Page 23 of Stables Spurs Suits
“Winds shifted for a small fire north of Diamond Ranch. Now it’s hurtling full force toward it,” Connor says, and the swirl in my gut intensifies.
“What can we do?” I ask.
“Nothing from here. Miles will be evacuating the workers and sending in private firefighting crews to help battle the blaze.”
“They won’t leave. They’ll want to help save the cattle,” Hayden says, and I know he’s right. If there’s one thing you canbet on in places like this, it’s that these guys would rather die trying to save the animals than run away to save themselves.
“That might be true, but we can get their families out so they can stay clear-headed,” Connor replies, and he strolls over to Dean. I watch his expression shift from carefree to a knowing frown in moments.
I rack my brain trying to think of anything at all I can do to help, then it hits me, and I pull out my phone and dial Miles.
“What?” Miles asks by way of answering.
“I had an idea to help protect the cattle,” I say, and I feel more than a few sets of eyes shift toward me.
“Go on, then,” Miles says.
“Dallas has a fleet of drones; they can deploy liquid nanoclay and retardant to create a fire break.”
“We’ve already got the dozers headed out there,” Miles snaps back.
“They won’t be able to protect it fast enough,” I retort, my voice pitching up. “They can mobilize in a second. If you won’t make the call, I’ll get Connor to do it himself,” I snap, and Miles lets out an exasperated sigh.
“Fine, I’ll call them, but the ranchers won’t like it.”
“I don’t care if they don’t like it. And please tell me you’ve already called RedTech to have them use the sensors on the mother cows to create an audio barrier, herding the cattle away from the fire?”
“What are you on about now?” Miles replies.
“Do you know nothing about the companies the Richmont Group invests in?” I bark back. “I’ll call RedTech; you get those drones mobilized now.”
Miles hangs up, which means he’s doing what I said. I look up and find every one of the guys looking square at me.
“One sec,” I tell them, and then I find the number I need and hit dial.
“Redmond, please tell me the Diamond Ranch cattle sensors have the new software upgrade already installed.”
“Yep, they were one of the first. Why?”
“Winds shifted, we need to herd the cattle out of danger. It looks like RedTech is getting a live large-scale test. Can you do it?”
“Already logging into their system. The herd is scattered; it looks like they’ve cut fences to try to save as many as they can. I’ll send them south-east.”
“Thanks. Cost isn’t an issue, just do what you have to.”
“Got it. I’ll send you a link to the tracking as soon as I can.”
“Thanks.” I hang up and look up, my heart still racing. “Sorry. I umm, had an idea and…”
“We heard. Great thinking with the drones. Will it work?” Connor asks, and I shrug.
“It’s the best chance we have. Won’t be cheap, though, the retainer alone will be at least five hundred,” I say, and Atlas’s eyebrows pick up.
“Thousand?” he asks, and I nod. “And the sensors, are they the same ones we have on the cattle here?” he asks.
“Yes. RedTech has been working on using high-pitched sounds and small vibrations to help move herds. They’d only tested a few small ranches so far, but the last newsletter said the results were promising. We’re lucky they already pushed out the updates to Diamond.” My phone buzzes, and I click the link Redmond sent through. It takes me to a secure website, and after logging in, I’m shown a topographical map with a bunch of tiny red dots scattered all over it. The guys bunch around me to get a clear look at the screen.
“That’s the herd?” Hayden asks.
