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She nodded. “I will be okay,” she agreed. “Seeing all this was a shock to the system, but this is all stuff-inanimate objects. I’m far more upset about what happened to the dogs. What about Kiddo and the cattle?”
“They seem to be fine.”
“Good.”
“There is one thing that really pisses me off,” Butch added.
“What’s that?”
The shadow of a grin played around the corners of his mouth. “Here we spent all that time and effort on Sunday cleaning your damned oven,” Butch told her. “In all this mess, nobody’s ever going to notice-not your mother, and not mine, either.”
Hearing his good-natured grousing, Joa
As Joa
“I’m okay,” Joa
“Dick Voland?” Frank returned. “He left a few minutes ago. He said he was going to track Reba Singleton down and try to talk to her.”
“You let him walk away just like that?” Joa
“We tried to stop him,” Frank said. “But he wouldn’t listen.”
“Was he wearing a vest?”
Ernie Carpenter shook his head. “I don’t think so. If I remember right, he never much approved of wearing the damned things.”
Joa
“Go where?” Ernie asked.
“To where this all started,” Joa
Ernie and Frank immediately turned on their heels and headed for their respective vehicles. “Hey, you two. Don’t leave without me,” Joa
“So will I,” Butch added at once. “I’m coming, too.”
“No, you’re not,” Joa
“Like hell-!”
Just then a pair of headlights came careening into the yard. Dodging around the clutch of parked vehicles, it skidded to a stop next to the gate and scattered a team of crime-scene techs who were gathered there assembling their materials.
“Joa
“Sorry, Mom,” Joa
“But what’s going on?” Eleanor Lathrop Winfield insisted.
“Don’t worry,” Joa
CHAPTER 25
Not wanting to drive either of the Crown Victorias over such rough terrain, Frank commandeered Deputy Howell’s Bronco for the short trip to Rhodes Ranch. They were crossing the wash when Joa
“She’s here,” Dick Voland said, as soon as Joa
“I figured as much,” Joa
“She’s swinging.”
“She’s what?”
“Swinging. There’s an old rope swing in one of the cottonwoods between the house and the barn. She’s swinging on that.”
“Be careful, Dick,” Joa
“She doesn’t even know I’m here,” Dick replied. “I turned off my lights driving up the road and hiked in the last few hundred yards. I suggest you do the same.”
“Where are you?”
“Out of sight on the far side of the house.”
“Aren’t you afraid she’ll hear you talking on the phone?”
“Not right now,” Dick replied. “She’s singing at the top of her lungs. If she stops, all bets are off.”
“What’s happening?” Frank asked. “What’s going on?”
Keeping the earpiece glued to her ear, Joa
“Don’t bother,” Dick said. “I heard that. My only plan right this minute is to wait for reinforcements.”
“What’s she singing?” Joa
“What do you mean?”
“What song?”
“What the hell does that have to do with the price of tea in China?”
“It might give us some idea of what Reba Singleton’s mental state is right now,” Joa
“Sounds like ”When You Wish Upon a Star,“ something like that,” Dick Voland said. “Isn’t that from one of those Walt Disney movies, Sleeping Beauty, maybe?”
“Pinocchio,” Joa
“So?”
“I don’t know. What’s she doing now?”
“Still swinging, pumping like mad.”
Joa
“Over by Pearce with Catherine Yates. You told him he should go there after attending Sandra Ridder’s funeral. At last report, he was still there.”
“Good,” Joa
Seconds later, Ernie’s Econoline van pulled over to the side of the road. Frank followed suit. While leaving High Lonesome Ranch, Joa
Moving along, Joa
“Dick is asking how you want to handle this,” Frank asked. While Joa
“Can he see if she’s holding the weapon?” Joa
“Negative on that,” Frank answered a little later. “He can’t see it, but she’s wearing a heavy jacket of some kind. It could be concealed in a pocket.”