by Sylvia Nobel
“Hello, Sloan,” she said, her tolerant smile thin, her eyes narrowing with mild disapproval. When he was out of earshot she whispered to me, “If you’d like a little more privacy, there’s a cordless phone around the corner in the living room. You can try taking it upstairs, but sometimes the reception isn’t very good.”
“Thank you.” I shot her a grateful smile, hurried along the hall and paused in the doorway of a long, rectangular room embellished with reddish-brown leather furniture, wagon wheel lamps and colorful Navajo rugs. On a side table, adjacent to a large picture window offering a stunning view of the blue-hued Santa Rita Mountains, I spotted the phone. Calling card in hand, I was across the room in a flash and could hardly dial the numbers fast enough.
“Hullo”
“Hi, Ronda,” I said, feeling relief that it wasn’t her mother, “is Tally there”
“Yeah, he’s here, but he can’t talk to you right now.”
My spirits sagged. How long was this silly game of phone tag going to continue Unable to suppress my irritation, I snapped, “Why not”
“Because,” she exhaled, “he’s out front arguing with a couple of pointy-headed INS officials. Try him in half an hour or so.”
More than a little disappointed, I hung up thinking that the odds that we’d all be experiencing the impact of illegal immigration at the same time must be enormous. What the heck. Might as well use the time to get the office calls out of the way.
“Castle Valley Sun,” chirped an unfamiliar voice after two rings.
Slightly nonplussed, I asked, “Umm…is Morton Tuggs in”
“Hold on.” Click. A few seconds later, came a gruff, “Tuggs here.”
“Hey, Tugg, Kendall. What’s going on”
“Oh, just the usual chaos. Well, maybe a bit more than normal, but we’re coping. But, what the hell’s up with you I thought you and Tally were heading to California this week Instead, Walter tells me you’re down in Arivaca because of Lupe”
“We’re leaving in the morning.” Still bound by my promise, I gave him a vague overview, citing major personal problems.
“Personal, huh” he grunted. “And that’s all”
“Mostly.”
The skepticism in his tone conveyed loud and clear that I wasn’t fooling the old newshound. Oh, well. What could I do When I returned, I’d have no choice but to level with him about Lupe’s illegal status and he was going to shit a brick. Changing gears quickly, I asked, “Say, who was that answering the phone”
“Louise.”
“Your daughter Louise Why is she there Where’s Ginger”
He chuckled. “Manning the phones in classifieds and she’s not too happy about it.”
“What” My heart spiraled downward. “Lupe promised me she’d be in today.”
“She was here alright, but sick as a dog, so I sent her home.”
“Oh, frap. Just what I was afraid of.”
“She said you’d have a royal fit, but, hey, you’re not doing me any favors by sending Typhoid Mary in here to infect the rest of us.”
I weighed my options for several seconds, before saying, “Well, that settles it then. I’ll be back at my desk tomorrow morning.”
“You’ll do no such thing.”
“Tugg, a deal’s a deal. In good conscience, I can’t go skating off to California for a week and leave you there shorthanded.”
“Bullshit. You’ve earned every second of this vacation. You both have.”
“But, Tugg….”
“No buts. Lupe will probably be back in a day or two and Al will be back Thursday. In the meantime, we’ll make do. So forget everything, relax and have a good time.”
I didn’t feel good about it, but he refused to take no for an answer, saying that after thirty years in the business he felt confident he could handle things. I just hoped the added stress wouldn’t jeopardize his health, although he’d improved leaps and bounds since his ulcer surgery. He excused himself to take another call and I asked him to connect me to Ginger who immediately scolded me for not calling her sooner. “Sorry, there’s lousy cell coverage down here.”
“Whew! And here I been worried to death that you was still mad at me about the other night.”
“I’m not going to tell you that it hasn’t been bugging me, but what I really need now is to ask you a huge favor.” I gave her an abbreviated version of the cat escapade and she crowed, “Well, ain’t you a sweetie pie rescuing a poor little stray. I’m sure we can handle it.”
