by D C Young
Juanita shrugged. “I need a clean and sober, experienced ranch manager who can keep his mouth shut. You need to get back on your feet again. What did they pay you at Blue Corn?”
“Two thousand, five hundred dollars and found, but I’m not going to let you…”
“I’ll pay five thousand and found,” she’d responded. “I assume that found means housing and food.”
“Five thousand and found?”
“Get your stuff together, get in your pick up and I’ll see you out at the Caldera.” Juanita had turned around and walked away from him. “And your hotel bill is paid already,” she called over her shoulder without looking back. She was pretty sure that the sight of her tight jeans was as much motivation as all of her other offers.
She smiled at the memory as she turned her mare, Ivory, away from the fence where she’d been gazing out across range land that was beyond her reach. She started back toward Caldera Ranch, continuing to replay the ingenious moves she’d made on the giant chess board, from which she intended to sweep all of the pieces.
Bill had quit the booze, still lusted after her, enjoyed his new found fortune and had fallen right in with her with unquestioned loyalty. The stakes had grown a lot bigger since she’d put together her last scheme of snatching one hundred and eighty head of pregnant cows from the precious Silver Blue Hermosa project right out from under the noses of the Silver Creek riders. That had been another stroke of luck, or perhaps a bit of karma turning back on Earnest, Greg and Fred.
Oscar Valencia, who had been a long time friend of her father, was the one who had alerted her to it, quite by accident. Oscar had been helping her skim cattle from the herds of the surrounding ranches for a couple of years after she’d taken over the ranch. They would snatch a half dozen head, load them into a stock trailer and Oscar would take them to his place near Aurora Crater, just across the Nevada border. After a week or so, those cattle were shipped back to Caldera as new purchases from several different auction houses along the border, which didn’t have a problem with looking the other way whenever Oscar asked for a made up bills of sale or a fake shipping order.
Oscar had related a story he’d heard from a cousin or friend who’d been to or lived in Laredo, Texas. The story he told had been about a strange little girl whose certain, high pitched song and psychic powers had her family convinced that the little girl was possessed by a demon. The little girl had suffered so much abuse that she’d been crippled not long after she’d learned to walk. She scooted along the ground on a piece of cardboard to get from one place to another, but was continually beaten and abused.
After hearing the story, Juanita had made up her mind that she was going to go snatch the little girl away from her abusers and bring her back to Caldera Ranch. It had been surprisingly easy and the little girl had come along willingly, believing that her parents had sent her Tia Juanita to come and take her away to a place where she could learn how to walk again. It had started out as a mission of mercy, but once Juanita had learned that the little girl had the power to put unwitting persons into a trance, from which they had no memory when they came out of it, she’d conceived a new plan.
She’d taken Analisa riding with her on several occasions and tested her plan; snatching small bunches of cattle from cowboys who were riding along the fence that separated them from Caldera pastures. It had almost been too easy.
She’d made use of a little bit more information concerning Bill’s involvement in affairs that had taken place at Fallon Station and then unfolded her plan before him. Whether it was willingly or because of several layers of her manipulations, Bill had bought into the plan all the way. He even followed up his willingness to join her scheme when, through clenched teeth he said, “I’ve been looking for a way to get even with that bastard, anyway.”
Juanita’s eyes scanned over the small bunch of cattle as the lowing of one of them brought her out of her reverie and back to the flat where Caldera cattle were grazing beside a water hole. She allowed Ivory to approach the water hole, lower her head and drink while she searched for any signs of sick or injured animals to alert Bill about. Having gone over the bunch of cattle thoroughly and only noting one crippled bull in the bunch, she continued toward the next of the three water holes that lay along her route before returning home.
As Juanita rode along, she considered Antonio de Armas. She’d known Tony before she’d gone away to college in Spain. She’d known Tony very well actually; ever since they’d spent several hours together in the back of his Monte Carlo at the age of 16. They’d kept in touch while she was away in Spain. He’d come to visit her a few times and they’d talked of making more of their relationship, but in the end, their time together had been spent in nothing more than drunken days, wild sex, and lots of clubbing. She’d lost contact with him eventually, and had no idea what had become of Tony until he surfaced as a Senate candidate for the State of California after she had taken over Caldera Ranch.
She’d surprised him with a call and they’d picked up right where they left, meeting two or three times a year for a week long getaway at Lake Tahoe, Palm Springs, Las Vegas or wherever the mood hit them to go. Juanita had played things cool and drew Tony deeper into their affair without ever imposing upon him.
Tony had traveled to Stockton without his family, and lucky for her, had aides who would look the other way or even help him to make arrangements of the extramarital kind. They’d hooked up after the Stockton symphony. She’d blown his mind, just like she always did when they were together, and then, while lying in each others arms, casually mentioned the problems Caldera Ranch was having with grazing permits. Initially, Tony had hesitated.
