“I won’t tell,” I said. Hector was trying to hustle me, as he always did. I had used him for many years and knew his game. I doubted he had a permit for anything he did. If I hadn’t insisted that he not hire illegals and made him show me the documentation for the workers on the construction crew every one of them working on the Pape Ranch House would have been illegal. It was just the way it was in rural Texas and how contractors made their real money on a job.
Hector nodded. “Eight thousand should cover it.”
“Five. And you finish by tomorrow.”
He nodded and we shook hands.
My cell phone rang. It was Clete on top of the rim. “Somebody’s coming,” he said.
“Okay, I’m on my way up. Walk up the road and meet them. I don’t want them on the rim,” I said.
I was hoping it was Hannah but didn’t think it was. She was one of the few women who had the sense to listen to me. I walked over to the screen where Shane and Katie were picking out the jade pieces. “I’m going up to the rim. Keep an eye on Katie for me,” I said to Shane. I didn’t have to ask him, I knew he would. It was more for Katie so she’d know to mind him. She could be a handful when she wanted to be.
Chapter 23
Clete was standing in front of a monster GMC Yukon Denali and blocking the dirt road to the parked vehicles on the rim. He had his arms crossed on his chest and daring the driver to go around him. The driver opened the door when he saw me coming into view and stepped down. He waved at me. He was a skinny man with wire-rimmed glasses. He looked to be in his fifties.
“You’re trespassing, mister. There are signs at the ranch entrance to that fact,” I said. I was getting damned tired of people coming on the ranch just because they felt like it.
“Are you Max Howard?”
I ignored him. “Clete, there’s a pump twelve gauge in Shane’s truck. Go get it.”
The man shook his head from side to side and grinned. “There’s no need to get riled up. I’ve got business with Mr. Howard. Just tell me where he’s at.”
“I’m not riled up. I’m just gonna shoot that nice new vehicle of yours all to hell for trespassing on my ranch and then I’ll let you walk back to town.”
The man moved in front of the SUV when he saw Clete take the shotgun out of Shane’s truck.
“My name’s Cotton Lehr. If you’re Max Howard, we’ve spoken before. I need to speak to you again, Mr. Howard. It’s very important.”
Clete walked up and handed me the shotgun. “It’s loaded and the safety’s on.”
I made a big point of taking the safety off and walked around the man until I was at the side of the truck and had a good safe shot.
“Wait,” the man pleaded and moved in between me and his vehicle. “I’ve got a bona fide offer of eleven million dollars for the Pape Ranch. A fella named Alfredo Soares is landing in Miami in two hours. He’ll be here tomorrow.”
I felt my old knees get a bit weaker at the mention of eleven million dollars. “Keep talking.”
“I set up an escrow account at First Texas State Bank in New Haven yesterday. He wired one million dollars last night from Lisbon into the account. He’s serious, Max. Can I call you Max?”
“No. I don’t trust a man that can’t read plain English. Tell your buyer, I’m not ready to sell to him or the other two that are interested. I need some time to appraise the ranch. Call me next week and I’ll let you know if I’m interested or not.”
I could see the man was thinking about the situation. He kept eyeing the rim of the arroyo and knew something was going on below. He nodded okay. “Just so you know; my client is looking at a cash sale. You might want to make sure your other buyers can pay cash at closing. We’re talking about a lot of money. The way the economy is heating up, cash in hand today will be worth a lot more than it would be in the next five or ten years on a financed purchase.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Lehr.”
“Don’t let the others rush you into anything. If someone tops the Soares bid, give my client an opportunity to counter.”
“What’s his name again?”
“Alfredo Soares,” he said and got back in his SUV.
After he left, Clete and I walked back to Shane’s truck.
“Holy shit, Max, that’s a lot of moolah. I didn’t think you wanted to sell this place.”
“I didn’t, but according to James Lee it’s not economically feasible to develop it as a tourist destination, so I’m going to sell it. I’d be foolish not to with three people interested.”
