High Desert Detective, A Fiona Marlowe Mystery (Fiona Marlowe Mysteries) (34 page)

The man held up his hand. “If you ladies will excuse me, I need
to get back to work, and I’ll need a ride out of here to do that. I don’t want
to get involved in a family squabble.”

“This isn’t a family squabble,” said Tillie. “This person doesn’t
even belong in the family. She’s just visiting.”

The man said, “At any rate, I’ve seen enough. I can get the rest
of the information I need on the internet.” He turned and walk in the direction
of the bunkhouse ruins.

Tillie didn’t. She advanced toward Fiona, came to within five
feet of her and said in a low, hissing voice, “You better butt out of this. I
think it is time for you to pack and leave. You’ve caused enough trouble.”

Fiona bristled. There was something about Tillie that could make
even a saint angry. “I haven’t caused any trouble. But you are.”

Tillie’s hands clenched at her sides. She looked like she was
going to take a swing at Fiona. “I’ll thank you to butt out of family business.
If you
don’t,
something worse than that crummy old
bunkhouse burning down might happen.”

“Are you threatening me?” asked Fiona, not wavering an inch.

“Take it any way you like it. But I’m warning you to get the hell
out and take that half-breed with you.” With that she spun around and hurried to
catch up with the engineer or whatever he was.

Fiona crossed her arms and watched Tillie leave. A rock bounced
down the slope behind her, and she looked back. She wasn’t but five or six feet
from the edge. She was glad Tillie had restrained herself and not swung. They
both might have ended up coyote food at the bottom of that canyon.

* * * * *

Jake pulled in behind Fiona’s truck. Tillie was standing by hers,
looking around like she was trying to decide how to leave. Until he and Fiona
moved their rigs there wasn’t anywhere for Tillie to go since she was hemmed in
by rocks and thick brush on both sides of the narrow lane.

He wasn’t looking for a confrontation, but Tillie looked like she
was ready for one. He opened the door and eased out, knowing he couldn’t
postpone the inevitable bad scene. All his scenes were bad with Tillie. It was
a given.

He didn’t bother saying hello. “What’s up, Tillie?” he asked
instead. “Are you here to see Opal? She’s gone to town for a treatment.” He
knew darn well she wasn’t there to see
Opal, that
she
knew where Opal was.

“I need to leave,” Tillie said. “Get these rigs out so I can
leave.”

Jake checked Fiona’s truck. She had left the keys under the floor
mat. He could back hers out as easily as he could his. But he wasn’t going to
unblock Tillie’s retreat until he had more information.

“Where’s Fiona?” Jake said.

Tillie motioned with her head. “She’s still up on the ridge. We
saw her up there.”

Jake looked up. Fiona was standing near the lone tree. She saw
him and waved. Jake breathed a silent sigh of relief that nothing had happened
to her. Tillie was such a loose cannon, you never knew.

“Did you lose something, or are you out for a day of sightseeing?”
said Jake.

A man came around the back of Tillie’s truck and introduced
himself. He and Jake shook hands. “I work for a wind power company. Tillie gave
me a call about this site. We’re interested so I came out to take a look. I’m confused
about the ownership of this property.”

Jake looked at Tillie.

She squirmed at little and said, “I told him that I needed a
proposal to present to my aunt who might be interested. That’s all.”

Fiona arrived to join the conversation.

The wind power man motioned to Fiona. “This lady said she owns
the right away to the ridge.”

Jake smiled in spite of himself. Leave it to Fiona to figure out
the sticking points in any dilemma.
 
And
my, she did look good. When did she ever not look good?

Fiona said, “I pointed out that the only easy way to get to the
rest of the ridge is through my five acres.”

“I’ll ask Opal about that,” said Tillie. “I can’t believe she’d
give away a valuable piece of property to a stranger.”

Fiona’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I earned that piece of property
fair and square.”

“I don’t believe a word you say.”

“It’s the truth,” said Jake. “I was there.”

The wind power man said, “I hate to disturb this family dispute,
interesting though it may be, but I’m late for another appointment. My rig is at
the highway, so can someone take me out there? You can continue your argument
without me.”

“I’ll take you,” said Tillie.

