Read Online The SEAL's Secret Heirs by Kat Cantrell - Free Book Online

out some and had actually spoken to Kyle without growling. Slim, not so much. The man held a serious grudge that wouldn’t be easily remedied. No big thing. They didn’t have to like each other. Just work together.
    â€œHow many exactly?” Kyle asked again as patiently as possible. “We have to know if we have them all before we head back.”
    Johnny looked at him cockeyed as if Kyle had started speaking in tongues and thrown around a couple of snakes in the baptismal on a Sunday morning. “We just round ’em up and aim toward the barn. Nothing more to it than that.”
    â€œMaybe not before. But today, we’re going to make sure we have full inventory before we make the trek.” Kyle couldn’t do it more than once. There was no way. “Liam didn’t happen to invest in GPS, did he?”
    Slim and Johnny exchanged glances. “Uh...what?”
    â€œSatellite. RFID chips. You embed the chips in the cow’s brand, for example, and use a GPS program to triangulate the chips. Technology to locate and count cattle.” At the blank looks he received in response, Kyle gave up. “I’ll take that as a no.”
    That would be Kyle’s first investment as head of the cattle division at Wade Ranch. RFID chips would go a long way toward inventorying livestock that ran tame across hundreds of acres. That was how the military kept track of soldiers and supplies, after all. Seemed like a no-brainer to do the same with valuable livestock. He wondered why Liam hadn’t done it already.
    â€œAll right, then.” Kyle sighed. “Let’s do this.”
    The three men rode hard for a couple of hours, driving the cattle toward the gate, eventually feeling confident that they had them all. Kyle had to accept the eyeball guesstimate from Slim and Johnny, who had “done this a couple of times.” Both thought the number of bodies seemed about right. Since Kyle wasn’t experienced enough to argue, he nodded and let the experts guide them home.
    It was exhausting and invigorating at the same time. This was his land. His cattle. His men, despite the lack of welcome.
    But when he got back to the cattle barn, Liam was waiting for him, arms crossed and a livid expression on his face.
    â€œWhat now?” Kyle slid from his horse, keeping a tight grip on the pommel until he was sure his leg would support him.
    â€œDanny Spencer quit.” Liam fairly spat. “And walked out without even an hour’s notice. Said he’d rather eat manure than work for you. Nice going.”
    â€œThat’s the best news I’ve heard all day.” God’s honest truth. The relief was huge. “He doesn’t want to work for me? Fine. Better that he’s gone.”
    Liam pulled Kyle away from the multitude of hands swarming the area by the barn, probably all with perked-up ears, hoping to catch more details about the unfolding drama.
    â€œIt’s not better,” Liam muttered darkly. “Are you out of your mind? You can’t come in here and throw your weight around. Danny’s been handling the cattle side. I told you that. This is his territory and you came in and upset the status quo in less than five minutes.”
    Kyle shook his head. “Not his territory anymore. It’s mine.”
    â€œSeriously?” Liam’s snort was half laugh and half frustration. “You don’t get it. These men respect Danny. Follow him. They don’t like you. What are you going to do if they all quit? You can’t run a cattle division by yourself.”
    Yeah, but he’d rather try than put up with dissension in the ranks. Catering to the troops was the fastest way to give the enemy an advantage. There could only be one guy in charge, and it was Kyle. “They can all quit then. There are plenty of ranch hands in this area. I need men who will work, not drama queens all bent out of shape because a bigger fish swam into their