High Desert Detective, A Fiona Marlowe Mystery (Fiona Marlowe Mysteries) (16 page)

The horse snorted and shook his head, shaking his black mane into
his eyes
 
Jake tried to focus on a far
away fall of rock, but the light was fading as the sun dropped behind the ridge
to the west. He strode off in the direction of the rock fall. What had Blitzen
so worried? Maybe cougars had moved back into this territory. He patted his
vest to make sure he had the small LED flashlight with him. If he was going to
be stumbling around in the dark, it wouldn’t hurt to have some light to show
the way back.

He walked through a rough stand of greasewood that gave way to a
slope of loose flat rock. The footing was treacherous. He stopped to get his
bearings, listen, and watch. The wind was dying with the cooling of the high
desert. It would be a chilly night, and he was glad for the warm vest. He
cradled the rifle over his arm. He detected no movement, no odd looking thing
that didn’t fit into the high desert landscape. A pair of ravens flew over,
headed to their evening roost, their rusty cawing alerting the high desert
fauna.

 
He checked the ground and
brush for clues of what life had crossed before him. The desert buttercups had
closed for the night. The bitterbrush was holding back its bloom. A movement of
rock brought him up sharply, and he paused to look round again. Was it the high
desert settling for the night or something else? He waited, listening, but
heard nothing. Maybe he was making this up. Maybe this was all in his head. Maybe
he was being too jumpy. Maybe there was nothing out there at all.

He kept circling and eventually came back to their campsite.
Hoover had not returned so he stood by the horses and took a sip of whiskey. Since
the wind had died down, he decided to gather wood and start a fire. It would
help Hoover find the camp. If someone were watching them, they already knew
where the camp was.

Jake gathered dry branches from the sage and rabbit brush,
stacked them, gathered dead leaves and sticks and lit the fire. It caught right
away, and he stood back to watch it burn. A sharp crack behind made him whirl only
to connect with a blow to the head. As he dropped back, he remembered thinking
it had been a bad idea to start the fire because he was falling right into it.

The next thing he knew Hoover was crouching over him. “Jake, can
you hear me? Jake?”

Something was burning. He hoped it wasn’t him. “I got hit,” he
said.

“And you fell in the fire. I had to use the rest of our water to
put it out. I came running when I heard the commotion. Whoever it was ran
off.
 
Here, let me help you.”

Jake tried to sit up. “What’s that horrible smell?”

“It’s that ratty vest you wear. Might be the best thing ever
happened, it getting burnt up.
Saved your back at any rate.”

Jake managed a sitting position. “Dang, I hope it isn’t ruined.”

“It was ruined a long time ago, you just didn’t know it.”

Jake coughed and slapped what was left of his vest for the flask,
pulled it out and took a swig.

Hoover said, “I’d say someone doesn’t want us out here looking
for your cows.”

“I think you’re right. I get the impression they are trying to
scare us off. Dumb of him to whack me. I wonder why he didn’t shoot us.”

Hoover shrugged. “They’re cattle rustlers, not killers.
Two different mind sets.
Some people like killing for
killing. Some people like to steal things. I guess it is the thrill and
excitement it breeds. These guys are just trying to scare us.”

“That explains it.”

“Turn around. Let me see how bad you got burned.”

Hoover pulled the tatters of the vest from Jake’s back. “Down
smells horrible when it burns.
Doesn’t look like it burned
through to the skin.
You’re wet. It’s going to be a cold night.”

Jake took off the vest and examined it. “At least I didn’t
cremate myself. Not much left. I really liked this vest.”

“You needed a new one. You’re going to have a nice bump on the
side of your face. Did you get any licks back?”

“I never saw it coming.”

“Whoever it was, took off before I got here.”

They sat a spell, not talking. Jake rubbed the side of his head. He
could feel a bump. “Who could that have been? I walked all around here and
didn’t see any tracks. He’s mighty sneaky whoever he is.”

“I’m wondering if it isn’t the same outfit that was operating
over in the three corners area south of Jordan Valley. They never were caught,
just seemed to go underground. Maybe they’ve resurfaced.”