“No problem,” said Jake. “We’ll back out the rigs.”

The man started to walk around Tillie’s truck to the passenger
side, then stopped and looked at Tillie. “Of course, included in the proposal
will be the stipulation that whoever contracts with us will have clear title to
the land and a right-of-way.”

“No problem,” said Tillie.

When cows fly, thought Jake. He liked that Fiona had the
right-of-way. He hadn’t thought about it much because he was never interested
in having those big windmills on the ranch. Of course, he might not have any
say in the matter, but Fiona would. Jake backed out, then Fiona, so that Tillie
could leave. Tillie gunned it going down the road, sending up a plume of dust.

Jake drove back to the ranch house, pulled around to the back and
parked near the kitchen door. Fiona followed him, and they stopped by the rigs
to talk.

“She’s trying to get away with something,” said Fiona.
“The little weasel.”

“We know who wants the ranch and why,” said Jake. “We don’t know who
is paying to run us off. I’ll have a talk with Opal to see if she’ll confront
Tillie. That may stop the little weasel but there are more people than Tillie involved
in wanting this ranch if we are to believe Glory.”

Fiona nodded. “We have to find out who that is. That reminds me.”
She told him about the conversation with the doctor about Glory.

“That’s good news,” said Jake. “If you can go for him tomorrow,
that would be great. We’re baling, and I need to be here.” He could see how much
he was coming to depend upon Fiona as his partner.

His phone rang as they talked and he looked at the ID. “This is
Jake,” he said into the phone.
“Yep, yep.
Good, that’s
great. Yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am. I’ll be in as soon as I can get away. Thanks
very much. That’s good news.”

He closed the phone. “The bank has approved my loan for the
purchase of Opal Crawford’s ranch. Of course, I don’t know if I’ll be able to
buy it, but that’s a load off my mind, and a big step for me.”

“Fantastic,” said Fiona and threw her arms around his neck in a
big hug. “Congratulations, my dear Jake. I know how much this means to you. If
they will loan you on this big ranch, maybe they’ll loan you money for a
smaller one.”

He twirled her around on the walk. “They just might.”

* * * * *

When Opal got home that afternoon she already knew another storm
was brewing. Tillie had called Samantha while Opal was in treatment to enlist Sammie’s
aid in convincing Opal to consider a wind farm. Sammie, today’s chauffer and
dutiful niece, had relayed the news to Opal. She expected Tillie to show up
pretty soon, and her niece did not disappoint her.

Today’s treatment had been longer, and Opal wasn’t feeling too
good. She couldn’t pinpoint the exact nature of her discomfort. Only that she
had a general feeling of malaise, like an ache all over. The doctor and nurse
had explained what to expect. Some days she would feel okay, and other days she
wouldn’t. Opal already noticed that her appetite, which had never been good,
was failing. She wondered if she would get that thin, gaunt skeleton look that
she had seen with other terminal cancer patients. God grant she would go before
that happened. Her face had always been too thin and no makeup on God’s green
earth was going to make her look like she belonged to the living. Maybe she could
stuff cotton balls in her cheeks.

Jake had talked to her in the office after lunch and told her
about the man from the wind farm coming with Tillie, about the right of way,
and about his getting the loan for the ranch. Now she needed to make a
decision, and she didn’t have the energy or even the heart. She suspected she
was in the throes of something she had seldom experienced in life.
Depression.
She had always been too busy to feel sorry for
herself.

She sat down in front of the TV in the living room to watch a
late afternoon talk show. Sammie brought her a glass of iced tea and sat with
her. Opal was glad for Sammie’s company. She had a calming effect on most
situations.

Tillie drove up in her truck a few minutes later and parked in
front. She didn’t bother knocking on the screen door, just gave a shout hello like
everything was perfectly normal. But nothing, thought Opal, was perfectly
normal.
Nothing at all.

Tillie stopped in the living room when she saw the two of them
sitting in front of the TV.

“I came to see how things are going,” said Tillie. “How are you
feeling Aunt Opal?”

Opal gazed at Tillie, feeling like she was in a dream world.
Tillie was weaving back and forth, and Opal blinked her eyes to clear them. Now
she was losing her sight, as well as everything else.

