Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 04 - Saddle Up (25 page)

“Not really, we’ve seen each other a few times but he’s also my doctor, too.”

“How sick are you?”

“I’ve got cancer. It started in my breasts and spread out from there. I’m done with surgeries, chemo and radiation. They all made me sicker. Now I just want to live out the time I have left with some dignity.”

“Grace told me that you had the water, air, and land tested for toxins.”

“Yes, after that stupid article came out in the Sacramento paper about there possibly being a cancer cluster here. It’s not true, there was no evidence that anything in the ground, water, or air is causing a few of us to get cancer.”

“It’s more than a few according to the doctor,” I told her.

“I know,” she nodded.

“Do you still have a copy of the reports?”

“Sure, they’re in the desk over in the corner.”

I went to a huge mahogany desk and opened the file section. There were seven files labeled testing. I pulled them out and placed them on the desk. Four of the reports stated that the hydrocarbon levels in the ground were higher than they should be. Cancer causing or oil?

“Can I have these?” I told her.

“Sure,” she shrugged. “What’s going on?”

I told her about the hydrocarbon levels and the seismic trucks.

“There’s oil in the ground?” she said when I finished.

“It’s possible.”

“Oh, then everyone would have enough money around here.”

“That’s just it. They don’t necessarily own the mineral rights. You own the land, so they belong to you.”

“I don’t want them. That’s why we lease the land to the people in this town for a dollar a year.”

“Somebody wants the oil.”

“This Jack Daniels guy?”

“I don’t know. I’m pretty sure Henry Mullins is behind some of this.”

“He’s a bastard, if you’ll excuse my language.”

“Yeah, but I’m thinking he works for Diamond Rio and if he can get your daughter on his side, then they have fifty-one percent of Blue Stripe Enterprises and can do what they want with the people and the land.”

“My daughter may be young and naive, but she’s not going to let him tell her what to do.”

“She lost her father five years ago and she’s searching for another one. I’m pretty sure if he told her they needed to get married to help the corporation you and your husband built, she’d do it.”

“No!” Priscilla tried to get up and started coughing, then gagging.

“What can I do?”

She pointed to the top of the desk where a carafe of water sat. I poured her some water and she drank it. I noticed that she had a little blood on her lips but didn’t make a comment. I wondered just how long she had.

My phone rang and I answered it.

“I’ve got you a number, Teach. It’s a direct line to his office in New York. I couldn’t find a home number for him.”

“Okay, give it to me.”

“How about if I text it to you and then all you need to do is touch the number and it will call it for you?”

“I can do that?”

Justin laughed and said, “Yes, hang up and I’ll send it to you.”

I pushed the red button and waited. A few seconds later my phone beeped and a number displayed in the middle of it. When I pushed the number the phone immediately dialed the number. I love modern technology! It was Sunday morning and only five a.m. in New York, so he probably wasn’t in his office but I left a message.

It was an animated voice that repeated the number and told me my party was unavailable. When it beeped I quickly told the recording everything I knew about Henry Mullins, Doc Sanders, Priscilla Banner, Grace Banner, and Blue Stripe Enterprises, leaving out the part about somebody trying to kill me, Tom, Dad, and Agent Souza. Thinking about Tom made me mad all over again. I hoped that the message machine would hold it all. Then I hung up.

Priscilla’s eyes were closed and I couldn’t tell if she was still breathing.

When I stepped closer, she opened her eyes and said, “I’m still here.”

“Good.” I put my hand on her shoulder.

I heard the door click. Good, we needed to tell Grace everything we knew.

Henry Mullins came in, pulling Grace by the arm. He had a pistol pointed at me.

CHAPTER 25

“You are not supposed to still be alive,” were the first words out of his mouth.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you,” I said, sitting back down in the chair I had occupied earlier.

“Let my daughter go!” Priscilla said to Henry.

He released Grace who went directly to her mother.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Grace whimpered.

Priscilla smoothed Grace’s hair and said, “It’s okay.”

“What are you going to do now, Henry, kill us all?”

“Nope, I’m going to marry Grace,” he stated.

“I’m not going to marry you!” Grace said, more than a hint of disgust in her voice.

Henry pointed the gun at Priscilla. “Fine then, I’ll kill your mother.”

“No!” Grace shouted.

“If you want her to live, then you’ll marry me,” Henry told her.

Grace lowered her head in defeat and sat down on the floor in front of her mother.

Then he pointed the gun at me. “But you, I don’t need. I’ll just tell everyone I saw you leave with one of the rodeo cowboys who’ll take off after the rodeo tomorrow. After all, I saw you break up with your fiancé tonight and by tomorrow everyone in town will know about it so people will believe it.”

I glanced down at my left hand where Tom’s ring had been. “I’m a kindergarten teacher. Nobody is going to believe I would abandon my class to run away with a cowboy.”

