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

by Thelen, Marjorie

  “That, too.”

  Opal looked at Fiona and Olympia who were intently following the conversation. “I guess I better stay to keep you gals out of trouble.”

  “There’s that, too,” said Jake with a grin.

  “We can look out for ourselves,” said Fiona. “We’ll do some sightseeing. I think Olympia wants to do some research for a new book, don’t you?”

  Olympia perked to life. “I certainly would like to see more of this lovely country. Fiona and I could go along with you two gents. That would be fun.”

  Jake studied the newcomer. “This is not a fun thing, and, no, you won’t go. It’s hard riding over rough country.” He looked to Opal. “You could take them sightseeing maybe over to the refuge to do some bird watching.”

  “Bird watching?” said Olympia with a perplexed frown. “I have never watched a bird in my life.”

  “This is a good place to learn,” said Jake. “With any luck Hoover and I will only be out over night if we get an early start.” He finished the beer.

  “Dinner in an hour,” said Opal.

  Jake said, “If you ladies will excuse me, I’ll see to the horses and get cleaned up for dinner.” He touched his hat again and left Olympia with the silly grin still spread across her face.

  * * * * *

  Fiona had other ideas. She and Olympia could go do some investigating of their own, if she could convince Opal to stay behind. She had hoped that Opal would go on the tracking trip with Jake and Hoover.

  Olympia regained her voice over dinner. She had donned the most amazing red-sequined gown for dinner while the other three of them sported ranch duds. Where Olympia came up with some of the outfits she wore was beyond Fiona. Where she ever found them was a mystery.

  She, unfortunately, was regaling Opal and Jake with exploits from their Australian vacation. There were some parts of that vacation that Fiona would rather not be made public. But she was seated too far away from Olympia to kick her in the leg.

  “So you got into a little mystery solving on vacation,” Jake said.

  “Oh, my, yes, and Fiona was superb. She zeroed right in on who stole all the expensive equipment.”

  “Is that right?” said Jake. “What was the equipment for?”

  Fiona butted in. “It wasn’t anything. Wouldn’t you like to hear about our sightseeing plans, Olympia?” She gave her friend a pointed look, but she refused to meet her gaze.

  “Wasn’t anything? The police were very grateful you were able to identify those crooks. But not before this really lovely man, who wined and dined us the whole time, helped Fiona solve the mystery.”

  “Olympia, really, you are boring Jake and Opal to death.”

  Jake held up his hand, a smile in his eyes. “I’m fascinated by Olympia’s account. Fiona has not given us any details of your vacation in Australia. It’s someplace I’ve always wanted to visit. I hinted I wanted to go but Fiona had other plans, I see.”

  Fiona felt her face heat up with that comment. One of the reasons it took her so long to make the trip to see Jake and Opal was that the Australia caper got out of hand, and they had had to stay longer. She didn’t want to go into any more detail. That was another story for another time. Maybe never.

  “You wanted to come?” said Olympia. “Fiona, you never mentioned that. You would have been most welcome. We can go another time. Maybe after my next book.” She smiled her most alluring smile at Jake. “We could all go, but maybe Fiona doesn’t want to go back. It ended sadly for that lovely man who wined and dined us.”

  “Olympia, will you please shut up?”

  She finally looked into Fiona’s scowl and seemed to get the message. “I’m terribly sorry. I guess I am boring everyone.”

  Jake held up the wine bottle to pour Olympia another drink. She smiled into his eyes.

  “Really, Olympia, haven’t you had enough to drink?” asked Fiona.

  “Not me. The night is young, the wine superb, the company beyond compare.”

  Jake laughed and poured another healthy glass of wine for Olympia. Fiona covered her glass when he tried to do the same.

  “I’ll get dessert,” said Opal, rising. “A little ice cream will cool things down.”

  “Did I say something wrong?” Olympia asked Fiona.

  “Nothing. Nothing. It’s just that when you have too much to drink you say things that are perhaps better left unsaid.”

  Olympia waved a hand in the air. “Not me. I’m the height of propriety always.”