“What about the treasure?”
“There’s no treasure, Clete.
I unloaded the shell from the chamber and left it empty and then loaded the shell in the magazine. I made sure the safety was on and handed the shotgun back to Clete.
“I need to go fill the water tank. I doubt they’re getting much pressure with it this low,” Clete said
“Okay, I’ll tell them. Keep that conversation under your hat.”
“You know I will.”
I wasn’t so sure, but I didn’t see the point in reminding him why I was suspicious. I needed to gather up Katie and go check on Sunny and Ariana. Sunny had said she was feeling a little weird that morning.
. . .
I’d like to think I was a smart man, but when it came to treating someone who was ill, my smarts disappeared real fast, especially when they were family, and I sought the help of others. That evening, I wrangled Ariana and Sunny into my truck after I threatened to tie them up and carry them outside and then drove them to the Emergency Room at the hospital in New Haven. Emily was home with her husband and Clete’s wife was at work. I had no one to leave Katie with so the two of us sat outside in my truck waiting on word about Ariana and Sunny inside the ER. I had told the admissions clerk we would be outside and to call me on my cell phone when a doctor could talk to me. I had no intention of letting Katie sit in there with all those sick people. The whole waiting room was like a huge Mexican petri dish of flu germs.
After my itch got the best of me, I got up and went inside over the protests of Katie at being left in the truck. It had been thirty minutes and no one had phoned me. Sunny was still waiting to see someone while Ariana was in isolation and being monitored because of her pregnancy.
I sat down next to Sunny. She barely acknowledged me. She looked like death warmed over.
“Any word?” I said and took her hand.
She shook her head no. I figured that was the best she could do in her condition. I was worried about Ariana and the baby, of course, but more so about Sunny. She hadn’t had a flu shot and while this was her first day she seemed really sluggish and unresponsive. There was a rumble in her chest that I could hear when she breathed. The more I thought about it, sitting there with her, the more anxious I got. I was in an environment where I felt out of place and, worse, I wasn’t in control.
I dug in Sunny’s old sweater pocket and retrieved her cell phone. She had insisted on wearing the Cowichan Indian sweater even while she was burning up with fever. Rather than argue with her I let her be. She was a strong-willed woman even partially conscious.
I looked up Beverly Reininger’s cell phone number. She was a doctor at the hospital and owed us a favor. Her daughter was one of the students at Texas State University that had gone missing a while back.
“Hello, this is Doctor Reininger,” Bev answered in her usual manner that made sure you knew she was a doctor and her time was valuable.
She didn’t sound like she had mellowed much since I’d found her daughter for her, but I’d never let her attitude bother me before, so I wasn’t put off by her. I knew things about her personal life most people didn’t.
“Hi, Bev. Max Howard. How are you and Lorie doing?”
“Max, I can’t believe it. I saw you were in the news again. Lorie is doing okay. She’s transferred to UT. We both thought the change would be good for her. How is Sunny?”
“Well, she’s why I’m calling. I’m sitting i
n the ER with her and my daughter-in-law. I need to ask a favor. Could you put me in contact with whoever is in charge here?”
“Is it the influenza?”
“Oh, yeah. Big time. Ariana is pregnant and Sunny, well she’s in a stupor.”
“It’s so bad, this year. Okay, sit tight. I’ll have the resident in charge call you at this number.”
“I was thinking you might come in and square things away for them. Make sure they had a room and a doctor checking in on them regularly.”
“Are you serious?”
By the way she asked, she didn’t sound like she was used to owing someone a favor. That, or it was beneath her dignity to be asked to look after a sick patient.
“Dead serious, Bev. I don’t remember that I asked you if you were serious when you pleaded with me to find Lorie.”
“I’ll have someone contact you in a few minutes,” she said and hung up.
I left Sunny for a minute and went outside to check on Katie. She was asleep against the door.
“Hey, Sweetpea, wake up. Are you getting hungry?” I asked and climbed up in the truck.
