Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 04 - Saddle Up (26 page)

“No.”

“’Thank you.’” She smiled. “I keep the clothes as a reminder of him, but I don’t wear them. If you want, help yourself before you go home. Now tell me your story.”

“It’s a lot longer story,” I told her, hoping she would pass and just go away.

But she slipped off her boots, and put her feet up on my bed.

So I began, starting with my first investigation into the clowns, meeting Tom, the eating contest in Oregon, our trip to the Mexican Riviera, the message about the family that would be killed, then about my dad, and what had happened tonight at the Lagoon, and at the Banner household. I ended with Henry Mullins being arrested.

She never said a word, just listened, nodded a few times and waited when I stopped talking.

When I finished she said, “I never liked that guy.”

I shrugged.

“So you and Tom split up over him arresting your dad?”

I nodded.

“You fell in love with a guy you expected would just let a wanted man walk away?”

“No.”

“Then it seems he did exactly what you knew he would do, didn’t he?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that he handcuffed my dad and took him away from me again.”

She took my empty plate and started toward the door. When she reached it, she turned and said, “I’ve loved two men in my life. One was taken from me and the other I helped kill. I would give my own life to spend another day with either of them again.”

Sheryl Ann closed the door behind her and I flopped back on the bed. She didn’t understand. There are some things you can’t take back. When you tell someone you hate them – that’s one of them!

CHAPTER 26

I had no desire to go to the rodeo, I just wanted to go home but I had a problem – no car. I had put my brand new car into a ditch. It didn’t even have its license plates yet. How was I going to explain this to my insurance company? They weren’t happy when I put my VW in the ditch and they had to pay me, they’re really going to be unhappy with me for doing it a second time.

I dialed the phone and got Justin.

“Hi Teach, what’s new?”

I gave him all the details, deliberately leaving out the part about Tom, of the last two days and ended with my car slamming into the ditch.

“Can’t Sheriff Tom take you home?”

“No. Can I talk to your mom?”

“Sure.”

I heard him scream for his mother.

“Hi Liza, what’s up?”

“I know this is a big imposition, Sally, but I’ve wrecked my car.”

“It was a piece of crap, anyway,” she interrupted me to say.

“Well, I traded that in for a brand new car which I slammed into a ditch.”

“No, are you all right?”

“I’m fine but I need a ride home.”

“Can’t Tom bring you home?”

“Tom and I are no longer a couple,” I said with as even a voice as I could manage.

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, okay? Would you just come up here and get me?”

“I’ll leave right away. Where are you again?”

I gave her directions and she promised to be there in a couple of hours. After I packed my clothes into my bags, I called Jordan. She needed to know about Dad.

“Hi Sis,” Jordan said. “Did you save the family?”

I gave her a short, abbreviated version, playing down the danger and ending with Dad’s arrest.

“Oh shit!” Jordan said. “I’ll get my people tracking Dad and see where they take him. What does Tom say about it?”

“He was the one who arrested Dad.”

“Oh shit!” Jordan said again.

“We’re not together anymore and I don’t want to talk about it. But I just can’t be with a man who would arrest my dad.”

“I’m sorry, Liza. I know how much you loved him.”

“Thanks, Jordan.”

“I can’t believe you demolished another car. You’re going to be dumped big time by your insurance company.”

“It’s a good thing there are a lot of them out there then.”

“Yeah, but they all talk to each other.”

“I’m sure I can get insured by somebody.”

Jordan laughed and said, “I’ll let you know where Dad is.”

“Thanks. How’s Sam?”

“He’s taking his meds, going to counseling and we’re doing great. Thanks for asking, Sis. I better get moving on finding Dad. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Good bye, Jordan.”

Thirty minutes later there was a commotion on the street and I looked out my window. A black stretch limo was coming up Main Street and everyone in every store was outside ogling at it. It stopped right in front of Sheryl Ann’s house. Was it a rodeo star?

A man wearing jeans and a t-shirt got out of the car. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and walked toward the house. A second later the doorbell rang.

