High Desert Detective, A Fiona Marlowe Mystery (Fiona Marlowe Mysteries) (28 page)

Hoover crossed his arms and studied Jake. “I’m following up on it.
It appears that someone was trying to burn the hay shed. It appears that the
bunkhouse fire was pre-meditated. Apparently, the bruises were inflicted. Right
now there are too many appearances and apparentlys. The only solid facts are
that you’re missing cows, and someone took a whack at you. Are you posting a
watch on your herd?”

Jake nodded. “I’ll have to hire someone since I’m now short a
hand, and it’s haying season.”

“Hire someone you trust. You know I need a smoking gun with
fingerprints.”

“I might come up with one. I’ll let you know.”

* * * * *

Fiona had listened to the exchange between the two men with
intense interest but stayed in the background, biting her tongue the whole
time. Hoover had been cordial enough, but Fiona had her suspicions about him.
She wasn’t sure what was going on, but he sure could flash hot and cold. She
watched his body language and what he was saying and how he was saying it. Had
he been evasive with her because there was something he didn’t want her to know
or did he have a short fuse under pressure as Jake had said?

In the parking lot Fiona said to Jake. “I’ll drive. You look
beat.
How about breakfast in town?”

Jake nodded. “Thanks, but I want to get back to the ranch. What
happened to Opal?”

“She called and said she got a ride with Sammie.”

“That reminds me.” Jake pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
“Sweet’s not answering.” He dialed another number and listened. “Tommy’s not
answering. They must be out of range.” He stuffed the cell phone back in his
shirt pocket.

“Try calling Rosemary or Esme.”

“Good idea. I forgot about them. My mind’s not working right.” He
brought out the phone and dialed again. “Rosemary. It’s Jake. Where are you?
Did you get the cows back? Good. Where are Tommy and Sweet? Tell them to call
me. I haven’t been able to get through.”

When they got back to the ranch, Jake checked on the cows, the
hay and the water situation and then turned in to get some rest.

Fiona sat on the front porch rocker with a cup of coffee to think
things over. She was afraid Jake would collapse under the strain. Opal was
frazzled. Olympia was nowhere to be seen. Fiona dialed her cell phone number.

“Where are you?” she asked when they connected.

“I’m looking at ranches. What’s going on with you?”

Fiona updated her friend with the latest happenings.

“You know, Fiona, Paul is an amazing resource, and he said maybe
someone believes there is something valuable like gold or uranium up on your
knoll.”

“Uranium?”

Olympia told her what Paul had said. “He’s an expert on these
things. I think that one of the family somehow got erroneous information or
maybe they know something you don’t know about the knoll or about the ranch.
Paul has mapped this whole area, and he says there is nothing underground of
commercial value.”

Fiona’s brain went into overdrive and she said, “Or maybe someone
has new information. All this started happening in the last few months, the
cattle rustling, that is. The most exciting part of the drama started after I
got here, so what does that tell you?”

“You’re the problem.”

“Right and the jack pot question
is
why.
Tell me, how long ago did Paul evaluate this area?

“I don’t know. I’ll ask him though. We’re having dinner tonight.”

“This sounds serious.”

Olympia laughed. “As serious as I can be about anyone. But, Fiona,
I think you are right that someone is trying to scare you and the others off or
maybe make things so unbearable that they have to leave or go bankrupt.”

“Any way you slice it the fact is that someone is determined to
change the way of life at the H Bar O. Thanks for that information. Have you
found a ranch to buy?”

“Not yet, but Paul is a great help since I know nothing about
ranches. Catch you later.”
 

Fiona finished the coffee and sat watching a hawk hovering over
the tops of the brush in the distance. He made a short dive and came up with
wiggling legs. She wondered about how that hawk flew and dipped and dived then
came up with breakfast or lunch. Someone with malicious intent was doing the
same thing to the H Bar O. Dipping and diving, hovering, then trying to move in
for the kill. They hadn’t succeeded yet, and, if she had anything to say in the
matter, they wouldn’t. She couldn’t stand idly by and watch the ranch go to
ruin.