“You don’t think Churchill will hurt her, do you She’s pretty small and with her leg injured, I don’t think she’ll be able to outrun him.”
“Don’t you worry your little head. We’ll shut her in Brian’s room, that way Churchill can’t pester her and neither can Suzie.”
“You’re a doll. I’ll bring her by this evening. Then I’ve got to scoot and finish packing.”
“I’m sure Tally will be as happy as a rooster in a hen house to have you back.”
“I hope so. We’ve haven’t spoken since Friday night. For all I know he’s still pissed off at me about this trip.”
Her sly little giggle re-ignited my curiosity. “Honey, I don’t think I’d worry too much if I was you.”
“Are you sure there isn’t something you’d like to tell me”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” she said in a sing-song tone, “and be real careful driving home, we’re supposed to get another storm tonight.”
“Another storm You had rain I think we had about twenty drops here yesterday, but that’s all.”
“We had us a real frog strangler and…oh Lordy, I got to catch these other lines.”
I thanked her for bailing us out of a jam on such short notice and then asked her to transfer me to Walter. “Kendall!” his voice boomed in my ear. “I was wondering why you never called me back.”
“Lots of reasons,” I said, “but now that I’ve got you on the line, I have a few more questions and a favor to ask.”
“Fire away.”
I recapped my visit to the Shirley residence, my conversation with Jennifer and about Loydeen’s evasive behavior, her accusation that my presence was somehow endangering them, how she flipped out when she spotted the skinhead in the truck and her fear that people were watching her. “Walter, do you have any idea what she was talking about”
“No, I don’t. That sounds mighty odd but you gotta take into consideration that she’s been under a lot of strain and if she’s taking a bunch of prescription meds…well, maybe that’s why she’s been acting paranoid.”
I hoped that’s all it was. “Walter, do you know anyone else I could talk to pertaining to this case”
“Jennifer pointed out one of the guys at Bob’s funeral to me. Said he was her dad’s partner. Guy by the name of Alberto Morales or something like that, but good luck finding him.”
“Why do you say that”
“According to Loydeen, two weeks after the funeral, he resigned and moved away.”
The dark sense of uneasiness nudged me again. “Hmmm. Interesting coincidence.”
“I thought so too. So level with me, Kendall, what do Bob’s case and your interest in my extraterrestrial piece have to do with Lupe”
Ginger hadn’t wasted any time telling everyone. “I wish I could tell you, but I can’t, not yet.”
Big sigh. “Gotcha. Did you get a chance to talk with Mazzie La Casse”
“Yes, thanks for the tip. She’s a great resource.”
“I figured she would be. So, was I right about that rally on Saturday Did you end up in the middle of it”
Etched forever in my memory were Lupe’s screams of terror as the skinheads closed in around my car. And I certainly would never forget the hateful aura that saturated Jason’s room, nor the pitiless smolder in the wolf-like eyes of the skinhead outside the Shirley house. “In more ways than one. Speaking of that, what else do you know about this Knights
of Right group other than what you mentioned on the phone the other day about the head guy being sentenced to prison Who’s running the show now”
“I’ll be damned if I know. And it’s not so easy to find out anymore.”
“Why not”
“The leaders aren’t as visible. Ever since the Oklahoma City bombing, most of these White supremacist groups and even some of the law abiding militia groups have decided it’s better to keep a low profile rather than make themselves an easy target for government officials. In fact, most of them have gone underground. I’m not even sure that the majority of people involved in these groups even know who the actual head honcho is because most of the communication is carried out over the Internet now.”
His insightful remark made the mysterious e-mail on Jason’s computer even more intriguing and helped to cement my growing suspicions about him. “Hey, listen, Walter, I know you’re snowed under, but I need a huge favor. I’d do it myself, but I’m going to be on the move for the rest of the day.”