“Have a seat, Tillie,” Opal said, “you’re making me dizzy.”

“Sure,” Tillie said, “are you okay?” She took a seat on the
hassock in front of Opal.

“As good as an old lady with a terminal disease can be.”

“Cheer up,” said Tillie, “those treatments might be unpleasant
but you are going to get better and outlive us all.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” said Opal. She thought she might as
well help Tillie get to her reason for coming. “What’s this about your coming
this morning with a man from a wind farm company?”

Tillie gave a forced laugh. “News travel fast. Well, I thought
since you are sick and all that I’d look into this for you and tell you about
it when I had more information. It’s a great opportunity to expand and grow the
ranch. The wind power engineer that came is going to get back to me in a week
or so. He said that the site looked good for a pretty big wind farm. But there
was stuff that he had to check out first. It would bring in a nice revenue
stream for you.”

“Tillie . . . .” Opal stopped and sighed. She didn’t continue.

Sammie, who was sitting beside her, said, “Aunt Opal, can I get
you anything? You haven’t touched your tea. Would you like something stronger?”

“No, child, I don’t think so. I really don’t have much appetite
for anything.” A wave of nausea came over her, and she thought she was going to
lose what little lunch she had eaten. “Maybe you could bring me a glass of Coca
Cola. The doctor said that might help.”

Sammie got up and hurried to the kitchen. So far she had kept her
opinions to herself, for which Opal was grateful.

“I’m sorry,” said Tillie. “I didn’t realize you’re feeling so
bad.”

Opal studied Tillie’s face. “Tillie, I sometimes wonder what
planet you live on. Surely, not the same one I inhabit. I don’t understand why
you went to all this trouble about a wind farm when I am not interested, and I’ve
told you that. And you’ve known other people undergoing cancer treatments,
namely your mother, and it involves extreme discomfort.” She paused and passed
a hand over her eyes then said, “I’ve made a decision on your request for money
and on the ranch.” She steadied her gaze on Tillie. “I’ll lend you the money
that you asked for, but that is where it stops. There will be no more, no
matter how much you beg and throw temper tantrums. Believe me, I’ve given this
a lot of thought. You see, I’m selling the ranch to Jake. You’ll have to talk
to him about the wind farm.”

There. She had finally made a decision. She had said it. Maybe now
she could die in peace.

Tillie sat in silence with neither a whimper nor a cross look.

Sammie came back with a glass of Coke without ice for Opal, who
took a delicate sip which barely wet her lips. Her stomach felt awful, but her
heart felt much lighter. She was happy with her decision. With a little luck Fiona
would stay and marry Jake. Tillie would get another loan which she would never
pay back. Jake had agreed although reluctantly. Unknown to Tillie, the money
she was borrowing would come out of her chunk of the estate. Jake had said Opal
could stay on here as long as she wanted.

Sammie sat beside Opal and took her hand. “Maybe you should lie
down for a little while.”

Opal sighed. “I would like to.”

Tillie was studying her hands and still hadn’t said anything.
Finally she said, “I want to buy the ranch.”

Opal studied her determined niece’s face.
“With
what money?”

“I got someone who is interested. He said he’d back me. I think
you are missing a good opportunity to put a wind farm in here, and he is
interested in doing it. The cattle operation can still go on. As a matter of
fact, I’m pretty good with cows. I’ll manage the cow/calf operation.”

Sammie said nothing. Opal covered her forehead with one hand.
Would this child never let it be?

“Tillie even if you had Warren Buffet backing you, I wouldn’t
sell to you. You never made much of the ranch you had, and this one is ten
times bigger than yours. You don’t know cows, you never exhibited any talent
for money management, and you don’t know the first thing about pivot irrigation.
Jake knows this place inside and out, he’s a decent man, and he’ll keep the
ranch in one piece. That’s what I want. As a matter of fact, if this ranch has
any value at all, it is mostly because of his hard work. And the bank has
approved his loan.”

Tillie played her next card. “I heard Jake’s ex-wife is going to
file a lawsuit against him for non-payment of child support. I doubt the bank
will lend him money after that happens. My backer is free and clear. He can
give you cash today. I know you’d like to be free of the responsibility of the
ranch so this is my way of helping you out.”