Stripped Bare (22 page)

Roxy took a sip and set her cup down. “I brought Kate along because she's sort of filling in for Ted. Did you go to the debate last night? I hear she did a great job representing him.”

Kasey wore a suitably grave expression and drew her cup to her face. I wanted to spit my coffee at Roxy. “We did. Kate is a natural. I'll bet everyone there would vote for you.”

Roxy frowned. “Vote for Ted, you mean. Kate did well because standing in for Ted is so easy.”

A wicked light flashed in Kasey's eyes. “Of course. That's what I mean.”

Roxy acted insulted, but continued. “It's terrible that Eldon was murdered, of course. As sheriff, Ted needs to figure out who did it.”

Kasey's jaw tightened.

Roxy nudged me with her eyes. “Yes,” I said. “So, I always thought Eldon was respected by everyone, but last night it seemed to me there were people not very happy with him.”

I should have asked a real question, because Kasey didn't seem inclined to pick up the conversation. I tried again. “Did you and Dwayne have any reason not to like Eldon?”

The kitchen darkened as the clouds gained on us. Kasey looked into her cup. “No. Not really.”

The first fat drops smacked the kitchen window like tiny liquid cluster bombs. Kasey remained serious.

Roxy toyed with the handle on her mug. “What about that thing.”

Kasey wore a totally fake expression of confusion. “What thing?”

Rain rattled on the roof and thwacked the windows. Roxy looked apologetic. “You know, that land deal with Jack Carson.”

Kasey's smile looked strained. “Oh. Yeah. I'd almost forgotten.” She didn't play amnesia well.

I sipped at the acidic brew, which was boring holes in my stomach lining. What was the rule about pregnancy and caffeine? “What happened?”

The kitchen darkened more, so Kasey snapped on the overhead light. “Last summer, Dwayne and me were looking to expand. We've got some stock contracts we made from winning Breeder of the Year last year. So we're sitting in the Long Branch one night, talking to Jack Carson, and he mentions this parcel. He's got three pivots of alfalfa and doesn't want to bother with the natural hay meadow anymore. One thing leads to another, and me and Dwayne make him an offer.”

The worst of the rain moved on and left a few pecking remnants.

“So Jack says yes and we go to the bank, but because of the economy and all that, they won't give us the cash. Then we hear Eldon Edwards sometimes loans money to young people starting out. So we go to him and he acts like he likes the whole idea and it's all easy-peasy.”

She reached for the coffee and poured more rotgut into her cup. She raised the pot to us and we declined.

“We get all the details lined out and Dwayne and I start packing up the panels and equipment. And lo and behold, Eldon shows up and says the deal's off. No explanation. No nothing. Just no money.”

Kasey's tone was calm, but her skin had taken on a rosy heat. “I wanted to strangle Eldon for screwing up our deal. I mean, look at us. We've outgrown this place.”

Roxy kicked me on our side of the counter.

Kasey sipped her coffee and offered a foxy grin. “It worked out well for us in the end.”

Roxy's returning smile pulled tight at the corners. “Why?”

Kasey leaned forward. “We haven't told anyone else yet, but yesterday we signed the papers to buy Justin Calloway's place over by Danbury.”

“Really?” Roxy squealed with fake delight.

“The best part is that we're getting more ground and paying less per acre than we would have with Carson's meadow.”

“Congratulations,” I said. She didn't know the real reason I said that was because she'd annoyed Roxy with their good fortune.

Kasey gave us a saucy wink. “Me and Dwayne didn't kill Eldon.”

Roxy acted shocked. “What?”

Kasey sniggered. “I know that's why you're here.”

Roxy's eyes widened. “I'd never…”

Kasey tilted her head. “But I have a pretty good idea who did.”

“Who?” Roxy asked.

Kasey leaned in. “Jack Carson.”

“Because Eldon scuttled the deal between you?” I asked.

Kasey looked surprised. “No. Because Aileen and Eldon had been having an affair.”

 

19

Damp from sputtering rain of the dying storm, I pulled the pickup out of the Webers' ranch yard and followed the muddy road to the highway.