“Name it.”
“Can you call Julie over at the sheriff’s office and see if she can get me some information on a woman by the name of Shalberta Hoggwhistle She did time in Tennessee, supposedly for cashing bad checks.”
“Hoggwhistle Are you pulling my leg”
“Nope. And here’s another name. I doubt it’s genuine, but see if you can find anything on a Froggy McQueen.”
“There’ll be a million McQueen’s. Am I checking in Tennessee too”
“For starters.”
“Anything else”
“That should do it for now. I’ll be in California the rest of the week, so you can reach me on my cell phone if you find out anything. Hopefully, there’ll be better cell coverage on the coast than down here.”
“Yeah, it’s spotty at best. Anything else”
“One more thing. I’m planning to make a side trip to Morita before heading out. Last Friday night you mentioned the caretaker and said it concerned another piece you’d worked on. What’s that about”
“It concerned a hiker who was killed there about a year ago.”
Conjuring up the ghoulish details of Russell Greene’s past made my stomach dip in anticipation. “Killed How”
“Apparently, he was exploring the area looking for caves and fell into one of the abandoned mine shafts. Right afterwards, the owners put up a fence, plastered the area with no trespassing signs, and hired some guy to keep people out because of the liability factor, I imagine. Too bad. It’s real pretty back there, natural springs, a waterfall and it used to be neat to poke around some of the old buildings.”
“Who owns the property”
“You know, I’m not sure. Up until a few years ago, one of the big ranchers in that area owned it, but I think I remember reading that they’d sold the property to an out-of-state mining venture interested in reopening the old Yellow Jacket Mine, but you’ll have to verify that.”
“I plan to. Turns out you left a lot of pretty intriguing stuff on the table that I’d really like to follow up on.”
He chuckled. “Well, you’d better get cracking if you plan to get all the answers by this afternoon.”
I smiled. “That’s good, Walter. Actually, I’m probably going to have to make another trip down here next week.” I heard his other line ringing. “Hey, I know you guys are swamped so we’ll talk more later. Call me when you get that info.” I punched the off button and redialed Tally’s number. Ronda answered again and told me to hang on a minute. I roamed around the room while waiting and decided that the privacy of my room would really be preferable while talking with him but, when I got to the hallway, the phone hummed and hissed so loudly I had to retrace my steps.
At long last, I heard footsteps on the other end of the line and the scrape of the receiver being lifted. “You are one tough lady to get hold of,” Tally said with no preliminaries.
“Me I’ve been trying to reach you since Saturday morning.”
“Really”
“Really. I left three messages.” I bit my tongue, deciding I would not mention his mother’s underhanded tactics right now.
“Did you forget to take your handy-dandy little cell phone with you”
“No, I have it.”
“Well, it’s not working. I’ve tried calling you at least fifty times.”
Hearing that made my heart soar with delight. “Sorry about that. I haven’t been able to get a signal most of the time. It’s a pretty isolated area, but, of course, you know that.” What an inane conversation. I didn’t want to talk about cell phones anymore, I wanted terribly to find out if things were okay between us, to ask if he was still angry with me, tell him that I missed him, I loved him and that I could hardly wait to see him.
“I see,” he said lightly. “Has your trip been everything you hoped it would be”
Interesting wording. Translation: I hope you’ve gotten all this nonsense out of your system now, and are ready to come back home. The standoffish quality in his voice clearly conveyed that he was still annoyed.
“By the way,” he added, “what the hell are you doing at the Sundog I thought the whole purpose of your spur-of-the-moment trip hinged on Lupe’s problems”
“It…it’s a long story, most of which I’ll be glad to share with you when I get back.”
“What do you think of it”
“What do I think of what”
“The ranch.”
“It’s fantastic.”
“The Beaumonts are a really special family, don’t you agree”
I hesitated before saying through gritted teeth, “Salt of the earth.”
