cody and Nick advanced on the man who picked up his bag and tossed it at them. It hit Cody squarely in the face causing him to stumble backwards into Nick. Murray placed himself in front of the man only to be knocked over. The only good thing about it was that the man lost his balance in doing so and had to get himself up off the floor. The detectives scrambled to their feet. Cody got a grip on the man's jacket but he jerked away leaving a piece of it in the blond's hand. Nick was about three feet behind the man as he raced to his truck. Virtually thumbing his nose at Nick and Cody – as well as the other men who were attracted to the barn by the disturbance – he drove away in a cloud of dust.

"Murray?" Nick called.

"I'm okay," the computer whiz said. "Go after him!"

The two senior partners of the Riptide Detective Agency jumped into Cody's Jimmy and tried to follow the man. He had enough of a head start on them that they lost him about five miles down the main road where there were many little side streets that connected with it and with the other main roads into Sunny Acres, Ashby and Little Bear. Disgusted the two men headed back to the Lazy M where a group of the ranch hands had gathered around the entrance to the barn when they heard the commotion and saw the two trucks take off in a hurry.

"What's going on here?" Smokey asked.

"Some man, calling himself Dr. Kelleher, tried to give Doc a shot," Murray explained. "Mr. Ryder and Mr. Allen stopped him but he got away."

"Allen?"

"That's about it. Ryder didn't know that Dr. Miller doesn't have a partner. When I told him that we both tried to apprehend him. Unfortunately he was too slick for us and he just took off in a black Dodge pickup. I couldn't get the license plate."

"It was California plates – Star 235 I think," Frank Harding spoke up for the first time since Nick was introduced to him a few nights earlier.

"We'd better report this to the police," Cody said.

"I'll make the call," Alex McGregor said. "I'll see if I can get hold of Sergeant Ellsbury so he can break the news to Miss Cayce. She'll be pretty upset when she finds out there's been another apparent attempt to keep her and Doc out of the end of summer competition."

He disappeared into the bunkhouse to use the telephone. The others went back to work – all except the Riptide detectives who waited for McGregor to return.

Nick stopped Harding before he was out of sight and hearing.

"That was real good, man," the brunet told the younger man. "That license plate was partially obscured by dirt and mud. It'll be a big help to the police to have that license plate to work on."

"It wasn't nothin'," the cowboy said. "I like hidden picture puzzles – like they have in Highlights for Children. I just made a game of figuring out what the license number was."

"It wasn't 'nothing', Nick told the previously unfriendly cowboy. "If the police can find out who that truck belongs to maybe they can put a stop to the harassment that Miss McKenna's been dealing with."

Harding turned and left after a bashful smile of thanks. Nick went into the barn where Cody was already searching for any clues to the imposter's real identity that he might have left behind.

"Find anything?" Ryder asked his partner.

"Just this." Cody held up the syringe that the phony veterinarian had dropped. "We'd better have the police analyze this and find out what's in it. I'd hazard a guess that it was something that would make Doc very sick."

"Yeah, either that or kill him," Nick agreed.

Their suspicions were confirmed when Sergeant Ellsbury called the Lazy M that night and told Cayce what the lab report said. The Lazy M was too spread out for him to put any kind of patrol on so Cayce set up a schedule with her hands – old and temporary – to keep an eye on the house, the barn and the other buildings. The last thing she needed was another attempt on Doc or any of the other horses. Nor did she need to find her equipment sabotaged again.

Nick and Cody, not being familiar enough with the ranch, were assigned to the barn. Cayce and Alex McGregor showed them where to find a couple of cots and Josefina supplied the bedding along with a thermos of hot coffee. They would take turns keeping watch and check in with McGregor, by radio, every two hours. McGregor, and the other hands, would alternate two hours schedules patrolling the perimeter.

Back in the office Murray was burning the midnight oil checking schedules against newspaper reports and winnings and, most important of all, checking for suspects in the sabotage against the list of competitors from each horse show, or rodeo, that Cayce had entered. He even checked the competition against the others of the Lazy M in case there might be a pattern.

The next few days passed quietly. Cayce finally got Doc over his fear of trailers and took him on a few drives around the ranch just to be sure he would travel well. Their next few shows were local but there was one more relatively big rodeo they were entered in – along with team ropers Smokey and Carl and Frank and KC. Brian Hays was entered in the bronc and bull riding and was a favorite with the crowds. The competition was tough. She was battling Melissa Carpenter, Jamie Wagner and Abigail Johnson for top money. All three of the other women had been on Cayce's heels all summer – Melissa winning almost as many first place prizes as Cayce.

A week later the Lazy M crew returned triumphantly from the next to last rodeo they would be entered. Cayce and Doc had come in first in the barrel racing. The buckskin Quarter Horse had performed like the champion he was. Nick, Cody and Boz were there to cheer them on.

The team ropers had taken second and third – a very respectable finish considering the stress everybody was under with all the attacks on them. Nick and Cody went along – not only as protection for Cayce but, in their undercover roles as mechanic and handyman they were able to keep an eye on the vehicles, the animals and the equipment and generally make themselves useful helping with feeding, watering and inspections. Nothing escaped their scrutiny and there were no attempts. The detectives weren't sure whether this meant Cayce's enemy had given up or if they were temporarily backing off because of the increased security measures that had been undertaken on behalf of the Lazy M competitors.

The euphoria they all felt wouldn't last. Two days later, Melissa Carpenter, Cayce's biggest competition in barrel racing, showed up at the Lazy M with her father, Robert. They pulled into the yard, in front of the house, in a truck with a horse trailer hitched to the back. Cody was the one to greet them when they arrived as he was working on the front porch.

"Can I help you folks?" the blond detective asked.

"I'd like to speak to Miss McKenna," Carpenter said.

"Who is it, Mr. Allen?" Cayce asked as she approached the front door.

"Miss McKenna, I'm Robert Carpenter. May I speak to you a moment?"

Cayce stepped out of the house clad in jeans, an Army tee shirt and a pair of moccasins. Curious she stepped down from the porch – with help from Cody who didn't want her tripping over his current project and getting hurt – to speak with the father of her closest competitor.

"What can I do for you Mr. Carpenter?" she asked with a nod at Melissa.

"I want to buy a horse from you," the man said.

"Oh?"

"Yes, I want to buy your champion barrel racer – Blackfoot Medicine Man. I believe you call him Doc."

"That's his name but he's not for sale," Cayce told him.

"Anything's for sale, Miss McKenna," Carpenter said, "if the price is right."

"Not Doc," the young woman told him. "He's not for sale at any price. Especially not to you or your daughter."

"Oh, come now. Let's be reasonable. I'll offer you five thousand dollars for him."

Behind her Cayce could sense Cody's amazement and curiosity. Why did the man want Cayce's prize barrel racer so badly? He looked like he could afford any horse he so desired – and then some. That is if the diamond ring on his finger was an indication of what he was worth.

"Doc is not for sale, Mr. Carpenter."

"Six thousand."

"The answer is still 'no'," she told him. "Why do you want Doc anyway? Melissa's already got a good barrel racer."

"Melissa has expressed an interest in that buckskin of yours. She thinks she could do better in the competition if she had him instead of Tamarack."

"Mr. Carpenter, as I have pointed out to your daughter over and over again, there is nothing wrong with Tamarack. He's a good horse. He's an excellent barrel racer who strives to please his rider. The horse isn't your daughter's problem – she's her own problem."

"Now see here, young lady," Carpenter blustered.

"Mr. Carpenter how much do you know about horses – other than buying them every time your daughter wiggles her little finger?"

"Not much," the man admitted, "but Melissa assures me that Tamarack is worn out and broken down. He certainly hasn't been winning top money these last two years."

"The reason that horse isn't winning top money is because your daughter doesn't ride him properly." Cayce tried to hold her temper but she'd seen how this girl treated her horse and it wasn't pretty. "Your daughter is one of the worst riders I've ever seen! She's heavy handed. She relies on spurs to get any kind of speed out of her horse. She isn't 'one' with her horse. Doc and I are partners – we understand each other. I take care of him and he takes care of me. That's why we win top money more than Melissa does."

"Have you ever watched your daughter ride or are you too busy making deals in the board room or meeting friends for drinks and dinner at one of your fancy clubs? She yanks on that horse's mouth. When things go wrong she kicks, screams, yanks the horse's head around. When she's not abusing him she neglects him."

"I take care of Doc myself. I groom him, feed him, saddle him, ride him and cool him off when we're through. I muck out his stall myself and make sure that it's clean and disinfected. I don't leave him standing around when he's hot taking the chance that he'll get a chill. I walk him around until he's cooled off enough to put away."

"Is this true, Melissa?" Carpenter asked his daughter. "Do you do these things that Miss McKenna has said?"

"Daddy, that's why we have grooms and ranch hands," Melissa whined. "That's their job – that's what they get paid for."

"I think from now on, young lady, that you will be taking care of your horse yourself."

The Carpenters got back into their truck after saying a brief good-bye to Cayce. They drove off down the driveway with the trailer rattling behind them.

"Who was that?" Cody asked as Boz came out onto the porch.

"Melissa Carpenter and her father," Cayce explained. "Melissa is one of the toughest competitors I've got but she doesn't treat her horses right. I've tried to tell her and so have other riders. The Barrel Horse Racers Association has warned her, over and over again, that if she doesn't straighten up she'll be dropped from the membership ranks and barred from future competitions." Cayce sighed, "She'd be a good rider if she'd loosen up but her attitude is that it's always the horse's fault – never hers. Her father's got money – I think he's in banking or something – and she goes to him for a new horse almost every year because she's either angry with the one she's got or it's broken down from mistreatment. Even her staff doesn't like her. Now she's got a tough looking boyfriend who hangs around…" Cayce's words faded away as she suddenly remembered something. "Cody! I think that one of those guys who attacked me on the dock in King Harbor was Melissa's boyfriend. The men with him called him 'Sarge'. I've heard that Melissa's boyfriend is called sarge. I haven't really seen him – or if I have I wasn't paying much attention. Her regular crew I know very well but there's always one or two newcomers, or hangers on, working for somebody at one of these shows. You might call them 'groupies'."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Cody said. Seeing Boz in the doorway he said, "Boz can you run down something on this guy? Maybe if you check out the Carpenters you might find something. Pictures in the newspaper archives? Anything that might help us get a lead on this 'Sarge'."

