Chapter 12
SHE TOOK a bite from the bowl just as Lyle put down his utensils. James felt like he had mental whiplash, because, damn, they changed subjects fast. From rice bowls to potential death and funerals in a matter of seconds.
“Jesus, Mom. You said it was no big deal and made me make all sort of promises the other day. Hell, you got testy with me for some basic caring, and now you want to go over your will and shit?” Lyle complained.
She had done all that, but James could understand why she wanted to have things in order.
She set down her bowl. “I want to go over the arrangements I’ve already made,” she said gently.
“I have a will. It’s with Champion Law, and they will help you act as executor.
I’ve made funeral arrangements as well, and they are all paid for.
You don’t need to worry about any of that.
And everything I have will go to you, so that’s pretty simple.
If something happens, I want you to use part of the money to go to grad school.
I know you’re happy enough working where you are, but I want more for you.
I don’t care what you major in, just find something that really makes you happy. ”
“But Mom…,” Lyle began.
“I think she just wants you to know that she’s taken care of everything, and in case the worst happens, everything is all set.” James turned to Lyle’s mom. “Right?”
“Yes, of course. I’m going to be fine. But you know me, Lyle.
I like to make sure that everything is taken care of.
The lawyers have everything you could need.
So there is nothing to worry about. Hopefully everything will be fine, and I’ll come out of this as smoothly as the doctor thinks I should.
” James had to give her credit; Lyle’s mom knew what he needed to hear.
But it was the touch of fear in her eyes that told James she wasn’t as sure of things as she was trying to project.
When he turned to Lyle, it didn’t look like he was fully buying it, but he went back to eating and seemed to let things go.
The dogs were all lying down under the table, and they shifted closer to Lyle as though they knew he was distressed and needed the kind of comfort that only they could provide.
“You know, your dogs are kind of weird,” Lyle’s mom said.
“Why? They stay near me and are being really good. They may sit nearby when you’re cooking, but there is no begging at the table.”
“I didn’t mean that. The pack is pretty good. But they’re all crowded around you. Do you feed them when we aren’t looking?”
“Nope,” James chimed in. “He never feeds them that way. Dogs are clever and intuitive creatures. They know who they like and who they don’t.
Whenever Corky’s daughter came around, because she wanted to take the dogs and sell them, they growled and got very agitated.
All of them hate her. It’s my opinion that dogs are the barometer of the heart, and they know whether yours is good or not.
And Lyle’s is pure gold.” He couldn’t help smiling a little.
“But what does that say about the rest of us?”
James shrugged. “Maybe that we all have a little more work to do in that area. All I know is that at the shelter, there are people who will come in and the shyest dog in the place will come up to them, and others where every dog seems to turn their back. They just know. And so does Lyle.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Are you talking about this dogfighting person? You didn’t try to take out this person?”
“No. I didn’t even approach him. But I know where he lives, and he treats his animals so badly. James is helping figure out the best way to get someone to check out his place. It’s really bad, and he needs to lose all his animals. They should put the guy in jail and throw away the key.”
“Somehow I don’t think they do that,” Lyle’s mom said.
Lyle shrugged. “Doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t. Especially for things like this.”
“When did you get so passionate about this?”
“Mom, I think I’ve always been passionate about things. You’re the calm and collected one. You exist in a world of logic and things you can control. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I’m not the same as you.” He returned to his dinner.
“How far did your passion take you?” Lyle’s mother asked, and James got the sense she could almost read his mind. “I know you did something because you look guilty, and I’m your mother, so you may as well just tell me.”
“I told you I found his house. Well, I watched him, and he was packing up all his big dogs, so James and his friend Wes went with me and we followed him. I think we know where the dogfights are being held, but we aren’t sure. We didn’t try to get in to watch.”
“At least some of you have the sense God gave one of your dogs.” She rolled her eyes. “And this is why you’re trying to figure out what to do?”
“Yeah. Someone has to put an end to all of this.”
“Let me ask you this. Why didn’t you get one of those air tags and just put it in his truck somewhere?
That way you could have tracked the truck without actually following him.
” She seemed to ponder this. “Why don’t you go out there during the day when nothing is going on?
Dress as though you’re going for a hike or something.
If someone asks, you were told that there’s a really nice lake nearby that you want to see.
Of course they’d tell you that there’s no such thing, and you could thank them and just go.
No harm, no foul. And no one gets hurt. But if you were alone, you could look around and get pictures of the area.
If they are holding fights, there would be a ton of evidence.
” Damn, he wished he had thought of that. She really was a smart cookie.
“Okay, Mom. I like that idea.”
“Maybe… but I am not actually telling you to do any of that, and as your mother, I think it best if you let the police handle it.” She had a firmness in her voice that reminded James of his own mom when she was adamant.
Lyle rolled his eyes. “And would you do that?” He held her gaze.
“Yeah. Coming from the woman who trailed the Chanel representative all around Singapore until you located the plant where they were making the bags that you loved so much. Right. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and you know it. ”
James gaped. “You really did that?”
