Texas Reckless

by Gerry Bartlett

  “Sierra told me the story. It had to be traumatic for her. Sounds like Joey Schlitzberger wasn’t such a great catch.” Rhett moved closer.

  “No kidding. We all thought he was hot stuff, but I guess Sierra told you how that turned out for Sally Ann. Water under the bridge now. He grew up, went to law school and is doing fine. Even talks about running for office. State legislature or higher.” Marty looked down at her hands, twisting in the covers.

  “We just heard he’s involved in this senior living thing.” Sierra was ready to try for the truth. “We got a list of investors, Marty. Tres Amigas ring a bell?”

  “How do you know about that?” Marty looked startled.

  “You think I wouldn’t remember your little clique’s nickname?” Sierra pulled up a chair. “I can’t believe Sally Ann would have anything to do with Joey Schlitzberger. Apparently he’s ramrodding this deal with Oxcart.”

  “Like I said, Joey’s changed. And Sally Ann isn’t dealing with him directly. That’s why we chose a group name for our investment.” Marty was picking at the cotton bedding. “We let Ellie do the negotiating and handle the paperwork. You have no idea how important this is to us.”

  “Not too important, I hope. Not so important you hired someone to burn down my barn or try to make me fall into a hole—all to scare me into selling.” Sierra sat and leaned her elbows on the bed. “I want the truth, Marty, and I want it now. Did one of you hire Darrel to burn down my barn?”

  “No! Hell, no!” She gaped at them. “Why would you think that? We were your friends. Don’t you remember how Ellie and I came to visit you when you were going through those surgeries? I know Sally Ann didn’t come with us, but she said it hurt her too much to see you like that.”

  “Really? Or did she feel guilty? I think she damaged my cinch and that’s why I fell that day.” Sierra jumped when Rhett squeezed her shoulder.

  “Sierra, Marty already said she doesn’t know anything about that. What she does know about is this Oxcart deal.” He sounded serious. “Ask about that. You can confront Sally Ann when you see her, like Marty suggested.”

  Sierra took a breath, fighting that overwhelmed feeling again. God, but she hated hospital smells. It took her right back to some of the worst days of her life. Rhett was right, much as she hated to admit it. Marty winced as she moved restlessly. Yes, broken ribs could be a bitch. Concentrate.

  “I’m sorry, Marty. You’re right. You have been a friend.” Sierra touched Rhett’s hand. “We’ve learned some things about Oxcart that are going to make you wish you hadn’t trusted Joey. I’m wondering why you risked money with him in the first place.”

  “Sally Ann is always going on about how you’re rich and don’t understand how it is to need money. I guess she’s right.” Marty shook her head. “Yes, your family is rich but what have you got? A lonely life on a ranch with only the hired help for company. That and a bunch of sad, abused horses to care for. I don’t see you happy, with a husband or family.”

  “That’s not necessary, Marty.” Rhett’s rebuke was sharp. “Get to the point. The investment. Why? Investors seem to be getting anxious for Sierra to sell. Her life has been threatened more than once. We were almost run off the road on the way here. Is your group so hard up that you’d try something like that?”

  “That’s terrible! You can’t blame one of us for that.” Marty reached for a cup of water and drew on the straw. “I’m stuck here and I left Sally Ann in a hotel close by with no means of transportation. I’m sure Ellie is working at the café. She spends most of her life there.”

  “Answer Rhett. Sally Ann must be desperate, to invest in anything Joey Schlitzberger is promoting.” Sierra appreciated Rhett’s solid presence behind her and his support. She needed it, because that sad summary of her life by Marty had cut deep.

  “She is desperate. We all are. You know Will. Our onetime dream guy is a bully who is hell to live with. He’s a controlling bastard. Sally Ann wants to get away from him, but she signed a prenup that gives her very little if she leaves him. I’m still childless because Buddy thinks we can’t afford kids yet. So I work my fingers to the bone at that restaurant, come home late and then have to listen to him gripe about his own business.” Marty’s eyes filled with tears. “You remember when I used to design clothes?”

  “Of course. I even told Rhett how talented you are.” Sierra realized she’d been on target with her theory.