“Weren’t they using GPS and ATVs? This terrain is too rough for
ATVs.”

“Yes, they were which means our rustlers know horses real good,
this country and what they are doing.”

“Which means it’s most likely someone who worked for us at one
time.”

Hoover nodded, sipping on his whiskey. “That’s always the case.
Let’s go down the list. Who isn’t working for you now?”

“The two guys that Cody got mixed up with come first to mind.
They’d be the obvious.”

“What were their names?”

“Walt Long and Ralph Barber.”

“I’ll run a check when we get back. See if I can turn up what happened
to them.”

“There was never a conviction. No concrete evidence. Cody was
never indicted.”

“I guess Cody’s in the best place for him now.”

“I guess but it’s a shame. He had such promise. Opal can hardly talk
about him without tearing up. She had big hopes for him.”

“Funny how some people get on the wrong side of the law.”

“I guess you see a lot of that.”

“More than I’d like.”

“Have you found anything on the bones in the hot spring?”

“The lab report from the State isn’t back yet. That may take a
while. Seems there was a real bone spill there. Someone may have been using the
site as a bone dump over the years.”

“That sounds like a serial murderer to me.”

“Maybe.
Maybe not.
Some of the bones may not be human. Some looked older than others.”

“Interesting.
Any leads?”

Hoover shook his head. “Little’s wives, the girl Jim Brewster
said never made it to his house. The other missing females on file don’t lead
anywhere. We’ll have to throw out a wider net instead of focusing regionally.”
He paused and shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows, maybe we unearthed a
brontosaurus in cowboy gear.”

“That angle sounds as likely as any.” Jake sighed. “I could use a
cup of coffee.”

“Me, too.
We could try to get the fire
going again.”

“Then they’ll be able to shoot us for sure.”

“Not going to get much sleep tonight.”

“Probably not.
Too
cold and too dangerous.
What do you say to a game of flashlight poker?”

Eight

Dust devils followed Jake’s truck and trailer into the ranch. Thunder
clouds multiplied on the western horizon. Heat radiated in hot spikes from the
dusty ground. He stopped the truck by the stock tank, and Hoover helped him
unload and water the horses.

Jake’s head hurt, and his cheek was puffy. They had ridden
further on at first light and rode until they found where the trailer had been
parked to load the cattle that had been stolen. Jake had found an impression of
truck tires visible enough to snap a photo.
 
From the track impressions they had guessed it was a one ton truck with
at least one bad tire. That wasn’t much to go on.

Confirmation of the thievery had put Jake in a wicked mood. That
and his head hurting and lack of sleep made him want to find the nearest bed
and lie down. But first he had to report the bad news to Opal, who was working
in the garden.

She was philosophical. “I’m not surprised but that doesn’t make
the financial loss any easier. This will cut way into this year’s profits. You
boys look beat. Come inside and have some iced tea. I fixed a fresh pitcher
this morning.”

“Where are the house guests?” Jake asked, as he sank into a
kitchen chair.

“They are around here somewhere. They went to town yesterday and
never got back until this morning. They had a run in with Ann King at one of
the restaurants, and she told Fiona not to drive under the influence so Lauren Brooks
put them up for the night. If you ask me those two can get into more trouble.”
She shook her head and lowered her voice. “That Olympia is a bad influence.”

“Who’s a bad influence?” said Fiona, sashaying into the kitchen like
she was queen of the outback with Olympia right behind her.

They were dolled up in fancy, swirly skirts and tight tank tops,
a vision to behold. Both men sat up a little straighter and smiled.

Opal shook her head, sat glasses of tea before Hoover and Jake
and fetched two more glasses for the girls.

Fiona sat down by Jake and Olympia by Hoover.

“Wow,” said Fiona, noticing Jake’s face, “what happened to you?”

Jake gave a short version of what happened and what they had
found.

“I didn’t know tracking cattle rustlers could be so dangerous,”
said Olympia. “It’s a good thing we didn’t go along.”