“I don’t know, Nita. That’s not really my area of expertise. I’m afraid that if I start mixing up in those sorts of things that someone is going to get suspicious, start asking questions and, well, you know…”
He’d stopped talking when Juanita had scooped up his cell phone from the nightstand, manipulated it to bring up a call screen with ‘home’ as its label and showed it to him with her finger only a fraction of an inch away from pressing ‘call’.
“You wouldn’t dare,” he whispered.
Juanita smiled and shrugged.
“I’ll look into it,” he said.
Juanita handed the phone back to him, slipped from the bed and got dressed.
Riding through the cattle at the next water hole, she could see how with Senator de Armas on her side, she’d get back what rightfully belong to her and put Silver Blue Hermosa out of business and nobody would be able to stop her. Sure, what she’d done to Tony had been a pretty cold-hearted thing to do to an old friend, but if she could get what she wanted from him and neither of them was hurt by it, she didn’t see how it was such a bad thing. After all, what was the real meaning of friends with benefits?
“I was growing pretty tired of him anyway, Ivory,” she cackled as she spurred the mare into a canter and made her way toward the last water hole.
Chapter Thirteen
I was outside pacing back and forth on the wide back porch at Blue Corn Ranch way before daybreak. In my neighborhood, that usually meant something, but here on the farm 4 a.m. was already an active time and by 5 a.m. it would feel like I was at the center of a midday rush.
The phone rang about four times before I heard a familiar Scottish accent on the other end of the line.
“Elysium House. William Wallace speaking, how may I be of assistance Samantha Moon?”
“How? What?” I paused to gather my thoughts and chase off my surprise at his greeting. “Ummm, never mind. Stupid question, William. By any chance is either Bjorn or Veronica there please?”
William chuckled knowing well he had thrown me off by identifying me by the caller ID on the phone. “As a matter of fact, yes, they both just stepped in.”
“May I speak to one of them?”
“Sure. Just hold on one moment.”
A few minutes later, Veronica picked up the telephone.
&nb
sp; ***
“Earnie!” I called out across the corral as he made his way towards the stable. He turned and waved as I ran up to where he stood.
“I need to go into Modesto this morning. Is there anyone who can run me over to Silver Creek to pick the car?”
“Ummm, sure thing. Randal’s heading over there with some feed in a little while. I’m sure you can get a ride with him.”
“Perfect. I won’t be long just going to check out of my little room and maybe pick up some supplies. There are also a few people I think I should check out at the public records office and I’ll be stopping in to meet the local sheriff if possible”
“Anything you need, Miss Sam. After all you seen these past couple days I don’t blame you for wanting to get off the farm for a little bit. I’ll see you later on in the day.”
“Sure.”
“Hey,” he said before I could turn back towards the house. “Sounds like you might have picked up a good lead or two.”
“Too early to tell,” I responded cautiously. “I’ve got some homework to do before I can say anything for sure.”
“Gotcha. See you later then.”
I nodded and turned to go find Randal.
***
I didn’t expect Bjorn to think much of my tiny hotel room in Blanchard but I knew for a fact that Veronica had lived long term in much worse conditions. In any case, for them, it was going to be home until we cracked the case.
I sat in the Jeep and waited outside in front of the little boarding house for my friends to arrive. I had no idea how I was going to explain my suspicions about the case to them so I found myself hoping they didn’t ask too many questions and just did what I asked them to do.
At about half past twelve, I saw two motorcycles pull into the parking lot and wasn’t surprised when I saw Veronica’s face appear from under her helmet. They’d made better time than I’d expected but I was sure that had everything to do with the motorized rockets they’d ridden up there on.
Room 121. Head to your right and around the corner. The door’s propped open. See you in a few.
Veronica heard me loud and clear. She didn’t even make the mistake of looking around to see where I was. She grabbed her helmet and indicated for Bjorn to follow her and went towards the boarding house room.
A few minutes later, I got out of the Jeep and followed suit.
“Hey there!” I said as I stepped through the door and closed it quickly behind me.
“Hey, you!” Veronica said standing to give me a quick hug. Bjorn did the same. “What’s with all the cloak and dagger stuff?”
I sighed and flopped down into the armchair by the door.
“That rough, huh?” Bjorn joked.
I smiled broadly at his attempt to lighten the mood. “The case is coming together slowly. I have reason to believe that someone with powers is in on the theft.”
“Well that changes things doesn’t it?”
“Very much so, but it also explains a lot.”
“Yeah,” Bjorn said scratching one side of his Mohawk-shaved head. “I’ve been trying to figure out how six experienced ranch hands just sat there and let one hundred and eighty cows walk through a fence and away into the wilderness.”
“You and me both, Bjorn. You and me both.”
***
“Is it just me or is there absolutely nothing happening down there?”
“Not a damn thing, darling,” Bjorn replied rolling off his elbows onto his back to look up at the stars.
“I mean since ‘Madam raven hair’ left and dinner wound down, no one’s so much as come out to take a piss.”
“I think it’s safe to say there isn’t a thing happening at Caldera Ranch… not tonight, anyway. Got any better ideas?”
“Other than going to find a couple drunk cowboys to feed on?” Bjorn raised his eyebrows. “None. Not yet anyway.”