  “Thanks. Well, I’ve never given up my dream of opening my own shop. Not that I’d let Buddy see any of my designs with his attitude. But Sally Ann came up with this scheme.” Marty leaned forward, then grabbed her middle. “Damned ribs. Anyway, Sally Ann buys way too many expensive clothes and shoes. She says shopping fills a hole inside her or some such shit. It’s got her in trouble with Will and he put her on a budget. That really pissed her off and she found a place where she can sell what she’s tired of wearing. She gets good prices for the stuff. Sally Ann took the money and opened a secret account here in Austin. Calls it her getaway money.”

  “No kidding!” Sierra had to admit that was clever.

  “Sally Ann introduced me to the shop owner. I showed her some of my dresses and she loved them, even agreed to take some on consignment. I get a good commission every time she sells one. Now I’ve started a getaway fund too.” Marty’s eyes were shining. Then she sank back. “But it’s going so slowly. I want to move to Austin, eventually open my own shop. But the cost of living in Austin is so high.”

  “What about Ellie? There are three amigas.” Sierra had to admire the way the women had figured out how to make their escapes.

  “Ellie has always wanted to get away from that stinking café. Her brother in Dallas thinks he can get her on at his TV station. You remember those videos we showed you back in the day? She’s been making some and putting them up on YouTube to advertise the café. They’ve gone viral. She has a funny one about her chicken pot pie that’ll make you laugh your ass off. Her brother showed them to someone at the station and she’s got interest there. But she’s worried about those twins of hers. College and med school. Did you hear about that? Those kids are brilliant.”

  “Yes, we heard.” Sierra wondered what it would be like to have her own children and dream about their future. “So what did Ellie do to get money to invest?”

  “We warned her not to risk it, but she decided it was worth it. Joey made this Oxcart deal sound like a sure thing. The amount she had put away was growing too slowly.” Marty froze. “Are you saying Oxcart isn’t a good deal?”

  “Even if I sell them my land, Marty, the Oxcart company is not to be trusted. They may have fooled Joey, I don’t know. But they don’t have a record of success.” Sierra wished she didn’t have to say that. The look on Marty’s face was pure devastation.

  “Oh, God! Don’t tell me that! Ellie can’t afford…” Marty grabbed a tissue from the nightstand.

  “What did Ellie do, Marty?” Sierra grabbed her hand. “Tell me.”

  “She invested her kids’ college fund. Every dime of it.” Marty buried her face in her blanket and sobbed.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Sierra knew she should leave then. But she had more to learn. She did give Marty a few moments alone, taking Rhett out into the hall.

  “This is worse than I thought.” He put his arms around her. “I guess she told the sheriff this.”

  “I don’t know. I’ll pass this along after I ask Marty about Darrel. You know I’m not letting that go.” Sierra rubbed her leg then pushed back into the room. “Marty, we have more questions.”

  “More? Sierra, please. I’m hurting and exhausted. I think I’m due for a painkiller; then I just want to sleep.” She glanced at the door. “If Buddy comes back, you shouldn’t be here. He told me not to talk to anyone.”

  “We’ll leave in a minute.” Sierra sat again.

  “You’d better. Buddy sure doesn’
t know about the investment and I don’t want him to find out. Don’t you think there’s still a possibility that it’ll work out?”

  “No promises, but my brother has some ideas.” Sierra had to throw out that hope. Marty looked so worried.

  “Dylan? We all had a crush on him and your brother Mason as teenagers. I heard Mason got married last year. Lucky woman.” Marty sighed.

  “I love both my brothers. But I’m not getting sidetracked. Why don’t you tell me about Darrel and why you and Sally Ann came to the ranch for his truck? We went by to see him before we saw you. He looks bad.”

  Marty sighed. “You won’t believe me, but Darrel and Sally Ann are friends.”

  “Really?” Sierra realized she’d been rubbing her thigh and stopped. “How on earth did those two get to be pals?”

  “You know Darrel used to work for Will at the dealership. Odd jobs. Will would send Darrel over for Sally Ann to use around the house. Will worked all the time, or so he claimed. Sally Ann would get lonely, especially once Billy started preschool. She and Darrel would sit and drink beer and talk once he finished whatever little jobs she gave him. Sally Ann says Darrel has done some interesting things—rodeo work, even did a stint as a clown. Then he’d listen to Sally Ann for hours when she was on one of her rants about Will.”

