Chapter Six #2
“He went on to tell me that there had been a big fight over the ownership of the ranch between a bunch of Bucholz relatives when the elders all died. There are Bucholzes all over the state and several of them own big ranches. John and Shelby hired shady PIs to dig up dirt on all of their relatives so they could discredit them in front of the courts. They might also have been behind some car crashes and other accidents. Anyway, John and Shelby ended up with the place in the end. I don’t know whether any of that is true or I was just hearing stuff from a disgruntled employee. And that’s not all,” Sheridan said.
“When I was out there, both John and Shelby made me sign a document that said if I wandered off the grounds and looked in any old outbuildings out there that I would forfeit my fee. They were really adamant that I stay at the ranch headquarters complex the entire time I was there. I asked them what the deal was and they refused to tell me. Then, when I was done with the job and the problem birds were gone, I submitted my bill to them and they’ve never paid it.
They claimed I violated the agreement by snooping around their property and looking in the windows of the outbuildings, which I never did. ”
“Are you sure?” April asked. “The Sheridan I know wouldn’t be able to help herself.”
Sheridan paused for a long time and then smiled.
She confessed, “I might have gotten close to those old cabins one morning. Closer than they wanted me to. There are three of them back in the trees, and they’re in really bad shape.
They’re pretty creepy. I thought I saw someone in one of the cabins looking back at me through the window, but when I got closer, they ducked and I couldn’t see them again. But I never went inside. I swear it.”
“Who could it have been?” Lucy asked.
Sheridan shrugged. “I’ve been wondering that myself for a long time.”
“What did this person look like?” Lucy asked.
“It was a man, I think,” Sheridan said. “Older, probably in his fifties or sixties. He had a round face and really big eyes, but he was hard to see clearly because the window was so dirty. And then he ducked away.”
Lucy grimaced and held her arms out to reveal goose bumps on the skin of her forearms.
“Have you thought about suing them for your fee?” April asked.
“I’ve thought about it, but I just haven’t pulled the trigger on that one.”
“Because you did violate the agreement,” April said.
“Technically, yes,” Sheridan admitted.
“Why not sic Nate on them?” April asked.
“Because I don’t want to have him solve all of my problems in the company,” Sheridan said. “I want him to know I can handle things on my own.”
“I’d say they sound pretty suspicious,” April said. “Just like the McElwees. What if Dad knew who was staying in their cabin, or something like that? Maybe they’d want to stop him from talking.”
“It seems pretty extreme,” Sheridan said. “But it’s worth looking into.”
April agreed, and said, “And then we’ve got the Double Diamond Ranch. Even I know about the famous Double D. A really rich guy from back east and his trophy wife own it. The foreman is Clay Hutmacher.”
Sheridan winced and looked away. Clay Hutmacher Jr. had been set to propose to her before he was killed. He died with the ring in his pocket, and he never knew that she would have turned him down.
“I’d say the first two ranches seem more likely,” April said. “But I wouldn’t eliminate the owners of the Double D until we know more. Superrich guys just assume they can get away with anything. And they want everything. We’ve got them all over Montana.”
Lucy asked, “Is there any way we can find out which ranch he was going to this morning? We’ve all seen him keep notes in that little spiral notebook of his. Do we know where the notebook is? Or where his phone ended up? Or the name of the hunter who called it in?”
Both Sheridan and April shook their heads.
—
“What do we know about the new sheriff?” April asked Sheridan
“Steve Sondergard?”
“Whatever his name is, yes.”
“He seems like he’ll do a good job once he gets his feet on the ground,” Sheridan said.
“That’s not exactly a gigantic endorsement,” April said with a huff.
“He’s sweet on our sister,” Lucy told April. Sheridan shot a look at Lucy that Lucy deflected with a grin. “Didn’t you tell us that?” she asked.
“That was a private conversation.”
“Like I give a crap,” April said. Lucy thought that April always feigned indifference, but it obviously stung her when she thought that Sheridan and Lucy had been communicating without her.
“You were included on the text thread,” Lucy said defensively. “You never weigh in. I can prove it if you give me your phone. Or I can show you the thread on mine.”
April rolled her eyes and poured another glass of wine. She snapped, “That’s because I have a real job. I’m too busy to engage in all of this gossip crap with you two.”
“Anyway,” Sheridan said to break up the tiff, “I think it’s not a bad idea to start with Steve. He might have information we can use, and maybe he’s got an idea who did this by now. He might even have the name of the hunter who called it in—or Dad’s notebook and phone.”
April shushed them and held up her hand with one finger extended toward the ceiling.
She turned to Lucy. “It seems to me that our older sister, the elected leader of this inquiry, should use her special influence on the new sheriff to find out what he knows, and what he’s got that might point to the guilty party here. ”
Lucy and April then turned to Sheridan.
“I’ll find out what I can,” Sheridan said reluctantly. “But I’m not sure he’ll like it if he knows we’re investigating this at the same time his department is.”
“Tell him whatever you have to,” April said. Then: “What about Nate? Is he aware of what happened?”
Nate Romanowski owned the majority of Yarak, Inc., which was a bird abatement business that Sheridan now ran as the CEO. Nate was an outlaw falconer with a Special Forces background who had been a longtime friend of their family, despite his many interactions with federal law enforcement.
“I haven’t talked to him yet,” Sheridan said. “I didn’t think that it was a good idea this early in the game.”
“Because he might just start ripping ears off and blasting people all over the county?” April asked.
“Yes.”
April said, “Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem with that.”
“I would,” Sheridan said.
“Me too,” Lucy agreed.
“Two against one again, as usual,” April observed. “But it won’t be long before he finds out. The shooting of the local game warden is pretty big news around this valley, I’d guess.”
—
Later that night, Lucy slipped into the guest room where April slept. Boone was curled up on her bed.
“What?” April asked, bleary-eyed.
“Isn’t it weird for the three of us to be in Mom and Dad’s house without them? I mean, it’s not like we even grew up in this house.”
“Yeah, it’s weird. You came in here to ask me that?”
“Not really.”
“Then what, Lucy?”
“If he makes it, what’s he going to be like?”
April sighed. “I don’t know. I never saw him. I don’t think Mom knows, either.”
“What if he doesn’t remember us?”
April moaned and lowered her head to her pillow. “Thank you for that morbid thought,” she said. “Now I won’t be able to sleep.”