High Desert Detective, A Fiona Marlowe Mystery (Fiona Marlowe Mysteries) (32 page)

He sat back in the seat and blew out a breath, feeling sick to
his stomach he was so upset. He inhaled slowly, in and out, to calm down. He
couldn’t believe Lauren would be that hateful, but then human beings had a way
of doing things on a regular basis that he couldn’t believe.

Fiona said, “I’ll consider the source. Lauren has always been
nice to me.”

“She sees money when you walk in the door.”

“I’m not denying that. I try to keep a level head when it comes
to my suppliers. If that is the case, I’m disappointed. Everyone is so nice
here, and I’ve gotten used to trusting people. Maybe not everyone’s to be
trusted.”

“Maybe so,” said Jake. He started the truck. “You can ask anyone
in town about me and my ex-wife. They’ll tell you the same. She was a wanderer,
and the grass always looked better on the other side of the fence. She left for
what looked like greener pasture and took my little girl with her. That was the
saddest day of my life. They’ve disappeared, and I haven’t been able to find
them anywhere.”

Fifteen

They drove to the hospital in icy silence after the argument over
Lauren’s accusations. When they walked into Glory’s room, they found him
sitting up in bed. Jake smiled in spite of his bad mood. It was a relief to see
Glory alive and awake.

Jake skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point. “Who
did it?” he asked.

Glory moved his battered, taped up head back and forth where it
rested against the head of the bed. “I didn’t see him right. He came up behind
me and whacked me something fierce and kept whacking me. That’s all I remember.
Next thing I know I wake up in a hospital.”

“Were you drinking?”

“Not too much, just had a little nip is all I remember.”

“An empty booze bottle was lying in the brush.”

“I’m lucky he didn’t hit me with that.”

“You’re lucky you’re still alive.”

Glory’s face crumpled, and he got teary. He coughed and sputtered
and finally got the words out. “I’m sorry Jake. I don’t know what gets into me.
I know you want to kick me out, but please give me another chance. I don’t have
anywhere else to go.”

Jake stood at the side of the man’s hospital bed, studying his
face. Tears in a man always made him uncomfortable, and he shifted from one foot
to the other at a loss for words. Fiona stood by the other side of the bed. She
reached out and took Glory’s knotty hand in hers.

“Don’t worry. Everything is going to be all right,” she told him.

More tears spilled from his eyes. “I’m just an old, sorry wreck.
I wished the guy would
of
finished me off and put me
out of my misery.”

Fiona looked at Jake.

He shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t worry about a job. Worry about
getting better. We’ll work something out. You know Opal never turns away a man
down on his luck.”

Glory snuffled and tried to wipe his nose with the back of his hand.
Fiona handed him a tissue. He coughed and sputtered some more. “The Sheriff’s been
to see me. I told him what I knew.” He hiccoughed and tried to speak some more,
but no more words came out.

Fiona said, “Did you hear, see, or smell anything that would give
us an idea of who attacked you? What time of the day was it? Lead us back
through what you remember before you were attacked.”

Glory wiped his eyes and nose again. His battered face was
turning redder, and Jake worried he might have a heart attack on top of
everything.

“I don’t know. Jake told me to go out to check, make sure the
stock pond was full. The dog followed me, and I rode along easy. When I got there,
there was no water in the tank so I got down and saw the switch was off so I
turned it on. The water started coming. Then I rode the fence while I was out
to make sure it was secure.”

“And you had the bottle,” said Jake, “and you took a nip every now
and again to keep your strength up.”

Glory nodded. “How’d you know?”

“Used to do the same thing myself, but I realized one day that I
couldn’t keep drinking and be worth much to anyone, and I stopped.”

“I know I got to kick the habit. It’s hard. My problems weigh me
down at times.”

“Is the guy who beat you up part of your problems or mine?”

Glory looked sheepish. “Might be mine. I don’t know.”

“Who’s your problem?”

“I can’t be sure.” Glory’s look became cagey, visible even under all
the bandages. Some things he might not share.

But Jake had to know. It might mean saving Opal’s ranch. He sat
down on the side of the bed.

