A Merry Branson Murder (A Tiny House Cozy Mystery Book 2)

by Abby L. Vandiver

  “You won’t get in there.”

  “What? Why?”

  “They don’t let strangers on the ranch,” Lowell said. “They practice stunts and proprietary stuff.”

  “Proprietary stuff?”

  “Yep. Secretive stuff. Their tricks and stunts that they’ve branded. Don’t want anyone stealing them. And there’s no climbing fences to get in there.”

  “Ugh!” I said.

  “I was just on my way over to the ranch to pick up something,” he said and looked at me out of the corner of my eye. “You can ride with me if you want. I can get you in, you can see if Tangie is there and if she is, talk to her.”

  “You’d do that?” I asked. “Take me over there?”

  “Sure. I don’t mind helping,” he said. “I wouldn’t want your grandparents to starve or miss their doctors’ appointments.”

  “What? Oh,” I said remembering my lie. “I wouldn’t want that either.”

  “So you want to ride with me over there?”

  “I have my own car,” I said.

  “Didn’t you just hear what I said?” he said. “You’d never get in without me.”

  What was he up to?

  I sucked in some air. Then I sized him up.

  I knew I could take him if he did try anything. I pictured myself giving him a blow right in his bulging Adam’s apple, cutting off his airflow, it would be easy to take him down. Although he did have pretty strong looking hands . . .

  “Okay,” I said, although I could hear my Dedek in my ear telling me not to always be so cocky. I couldn’t beat the world. “But I can beat him,” I mumbled.

  “What did you say?” He turned his head as if he was trying to hear me better.

  “I said, ‘Where’s your car?’”

  “It’s out there,” he said pointing toward the barn door. “Parked legally, not blocking the doorway like you.”

  “I can move it,” I said.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said and smiled. “Let me wash my hands. Then I’ll be ready to go.” He started to walk away, but turned around and looked at me. “You’re not afraid of getting into my car. Are you?” He drew in his eyebrows and snorted. “I am a stranger, you know. And I know you’re thinking I might be Blu’s killer.”

  “Are you going to kill me?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

  “No.”

  I shrugged. “Then I’m ready when you are.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  We rode in silence to the ranch. And I wondered whether Mr. Lowell O’Kirk was being truthful with me. Was he really just being nice and helpful, or did he have something else up his sleeve? But those thoughts were quickly7 lost in the swirl of ideas I had about how I was going to approach Tangie Dumont.

  I had no idea about what kind of person this woman was. She worked in a Wild West show. A real cowboy? A six-shooter like Annie Oakley? Maybe a murderer . . .

  She might not “hold too kindly” to me asking her questions about anything. And maybe she was just all bark, no bite. Lowell had said that she backed down from Blu, didn’t like her, but didn’t stand up to her.

  We pulled off the main road and up into the gravel drive that soon turned to dirt. I looked back to see far up the road we’d come and I could have sworn I saw that green Toyota Corolla from earlier.

  “Did you see a green car following us?” I asked Lowell.

  He glanced in the rearview mirror. “There’s no one behind us,” he said and glanced over at me.

  “No,” I said. “I mean before.”

  “Before what?” he said.

  I shook my head nevermind.

  After driving for at least a couple more minutes, Lowell stopped in front of a big wrought iron gate, it seemed to surround the entire compound. There was a sign overhead that read, The Merry Jo Ranch. I drew in a breath. There was no turning back now. And the way this place was locked down, if Lowell was setting me up, martial arts skill or not, there was no way that I was going to be able to escape.

  Lowell got out of the car and walked up the intercom that was attacked to a pole in the ground. It had a monitor and a keypad. I watched as he buzzed, then was identified onscreen and punched in a number.

  They really are particular who they let in, I thought.

  He got back in the car and waited for the gates to open. He drove through and I got a good look at the layout of the land.

  “Why do they call it the Merry Joy Ranch?” I asked taking it all in.

