by Mary Coley
In the car, Moby was hanging his head out of the half-open window, his tongue lolling.
“We have a tennis court and a pool,” Dale said, motioning beyond the house. “A sand volleyball court, horseshoe pit, and a fire ring. Our employees are welcome to use any of those at any time they aren’t working. There’s a whirlpool by the pool, too.”
“Sounds perfect.” Mandy was impressed with the cleanliness of the complex. The flowerbeds were well maintained, and every wooden surface had a fresh coat of paint.
They rounded the house and ambled toward the barns and corrals. Mandy could easily pick out the small bunkhouses where the help stayed. Unlike the cabins on the forested mountainside, the staff housing was surrounded by mowed lawns and flowerbeds.
“Here we are.” Dale took a key ring from her pocket and opened the door. “Our summer girls left Sunday. I’ve not yet cleaned. Of course, I’d take care of that before you move in if you decide you want the job.”
Mandy strolled through the cabin, taking in the furnishings. The red plaid sofa in the living room looked well-used and featured plump pillows covered in a lodge-style fabric. A wood fireplace with a stone chimney filled most of one wall. The small wood table in the kitchen had four mismatched chairs around it.
Dale opened another door and pointed into a cheerful bedroom. “You could have this half of the duplex, although both sides are vacant right now. You wouldn’t be sharing the house until Thanksgiving, when we’ll take on extra help for the holiday weeks.”
Had she been single—without Will—and ready for an adventure, she would have gladly taken this opportunity. It would be the experience of a lifetime, getting paid to live in a beautiful place.
She turned to Dale and found the woman staring at nothing, eyes vacant.
“What do you think?” Dale asked suddenly in a flat voice, disconnected from the moment.
Had Dale figured out she wasn’t looking for a job, but for information? She’d gotten the history she’d come for, but Jenna wasn’t here, and there seemed to be no indication she had been.
“I’ll think about this. It’s a change for me. Can I let you know tomorrow?”
“Sure.” Dale pushed her fingers into her forehead again. “People aren’t beating down my door to work out here. But I have an ad breaking in the newspapers on Sunday. If you decide before Friday noon, I can pull the ad.”
“I’ll let you know tomorrow morning.” Mandy rubbed her arm, keenly aware that this arm injury might make it difficult to accept this job even temporarily. Changing sheets would be painful, not to mention scrubbing showers and sinks.
“Great. Now, I’ve got to get back in and make lunch for the boys. You’re welcome to have a look around if you’d like. If you’re still here at 12, stop by the house and join us for lunch. You’re certainly welcome.”
“Thanks, Dale. I will look around a bit. It’s been a while since I’ve been this close to nature.”
Dale locked the door behind them as they left the cabin. “Hope to see you in a bit.” She sounded exhausted.
“You probably will.”
As Dale trudged away, Doobie ran out of the forest and trotted beside her to the house.
Mandy studied the distant hills. A bird flew from a tree, and when she looked up, the gray and white mockingbird swooped down and landed on the cabin’s porch railing. It tilted its head, flapped its wings, and began to sing.
“I bet you or one of your relatives saw the fire, and everything that happened afterward,” Mandy said to the bird. “Was that Jenna’s family? Was it Jenna and her sister who disappeared?”
The bird spread its wings and flew away.
Mandy climbed the hillside carefully, her bruised legs alerting her that the slight incline was straining injured muscles. The little porch of each cabin contained two bent willow rockers. Gingham curtains decorated the windows. Outside each cabin, a picnic table and a charcoal cooker stood ready to grill hamburgers or hot dogs.
She strolled around the first cabin. Through slits in the window curtains, she determined the cabin had two bedrooms, a living room, and a small kitchen/dining area. Evergreen bushes grew close to the porch on three sides of the house. Flowers in whiskey barrel halves decorated the spaces between the bushes. On the fourth wall there was a back door and a small stoop. An air conditioner unit was positioned beside the back step.
