High Desert Detective, A Fiona Marlowe Mystery (Fiona Marlowe Mysteries) Page 13

  “I’ll circle the other way,” said Hoover, rising with him.

  “Take your rifle,” said Jake. “I don’t like this feeling I have.”

  Hoover nodded and checked his. “Let’s try not to shoot each other.”

  “Right,” said Jake. He picked up his rifle, checked the safety and walked over to the horses. “Easy boy,” he said to his pinto gelding, Blitzen. “Take it easy. No cougars around here, no wolves. Easy there.” He stroked the horse who continued to gaze into the distance with worried eyes. Jake followed Blitzen’s gaze. “What do you hear, big boy?”

  The horse snorted and shook his head, shaking his black mane into his eyes Jake tried to focus on a far away fall of rock, but the light was fading as the sun dropped behind the ridge to the west. He strode off in the direction of the rock fall. What had Blitzen so worried? Maybe cougars had moved back into this territory. He patted his vest to make sure he had the small LED flashlight with him. If he was going to be stumbling around in the dark, it wouldn’t hurt to have some light to show the way back.

  He walked through a rough stand of greasewood that gave way to a slope of loose flat rock. The footing was treacherous. He stopped to get his bearings, listen, and watch. The wind was dying with the cooling of the high desert. It would be a chilly night, and he was glad for the warm vest. He cradled the rifle over his arm. He detected no movement, no odd looking thing that didn’t fit into the high desert landscape. A pair of ravens flew over, headed to their evening roost, their rusty cawing alerting the high desert fauna.

  He checked the ground and brush for clues of what life had crossed before him. The desert buttercups had closed for the night. The bitterbrush was holding back its bloom. A movement of rock brought him up sharply, and he paused to look round again. Was it the high desert settling for the night or something else? He waited, listening, but heard nothing. Maybe he was making this up. Maybe this was all in his head. Maybe he was being too jumpy. Maybe there was nothing out there at all.

  He kept circling and eventually came back to their campsite. Hoover had not returned so he stood by the horses and took a sip of whiskey. Since the wind had died down, he decided to gather wood and start a fire. It would help Hoover find the camp. If someone were watching them, they already knew where the camp was.

  Jake gathered dry branches from the sage and rabbit brush, stacked them, gathered dead leaves and sticks and lit the fire. It caught right away, and he stood back to watch it burn. A sharp crack behind made him whirl only to connect with a blow to the head. As he dropped back, he remembered thinking it had been a bad idea to start the fire because he was falling right into it.

  The next thing he knew Hoover was crouching over him. “Jake, can you hear me? Jake?”

  Something was burning. He hoped it wasn’t him. “I got hit,” he said.

  “And you fell in the fire. I had to use the rest of our water to put it out. I came running when I heard the commotion. Whoever it was ran off. Here, let me help you.”

  Jake tried to sit up. “What’s that horrible smell?”

  “It’s that ratty vest you wear. Might be the best thing ever happened, it getting burnt up. Saved your back at any rate.”

  Jake managed a sitting position. “Dang, I hope it isn’t ruined.”

  “It was ruined a long time ago, you just didn’t know it.”

  Jake coughed and slapped what was left of his vest for the flask, pulled it out and took a swig.

  Hoover said, “I’d say someone doesn’t want us out here looking for your cows.”

  “I think you’re right. I get the impression they are trying to scare us off. Dumb of him to whack me. I wonder why he didn’t shoot us.”

  Hoover shrugged. “They’re cattle rustlers, not killers. Two different mind sets. Some people like killing for killing. Some people like to steal things. I guess it is the thrill and excitement it breeds. These guys are just trying to scare us.”

  “That explains it.”

  “Turn around. Let me see how bad you got burned.”

  Hoover pulled the tatters of the vest from Jake’s back. “Down smells horrible when it burns. Doesn’t look like it burned through to the skin. You’re wet. It’s going to be a cold night.”