  “Jake, why don’t you tell Olympia all the wonderful things there are to see in this lovely country?” said Fiona, trying hard to be pleasant. Olympia had gotten them into more than one ridiculous situation with her loose tongue. She really did want to forget the lovely man in Australia. She hoped he never showed up unexpectedly which was another reason she decided that now was as good a time as any to disappear into the middle of nowhere.

  Jake studied Fiona with steady, not-to-be fooled eyes. “Yes, let’s tell Olympia what she has been missing all these years. Maybe it will show up in her next book.”

  Jake was getting the hang of Olympia fast. He became tour guide extraordinaire and told her about hunting, hiking, camping, fishing, and ATV opportunities. Fiona knew Olympia didn’t follow a word he said. Her eyelids had the half mast look of one under the influence. But Olympia could carry a conversation even dead drunk though she didn’t always remember what she said.

  “I would love to go fishing,” Olympia said. “I’ve never fished before. Would you take me? I mean, us, of course.”

  “I’d be glad to take both you gals, if I had more time. Opal is a world class fisherwoman. What do you say, Opal?”

  She looked at Jake like he was crazy. “We can drive to one of the lakes and have a look if you like. You girls have to get some gear and fishing licenses.”

  Olympia turned her charm on Fiona. “Wouldn’t that be fun? What do you say, Fiona?”

  At least the conversation was clear of the Australia caper. Though Fiona wasn’t much of the outdoor type, she could learn.

  “All right. Tomorrow I’ll show Olympia the sights. We’ll go shopping in Rocky Point and meet some of the local flora and fauna first.”

  Opal looked relieved. “Yes, you girls go. I got enough to do around the ranch. You go have a good time in that red bomb she drives.”

  Olympia looked puzzled. “Red bomb? You mean my beautiful Range Rover?” A slow smile spread across her face. “I like that name. It shall be the Red Bomb for ever after.”

  Perfect. They were set for some sleuthing in the morning.

  * * * * *

  Morning came and went and Olympia was still not out of bed. Jake had left before any of them had risen. Opal and Fiona finally discussed what Opal wanted done to the house. Opal was short on ideas. Fiona had endless. They agreed on new flooring for the great room which had some sort of linoleum that was badly worn.

  “I think pine flooring would look great in here,” Fiona said.

  “How much would that cost?” asked Opal.

  “I’ll get prices.”

  “There’s a good flooring place in town.”

  “I’ll check prices there and what other possibilities they have to offer. There’s fake wood flooring that comes in squares that might work.”

  “I worry about the cost of all this,” Opal said.

  Now it came out. Fiona was afraid of this. “Do you have a budget in mind?”

  She shrugged. “I never gave the price a thought. I wanted something that looks prettier than it does now. The place does look a little shabby, don’t you think?”

  “It is charming as it is. It has a homey, lived in look. If you don’t want to change it, I understand.”

  Opal sighed. “You’re sweet, Fiona. We lure you out, you come all this way, your house burns down, and I’m not sure if I can afford to remodel now.”

  Opal was quiet while Fiona looked around the great room where they were standing, where the dance took place after
the barbecue. Most of the interior walls were log or pine paneling, so there wasn’t much painting to do. Oiling would bring up the sheen on the wood and preserve it longer. She’d use a rustic theme for the floors and windows. Right now the windows had nothing at all. Nearly every window had a great view. Putting up insulated drapes could help with the heating bill in the winter. Changing all that could run into thousands of dollars in a space this big.

  “There’s another thing holds me back,” Opal said.

  Fiona looked at her.

  “Jake wants to buy this place. I don’t want to put a lot of money into the place and change it into something he doesn’t want.”

  Fiona’s eyebrows lifted. This was a game changer. “Is it a done deal?”

  “We’re working out the details.”

  “What about the relatives?”

  “That accounts for some of the details we have to work out.”

  “You’d really give up the ranch?”

  Opal sighed again. “I’m not getting any younger, and I want to have things tidied up. If I don’t, there’ll be a terrible row when I’m gone.”