First, there was the accident and the bones in the spring which
seemed totally unrelated. If the female skeleton was one of Hank Little’s wives
that mystery would be solved. Who knows what had happened to Brewster’s girl
friend, and maybe that didn’t matter. The bunk house fire she was sure was set
deliberately, but Hoover still spoke of appearances.

Then there was the old gun she found on the knoll whose look
alike was in the new bunkhouse on the couch. Jake said the gun belonged to
Glory who was supposed to be on watch. Did Glory set the fire? At first, Jake
thought he had. But Glory had never made it back to the ranch. It would have
been hard for him to be in two places at once. Who did the second set of foot prints
belong to?
 

Then there were the missing cows, and Jake getting whacked trying
to track the rustlers. Was that another warning? It was like a ghost was
haunting the place without much luck.

Then there was Tillie. Could she really be so devious as to
organize a concerted effort to scare Jake away from buying the ranch? Was she
in cahoots with a former employee? And what about the one relative of the three
that Jake had high on the list of suspects?
 
She couldn’t remember his name.

She jumped up and rushed into the house, destination ranch
office. She wanted to know the name of the relative that Jake suspected.
 
She tiptoed past Jake’s closed door. She was
sure he wouldn’t mind her looking at the list. She wanted to know that name.
Who was the relative on the suspect list?

The mini-blinds were closed against the glare of the sun. She
opened them to let more light in so she could see the desk top. There were neat
stacks of paper to either side of the computer and a flowing geometric pattern
on the screen. She glanced through the papers on either side of the computer.
Bills of sale, records of bull bloodlines, equipment catalogs, ranch magazines,
weather records. No list. Maybe he hadn’t printed it out. A weather station
monitor sat to the back that registered wind velocity, temperature, dew point
and other data she didn’t understand. The radio that Jake always left on was playing
country and western music.

She sat down at the computer and clicked on the mouse to bring up
the desktop icon screen. Where would he store the list? She hesitated. This was
snooping into the life of the ranch. But Jake had said she could use the
computer any time. This was any time. She studied the icons. One was named employees.
She clicked on it. A raft of files came up. She looked for the date of the most
recent file and clicked on it. Up came the listing of the employees that Jake
had shown her. Highlighted in yellow were the names of the three employees on
the most wanted list.
Reese Crawford, Rob Allred, and Clancy
James.
Reese Crawford must be the one.

They hadn’t had a chance to talk about that relative with
everything else happening. Maybe it was a wild card, a wild goose chase. She
sighed and sat back. What was she doing? She looked for a sheet of paper in the
desk drawer to write the three names on. Maybe she could find them on the internet.
She felt frustrated that she couldn’t figure this out.

In the top drawer was a stack of envelopes that looked like
bills. In the next drawer there were pipe fittings and other stuff that she
didn’t understand. Where would a piece of paper be?
And a
pen.
She started on the other side of the desk. In the top drawer she
found a small tablet and a pen, and she wrote down the names. Out of curiosity
she tried the bottom file drawer but it was locked.

Outside she heard the sound of a truck and doors banging. She
looked through the mini-blinds and saw four men coming in the front walk. Who
were these guys? She was the only one home besides Jake. She’d see what they
wanted and then determine if she should wake up Jake.

They knocked at the front screen door, and she hurried down the
hall to greet them. They wore work clothes and determined faces and stood
looking around as she approached the door. One was a young boy who sported a
flat top buckaroo hat. He looked like miniature of the taller, slim man beside
him.

She remained inside to greet them, looking through the screen
door. “Hello, can I help you?”

“Yes, ma’am,” said the short, stocky man wearing a baseball cap.
“We’re here to help.”

“Did Jake call you?” She opened the door and stepped outside.
“I’m Fiona Marlowe. I’m a friend visiting for a while.”

“No, ma’am.
We heard about Glory and the
cows and the rustling, and we knew
Jake’d
need an
extra hand so we came to help.”