"You got it, Cody," the computer whiz said as he hurried back into the house.

Cody sent Cayce in with Boz to describe Sarge as best she could. She gave a description as late thirties, dark hair, tall and very husky.

"I think his name is French. Gilbert French or Giles – something like that. I've either seen his name or heard it somewhere."

Murray shook his head. "That's not much to go on. Do you think you would recognize him if you saw him again?"

"I think so," Cayce told the computer expert. "He's bound to show up at the rodeo at some point in time if he's going to show his support. We'll get a picture of him you can use to check him out. Maybe wire it to some of the area police departments or something?"

"You catch on quick," Murray smiled.

"Well it helps to have been raised by a commander of the MPs," she grinned. "I used to read all of Uncle Brian's fugitive description – without his knowing it of course. I was underage and not in the military except by adoption." She looked him up and down, "I can't believe you hit a superior officer – even if it was that creepy Colonel Litvak!"

"You knew Colonel Litvak?" Murray asked in surprise.

"Knew of him. Saw him a few times." Cayce frowned. "He was always so smug. So arrogant. I was thrilled to hear that somebody finally caught him stealing from his subordinates and did something about it. I have a sneaking suspicious that General Collins was too. I hear, from some of the guys around the posts he's been at, that General Collins was more than happy to review your case – he'd been looking for a way to court-martial Litvak for a long time. You guys gave it to him."

"Yes, well, I'm not terribly proud of losing my temper like that," Murray said, "but I have to admit that it was quite satisfying to break Litvak's nose." With that he let loose with the trademark Bozinsky giggle and Cayce joined him.

Cody heard them as he passed by the window of the office and shook his head with a rueful grin. He had a feeling that he and Nick might regret those two getting to know each other.

"What's up?" Nick asked as he and Cody met at the door to the tool shed.

"Cayce thinks she might remember one of the guys from the attempted kidnapping. She and Boz are working on looking for information on Melissa Carpenter's boyfriend. The guy seems to have the nickname of 'Sarge'."

"Is that all? Why are you looking so apprehensive?" Nick jibed his buddy.

"Oh nothing. It's just that Cayce and Boz are getting along so well. They were giggling together just now as I passed under the office window."

It was Nick's turn to look apprehensive. "Cayce and Boz? Giggling? Together?"

At Cody's affirmative nod Nick added, "I think we might regret those two ever met."

"Yeah. You know it, buddy."

******************************************************************

"This is the last rode of the season for us," Cayce told her hired hands – both new and old. "We've got a good chance to make some decent money for the ranch, and for ourselves, if we do our best."

"Miss Cayce's right," Alex McGregor agreed. "The team roping competition isn't all that tough this year. A lot of the usually top performers have had illnesses, accidents and just plain lack of concentration at times. They haven't been making the times you guys have. Miss Cayce and Doc are practically a shoe-in in the barrel racing. Only Melissa Carpenter represents much of a threat and she's no threat if she keeps manhandling that horse of hers the way she had. Tam isn't going to stand for it much longer."

Smokey added his two cents worth, "I think we can take at least a third place in the calf roping."

"Better than third," Carl Ryan said. "We can take first."

"Why not first, second and third?" Woody Hartnett asked with a grin. "We're definitely good enough."

"You will be if you keep practicing," Cayce retorted. "No bragging! Just practice, practice, practice!"

Everybody laughed. They went through this with every rodeo they entered. Woody was always an optimist while Cayce was practical. It was something that had been drilled into her head since she was a small girl. Practice makes perfect was the motto she lived by.

"And I suppose you're not bragging when you announce how good you and Doc are?" Smokey teased his employer.

"No brag, just fact," Cayce told him with a grin.

The men laughed even more and she along with them.

"Let's get serious," the young woman said when the laughter had died down. "We need to make sure we're ready for this. It's our last rodeo of the season and there's a lot riding on it – no pun intended. Murray has been kind enough to make up a checklist for me – something I should have done a long time ago – so that we can be sure everything is ready."

Taking a clipboard and a pen from Boz, who held a duplicate one in his hands, Cayce started going over the list of what needed to be done in the next couple of days.

"First things first. Murray? Have we gotten confirmation on all our entries?"

"Yes, we have," Murray assured her. "The Lazy M is entered in the team roping, steer wrestling, calf roping, bronc riding, bull riding and – most importantly – the barrel racing."

"Great. I knew I could count on you to handle that." Cayce was very pleased. Next she turned her attention to her two "brothers".

"Nick, Cody? Are the trucks, trailers and my jeep ready to go?"

"Yes, ma'am," Cody answered while Nick nodded.

"Alex – has the extra hay been ordered?"

"Yes, and it should be delivered tomorrow morning."

"Who's going to check it over to make sure it's good?" Cayce asked.

"I'll do that personally," McGregor assured her. "There will be no tampering with the horses' feed. No moldy hay, no locoweed or anything else in that hay that gets delivered or the feed store will be answering to an angry Highlander! I plan on checking the feed as well," the Lazy M's foreman added.

"Good." Looking at the list she went on, "We need Doc's parade saddle plus the ones for Commanche, Quannah, Lightning, Stewball and Moonglow."

"I've been shining them up," KC told her. "I used silver polish on the trim and saddles soap on the leather. They're looking good."

"The bridles, too?"

"Yep. Their regular saddles are cleaned up good and Josefina washed all the blankets that weren't in use the other day. They look nice and bright like they should."

"That's great, KC," his employer responded. "Thanks."

"Uh, Miss McKenna," Nick cleared his throat.

"Yes, Nick?"

"It's going to be kind of confusing with Cayce and KC around."

"You're right," Cayce agreed. "I guess we'd better call Mr. Campion by his given name or else he won't know which one of us you're talking too. Besides," she added with a gleam in her eyes, "he wouldn't know what to do if we called him Mr. Campion. He'd probably be looking around for his father."

KC Campion just grinned. They'd been through this before and it would probably happen again – unless they started calling the boss lady CJ which were her initials.

"So we pick up our numbers at the announcer's booth when we arrive at the fairgrounds. Has everybody got their parade clothes and working clothes ready to pack?"

"Yes," was the chorused reply.

"Anybody need anything mended? Need a new shirt or pair of jeans or anything?"

"No!"

"No way are we gonna appear at a rodeo wearing new jeans, Miss Cayce! You know better than that!" Brian Hays was indignant that she would even suggest such a thing.

"All right, all right," she laughed. "So long as they're not falling apart you'll be fine."

The only new thing these boys have got," Alex said with a sly dig at his crew, "is lines to try out on all the pretty girls they expect to meet."

The whole crew, including the Riptide detectives laughed at that.

"All right then," Cayce said. "We leave around nine on Thursday morning. That should get us to Los Angeles around noontime or so. Everybody knows what they're in charge of so let's finish up what we can around here that needs doing before we leave. I want Nick, Cody and Alex to do the driving. You can decide among yourselves who drives which vehicle." With a grin she said, "I look forward to being chauffeured – it's such a treat to let somebody else do the driving!"

"The Jimmy can pull a small trailer," Cody said. "Why don't you and Doc ride with me and Nick? Mr. Bozinsky can drive your Jeep back like he did when you met up with him in Los Angeles."

"Ok. I was planning on getting a motel room. This crew of mine won't hear of me stay at the fairgrounds unless I have a tent or a camper all to myself. Since I don't – not right now anyway, I'll need a motel. Got any ideas?"

"Yeah," Nick said after exchanging looks with Cody. "We happen to know a good place to stay. The Cedar Brook Motel – it's about five miles from the fairgrounds. The rooms are decent and not too expensive. You'll have a bed, dresser, closet, table and four chairs, nightstand, cable television and a bathroom. It's big enough to stow your gear in while you're competing but it's not so fancy that it'll cost you a fortune. You don't need a gym or a swimming pool. We can rig a tent for a dressing room for the guys on the fairgrounds so they won't have to go back and forth and they'll be handy to take care of the horses and look out for your gear. Meanwhile you'll be safe from any more attempts to keep you out of the barrel racing competition."

"Sounds like a good plan, Miss Cayce," McGregor said. "We can easily rig up a large tent and section it off for costumes and a dressing area. We can set up a table to eat at so we're never very far from our stuff except when we're competing."

"I suggest," Murray said, "that you set up a schedule – working around the times that you're in the arena – to eat, change and keep an eye on your equipment and animals."

"Bozinsky's got a good idea," Nick agreed. "If we all take turns making sure Miss Cayce gets back to her hotel to change after doing her chores here, and watching the other events, there won't be much chance for anybody to sabotage anything like I think they did the trucks and the station wagon."

The Lazy M hands were more than willing to work out such a schedule. They'd heard from Sergeant Ellsbury who, in turn, had heard from the King Harbor Police Department, about the attempted kidnapping a few weeks before. They'd seen first hand the mess that the ranch's vehicles had been before Nick had repaired them with help from Cody. They were there when the phony veterinarian tried to poison Doc. Working out a timeline for everyone to take turns watching their stuff was an excellent idea. Competition could be rough enough without people cheating to win.

************************************************************************

Thursday morning dawned cloudy and cool with a threat of rain. Even Los Angeles was dim and dull. The Lazy M crew, along with everybody else who was entered in the Erickson Rodeo, arrived early to find their camping space. Everybody pitched in to set up the tent, wrap ropes around some trees to form a corral and let the horses out to stretch their legs. Nick and Cody were placed on bucket duty. The horses' water buckets were handed to them and they were sent off to fill them at the nearest water faucet. As they did so the two detectives kept an eye out for suspicious activity, familiar faces such as the Carpenters and the men who had tried to kidnap Cayce a few weeks ago. Other than Melissa Carpenter, who looked none too happy at the prospect of tending to her own horse instead of having the hired help do it, they didn't see anybody that looked even remotely familiar. They kept an eye on Melissa to make sure she didn't go anywhere near the Lazy M. The look she'd given Cayce, after her father's unsuccessful attempt to buy Doc, made them worry for their friend's safety. Murray's attempts at finding out who "Sarge" was had been discouraging. They didn't know if Cayce was remembering the man's name wrong or if, perhaps, it wasn't just a nickname but a shortened version of the man's middle name.

In the meantime Boz had been observing Cayce and Doc's workouts and had analyzed them using his connection between Cayce's computer and the Roboz, which he had left behind on the Riptide. He'd given her a few pointers that he was sure were going to shave precious seconds, or tenths of seconds, off their time on the course.

