Lone Star Winter by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online

showed to most visitors. It wasn’t like him to favor that burned arm, either.
    â€œI am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Parks,” Montoya said with a grin. “I hope that we will be good neighbors.”
    â€œThank you for taking the time to stop by and introduce yourself,” Cy said with a noticeable lack of animation. He got a firmer grip on his injured arm. “We don’t get many visitors.”
    â€œIt was my pleasure. Good day, señor. ” Montoya smiled again, this time with faint contempt, and pulled his truck out of the driveway. Cy watched him go, arrow-straight, his mouth making a firm line in his lean, taut face.
    â€œMr. Parks, you are the oddest man I know,” Harley said, shaking his head. “You weren’t yourself at all.”
    Cy turned to him. “Who do you think that was?”
    â€œWhy, our new neighbor,” Harley said carelessly.“Nice of him to come over and say howdy,” he added with a scowl. “Your arm bothering you?”
    â€œNot in the least,” Cy said, both hands on his lean hips as he studied the younger man. “What did you notice about our new hardworking neighbor?”
    The question surprised Harley. “Well, he was Latin. He had a bit of an accent. And he was real pleasant…”
    â€œHe was wearing a silk suit and a Rolex watch,” he said flatly. “The truck he was driving is next year’s model, custom. He was wearing boots that cost more than my new yearling bull. And you think he makes that kind of money selling honey, do you?”
    Harley’s eyes widened. Once in a while, his boss threw him a curve. This was a damned big curve. He frowned. How had Cy noticed so much about a man he only saw for a minute or two when Harley, a trained commando he reminded himself, hadn’t?
    â€œThat was one of Lopez’s executives,” Cy told the younger man flatly, nodding at his wide-eyed realization. “I want you to go work cattle over near that warehouse and take a pair of binoculars with you,” Cy told his foreman. “Don’t be obvious, but see who comes and goes for a few days.”
    â€œSir?”
    â€œYou told Eb you wanted to help keep an eye on Lopez’s operation. Here’s your chance.”
    â€œOh, I see, Mr. Scott told you to send me out there.” Harley grinned from ear to ear. “Sure. I’ll be glad to do it!”
    â€œJust make sure you aren’t caught spying,” Cy told him flatly. “These people are killers. They won’t hesitate if they think they’re being watched deliberately.”
    â€œI can handle myself,” Harley said with faint mockery.
    â€œYes, I know, you’re professionally trained,” Cy drawled.
    The tone made Harley feel uncertain. But he put it down to jealousy and grinned. “I know how to watch people without getting noticed,” he assured his boss. “Does Mr. Scott want tag numbers as well as descriptions of the people?”
    â€œYes, and pay attention to the trucks that come in.”
    â€œOkay.”
    Cy wanted to add more to those instructions, but he didn’t want Harley to know everything. “Be sure you keep your mouth shut about this,” he told Harley. “Eb won’t like it if he thinks you’re gossiping.”
    â€œI wouldn’t want him mad at me!” Harley chuckled. “I’ll keep quiet.”
    â€œSee that you do.”
    Cy walked back to the house with a quick, sharp stride that reflected his anger. He’d just met a new link in Lopez’s chain, probably one of his divisional managers. It would work to his advantage that he had just convinced the drug lord’s associate that he was a crippled rancher with no interest in the bees except where his cattle were concerned.
    Lopez thought he had it made with his “honey business” as a blind, here in little Jacobsville. But Cy was going to put a stick in his