“Of course. I needed to know where the best merchandise was made. So I found out where all the top design houses had their products manufactured. No one was safe from my information gathering. Then I contacted the owners, and they were more than happy to manufacture my company’s designs.
” She finished her dinner and grinned. “How do you think I got so successful? I figured out a way to get in the door and exploited it.” She sighed softly. “But I was never in any real danger.”
“How do you know?”
Lyle’s mom grinned “Gucci and Dolce do not design or make guns.”
“Dang, she got you there,” James said, laughing.
Lyle glared at both of them. “You know what I mean.”
“And these people are dangerous. You know that,” James said without too much heat, because he didn’t want to come off as a nag. “Remember, we pulled off and let people pass before getting out of there. It was twilight, and God knows what kind of people would be there.”
“Huh,” Lyle’s mother said almost to herself. “Then what did they use for the fighting? There would need to be power or generators, because they are going to need to see. There also has to be a ring or enclosure of some kind. Do you think they had a makeshift one in the woods somewhere?”
James turned to Lyle, who seemed to be thinking the same as him. “I doubt it,” they answered together.
Lyle’s mom got up from the table and grabbed her laptop. She brought up Google Earth. “Okay. So which way did you go out of town?”
“West, off Newville Road. We turned north a couple miles out of town and headed for the ridgeline,” Lyle said as they both leaned closer to see the screen. “Is that it?”
“No. That road there,” James said. “I remember that old service station near the corner.”
“Okay. Yeah. Then we went a few miles, and it got pretty desolate. We passed a lot of fields and turned right onto a small road.” He leaned closer. “I bet that’s it there. The road seemed to be coming to an end, so we didn’t go any farther.”
“Yeah. That’s it.”
“Good.” She took back control of the laptop.
“There’s maybe a quarter mile of road of some type, and it ends a little ways from some sort of building.
It’s probably old.” She zoomed out. “Look here. The closest thing I can find is this farmhouse here. I bet it’s on the back of their property, and this is an access road. ”
“The farm doesn’t look like it’s a going concern,” James observed, though it was hard to tell.
None of the fields looked as though they had been used in a while, and though the house might be lived in, the farm itself didn’t show signs of a lot of activity.
That could just have been when the picture was taken.
He had no way of knowing. “It is possible that they’re letting them use the building, or the owners have no idea what is taking place at the back of their property. ”
“True. But if you’re determined to pursue this, go during the day, when it’s light and bright. And if anyone does confront you….” She paused. “But I want to go on the record that I think this is a bad idea.”
“Noted,” Lyle told her. “Now, can we talk about something else? Have you planned anything fun while you’re home? Did you take up knitting? Metal working?”
“Metal working?” James asked.
“Sure. I could see Mom doing some of those huge sculptures you see outdoors that always look like either phallic symbols or fertility gods.” He giggled before his mother smacked him on the arm.
“That’s enough out of you. As it happens, I’ve taken up weaving, and I’ve turned the extra room upstairs into a studio. It’s therapeutic. I get my threads from an alpaca farm outside of town, and I really enjoy it.”
James cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind my asking, when do you have time?”
“I don’t much, right now. But I’ll retire in a few years, and I’d love to hit the craft show circuit.
Right now I make tartan-pattern scarves, and I’m experimenting with additional patterns.
I figure by then I’ll have a good amount in stock, and I can hit the road for half of the year and go wherever the sales take me. ”
She really was an interesting person. “That’s cool.”
“But what are you going to do with all this?” Lyle asked as he motioned around him.
“I’ll stay here in the spring and fall, but head north in summer and south in winter. That’s the lovely thing about being retired. I have the resources to go just about anywhere I want. So I thought I’d enjoy it.” The delight in her eyes didn’t last long.
“And you should, Mom. You really should. Why do you think I’m worried?
” Lyle sighed and turned away. “You always play it like you’re the strongest person in the room, like you have everything together and that’s going to make it better.
But I’ll still worry the entire time you’re gone and wonder if you’re okay.
” He wiped his eyes, and James wanted to hold him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, though maybe in this instance, his mother should be the one to do that.
“I’m going to be fine. The doctors tell me that it was caught early.
This surgery is performed many times a day all over the country.
I’ll be laid up for a few weeks while I recover, and then, if I’m lucky, that will be it.
The doctor said he didn’t think chemotherapy will be necessary, and that should be that.
It will be over and we can go back to our lives.
” She took Lyle’s hand. “I really don’t want you to worry, but I understand.
So you can take me to the hospital, and I hope you’ll be there when I wake up. ”
Lyle smiled, genuinely smiled, for the first time since his mother told him she had cancer. “Okay. Growing up it was just you and me….”
“Yes. And now you have someone special in your life.”
“So do you,” Lyle told her. “You know it will hurt him if you don’t tell him.” It was wonderful how Lyle could care for someone he had never met. It warmed James’s heart.
“I’ll think about it,” she said. “Now, I didn’t bake because Lyle knows I could never bake for shit, so I got a cake from the Downtown Bakery.
” She cut pieces and brought plates to the table.
It was a white cake with coconut that was pretty good.
Thankfully, it seemed the drama portion of the evening was over.