Mandy walked on to the next cabin, a replica of the first, and noticed a 2 had first been carved and painted onto the logs beside the front door frame. A few steps further down the road, Cabin 3 looked bigger, probably a three-bedroom, as did Cabin 4. A parking area had been created by removing a few oaks beside the cabin. On the other side of Cabin 4, another log cabin perched on the forested hill.
Each structure was built about fifty yards from the next, far enough apart to offer those who sat on the porch privacy, but not so far as to seem isolated.
A blue jay cawed at her from his perch in a nearby pine, and a breeze licked her cheek. Mandy couldn’t imagine a deadly fire in this idyllic setting.
An asphalt road curved up the hill to two more cabins, but Mandy took a shortcut through the trees to reach them. Last year’s leaves and acorns crunched beneath her feet.
These two cabins were larger, perhaps even four bedrooms, and each featured two large fireplaces. Another cabin, hidden by overgrown bushes, stood a short distance away. Tree debris littered these shingled roofs and dust layered the windows. Dead beetles and other insects covered the sills. No one had occupied these cabins in recent weeks.
Mandy limped around each cabin, testing her bruised leg muscles. With forest scent filling her head, she stopped to listen to the birds and feel the fresh, warm breeze. Neither the main house nor the bunkhouses were visible from here. Far to her left, the trees opened into a clearing. Mandy meandered that direction, listening and thinking.
If this was Jandafar and Jenna had disappeared from here after the fire that killed her parents, why had she never told anyone who she was? And what had happened to her sister? She had hidden this secret for a long time. Why had Jenna suddenly asked Mandy to come here by Saturday?
She was here, but where was Jenna? There was no sign anyone else was staying in the cabins other than the staff. Two old Ford trucks were parked near the bunkhouse, and there were a couple of SUVs behind the ranch house.
Was she at the wrong place? Maybe this wasn’t the Jandafar Jenna had meant.
When she reached the clearing, vegetation hid charred timbers and bricks. Half a chimney stuck up between young trees and bushes. One outer wall was mostly intact, making it apparent where the structure had been. Leaves and tree litter covered the floor, as did detritus that had either blown in or been carried by animals.
Had Jenna’s parents died in this cabin?
Something glittered in the mess at her feet. Mandy swept the leaves to one side and uncovered a gold hoop earring. Untarnished, it didn’t look like it had been lying there for twenty years. It looked like one of the hoops Jenna loved to wear on the weekends, when she wasn’t dressed for business.
She tucked the earring into the pocket of her jeans. If Jenna had come here, where had she gone? Had Dale seen her?
Melancholy settled over Mandy. If Jenna had come back here, she must be an emotional basket case. Mandy had been unable to even consider passing the location of her parents’ car accident for years.
The bushes rustled. Mandy froze, every hair on her body sensing danger. A ground squirrel poked his head out from the bush and scampered across the remains of the porch and over the sole remaining concrete step.
Mandy hurriedly limped her way downhill toward the ranch house.
~ Chapter 26 ~
Mike
Traffic moved too slow. Mike tapped the steering wheel with his fingers and glared ahead.
This is all wrong. The whole thing has gone wrong.
He fingered the bandage on his forehead.
And they shot me! That wasn’t supposed to happen. Just
a little scare, or so he said.
I could have died.
Not to mention what they did to my truck.
Totally unnecessary.
“Collateral damage,” he said.
He’ll pay for all the collateral damage when this is over.
He caught sight of a turnpike mile marker and calculated how many more miles until he reached Lawton.
Mandy will be surprised to see me, but I’ll see him first. He needs to get a few things straight. For one, no more of these “accidents” that end up backfiring on me. And second, my cut includes Mandy. He gets his girl, I get mine.
That’s the deal.
I won’t let him forget it.
~ Chapter 27 ~
Mandy
Mandy stopped at the Trail Blazer on her way back to the ranch house and let Moby out. The dog raced in a circle, sniffing at everything, before he found a spot and did his business. Mandy filled the plastic bowl she’d brought for Moby with water from a convenience store bottle. Once the dog had drunk his fill, she put Moby back in the SUV again. “Just for a little longer, boy. I promise.”