“Father in jail and a broken engagement is enough to make anyone go off the deep end. I’ll get Doc to back me up. The town will believe us.”

“Why is Doc helping you?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

“I got a corporation to pay off his gambling debt and help set up his stupid little clinic
s
all over this part of the country. He owes me.”

“Diamond Rio is filtering money through Blue Stripe Enterprises to set up the clinics?” I asked.

Henry stared at me for a moment. “How’d you know about Diamond Rio?”

“I knew that you didn’t have the balls or the money to be behind this oil scheme but Jack Daniels is a mover and a shaker – he could do it.”

“He doesn’t even know anything about it. I’m going to get a million dollar bonus when I hand over the rights to Blue Stripe Enterprises and all the property it owns, except this little piece of land where Grace and I are going to drill and keep the oil.” He walked over and yanked me to my feet.

He pointed the gun at Priscilla and Grace. “You call the cops and I’ll come back and kill you both. Just keep your mouth shut and you’ll both be okay.”

They didn’t have a choice, I knew that. They were each concerned for the other and I was a stranger. I didn’t blame them when they both nodded their heads in agreement.

Henry dragged me out the door, down the driveway and to my car.

“You drive. Keep it slow and easy.”

“Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you to my ranch on the other side of the town. I’ll keep you there until after the rodeo.”

“Then what?” I asked.

Henry smiled and I felt the terror spike down me.

I got into the driver’s seat, leaving my purse tucked under my arm, and Henry took the passenger seat, stabbing his gun into my side. I deliberately didn’t put on my seatbelt. If I did have the chance to escape – it would slow me down.

“Drive,” Henry grunted as he closed the door.

When the bell went off for the seatbelts, Henry fastened his and said, “Aren’t you going to put on your belt?”

“What’s the point?” I asked.

He laughed.

I wasn’t going to go back to school and see my kindergarten students graduate or even see my dad through that plastic window. And Jordan? We had just started getting along. The last face I was going to see was Henry Mullin’s smug expression.

Henry had me take the back road out of the Banner ranch. Since it was still close to three in the morning, the roads were deserted and even if I could get out of the car, where would I go? I didn’t know this area the way that he did. He had grown up here, had a ranch all his life in this place. Where could I go that he wouldn’t find me?

We took the road to the north of the town which would take us a few blocks from Doc’s house but what good would that do? He was in on this whole scheme - probably not the killing part, but everything else. That’s when I saw her. Bless Brenda and her sneak-in attitude! She was walking up the right side of the road.

I didn’t want Henry to see her, so I distracted him by asking. “So is there really oil under this dirt?”

“The geologist and the chemist think so,” he said, leaning his back against the passenger door and looking at me.

“That’s going to be worth billions, isn’t it?”

Henry smiled. “Yes, I’m going to have so much money, I’ll never spend it.”

“What are you going to buy first?”

“Someone to kill my new wife, Grace,” he said without inflection or emotion.

“Is that before or after Priscilla dies?”

“She’s on her last few breaths anyway. I guess I can wait until she croaks naturally. Unless it takes too long.”

Brenda saw my car and I saw her sigh in resignation. We were only a block from her house and she shook her head in disbelief. I knew she thought she had been caught again and that I would take her to her front door. She stopped and waited for me.

“So I’m the last loose end?” I asked.

“You and that cowboy.”

“What cowboy?”

“Jackson something. He saw me and Doc arguing and then he talked to you. I’ve got to take care of him, too.”

“He’s staying at Sheryl Ann’s house, you’re not going to be able to get to him there,” I reminded him.

“That’s okay. I already know that after the rodeo today, he’s spending some time with his family. They’re all staying with the Costellos. Remember the rodeo always marks the beginning of a two-week spring break for all the kids. On Thursday, April 15
th
, the Costellos are leaving early in the morning to go to Disneyland with their kids. That will leave Jackson and his family alone at the house until they pack it up and go home themselves. I’ll take out him and his entire family and then all the loose ends will be gone.”

“Why the entire family?” I asked.

“He might have told them something and I can’t take any chances.”

Was that the family that was going to be murdered on Thursday? Was it my fault they were going to be killed? I was the one talking to Jackson. Would he have even said anything to anyone about Doc and Henry arguing if I hadn’t been there? Was it my fault he and his entire family were going to be killed? Did destiny work that way? Everything we did altered our destiny – had I changed Jackson’s and his family’s?

Brenda was only a few feet from us. It was now or never. I cranked the wheel, jammed on the accelerator and sent the car toward the ditch next to her. When the front of the car hit the bottom of the ditch, the airbags deployed and smacked me and Henry in the chest. His gun went flying down by his legs. He desperately tried to grab the gun.

Brenda pulled open my door. “Liza, are you okay?”