Fiona was amazed how fast
word spread and how
ready to help people were
. “Jake’s sleeping. He worked all night so he
laid
down for a few hours. Will you come in for something
cold to drink? I can wake Jake up. Opal has gone to town.”

The group nodded their heads and trooped behind her into the
kitchen.
 
They stood awkwardly with their
hands in their pockets. Fiona invited them to sit down. They weren’t much for
words. As she busied setting out glasses and iced tea, she said, “Where are you
boys from?”

The short one spoke up.
“Next ranch over.
I’m Opal’s cousin’s son on her husband’s side. I work there, and my boss said I
should come over here to help Jake.
Name’s Bobby.”

One in a T-shirt with suspenders framing a drooping belly said,
“I’m Mac. I work at a ranch further over in the valley. I’m a cousin, too.” He
accepted a glass of tea from Fiona.

The man with the little boy said, “They call me Doc. I have the
ranch back a ways from the crossroads. I’m Opal’s nephew, and this is my
grandson, Billy. He’s a hard worker.” Doc was an older gentleman with a waxed handle
bar mustache and a flat crowned hat. “I understand Opal has had a run of back
luck, and we rode over to see if we can help.”

Fiona said, “That is kind of you. Glory is in the hospital, and
Jake spent most of the night trying to find him and get him to the hospital.”

“Jake’s got good wilderness training,” said Doc. “He’s helped me
more than once. What’s the prognosis on Glory?”

Fiona shrugged. “The doctor wasn’t sure when he’d wake up.
Apparently, someone beat him up. He has bad bruises around the head.”

Murmurs and frowns spread around the table.

Bobby said, “That’s bad news. We heard the bunk house burnt.”

“Yes,” said Fiona. “We can’t prove it, but we think someone set
the fire.”

“Sorry to hear that,” said Doc. “Sure is a strange run of bad
luck. Seems to me, it is not all luck. What about the rustling? That’s a
concern to all of us. So far I haven’t lost any.”

“I think Jake figures they’ve lost over a dozen. When he and
Hoover went out to track the rustlers, someone whacked him in the head, maybe
to scare him. Pasture has been a problem.” She explained about the stock pond
without water and moving the cows and amazed herself with how she much she understood
about ranching. “Then last night Jake found an overturned can of gasoline in
one of the hay barns.”

Bobby shook his head, “Sounds like someone is hell bent on destroying
this place.”

Fiona poured herself a glass of tea. “It does, doesn’t it? It’s hard
to put two and two together.” She took a sip of tea and considered. “I’ll wake
up Jake since you fellows have been so kind as to come over to help. I believe
he needs a night watchman and someone to replace Glory for now. I’ll be right
back.”

They made no objection, and their concerned conversation followed
her down the hall to Jake’s room. She wasn’t sure she should be disturbing him.
But if these men came all this way to help, she needed to find out what should
be done. She tapped lightly on the door and opened it to see if he was still
asleep. The shower was running in his bathroom. At least he was up. She was
undecided about disturbing him in the bathroom, but maybe she could talk to him
through the door. She tapped on the door, but he didn’t respond. He was singing
in the shower, so she rapped harder.

“What?” said
Jake.

“It’s Fiona.”

“Come right in, sweetheart.”

Fiona considered the invitation. “Are you presentable?”

“I’m always presentable for you.”

She cautiously opened the door and peeked around. He turned off
the water and stood grinning at her in all his naked, water streaming glory.

“Jake, stop that!” She ducked back out. What a time to play
games. But she liked what she saw.

“Don’t be bashful,” Jake called through the door. “It isn’t every
day a pretty woman interrupts my shower. Come back.”

“Jake, be serious. There’re four men to see you.”

He opened the door wearing a towel wrapped around his middle. “Who
is it?”

“Mac, Bobby, Doc and Billy.”

“I figured they’d be around.”

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Great, for a man with three hours sleep in the last forty
eight.” He yawned. “One of these days I’m going to get a decent night’s sleep.
Tell them I’ll be out in a minute.”

Fiona backed out of the room and away from temptation. Jake looked
good, smelled good, and she could feel her hormones stand up and salute.