“Glory, someone is trying to run Opal off her ranch. Or warn her
away. Someone burned the bunkhouse, someone whacked me over the head when I
tried to track the rustlers, someone tried to burn down the hay shed on the
night you disappeared.”

Glory’s puffy eyes widened. “They did?”

“Yes. Earl started barking late that night. I went out and found
him in the hay shed, guarding an overturned can of gasoline. Would you happen
to know anything about that?”

Glory looked toward Fiona who stood beside the bed and had
remained quietly studying him. He looked at Jake. “It wasn’t me.”

Fiona spoke up. “Are you sure that someone came up and attacked you
from behind?”

Glory looked sharply her way and a look of terror spread over what
could be seen of his face.

She said, “The wounds are around the front of your face, Glory.
You arms and hands show the lacerations of a frontal attack. I believe you know
who attacked you.”

Glory’s face crumpled again. He started to sob silently.

Fiona patted his arm as if to reassure him. “Tell us who it was,
Glory. You owe it to Opal and Jake.”

Between sobs, he said, “I needed the money, and he said all I had
to do was set a little fire at that old bunk house to scare you.” He tried to
say more, but he was having trouble voicing the words.
 
He hiccupped and struggled on. “I guess I had
too much to drink, and I got too much gasoline on the old place, and I was just
going to set a little fire and before I knew it the whole place was up in
flames.”

Fiona said, “And you had the old gun along with you that night
and dropped it.”

Glory looked at her. “If you found the gun, why did you leave it where
I dropped it?”

“Because I wanted the Sheriff to see it in
place.
You came back and got it before the Sheriff came back. But you
let it lay in plain sight on the couch in the new bunkhouse.”

Glory stopped snuffling. “I don’t remember where I put it. How’d
you find it in the bunkhouse?”

Fiona said, “I was looking for Olympia and thought she was
visiting one of the buckaroos. I went to the house and saw the old gun on the
couch.”

Glory shook his head. “The gun is my good luck piece. I usually
carry it with me. I couldn’t remember where I put it, and I didn’t have it when
I rode out to the stock pond.”

“Alcohol does that to one’s memory,” Fiona said softly. “It sort
of takes it away a little at a time. Days get all muddled, and it is hard to
keep track anymore.”

Jake sat nodding his head. He said, “Who did it to you, Glory?”

Glory sighed and looked down at his hands.
“One
of them fellers that used to work for you.
Least ways that’s what he
said. He knew a lot about the ranch and how you run it.”

“What is his name?” said Jake.

“I don’t remember.”

“Yes, you do.”

“He said he’d kill me the next time.”

“Why did he beat you?”

“Because I didn’t set the hay barn on fire like he wanted me to
do. I said I wouldn’t do it, that I had already caused enough trouble for Opal.”

 
“So he tried to set the
hay barn on fire himself except the dog scared him off.”

“I guess so.” Glory looked red-eyed at Jake. “Opal’s been good to
me, and I didn’t want to cause her any more trouble because she already had
enough. I thought if I just started a little fire and made a little extra money
that would be the end of it. But it wasn’t. He wanted me to do more.”

“What’s his name?” Jake asked. “We have to stop this, and the
only way is if you tell me who is behind this.”

“I don’t want to go to jail.”

“I don’t know if I can prevent that. Opal will decide in the end
if she is going to press charges. One thing she’ll demand is that you change
your way of life and get clean and sober.”

“I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Your choice, but you are going to tell me who is behind this.”

Glory sighed and fumbled with the edge of the sheet.
“Name’s Walt.
I don’t know his last name. He approached me
one day I was in town. He paid me the money after the bunkhouse burned down.
Said I had done a good job and there was more he wanted help with. The money was
easy but then I found out Opal was sick, and I felt bad about causing her
problems when she was always so nice to me.”

“Do you know why Walt wants to give Opal problems?”

Glory shrugged. “He didn’t say. I didn’t ask. I needed the money
and it seemed like an easy way to get some. But things got out of hand, like I
said and I’m sorry about it.” He slumped forward and buried his face in his
hands.

Fiona spoke up. “Glory needs to rest. Thank you for telling us
who did this to you. I’m as sorry about the bunkhouse as you, but maybe we can
get this all sorted out.” She walked to the door and waited for Jake.