  “I’d forgotten he’d done some rodeoing.” Sierra glanced at Rhett.

  “Anyway, I think Darrel had a crush on Sally Ann. Not that she encouraged him. Her type of man is way different from good old Darrel. He accepted that, but seemed eager to be her hero, I guess you’d call it. He even got into a bar fight and ended up arrested when someone called her a bitch down at the Rusty Bucket.” Marty rubbed her forehead. “You know Sally Ann can be one. Especially at that dealership, pushing her weight around as the owner’s wife. But Darrel wouldn’t hear it. He knocked some fella into next week over that.”

  “No kidding. I saw that arrest on his record, but didn’t know it was about Sally Ann.” Sierra squeezed Rhett’s hand, which had landed in hers. “He really was crushing on her.”

  “Yes, but the biggest thing he did for her was one evening when she was driving him back to his truck at the dealership. They’d had a few too many beers and she did something stupid like run a red light. A patrol car pulled them over. Before she could stop him, Darrel insisted on changing places with her. Climbed right over and put himself in the driver’s seat. That move got him a DUI. He had to do community service for two years.” Marty frowned. “That’s a deep dark secret I wasn’t supposed to tell. I sure didn’t share it with Myra.”

  “I guess not. We won’t tell her.” Sierra couldn’t believe it. That was beyond a crush, to risk losing his license. “Sally Ann must have hired a lawyer for him to just get community service.”

  Marty nodded. “Yep, and Sally Ann never forgot what Darrel did. She’d told him how close she was to losing her license.” Marty blew her nose. “So when he called her and said he needed his truck at the hospital today, there was nothing for it but we had to get it right then. Didn’t matter that it messed up my plans.”

  “So you picked her up and drove to the bunkhouse.” Rhett finally spoke. “You didn’t go inside, did you?”

  “No, we didn’t have a key. Sally Ann could have gotten one from Rachel. It would have been a nice thing to do. Darrel needed clothes. His were bound to be torn and muddy from falling into that hole. But Sally Ann was in a tearing hurry. Then you came at her with a gun, Sierra. I don’t know what had your panties in a wad.” Marty glared then seemed to remember something. “Oh, yeah, the barn. And the accident. Sorry.”

  “When you got to the hospital, what happened?” Rhett took over the questioning. Sierra was quiet, thinking about what she’d just heard.

  “Darrel had come out of recovery and looked bad, but was on his phone. He was obviously upset. When he hung up, he asked us to put his keys on the nightstand. Sally Ann gave him a hug and was ready to go.” Marty opened her own nightstand drawer. “I have my phone here. I can call Sally Ann if you want her side of this.”

  “That’s okay. Finish your story.” Rhett clearly wanted to get to the car wrecks.

  “Well, she decided it was too late to go on to San Antonio like we’d told our husbands. That pissed me off, but I knew she was right. I had a phone call to make so I left Sally Ann at the hotel. I was too wired to just hit the hotel bar anyway. That’s Sally Ann’s routine. I thought Darrel should have a few things here in the hospital. I stopped at a Walmart and bought a pair of pajamas with loose pants he could get on over a cast, some shaving stuff and clean underwear. He’s about Buddy’s size.”

  “That was nice of you, Marty.” Sierra smiled at her friend. Marty had always been the heart of the Tres Amigas, the one who remembered birthdays and had kind words when the others didn’t.

  “I felt sorry for him. You should have seen him, Sierra. He looked scared and in pain. I wouldn’t leave a dog in that shape.” Marty rubbed her forehead again. “Shit, where is that pain pill?” She picked up the call button. “I’m calling the nurse.”

  “Won’t do any good. Been there, done that. She’ll bring it when it’s time.” Sierra could use one herself—her leg was killing her.

  “She’d better.” Marty gave up and dropped it. “Sally Ann is Sally Ann. She’s all about herself and she keeps score. As far as she was concerned, she and Darrel were even now. She didn’t seem to give him another thought once we left the hospital. She even complained about driving Darrel’s junker, said the brakes were bad.” Marty’s eyes widened. “No wonder Darrel couldn’t stop!” She looked at Rhett. “Why didn’t I remember that before?”