“I want to see Momma.”
“As soon as the doctor sees her and says it’s okay. It’s too contagious in there with all the sick people right now. Here, take my cell phone. I’m going back inside and I’ll call you in a few minutes.”
Katie was already familiar with her mother’s smartphone and I had the cheaper model.
“What’s your password?”
“I don’t have a …” I started but was interrupted by Sunny’s phone ringing.
“Mr. Howard, this Doctor Rios. I just got off the phone with Doctor Reininger. She’s on her way in, but she asked me to look at your wife. Where are you?”
“I’m on my way inside. I had to check on my daughter in the truck. I’ll be inside in thirty seconds.”
I locked the truck up and walked quickly to the ER entrance against the protest of Katie. When I got inside I saw a young man in green scrubs scrolling through a tablet and looking at the patients in the waiting room.
“Doctor Rios,” I said and pointed him to Sunny. I walked over to him. “I’m Max Howard; that’s my wife, Sunny. She was taking care of our daughter-in-law and started feeling bad today.”
He felt her forehead and then examined her eyes with a light. Sunny didn’t even blink or turn her eyes away.
“Can you walk, Mrs. Howard?”
“She walked in. Sunny, can you stand up?”
She struggled to get up, but then sat back down.
“I’ll be right back.” he said and walked through the swinging doors into the patient area. Within a minute he was back with two nurse’s aides and a wheelchair. They helped Sunny into the wheelchair, turned, and then left me standing there in the waiting room.
“This is bullshit,” I said to myself and headed through the doors to follow them. The doctor saw me following them and stopped for me to catch up to him.
“I need you to wait outside, Mr. Howard. I’ll come talk to you in a few minutes,” he said and left me.
“What’s happening? I demanded, but he didn’t respond. The fact that Bev Reininger was on her way and Katie was outside was the only reason I didn’t tackle the doctor and throttle him until he told what was happening to Sunny.
I walked out to the truck to wait with Katie. It hit me suddenly that I should call Ariana’s parents and let them know that she was at the ER. They had been pretty cool toward her since learning of her pregnancy and marriage to Kevin in Mexico. They had never visited her at the ranch and I supposed they had blamed us as Kevin’s parents. I knew from Sunny, though, that Ariana did see them occasionally in town. She still attended Mass on Sundays. I could sympathize with her parents as I still held Kevin as the more accountable of the two. I called the number Sunny had in her phone for them. Ariana’s mother answered pleasantly enough.
“Hello, Mrs. Alvarado. This is Max Howard.”
“Yes?” she said, her tone suddenly changing.
“I just wanted you to know that I checked Ariana into the ER.”
“Madre Dios! What has happened?”
“It was just a precaution. She has the flu and with her pregnancy, I brought her in with Sunny. I’ll have her call you as soon as she can.”
“Is she okay?”
“I’m waiting to talk to a doctor now. They’re pretty busy down here.”
“Thank you, Mr. Howard. Please tell Ariana I will be there as soon as I can.”
If her husband was at work, she probably had to make arrangements for their child that needed special care. Ariana had told me that her sister consumed most of her parent’s waking hours and they rarely had time for themselves.
“I’ll tell her, Mrs. Alvarado. Maybe you should rethink coming down here to the hospital. I can’t think of a worse place to be with this flu going around. The waiting room is crowded and everyone waiting to be treated is contagious.”
“You are there, no?”
“Yes, ma’am, but I was thinking you sure wouldn’t want to bring this bug home with you. Why don’t you let her call you when she’s checked into a regular room? I’m gonna get a room for her and Sunny and let them rest up and recover under the hospital’s care for a few days.”
“Yes, you are right. Thank you so much for looking after her.”
After I hung up I looked at Katie. I couldn’t continue to leave her in the truck and I sure didn’t want to bring her inside. I needed help and so I called Clete. His family was the only one that I knew of that didn’t have someone down with the flu. He agreed to come into town and get Katie. While we waited on Clete, I had a call from Dr. Reininger.
