Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 04 - Saddle Up (24 page)

CHAPTER 24

The man I loved couldn’t be doing this to me. My stomach tightened into a huge knot.

“I’ve got to take him in, Liza,” Tom said.

“He’s my dad. You can’t arrest him.” I stepped between the two men that I loved.

“I’m a cop, Liza. I’ve got to do my job.”

I put my hand on Tom’s chest. “He saved our lives. If he hadn’t come down, we’d both be dead.”

“I know that but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a wanted man.”

“You can’t take him away from me again.” The tears welled up in my eyes and started down my cheeks.

I saw Tom’s eyes fill up too, but then his stance stiffened. I knew Dad was backing away from me.

“I can’t let you leave, sir,” Tom said to my dad.

“You’re going to shoot your future father-in-law?” Dad asked.

“I can’t let you leave,” Tom repeated himself.

Tom was going to shoot my dad? My mind whirled with emotion. I wasn’t losing my dad after just getting him back. I wasn’t going to be an orphan again! I stepped back toward my dad.

“What are you doing, Liza?” Tom said as his eyes flickered between my dad and me.

“If you’re going to shoot my dad, you’re going to have to shoot him through me,” I took another step toward my dad.

This was it, I made a choice and Tom lost but I had spent too many years being an orphan, I wouldn’t go back to it.

My dad put his hands on my shoulder and whispered. “I’m not letting you use yourself as a shield for me, Liza.”

“I’m not letting him shoot you, Dad. I don’t care.”

“But you love him,” my dad whispered next to my ear.

I glanced over at Tom. God, help me. I did love him but . . , I swallowed and said, “Maybe love is not enough.”

Dad kissed me on the cheek and said, “Love is always enough.”

Then he stepped around me, held out his hands and let Tom put the cuffs on him. I crumpled to the ground, put my face in my hand and sobbed. I felt like my heart had been ripped out and stomped on, just like my sister’s sand castles. Someone put a blanket around my shoulders, but I didn’t notice, just pulled the scratchy wool material closer. My entire body shook with chills, but not from the cold.

My dad was an eco-terrorist and I have read what happens to other terrorists in this country. They’re thrown in a hole and never heard from again. Or were the holidays now going to be spent talking to my dad on a phone and looking at him through a plastic window? As the grief passed, anger set in. A blinding fury that felt like an uncontrollable raging volcano in my body and it was all directed at Tom.

He took that moment to say my name. “Liza?”

I stood and slipped the engagement ring off my finger.

“I was just …,” he started.

I flung the ring at him and said, “Go to hell, Tom Owens. I hate you! And take your stupid ring with you!”

Then I turned and marched away. I still had a mystery to solve and a family to save and I didn’t need Chief of Police Tom Owens.

I went directly to the second EMT vehicle which was packing up to leave.

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

“Sure, hop in,” the tech said.

As we drove out, I saw Tom standing on the frontage road but I just didn’t care, no, it was more than that, I was numb – I didn’t feel anything. I had the driver drop me off at Sheryl Ann’s house.

When I opened the door, Sheryl Ann was coming down the stairs. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Long story.” I glanced down at her outfit. “I’m sorry that I ruined your outfit.”

“That’s okay, I don’t wear it anymore anyway.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Another long story.”

“When we both get the time, maybe we can tell each other our stories.” I walked by her on the stairs.

“I’ll hold you to that, Liza,” I heard her call after me. “Somebody brought home your purse from the dance where you left it. I put it on your bed.”

“Thanks,” I called from the top of the stairs. I had totally forgotten about leaving my purse in all the commotion to get to Brenda.

I took a long hot shower, even though it didn’t take the chill out of my body. Then I changed in to denim jeans and a heavy long sleeved shirt. I grabbed my purse and jean jacket as I went out the door. I needed to talk to Priscilla. She was the key to this entire mess even though I didn’t think she knew it.

When I pulled out of Sheryl Ann’s driveway, I saw Tom pulling in. I turned my face and made a right turn away from him. It took me fifteen minutes to drive out to Banner Ranch. Two life-sized bronze horse statues stood on each side of a tall metal gate. It was wide open, so I drove up the long circular driveway lined with beautiful red roses to a two-story white plantation style house. I took the left set of steps up to the porch with white columns and white fencing that must wrap around the entire house. It was almost two in the morning, but lights shown through two of the three green shuttered windows on the second floor and all four on the bottom. It really didn’t matter because I was planning on getting them up anyway.

When I knocked on the door, Grace opened it.

“Liza? What are you doing out here so late?” she asked.

“I need to talk to your mom,” I told her.

“She’s in the library reading.”

“At this hour?”

“Mom doesn’t sleep much these days. She goes to bed early around nine and then wakes up a few hours later. She’s up and down all night long.”

“Your mom’s sick?” I stepped into green tiled foyer adorned with several tall plants.

Grace nodded and closed the front door.

“I saw her at the luncheon and she looks wonderful,” I told Grace.

“She hides it well, but that luncheon took the wind out of her, so she’s been in and out of bed since then.”

“Is that why she wasn’t at Sheryl Ann’s BBQ or the dance?”

“That, and she doesn’t like Henry.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“No,” Grace blew out an exasperated breath. “He’s way too old to be my boyfriend.”

“Then what is he?”

“He’s more of a father figure. He gives me advice and tries to keep me out of trouble.”

“Does he know that your mom is sick?”

