Murderous Secrets: A Shandra Higheagle Mystery #4

by Paty Jager

  “Ready to be a therapy dog?” Shandra asked her companion.

  She climbed out of the Jeep and opened the passenger door. “Whoa! You have to be properly suited up.” So people wouldn’t worry about Sheba’s size, Shandra put a harness on her. With the harness in place, Sheba jumped out of the vehicle.

  “Wait a minute, you need your buddy.” Shandra slipped the legs of a stuffed monkey, wearing a cowboy hat, into the loops on the harness that made the toy look like it was riding Sheba. It had been Lil’s idea to make the huge dog look approachable. Whenever Shandra took Sheba to public events or places, Shandra put the harness and monkey on the dog.

  “Let’s go.” Shandra shouldered her bag, shut the doors on the Jeep, and locked it.

  They encountered a bit of resistance at the front door of the nursing home. Once the residents crowded around, and Sheba licked and talked to everyone, the nurses decided she could enter the premises.

  “Is Phil Seeton still in room two-seventeen?” Shandra asked.

  “Yes. He was having a difficult day but this will cheer him up,” the nurse said, smiling and shaking her head.

  “I hope so. Come on, Sheba.” Shandra led her friend down the hallway, stopping when a resident held out a hand to pet Sheba.

  They finally arrived at Phil’s room. Shandra knocked, and opened the door, letting Sheba enter first.

  “You’re awful furry for a horse,” Phil said.

  Shandra entered and was surprised to see Phil in bed and not sitting in his recliner. His long nose and narrow face was void of color. His hand, petting Sheba, shook.

  “Hi Mr. Seeton.” Shandra pulled a chair up to the bed beside Sheba. “Do you remember me?”

  “Edward’s daughter. I didn’t think I’d see you again.” He smiled, but it looked like it took a lot of effort.

  “Yes. How are you doing?” she asked, putting a hand on Sheba’s back to make her sit.

  “They say my body’s failing me. I knew it would sooner or later. Too much drinking weakened my organs.” He rubbed a hand across his forehead. “You look good. What’s the name of this miniature pony?”

  Shandra laughed. “That’s what Lil said you would say.”

  Phil’s mouth curved up on one side. “She did. How is she doing? Always liked that girl. A bit shy, but not nasty like the other girls hanging on the cowboys.”

  “She’s fine. It’s funny you mention girls hanging on cowboys. I came here to ask you what you remember about Jessie Preston. She was a barrel racer.”

  Phil was quiet for a time. Shandra wondered if he’d fallen asleep or was having that much difficulty remembering back so far. But his hand on Sheba’s head slowly moved back and forth.

  “Jessie was a fine barrel racer. She could have made some money if she hadn’t slept around so much. She was one of those women that they call a stalker today. She’d set her sights on a cowboy, and if he gave her the time of day, he was stuck with her until he either throwed her out or found a way to make her not like him anymore.”

  “I heard she was partial to Native American cowboys. And she liked my father but he ignored her.” Shandra watched Phil.

  He nodded. “Yeah, she did like the Indians. I don’t know about Edward other than, I know he didn’t care for her. It was because she’d get so tangled up in the cowboy she was with he couldn’t keep his head on when he rode. Your father was all about making the next ride better than the last.”

  “Was she vindictive?”

  Phil stared at her. “You think she caused Edward’s death?”

  “She made a comment that has me puzzled.”

  “You’ve talked to her? What’s she look like now?” Phil shoved his body up a little higher in the bed.

  Shandra stood and shoved pillows behind him to help him sit up.

  “I had a short conversation with her in the Ketch Pen Tavern on the Colville Reservation.”

  “She marry an Indian?” Phil asked.

  “Raymond Lawyer.”

  “Never heard of him. What’s she doing?”

  “She’s training barrel horses. Has some videos and teaches classes.” Shandra had been surprised at the woman’s business sense.

  “She knew her horses. Good for her.” He squinted at Shandra. “But you suspect her?”

  “I don’t know. When I brought up Father she got upset and flung a bottle across the bar. I don’t know what to make of it. Then I saw a photo of her and Dicky Harmond. They looked close.”