  “That was the owner’s mom’s name,” he said. “It’s a family ranch. His parents’ bought it more than forty years ago.”

  “Oh, that’s sweet,” I said. “And it’s the same people that own the Merry Stampede?”

  “Yep.”

  “So why the difference in the name?” I asked. “They left off ‘Joy’ on the Wild West show.”

  “Not sure why they dropped the Joy on the business part of it,” he said. “Never even thought to ask. That’s good that you’re observant.” He glanced over at me. “Just maybe you’ll be able to figure out something about Blu.”

  I nodded and smiled. Maybe so, I thought.

  As we drove up to the house, I let my eyes wander. The ranch reminded me of the Carter Ranch in Collierville. Land as far as you could see.

  But this one had one major difference. It had animals. Horses to be exact. A lot of them. Grazing. Running. Being rode. The house and grounds put me in the mind of the reruns that my grandfather used to watch of Bonanza and Rifleman on television. Wooden fences, big barns and people walking around in cowboy hats and blue jeans.

  Lowell pulled up in front of the house and put the car in park. “You can check in the house for Tangie. See if she’s in there,” he said and nodded toward the large farmhouse. “Hopefully, you’ll be lucky and she hasn’t left yet.”

  I opened the car door and got out, but before I could get to the house, I heard Lowell call out her name.

  “Tangie,” he said. “We came looking for you.”

  “Who is we,’ she said just as I turned around and saw her walk up to Lowell on the driver’s side of the car.

  He pointed to me. “That’s Nixie Culpepper. She had a few questions she wanted to ask you about Blu.”

  Thanks, Lowell, I thought. Just throw me under the bus.

  My plan – haphazard as it was – had been to ease my way into asking her questions. No chance catching her by surprise now.

  “Why are you wanting to know anything about Blu?” Tangie asked. With a frown on her face, she looked at me from top to bottom. “What’s your interest in her?”

  “She’s the one who found the body,” Lowell said. “She came over to the Merry Stampede trying to find out what happened. She’s trying to pro-”

  Geesh! Was he going to let me talk?

  “My job,” I said, interjecting, cutting him off. “I’m sure you understand about trying to protect your job.”

  “And finding out about Blu is going to help your job how?” She walked around the car to me, her voice getting loud.

  “Uhm,” I said still trying to gather my thoughts and I didn’t want her stalking off before I could have a conversation with her. But before I could open my mouth to say more Tangie starting answering questions I hadn’t asked yet.

  “Well, I can tell you all about her,” she interrupted. Spittle flying out with her words, she seemed to get mad just at the thought of Blu. “She was a thief. She connived her way into getting what she wanted. And when she couldn’t get it, she’d take it.”

  “Okay,” I said backing up out of her range and swiping a hand across my face. “So you think she stole something from someone and that’s why she was killed?”

  “No. I think she was killed because she was somewhere she didn’t belong. Isn’t that where she was found? In someone’s house? People don’t like that.”

  “But the owners of the house weren’t there,” I said. “They aren’t the ones who killed her.”

  “I don’t know that part o
f it,” she said seemingly realizing her error and which made her calm down. “I just know she was somewhere she shouldn’t have been. But she was always mooching off of people,” Tangie said, face red from her apparent dislike of the dead girl. “But I do know she was crashing at places she didn’t belong. Using up people’s things. Maybe she knew the Dallasandros. Knew they’d be on vacation.”

  Tangie had the same information the detective had. But I guess her saying it confirmed it. She hadn’t been there to rob the place.

  “So she was staying there. I guess she needed a place to sleep,” I said. “But it doesn’t explain why she was killed or who did it.”

  Tangie looked down at her hands and shook her head “Well it wasn’t me, if that’s what you came here to ask me.” She stood up straight and looked me directly in the eyes. “I didn’t kill her. I was with Lowell when it happened.”

  “With Lowell?” I turned and glanced at him, he had a blank look on his face. She already had an alibi, an alibi that Lowell never mentioned to me. Then I looked back at her, but her eyes didn’t meet mine, they drifted to something behind me.