  Fiona smiled. “You don’t need to worry about that. You won’t be here.”

  Opal smiled, too. “I know. But it will be nasty if I don’t make some provisions. I want Jake to have the place. He’s been loyal, he’s very capable, and he loves this place as much as I do. I can’t help he’s not a blood relation.”

  “I can see why you love it,” Fiona said softly.

  Opal peered at her. “Why Fiona I believe you mean that. I think you might be coming to like it here.”

  Fiona smiled. “I am up in the air right now in terms of my life. I don’t know where I’ll come out. But I admit this country has its attractions.”

  “Maybe you could rebuild your place on the hill. Maybe run a little bed and breakfast.”

  “I’ve thought of that. I don’t know. I’ll pick through the rubble. I haven’t been up there since the fire. Maybe it will exorcise some of the ghosts and give me some ideas what to do.”

  “You do that. What happened to your friend?”

  She shrugged. “Some days she sleeps all day.”

  Fiona walked up the knoll, almost afraid to visit the place she had already come to love and have hopes for the future. The old smoke smell was overpowering. A few brave burned off boards stood as forlorn guards over the sad scene. She walked around the perimeter, looking at the ground, at the rubble, not sure what she might find. She saw the blackened remains of the old coffee pot. The twisted remains of the burner plate were half-way visible. The roof had collapsed and buried everything.

  Who would have done this? Jake didn’t seem to think it was personal. He thought it had something to do with the cattle rustling at the ranch. She was a pawn in the game, a ploy to take the attention away from something else. She resented that and given half a chance she could work up a real head of steam over the whole business. But they didn’t know yet who set the fire. Someone had been outside her door that night, and she wanted to know who. How was she going to find that person?

  She studied the landscape, the view. There were five acres in the parcel. Five acres of sagebrush and rock. An outside pump for water, no electric, no sewer. Not a place in demand. But the view was spectacular, and Opal said it would never flood. Maybe she should rebuild. She considered what Opal had told her about Jake. He would be owner of the ranch if everything worked out. And she would be sitting up here in what? A cute B & B? For what? Watching Jake ranch? That scenario was cozier than she wanted to get right now.

  She walked to where the lone tree stood. It had been charred on one side by the fire, but amazingly enough it was still had green leaves on the other side. Those green leaves spoke of such hope. The tree’s efforts gave her new hope. She studied the footprint of the house and the lay of the land, trying to imagine a totally new structure that would command the knoll. She liked the ranch house look with porches front and back. She looked around the clearing to try to picture if the space would support a larger, rambling structure. A flash of light caught her eye by the tree. The sun caught something shiny, and then it was gone. She couldn’t imagine what it was. Hoover said they had combed the area looking for clues. She stooped to look. A piece of metal lay half hidden under a clump of brush. She pulled aside the brush to have a better look.

  It was the barrel of a gun. Fiona frowned. Whose could it be? She didn’t touch it or move it. She knew little about guns. She studied it. It looked like it belonged in a cowboy movie. Only one spot was shiny, the rest looked gray and weathered, like it had been there a long time. She wondered why the Sheriff hadn’t found it. One chance ray of the sun reflecting off the barrel gave it away. She marked the place with a small stack of rocks so she could find it again in the tangled brush.

  She walked around the site moving brush aside, pushing rocks out of the way but she found nothing else. She stood for a while and looked from the desolation of the rubble to the timeless basalt rim rock in the distance. The breeze ruffled her hair. Those rocks didn’t care if houses stood or fell. They didn’t care about the silly lives of people. They were the real winners. She felt like a gnat on the back of time. Maybe if she stayed she could learn something from those rocks and this land. Maybe she was always running from life. Maybe she should stay and confront it.

  Seven

  Olympia was sitting on the front porch with a giant glass of iced tea in hand when Fiona returned from the trip to the knoll. She sat on the chair beside her friend, who wore a frilly chartreuse nightgown with matching boa wrapper. Her hair was disheveled. Her makeup smeared.