I don't know if I addressed it to Roxy or was just talking out loud: “So far, we've got the theories that Eldon was shot because he planned to sell the Bar J, because he wouldn't sell, or because he was sleeping with Aileen Carson. None of these seem valid. I don't think anyone would really kill him over a land deal.” I thought a moment. “Of course, people fought and died over open range laws in the 1800s.”

Roxy had the passenger side visor down and was performing some kind of voodoo on her hair. She pulled what looked to be a miniature cattle prod from her purse and plugged it into the power outlet on the console. “Yeah, but everyone knows about the feud between the Carsons and the Edwardses.”

I turned up the heat in the pickup. “What was the feud about, anyway?”

She lowered the heat and scrounged in the silver lamé saddlebag. She extracted a cosmetic bag made of fake cowhide. “Brian said it started when Eldon's grandparents and Jack's ancestors settled out there. Just land stuff; a few affairs thrown in, because that's what always happens.”

“I guess things never change.”

She ignored that. “Then the Carsons got religion and the Edwardses didn't and that made it worse.”

Hardly the Hatfields and McCoys. “But Eldon offering the loan and then backing out might be a mean trick,” I said.

She tilted her chin and studied her face like a painter assesses his canvas. “Eldon didn't play tricks. For fun or anything else.”

From the cosmetic bag, she pulled out a tube of skin-tone lipstick. She dabbed it under her eyes and delicately patted it in. “If you ask me, Jack's creepy with his religion. He probably killed Eldon over the Aileen affair more than the land.” A little eyeliner followed those remarks, and she ended by brushing on face powder. “Those religious types take infidelity really seriously.”

Lucky for her I wasn't a religious type. And when did it become common knowledge that Aileen and Eldon had had an affair? That seemed like a “they said” gathering momentum.

My thoughts jumped the track to what “they” said about me and Ted and Roxy. I forced myself back onto the rails.

She stuffed the potions back into the cowhide bag, zipped it, and dropped it into her purse. Out came a small brush, and she gave her hair a vigorous going-over, taking out almost all the ringlets, which had been decimated by the rain. She grabbed the cattle prod thingy. Aha! A curling iron to go.

It was like watching some kind of horror/magic show. She'd transformed herself from drowned cat to rodeo queen by the time we made it to Hodgekiss.

“Even if Dwayne and Kasey didn't kill Eldon, they're still guilty.” She rolled out rosy lipstick and brushed it in small strokes.

“For what?” I swerved to avoid a mud puddle, and her hand jerked. “Sorry.”

She rubbed the red smudge with the pad of her pinky. “Who knows? Didn't you smell it on her?”

“Nope.” I turned the heat up.

Roxy let out a bray. “You don't know Kasey. She's a climber. She isn't happy with second best. That's why she had the affair with Dwayne in the first place. She was married to a real loser and she thought Dwayne had a ton of money. So she hooked up with him. Turns out the money was all his wife's and he didn't get any because of a prenup his wife's family made him sign. They knew he was a crook, early on.”

“You sure about that?”

Roxy nodded. “Oh, yeah. It's a known fact that he stole cattle. A calf here, another one there. Not so much as people could accuse him, because it could just be a lost calf. That happens. But there is a pattern.”

Another “they say.” Only this time I knew better, because Ted and I had discussed the investigation. Lots of people pointed the finger at Dwayne, but we'd followed the clues that led us to Boon Dempsey's son. The one who'd suffered brain damage in a four-wheeler accident. Boon had since replaced all the stolen cattle and no one pressed charges. It was possible to keep a secret in the Sandhills, though it was not common.

Roxy tilted her head to the right and surveyed herself in the visor mirror. “I'm keeping them on the list.”

I lowered my own visor. April decided to dazzle us with a dose of sunshine to end the changeable day. The sky she offered was one of my favorites. Dark clouds to the east, lit by the bright rays. Blue giving promise of warmer days; even a rainbow to shimmer across the greening hills.

“Do you think Jack did it?” she asked.

I hadn't even talked to him, so I didn't know. “I'm not sure about Aileen having an affair with Eldon.”

Roxy tilted her head the other way and studied her reflection. “I know, right? I mean, I guess he was old and probably would have been grateful for any attention, but, really, Aileen is kind of a dog, don't you think?”

