My aunt closed her eyes in the mirror on the back of the door. “Oh it happened, kiddo. There’s something in the Halden blood,” she told me in her reflection.
“It’s not their blood, Aunt Meggie.”
She laughed and her entire body shook. “This should be a warning to you kids. You need to be very careful. It isn’t funny. I’m laughing because I can’t believe it’s happening. Again.”
“Um…me neither. I didn’t know you were planning to have more babies.”
“I don’t know if planning is the word I’d use.”
Emmie sniffled and made a gagging noise. She lifted her head, cried, and then set her head back down on my shoulder.
“What does Joel think? He’s going to be a dad again at fifty.”
“That’s not so unusual,” she said in his defense. “I haven’t told him. He’s busy erecting his tower.”
“He’s not that busy—obviously. Are you going to be okay if it’s positive?”
She tipped her chin and winked. “A-okay, kiddo. I’m not worried about Joel. I’m a lot younger, but he runs circles around me. I just don’t know where we’re all going to fit. Your mom’s having a tough time finding a place to rent.”
“Meg, are you up there?” My mother was on her way up the stairs. I could hear my sister crying. “Can I use your bath? It’s an emergency.”
Meggie hopped off the bed and went into the bathroom. She returned with the grocery bag under her shirt. “Your sister will go through my drawers. This is between us.”
“Same goes for my secret,” I whispered.
“We’re in here,” Meggie said.
Brianna walked in the room whimpering, her face tearstained. “I puked, Avy.”
While my mother bathed my sister, I unloaded my clothes from the dryer and folded them on the kitchen table. Meggie vanished to the basement to pee on a stick. I waited for her return while I studied Gabe’s empty trailer from the kitchen window. Emmie sat in her baby seat on the table and chewed a rattle.
Meggie emerged moments before my mother came down the stairs. She had the grocery bag in her hand. “Take this and dispose of it,” she said as she shoved the bag into my laundry sack.
“Did you finish it? Where is it?” I asked in a loud whisper.
Meggie patted her back pocket and turned around when my mother appeared in the kitchen and interrupted. “I don’t know what’s going around, but the turnabout is quick. Brianna got sick as we were leaving the model home. She seems fine now. Maybe it’s related to this unbearable heat. I don’t remember it being this hot out here.”
My sister walked in the room holding her blanket over her forehead. “I’m the bwide—tuh dah!”
Emmie started crying. Meggie lifted her out of her seat and carried her upstairs to change her diaper.
“Take your sister into the big room and put a movie on.”
Brianna followed me into the living room. I lifted her onto the couch. “I’ll bring you a can of ginger ale.”
“I want a stwaw pweaze.”
“Okay. Stay here,” I told her and patted her head.
* * *
Deliah jumped out of the truck and sprinted to the cabin. She hadn’t said a word when Gabe picked me up at Meggie’s house.
“Why is she staying with us? She’s still mad at me.” I climbed out of the icebox and into the humidity.
Gabe threw the laundry bag over his shoulder. “You still mad at me?”
“Why are you so fast to fight everybody?” I asked.
“Not everybody. Just them.”
I rolled my eyes and caught a glimpse of his smirk. His cheeks were red.
“Have you heard back from Judson?”
I scanned the property. The signs were gone. I also noticed his truck was filthy.
“What happened to your truck?”
“Me and Mona Deliah went off-roading.”
Gabe straightened his posture and then lowered his cowboy hat on his head. Two vehicles drove up and parked behind us. As the dirt bomb settled, two officials got out of a car. A woman wearing a beige pantsuit with burgundy pumps approached us.
“Gabriel Halden?” the woman asked while the man stood behind her. The female held her badge at Gabe’s eye level and patrolled her gaze around the property. “We’re federal agents with the FBI. We’re assisting the Williston police department. We’d like to ask you some questions.”
“I’m not talking to you without a lawyer,” he drawled.