The rodeo parade was at one o'clock. Cayce and her crew put on their best outfits and saddled their horses with their parade gear including the silver mounted saddles. Cody, Nick and Boz watched them leave and then found seats in the arena to watch the grand procession. Cayce had been chosen as one of the color bearers. She sat straight and tall in the saddle as she, and three others carrying the state flag and the POW/MIA flags, led the rest of the participants into the arena and circled around. Doc behaved like the champion rodeo horse he was standing perfectly still, squared away and alert as the Star Spangled Banner was played. Then the color guard led the contestants out of the arena and they all went to their separate campsites to remove parade saddles and, in some cases, replace them with regular working saddles. Carl Ryan and Frank Harding, whom the detectives had learned was just leery of newcomers but not a bad person, had volunteered to act as pick up men. They would be in the arena waiting to intercede if a bronc got too close to a fallen rider or to pick up a rider that was able to stick for the entire time limit of eight seconds. They quickly changed into old jeans and shirts and headed back to the arena. The rest of the crew took care of the horses and sent Cayce off to enjoy herself for a while.

Left to her own devices for a while, Cayce wandered the grounds. Here and there she ran into old acquaintances, new rivals, former rivals, people interested in breeding their mares to her stallions and people interested in having her train their barrel racers. Many people had heard of her grandfather who had been one of the best horse trainers in the business and they knew that Cayce had learned the business from him.

Murray, who was accompanying her, was kept busy taking names and phone numbers and such from the people interested in doing business with Cayce. He was inordinately proud of how his new friend handled herself and the amount of business he could see she was going to have by the time this rodeo was over. He couldn't wait to tell Nick and Cody – when they could talk openly that is. Right now was not the time. Nobody knew that Nick, Cody, Cayce and Boz even knew each other except that they were working for her.

Eventually they made their way to the grandstand where they watched the chuck wagon races. Brad and KC had relieved Nick and Cody from guard duty. The others were off getting some lunch. The detectives had bought enough hotdogs, chips and sodas to feed the four of them. They even remembered, much to Cayce's delight, that she was strictly a catsup girl and plain chips. She rewarded her "brothers" with a big smile when they handed her those items and a bottle of Coca-Cola.

"You remembered! Thanks, guys!"

The quartet of friends sat in the stands for a couple of hours watching the chuck wagon races which were followed by the saddle bronc riding and the bull riding. Cayce wasn't wild about the bull riding but she never forbade her employees to participate if they wanted to take the chance. When the bull riding started she left the grandstand followed by the detectives. They made their way back to where the Lazy M crew had set up camp and sat around talking about the results so far. Carl, Woody and Brian had been entered in the bronc riding and Smokey had substituted for a sick driver in the chuck wagon races. The owner was a good friend of Cayce's and they hated to see him lose out because his driver had suddenly taken ill so Smokey had volunteered to take his place.

By the time the afternoon was over everybody was ready to have supper and relax. The horses were tended to and the men set up their cots out under the trees. Two of them would sleep near the horses and the others would scatter themselves around the vehicles and the supply tent where they were keeping the grain, hay, tack and their changes of clothes. Nothing, and nobody, was going to get in the way of a good performance. They were taking all sorts of precautions. The men of the Riptide would see to Cayce's getting back and forth from the motel.

Everyone from the Lazy M gathered around the portable cook stove for a cup of coffee – hot chocolate in Cayce's case – to talk strategy and schedule for the next day's events.

"I drew number twenty in the lineup," Cayce said. "The barrel racing starts at eleven so I'll need to be here by then in order to make sure that Doc is groomed and ready to go. I'll come early to feed and water him and the others. You guys will need to eat and change before your events. I believe the calf roping starts at nine doesn't it Alex?"

"Yes," McGregor replied. "KC and Brian are checking their gear tonight – and in the morning – to make sure there are no shortened piggin' strings or any such nonsense – before they head over to the arena. They're the fourth team scheduled to compete but we agreed that they would be there for the start in case someone is late, drops our or is disqualified."

"That's right, Miss Cayce," Brian Hays confirmed. "We don't want to ruin the Lazy M's chances by being disqualified ourselves."

"That's good," the young woman said. "I'm going to head to my motel now and get settled. I'll meet you all back here around five-thirty to help with the feeding."

The men all said "good-night" and watched their young employer leave with the Italian as her escort for the evening. The Riptide men had drawn lots and Nick had won the honors of taking the strong willed young woman to her hotel. She might argue with him but she seldom was able to con – or sweet-talk – him into anything he thought she should avoid. It hadn't worked when she was a kid and it wouldn't work now. Somehow Cody was the softy where she was concerned and not Nick. Nick was more apt to stick to his guns than Cody where Cayce was concerned.

The drive to the motel took about fifteen minutes. Nick got Cayce's bag out of the back of the Jimmy and walked with her to the front lobby. The clerk there handed her two keys and she, in turn, gave one of them to Nick. When they located her room Nick brought her bag in, checked the room out and gave her a hug. As they broke off their embrace the phone rang. Cayce was delighted when she heard the voice on the other end of the line.

"Uncle Brian! How are you?"

She held the receiver to her left ear and listened to Brian McKenna's greeting.

"I'm fine, really. Nick and Cody – and their friend, Murray – have been taking real good care of Doc and me," she assured her uncle. "Nick's right here. You want to talk to him?"

Turning to the dark haired man standing behind her she said, "It's Uncle Brian. He wants to talk to you."

Nick took the phone.

"Colonel McKenna? Nick Ryder here, sir. How are you? Cayce tells us you just got promoted. Congratulations."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," the man on the other end of the line said. "Is Cayce really all right? I've had some disturbing news of late about attacks on her, the ranch and on Doc."

"She's fine. Cody and I stopped the attempted kidnapping and the attempt to drug her horse. At least we think it was just a drugging. We haven't heard back from the vet that it was poison."

"Ryder, I'm worried about my girl. Her toughest competitor – the Carpenter girl – has it in for her. I've got information, here, that indicates that an Army deserter has been seen hanging around with her. It looks like Miss Carpenter's gotten desperate enough to take up with the wrong crowd. This guy broke out of the stockade a couple of months ago. We've tracked him as far as Carpenter's ranch but I don't think the girl's father knows who he is. I have no doubts that Melissa does, though."

"I see," Nick said with a worried look at Cayce. "Can you describe him for me?" Nick was quiet for a minute as Colonel McKenna did just that. "We'll keep a sharp lookout, don't you worry. Yes sir, we'll be watching for you. All right. Yes sir. Good-bye."

Nick hung up the phone and turned to his "little sister".

"This sabotage business looks to be more serious than we anticipated, Cayce," he told her. "The Colonel says that Melissa's boyfriend is an army deserter. Her father doesn't seem to know this but Melissa is perfectly aware of it. The guy busted out of the stockade, a couple of months ago, where he was doing time for assault and battery. He half killed a couple of guards doing it." Anxiously he checked the door and windows of her room. "Listen, I'm going back to the fairgrounds to spend the night. Cody'll pick you up in the morning. Don't open this door to anyone but him, Boz or me until this guy is caught. He may be at the rodeo. He may be watching for his chance to kidnap you, hurt you or hurt both you and Doc so that you have to drop out of the competition. Promise me you won't open the door to anyone but one of us – not even one of your cowboys."

"I promise," Cayce told him. She could see how worried he was and wasn't about to add to it.

"Good. Now you get a good night's sleep and Cody will pick you up in the morning. One of us will drive you back here to change before your event starts and then back to the rodeo."

Nick gave Cayce a kiss on the cheek and tugged on her braid as he bade her goodnight.

When Nick was gone Cayce turned down her bed, set the alarm clock she'd brought with her to quarter of five so that she would be up in time to dress before Cody arrived to take her out to the rodeo grounds. Then she changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. She was sound asleep within a couple of minutes.

************************************************************************

When Nick arrived back at the fairgrounds he immediately sought out his partners. They needed to talk and they needed to talk right away.

"I just got off the phone with Cayce's uncle – Colonel McKenna," he told them. "This situation is a lot more serious than we thought. According to him Melissa Carpenter's a lot more anxious to win than Cayce believes. She's hooked up with an Army deserter that the colonel is after – he thinks the guy is working for the Carpenters without Mr. Carpenter's knowledge. He could just be working for his girlfriend."

The others listened intently as Nick filled them in on his conversation and the instructions he'd given Cayce. They really didn't like leaving her alone but they couldn't exactly share a motel room with her either – it wouldn't look right. It was Cody who finally voiced the best plan.

"I think it's time we told the others who we are," he said. "I think we're all in agreement that Cayce's employees are completely loyal to her and wouldn't want to see any harm come to her."

"Cody's right," Boz said. "I think we better. We're going to need all the help we can get and they'll be more alert to trouble if we tell them exactly what we seem to be up against."

KC Campion wandered by just at that moment. It was Cody who hailed him.

"KC! We need to talk to all of you guys including McGregor. Can you find them all and meet us here in ten minutes?"

"Sure," KC replied with a puzzled look. "What's up?"

"We'll tell you when we're all together," Cody said, "but this much I'll say now – it concerns Miss McKenna and the attacks against her and the ranch."

It didn't take KC long to find the others. Three of them were in the tent hanging up clothes and hats and putting saddles on trunks. The others were getting hay, grain and water for the horses. They stood waiting for the three detectives to explain the reason for the meeting.

"Well, you've got us here," Alex McGregor said, "would you mind explaining what's so important."

"It's like this," Nick started.

"We haven't been entirely honest with you fellows," Cody said. "Cayce hasn't been entirely honest with you and she'd be the first one to admit it if she were in on this meeting."

"What he's trying to say is," Nick picked up where Cody left off, "is that we're not mechanics and handymen and Murray isn't a bookkeeper. Murray's also not an old friend of Cayce's that she just happened to run into in King Harbor. We're private detectives. Cayce hired us – well we volunteered our services – when some guys tried to kidnap her in King Harbor the day she came to see us. That's the day of your accident McGregor."

"You've been lying to us?" Brian Hays asked.

"Not entirely," Cody told him. "We are who we say we are but we're not what we said we are."

"Cody means that our names really are Nick Ryder, Cody Allen and Murray Bozinsky," Boz said. "It's just that we're really private detectives here to help Cayce find out who has it in for her."