  “There’s who you want to talk to,” Tangie said and pointed. I turned around to look and saw a tall, handsome man with long, black hair and a stubble beard standing on the other side of the gate, the same spot Lowell and I had been earlier, only it seemed, Lowell had had more luck. “If you can,” Tangie added.

  “Who is that?” I asked.

  “That’s Levi,” Lowell said.

  “Levi Garza,” I said softly. “The boyfriend.”

  “You told her about Levi?” Tangie asked.

  “Just his name,” Lowell said although truthfully he’d said more.

  I walked forward watching him as he spoke into the screen. I couldn’t hear him, but I knew the routine. “I’ll talk to him,” I said and turned and looked back at her. “When he comes in.” I stood in the middle of the drive waiting. I wanted to let her know that I wasn’t going to give up.

  “He won’t get in,” Lowell said.

  “And even if he did,” Tangie said. “You wouldn’t be able to speak with him.”

  “Why,” I asked.

  “He doesn’t speak English,” Tangie said proudly.

  Well Lowell didn’t tell me that . . .

  I glanced at Lowell and noticed how he looked at her, she flashed a devilish smile in return.

  “Oh,” I said and turned to watch him get back into the car. “What language does he speak?”

  “Spanish,” she said and snickered. “So you may as well forget about talking to him. And forget about solving this whole thing. It’s none of your concern anyway.”

  “Tangie,” Lowell said.

  “What?” she said and threw her head back and laughed. She walked over to him and grabbed him in the collar and smacked her lips against his then she took her hand and wrapped around the back of his head held it in place. That made me uncomfortable and it even seemed awkward to Lowell.

  Once Tangie let him up for air, she gave a head nod my way and said, “Tell her she should be careful about snooping around. Everyone else won’t be as nice as me.”

  “She’s just looking out for herself,” he said. “You, out of everyone should understand that. I mean you could give the girl a break, she found a dead body.”

  “Look. I need a ride back into town,” Tangie said seemingly done with our conversation. “Can you give me a lift when you take Nosey Girl back?” She threw a thumb my way.

  “Of course,” he said then looked at me. “It’ll be alright.”

  “It’s fine with me,” I said and shrugged. I wasn’t getting any more out of her anyway, and I was ready to go find Levi Garza, although I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that. Tangie was wrong, I was going to be able to speak to him. Language, for me, posed no barrier.

  “You two be nice,” Lowell said. “I have to go inside and get something. I’ll be right back.”

  After he went inside, Tangie and I stood and stared at each other. I don’t know what she was thinking about me, but I was thinking she should definitely be on my suspect list, even though I hadn’t exactly created one. Jealousy was one good reason for murder and this girl had a temper. It was easy to see her suddenly get mad and pick up and hit Blu with the closest object she could find.

  I won the stare down, Tangie finally stopped looking at me and went into the house. I stood there, and a wave of anxiousness washed over me. I looked around and thought about how dumb I must look just hanging around. I went and leaned on the car. Folded my arms across my waist. Then I dropped then to my side and crossed one leg over the other and then uncrossed it.

  “What the heck,” I said. “Will you come on already?”

  I glanced toward the door they’d disappeared inside of. Both Lowell and Tangie had suggested that Levi might be the culprit, but those two seemed closer than two peas in a pod. Tangie kissing him, Lowell saying he was glad she was dead, and now Lowell was Tangie’s alibi. How could she think he was her alibi when he had told me he suspected her?

  Maybe they were trying to throw me off. Confuse me. Although I didn’t need help being that. I shook my head. I tilted my head and thought about it. Maybe it was the two of them that killed Blu and now they were setting up the boyfriend to take the fall.

  Lowell finally came out of the house. I jumped up off the car and started to get in the front seat where I’d sat when we came.

  “If you don’t mind,” Lowell said, standing at the driver’s side door. “Let Tangie sit in the front.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Okay.”