The passenger side on the SUV opened, and two cowboy boots touched the ground. Mr. Halden stepped out. He placed his cowboy hat on his head and nodded at me. “Afternoon, Miss Ross.”
I wondered if he had spoken to my aunt about her most recent purchase.
“These kind folks have some questions about the Remington property. We’re going to provide them with the information they need, son. Perhaps we could all go inside.” He looked up at the sun and squinted.
“There’s no air conditioning,” I said under my breath.
“That’s fine, sir,” the woman told him. “Gabriel, when was the last time you had contact with Judson Halden?” She looked around him as if to check for any sign of life in the cabin.
Gabe jammed his hands into his back pockets and stared at her.
The agent’s sidekick jumped into the conversation. “We need to know his whereabouts.”
“I thought you had questions about the property,” Gabe said. “Tell me who filed for an injunction against me.”
The woman turned to his father. Her eyes silently willed him to help her out.
“Where did you last see Judson? Deliah said you two went away. Is that so?”
“We flew to Benjamin. He took off. I came back.”
I held my breath as Gabe lied through his teeth.
The woman’s hand floated to her eyes to shield the sun. “What business did you have together in Benjamin?”
Gabe set his hand behind his neck. The heat was unbearable. It reminded me of my first visit to Texas. “Personal business. My brother’s there.”
“Do you have any idea if Judson left Texas?”
“Tell me why you want him—or leave,” Gabe said.
“Gabriel,” Mr. Halden cautioned.
The male detective stepped forward. “We have some questions regarding the human remains found on this parcel. We understand your uncle is the property guardian of this estate—”
“Father,” Gabe told the man.
“Pardon me?” the woman responded.
“He’s my biological father, ma’am. Judson Halden fathered me. Would you like to see the DNA results?”
Deliah jumped out from behind me. I was so focused on willing Gabe to remain calm that I hadn’t noticed her approach. “He’s my father too.”
“Excuse me, your father is Judson Halden?” The woman looked from Gabe to Mr. Halden and twisted her features.
“Yes, ma’am.” Gabe lifted his hat and ran his hand through his hair. His cheeks were extra rosy. Mr. Halden remained statuesque and observed with an unblinking stare.
“Didn’t you take the skull away for forensic testing?” Deliah questioned.
“You need to have Judson call me at this number when you hear from him.” The woman lifted a card from her breast pocket and handed it to Gabe. “It’s imperative that I speak to him.”
“This isn’t something to fool around with,” said Mr. Halden after the agents got in their car.
“What are they after?” Gabe asked. He kicked the dirt with his toe and shot a rock across the road.
“Is there a burial ground under this place?” Deliah asked. “Is it under all of our land? Is that why you don’t own it already? You own most of the state.”
“That’s to be determined.” Mr. Halden walked to his driver who was standing in the sun wearing all black. Then he stopped and faced us. “Deliah, would you like a ride?”
She turned around and waved her hand behind her back, “No, thanks. I’m going swimming.”
“Jud’s never coming back.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“Didn’t have to. Lieutenant’s behind this. I think he’s trying to get Jud out of the picture. Throw him under the bus for whatever happened on the ranch years ago.”
“Why would he do that?”
Gabe walked away as I was talking. I followed him into the cabin where he tossed his hat on the kitchen table and headed to the bedroom to collapse on the bed. Deliah ran into the bathroom to change into her swimsuit.
I stood above Gabe. “Fighting your brothers must be exhausting. Or is this about Judson?”
“My head hurts. I’m cold. Feel me,” he drawled and yanked off his boots.
I reached for his forehead.
He grabbed my elbow and drew me closer. “Not there, Av’ry.”
I overlooked his teasing and found his skin was clammy and warm. I ran the back of my hand down his cheek and over his chiseled jaw. “You’ve got a temperature. You probably caught what the banana caught. She threw up this morning, and Emmie has a fever.”