  Jake took off the vest and examined it. “At least I didn’t cremate myself. Not much left. I really liked this vest.”

  “You needed a new one. You’re going to have a nice bump on the side of your face. Did you get any licks back?”

  “I never saw it coming.”

  “Whoever it was, took off before I got here.”

  They sat a spell, not talking. Jake rubbed the side of his head. He could feel a bump. “Who could that have been? I walked all around here and didn’t see any tracks. He’s mighty sneaky whoever he is.”

  “I’m wondering if it isn’t the same outfit that was operating over in the three corners area south of Jordan Valley. They never were caught, just seemed to go underground. Maybe they’ve resurfaced.”

  “Weren’t they using GPS and ATVs? This terrain is too rough for ATVs.”

  “Yes, they were which means our rustlers know horses real good, this country and what they are doing.”

  “Which means it’s most likely someone who worked for us at one time.”

  Hoover nodded, sipping on his whiskey. “That’s always the case. Let’s go down the list. Who isn’t working for you now?”

  “The two guys that Cody got mixed up with come first to mind. They’d be the obvious.”

  “What were their names?”

  “Walt Long and Ralph Barber.”

  “I’ll run a check when we get back. See if I can turn up what happened to them.”

  “There was never a conviction. No concrete evidence. Cody was never indicted.”

  “I guess Cody’s in the best place for him now.”

  “I guess but it’s a shame. He had such promise. Opal can hardly talk about him without tearing up. She had big hopes for him.”

  “Funny how some people get on the wrong side of the law.”

  “I guess you see a lot of that.”

  “More than I’d like.”

  “Have you found anything on the bones in the hot spring?”

  “The lab report from the State isn’t back yet. That may take a while. Seems there was a real bone spill there. Someone may have been using the site as a bone dump over the years.”

  “That sounds like a serial murderer to me.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. Some of the bones may not be human. Some looked older than others.”

  “Interesting. Any leads?”

  Hoover shook his head. “Little’s wives, the girl Jim Brewster said never made it to his house. The other missing females on file don’t lead anywhere. We’ll have to throw out a wider net instead of focusing regionally.” He paused and shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows, maybe we unearthed a brontosaurus in cowboy gear.”

  “That angle sounds as likely as any.” Jake sighed. “I could use a cup of coffee.”

  “Me, too. We could try to get the fire going again.”

  “Then they’ll be able to shoot us for sure.”

  “Not going to get much sleep tonight.”

  “Probably not. Too cold and too dangerous. What do you say to a game of flashlight poker?”

  Eight

  Dust devils followed Jake’s truck and trailer into the ranch. Thunder clouds multiplied on the western horizon. Heat radiated in hot spikes from the dusty ground. He stopped the truck by the stock tank, and Hoover helped him unload and water the horses.

  Jake’s head hurt, and his cheek was puffy. They had ridden further on at first light and rode until they found where the trailer had been parked to load the cattle that had been stolen. Jake had found an impression of truck tires visible enough to snap a photo. From the track impressions they had guessed it was a one ton truck with at least one bad tire. That wasn’t much to go on.

  Confirmation of the thievery had put Jake in a wicked mood. That and his he
ad hurting and lack of sleep made him want to find the nearest bed and lie down. But first he had to report the bad news to Opal, who was working in the garden.

  She was philosophical. “I’m not surprised but that doesn’t make the financial loss any easier. This will cut way into this year’s profits. You boys look beat. Come inside and have some iced tea. I fixed a fresh pitcher this morning.”

  “Where are the house guests?” Jake asked, as he sank into a kitchen chair.

  “They are around here somewhere. They went to town yesterday and never got back until this morning. They had a run in with Ann King at one of the restaurants, and she told Fiona not to drive under the influence so Lauren Brooks put them up for the night. If you ask me those two can get into more trouble.” She shook her head and lowered her voice. “That Olympia is a bad influence.”

  “Who’s a bad influence?” said Fiona, sashaying into the kitchen like she was queen of the outback with Olympia right behind her.

