High Desert Detective, A Fiona Marlowe Mystery (Fiona Marlowe Mysteries) (27 page)

“I’m on my way. Will the ambulance be able to get back this
road?”

“I’ve seen them drive over moonscape.”

* * * * *

“Is anybody home?”

Opal heard Tillie’s query from the bathroom where she was getting
ready to go to town for another treatment. She sighed. She wasn’t ready for
this. She felt like she was about to fly apart. Sammie showing up was a
blessing and a curse. The two sisters had never gotten along well, and now she
was caught in the middle. She finished with her hair which didn’t take much since
she wore it in a pixie cut. She studied her reflection and adjusted the collar
on her open neck blouse. She was an old lady, and there was nothing she could
do about it. Today she felt ancient. But she had to make it through the day,
the best she could.

She knew Tillie would make herself at home so she didn’t rush. In
her bedroom she tidied the bed, gathered her purse, and walked down the hall toward
the living room. She checked Jake’s room. The door stood wide open, and the bed
was made. He was either out early, which wasn’t unusual or hadn’t turned in.

“Good morning, Tillie,” Opal said as she entered the kitchen.

Tillie was sitting at the kitchen table nursing a mug of coffee. “I
see my sister has arrived.” She had never been much on social niceties.

“She has. We stayed up half the night talking, and I’m about
beat. But I need to go to town for another treatment today.”

“I can drive you.”

“It’s kind of you to offer, but Fiona took me yesterday. I
believe she’s expecting to take me today. Excuse me. I’ll see if she’s up.”

Opal checked Fiona’s room but found it empty. Samantha walked out
of her room still in her nightgown.

“Good morning,” said Sammie. She saw the empty room. “Fiona left.
I heard her rig pull out before the sun was up.”

“That’s odd. Jake’s not in his room either. Maybe something
happened during the night. Dear me, I can’t keep on top of things anymore. I
wonder where they could be.”

Samantha put her hand on Opal’s arm. “Don’t worry. I’m sure they
are able to take care of any situation that might arise. Maybe it had something
to do with the barking dog we heard last night.”

“Maybe so.
Tillie’s here. I need to go
to town for another treatment, and she’s offered to take me. Fiona took me
yesterday. I was checking to see if she was ready. I’m not supposed to drive.”

“No problem,” said Sammie. “I’ll get ready and drive you to town.”

Opal walked back toward the kitchen. She checked the living room
and saw Paul lying flat out on the couch sawing wood. He seemed a decent enough
guy. He and Olympia were still up when she went to bed, as far as she could
remember.

In the kitchen Tillie sat at the table in a pout.

“Where’s Howie?” Opal asked.

“Don’t know. I spent the night in town.”

“I see,” said Opal. Keeping two men didn’t seem to bother Tillie
or Howie for that matter. Opal was sure Howie knew about Tillie’s boyfriend,
but it didn’t seem to bother him. Or maybe that is why he drank, because it
did. Their relationship was an enigma to her.

Opal fixed a bowl of cereal and joined Tillie at the table.

“Do you want anything to eat?” she asked Tillie.

“No, already had breakfast. Have you had time to think over
giving us a hand with a loan?”

Opal put a spoonful of cereal in her mouth and took her time
chewing. Finally she said, “I’ve given it lots of thought. I haven’t made a
decision yet.”

“Yes, she has,” said Samantha, walking into the kitchen. “Opal
has no more money to loan any of us. She needs the money to keep the ranch
solvent. Hard times are on the horizon. This time you are going to have to make
it on your own, Tillie.”

Opal could almost see the hackles rise on Tillie’s back.

“Who do you think you are? Since when do you answer for Aunt Opal?”

Sammie stopped in front of her sister. “I’m the wiser,
compassionate sister who thinks of other people besides herself.”

Opal held up her hand. “Let’s not argue. I don’t need this. You
are both welcome here. We have differences of opinion. Let’s leave it at that.”

Samantha strolled over to the counter and helped herself to
coffee and cereal. She joined them at the table. The silence in the room was so
brittle it crinkled. Opal munched on cereal, sipped on her coffee, trying to
think what to do with this pair. Send them to a gladiator ring to fight it out
might be the best option. Tillie looked off into some distant place, her face
set in a frown.