"Nick and I have known Cayce since she was about ten years old. We met her shortly after her Uncle Brian – the Colonel – got custody of her when her parents died."

"What?" This came from Smokey Jim.

"I know," McGregor said.

"You know? How do you know?" Nick asked.

"I've seen your picture," Alex said. "Miss Cayce has talked about her 'big brothers' for a long time and that's what's written on the back of the big picture she has of the three of you – and Colonel McKenna – in her office. I helped her put it in a new frame when the old one got broken. As for Dr. Bozinsky, here, he is well known in the computer world and in the video game enterprise. My nephews have every article that has ever been written about him and own several of his games."

"Why didn't you say something?" Cody asked.

"If Miss Cayce had wanted us to know she'd have told us," McGregor replied. "I figure it's her business who she hires as handyman and mechanic, or bookkeeper. The cowboys, on the other hand, go to me first. You guys sure aren't cowboys," he added.

The rest of the crew laughed at that – including the Riptide detectives even though they had called everyone together for serious reasons.

"I just talked to Colonel McKenna at Cayce's motel," Nick told the assembled crew. "He called to check up on her while I was there. He's very worried about her. It looks like the Carpenter girl is behind all this trouble you've been having – directly and indirectly. She's hooked up with a guy who's broken out of the stockade at Ft. Sam Houston. He half killed a couple of guards doing it."

Quickly the dark haired detective went on to explain that Sergeant Gilbert French, a man ten years or more older than Melissa, had been hired by the young woman to work at her father's ranch. However her main reason for hiring him was to sabotage the Lazy M in any way that he could and most especially to keep Cayce out of the barrel racing competition. The attempted kidnapping and the truck that ran McGregor off the road while he was towing the trailer that Doc was in was her last ditch effort to get Cayce to drop out. Only problem was that Cayce was too stubborn to give in and that had Melissa mad enough to chew nails. There was no telling what they would try next.

"I told Cayce not to open her door to anybody but me, Cody or Boz because these guys could be dressed as cowboys and trick her into opening her door to them. They might not hurt her but I don't want to take any chances."

"Good idea," McGregor said. "If these people are as determined as you say they are we'll have to be extra careful to look out for Miss Cayce and Doc."

"Cody, I told her you'd pick her up in the morning. She's in room two-fifteen."

"We'd better set up night watch shifts," Cody said as Boz nodded in agreement.

"You men get some sleep," McGregor said. "The boys and I will take turns keeping an eye on things. Nobody's getting near our animals or our gear tonight. Tomorrow we'll work around our competition schedule."

"I suggest that we check our feed before giving it to the horses," Smokey said. "They've tried everything else. Before we give them any oats and corn we'd better make sure it's good."

Everything being settled the Riptide detectives went into the dressing tent and curled up on the cots that had been set up. There were enough for everybody and the cowboys made certain not to disturb the others when they changed shifts.

******************************************************************

Around five the next morning Cody reluctantly dragged himself out of bed and went to pick Cayce up at her motel. She grinned when she saw the sleepy look on his face. She was used to being up this early and enjoyed it but obviously Cody was long past the point of enjoying being up so early. They arrived back at the rodeo grounds at five-thirty and Cayce promptly got to work feeding and watering Doc and looking over her gear. Everything looked fine. Around seven she took Doc for a walk and then a short ride. She wanted to be sure that he was sound and ready to go. There were no problems.

Cody was to drive her back to the motel so that she could get a shower and dress in

the clothes she would wear during her competition. For the barrel racing they consisted of jeans, a long-sleeved western shirt in shades of red, green, tan and blue plus her boots and hat. They left the rodeo around eight as the others were warming up their horses and themselves. The Steer Wrestling started at nine so the ones who were entered in that event needed to finish their preparation.

"We'll be back in about an hour," Cody told his partners. "Cayce says she already knows what she's going to wear but she needs to make sure her hair is dry before she braids it. Even with a blow dryer that will take a little time."

"Cayce's using a blow dryer?" Nick asked in surprise.

"Yes, Cayce's using a blow dryer," the young woman retorted. "I can't braid my hair while it's wet and I have to look neat and presentable when I compete this morning."

The men all laughed as they heard the banter back and forth – especially when Cayce stuck her tongue out at Nick. Cayce wasn't vain about her appearance by any means but the stained and worn sweat pants and tee shirt she wore to do stable work weren't exactly the clothes she needed to wear for her event. She was warm and sweaty, had smudges of dirt on her face and pieces of hay in her hair. In short she had a lot to do to get herself ready. She wasn't wild about having to have an escort everywhere she went but Cody was wearing his determined look that would brook no argument on the matter. For that matter so was Nick and he was scarier than Cody when he was mad.

Cody and Cayce took his Jimmy to the motel. Once he located a parking space, near the stairs that led up to the second level, he led the way to Cayce's room following her directions. Once there he took her key, opened the door and checked the place out before he would allow her to enter. Then he closed the door and locked it using both locks. Cayce sat down on the bed to remove her old boots that she wore to do chores in, got her clean clothes from the dresser and the closet and went into the bathroom to take her shower. Cody sat at the small table and read the paper that had been left on the doorstep. When he was through with that he picked up the book on Irish history that Cayce was reading. He shook his head in bemusement. The girl lived and breathed Army, Ireland, Scotland and horses. She always had and she was a genius on American history as well.

Fifteen minutes later Cayce departed the bathroom with her dirty clothes and deposited them in the bottom of her closet. They wouldn't be packing up to leave until the next afternoon so she would be wearing these things again in the morning to feed and water and clean up the "campsite".

"You're through already?" Cody was surprised.

"Yes, I'm through already," Cayce replied. "The only time I linger in the shower is when I'm cold or exceptionally dirty – like when I've been wrestling steers and calves out of the mud."

"You what?"

"I sometimes have to wrestle dumb cattle out of mud holes. When a calf is stuck I can't always call for help or ride back to the house to get some of the men!" Cayce was exasperated. "You forget that I raise a few hundred head of Hereford cattle besides training horses."

"Yeah, I guess I did," Cody admitted. With a gleam in his eye he asked, "Are you going to take the next hour to put your makeup on?"

That got him a withering glare as she crossed over to the bed and sat down to pull on her good boots. Cayce didn't wear makeup and Cody knew it. She picked up one of the pillows from her bed and tossed it at him. He caught it with ease and would have fired back except that that would have delayed them and he was anxious to get back to the fairgrounds where the rodeo was located so that there were more people to keep an eye on her. She didn't respond further but returned to the bathroom, removed the towel she had around her head and started the blow dryer. The noise of the blow dryer covered the noise of someone pulling in to the parking space next to the Jimmy. Cody never knew there was trouble right outside the door until it was too late.

Outside Cayce's door was a trio of tough looking men. One of them had been involved in the attempted kidnapping on the dock a couple of weeks earlier. The other was the phony veterinarian. None of them was the stockade escapee. The man who had masqueraded as the veterinarian cursed when he found that both locks were in place.

"How are we going to get in there without attracting their attention?" one of his cohorts wanted to know.

"Simple," was the reply. "We wait here until they come out and then we grab them."

"That's going to attract an awful lot of attention," the other thug said.

"We won't take them anywhere," their self-appointed leader said. "We'll just force them back into the room and keep them there. If that blond guy puts up a fight he'll be sorry."

"If we take them away from here it's felony kidnapping," the first one said. "Got enough trouble with the law without coming afoul of the Feds. Let's make sure we just detain them long enough to keep the girl from competing."

"Well you can quit worrying," the leader told him. "All we have to do is keep them here long enough for the McKenna girl to be disqualified for failing to show up when called."

The three men positioned themselves on either side of the door. Inside there were sounds of two people getting ready to leave. Cayce was closing the closet door after retrieving her buckskin jacket and Cody was pushing his chair back into the table.

The two friends were laughing and chatting as they headed for the door. They were in for a rude surprise.

"Back up," the leader said as he stuck his gun in Cody's ribcage. "Get back into the room."

"What's going on?" Cayce asked as Cody stopped up short and she heard a strange voice.

"I don't know," Cody told her, "but do as the man says. I don't want you getting hurt."

"You heard the man," the leader said as he roughly turned Cody around and pushed him into the motel room. The other two followed close behind and had their guns out as well.

"Who are you?" Cayce asked. "What do you want? If it's money you're after you can forget it 'cause I don't have more than twenty bucks on me right now."

"I don't think it's money they're after," Cody said. "This guy, who seems to be the leader of this merry band, is the one who pretended to be a veterinarian a week ago. The one who was going to give Doc that drug, or poison, or whatever it was."

"That's right, genius," the man sneered. "If you hadn't shown up that partner of yours would have let me do whatever I wanted."

"Too bad," Cody replied. "Nobody's going to keep Cayce out of the barrel racing competition if we can help it."

In what Nick would have told him was a reckless move, Cody lunged for the men and tried to create enough noise to attract curious passersby who could summon the police and to give Cayce a chance to get away.

The men stumbled back but, in doing so, one of them slammed the door closed. Cayce tried to get past them, or out the back door, but the other two were too fast for her. One blocked the front door while the other got around in front of her and prevented her from getting to the sliding door.

"Get out of my way," Cayce said to the thug with her teeth clenched.

"No way, sister," he said. "You're not going anywhere."

Cayce looked for another means of escape but there was no window in the bathroom so that was out of the question. She watched as Cody struggled with the other two men and was dismayed to see one of them get hold of his right arm, twist it up behind his back and slam his head into the doorframe. Cody went limp and fell to the floor when the thug released him.

Cayce gave up the fight to escape and went to his side. She could see a large knot forming on his right temple where it had connected with the doorframe. He was going to have one heck of a black eye that was for sure.

"Cody? Are you okay?" she asked.

Cody looked at her with eyes that were glazed over and unfocused. From his perspective there were three Cayce McKennas looking down at him. He shook his head but immediately regretted it.

"Come on, let me help you up," Cayce said as she put her arm behind his shoulders.

With her help Cody managed a sitting position but that was as far as they got. Cayce may have been accustomed to wrestling steers and other animals out of mud holes but that was with the help of one of her cowponies. Helping a grown man, who was pretty much a dead weight, get to his feet was quite another. It took some doing to get him up enough to sit on one of the beds.

"Help me get him on the bed!" she demanded of their captors.

"Help her," the leader said to his two cronies. "They're not going anywhere so he might as well be comfortable."