“I’m here, Max. Where are you?”
“Outside in my truck with Katie. I don’t want to expose her.”
“Good, stay there. I just talked with Doctor Rios. Sunny’s white blood cells are off the chart. She’s fighting the infection with all she’s got. She’s in ICU now and they’re monitoring her vitals. We’ll know more in a few hours.”
“What about Ariana Martin and her baby? She’s our daughter-in-law. I brought her in with Sunny.”
“I’ll go see what I can find out. I’ll call you right back.”
“I’m waiting on someone to come pick Katie up. I’ll be in as soon as I can.”
. . .
It took Clete another twenty minutes to arrive. While I waited on Clete, Bev Reininger had called me back to let me know that they were concerned about the baby and had moved Ariana into ICU also. She and Sunny were together. As soon as Clete arrived I gave Katie a big hug and told her I would see her in a few hours. She didn’t want to leave but I think I had terrified her with my concerns that she would catch the flu inside with me. I’d have to smooth that over later.
“I think Ariana will be okay. However, as a pregnant mother with the flu, the baby has a greater chance of serious problems later on so we want to keep an eye on both of them. Ariana seems healthy enough and should pull through. We’ll have to watch the baby closely in the coming months,” Bev said.
She paused and took a breath. She had more to tell me, I could tell. She guided me away from the nurses monitoring station near the ICU.
“Sunny’s X-rays should be available soon and we’ll have a better feel for the inflammation in her lungs. The main thing is to make sure it doesn’t go into pneumonia. She’s having a slight problem with breathing so we’ve already started intravenous antibiotics. Why don’t you go home, Max? I’ll call you in a couple of hours.”
“I can’t leave her.”
“I understand, but there’s no point in staying now. We’ll know more in an hour. Everything is so backed-up now and you’re going to have to take care of Sunny when she gets home. Go home and get some rest. I’ll talk to you before I leave.”
“Can I see her?”
Bev shook her head, no. “You can view her at the window to the ICU, but she’s out of it.”
“Okay, I just want to see her,” I said. Su
nny would know I was there.
I didn’t go home that night. I called Janice and Clete, instead, and asked if they could keep Katie for the night. I promised Katie that I’d stop by in the morning to get her and we would visit Sunny and Ariana.
They wouldn’t let me into see either Sunny or Ariana while they were in ICU. I learned from the nurse that they had been given them the antiviral medicine Tamiflu and their vitals had stabilized. I called Ariana’s mother to give her an update.
“Why hasn’t she called me,” she said.
I had the sense that she thought I was keeping something from her. “That’s my fault, Mrs. Alvarado. When I brought her and Sunny in, I didn’t bring her phone with us and I haven’t been able to get into the ICU to give her mine. I think they will move them out of ICU and to a regular room in the morning and you can see her then.”
“How is the baby?”
“They haven’t said anything to me. I’ll ask the next time I see the nurse and let you know.”
“I will come to see her in the morning. You will call me if anything changes?”
“Of course.”
“Mr. Howard, we should talk about this. My husband does not want to speak about Ariana and your son. He has more pride than I do. This is not natural; not the way it should be with our daughter. My heart aches in a way I did not think possible.”
“I’m disappointed with the behavior of my stepson, but know we love Ariana and will take care of her until Kevin conducts himself like a man. She is family now and I know for a fact that she also misses you very much.”
I heard her breath on the other end. It was a sound of relief escaping from her lips. She started crying. “I’m sorry. I must go.”
“I hope I will see you in the morning.”
. . .
I left the ER and went into the main waiting room of the hospital where it was less crowded and quieter. Visiting hours were now in effect and there was hardly anyone in the area. I needed to get a couple of hours of sleep. I thought about texting Kevin but couldn’t bring myself to do it. I texted his brother Nick instead and told him to let Kevin know about Ariana and his mother.
The Turbulence of Butterflies (Max Howard Series Book 6) Page 31