“Get back,” I yelled when I saw the gun coming up.

Thank God I hadn’t put on my seatbelt. I slid my body to the left, falling out and on top of Brenda when Henry’s gun went off.

Doc must have heard the crash because he was running out of his front door.

“Stop them!” Henry screamed, still struggling with his seatbelt and airbag.

“What’s going on?” Doc said to me.

“Henry is trying to kill me, again,
and
your daughter too, this time.”

“Oh no, he isn’t.” Doc opened Henry’s door.

Henry smiled, obviously thinking that Doc would help him.

Then Doc snatched the gun from his hand and pointed it at him.

I opened my purse and dialed Agent Souza’s number. He didn’t answer but my call went over to an operator. When I explained what had happened, she said she would send one of the agents from the lagoon.

Within minutes, a black SUV with lights and sirens blaring ra
ced up to us. Four men jumped out
. I explained again and they took Henry into custody.

“What’s happening at the lagoon?” I asked.

“You’re Tom’s fiancée, right?” he asked.

“Yes,” I lied. He probably wouldn’t tell me anything if he thought I was just a nosey citizen.

“We found several devices attached to the platform where the church service was going to be held in a few hours. They’ve moved it to the Saddle Club, just in case.”

“Have you made any arrests?”

“Yeah, we caught the head guy. He’s been on our Most Wanted List for over five years.”

I swallowed hard and asked, “Anyone else?”

“A couple of other guys. One has confessed to shooting the local a few days ago.”

“Tad Jenkins?”

“Yes. He was the night watchman at the Lagoon and they needed him out of the way so they could plant the explosives.”

I nodded and said, “Thanks for coming so quickly.”

“Hey, no problem. We look after our own,” he nodded and they drove away.

I wasn’t one of their own anymore.

“What’s going on?” Brenda asked.

Doc hugged his daughter tight, an obvious sign of affection and relief that she wasn’t hurt. Then he growled, “Why are you sneaking in late again?”

I left my car in the ditch and walked back to Sheryl Ann’s. Nobody met me at the door and when I got into my room all of Tom’s stuff was gone. I crawled into bed, cried until I had nothing left, and fell asleep.

I woke up early, as usual, but then lay in bed for almost two hours. Not thinking, just hurting. My heart felt ripped in two, my body ached from the accident, and my spirit was broken. Finally around nine, I shook myself out of my funk, showered and got dressed. It was time to face the rest of my life - a life without Tom and without my Dad.

I went down the stairs and stood outside the dining room. Everyone sat at the table and talked about the Feds, an explosion and Henry’s arrest. I just couldn’t take any questions or make explanations. The sleep I had gotten was lousy.

When I went into the kitchen, I found Sheryl Ann next to a counter, beating down dough. She frowned when I came in.

“I just want a plate of food to take back to my room,” I told her.

She took a plate and went into the dining room, returning a few seconds later with waffles piled high with fresh fruit and the syrup container.

“Let’s go upstairs and have some girl talk,” she said, motioning her head toward the door.

The last thing I wanted was to rehash the last few hours, but the waffles were calling to me and I would agree to just about anything if she let me have them.

I went upstairs with Sheryl Ann on my heels.

I climbed onto my bed and she handed me my plate.

“Can I eat first?’ I asked.

“Sure, and I’ll tell you the long story I promised you last night and then you can tell me yours.”

I shrugged, sliced off a piece of waffle, stabbed a strawberry and put it in my mouth. It was delicious.

“I became a widow over twenty years ago. My husband was killed in an accident at work.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said between bites of the most wonderful waffles.

“Thanks.” She looked around the room and continued, “His life insurance policy paid off this house and I still get a monthly stipend from the company because he was killed on the job. After only a few months, I got bored and took a part-time job helping Doc.”

“You used the money from your job to buy all those clothes and shoes?” I asked.

“I’m getting to that, Liza. Eat your waffle.”

I nodded and she said, “Ten years ago I met and fell in love with a married man.”

I stopped eating and put my fork down.

“He was a wonderful man. He made me laugh and come out of my shell.” She pointed to her outfit – jeans and a t-shirt. “I’d meet him in Sacramento and he’d take me clothes shopping. I let him buy me whatever he wanted – he had much better taste than I did. We’d go to dinner, see a movie, or dance the night away. Eventually, we’d end up at a motel and make love for hours.”

“What about his wife?”

“She’s a wonderful woman. I like her very much.”

“Then why?”

“I loved the man.”

“What happened?”

“One day he did something stupid and got seriously hurt.”

That’s when I put it together. Grant Banner, and she was Doc’s receptionist and would have had access to any drug.

“In the end, you helped him, didn’t you?”

“Do you mean did I help him end his life?”

I nodded.

“Yes, I did. Do you know what the last thing he said to me was?”