The two men hauled Cody to his feet and walked him over to the bed. They unceremoniously dropped him on it only making sure that he didn't hit his head again.

Glaring at them she walked toward the bathroom to get a cold, damp washcloth for Cody's head. "I already told you I don't have a lot of money on me. What is it you want if it's not money?"

"We're just here to keep you company for a few hours," the phony vet told her. "You'll be free to go as soon as the rodeo is over."

"A few hours? Until the rodeo is over?" The wheels were turning in Cayce's head. "Does Melissa Carpenter have anything to do with this? I'll bet she does. She's getting pretty desperate if she hires a bunch of goons like you guys to rough up my employees and keep me from getting to the rodeo in time to compete in the barrel racing!"

Cody moaned and stirred at this point. Dimly he heard Cayce's words. Hearing him Cayce went over to the bed and sat down by his side. She laid the damp cloth on his forehead and checked his eyes for signs of a concussion or other problems. Finding none she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Cayce?" The voice was little more than a whisper at that moment.

"I'm here, Cody," she answered him.

"You okay?"

"Yes, Cody, I'm fine," she told him. "You're not looking your best though."

"Sorry about this. I should have been more careful."

"It's not your fault, Cody," she reassured him. "Nobody's going to blame you for this. If they do they'll end up with a fat lip – I guarantee it!"

That comment made the injured man smile. Cayce was a feisty thing when somebody got her upset and he'd seen more than one person wish they hadn't messed with her when they found themselves with a fat lip or a black eye.

******************************************************************

While Cayce and Cody were enduring their captivity and hoping for rescue, Nick and Murray were busy helping the other Lazy M competitors as best they could. They kept an eye on the vehicles and the horses, helped feed and groom and water. They made sure that each man had his number pinned on his back – even running down to the announcer's booth to pick up the number for Cayce so she wouldn't have to rush to get it if she and Cody were delayed in traffic or something.

Murray was very good with the children who wanted to pet, and feed, the horses. He explained very gently that the horses couldn't have anything to eat just before they competed and that they'd already had their breakfast. They would be given some water when they were through. Nick smiled. Sometimes Boz got a little carried away with his explanations but he was very careful, this time, not to do that with the children that were there. As a result not even a competitor's curious child got anywhere near Doc or any of the other horses.

An hour and a half later, though, Nick wasn't smiling. He was getting nervous. Cody had said they would be back in "about an hour". That hour had come and gone and still no sign of his two friends. Worried he went in search of a phone to use and placed a call to the motel.

******************************************************************

Brinnng! Brinng! The phone on the nightstand rang insistently. Everybody in the room jumped when it started. After a moment's hesitation, the leader indicated to Cayce that she should answer it.

"No funny stuff," he said, "or your friend over there pays for it."

Cayce picked up the phone and went weak in the knees when she heard Nick's voice. She wanted so desperately to tell him what was going on but she wouldn't risk Cody being hurt any more. Thinking fast she started drumming her fingers on her leg as though she were nervous.

"Hello?"

"Cayce – it's Nick. Why are you guys still there? I thought you were only going to be an hour! Are you all right?"

"Yes, Nick," she said with a look back at Cody who had a gun to his head. "I'm fine. Cody's fine. We're both fine. I just got a little hung up is all."

As she talked Cayce started drumming on the mouthpiece. Only Cody, who was much more alert than he had been earlier, knew that she was sending Morse code. He prayed Nick was paying attention and would figure out that she was trying to tell him that they were in trouble.

"What's that noise on the line?" Nick asked when he heard the tapping.

"I don't know," Cayce told him. "Maybe there's static on the line?"

"Maybe. It doesn't sound like static though," Nick was dubious. "Never mind. When are you guys leaving?"

"We should be there in about twenty minutes," she replied. "Don't worry. The traffic is picking up and we may be delayed."

The leader of the men holding them prisoner motioned for her to cut the call short.

"I have to go," she told Nick. "Cody's waiting for me in the Jimmy. Bye."

******************************************************************

Nick hung up the phone with a puzzled look on his face. Cayce's words seemed to make sense. It was getting a little late in the morning – by her standards – and the barrel racing even would be starting in about forty-five minutes. When his friends had left they'd planned on being back within an hour. It was almost two hours now. Then there was that persistent tapping he'd heard. What was that? Why did it bug him so much? Something was wrong but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Hey buddy – you through with the phone? I need to put in an SOS to the electrician. The PA system is out of whack." A man wearing a badge that identified him as a rodeo staff member stood behind Nick waiting patiently.

"SOS? SOS? SOS! That's it!" Nick exclaimed out loud. "They're in trouble! Cayce was sending me an SOS on the phone!"

Nick bolted from the phone and went in search of a vehicle to drive. Unfortunately the Lazy M vehicles all still had trailers attached to them and it would take too much time to unhitch them and take one.

Looking around he saw a pick up headed for the fairgrounds' exit. Quickly he hailed the driver and begged a ride to the motel. He had no time to leave word for Murray or anybody else. None of them were close by and he was in a hurry.

The driver dropped him off – at his request – half a block from the motel. Nick wanted, and needed, the short walk to get his thoughts together and scope out the motel. He needed to know what was happening to his friends before he made any moves.

*************************************************************

Cayce sat next to Cody on the bed. He was looking much better but he would have to admit that he'd felt better. He had a headache that wouldn't quit but he was calm and quiet and that what was Cayce needed. She wasn't exactly accustomed to seeing her friends get hurt in fights. Nor was she used to having men point guns at her. She had to be nervous in spite of her brave front. The blond detective squeezed his "little sister's" hand in a show of comfort and support. Cayce smiled at him.

Cayce sat next to Cody quietly humming and silently praying. She glanced longingly at the doors a couple of times but the men who were holding them there were watching her every time she moved. All of a sudden she thought she saw something moving near the sliding glass door and gasped.

"What's the matter with you, girl?" one of the men asked.

"Oh, nothing," she told him. "I'm just getting a little stiff from from sitting too long. Is it all right if I get up and move around a little?"

Cody eyed her curiously. She was up to something and he wanted to know what.

"What's up?" he whispered.

"I thought I saw Nick outside," she explained. "If it was him I need to find a way to get one of the doors unlocked so he can get in."

"Be careful," he told her. "If I try it they'll shoot me on the spot but it's hard to say what they'll do if they catch you doing something."

"I will," she promised and slowly rose from the bed holding her right side as if she were sore. She paced back and forth between the bed and the bathroom a few times and slowly extended her walk over toward the sliding glass door. Each time she came to a stop she bent over and acted as though she were stretching the stiffness out of her side and her back. She bent over forward and stretched from side to side moving slowly in the direction of the rear exit until she was leaning against the glass.

"Hey! Move away from there!" the leader told her.

"You said I could move around to relieve my stiff and sore back," Cayce retorted. "You got a problem with me making sure I have enough room to do it without tripping over something or hitting my head?"

"Just so long as you don't try something funny," he said and turned his attention back to the card game he and his cronies had started.

Cayce bent forward and then took a couple of steps back toward the bed and bent backward with her hands behind her back. Watching their captors closely she managed to unlock the door without them being any the wiser. Then she went back to the bed to sit with Cody and wait for Nick to make his move.

A moment later they heard a noise at the front door. The men jumped up ready for a fight but they were all surprised when it turned out to be a woman in a housekeeper's uniform. One of them quickly went over to the bed and sat behind Cody keeping his pistol in Cody's back all the while

"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman said. "I thought you were gone. I was just coming in to clean up."

"Forget it," Cayce said with a smile. "I'm such a dummy I forgot to put the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the doorknob. My four friends and I are having a meeting. We'll be out of here in a little while. You go on and do the other rooms first then come back here in a little while to do my room."

"All right," the middle-aged woman said. "I'll come back in about an hour or so."

She went out the door and Cayce closed it behind her. For a brief moment she leaned her forehead against the door. It wasn't Nick that was at the door but she was reasonably certain that he was close by.

******************************************************************

Two doors down Nick waited for the housekeeper to reach him without attracting attention by walking too fast.

"What did you see?" he asked anxiously.

"There are four men in the room with her," the woman told him. "One of them – a tall blond is sitting on the bed. He appears to have been injured. Miss McKenna is unharmed as far as I can tell. She is nervous though."

Nick swore to himself. If Cody was hurt it was going to make things a little tricky. Cayce had always been a tomboy but could she hold her own in a fight against three armed men? He was going to have to find out.

"Can you do me another favor?" he asked the housekeeper.

"If I can," the woman replied.

"I need to get into that room and it's going to have to be from the back. I'm pretty certain Cayce has managed to unlock the sliding door." He looked the woman straight in the eye and said, "I need you to draw their attention to the front door while I slip around back. If you can keep them busy for a minute I'll be able to get into the room and help my friends. When you see me get the door open leave as quick as you can without arousing their suspicion. Can you do that for me?"

"Why not call the police?" the housekeeper asked him.

"It'll take too long for them to get here and it could get real messy. If these guys had wanted to really hurt anybody they would have done it by now. I'm thinking they have orders to hold Cayce here long enough to make her late getting back to the rodeo," he explained. "I just want to get Cayce and Cody – that's the blond you saw – out of there. We'll talk to the police later."

"All right," she agreed. "I'll go back and insist on cleaning the room now because it will make me late leaving if I don't do the rooms in order."

"No, no don't do that," Nick said thinking quickly. "That will put you in danger. Tell them…tell them that there's something wrong with their van. Tell them you saw them drive in so you know which vehicle is there. If I'm lucky one of them will leave the room to check on it and I can take him out. That'll leave two in the room and I think my friends will be able to manage one while I manage the other. If I'm really lucky one of the two left in the room will come out to find out what's keeping the first one."

******************************************************************

The knock at the door startled all of them. At the leader's signal Cayce went over to answer it. Once again, one of them sat next to Cody and kept a gun in his ribs but out of sight of the casual observer.

"Who is it?" Cayce called through the closed door.

"Housekeeping. I have a message for your friends," was the reply.

"Open it," the leader told Cayce.

When the door was opened the woman told her, "Their van has something leaking under it. The manager is worried that it's gasoline and wants someone to come and move it."

"Thank you," Cayce said. "Somebody will be right down to take care of it."

She closed the door and looked at the men who were holding her and Cody captive.

"Well, you heard the lady. You'd better check it out or the manager will be up here next and he may not be so easy to get rid of," she told the phony vet.