  “A lot has happened since then. Take me through it. How you ended up chasing him down the road.” Rhett was determined to get to the crash.

  “God!” Marty closed her eyes. “If I’d only known…” She took a breath. “Anyway, when I got up to his room, I saw nurses outside. They were trying to hide it, but they were upset, trying to figure out where Darrel Lockhart could be. They kept checking his chart for orders. I asked if I could put the bag of clothes in his room. They let me because they weren’t about to admit he was gone. But I knew, as soon as I saw his phone and car keys weren’t on that nightstand, that he’d managed to get out of the hospital.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Can you imagine how hard that had to have been? I feel like shit and all I have are some broken ribs. How did he get out with his leg in a cast and half-drunk on painkillers?”

  “We don’t know, Marty.” Sierra handed her a tissue.

  “I did hear the nurse say a walker was missing from a supply room. I guess he found that, but he didn’t have any clothes!” Marty blew her nose. “I kept thinking about how upset and scared he’d looked when he was on the phone. Whoever he’d talked to must have threatened him. I knew Darrel had made a run for it. So I went back downstairs, got in my truck and drove around looking for him.”

  “It was raining, wasn’t it?” Rhett got up. “Mind if I look at your phone?”

  “What? Why?” She snatched it from the nightstand.

  “Come on, Marty, you’ve got nothing to hide.” Rhett held out his hand. “Prove you weren’t the one who threatened Darrel or got a call from someone who told you to run him off the road. Maybe a Dallas area code? Unlock it first.”

  “No problem. Remember, I almost got killed in that wreck, too. Jeez, Sierra, where did you find this guy?” Marty punched in a code then practically threw the phone at Rhett. “Poor Darrel. I hope you do find whoever scared him so bad he risked everything to get out of here.”

  “Thanks, Marty. So do I.” Sierra took a watery breath. “The only reason I’m not lying in intensive care myself right now is because Rhett has saved me twice. He’s a hell of a driver for one thing. It’s a miracle whoever rammed us on the highway when we were coming here didn’t push us into a ditch or flip us over.”

  “My God!”
Marty stared at him.

  Rhett scrolled through her phone. “I see Buddy, Sally Ann, Ellie, Mom and the Wagon Wheel. There’s one number here without a name next to it. Who does that belong to, Marty?” He showed her the number with a different area code from the rest.

  “That’s a burner phone.” Marty flushed. “I’ve been seeing a guy I met at the Wagon Wheel. Nothing serious.”

  Sierra raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

  “Well, it’s probably over now. I was supposed to meet him in San Antonio tonight. I had to call it off.” She held out her hand. “Now you know my deep dark secret. If this gets out to Buddy, Sierra, you’ll have someone else gunning for you.”

  “Don’t even joke about it.” Rhett pulled out his own phone. “I’ve been recording this conversation. If there are any more attempts on Sierra’s life, I’d hate to use that comment to add you to the suspect list.”

  “Holy crap. Give me my phone.” Marty hit the bedspread.

  “You sure this guy who called you isn’t connected to Oxcart?”

  “Give me a break. He’s just a nice guy I’ve hooked up with a time or two, not some evil investor out to get Darrel or Sierra. He thinks I’m pretty. I needed to hear that.” She flushed. “We do not talk about investments when we’re together, you can trust me on that. Now give me my phone.”

  “Sure. Now tell us about the rest of your night.” Rhett tossed her the phone.

  “You were looking for Darrel’s truck, Marty. Then what happened?” Sierra had to ask the question.

  “Isn’t it obvious? I saw him driving out of the parking lot!” Marty’s hands were shaking. “I couldn’t believe he was behind the wheel in his condition. He ran over the curb just exiting the lot.”

  “So you followed him.” Rhett stood closer to the bed.

  “Of course. He noticed and took off, getting on the freeway right away.” She winced. “I tried to pass, to wave him down, but he wouldn’t look at me. He was weaving through traffic and kept going faster. Finally he came to an exit and took off. He was driving crazy and almost hit a car before he cleared the ramp. Then he turned onto a two-lane road that wound away from the freeway. It was dark, no streetlights, and creepy as hell. I guess he hoped to lose me.”