Outlaw Mountain

“Come on, Je

Six days a week Clayton Rhodes, Joa

For the next half hour Je

Joa

“Is Maria

“Why do you ask that?” Joa

“No fair,” Je

Joa

“What’s wrong with her? Is she still sad about Esther?”

Joa

Je

Joa

Je

Back in the house and putting things to rights, Joa

“What took you so long?” Joa

“It’s hunting season, so naturally we’ve got spooked deer everywhere,” Frank replied. “Right after you called, a big buck put himself through the windshield of a motor home just outside the Tombstone city limits. The Department of Public Safety officer who responded to the incident needed some help, and I happened to be handy. Sorry about that.”

“What about the accident?” Joa

“It was fatal for the deer,” Montoya answered. “The people in the motor home both got hit by flying glass. The seat belt did a pretty good job of bruising the woman’s collarbone, but other than that, I think she and her husband will both be fine. What was it you wanted?”

“To know what’s going on with Clete Rogers.”

Frank sighed. “That’s another whole can of worms. I’m just now getting ready to file the missing person’s report.”

“What missing person’s report?” Joa

“On Clete’s mother-Alice Rogers.”

“She’s missing?”

“Evidently. According to the family, she drove to Sierra Vista yesterday afternoon to have di

Joa

Frank Montoya groaned. “Which was probably none too complimentary regarding yours truly.”

“Right. Clete couldn’t understand why you didn’t arrest her. I’ve been wondering about that myself. If the woman was doing property damage, why didn’t you?”

“Because they were both out of line,” Frank Montoya replied. “I don’t suppose Clete mentioned that.”

“No.”

“No surprises there,” Montoya continued. “I’ve worked with the man long enough to know that when it comes to points of view, he has only one-his. I can also tell you that Clete Rogers doesn’t exactly exude sweetness and light. By the time brother and sister finished bitching one another out in the middle of the restaurant, I had two choices. I could either arrest them both or let them off the hook. It was a judgment call, Joa

“Afraid her mother might be sick or something, Susan let herself inside. She had a key. Once there, she found the place looked like it had been ransacked. Instead of calling us, she climbed right back into her car and drove out to Gleeson and proceeded to raise more hell, this time with Farley Adams.”

“Her mother’s boyfriend,” Joa

“Right,” Frank responded, “although that’s not what Susan Jenkins called him. Scumbag, for one. Gold digger, for another, along with a few other choice expressions that shouldn’t be repeated in mixed company. I tell you, that woman’s a piece of work!”

“You were there?”

“For part of it. He told her to leave-he lives in a motile home parked at Alice Rogers’ mining claim on Outlaw Mountain. When Susan refused to leave, he called for reinforcements. After what happened at the restaurant earlier, I didn’t waste any time getting there. She was still raising holy hell with the man when I drove up. That’s when she told me her mother was missing. I asked Susan if she suspected foul play, and the woman fell all apart on me. She went to pieces-hyperventilating and the whole nine yards. I ended up having to call her husband to come drive her home. The thing that really corks me is that Clete Rogers is probably right on this one-I should have arrested her to begin with.”

“Where is she now?”

“Back home in Sierra Vista. Once I unloaded her, I went back to Tombstone and checked out the mother’s house myself. And she’s right. It looks as though the mother has disappeared, all right. At least she didn’t come home overnight. Her car’s gone. Somebody has ripped through the old woman’s house and torn it to pieces, although there’s no way to tell what, if anything, is missing.”

“Did you have a chance to talk to the boyfriend?” Joa

“A little. Not that much because, like I said, I had my hands full with this Jenkins woman. Then, after that, I was helping with the car wreck.”

“What did Farley Adams have to say?” Joa

“He claims the last time he saw Alice was when she came out to his place yesterday morning. According to him, she pla