  Phil shook his head. “No. I can’t see Jessie being with Dicky. He knocked women around. Jessie wouldn’t put up with that.”

  “What about my mother. Did Dicky ever lay a hand on her?” She could see her mother being bossed around. She allowed Adam to run her life, but as far as she knew he’d never laid a hand on Celeste.

  “If I remember right, Edward did stop Dicky from hurting your mom. There’d been a lot of drinking going on after a long weekend rodeo. The boys were celebrating their wins. As usual Edward was sipping on a beer, sitting in a corner away from all the rowdiness. Dicky came in already drunk and had a couple more. Celeste had talked with your dad, then was wandering around the place like she was looking for someone. Dicky grabbed her and took her for a round on the dance floor. I remember because he was whooping and causing a scene so everyone would see he had the princess on the floor.”

  Shandra stared at Phil. Jessie called her mother the same thing. “Why did you call my mother the princess? Jessie said the same thing.”

  Phil’s cheeks added some color, a tint of red. “Everyone called Celeste the princess because she dated the prince. Adam Malcolm. He was the upcoming heir in the M Ranch Rough Stock Company. They both acted like they were better than everyone else associated with rodeo so we called them the prince and princess.”

  Shandra was getting a better glimpse into her mother. And it was clearing up a lot about how she’d perceived her mother while growing up. She thought back to what Phil had said. “Could Mother have been looking for Adam? You say she was walking around like she was looking for someone.”

  “It could have been him. It was rare for her to enter a bar without him by her side.” Phil patted Sheba’s head. “It was a while later when someone shouted ‘Fight in the parking lot’. We all ran out and found Edward beating the tar out of Dicky and the princess leaning against a car her shirt torn.” He shook his head. “It didn’t take much sobering to figure out what had happened. Dicky took Celeste out into the parking lot to take advantage of her and Edward either came along or followed to keep her safe.” He pointed a finger at Shandra. “It was after that night that we started seeing Celeste and Edward together. Your father was the princess’s white knight.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Shandra drove home on auto-pilot as Phil’s story played over and over in her head. Her father saved her mother from a nasty cowboy and she fell for his chivalrous nature. But where had Adam been? And did her mother take back up with him before or after her father’s death?

  “Maybe I should spend the night after the rodeo party so I can confront the two of them with the information I have.” It was becoming clear that her mother and Adam had been keeping a lot of information from her. She wanted answers. Calling on the phone wouldn’t get them. Her mother would redirect the conversation or hang up on her. No, it would have to be in person.

  The information had also given her another person who would have had a grudge against Father. Dicky Harmond.

  She pulled up her driveway and her heart lifted seeing the Christmas lights Lil had put on the buildings. This was the first year they’d had lights. The other winters they’d been too busy trying to get things ready for winter and it would hit while they were still getting ready. This year they’d started earlier and had the time to do the extras, like string Christmas lights.

  Ryan wanted to get a Christmas tree with her. She did traipse out in the woods last winter and cut down a small four-foot tree to put on the dining room table. With Ryan to help, they could
get a tree befitting the vaulted ceiling in the living room.

  She pulled up in front of the barn. Lil didn’t open the doors. A bit surprised, but figuring she must be busy with a chore, Shandra stepped out and opened the barn doors. The interior was dark.

  Flicking on the barn lights, she noted the horses weren’t in the stalls for the night. Where could Lil be? It wasn’t like her to not do the chores.

  A low, distressed mrowl came from the direction of the tack room. Shandra opened the door and Lewis bolted out. Lil wasn’t in the room. The lights weren’t on.

  Shandra hurried back to the Jeep and opened the back door. “Come on, Sheba. Go find Lil.” Shandra let Sheba out, and she started running around in front of the barn, she disappeared into the trees and Shandra lost sight of her. It didn’t make sense that Lil would be in the woods. Shandra pulled the Jeep into the barn and started to close the barn doors.

  Howling caught her attention. Listening, she distinguished it was Sheba. But it didn’t come from the woods. The sound came from behind the barn. Shandra grabbed the flashlight in the emergency kit in the back of the Jeep and headed down the side of the barn. The howling became louder and her light caught the images of Sheba standing over someone, her muzzle pointed to the sky as she howled.