"All right, all right!" he exclaimed irritably. "Nothing has gone right from the start with this job." Indicating the third man who was standing next to him he said, "Joe, you go down and see what's wrong. If that van is leaking gas we'll have to ditch it and get another car to get out of here."

Reluctantly the one called "Joe" went out the door and around to check out the problem. The door closed behind him as he made his way to the stairs leading to the first level. He was barely around the back of the van, and out of sight, when a strong arm was wrapped around his throat. Nick applied pressure until the man passed out and went limp in his arms. Quickly opening the back door to the van – which he had jimmied open – Nick stuffed the guy into the back using a handkerchief for a gag and rope supplied by the housekeeper to tie the man's hands and ankles.

"One down, two to go," he said to himself.

******************************************************************

"What's taking Joe so long?" asked the one who had been keeping watch on Cody but was now sitting at the table.

"I don't know but if he's not back in another minute I want you to go out and find out what that dummy is doing."

A few seconds later they heard the sound of a car horn – their car horn going off and not stopping. The two men looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Go out there and see what that dummy is doing," the phony veterinarian told his partner.

The other man opened the door and went down the stairs to find out what was going on. The phony veterinarian turned back toward Cody and Cayce. "Don't get any bright ideas about taking me on," he told them. "I've still got this gun and I won't hesitate to use it at this point."

Cody shook his head at Cayce indicating that she should cooperate but they both had a sneaking suspicion that they knew what was going on. It had to be Nick and they were ready to move when he made his.

A couple of minutes later the car horn stopped and there was a knock at the door. The leader of the trio went to the door – keeping an eye on his hostages as he did so.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"Me. Open the door."

Muffled though it was he recognized the voice of the man he'd just sent outside.

"Took you long enough," he said irritably. "Where's Joe?"

He started to open the door to let his partner in and noticed that he had a strange look on his face.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked. "Get stung by a bee?"

"No, not a bee!" Nick snapped as he forced his way in the door. "He got stung by me."

A fight ensued as Nick started to grapple with the leader of the group. The second man recovered his wits only to find Cody trying to pin him down. In his weakened state Cody was no match for the man and he found himself thrown halfway across the room. The other man started for Nick only to have Cayce snatch up the bedside lamp and smash it over his head. Nick quickly subdued the last man and turned his attention to his friends.

"Are you guys okay?" he asked.

"Yes," Cayce said breathlessly and with a catch in her voice as she flung her arms around him.

"It's okay, sweetie," he said. "You're okay." Looking over at his partner who was still lying on the floor he asked, "Code? You okay buddy?"

"He's probably got a mild concussion," Cayce told Nick. "When they forced their way in here he tried to stop them but they slammed his head into the door frame. He was unconscious for a couple of minutes but, up until now, he was doing better. I don't think getting thrown halfway across the room helped his headache any," she said as she and Nick helped Cody up.

The blond swayed dizzily for a moment but then seemed to get his balance back. He was still a little glassy eyed but he was aware of what was going on around him. His friends made him sit on the bed while the police were summoned. Cayce got a freshly dampened washcloth for his forehead.

Lieutenant Ted Quinlan arrived on the scene with two black and white units. He looked less than pleased to see Nick and Cody but managed to be civil – barely - when he saw that Cayce was involved in the trouble. He remembered her from the attempted kidnapping. Seeing the damage to the motel room – the smashed lamp the tipped over chairs and broken glass where a picture had been smashed by someone slamming into the wall – he rightly (for once) deduced that the detectives were not solely responsible for the trouble.

"You want to explain what just happened here?" he asked the trio.

"Those men have been paid, by a Melissa Carpenter, to keep Cayce out of the barrel racing competition at the Erickson Rodeo," Cody told him.

"Why would she want to do that?" Quinlan asked.

"For two reasons," Cayce told him, "I stand to make a lot of money if I get the best time – money that will be added to what I've already won this summer – and she hates to lose. If she can't win honestly then she resorts to dirty tricks."

"Cayce's uncle is a Colonel in the Army," Nick explained. "He told me, on the phone last night, that the Carpenter girl is mixed up with an army deserter. We think he's behind the sabotage on Cayce's vehicles and helicopter and the attempted kidnapping on the dock."

"He's probably responsible for these guys," Cody added. "We need to get Cayce to the rodeo so we can confront her after Cayce wins the barrel racing."

"What's this barrel racing?" the lieutenant asked.

"I don't have time to explain," Cayce said as she glanced at her watch and noted the time. "We're about fifteen minutes from the rodeo grounds and the barrel racing has probably already started. I'll be disqualified if I'm not there when they call my number." Giving the police officer a beseeching look she added, "Can we finish our talk later? I'll come down to the King Harbor Police Department if need be but I want to see the look on Melissa's face when I show up."

"Go! Go already!" Quinlan said. "I'll meet up with you at the rodeo after I see to it that these three clowns are locked up."

The three friends jumped into the Jimmy and Nick threw her into gear heading toward the grounds of the rodeo as fast as he could. Quinlan put the word out to the units on the street not to interfere with them. Thus their trip took only a few minutes before they were safely back at the rodeo.

The Jimmy screeched to a halt in the parking lot and the trio – Cayce, Cody and Nick bailed out. The loudspeaker was announcing the start of the barrel-racing event and Cayce wasn't ready to go.

"Where have you guys been?" an anxious Boz asked them as they arrived at the Lazy M's campsite.

"We'll explain later," Cody told their partner. "Right now we've got to get Cayce ready to ride."

"They've already announced her number twice," Murray told them. "Mr. McGregor says that if they announce it one more time and she doesn't respond then she'll be eliminated."

"No way!" Nick exclaimed. "She's been through too much work just to have lose by default."

"But Nick," Cayce cried, "I don't have enough time to finish getting ready! I have to clean up, find my number, pin it on and saddle up! Alex is busy with the team roping entry getting them ready to go! Doc needs a final grooming, too!"

Cayce's predicament wasn't quite as bad as she thought but during the hour or so of captivity, and the fight, her clean and neat appearance had turned to somewhat disheveled. Her shirt was half untucked and wrinkled and her braid had come partly undone.

"Cody and I'll talk to the judges," the Italian told her. "You just get Doc and yourself ready and get to the starting gate. Boz – help her out. We'll be back in a couple of minutes."

Murray hastened to do what he could to help Cayce get ready to go. He took a whiskbroom to her shirt and hat while she dusted off her jeans and tucked her shirt in again. He ran a damp cloth over her boots to clean them up some. He held her hat while she quickly brushed and re-braided her hair. He helped her lift the heavy western saddle onto Doc's back – not that she wasn't capable of doing it herself.

She quickly brought the cinch around under Doc's belly and fastened it. Then she slipped the breast collar over his head and fastened it to the saddle. The bridle was next and Doc willingly lowered his head so that she could slip it on and over his ears. It took but a few seconds to fasten it in place.

"You ready to go kid?" Nick asked as he and Cody came back with the news that she had five minutes to get to the in gate or she would be disqualified.

"Yes," she replied somewhat breathlessly. "Give me a leg up."

"Well then, let's get you over there," the blond detective said as he did as she requested.

At the in gate they met with resistance from her top competition who looked anxious, and angry, that Cayce had made it in time to take her turn. This was not supposed to happen.

"She can't compete! She's late!" exclaimed Melissa Carpenter.

"Oh, yes I can," Cayce retorted. "I was allotted three extra minutes due to extenuating circumstances. I'm here now and I'm ready to go."

"I protest!" Melissa exclaimed again.

"Shut your mouth! I'll settle with you after I win this competition," Cayce said with a glare at the other woman.

Cayce shook hands with the three judges and thanked them. Then she turned Doc toward the in-gate.

"Remember what I told you, Cayce," Boz said. "Cut it close like you've been practicing and you'll have your best time ever."

"We'll meet you at the in-out gate when you're through," Cody told her. "Come on guys – let's find a good spot to watch from."

The detectives left the judges and their friend. They found a place near the in/out gate where they were close enough to see Cayce's face, which was set in a grim mask of concentration. Seconds later the duo of Blackfoot Medicine Man and Cayce McKenna shot into the arena and headed for the first barrel. Cayce heard none of the gasps as Doc came close enough to the barrel that it seemed inevitable that they would knock it over. Cayce, however, had compete confidence in her horse's athletic ability and her own. They'd run this race many times in the last four years.

Nick, Cody and Boz watched anxiously. They had, in the time they'd been working undercover to help Cayce, seen her compete in a few shows but they'd never seen her this determined to win. She'd seemed more intent on having fun and doing the best she could. Knowing, however, that Melissa Carpenter and her team were responsible for Cayce having been forcibly detained and the injury to Cody that could have been much more serious, had changed that happy go lucky attitude. Cayce was out for blood. She was out to win.

The Riptide detectives, along with all the other members of the audience, held their breath as Cayce and Doc rounded the final barrel and headed for the finish line. There was dead silence in the arena as the official timer recorded their time and gave it to the announcer.

There was silence for a moment then the announcer was heard to say, "This is incredible! Nobody's…in first place, and winning the Erickson Rodeo's barrel racing competition for nineteen eighty-four is Cayce McKenna. Her time – an unbelievable thirteen point five seconds! Let's have a big hand for the little lady who rode so brilliantly!"

There was dead silence in the stands for a few seconds and then a whoop, which could have been heard for miles, was torn from the throats of the three detectives. Their "little sister" had won the battle of the barrel racing competition. Melissa Carpenter, on her big gray, was scowling while Janine Carlson looked pleased to have done as well as she had. When they exited the men of the Riptide, her foreman and ranch hands and a crowd of fellow competitors that wanted to congratulate her surrounded Cayce.

"Brilliant!" Alex McGregor was heard to exclaim.

"Great ride, Miss Cayce!" Smokey told her.

"Wonderful!" Janine Carlson told her. "That was super!"

"Cayce! Great job honey!" Nick told her as he wrapped his arms around her when she dismounted.

Cody didn't say much but the grin on his face was more than enough to let her know how proud he was of her.

"Boss! You did it!" Boz was thrilled.

"Couldn't have done it without your coaching, Murray," the young rancher told her new "brother".

"That was some ride, Miss McKenna," Judge William Scully told her.

"Thank you," she said to one and all.

"I still say she shouldn't have been permitted to compete," Melissa Carpenter complained. "She was late. Her number had already been called."