  “Did I make a fool of myself again?” asked Olympia.

  “Not too. You’ve been worse.”

  “That cheers me up.”

  “However, you shared information about our Australia trip which we had agreed we wouldn’t tell anyone.”

  “I talked about that? Oh, dear. I’m so sorry, Fiona.”

  Fiona shrugged. “No sense going on about it. But can we agree again not to tell anyone about what happened on that trip?”

  Olympia nodded. “I promise. Again.”

  They sat for a spell watching the bumble bees busy buzzing on the pink yarrow in Opal’s flower garden that fronted the porch.

  “Are you mad at me?” asked Olympia. “You’re not talking.”

  “No. I’m thinking about what I’m going to do.”

  Olympia sighed. “I’m so jealous of you and Jake. I wish I had someone like you that was head over heels in love with me. I might consider settling down.”

  “I’m not sure I like the feeling.”

  “Still and all you are very lucky.”

  Fiona didn’t respond. She wasn’t ready to talk about Jake. Instead, she went inside the house to retrieve her cell phone. She dialed the Sheriff’s office and waited for him to answer while she walked back on the porch to sit with Olympia.

  “Sheriff Hoover? This is Fiona Marlowe. I found an old gun up at the site where the bunk house burned down.” She gave him the details, and he said he’d be out to have a look as soon as he could get away.

  “You found a gun up there?” asked Olympia, after Fiona had closed the connection.

  “Yes, and it has set me to thinking. What if there is something valuable at the bunkhouse site that someone wanted and couldn’t have while I was there. Someone said an old buckle was found up there. What if there is some kind of treasure? Maybe a cache of old antiquities and the gun was part of that. Then the tale grows up about the place being haunted so that people will stay away.”

  “That’s pretty far out. Treasure? Nothing around here looks very valuable.”

  “No, nothing looks valuable. But what if it’s something that someone wants? They used to mine gold to the north of here. Maybe there’s a gold mine under my burned up bunkhouse. A relative, or friend, or former employee might know about these things. Jake thought the fire was a diversionary tactic to keep them from witnessing the rustling attempt.
But maybe not.”

  Olympia rose and fluffed up her hair. “I can tell we are going to be chasing around these rocks trying to find out. I better clean up.”

  She went inside, leaving Fiona to study the bumble bees. What if all these events were related? Could those old bones in the hot spring, the fire, an old gun, and cattle rustling be connected? Maybe she was trying to find links where none existed.

  By the time Olympia had cleaned up and poured herself into jeans and a cowgirl shirt with cleavage, the sun was well overhead. She was the only person Fiona knew that could coax cleavage from a cowgirl shirt.

  “Let’s go into town,” said Fiona. “I want to find Brewster and talk to him about his girlfriend.”

  “Really, Fiona, why don’t you leave that to the Sheriff? Although speaking of the Sheriff, I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.”

  “I’m not going to see the Sheriff. I want to talk to Brewster. I’m intrigued about the girlfriend who disappeared. We could have dinner in town. Jake told me about a bar that has lots of local color.”

  “Local color, I like. I might get some ideas for my new western romance series. Let’s go.”

  Fiona drove Olympia’s dream car. It was the height of decadence. Olympia was good at decadence. They stopped first at Brooks’ Furniture Store. Lauren knew about the bunkhouse fire.

  “I’m so sorry, Fiona. When I heard about the fire, I put a hold on your order. I’ll cancel it if you want. No problem. Will you rebuild?”

  “I haven’t decided yet, but don’t lose my order. If I rebuild, I’ll want all that lovely furniture. I have another question for you. Do you know anything about Brewster and his girlfriend?”

  A few customers lingered, so Lauren lowered her voice. “That would be girlfriends with an S, and I do. Why do you want to know?”

  “Because he told me one of them disappeared, and I was to tell the Sheriff. To tell you the truth, I’m doing a little sleuthing on my own.”

  Lauren smiled. “The things I could tell you about Brewster. He’s had just about every eligible female in town and then some. You and your friend better be careful.”