Wild Horses Read Online Free PDF

on Staton. “Well? What about my brother?”
    Staton eyed her for a long moment, and then seemed to make up his mind about something. “We need to talk to him about two murdered BLM agents.”
    Castaña closed her eyes and fell back against the chair. It was all too much to take in. Had Martin finally snapped? Had he killed some of the people responsible for rounding up his beloved mustangs? A moan slipped out of her. “Oh, no.”
    “Oh, yes,” Staton said coldly.
    She blinked back tears. “What happened?”
    “I was hoping you could tell me.” He sounded a little less intimidating. “We know two BLM agents — ”
    “Did they have something to do with wild horses?”
    He gave a quick nod. “Yeah. How’d you know?”
    From a lifetime of knowing when a policeman showed up, it always had something to do with mustangs. “Where did this happen?”
    Before Staton could answer, Deputy Perez stuck his head in the door. “I made the call. Miss Castillo’s story checks out. Her boss verified her story and gave me a list of five other people who could back her up as well.”
    Castaña glared at him. “Satisfied?”
    Staton seemed unfazed by her anger. “Just doing our job. What do you know about your brother that could help us bring him in?”
    She crossed her arms over her chest. Martin might be a little unhinged when it came to protecting his beloved mustangs, but he wouldn’t commit murder. “Nothing.”
    “That’s not very helpful, Miss Castillo.” Staton toyed with a pen on the desk. “The bodies were discovered at the bottom of Sky Rock Trail. Near Angel Falls. We know your brother was in the same area that morning. No one’s seen him since. We want to talk with Martin and find out what he knows.”
    “He could be camping or trailing wild horses. He does that a lot.” She defended Martin, but her insides shook.
    “Again, we just want to talk to him. If you hear anything, have him call me.”
    “It sounds to me like you’ve already made up your mind,” she shot back, “even before all the facts are in.”
    He showed a feral smile. “I’ve got plenty of facts, ma’am. Your brother has an arrest record as long as my leg. He has a long history of disagreeing with the government on the wild horse issue.”
    “Neither of those things means Martin murdered anyone.” She stood. “Who do I see about filling out a missing person’s report?”
    “There’s no need. Every cop in this county is on the lookout for your brother.”
    “Can I go now?” she asked in an acid tone.
    Staton waved a hand toward the door. “Don’t leave town.”
    As she reached for the door handle, Perez said, “Miss Castillo, we’ll be out later today to look around your place. This isn’t personal, you know.”
    “Save it,” she said coldly. “Just stay the hell out of my way.”
    He placed a hand on the door. “This might not be all bad.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “Because I’m willing to ask questions first and shoot later.”
    She didn’t answer. Too angry with him to speak, she turned over this new development. Sure Martin would turn horses out of holding corrals, pour sugar in gas tanks, maybe even shoot his gun in the air to scare off BLM agents. But murder?
    He would have had to change a great deal to become a cold blooded killer.
    Numb, Castaña stomped through the station, forgetting all about Jake until he appeared at her elbow. At his sympathetic expression, she almost stumbled. “That good, huh?”
    “I don’t want to talk about it right now.” She hurried to her truck, Jake on her heels. At the door, she turned to him. “How’d it go for you?”
    He shrugged. “So-so. Not much they can do at this point. I called Triple A. They’re going to pick up the truck and haul it to a station. It’s going to take a week to fix it.”
    “That’s rough.”
    “Yeah,” he agreed.
    They both got in and she started the engine. “Where can I drop you?”
    “The Starlight Motel will be fine.”
    She bit her