“Awesome,” he muttered and fell back on the pillows and closed his eyes.
“I’ll get you some Tylenol and a case of Gatorade in town. Where are your keys?” I touched his pocket, and he rolled over so I couldn’t get my hand in.
“Not the truck,” he said.
“Do you expect me to hike twenty miles in this heat?”
I walked to the kitchen, wet a dishcloth, and returned to the bed. I set the cool cloth on his neck, and he rolled right over. I jumped on his leg and held his arm while I fished my hand into his pocket and drew out the keys. I bounced backward and out of his reach as quick as I could.
“You’re not very fast. I’ll be right back. I’ll wash the truck.”
I looked for protestors as I left Gabe’s property. The land was barren and quiet. I drove all the way to Williston’s business district with the air conditioning on full blast. I decided not to brave the Walmart. Meggie said the last girl to go in there alone didn’t come out alive. The night before we moved to the cabin we learned a man got stabbed in the automotive department fighting over the last oil filter.
I drove into a spot at a gas station I was familiar with. The parking lot was full of HalRem trucks of various models. I grabbed a shopping basket on entering the minimart and headed for the pharmacy aisle without making eye contact with anyone. I satisfied my mental list and got in line at the cash register to pay for Gabe’s medicine and some antibiotic cream for my back.
“You remember that time when Oliver and Mona Remington offered the biggest reward in the history of the county?” said a man.
My attention shot sideways. In my peripheral vision, I spied him shake a newspaper at his friend, and then when I dared to glance their way, he winked at me. He was older than my father.
“Do I know you, sweet cheeks?”
I clutched my basket to my middle and stepped out of line, knowing it was probably stupid to engage with two dirty men wearing overhauls. I did it anyway. I had to get a look at the headline of the paper. The words Remington and cold case caught my eye.
“I doubt it,” I said and took off for the front of the store to grab my own paper.
An arm wrapped around my neck and shoulder and stopped me. My heart launched into my throat, but still I was able to slip out of the embrace and spin around.
“Caleb!” I shrieked. “Don’t ever do that again!”
He laughed and picked up my basket and the contents that flew out.
“Jeez. Why are you sneaking up on me?”
“Why are you talking to those rats? Where’s Gabe? I saw his muddy truck out front.”
“He’s sick.”
“He seemed mighty fightin’ fine this morning.” Caleb pretended to punch the air and then walked off with my basket and set it on the counter.
I followed him. He had changed out of his uniform. “Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
“Pay out for me, would ya, legs?” He set a box of condoms on the counter. I didn’t give him the reaction he was hoping for. I picked it up and set it in front of him as the cashier rung up my items while she watched him intently. She seemed fascinated with Caleb’s face. He seemed taken by her pin-straight, blonde hair.
“He’s almost off parole,” I told her.
Caleb pushed the box back to me. “Come on, legs. We always practice safety first.”
“Weren’t you the one mixed up in a paternity mess?” I countered. “I need the paper. Hold on a minute.”
I ran to the front door and grabbed at a copy of the Williston Herald. A man wearing a cowboy hat touched the paper at the same time I did. He tugged on it and then lifted his hands into the air and let me slide the top paper off the pile.
“Be my guest, hot stuff,” he told me and raised his eyebrows.
I flattened the paper to my shirt and turned away with an uneasy feeling.
“I’ll be damned, you read?” Caleb teased as I walked to the counter and pretended I didn’t hear the man. “You sure are popular with the husbands today.”
I huffed under my breath. “Have you seen this?”
“I avoid the newspaper. It leaves black fingerprints all over.”
“Caleb, look. It’s all about the Remingtons. There’s an unsolved missing person case.” I read to myself while he stood waiting. “Your grandfather had a business partner. Did you know this? He disappeared.”
He set his elbow on the counter and leaned back. “Huh?”