That was less than kind. “She's a nice person. And Jack seems devoted to her.” If his attention at the debate was any indication.

“Oh, look, a rainbow!”

We cruised through town, turned north, and rumbled across the tracks seconds before the crossing arms lowered for the BNSF train.

“Are we going to Carson's?” Amazingly, Roxy had more shoring up to do, because she pulled lip gloss from her bag, ran the shiny goop over her mouth, and smacked.

I couldn't keep my mouth shut. “We're going to ask some questions, not to a ball.”

Roxy shifted to give me a puzzled look. “Oh, you mean me fixing up?”

“It was only a little rain. Not like it'd have made the roof leak.”

She didn't say anything for a moment or two but looked as if she were arguing with herself. Finally she seemed to come to a decision. “I probably shouldn't say anything. But, even though you might not believe it, I like you.”

“Sure. You like me enough to try to steal my life.”

She chuckled as if I'd told a joke. “So don't hate me when I tell you this.”

“Too late.”

“You could stand to do a little fixing up.”

I willed a neutral expression, but my innards boiled.

“I mean, you're pretty. Don't get me wrong. In that girl-next-door, simple way. But you could be so much more. And, frankly, you're getting too old to go natural all the time.”

Against my will I caught a glimpse of the left half of my face in the side mirror. Curls popped from my ponytail, their dampness creating a wild tangle.

“You should straighten your hair, for one thing. A Brazilian blowout would work wonders. They're kind of expensive, but they last for six weeks. Then you don't have to blow-dry your hair every time. It stays straight and takes out the frizzies.”

The fire in my core heated up and stone started to melt. “Ted likes my hair curly.”

She looked sad. “That's what he says.”

I stared at the road, molten rock boiling in my gut.

“And here…” She dug in her bag and pulled out the cowhide pouch again. She unzipped it and brought out mascara. “You should use this to highlight your eyes. The blue is really remarkable. And I'm jealous of your long eyelashes. I've got a product you can use before you put on your makeup, that takes the puffiness out from under your eyes. You really should use it every morning, especially this time of year.”

Ha! Who has time for makeup in the morning? I've got cows to feed, horses to take care of, and a million chores before fixing breakfast. Besides, I'm out at the ranch all day; no one sees me.

She must have misinterpreted my expression. “I know! I didn't believe it either, but it really works.”

She reached over with the mascara and pointed it toward my eyes. I swatted her away. “Stop that.”

“The other thing you should do is quit wearing men's clothes.”

This surprised me, so I blurted out, “I don't wear men's clothes.”

“Okay, maybe not technically. But you wear baggy T-shirts and flannel shirts and regular Wranglers all the time.”

“Not all the time.” Getting defensive was plain stupid.

“How often do you dress up when you're home? Do you wear makeup for dinner with just you and Ted, or even if Carly is there?”

My idea of dressing up is a shower and clean sweats, but I wasn't going to tell Roxy that.

She nodded as if she'd read my mind and it confirmed her suspicions. “Didn't your mother teach you about makeup? You've got, what, ten older sisters? They should have taught you something.”

“Three.”

“Huh?”

“Three older sisters. Glenda, Louise, Diane.”

She waved her hand. “There are so many in your family. Even Ted couldn't name them all.”

“Actually, he can. And he likes them all.”

“How did your mother ever come up with all those names?”

The only reason I answered was because I wanted to keep her off the Kate Improvement agenda. “She had a system.”

“Really?”

“We're all named for the Academy Award Best Actor or Actress of the year.”

Roxy laughed and clapped her hands. “I love Marguerite! Let me guess. You're Kate—”

“Katharine.”

I enjoyed the silence for several miles.

“I give up. Who?”

“Katharine Hepburn, for
On Golden Pond
. Glenda was Glenda Jackson. Louise Fletcher. Diane Keaton.”

“Louise Fletcher? Who is that?”

I couldn't resist the tick of a smile. “
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
. Nurse Ratched.”

Roxy hooted with laughter, and the tiniest of chuckles squeezed from my chest. “Mom lucked out the year the twins were born. Michael Douglas won for
Wall Street
.”