“Didn’t we pass by a city council building on our way through Blanchard?”
“Sure did. It was hard to miss. That was the only place in town that looked like it was built this side of the 1950’s.”
“Did you read the sign out front?”
“Can’t say I did, but from your line of questioning I can tell you have an idea, clever Viking.”
“The Cattle Rancher’s Association has an office there as well as the City Archives. I think we could find out a whole lot more about ‘Madam raven hair’ and the Caldera Ranch there than we could from up here looking out for pissing cowboys.”
To Veronica, the idea of searching through the written records in the council building seemed like a great place to get some substantial evidence of what they were dealing with. “Bjorn Ironside, I like the way you think.”
Chapter Fourteen
I sat in complete disbelief listening to Bjorn and Veronica tell me that instead of keeping an eye on the ranch like I’d asked them to, they’d gone into Blanchard, fed on and glamoured a couple of local drunks then broken into the city archives.
I’m sure my jaw had dropped down to my chest as they told their story because I had to make a conscious effort to close my mouth several times during their ridiculous narrative.
“Well. I hope you at least found something I can use because I can’t imagine how things would have gone down if you two had been caught snooping around in there.”
“Oh, I glamoured the security guard.”
“It was crazy,” Bjorn said excitedly. “He turned off the surveillance cameras on all the corridors and everything!”
Of course, he did.
Veronica knew well enough she wouldn’t appear on camera but a walking suit of clothes with Bjorn beside it would have. Just then, Bjorn produced a stack of photocopies they’d taken the time to make during their escapade. I wanted to stay mad at them but as I sorted through the papers they’d stolen, I couldn’t be.
There was a police report log from the cattle Rancher Association documenting every recorded cattle theft in the area for the last five years. I noticed quickly that there hadn’t been that many until about three years ago at which point they became quite a frequent event. It seemed the area’s farms had become plagued by disappearances of groups of 6 to 10 cows at a time.
I sifted further and then Veronica brought my attention to a registration log for Caldera Ranch. I was shocked. It seemed that anywhere between one week and a month after each theft was reported, the Caldera Ranch was registered as purchasing the same amount of animals at auction. The deliveries were all made by the same contractor… Oscar Valencia.
A building permit showed that someone named Bill Kellerman had applied on behalf of Juanita Esperanza, owner of Caldera Ranch, for permission to erect a temporary corral in the valley and a new housing shed on the farm. It was dated six months prior to the disappearance of the Silver Blue Hermosa cattle and had been approved by the city.
I knew that shed was too new looking and that’s the same damn structure I saw on the valley floor.
The Caldera Ranch logs from the Cattle Rancher’s Association put the final nail in the coffin for me. According to the livestock registrations, over the past few weeks, Caldera Ranch had acquired one hundred and twenty head of cows on the open market. They’d been shipped in from just over the Nevada border by no one else but Mr. Oscar Valencia.
Even though I was mad as hell at them, I realized Veronica and Bjorn just might have blown the case wide open… All I needed now was a confirmation of what I’d seen in that shed at Caldera Ranch… you know; real, actual evidence. I took my phone from the pocket of my jeans and quickly dialed Earnie’s number.
***
An hour later, I was seated at the table in the main hall at Silver Creek ranch. The room had been cleared from breakfast and there was still a couple hours before the cooks and stewards would be needing it to serve lunch.
I spread out a few of Veronica and Bjorn’s stolen pages on the table in front of Earnest, Fred and Greg. I let the information sink in for a little and it only took them a few minutes
to see where I was headed. Greg lost his temper and immediately started yelling at the top of his voice about what he was going to do to that bitch across the canyon.
“Whatever you three do now, it’s important to keep your cool and work completely within the parameters of the law. None of you want those cattle impounded pending a lengthy investigation, do you? It could mean losing your calves.”
Greg stopped and looked squarely at me. After a few minutes studying my face, he took a seat with us at the table again.
“I need you three to do me a huge favor.” The three men looked up at me with hope in their eyes. “Get me one of the branding pokers from your ranches; the same one you would have used on these co-op cows.”
“It’s just one that we use on those animals. I’d have one here. Let me get Randal to bring it in.”
“Thanks, Earnie. Please do, but don’t tell anyone anything yet, okay?” He nodded and walked out towards the yard.
I grabbed a blank sheet of paper and carefully drew the symbol I had seen branded on the rear ends of the cows that were laying in the new shed on Caldera Ranch. When Earnie returned with the branding iron, I put its business end into the ashes of the fireplace and pressed it to the paper to make an imprint. Then I stepped back.
“Gentlemen, tell me what do you see?” The three men were in shock. They stood over the paper shaking their heads unable to find the word they were looking for until I offered it to them. “Forgery. Earnie, would you be kind enough to call the Sheriff?”
Chapter Fifteen
As soon as Earnie, Fred and Greg were finished presenting their case to Detective Massey, we were out in the stable yard saddling up our horses. I led the group through the stockade gates and out to where the section of fence had been cut and repaired.
