Dang Near Dead (An Aggie Mundeen Mystery Book 2) Read online

  He was apparently thinking the same thing. “Herb probably knew both his parents took diuretics.”

  “I saw several bottles of diuretics in Bertha’s medicine cabinet. It would have been easy enough for Herb to slip into her room, grab a few pills and dissolve them in his parents’ thermoses the next morning before he left. Maria was used to Herb popping in at odd times. He might have put diuretics in their thermoses right under Maria’s nose.”

  “Okay,” he said. “Then he’d have to figure out how to implicate Bertha. He knew Bertha would probably be the one to find them. And he was right. He’d be far away when Bertha found their bodies. But when the investigation showed no foul play, Bertha was no longer a suspect.” He hesitated and glanced over at me. “Bertha could have been the one to slip diuretics into their thermoses.”

  We grew quiet.

  His comment reminded me of something else that had been bothering me.

  “Vicki said the Vernons’ wills specified Bertha couldn’t sell the ranch to a developer. Vicki said Bertha wouldn’t do that anyway, but I wish I’d asked Darren if that stipulation was true. He didn’t mention any such provision in the Vernons’ wills.”

  “I’ll call Darren tomorrow and ask him about it.”

  I loved the way Sam and I worked together. Cooperation was more satisfying than being sneaky.

  Thirty-Two

  I had just spotted the main gate when Sam pulled the car over to the side of the road. He turned toward me and gently held my shoulders with both hands. “Don’t forget what you promised.”

  My heart started pounding. I tried to recall what I’d promised.

  He looked at me intently. “We’re pretty sure Vicki’s fall wasn’t accidental. We know people who don’t like her. She rejected two men who chased her, and we’re not sure about her relationship with the others. While the clues you found on the trail don’t prove anything yet, they provide good circumstantial evidence that somebody contrived to make Vicki’s horse throw her.”

  He stopped talking. I considered what he said.

  He resumed speaking, his tone more intense. “Those items didn’t just happen to land where Vicki fell. Herb Vernon might think Bertha confided information to Vicki to implicate him in his parents’ deaths. I believe there’s a killer at this ranch. Don’t cross any of these people. Don’t follow them or pry in their business.”

  Sam came close to reading my mind. I’d been contemplating ways to flush out Vicki’s attacker.

  “A person who could kill a young girl like that is pure evil.” He enveloped me in a hug. “You’re precious to me, Aggie. I don’t want to lose you.”

  My brain fuzzed.

  Was I precious as part of his happy memories from Chicago? Was he beginning to care just for me? Did I care which it was? It was delicious being in his arms.

  He cradled my face in his hands and looked into my eyes. I hoped they were less squinty than Wo Fat’s. My eyes changed from green to blue depending on what I wore, the same way Sam’s daughter Lee’s eyes used to change color. It seemed as though Sam stared at my eyes for eons. What did he see?

  I slipped my face from his hands and turned to look out the front window. “I need time to think before we go back to the ranch.”

  “All right.” He heaved an exasperated sigh. Then he settled back in the seat and closed his eyes.

  I remembered the time when we lived in the same apartment building in Chicago, Sam and Katy Vanderhoven and me. We were young, struggling, working our way up. Sam and Katy had met in Chicago, and she had put him through law school. When he decided he’d rather catch criminals than yap about them, he joined the FBI. Then he joined Chicago PD. That’s when I met him and Katy, and we became fast friends.

  When Lester came into the bank, and I started dating him, we made a foursome. I wasn’t sure how well Katy and Sam liked Lester, but they included him. By the time Lester and I fell in love and decided to marry, Sam had reached detective grade. He and Katy were talking about adopting a baby.

  Lester said they were foolish to want children; he’d never want to be tied down. The trouble was, I was pregnant. I didn’t tell Lester at first. I told Katy and made her promise not to tell Sam.

  When I finally told Lester, he absconded.

  I was barely nineteen, with no family, no money, and a new, tenuous job as a bank teller. How could I care for a child? I’d have to rear my son or daughter on welfare. Back then, companies didn’t offer childcare at work.

  I knew the Vanderhovens were the best parents my baby could ever have.

  Katy and I talked and talked. I wanted her and Sam to rear my child. But there was one condition: I made Katy promise that Sam would never know I was the baby’s mother.

  Katy’s doctor and lawyer agreed to help Katy and me arrange the birth and adoption details to keep them secret. I managed to get myself transferred to a branch bank in the suburbs early in my pregnancy and work there until after my daughter was born.

  The day I had my baby, Katy’s doctor called her and Sam. He told them he’d just delivered a beautiful baby girl who needed a good home. Were they interested? Fortunately, the baby didn’t look like me.

  Katy and Sam were ecstatic. They welcomed the baby into their home and named her Lee.

  Six months after Lee’s birth, I transferred back to the main bank in Chicago and watched Sam and Katy raise their beautiful daughter. Without interference from me, her “Aunt Aggie.”