Jake was reluctant to leave. He wanted more information, but
Fiona was right. The man was overwrought and needed rest. But he had the uneasy
feeling that Glory was not safe in the hospital.

In the hall Fiona turned to him. “We need to take him home.”

Jake said, “I’m afraid Walt will be back and finish the job. Glory
hasn’t told us all he knows. I’ll call Hoover. Maybe he can send one of the
deputies to watch him.”

Fiona nodded. “I’m afraid for his life, too.”

“Let’s find the doctor and see when he can be released.”

* * * * *

Jake got into the truck but didn’t start it. They sat in silence.
It seemed to Fiona like they needed time to process not only the argument over
what Lauren had said, but also Glory’s disturbing revelation. She was sorry now
that she had blurted out what Lauren had told her. Why hadn’t she made some
discrete inquiries first? Here it was again. Another incident of someone
swearing something bad had happened, and another person swearing it was lies.
It might be the same with Glory. He could be lying to save his skin. But he
might not be. Who did one believe?

As far as Jake was concerned, she knew she wanted to believe him.
If she didn’t, then everything she felt about the man was false. Her instinct
told her Jake was a decent human being, not a wife beater. While she liked
Lauren, she didn’t know her that well. Jake was right, she saw dollar signs
when Fiona walked into her store. If she had set her sights on Jake, and he had
rebuffed her, then the old adage was right. Hell hath no fury like a woman
scorned.

She let go a big sigh.

Jake reached over and took her hand.

“I love you, Fiona. I’d never hurt you. I would never hurt any
woman.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have confronted you with hearsay. I’m
sorry.”

“I can take you to the women’s shelter and let you talk to the
director. She’s been there a long time. You can hear for yourself that my
ex-wife was never there. I don’t want this hanging over us. I’m glad you
brought it up so we can clear the air.”

Fiona squeezed his hand. “There’s more I need to say. I must
confess that I’m afraid to love you, Jake. I’m afraid of getting hurt again.”
And she told him about Rob Calloway. When she finished, they were quiet for a
time, processing another revelation.

Jake said after a while, “We’ve both been hurt. I loved my wife, and
I love my little girl though I haven’t seen her in years. But I learned that I
couldn’t keep retreating into alcohol to keep the hurt away. I learned that I
needed to live life with all its pain and sorrow, because there’s a lot about
life that is good, and love is one. I wanted a woman to love again, even after
all the hurt. You’re that woman. I know it in my bones. I know you don’t fit
here. I know you think there’s more exciting things to do than be married to
me. But I can give you something I think way down deep you need and that is
love and stability and a home. You keep making homes for other folks, but what
you need is a home of your own and a man to love you.”

“That was quite a speech, Jake Manyhorses,” said Fiona. She
leaned into his side of the seat, pulled his face to her and kissed him. “You
may be right.”

* * * * *

It was late when they got back to the ranch. They had found
Hoover and told him Mort Glory’s story. Hoover said he’d talk to Glory and keep
an eye on him. The doctor would not release Glory. He wanted to keep him for
observation. They were to call tomorrow to see how Glory was. Maybe he could go
home in the afternoon, if he showed signs of improvement. Fiona would come to
the hospital in the morning to check on him.

Sammie was sitting in the living room reading a book when they
entered the ranch house, and she greeted them with a smile. “How did your day
go? Opal and I spent a quiet day resting. She turned in early. She needed some
down time. Tomorrow I’ll take her for the next treatment.”

“I could do it, if you want a break,” said Fiona. “I’m going to
town to check on Glory.”

They sat in the big couches in the living room and brought her
up-to-date on Glory.
 
Soft light from the
table lamps cast a warm glow on the room.

Sammie listened to the story in amazement. “I’m with you. I think
there is more to Glory’s story. I’m glad you’re looking out for him. I’ll hang
around here tomorrow, if you are going in, Fiona. Opal’s been worrying about
her garden, and it will give me a chance to do some weeding and watering.” She
picked up her book and rose. “I think I’ll finish this book tonight in bed.
Pleasant dreams, you two.”