Hermit's Peak Read Online Free

lawyer and executor, a man named Milton Lynch, had supplied, Kerney knew there was no live water on the mesa. But two windmills tapped groundwater, and Kerney was eager to find them. If they were in working order, it would ease the expense of putting cattle on the land.
    They entered the grassland through an old cedar pole gate, and moved down an arroyo into a dry basin. The open range, Kerney guessed, took up four thousand acres of the ten section tract, and showed no sign ofrecent use. He figured the neighboring rancher who leased the grazing rights had decided to rest the land for a season or two.
    As they came out of the basin, Kerney caught sight of a windmill and stock tank. A black dog with brown stockings limped away from a grove of trees, carrying something in its mouth. Even from a good distance away, the dog looked skinny under its thickly matted fur.
    It heard the horses, stopped, turned, and retreated in the direction of the trees. Kerney couldn’t quite make out the object in the dog’s mouth. As he closed in for a closer look the dog froze, dropped the object, skirted around Soldier, and scampered for cover, yelping in pain as it ran.
    â€œThat pooch isn’t doing too well,” Dale said.
    â€œIt doesn’t seem so,” Kerney said as he broke Soldier into a trot toward the object on the ground. He looked down, fully expecting to see a dead rabbit. It was a chewed-up athletic shoe.
    He dismounted and retrieved it. It carried a name brand and seemed to be sized to fit a woman. The faded label inside the tongue, barely readable, confirmed it.
    Dale caught up, looked at the shoe in Kerney’s hand, and shook his head. “That dog sure isn’t much of a hunter. A retriever, maybe. Do you want to leave it here and move on?”
    â€œNo, it’s hurt. Maybe it got dumped or left behind by campers. We’ll round it up.”
    As Kerney started to remount the dog broke cover, carrying another shoe, moving as quickly as the lame hind leg allowed.
    Kerney took his boot out of the stirrup, looked up at Dale, made a face, and shook his head.
    â€œNow what?” Dale asked.
    â€œA dog carrying one shoe I’d call mildly curious. But a dog with two shoes piques my interest.”
    Dale laughed. “Maybe it just likes to collect shoes.”
    â€œMaybe.” Kerney looked around the empty mesa. “But from where?”
    â€œGood point.”
    â€œThink you can fetch that dog for me?” Kerney asked.
    â€œSure thing,” Dale said, reaching for his rope.
    â€œBring the shoe back with you.”
    â€œWhat are you going to do?”
    â€œCheck out that stand of trees.”
    â€œDon’t you ever stop thinking like a cop?” Dale asked as he broke Pancho into a trot.
    â€œProbably not.”
    Kerney walked Soldier to a lone juniper at the edge of the grove, tied him off, looked into the shadows, and saw nothing. He pushed his way through some low branches, and knelt down on a thick mound of needles, letting his eyes adjust to the dim light. The dog had dug out a small hollow at the base of a piñon tree. Kerney’s eye caught a touch of color in the loose dirt. Using a twig, he brushed away the dirt and uncovered a comb. He backed away and scanned the ground of the surrounding trees. He saw a scrap of fabric that looked like denim. Next to it was a half-buried bone, with a human foot still attached.
    Kerney had seen enough. Whatever else there was to be found, he would leave to a crime scene unit and theDistrict State Police Office in Las Vegas. He came out of the grove as Dale rode up, carrying the dog over his saddle.
    â€œFind anything?” Dale asked, as he handed Kerney the shoe. It matched the first one.
    â€œThe shoes were left here,” Kerney replied, “with some human bones.”
    â€œNo joke?”
    â€œNo joke.”
    â€œWhat are you going to do?”
    â€œI left my cell phone in your truck. We’ll head