  I glanced over at Sam. Once before I’d thought he suspected that, because of our distinctive eyes, Lee could be my daughter. But Lee’s other features were different from mine.

  I looked over again. He had drifted against the window and started snoring. I was glad to have time to think.

  Years later, when Katy and Lee died in the auto accident, Sam’s life was shattered. I was devastated. But Sam and I had to grieve separately. If he ever found out I’d deceived him…

  I sat still a few more minutes and listened to him snore. Then I touched his arm to wake him. He looked over with sleepy eyes and studied my face. He pulled me over, raised my chin and kissed me, even though I looked like Wo Fat. His kiss wasn’t urgent; it was a you-are-dear-to-me kiss.

  When he kissed me after we solved the other murder case, I wasn’t sure if his kisses had come from affection or from relief that I hadn’t gotten us both killed.

  He put his arm around me. I snuggled into his side and put my head on his shoulder. We were content to sit quietly and recover from a long day.

  Before I kissed Sam, I’d only kissed Lester. That was twenty years ago. But I did know the difference in kisses. Lester was selfish and clumsy—a young fool bent on chalking up belt notches. Eighteen years old and happily naïve, I didn’t realize what a clod he was until after he left. Then I was so emotionally distraught at being used and jilted that the thought of spending time with another man was downright painful. My post-Lester sex life had been…stunted.

  After Sam and Katy adopted Lee, I stayed busy working long days, climbing my way up to bank vice-president and studying at night. Years passed before I realized I was keeping other men at arm’s length because I loved Sam. He and Katy were busy rearing their daughter. Until…

  Sam drew me closer and wrapped me in a hug.

  With his heart still vulnerable, I knew he needed me as a friend. I needed him for my life. But it was way too early to stake that claim.

  Smoothing his cheek with my hand, I raised my lips to his. It occurred to me I might be missing an opportunity. I pressed myself against him. We kissed with more urgency. I could try to seduce him. I’d get things moving, and he’d take it from there.

  As we clung to each other, an unwelcome thought flicked across my mind. Seducing him might not be the best way to initiate a sustainable relationship. Sam had integrity. And I probably had poison ivy sap on my
lips.

  After twenty celibate years, I shouldn’t leap on Sam like a crazed banshee. He already questioned most of my actions.

  If I succeeded in seducing him, I’d be getting only part of the man I knew was there. That approach wouldn’t be fair. To either of us. Not as the beginning of a long-term commitment.

  Our relationship wasn’t cemented enough for me to reveal that I was Lee’s birth mother. I lacked courage. Plus, the backs of my thighs itched. Plus, we were awfully close to the main gate.

  I pulled back, peered into his eyes and touched his cheek. I might as well face it: even if we could be totally truthful about the past, neither of us was the type to enjoy casual sex. We had both endured too much reality to think sex cured everything. I was generally known for plunging into action, not for self-control. Using self-discipline felt different. Controlling my emotions felt good. I was proud of myself.

  He scowled at me, his expression a mix of anger and confusion.

  “I know you’re worried about our safety, Sam. Meredith and I will be careful, I promise. I know if Vicki dies, you can solve her murder. But you need to be careful, too. What would Meredith and I do without you?”

  That jarred him back to our immediate problem. He was back in charge. Once a detective, always a detective. He nodded somberly and squeezed my hand. He checked for traffic, pulled back onto the road and aimed for the ranch entrance.

  I inhaled and let out a sigh. We had time. Plenty of time. Meanwhile, we had crimes to solve.

  Thirty-Three

  As we drove through the gate, Sam looked at his watch. “We have a couple of hours before dinner. You said Wayne Rickoff spent time at a VA hospital? Let’s see if he’s at the firing range.”

  “Good idea.” While I pictured the bleeding elk Rickoff had shot, Sam and I walked toward the range. We heard the veteran blasting away.

  We sat and watched him shoot from an observation bench until he noticed us and walked in our direction.

  “You’re really a good shot,” Sam told him, producing a friendly smile.

  “Yeah.” Rickoff smirked. I wished he’d put down his gun. “That was one thing about being rehabbed up there,” he said. “That north country’s just lousy with them trophy elk.”

  “Sounds like Wisconsin. I hunted up there with a friend a couple of times. It was only five hours from my home in Chicago.”

  “Sure ’nuf?” He leaned conspiratorially toward Sam. “After I got out of the VA hospital, I stuck around just for the hunting. Had a buddy who worked on a private ranch… said we should hunt up in the Northwoods.”

  Before he could repeat the details of his bloody, unlawful hunt, Sam interrupted. “Were you ever at that VA hospital in Milwaukee? Zablocki? Something like that?”

  “Yeah. Zablocki Medical Center. It’s an okay place. They had a lotta entertainment for vets.”

  “Aren’t there a lot of horse shows and rodeos around there?”

  Rickoff stepped back. His face turned sour. He gave us a hard look. “Yeah,” he said. “Among other things.” He whirled around, still holding his gun, and stomped back to the firing area. “I gotta practice before dinner.”