  Shandra lunged through the several feet of snow to get to the back of the barn. On her back, in the snow, beside the corral fence, Lil was flat on her back. Her right leg was caught between the snow and one of the boards on the fence.

  “I knew you’d show up,” she said. Her pale color scared Shandra.

  Lil needed to get in where it was warm. And she needed medical attention. She knew Lil would be angry but her best option was to call for an ambulance. She’d wait to dislodge the leg until she had a way to move her.

  “I’m going to get a tarp to put you on, so I can pull you into the barn where it’s warmer,” Shandra told Lil. “Sheba, stay with her.”

  The large dog had already lain down next to Lil, using her fur and body to offer warmth.

  Shandra followed the path she’d made the first time through the three-foot snow. In the barn she dialed 9-1-1.

  “Nine-one-one what is your emergency?”

  “This is Shandra Higheagle at four-four- two- one County Road Fifteen. I have a woman in her sixties who has a broken leg and has been lying in the snow for several hours.”

  “Keep her warm and we’ll send an ambulance right out.”

  “Thank you.” Shandra cut off the call and grabbed the first tarp she could find and two blankets out of Lil’s room. The path to the back of the barn was getting easier to navigate the more times she trampled the snow down.

  At the corner, she shone the light on Lil again, trying to figure out the best way to get her leg dislodged and her on the tarp without hurting her leg worse.

  “Lil. I can pull you onto the tarp. I’m at a loss what to do to get your leg loose.” Shandra directed the light to the leg.

  Lil reached down, feeling her leg. “I think it will come free if you pull on me. I don’t care about the leg right now.”

  “You might feel different later if I do something that makes it impossible for you to ride a horse again.” Shandra didn’t want to make the break worse.

  “You won’t make it worse. Just drag me onto that tarp. My back side is getting numb along with my fingers and toes.”

  Shandra grabbed Lil under her arms and dragged her onto the tarp. The leg did slide free of the fence.

  Lil cried out when her leg straightened during the dragging.

  Shandra’s stomach churned with regret. But she continued dragging the smaller woman onto the tarp, and then tied one of the strings to Sheba’s harness and grasped the other corner and the two of them pulled Lil over the uneven ground made from her previous tracks. She dragged Lil all the way into the barn.

  Lewis meowed and laid across Lil’s neck. She rubbed his back. “I know. You didn’t get your nightly carousing of the barn.”

  “What happened?” Shandra asked, closing the doors.

  “I went out to get the horses in for the night and spotted what looked like a stray cat behind the barn. I should have called to it instead of trying to catch it. I climbed over the corral fence and slipped. My right leg broke and I couldn’t get up.” Lil laid a forearm across her eyes. “I’m an old fool.”

  “You’re not an old fool. You knew I’d be back. Sheba found you and we’ll have you fixed up.”

  The sound of sirens grew.

  Lil removed her arm and glared at Shandra. “Did you call an ambulance?”

  “I did. It’s the quickest, safest way to get you medical care.” Shandra stood. “I’ll direct them to the barn.”

  “You know how I feel about hospitals,” Lil called as Shandra walked out the open barn door.

  She ignored the woman. Lil had a phobia of hospitals, but Shandra wasn’t going to shirk on the woman’s care. Besides there wasn’t a hospital in Huckleberry, only an emergency room.

  To her surprise, Ryan’s SUV pulled up to the barn. He stepped out and hurried to her.

  “I heard the call. How’s Lil?” He put an arm around Shandra, giving her support if she wanted it.

  “Mad I called the ambulance. She’ll live but I’m not sure how bad she broke her leg.” Shandra slipped out of his embrace as the lights of the ambulance appeared in the meadow.

  “Where is she?” Ryan pulled out his notepad.

  “In the barn. Sheba found her behind the barn. She’d tried to climb the corral fence and her leg slid through.” Shandra cringed at the thought of how the break must have occurred.

  “Did you find her because she yelled?” Ryan watched her.