“Liza!” Sheryl Ann shouted. “There’s someone here to see you.”

I went down the stairs and the man looked up, pushed his glasses back on his face, and smiled at me.

“Liza Wilcox?” he asked.

I nodded.

“I’m Jack Daniels.”

I heard Sheryl Ann laugh in the other room.

“I got your message and I’m here to fix this mess.”

“They arrested Henry Mullins.”

“I know. He called me and asked me to bail him out.”

“Did you?”

“No. Was everything you said on the message true?”

“Yes, it was.”

“I’d like to meet Priscilla Banner, if I could?”

I glanced at my watch. I still had at least an hour before Sally would get here. “Okay, I’ll take you out to their ranch.”

Jack stepped aside and I left with him. His limo was equipped with three
flat screen televisions, one tu
ned to the stock market, the other on a news show, and the third on the Three Stooges.

He laughed, turning all three sets off. “I just love those guys. Can I offer you something to drink?”

“No, thank you,” I told him.

A few minutes later we pulled up to Banner Ranch. Doc’s motorcycle was parked in front and Grace sat on the front porch steps painting her nails.

“Who’s the beautiful woman?” Jack asked.

“That’s Grace Banner. She’s Priscilla’s daughter.”

Jack straightened his t-shirt, which did nothing to enhance his looks.

Grace stood up when we pulled up to the house and stopped.

When I got out she said, “Hi Liza, where’d you get the cool car?”

“It’s not mine,” I said.

Jack got out on the other side and came around. He extended his hand and said, “I’m Jack Daniels.”

Grace giggled.

Jack laughed. “I know. My parents gave me that name because I was conceived after they’d consumed an entire bottle of the stuff.”

They both laughed.

“He’s here to see your mom, Grace.”

“Okay, great. She’s in the library with Doc.”

Grace opened the door and we followed her. Jack and Grace kept eyeing each other and smiling. I sensed a romance blossoming right in front of my eyes.

In the library, Priscilla was in the same position as when I left her – sitting in front of the fire with a blanket. It had to be ninety degrees in the room. Doc sat in the chair opposite her, holding her hand.

She opened her eyes when we came into the room.

I introduced Jack to her and Doc.

Doc kissed Priscilla on the forehead and said, “I’m headed back into town. I’ve got some phone calls to make.”

Priscilla smiled up at Doc, love evident in her face. “Thanks for coming and explaining everything to me.”

Doc nodded.

“Can I get a ride back to town?” I asked Doc.

“I don’t have a second helmet,” he replied.

Then I turned to Jack Daniels. “Can your limo driver give me a ride back to town?”

“Of course. He’ll take you back and then come back and get me.”

I nodded and said goodbye to them all.

Doc and I walked out together.

“So how much of the truth did you tell her?” I asked when he closed the front door behind us.

“All of it. My gambling addiction, the payoff that Henry Mullins got for me several years ago, and the faking of the medical records to indicate that the town was a cancer cluster. I didn’t know about the oil. I just thought he was behind the company that wanted to build the new road.”

When I started to go down the steps, Doc put his hand on my shoulder.

I turned and said, “What?”

“I didn’t know he was going to kill you, Liza. You’ve got to believe me. He told me he just needed you out of the way for a few hours, so he could move the equipment. I would never have left you and your baby in that building if I would have known what he had planned.”

I shrugged. What else could I do? I didn’t have the energy to argue with the man or explain my part in the entire incident.

As soon as the limo driver dropped me off, Sally arrived. We didn’t talk the entire way home. She gave me a big hug and let me out at my front door. Shelby was barking wildly when I tried to open the door.

“Settle down girl, I’ll be right there.”

When I opened the door, she jumped up, putting her front paws on my chest and licked my face.

“I’m glad to see you too.”