She rapped at the front door of the main house. Breakfast at the café had been hours ago, and she was hungry. There was no reason she shouldn’t join them for lunch if she was careful about what she said. It would give her a chance to talk to Dale about the history of the place. If the cowboys were around, she might find out if they remembered the fire, or the family.
Dale opened the door and motioned her in. “Hello, Mandy. I’m finishing things up. The men should be here shortly for lunch. You can pretty much set the clock by them.”
Mandy followed her into the kitchen. “Anything I can help you with?” The aroma of stew bubbled up from the stove.
“No. Cutting the biscuits. Soon as they’re done, it’ll be time to eat.” She smiled at Mandy. “Tell me more about yourself. Where have you worked before?”
Mandy stepped over to the window. She didn’t want to keep lying to Dale. The woman seemed trustworthy, but Mandy didn’t know anything about her. “Actually, I’m in marketing. Left a job in Tulsa to move out here. I guess you could say I’m fed up with the corporate world. I want to try something simpler. And I love this part of the state.”
“You wouldn’t believe how many times I hear the same thing from the people who stay here a night or two. But they never act on it. They complain about being fed up, and how they aren’t enjoying their life, but they aren’t willing to take the risk to change a damn thing.” Dale slid the sheet of biscuits into the oven. “You think you’re ready to take that risk?”
“I like what I see here. But I’d like to hang around a few days and learn more. Could I—”
The back door burst open and loud laughter filled the room. Two men wandered in, joking with each other. When they caught sight of Mandy and Dale, their conversation stopped mid-sentence.
“Oh, hi, honey. Didn’t know we had company.” The older of the two men, who had a full head of dark brown hair, graying at the temples, stepped over to Dale and planted a kiss on her cheek. He extended his hand toward Mandy and focused deep brown eyes on her face. Sun had tanned his skin and wrinkled his face. “Hello. I’m Max Hardesty. Glad to have you here at Jandafar. Will you be staying long?” He pumped her hand up and down.
“She’s actually looking for work, Max. From Tulsa,” Dale explained.
“Tulsa! Well, that’s a coincidence. Lamar and I were just talking about Tulsa.” He nodded at the other man. “This is Lamar, our all-around hand. I think they’d call him a foreman if we were a working ranch. He takes care of the place for us and looks after the horses.”
“Mandy Lyons. Pleased to meet you both.” Mandy felt an electric connection as she looked at the second man, Lamar. His tanned face was lined from years of outdoors work, but she noticed his thick sandy blond hair and green eyes. He squinted at her, curious, and smiled before extending his hand. The man had needed a haircut a week or two ago; his hair curled over the tops of his ears and down onto his neck.
“Nice to meet you,” Lamar said.
“Everybody washed? Lunch is ready as soon as these biscuits are. Five minutes?” Dale checked the oven before grabbing a handful of flatware to set the table.
The two men tromped out of the room.
“Don’t know where we’d be without Lamar.” Dale positioned the flatware next to white dinner plates.
Jenna had said, “Find Lamar.” Did he know Jenna? Had he seen her this week?
“He’s from around here?” Mandy asked.
“He and Max both are. But Lamar’s the one who knows how to keep up a place like this. He worked here when it was a dude ranch. You know, he might know something about that incident you mentioned earlier. You should ask him.”
She had found Jandafar and she had found Lamar. Both before Saturday. Would Lamar know where Jenna was?
“So—Mandy, was it? You’re looking for work? What brought you out here?” Max Hardesty asked as he scooted into a chair at the dining table and picked up his spoon to tackle his bowl of stew.
Once again, Mandy wondered if she should trust these people, tell them why she was here, or continue to play games. Her bruised arm ached. Hardly a minute passed that she didn’t think about the big sedan that ran her off the road. She could have been seriously injured. Did one of them already know why she was here?
She glanced at each face as she answered. “I love the Wichita Mountains, and I have fond memories of a vacation in this area when I was a kid.”
“Oh, you like to ride?” Max crammed a biscuit into his mouth.