"The reason I was late, Melissa dear," Cayce said with an icy look in her green eyes, "was because your goons showed up at my motel room and forced their way in."

"What are you talking about?" Melissa asked nervously. "What do I have to do with somebody breaking into your room?"

"Listen up everybody," Cayce said. "I have charges to bring against Miss Carpenter here. Charges that can proved."

The crowd around them grew quiet as she finished speaking. Cayce McKenna was not known for making false accusations so everybody was anxious to hear what she had to say. Everyone, that is, except Melissa Carpenter whose father now stood by her side. Melissa looked decidedly nervous.

"What is it you have to say about my daughter, young lady?" Robert Carpenter asked.

"What I'm saying is that Melissa arranged for me to be delayed. Those men who broke in told me, and Cody, that they weren't going to harm us but they were supposed to keep us company for a few hours – until the rodeo is over. Since Cody, here, is not a cowboy and has no vested interest in what happens other than to look out for me, and Doc, then it stands to reason that Melissa is responsible. She's been trailing me in the standings at every horse show and rodeo I've entered in the last year – especially the last couple of months. The only time she's won has been when Doc and I have been unable to compete."

She went on to explain about the sabotage to her cars and trucks, the attempted kidnapping, the phony vet – "who is in police custody right now" and the "accident" that Alex had had while driving home from King Harbor a couple of months ago.

"What proof do you have?" Carpenter blustered. "That sounds like a lot of coincidence."

"I can show you, on paper, the dates that Cayce was unable to compete that coincide with your daughter winning," Murray told the man. "I checked all her maintenance records against her winning dates and your daughter's winnings. Every time that Cayce was unable to compete because her truck broke down, some of her gear was damaged or a horse was unable to perform your daughter and her horse won. Not with the times that Cayce would get but good enough to beat Miss Carlson and anybody else. It's all in her computer and on paper – I printed it out."

"Good work, Boz!" Cody exclaimed.

"Great job, buddy," Nick told him.

"Show me," Carpenter said.

Murray proceeded to do just that. He led the group over to the Lazy M's campsite where he had left Cayce's jeep. The information he had spoken of was on a computer printout he'd generated from various sources including Cayce's schedule, ledgers and information he'd gotten from the Barrel Horse Racing Association's databank. It was all there in black and white.

"Do you wish to make a formal complaint?" Scully asked. "You're certainly entitled to."

"What official complaint?" Robert Carpenter asked.

"Your daughter can be kicked out of the Barrel Horse Racing Association membership," was the answer.

"On what grounds?"

"According to the section on Penalties and/or Disqualifications '1. Any of the following actions may result in suspension from the NBHA and/or loss of NBHA points for one or more shows, or disqualification from one or more shows during the competition year:

a. Using abusive language or attempting to threaten, bribe, influence or harass any contestant, show official or NBHA official.' Your daughter has done that," Murray explained. "It's all there on paper."

"What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" Robert asked his daughter.

"She's lying!" Melissa spat. "She's making all this up and they're helping her."

"My niece doesn't lie," came the voice Cayce most wanted to hear.

Brian McKenna, accompanied by two uniformed Military Policemen, had arrived just in time to hear the accusations his niece was making – backed up by the Riptide Detective Agency – and the denial and accusation by Melissa Carpenter. His niece ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him and he wrapped his around her.

"Then she must be mistaken," Carpenter insisted. "My daughter doesn't have to cheat to win."

"Mr. Carpenter didn't you listen to anything Cayce told you the day you tried to buy Doc?" Cody asked the man. "Your daughter doesn't seem to know how to win without cheating and abuse."

"I'll tell you something else," Nick said. "Your daughter has had an army deserter – a guy who broke out of the stockade and half killed two guards doing it – doing her dirty work for her. If he didn't do it himself he arranged for it to be done – including the attempt to poison Cayce's horse. That's why Colonel McKenna is here. He could have left it to the local police but this case is personal – it involves family and he's here to make sure this guy is put away."

"Here's his picture," Colonel McKenna said holding out a snapshot. "Has anyone here seen this man?"

The Riptide detectives looked at it first and then it was handed to the group around them. The Lazy M hands were the next ones to look at it before it got back to Cayce herself.

"That looks like one of the guys who tried to kidnap Cayce in King Harbor the day of Murray's costume party," Cody said.

"I've seen this guy around," Carl Ryan told them. "I think I saw him in Sunny Acres about a month ago."

"I've seen him since then," Frank Harding said. "I'm pretty sure I've seen him here – today."

"Where?" Colonel McKenna asked.

"He was hanging around the refreshment stand just before the calf roping started," Frank answered.

"When was this?" Nick asked.

"About an hour or so ago."

"Split up?" Cody asked.

"Yeah," Nick said. "That's the best thing." Turning to Cayce's uncle he asked, "Have you got any more copies of that picture, sir?"

The colonel handed him several other photos. Nick handed them to McGregor, Harding and Smokey Joe Kennelly. The Lazy M hands and foreman, the Riptide Detectives and some of the other cowboys split into teams of two and three and went in search of the fugitive. The only exception was that Cayce went with the Riptide detectives who weren't about to let her out of their sight – not even if she stayed with her uncle – until this fugitive was caught. He and whoever was working with him would be behind bars before they would relax.

************************************************************************

A frustrating hour later nobody had had any luck yet. By previous arrangement they were rendezvousing at the Lazy M campsite. All were tired and frustrated.

"He has to be here," Nick said. "He's just hidden himself in the crowd so well that we can't see him."

"I agree with Lieutenant Ryder," Colonel McKenna said. "This man was hired to sabotage Cayce and he's not going to leave until he's been paid or caught."

"Let's switch around," Cayce suggested. "Uncle Brian and the MPs can take the area where the spectators are gathered. We'll take the area where the concessionaires are set up. The Lazy M crew can look around among the campsites. Nobody's going to suspect anything if they wander around and chat with fellow competitors. They can do that and watch for these guys at the same time."

"That's a good idea," Cody agreed. "We've been looking in the same place for so long we're not seeing anything different. Changing the pattern may shake him up. If he's been watching us he knows where we've searched. He may try blending in with the crowd or he may hide."

The group split up and headed for the areas they were going to search. When Cayce and the detectives got near the refreshment stand she went up to the counter and requested some ice. Wrapping it in her bandana she gave it to Cody whose headache, from the struggle at the motel, had obviously gotten worse.

"Thanks," the blond man said with a smile as he took the proffered first aid treatment.

"You're welcome," she told him. "Why don't we go sit over in the shade for a few minutes. It won't hurt anything and maybe part of the problem with this search is that we're always moving. Maybe if we stay in one place we've got a better chance of finding our quarry."

Nick took one look at Cody's pale face and agreed. Boz was all for it as well so the four of them found a shady place, that was a little way from the crowds that were milling around the refreshment stand and the arena, and sat down. Cody leaned against a tree with Cayce sitting to his right. Nick and Murray alternated between checking on their partner, making sure that Cayce was okay and watching the people drifting by.

Ten minutes later their patience, and diligence, was rewarded when their quarry wandered by trying to act nonchalant. Cayce was the first one to spot him.

"Hey! Look! Isn't that French over there?"

"Where?" Nick asked.

"There. He's wearing jeans and a brown shirt with a gray Stetson. That big guy over there!" Cayce pointed him out as she got to her feet.

The detectives looked in the direction she was pointing. Sure enough a man that matched the photo her uncle had given them was heading toward an exit but was held up by the crowds that were pushing their way in. When he saw the detectives looking at him with recognition on their faces he bolted. Nick and Cody were only a few seconds behind him but the crowds that had kept Sergeant French from getting away easily were also holding them up.

The fugitive changed directions abruptly and headed for the open area between the parking lot and the campsites. Cayce and Boz ran in that direction to find help in stopping him from escaping. They came across Woody Hartnett and Carl Ryan, on horseback, returning from the team roping competition.

"Woody! Carl! Stop that man! That's the fugitive Uncle Brian is after!" she exclaimed. "He's behind all the sabotage!"

The two cowboys responded immediately by spurring their horses into a job and then a lope. French saw them coming and veered to the left where he met up with Cody and Nick. Desperate to escape he picked up a trash barrel and threw it at the detectives. Nick caught it in midair – a throwback to his days on the football team at Lincoln High School – and tossed it aside.

As he and Cody, as well as Woody and Carl, gained on him he took advantage of another pair of riders who were gaining on the Lazy M hands. The new arrivals, unaware of what was transpiring, allowed the deserter to escape into the open again. It didn't take long for him to disappear in the crowd.

"Which way did he go?" Nick asked as he and Cody looked around.

"I'd bet even money," Cayce said, "that he's gone looking for his buddies."

"She could be right," Cody said. "The three guys at the motel were not the three guys that tried to kidnap her. Only one of them was and one was the phony vet."

"Then that means that there are least two other men with him," Boz said.

"Yeah," Cody agreed, "and we've got to find them before something else happens."

"Do you think they'll go after Doc again?" Cayce asked anxiously.

"I doubt it," Nick reassured her. "He knows we're on to him and by now he probably knows that your uncle is here with some MPs. No, he's not after Doc – he's after his money and a chance to escape."

"You figure he doesn't know that Melissa's been exposed?" Cody asked his partner.

"Maybe. But maybe he's hoping to catch her alone. Nothing's been decided yet about her," Nick reminded them. "He probably figures he can get whatever money she owes him and be out of here before anybody catches up with him."

"Cayce: Where do you think they took Melissa?" Murray asked.

"If I had to make a guess I'd say first thing was to the office to discuss the charges I'm bringing against her. Secondly she's going to be heading back to their campsite to pack up and leave."

"Then let's head over that way," Nick said. "Do you know where they're set up?"

"Yes," Cayce replied. "Follow me. They're not too far from where the Lazy M is set up."

"Don't get too far in front of us, Cayce," Cody cautioned her. "We don't want you in the line of fire so to speak."

"Yeah, yeah," she said. She loved the guys like brothers but their protectiveness got on her nerves sometimes.

A few minutes later they passed by their own campsite. Smokey, Brian, and Carl were there. Brian, KC, Woody and Alex were at the arena for the steer wrestling competition. The three Lazy M hands joined their employer and the detectives as they continued on toward where the Carpenter camp was.