  “No. I took Sheba with me to Missoula today.”

  “Missoula? Why’d you go there?”

  The ambulance stopped and two paramedics ran up to them.

  “She’s in there,” Shandra said, pointing inside the barn.

  The paramedics ran on by.

  “I was in Missoula visiting Phil Seeton. After what he told me, I’m thinking we may need to take my mother up on her offer of us spending the night after the party. I have some questions I’m pretty sure she won’t want me to ask during the party.”

  “Miss Higheagle?” one of the paramedics called.

  Shandra hurried into the barn followed by Ryan.

  “Tell these two boys, I don’t want to go to the hospital.” Lil had a belligerent set to her face.

  “Can you fix her leg here?” Shandra asked, already knowing the answer.

  “No, ma’am,” said the other paramedic.

  “You have to go to the emergency room to get that leg set. I’ll follow behind and bring you home as soon as Dr. Porter lets you.” Shandra motioned to the paramedics. “Go ahead and take her in. I’ll be right behind.”

  The two men picked up the stretcher. Shandra lifted Lewis from around Lil’s neck.

  “That’s why I don’t want to go to the Emergency. Lewis can’t come with me,” Lil complained.

  “He’ll be fine. You’ll be home before morning.” Shandra deposited Lewis back in the tack room as Lil was carried off telling the paramedics they didn’t have the right to haul her around.

  “I can drive you down to the Emergency,” Ryan said.

  “Then you’d have to bring me and Lil home afterwards. I better take my Jeep. But you can follow and buy me dinner. I’m hungry.” Shandra opened the back door of the Jeep. “Come on, Sheba. You get to go for another ride.”

  The dog hopped in, happy to get two rides in one day.

  “I’ll close the barn doors behind you,” Ryan said, as Shandra slid behind the steering wheel of the Jeep.

  “Thanks. See you at the Emergency Room.” She started the vehicle and backed out of the barn. Ryan closed the doors as she turned around. It was a comfort to see his lights in her rearview mirror as she drove down her lane and out to the county road. After the driving she did today, she hadn’t wanted to drive herself, but it would have be
en selfish to have Ryan bring her and Lil back up the mountain tonight.

  At the Emergency, she walked through the doors and found Dr. Porter and Maisie Granger already talking to Lil. Dr. Porter was close to Shandra’s age and height, slender, with white hair and eyebrows and light blue eyes. His doctoring skills far surpassed what the community of Huckleberry needed, but he practiced here to be near his elderly great-aunt. Maisie was in her fifties and had the body of a stuffed bear and the cuddly personality to go with it.

  “I’ll pay for any expenses,” Shandra said, walking up behind them.

  “Shandra. Lil tells me she was climbing a fence when this happened,” Dr. Porter said.

  “That’s what she told me. I wasn’t there. But I came home in time to keep her from freezing to death.” Shandra gripped one of Lil’s hands. It was still cold but not as cold as when she’d first found the woman.

  “We’ll be at least a couple hours,” Dr. Porter said, looking over her shoulder. “I think I know of a way you can pass the time.” He nodded to the doors.

  Shandra turned. Ryan strode toward them. “He’s taking me to dinner,” Shandra said. “Lil behave. I’ll be back in two hours. If Dr. Porter says you can go home, I’ll take you then.”

  “I guess I don’t have much of a choice.” Lil pouted.

  “No, you don’t. When Shandra comes back, I need your account of what happened,” Ryan said before facing Shandra toward the door and moving her along with his hand on her lower back.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The air was cold but Ryan opted to walk to Ruthie’s. It gave him more time to talk to Shandra without others around.

  “What were you saying back at your place about spending the night with your parents?” Ryan had been spinning that around in his head all the way down the mountain. First she was taking him as a guest to her parents’ party and now she said they would spend the night. He wanted to think Shandra’s plan had to do with him getting to know her family better, but he doubted that was her reason.

  “I need to ask them about Dicky Harmond attacking Mother and my father saving her. I have to know if gratitude for that was the only reason she slept with him and then stayed with him.” Shandra sighed. “I can’t ask them that with a room full of guests.”