When Opal finished eating, she said, “Look you two, I’ve had
about enough. You’ve both offered to take me to town, we can all go, if you
will promise to behave and act civilly toward one another.” She pressed her
fingers into her eyes. “I can’t believe I am talking to two grown women like
this.”

Samantha sighed. “You’re right, Opal. I’m sorry Tillie. I
shouldn’t have spoken that way to you.”

Tillie didn’t give an inch. “Opal, if you can’t help us out,
we’ll be out on the street.”

Samantha said, “Stop being so dramatic. You could always move in
with your boyfriend. You could always declare bankruptcy. Howie could get a
job.”

Tillie stood. “I can tell when I’m not wanted. I’m leaving. I can
see my aunt has no compassion for me.”

“You should talk about compassion,” Samantha fired back.

Opal raised her hand. “Girls, please. Tillie, what did you do
with the money from the loan you haven’t paid back?”

Tillie gripped the back of the chair. “We put most of it against
the house loan.”

“Most of it?” asked Opal. “It was all for the house. That’s what
you told me.”

“We had some other bills we had to pay off.”

Opal looked Tillie directly in the eye. “Tillie, I was hoping not
to have to say this. But I’ve thought a lot about your request for more money.
I’ve thought over your plight, and it seems to me I keep throwing money down a
bottomless hole with you.”

“You’ve helped the others.”

“
Some,
and they’ve paid me back. You
haven’t. Now I have a lot on my mind. I want to keep the ranch solvent. We’re
having a tough year with the smuggling and the dry weather. What little cash I
have, I’ve got use to keep this place afloat.” She took a deep breath.
“So, no.
I cannot lend you the money.
You
or anybody else.
I’m sorry but that’s the way it is.”

Tillie held her gaze for a few moments longer, looked at her
sister, then out the window.
 
“I know my
life’s a mess. I know that. I’m sorry to cause you this upset, Aunt Opal.” With
that she turned and left the room.

Opal heard the front screen door bang. She wondered how she ended
up with a niece like Tillie. She hadn’t signed up for these problems, but they
were on her plate, and she had to deal with them, like it or not.

Samantha said, “I’ll drive you to town, Aunt Opal. You can rest
on the way. I know this isn’t easy for you. I apologize for egging Tillie on.
It’s just that she can be so conniving. She makes me so mad.”

Opal smiled sadly at Samantha. “I know. Let’s get on into town.”

Thirteen

Paul was not tall. He was slim and balding, and Olympia kind of
liked him. He was not your standard romance hero with broad shoulders, slim
hips, and bulging muscles, the kind she had been writing about for years. In
Paul she sensed a decent man, and she hadn’t known him twenty-four hours.
A decent guy.
New concept for her.
Okay
for real life but it didn’t sell romance novels.

She had been out with her real estate agent, looking at ranches,
and they had stopped at The Animal Head Bar for a drink and to talk over the ranches
they had seen. Paul was standing by the juke box, and Olympia, being the
outgoing girl that she was, asked him to play Patsy Cline’s
Crazy.

“I don’t see it on here,” Paul had said like flamboyant women
talked to him all the time.

Olympia looked over the selections with him and that was how it
started. Of course, she had invited him to join them. The real estate agent
didn’t seem to mind as long as they kept talking about the ranches she wanted
Olympia to buy. Paul chimed right in with his opinions. It turned out that he
was a soil scientist, and, having worked at soil mapping in Harney Valley, he
knew quite a bit of the area and many of the ranches. He knew all kinds of things
about what made a good ranch site, as well as Oregon geology, mountain climbing,
volcanoes, bungee jumping, and migratory birds, none of which Olympia had thought
much about. The way he spoke was interesting in an unassuming way.

After the real estate agent left Paul suggested they have dinner
at a place about forty-five minutes outside of town. It wasn’t anything special
just burgers and shakes. Even though they were an odd combination, they couldn’t
seem to stop talking. He listened with interest when Olympia talked about
writing romance novels, though he admitted he had never read any. At least, he
was honest. Since they had taken Olympia’s car and the H Bar O wasn’t far from
the restaurant, Olympia invited him to visit. It got late, and he ended up on
the couch. He was watching a National Geographic show on television when
Olympia came out to find him the next morning.