I wanted to pull out my hair. He wasn’t connecting the dots. “There’s a story about a missing person on the Remington Ranch in today’s paper. We found the skull on Gabe’s land—your grandfather’s land. FBI agents were at the cabin looking for Judson.”
“What the hell does Jud have to do with a missing person?” He swiped his credit card and paid for everything while wagging his eyebrows at the cashier.
“You tell me,” I replied. “He’s the one supposedly good at finding people.”
* * *
Gabe was spread out on the sheets. Blankets, pillows, and his clothes had been discarded with the exception of his shorts. He opened his eyes when I sat on the mattress and touched his knee.
“I’m awake,” he said groggily.
“I see your fever broke.” I pulled a book out from under his shoulder. His guitar was leaning on the mattress. His glasses were open on his chest.
“It got hot in here.”
“So you took off all of your clothes?”
“You weren’t here to do it for me.”
“You’re well enough to play guitar.”
“He asked me to play at the party. I was practicing.”
“Who’s he? You mean Meggie did?”
He reached over my lap. “What’s in the bag?”
“Nothing much. I got distracted.”
“Lemme see.” He sat up and took the bag off my wrist and dug through it. The glasses slid onto the bed. I picked them up and folded them.
“Don’t bother. I didn’t get any candy. Just Tylenol.”
“Is this everything?”
I tipped my chin and gave him a questioning look. He couldn’t know about the newspaper. I left it under the seat in the truck. He’d only accuse me of making a big deal out of nothing.
He fell back and closed his eyes.
“Did Deliah come back yet?” I asked.
“No. Did you run into any trouble on the road?”
I leaned in and studied his dark eyelashes. “There’s an army of protestors on their way here. Three dozen cop cars and a bunch of news vans are trailing them.”
Gabe sprung up and glowered. “What the hell, Av—”
I pushed on his chest and made him lie back down. “There’s nobody out there. I’m kidding.” I kept my hand on his warm skin and drank in the electricity from his body
. Then I ran my finger over his scar. He watched my hand while he absently played with my ponytail.
“Do you want to come with me to fetch my car?”
My spine straightened and he let go. “Right now? You’re sick. If you leave today, you’ll miss Joel’s party.”
Someone knocked at the door. Gabe’s eyes grew wide. “If it’s got short black hair and a picket sign—shoot it.”
“Hi, Travis,” I said. He smiled through the screen when he saw me walking toward the door. “Gabe’s sick.”
He continued to smile. “I brought him a newspaper.”
“Oh, thanks. We already saw it,” I whispered. “Have you heard anything about this missing person case?”
He stepped back. I slipped my feet into flip-flops and opened the screen door.
“I didn’t bring today’s paper, ma’am. I brought this because I thought Gabe would be interested. Maybe I should save it.”
“You can show me,” I said.
He studied my face as if he needed to decide if I was trustworthy. Then he pulled a folded piece of newsprint out of his shirt pocket and handed it to me.
“It looks old.” I shut the screen door quietly and took the article from him.
“It’s been tacked to the wall in my granddaddy’s workshop since before I was born. He saves everything.”
I unfolded the paper and leaned against the cabin wall. Travis’s eyes were trained on my face as I read. He was acting nervous.
“Av’ry?” Gabe called down the hall. He came to the screen door and stretched his long arms over the door frame and struck a threatening pose.
“I’ll be at the lodge sorting out the windows,” Travis told me and then took off for his tractor.
Deliah was standing in the yard in her swimsuit. He ran past her as if she were invisible.
I ducked under Gabe’s arm to get by before Deliah could run inside. He grabbed my hand and stopped me. “What’s going on?”
I pulled away and walked calmly to the bathroom. I stepped over Deliah’s clothes, took a seat on the side of the tub, and opened the crumpled article.
“What are you doing in there?” Gabe asked outside the door.
I disregarded his sudden bout of paranoia and read on. The article mentioned the missing partner and a murder investigation.
The Luxury of Being Stubborn (The Stubborn Series Book 4) Page 9