Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
R eid had returned to the ranch homestead about an hour after Dippy came back. He and Olive both needed to get ready to go into town to meet Reid’s attorney.
Olive had taken a quick shower and changed clothes. She was curious to hear the lawyer’s take on this supposed will that Lucy had materialized.
Not long after, Olive had climbed into Reid’s King Ranch truck, and they took off toward town.
“So now that I have a moment alone with you and I can assume no one’s listening . . .” He paused and glanced across his dash. “Should I assume that?”
“I quickly checked the truck over for listening devices when I was waiting for you to come out,” Olive said. “I didn’t find any.”
He let out a breath. “Smart thinking. Any more updates on your end?”
She told him that Trick had found a burner phone under Dippy’s mattress.
Reid grunted. “I was a little suspicious of that man. I’ll keep that in the back of my mind.”
“If you were suspicious of him, why did you hire him, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Reid shrugged as he stared at the road ahead. “It’s hard to find good help out here. A lot of the people I end up hiring are vagabonds, men coming out of bad situations.”
“Sounds risky.”
“Maybe. But I have a lot of men working for me who keep everyone in line. Besides, Dippy isn’t someone I plan to let into my inner circle, so we should be okay.”
More miles rolled past, each one offering an eyeful. Mountains. Forest. Pastures. Streams.
As they passed the area of the highway where the cattle could have wandered onto, Olive frowned. Whoever had cut that fence had been irresponsible, to say the least.
“Someone wanted to create a headache for you,” she murmured.
“The situation could have been much worse,” Reid said.
“If a driver had hit one . . .”
Reid’s jaw tightened. “Believe me, I know.”
They pulled onto Main Street in downtown Vulture Gulch.
Main Street looked like the quintessential Western town Olive had seen in movies. Wooden storefronts stretched down both sides of the street, while snow-capped mountains stood guard beyond the town limits.
Olive could easily imagine stagecoaches and standoffs and brothels once filling this area.
Reid found a parking space in front of a white building with the words “Barrington and Associates” stretching above it.
He grabbed his briefcase and then glanced at her. “This is where my lawyer’s office is. My dad utilized the services of Wayne Barrington Sr., who passed away at the age of ninety-four about a year before my father. He practiced law right up until a month before he died.”
“Impressive.”
“Let’s go see if we can find out some answers.”
Wayne Barrington Jr. appeared to be in his early sixties, and he had a head full of thick white hair. His skin was smooth and relatively free of wrinkles. He wore a blue bow tie with his gray suit.
On the shelf behind him, along with his framed law degrees, he had pictures of himself in a safari hat and khaki shirt. He’d been photographed alongside some of his kills, most likely in Africa.
Olive could see this man as being the rich professor type who liked to take exotic vacations.
The man seemed fond of Reid as he gave him a hearty handshake.
“Wayne, this is my girlfriend, Olive.” Reid stepped back and introduced her.
A grin lit the man’s face, and he shook her hand also, though more gently than he had Reid’s. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Olive. It’s truly an honor when Reid actually brings someone home. You should feel special.”
She stole a glance at Reid and flashed him a smile. Part of her felt bad that they weren’t telling the truth to someone who clearly counted Reid as a friend. But hopefully Reid could explain the situation to him later and Wayne would understand.
“Have a seat.” Wayne pointed to the chairs in front of his desk. “Can I get you some coffee?”
“I’m allergic,” Olive said.
His eyes widened. “Well, if that isn’t the saddest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Allergic to coffee?”
She couldn’t help but laugh at his animated tone. “Caffeine, actually. It makes me break out in hives.”
He shook his head and looked at her with exaggerated pity. “I’ll add you to my prayer list for that one.”
“No need,” she said with a grin. “I’ll be fine. But I will take some water.”
He reached to the shelf beside him and grabbed a bottle, handing it to her. Then he glanced at Reid. “You?”
“I’m fine, but thank you.”
“Okay then.” Wayne rested his arms on the desk as he stared at both of them. “Did Reid tell you that our families go way back?”
Olive looked at Reid and shook her head. “No, he didn’t.”
“His great-grandparents and mine were some of the original settlers in this area.”
“That’s really fascinating. I can’t even begin to imagine what life might have been like back then.”
“It is interesting, right?” Wayne leaned forward and pressed his hands against his desk. “Okay, enough chitchat. Let’s see these legal documents you told me about.”
Reid pulled them out of his leather briefcase and set them on the wooden desk.
“You’re going to have to give me a minute to review these,” Wayne said as he pulled out some black reading glasses and perched them on the end of his nose. “My apologies if it seems slow, but I’ll need to compare this document with the original we have on file.”
He pointed to another thick stack of papers already on his desk. The original will, Olive assumed.
“Take all the time you need,” Reid assured him.
Wayne began to scour the documents. As he did, Reid and Olive remained quiet, letting him concentrate.
But Olive was anxious to hear his thoughts.
Wayne let out a few grunts as he turned the pages. His eyebrows rose a couple of times. He jotted several notes on his notepad.
Finally, fifteen minutes later, Wayne closed the packet and looked up at them. “Well, isn’t this interesting?”
“Please, don’t keep me in suspense any longer.” Reid shifted in his seat. “Tell me this is all a fraud and I have nothing to be worried about.”
Wayne’s face tightened instead of offering reassurance. “I wish I could do that. I really do.”
The muscles constricted across Olive’s back.
That was the last thing she’d expected him to say, and it meant bad news was coming.