“Hi,”Olympia said. She didn’t understand why she was feeling shy,
an unusual state for her. “I’m sorry I overslept. Did you have breakfast? I
forgot to ask what time you need to be at work.”

Paul rose, smiled, and held up his smart phone. “I work my own
hours. I’m a consultant. As long as I have my smart phone I can work just about
any place. And no, I haven’t had breakfast, but why don’t we grab a bite on the
way back to town? You need to take me back to the bar to get my truck,
remember?”

“Sounds good to me.
Did you sleep okay
on the couch?”

“Perfect. I do a lot of camping so I’m used to sleeping on just
about anything anywhere.”

“I don’t know where everyone is.”

“I heard people in the kitchen. They left a while ago.”

Paul followed Olympia out the front door. He stopped and looked
around. “This is a great setting. Look at that gorgeous high ridge of basalt rim
rock.” He stopped and considered. “I’ve mapped this area. We found topography
that lent itself to uranium. But it turned out to be very low grade. The mine
owners found a lucrative commercial vein to the west of here.”

“Uranium?
Around here?”

“Not exactly here.
A little further south and
west.
Geologists investigated here because some of the deposits seemed to
be promising. But it wasn’t commercial grade stuff.”

Olympia looked at Paul. “Did you think there is gold around here
or anything else that might be of commercial value?”

Paul shook his head. “No, the geological deposits aren’t the kind
where you’d find that kind of ore. There are sulfur springs but no precious
metals.”

Olympia pointed to the black spot on the knoll on the south end
of Paul’s gorgeous ridge. “Someone set fire to Fiona’s bunkhouse. She wondered
if it was because there was something of value under the place like gold.”

Paul studied the knoll. “I can tell by looking that there
wouldn’t be anything of commercial value. But that isn’t to say someone might
think there would be. I’ve heard all kinds of strange tales about where gold
might be. You’ve got to be careful. People are funny when it comes to gold.”

* * * * *

Jake rode in the ambulance with Glory. At the hospital they were
able to stabilize his condition. The ER doctor said he had a concussion but
didn’t know when he’d come around, so Jake decided to go home. He found Fiona
in the ER waiting room. She had followed the ambulance in her rig so he had a
ride home. As they were leaving, Hoover came into the waiting room, and Jake related
what had happened and his suspicions.

“Do you think Glory is behind the arson at your place? said
Hoover.

Jake shrugged. “It looked that way to me at first. But apparently
he never made it back to the ranch so I don’t know. Tommy Hide and Sweet don’t
seem to know anything. Have you run down anyone on that list I gave you?”

“The only thing I’ve determined is that the people are either
working somewhere else, or they’ve disappeared off the face of the earth.”

Jake shook his head. “That’s not much help. Have you heard
anything on the bones in the springs?”

“Now there’s an interesting situation. I talked to the state lab
guy. He says it looks like there is one almost complete skeleton, which is that
of a woman, and the rest are pig bones.”

“Pig bones?” asked Jake.

Hoover pursed his lips with a tight nod. “The female may be one of
Hank Little’s wives. We are trying to get DNA samples of the wives, but it
seems all their personal belongings have disappeared.
Funny
how that happens.”

“But pig bones?”Jake said.

Hoover lifted his shoulders. “Someone had a pig roast and dumped
the bones in the spring. I don’t know. I’ve seen stranger things. We had a
diver poke around the rest of the springs but some of the pools are so hot,
that he had trouble staying in the water. There were a few other pig bones. That’s
all.”

“All roads seem to be leading nowhere.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to finish haying, get the cows to decent pasture, and try
not to lose any more.”

Jake turned to go.

Hoover said, “You don’t have any proof about anything, you know.”

Jake turned back. “I am aware of that. Until Glory comes to, we
won’t know what happened to him. The doc said someone apparently inflicted the
bruises on his face. It wasn’t from a drunken fall. I found cowboy boot prints
at the sight.”