  They were dolled up in fancy, swirly skirts and tight tank tops, a vision to behold. Both men sat up a little straighter and smiled.

  Opal shook her head, sat glasses of tea before Hoover and Jake and fetched two more glasses for the girls.

  Fiona sat down by Jake and Olympia by Hoover.

  “Wow,” said Fiona, noticing Jake’s face, “what happened to you?”

  Jake gave a short version of what happened and what they had found.

  “I didn’t know tracking cattle rustlers could be so dangerous,” said Olympia. “It’s a good thing we didn’t go along.”

  “We heard you girls have been adventuring on your own,” said Hoover. “Did that include the beauty parlor? It smells real good in here. Jake was starting to stink.”

  “We treated ourselves to an afternoon of luxury. We had to spend the night in town, so we thought we’d have a girl day today to recover.”

  Jake said, “I heard. Did you get another ticket?”

  Fiona glanced at Hoover. “Just a little one.”

  Hoover laughed. “That’s the first time I’ve heard that tickets come in sizes. Money sizes maybe.”

  “I meant it was nothing. Only a little thing. I’ll get it straightened out.”

  “I hear you’ve been asking questions around town,” said Hoover.

  “I guess that shouldn’t surprise me that you found out. I’m not used to operating in a small town.”

  Hoover smiled. “Not much goes on here I don’t hear about.”

  “I was doing a little asking around about Jim Brewster.”

  “Would you like to share what you’ve found out?”

  “One thing I heard was that he was involved with one of Hank Little’s wives.”

  “That’s rumor, you understand. Brewster’s not saying, and she’s gone missing. What was your source?”

  “Lauren Brooks.”

  “I see. There’s something you maybe don’t understand about this town. People talk and speculate and some, like Lauren, are particularly good about spreading gossip. What’s important are the facts.”

  “Yes, sir, we detectives try to keep to the facts but sometimes rumor leads you somewhere else.”

  Hoover laughed. “You’re not bad, Fiona. What else?”

  “I wanted to know more about the girl he said never arrived. Her name is Pattie Smith, and she has relatives here.”

  “Is that right?”

  “I’m not kidding you.”

  He made a thoughtful face. “I’ll run an inquiry and see if anyone by that name is missing. Of course, Smith might not be the name of the relations. You still think there’s something about that girl that needs to be investigated?”

  “I do. I have this feeling.”

  Hoover studied Fiona for much too long in Jake’s opinion. He was a great friend only when he kept his eyes to himself.

  Hoover finally said, “Instinct is not to be discounted. I’ll look into it.” He winked. “And thanks for the tip. Now, my friends, I’ll be going. I have crimes to solve, criminals to bring to justice.”

  He stood. “Fiona, would you care to show me that spot on the hill where you found the old gun?”

  “Sure, I’ll walk up there with you,” said Fiona.

  “I’ll go, too,” said Jake, not trusting Hoover where Fiona was concerned.

  Up on the hill, Fiona walked to the spot where she had left the small stack of rocks to mark where she had found the gun. The stack of rocks was right where she left it. She searched under the sagebrush, pulling apart the branches.

  “That’s funny,” she said, straightening up, “I know it was here. These are the stone markers, but there is no gun.”

  “Let me look,” said Hoover. “You see any prints, Jake, that look fresh?”

  Jake joined in the search but their own faint footprints were the only ones to be seen.

  “It might be that ghost come back,” said Jake, “because I don’t see any new prints. Of course, we may have obliterated them with our stamping around this spot.” He carefully checked the brush around the site. “Good thing the little pile of rocks is here or we may not believe you, Fiona.”

  “No, I swear, I found this old gun lying right there. Really.” She pointed to a hidden place under the bushy narrow leaves of the sage brush. “Right there.”

  Hoover slapped the dust from his hands. “Have you seen anyone around this hill lately?”

  Jake and Fiona both shook their heads.