“I think so too,” he said warmly. “So…what time are you getting in”
I studied my watch. “I’m thinking no later than seven and Tally….”
“Uh-huh”
It was on the tip of my tongue to babble how sorry I was that I’d come on this infuriating trip, but stubbornly all I said was, “I miss you.”
His silence reined in my wildly beating heart. Apparently, I had a lot of fences to mend as a result of my rash decision. Sounding petulant he said, “Does that mean I have a shot at being number one on your list of important things for a change”
“Tally, you’ve always occupied that slot and you know it.” I half expected him to sarcastically contradict me, but instead, he drawled, “Well, then, I’m giving you a whole week to prove it.”
I dropped my voice to a low, sexy tone. “You’re on, cowboy. I plan to stick to you like a piece of teddy bear cholla.”
“Hmmm. Now that presents a host of interesting possibilities. Do I have your solemn promise” I could tell by the husky quality in his voice that he was finally thawing.
“I told you, I never break a promise.”
“Ah…Kendall…” The note of hesitancy told me something else was on his mind.
“Yes”
“Having you along on this trip is…well, real important to me. I guess I’ve been a little worried that you might cancel at the last minute.”
He had no idea how close he was to being right. “Well, stop worrying. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to stop me from coming with you.”
“I’m counting on that…can you hang on a second”
“Sure.” Mumbled conversation in the background and then he came back on the line. “Listen, I’ve got to go finish up with these damned bureaucrats.”
“Okay. I was going to share my little surprise with you now, but I can tell you tonight,” I said lightly, wondering what he’d think of Marmalade.
“It just so happens I have a surprise for you too.”
“You do”
“I do.”
Tingling all over with happiness at the expectation of seeing him in just a few short hours, I reluctantly said goodbye. And, if I hadn’t gotten the little phone antenna caught in my hair and had to fiddle with it for a few seconds, I wouldn’t hav
e heard the telltale click of an extension phone being cradled somewhere else in the house.
16
By the time I reached the main highway a half hour later, the flames of anger had diminished to simmering coals of agitation. What reason would anyone in the Beaumont household have for eavesdropping on my telephone conversations It could have been any one of them but I had a gut feeling it was Jason. I’d run into him again in the upstairs hallway when I’d gone to get my bag and he’d pinned me with such a withering look, my insides shriveled with alarm. Even though he now knew that I had no connection with the Lopez woman, why did he act as if I still represented some sort of threat And why did Bethany get off on treating me in such a malicious manner
Even though I liked Champ and Twyla, I’d had my fill of the brother and sister duo and had a difficult time restraining the urge to blurt out my accusation when I’d returned to the kitchen to announce my departure. Unfortunately, I had no way of proving my suspicions and as a result I wasn’t feeling any too friendly. My frosty thanks for their hospitality, followed by my speedy exit, had left the elder Beaumonts standing on the porch wearing bemused expressions.
Now, as I headed towards Arivaca once more, fighting the ever-rising wind, my temples throbbed and my stomach remained in turmoil. For the next ten miles, I tried to convince myself that the memory of the bludgeoned cattle and the musty residue of llama spit in my nose, piled on top of all the other weirdness that had happened this weekend, were responsible for my feeling out of sorts. But the intermittent chills sweeping over my body and my scratchy throat told a different story. No matter how I tried to deny it the evidence was there. I was coming down with something.
Great timing, O’Dell. No, make that perfect timing—to spoil the vacation with Tally. And it was all my own doing. My dad had opined, following one of my legendary tantrums at age five, that I had been born with an extra bone in my body. A stubborn bone. Wasn’t it because of my pigheaded decision to flaunt my independence that I’d exposed myself to Lupe’s illness and placed my promise to Tally in jeopardy
But, maybe I was mistaken. Maybe I was just tired. I set my jaw, determined to fight it off. “Mind over matter,” I muttered to myself. Perhaps some soup and a couple of aspirin would do the trick, I thought, parking near the front door of the café.