  “It’s only that I’ll have to still deal with her after you’re long gone. She’d see it as me playing favorites.”

  “No. I said it was fine. I don’t mind.”

  Tangie came back out of the house with two duffle bags. Both seemed quite heavy and Lowell didn’t seem to notice her struggle or go to help her. Instead he went to the trunk and opened it for her. She packed everything in, he slammed it shut and they both slid in their respective seats. Without anyone saying anything, Lowell took off.

  I watched out of the window and nursed my anxiousness I’d felt earlier about getting back to my car and finding Levi Garza.

  “So you work for Harrington?” Tangie said, turning around in her seat and looking at me.

  Well, that took me by surprise. How did she know? Then I squinted my eyes and thought about how back at the ranch, she’d said that maybe knew the Dallasandros. How did she know they’re name?

  “Harrington House and Pet Sitters,” I said and nodded wondering what other information she had about the murder that she shouldn’t know.

  “You like doing that?” she asked, and turned back to face the front. Her tone conversational for the first time since I’d met her.

  “So far,” I said. “This is my first assignment.”

  “Well, I’d be a little afraid, if I were you,” she said. “I mean the job is kind of weird. Going into the homes of strangers. Looking after their things.” She turned again to look at me. “You ever take anything out of the houses?”

  I frowned. “No,” I said. “I haven’t. And I wouldn’t. And,” I let out a huff, “I told you this is my first job since I started working for them. First house I sat.”

  “Might get tempting,” Tangie said. “Especially in the neighborhood you’re in.” She pulled down the sun visor and looked at herself. Brushing her hand through her hair, she swiped her fingers over the sides of her mouth. Then she adjusted the mirror so she could see me. I let my eyes meet hers and she smiled a sheepish grin.

  I slowly closed my eyelids and opened them again then turned my gaze away from her and back to look out of the window.

  Then I thought, I would make one more ditch effort at talking to Tangie. What could it hurt seeing she was talking to me in a civilized manner? “So, you don’t have any idea about who could have killed Blu?” I asked.

  “You talking to me?” Tangie said, turning halfway round in the sea
t to glare at me.

  “Yes,” I said. “I’m talking to you.” Her attitude had changed back, it swung, going from good to bad, like a pendulum. “You knew her pretty well.” I wasn’t going to let her detour me. “Maybe you know who would follow her to the house and hit her over the head.”

  “I wished it had been me,” Tangie said. “But then I’d be in jail instead of the lead act in next season’s Merry Stampede Revue.”

  “Really,” Lowell said, a big grin spread across his face and he put up a palm.

  Tangie smacked it, giving him a hard high-five. “Just got the word today,” she said.

  “No more side work for you,” Lowell said.

  “Nope” she said and then glanced back at me. “It’ll be my face up on all those billboards.”

  “How come you just now telling me?” Lowell asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I guess Tiny House Girl distracted me.”

  Did everyone know about my tiny house?

  I shook my head and got back on track. “So you say you didn’t kill her, but do who know who would have.”

  “I have no idea,” she said. “Like I said, I was with Lowell and we were not thinking about anyone else but ourselves.” She smiled and touched Lowell’s arms. “Ain’t that right.”

  He nodded then looked back at me. Tangie seemed to always drag Lowell into world, but I wasn’t so sure he wanted to be in it. But, still, he played along.

  “Hey!” Tangie jumped and pointed out of the window. “This is where I want to get off,” she said. “Pull over! Pull over!”

  “Okay,” Lowell said. “I gotcha you.” He pulled over to the curb in front of a pawn shop and a diner and looked at her. “Thought you were coming back with me?”

  She grabbed the door handle. “I am. I just have to take care of some business first.”

  Lowell looked back at me. “Do you mind waiting?”

  “Oh, no,” Tangie said. “You don’t have to wait.” She gave him a crooked smile. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Oh,” he said clearly disappointed. “You sure?”

  “I’m sure. Pop that trunk for me.”