  “I didn’t think anyone would be much interested in a heap of ashes,” said Jake. “Besides, it’s been kind of hectic around here. It might not have been a day job. Someone might have come at night.”

  Fiona said, “Really it was here. An old rusted gun.”

  Hoover nodded. “I believe you. We went over this site pretty good, but we could have missed something covered in the brush. I’ll see if anyone has tried to pawn off an antique gun lately. The same person who burned the place may still be around and looking for what he didn’t find.”

  They walked Hoover to his truck.

  “What happens next?” Jake asked.

  “I’ll follow up to see if we can come up with a vehicle on the evidence we have. You’ll make a list of all the employees who worked for Opal in the last twenty years. Put relatives on that list. I’ll see what I can find out about an old gun though I don’t hold much hope.”

  He stopped and faced Jake. “You’ll want to take precautions. Someone is still snooping, looking for something. Watch your back.”

  Jake nodded. He watched Hoover drive down the road, dust trail blowing to the east. He was going to have to watch more than his back. The rustling was going to cause a real ruckus in the family. And wait till they heard that he was buying the ranch. One thing did occur to him. Maybe some of the family already had gotten wind of his deal with Opal, and maybe they were trying to scare him off. He couldn’t rule that option out.

  * * * * *

  Dinner that night was a quiet affair with only Opal, Fiona and Olympia at the huge kitchen table. Jake had gone to bed after doing chores and cleaning up. He had hardly spoken to her. Fiona wondered if he was mad about something. Maybe he was too tired and too worried to talk, and she was imagining things. Opal was more reticent than usual. She and Jake had withdrawn to the ranch office after he got back and had had a closed door session while she and Olympia had enjoyed happy hour on the front porch.

  After they finished eating, Olympia said, “Are there any good movies on TV? I’m having movie withdrawal. I need a regular dose. I so love a good movie. Some of my books have been made into movies, you know. Maybe one will be on tonight.”

  “Fiona’s told me about your books and movies,” said Opal. “Help yourself to the big screen TV in the corner in the family room. There are lots of DVDs there if you don’t find a movie on TV you like.”

  Olympia moved off in search of a movie, and Fiona helped Opal clear the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher.

  “I really want to thank you,” Fiona said, “for p
utting up with both of us, Opal. I know Olympia can be a pain. She has a good heart though.”

  Opal looked at Fiona as she wiped down the kitchen counters. “Everybody’s got something good in them. She is a world famous author so I guess those folks are more eccentric than most of us. She’s pretty wild even for here.”

  “She lives life on the edge, that’s for sure.”

  “How long is she going to stay?” Opal asked with what seemed like a studied casualness.

  Fiona hesitated because she wasn’t sure what to say. “I’m sorry. I don’t know. If you want, we can both move into town. That bed and breakfast would probably be delightful. I know you must have a lot on your mind. I hate to be causing you more problems.”

  Opal stopped what she was doing and sighed. “Fiona, all hell is going to break loose here anytime. Some of the family may be involved in stealing cattle from us though I hope to God they aren’t. Or it could be someone who worked for us. And pretty soon I got to tell the relations that Jake is buying the ranch.”

  Fiona put her arm around Opal’s shoulder. “You have a lot weighing you down. Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Opal patted Fiona on the arm. “You’re a sweetie. I’m telling you this because you might want to find someplace safer to stay. Somebody torched that bunkhouse, stole our cows and took a whack at Jake. Maybe you could find a short term rental in town till all this blows over. I’d hate for something else to happen to you. Have you decided what you are going to do?”

  “I’ve given it serious thought. I had a chance to talk to Lauren Brooks last night, and she gave me some good ideas. I talked it over with Olympia this afternoon. I think I’m going to rebuild, so I’d like a clear title to the place on the knoll.”

  Opal studied her and nodded. “I know that little piece of paper I gave you isn’t going to hold up in a court of law and with the coming battle over the ranch that I’m sure will develop, you will need it all legal like.” She made herself a whiskey and water. “I need a drink to calm my nerves. Can I get you anything?”