Melissa and her boyfriend were not there. Neither was her father. The one Carpenter employee in sight told them that Mr. Carpenter had stormed off in his car about five minutes ago. No, he didn't know exactly where Miss Carpenter was but she and that rough looking boyfriend of hers had left together, on foot, not more than a couple of minutes ago. There were four other men with them and all of them looked like tough cookies.

"Thanks," Cayce said.

The group headed off in the direction that Melissa and company had gone. Five minutes later they saw them and the group started running. Cayce and company gave chase.

The men, including the Army deserter, scattered in several different directions but, at this point in time, they weren't going to get far. Cody caught up with the third man from the kidnapping attempt on Pier 56 and, after spinning him around to face him, decked him with a left hook followed by a right cross. The man was down for the count.

Nick brought one of them down with a tackle that would have made his football coach proud. They struggled for a minute but the dark haired detective, fueled by anger and frustration, knocked him out.

The others, including the deserter, got away but not for long. Help, in the form of four mounted cowboys, was on the way.

"Hey fellas! Stop them!" yelled Smokey Jim Kennelly. "They're the ones that have been causing all the trouble for Miss Cayce and the Lazy M."

Heeding the call two of the four cowboys took their ropes from their saddle horns and shook out loops. Signaling their horses for a lope, they headed for the fugitives. There was the whir as they spun them over their heads and the satisfying slap as they landed over the heads of the fugitives and were pulled snug around their shoulders. The two men they were after hit the ground and had angry cowboys tying their wrists with piggin' strings before they could escape.

As for the other two…it was like watching the steer wrestling – bull dogging as it used to be called. The fugitives tried to escape but two angry cowboys leaned from their saddles and brought them down with a satisfying thud. It wasn't long before they, too, were bound with pieces of leather.

Colonel McKenna and his MPs came along as they finished tying them and took custody of the escaped prisoner. Not far behind him were Lieutenant Ted Quinlan and some of King Harbor's finest to take custody of the others.

"Where's Cayce?" Murray asked as he joined them.

"There she is," Cody said as he pointed toward the gate.

Looking around frantically the men saw her coming toward them with a very subdued Melissa Carpenter. Cody and Nick gave each other knowing looks and exchanged the same look with Brian McKenna.

"The Carpenter girl looks likes he ran into a buzz saw," Quinlan commented.

"She did," Cody grinned. "A human buzz saw named Cayce McKenna. I'd say Melissa Carpenter gave Cayce just enough of a hard time that Cayce took her down hard."

"That would be an understatement," Nick laughed. "How many times have we seen this over the years?"

"Now men," Colonel McKenna laughed. "You wouldn't be insinuating that my niece would beat up on somebody would you?"

"Oh, no sir," Cody laughed. "We wouldn't insinuate it at all."

Cayce and Melissa, who looked decided the worse for wear, joined the group just as the men shared a laugh. Cayce looked at them all suspiciously but let it pass.

"Melissa Carpenter, you're under arrest for harboring a fugitive, assault and battery, attempted kidnapping and a few other charges besides," the gravelly voiced police lieutenant told her.

Colonel McKenna gave his niece a quick peck on the cheek and left with his men and their prisoner. The King Harbor police officers had already placed handcuffs on the other prisoners and loaded them into a squad car. A woman police officer took Melissa into custody.

Watching them leave Cayce heaved a silent sigh of relief tinged with regret. Cody and Nick knew her well enough to realize that she was relieved that it was over and done with but sorry that her toughest competition had felt that she had to resort to such extreme methods to beat Cayce.

"Come on kid," Nick said to her. "We have some explaining to do to the officials of this rodeo and you have a prize to collect."

Cody and Nick flanked her with Boz on their heels as they headed back to the arena to explain to the officials that Melissa Carpenter was headed to prison for a long time for what she had done. This meant that Janine Carlson would now take second place and Holly Womack would place third.

************************************************************************

One month later….

"Hey, Cayce," Colonel McKenna called to his niece who was in the house. "We've got company."

Brian McKenna spent much of his leave time at his niece's ranch. He'd spent many vacations there as a boy when his father had taken over ownership from his father. He knew the rigs that belonged to the majority of Cayce's neighbors but this pick up truck, with the single horse trailer hitched to the back, wasn't one of theirs. A moment later he saw Cody Allen's Jimmy drive up the road and watched as the blond detective climbed out and walked around to the passenger's side to assist an elderly woman.

"What is it Uncle Brian?"

Cayce appeared at the door. She was wearing faded jeans and a blue and white checked shirt. On her feet were blue socks and beaded moccasins. Her face lit up when she saw Cody. Nick and Murray were getting out of the truck and moving around to the back. Nick reached up and undid the locks so that he could lower the tailgate.

Brian Hays and KC Campion came along and were drafted to unload the sole occupant of the trailer. A familiar looking, tall gray gelding backed slowly down the ramp.

"That's Tamarack! Melissa Carpenter's barrel racer!" Cayce exclaimed. "What's he doing here?"

"We can explain," Cody said. "Just give me a minute."

Turning to the woman by his side he introduced her to Cayce and her uncle.

"Helen, this is the young woman I told you about. This is Cayce McKenna and her uncle, Colonel Brian McKenna. Cayce, Colonel McKenna, this is Helen Howell. She's a very good friend of ours. She's also the new owner of Tamarack."

"What?" Cayce was stunned.

"See? I told you she'd be surprised," Nick laughed.

"I didn't disagree with you," Cody reminded him.

"How did this happen? I mean I knew Mr. Carpenter was selling Melissa's horse but how did you guys get hold of him without me knowing about it?" Cayce wanted to know as she approached the gelding.

"We saw the flyers posted around Sunny Acres right after the rodeo ended," Boz explained. "When we told Helen everything that transpired over the summer and how you said that Tamarack was abused she wanted to help. Right Helen?"

"Yes! I couldn't stand the thought of this magnificent animal being abused – or neglected," the tiny actress explained, "so I bought him. The boys recommended your ranch as the place to keep him."

Cayce was speechless. The two older detectives shared knowing grins – there was no way Cayce was going to turn Helen down or turn Tamarack away.

"I'll pay you whatever you think is a fair price for his board and feed," Helen said.

"Come into the house, Miss Howell," Cayce said, "and we'll talk business."

Less than fifteen minutes later the two women emerged from the house having reached an agreement. Tamarack was now a permanent resident of the Lazy M.

"This old boy will never have to race again," Cayce said as she patted Tamarack's soft nose. "He's in retirement from here on out. Nothing but green pastures and trail rides."

The smell of roasting meet and sweet mesquite smoke drifted over from the back of the house. A platform had been set up for dancing and there were quite a few guests anxiously waiting for the food to be served. Frank Harding was going to serve as the DJ.

"Come on everyone," Cayce said. "We're having our end of summer celebration. Barbecued beef, hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, salads, lots of drinks plus watermelon and homemade ice cream."

The group made their way over to the picnic area. Colonel McKenna insisted on escorting Helen while Nick and Cody each took one of Cayce's arms. They loaded up their plates and found a place to sit and eat. Cayce's cousins, Dan and Josh, who had the look of devilment in their eyes, joined them. Cayce knew they were up to something but she didn't know yet what that was.

When the music started it was a good old-fashioned Virginia reel. Cayce, and her uncle, started things off while the detectives watched. None of them knew this dance but they knew that they'd get an opportunity to dance eventually. Cayce had always had very diverse taste in music. She enjoyed everything from classical to country with a lot of oldies thrown in for good measure. After a little while Cayce requested that Frank play some slow songs. The first one was Anne Murray's "Could I Have This Dance".

Colonel McKenna, all six-foot-three of him, turned to little four-foot-ten Helen, with a bow, and said, "May I have the pleasure of this dance, Miss Howell?"

"Only if you call me Helen," she said as she took his arm and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor.

Cody, deciding that he would be every bit as gallant as his former Commanding Officer, bowed to Cayce.

"May I have this dance, Miss McKenna?"

"Yes, you may, Lieutenant Allen," Cayce replied with as reasonable a facsimile of a curtsy as she could manage in jeans.

There were several friends of Cayce's from the surrounding towns and ranches at the party. Also in attendance was Dr. Miller – the veterinarian. Murray had the honor of the first slow dance with her while Nick had the pleasure of dancing with Dr. Miller's daughter.

After that song was over Nick and Cayce danced to Patti Page's "Tennessee Waltz" and then Murray got to dance with her to "Once Upon A Dream" – known to many as the Sleeping Beauty Waltz because it was from the Walt Disney cartoon of the same name.

After several dances the group sat down to rest. It was then that Cayce found out – the hard way – what it was her cousins were up to.

Plop! Splat!

"Yikes!" Cayce exclaimed as cold water dripped down her back and soaked her shirt and hair. "What the…?"

The sound of Danny and Josh laughing and the piece of rubber she found on her head told her that they had brought water balloons to the party and were out to get her. It was a tradition in their family to have a water balloon fight every summer but not usually when she had a lot of company.

"Danny! Josh! I thought we had an agreement?" she yelled.

"What agreement is that little cousin?" Josh asked.

"The one that says the water balloon war is only among us – not when I've got guests."

"We have no such agreement," Danny said. "It's summer and it's hot and it's time to cool off."

"I'll cool you off!" Cayce exclaimed as she got to her feet. Turning to her "brothers" and Helen she said, "Excuse me, please. I have a cousin that needs pounding into the ground.

With that she got to her feet and chased after her laughing cousins. By following them she found out where their stash of water balloons was hidden and helped herself to several. Her uncle just shook his head while Cody, Nick and Helen laughed.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with them," Colonel McKenna said. "We go through this every year."

"Never mind, Colonel," Nick said. "It's all in fun – in fact it looks like fun. I think I'll join them."

"Me, too," Boz said and he followed after Nick who found water balloons that hadn't been filled yet.

The pair went into the house and quickly filled a dozen or more balloons and put them in a bucket. Then they joined in the fun of throwing the balloons at Cayce and her cousins.

"She's a blithe, and bonny lassie," Colonel McKenna said. "That's what her Grandfather Knox used to say. "Her grandfather McKenna always said she was cróga – brave."

"She is that, Colonel," Cody agreed. "'To see her is to love her, and love her but forever; for nature made her what she is, and never made anither.'"

"Robert Burns," the Colonel said.

"Yes sir, Robert Burns," Cody replied. "If you'll excuse me I'm going to go join in the fun."

That he did. As the music from the cassettes and albums played in the background another kind of music – the music of laughter among friends and family was heard, and enjoyed by all.

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