Chapter One Natalie pushed open the pickup truck door and slid down from the high passenger’s seat Liz a volunteer at the Sugarberry Animal Shelter got out of the driver’s side With her hair tucked into a baseball cap and big sunglasses shielding her eyes Liz was hardly recognizable It was an undercover mission Natalie had never been to Ingotts Farm before so she didn’t need a disguise But she knew all about the family’s shady livestock auctions Their animals were bought cheaply and resold for as much profit as possible Some were sold to summer camps or dude ranches The less fortunate ones went to meat buyers who paid for the animals by the pound That was upsetting but not illegal But forging vaccination papers for horses and cattle was illegal and Ingotts had been caught doing it before Liz and Natalie were here to check things out and report back to the animal shelter Natalie’s family owned a rescue farm Second Chance
Ranch The ranch worked closely with the local animal shelter to provide care and homes for animals of all kinds Liz a pre-vet student was doing an internship at the animal hospital where Natalie’s mom was the head veterinarian Natalie and Liz crossed the dusty parking lot which was filled with cars and stock trailers The bone-dry ground shimmered with heat under a cloudless sky They headed for a covered arena where an auctioneer’s voice crackled over a loudspeaker The arena was packed with people sitting on rows of folding chairs in front of a long fenced-in chute that led into a square pen Inside a teenage boy was putting a pinto pony in Western tack through its paces He wore a red T-shirt with the Ingotts Farm logo on it Next to the auction pen was a raised platform with a table and microphone The auctioneer sat on a folding chair behind it He had a shiny flushed face and thinning blond hair plastered across his head He wore cowboy boots with a fancy pattern engraved on them and his stomach
bulged over a huge silver belt buckle Next to him sat a woman who looked a little like him except she was wearing so much makeup that Natalie thought she looked like a rodeo clown That’s Chad Ingott and his sister Marlene Liz whispered The two of them run the place along with their other brother Brad