“No, nobody knows, just Doc and me. She wants it that way, so don’t tell anyone, okay?”

I nodded and let her lead. We walked by the circular staircase leading to the second floor, through a massive living space with two brown leather couches, an over-stuffed loveseat in a floral pattern and an old brown recliner.

Grace laughed when she saw me looking at the recliner.

“It was my dad’s favorite chair and Mom refuses to get rid of it,” Grace said as she brushed her hand across the top as we passed.

Obviously Grace wasn’t ready to let go of it either.

When we came to a set of double oak doors, Grace knocked.

“Come in,” a voice said.

When we came in, Priscilla sat in a high backed chair in front of a roaring fire. Her lap was covered with a beautiful quilt and an open book was in her hand.

“Liza? What brings you to our doorstep so early in the morning?” she asked.

“I have some questions and I was wondering if you could take the time to talk to me,” I told her.

“Pull up a chair and enjoy the fire. Would you like something to drink?”

I glanced at the small table next to her where a mug sat. “What are you drinking?”

“Hot chocolate,” she said with a smile.

“I’ll take the same. Thanks.”

Grace went off to get my drink and I settled into the chair. It was soft and very comfortable.

“Would you like a quilt?”

“I see Sheryl Ann’s handiwork there,” I said.

“Yes, she makes them for everyone. I’ve got a chest full.”

“No, I’m okay with the fire.”

“I just can’t seem to get warm these days.” She tucked the quilt around her legs.

We sat for a few minutes while she stared into the fire and I watched her. Now that I was close to her and she obviously didn’t have any makeup on, I could tell that her cheeks were sunken and her hair thinner than I had thought it was. Had she been wearing a wig earlier in the day?

Grace came back into the room and handed me a cup of hot chocolate. I took a sip and felt the warmth all the way down to my toes. It was delicious.

“You want me to stay?” Grace asked her mother.

“No, Liza and I are fine. Would you turn up the heater?”

“Mom, you’re going to roast us out of here. I’m already sleeping naked, on top of the covers, and with all my windows wide open.” Grace laughed.

Priscilla shrugged and said, “Okay, it’s fine in here.”

When Grace had left, she asked, “What do you need to know?”

“Let’s go back ten years,” I began.

“Really?” Priscilla said, setting her cup down and turning her attention to me.

“Yes. The floods of 2000.”

“Oh, that was a mess. The trailers were floating away and everyone’s home was under five feet of water.”

“You didn’t have any flood insurance, so you took on a partner to pay for the damages, right?”

Priscilla raised her eyebrows. “Yes, but nobody knew that.”

“Was it Henry Mullins?”

“That ass? Absolutely not!”

“Then who?”

“It was a corporation out of Vegas. They heard about our problems and wanted to invest in some land, so they paid for all the damages and put the town back together.”

“And you gave them twenty-five percent of your corporation.”

She nodded. “It didn’t seem like much at the time.”

“But in the last five years, they’ve accumulated up to fifty percent of your business. How did that happen?”

“So slowly that I didn’t even notice it until six months ago. I’m not the business person that my husband was. Until he died, he took care of everything and afterwards it was left to me. I have a college degree in English – never took any math past the basics. So when we needed some money to outfit a new clinic or spruce up the town, they’d open a checkbook and I’d pay them back with another half percent of the business.”

“Who’s behind the corporation?”

“I have no idea. It’s just a name.”

“What’s the name?”

“Diamond Rio.”

I took my phone out of my purse and dialed Justin.

“Hey Teach,” his voice sounded excited. “I found it!”

“Diamond Rio?” I asked.

“You already know?” his voice deflated.

“Just found out a second ago. What can you tell me about them?”

“Big money. They’ve got fingers into over two thousand little companies. They seem to get into a company when it’s in trouble and then pick away at it until they own the entire thing. Then they sell it and move on.”

“Is there a person behind the corporation?”

“Yes, his name is Jack Daniels.”

“Like the liquor?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s hilarious, isn’t it?”

“Who is he?”

“He’s thirty years old, lives in a penthouse apartment in New York. He comes from old money out of Philadelphia. His family was in the timber business. When he was nineteen, his parents were killed in an automobile accident. The money was supposed to go into a trust for him until he was twenty-five, but he fought the will and was able to inherit a couple million dollars. He built that into a ten billion dollar corporation called Diamond Rio.”

“Is he a bad guy?”

“You mean like part of organized crime or something?”

“Yeah.”

“No, I can’t find anything like that.”

“Do you think he knows that he’s acquiring these companies through illegal activities?”

“I don’t think so, Teach. He gives money away to a multitude of charities, schools, and urban clinics every year. But I can tell you that he’s got over a thousand employees spread all over the world. I doubt he knows what they’re all doing.”

“Can you find me a phone number for the company?”

“Sure, I can do that. They’ve got lots of them on the web.”

“See if you can find me a direct line to Jack Daniels.”

“I’m on it. I’ll call you back.”

I hung up the phone and Priscilla said, “Jack Daniels?”

I told her what Justin had said about Diamond Rio and its owner.

“So Blue Stripe Enterprises is just one of many,” she nodded.

“Five years ago, did you pay off Doc Sander’s gambling debts?”

“No. Glen’s a gambler?”

I nodded.

“I didn’t know that. We started spending more time together after my husband fell off that stupid bull.”

“But you’ve been dating?” I asked.