“We heard you girls have been adventuring on your own,” said
Hoover. “Did that include the beauty parlor? It smells real good in here. Jake was
starting to stink.”

“We treated ourselves to an afternoon of luxury. We had to spend
the night in town, so we thought we’d have a girl day today to recover.”

Jake said, “I heard. Did you get another ticket?”

Fiona glanced at Hoover.
“Just a little one.”

Hoover laughed. “That’s the first time I’ve heard that tickets
come in sizes. Money sizes maybe.”

“I meant it was nothing.
Only a little thing.
I’ll get it straightened out.”

“I hear you’ve been asking questions around town,” said Hoover.

“I guess that shouldn’t surprise me that you found out. I’m not
used to operating in a small town.”

Hoover smiled. “Not much goes on here I don’t hear about.”

“I was doing a little asking around about Jim Brewster.”

“Would you like to share what you’ve found out?”

“One thing I heard was that he was involved with one of Hank
Little’s wives.”

 
“That’s rumor, you
understand. Brewster’s not saying, and she’s gone missing. What was your
source?”

“Lauren Brooks.”

“I see. There’s something you maybe don’t understand about this
town. People talk and speculate and some, like Lauren, are particularly good
about spreading gossip.
What’s
important are the
facts.”

“Yes, sir, we detectives try to keep to the facts but sometimes
rumor leads you somewhere else.”

Hoover laughed. “You’re not bad, Fiona. What else?”

“I wanted to know more about the girl he said never arrived. Her
name is Pattie Smith, and she has relatives here.”

“Is that right?”

“I’m not kidding you.”

He made a thoughtful face. “I’ll run an inquiry and see if anyone
by that name is missing. Of course, Smith might not be the name of the
relations. You still think there’s something about that girl that needs to be
investigated?”

“I do. I have this feeling.”

Hoover studied Fiona for much too long in Jake’s opinion. He was
a great friend only when he kept his eyes to himself.

Hoover finally said, “Instinct is not to be discounted. I’ll look
into it.” He winked. “And thanks for the tip. Now, my friends, I’ll be going. I
have crimes to solve, criminals to bring to justice.”

He stood. “Fiona, would you care to show me that spot on the hill
where you found the old gun?”

“Sure, I’ll walk up there with you,” said Fiona.

“I’ll go, too,” said Jake, not trusting Hoover where Fiona was
concerned.

Up on the hill, Fiona walked to the spot where she had left the
small stack of rocks to mark where she had found the gun. The stack of rocks
was right where she left it. She searched under the sagebrush, pulling apart the
branches.

“That’s funny,” she said, straightening up, “I know it was here.
These are the stone markers, but there is no gun.”

“Let me look,” said Hoover. “You see any prints, Jake, that look
fresh?”

Jake joined in the search but their own faint footprints were the
only ones to be seen.

“It might be
that ghost come
back,” said
Jake, “because I don’t see any new prints. Of course, we may have obliterated
them with our stamping around this spot.” He carefully checked the brush around
the site. “Good thing the little pile of rocks is here or we may not believe
you, Fiona.”

“No, I swear, I found this old gun lying right there.
Really.”
She pointed to a hidden place under the bushy
narrow leaves of the sage brush.
“Right there.”

Hoover slapped the dust from his hands. “Have you seen anyone
around this hill lately?”

Jake and Fiona both shook their heads.

“I didn’t think anyone would be much interested in a heap of
ashes,” said Jake. “Besides, it’s been kind of hectic around here. It might not
have been a day job. Someone might have come at night.”

Fiona said, “Really it was here. An old rusted gun.”

Hoover nodded. “I believe you. We went over this site pretty
good, but we could have missed something covered in the brush. I’ll see if
anyone has tried to pawn off an antique gun lately. The same person who burned
the place may still be around and looking for what he didn’t find.”

They walked Hoover to his truck.

“What happens next?” Jake asked.

“I’ll follow up to see if we can come up with a vehicle on the evidence
we have. You’ll make a list of all the employees who worked for Opal in the
last twenty years. Put relatives on that list. I’ll see what I can find out
about an old gun though I don’t hold much hope.”