“When I was growing up, my family vacations usually included a trail ride. I was about six the first time I rode, and I’m pretty sure that was someplace down here. We also traveled a lot to New Mexico and Colorado.”
“Guess Dale told you that this place used to be a dude ranch. Lamar worked there.” Max swallowed a spoonful of stew and buttered another biscuit.
The lines around Lamar’s mouth crinkled as he smiled. “Once a cowboy, always a cowboy. I never wanted to be anything else.”
Dale jumped into the conversation. “Mandy asked earlier about that fire and the accident with the woman who died all those years ago. I couldn’t tell her much, since I didn’t live here. Anything you can add?”
“Like what?” Lamar’s smile died.
The three of them looked at her.
“Um, like what happened, or who they were, or anything. I’m hesitant—superstitious—about working someplace where there have been tragedies.” Her mind worked to create a reasonable backstory.
“You afraid of ghosts or something?” Max asked. He sopped up the remains of his stew with a bit of biscuit.
Mandy shrugged. “Ghosts, memories, whatever you want to call it. You ever notice anything like that here? Anything weird or supernatural?”
“The only thing weird that ever happens is the bloodsuckers that want to come out here and dredge it up again,” Lamar said. “Don’t know why people keep wanting to talk about it. I don’t.” He pushed his chair back from the table and carried his empty bowl to the sink. “Thanks for lunch, Dale. I’ll see to the horses. Then I’ll be in the east pasture, Max, fixing that fence.” He stopped in the doorway and turned back. “Oh, glad to meet you, Mandy.” His look didn’t meet hers.
“Thanks. Me, too.”
Dale pushed out of her chair, grabbed her dishes and Mandy’s, and carried them to the sink.
“So, Mandy, what are your plans? Where are you staying?” Max shoved his plate to one side, folded his arms, and leaned forward on the table to peer at her.
“No plans. Dale has asked me if I’d help for the weekend and stay in the duplex. I’d like to check out Medicine Park, meet more people. I’ve never worked as a maid before. Could you recommend places to check for work next week if the job out here isn’t what I want?”
“A couple of mom-and-pop places rent cabins, and there’s one of those roadside motor courts. Been here since the
fifties. They’ve upgraded, and George and Marla keep it clean and neat. Mrs. Childers has a rooming house, might be cheaper, but you know, you get what you pay for. There’s several eating establishments, three or four little gift shops—one sells only T-shirts. There’s a coffee shop/bookstore, post office, city hall. The fire and police departments. Office for the weekly newspaper/gossip sheet. That’s all we got.” Max leaned back, balancing on the two back legs of the chair.
“While you think it over, you’re welcome to stay here,” Dale repeated. “A couple of the cabins are booked for the weekend. You could work for room and board for the next few days. First of the week, you can inquire at the other places. Only downside to being way out here is that we have spotty internet and phone service.”
Mandy wanted to nose around the former ranch and to talk to Lamar. It sounded as if she might have to wait to talk to him until he’d finished his workday. She needed to find a newspaper archive, to learn about the fire and the woman who had died, since an earlier Google search had popped up no results.
The downside was driving into town. She didn’t want to give anyone the opportunity to run her off the road again. Mandy could use the house phone to call Sparks Garage about her car and delay a trip into town until tomorrow. But she had to find Jenna. Tomorrow was Friday. What would happen to Jenna if she hadn’t found her by Saturday?
“Mandy? Is it that tough of a decision?” Max’s voice was sharp.
“Sorry. This is a big decision for me. I’m stressed, wondering about my boyfriend and what he’s going to think about this. I don’t think I’ll be happy in a long-distance relationship.”
“If you’re in a relationship and you’re thinking about moving this far away from it, I’d say you’re not committed. Seems like there was a spark between you and Lamar. He’s a good-looking guy,” Dale observed from the sink.
“He is. Why’s he not married?”
“Oh, he was,” Max said. “Wife left him, took their daughter, relocated to Denver. The girl comes to visit a lot, maybe even this weekend. He’s been bitter about it. And there’s not too much in the way of eligible young women around here. At least, not until you showed up.” Max grinned at her.