I unloaded my suitcase, ordered in Chinese food, asking for extra pot stickers for Shelby and life went on. On Monday I went back to school and welcomed the distraction of twenty-six little children. It was wonderful to get hugs hello and sing and dance with them. It lifted my spirits, if only for a moment. The entire next nine days, I looked for information about a family being killed in Ridgedale or anywhere else up north. April 15
th
was the most boring news day in years, according to the newscaster on the eleven o’clock report. Friday came and I was sure that Jackson’s family was fine.

The days went on.

Jordan and I kept in touch. They kept moving Dad from one prison to another, so she would call every time he arrived in a new state.

On a Friday evening in May she called again.

“Hey, Sis. They moved Dad to Nevada today.”

“Why can’t they leave him in one place?” I asked.

“I have no idea.”

“What you doing this weekend?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“Man, Sis. It’s been almost a month since you and Tom broke up and you still sound like you’re down in the dumps.”

“I’m fine,” I lighted my voice forcing an emotion I didn’t feel.

“How about if I fly out and we go do something together this weekend?”

“That would be great, Jordan.”

“Okay, I’ll make arrangements and be there in the morning. Let’s go to the beach. I haven’t been there in a long time.”

“The beach would be great. I’ll bring some cups and spoons so you can build a sandcastle.”

“I think I’ve got some shells and old necklaces around here for decorations.” She laughed.

And that’s what we did.

Jordan arrived at nine the next morning and we took my rental car, a convertible Mustang, to the beach. The weather was a little cool, but we still took the top down and enjoyed the wind rushing around us.

I turned the music up loud and we sang to the latest country and western songs. My spirits actually lifted for the first time in a month. It was great to be with Jordan. We went through a fast food joint for lunch and kept on driving.

When we got close to Monterey, Jordan said, “One of the other assistant district attorneys has a condo near the beach and he said we could use it for the weekend.”

“That’s great, Jordan. Where is it?”

“It’s called the Monterey Dunes Colony. I’ll just look it up on my iPhone.”

A few minutes later we pulled up to a security gate.

Jordan dug a piece of paper out of her purse and said, “The code is 38358.”

I punched in the code and the metal gate opened.

Jordan’s friend’s condo was beautiful. It was the last unit, which meant it was closest to the beach and we only had neighbors on one side. The inside was decorated with a beach motif, from signs announcing “Surf’s up!” to “Watch out for the undertow!” That sign looked like it had been stolen from someplace.

We threw our stuff down on the couch and opened the sliding glass door. The smell of the beach hit me and I inhaled its wonderful aroma. I had forgotten how much I loved the beach.

“Let’s go make some sandcastles!” Jordan exclaimed, bringing out a plastic Ziploc bag full of shells and beads.

“I forgot the cups and spoons,” I told her.

She pulled out a larger Ziploc bag filled with sand toys.

“Let’s go.”

Jordan and I walked down to the beach. It was a private beach for the condos and deserted. I plopped myself down near the water, took off my shoes, and set my toes in the ocean. It was cold and felt wonderful.

Jordan sat a few feet higher than me and started on her castle.

“That’s my girls!” I heard Dad say.

Both Jordan and I whipped are heads around, then jumped up and launched ourselves at Dad.

“Easy girls,” he said, falling back onto the sand.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“You didn’t escape, did you Dad?” Jordan chimed in.

“No,” he said, glancing over his shoulder.

Off to the left and over by the sand dune stood two men, both dressed in dark suits.

“The Feds?” I asked.

“Have a seat on the sand and I’ll tell you all about it.”

We did and Dad told us that he agreed to testify against the guys who killed Tad Jenkins and set the platform at the Lagoon to explode.

“I wouldn’t tell them the names of my people, but it was enough to get me out of jail, at least until the trial.” He glanced back at the two men. “Except I have my two entourage agents following me around everywhere.”

“That’s great,” both Jordan and I said together and hugged Dad again.

He pushed us away and said, “I see my girls haven’t changed. One is building sandcastles and the other is staring out into the ocean.”

“It’s like a family vacation at the beach,” Jordan said.

“Yes it is,” Dad agreed with her.

Jordan went back to her sandcastle adding shells and little blue beads around the perimeter she had made.