  “See you at the campfire, Wayne.” I waved at his back but didn’t expect an answer.

  “That’s one angry man,” Sam said.

  When we were far enough from the shooting range, Sam slipped into the brush and clicked open his cell phone. I dawdled around on the road picking up rocks and pretending to find them fascinating in case somebody joined us.

  Sam emerged from the thicket. “I called the Landsdales. They’re in Vicki’s room. She’s still unconscious. Marcia was crying in the background, and Steve could hardly talk. He confirmed that the Zablocki VA Medical Center was where Vicki went with her no-good boyfriend to pick up vets and take them to rodeos.”

  I remembered how Vicki had stared at the vet before leaving the dining hall. “I wonder if Wayne Rickoff and Vicki recognized each other.”

  “Could be.” Sam fingered his gun. “You need to stay away from the firing range. That man is dangerous. And Aggie…”

  “Yes?”

  “Try to stay out of trouble. At least until dinner. I’m going to go clean up. See you at the lodge.”

  My eyes narrowed. “I’ll go find Meredith,” I replied sweetly. “She went horseback riding this morning. We’ll see you later.”

  If I concocted a plan, I’d probably have to postpone it until after dinner anyway. In the meantime, I thought I might be able to learn something.

  Thirty-Four

  Once Sam was out of sight, I doubled back toward the shooting range. I wasn’t going to put myself in danger by letting Rickoff see me. I was just curious about what he’d do next. Sam’s admonishment had made me eager to snoop before dinner. I walked close to the brush in case I had to scoot into the thicket and hide. I was pretty far from the range, but I spotted Rickoff.

  The shooting stopped. I froze and angled deeper into dense growth. Peeking through mesquite, I saw Rickoff walk away from the practice area and enter a storage building near his cabin. He came out without his gun, thank goodness.

  Instead of turning right to enter his cabin, he started heading toward the lodge. I stayed hidden in the bushes. When he was almost to the lodge, he took a sharp right on to the trail that ran around the side to the back of the building. I knew there was a trail behind the lodge, but I’d never been on it. I strolled casually down the main road in front of the lodge. As soon as I passed the building, I hid in the brush again. Rickoff reappeared on the main trail, then veered right to cut though low brush. He was walking in the general direction of Sunny Barlow’s cabin. Naturally, I followed.

  I was doing a good job of hanging back and walking soundlessly like an Indian until I stepped on a twig. Hopefully, Rickoff was too deaf from shooting to hear me. I crouched down and listened, still as a stump. My heart thumped. Rickoff didn’t break stride and was definitely headed toward Sunny’s cabin. I bent over and walked on all fours to make sure I didn’t inadvertently step on crackling undergrowth. I probably looked like a grubby, prehistoric mammal.

  Moving in a wide swath, I circled around to the back of Sunny’s cabin. By the time I got there, I’d managed to tear my sleeves and scratch my arms. My hands quivered from supporting my weight.

  Sunny’s windows were open. He was apparently taking advantage of fresh air after the storm. When I heard Rickoff knock on his front door, I skittered closer to the back of the cabin to eavesdrop.

  As soon as Sunny opened the door, Wayne accosted him.

  “You followed me to this dude ranch, didn’t you? You wanted to get even for when I attacked you at the rodeo.”

  “Hold on, Rickoff.”

  “I saw Vicki Landsdale recognize me. She must’ve told you I was the vet who clobbered you. Are you trying to send me back to that damn hospital?”

  “Nah, Wayne. You’re way off. But you’re right that Vicki saw you attack me when I clowned at the rodeo. I already knew it was you. I recognized you when I first came here—even before you shaved off your beard. I admit I kept hoping you might decide to work somewhere else, but I’m way past holding a grudge. I understood why you vet guys lash out. By the time you whacked me, I’d grown up. I wasn’t a teenager anymore.”

  They grew silent.

  Why didn’t one of them say something? The silence was creepy. Did Rickoff have a gun hidden on him?

  I didn’t know how much longer I could stand there without making a sound. I finally heard Rickoff’s gruff baritone.

  “Okay, Barlow. If you say so. But I’ll tell you one thing: don’t start getting any ideas, or you’ll wish you hadn’t. I’m damn sure not going back to that hospital.”

  “No problem, Rickoff. It was a long, long time ago.”

  “Yeah.” When I heard Rickof
f shuffle off, I waited for Sunny to shut the door and used the sound to muffle my sprint back to the brush. I meandered in a wide circle back to the lodge. When I got near the building, I rolled my sleeves down to cover my scratches and sauntered around from the back to the far side, trying to act like I was out for a casual stroll. When I was sure there was nobody around, I hustled back to the main road to our cabin to clean up.

  Rickoff must have scarred Sunny’s face. Had Sunny really forgiven him, or was he just playing it cool until he found the right time to get even?

  Were we going to have another catastrophe at the BVSBar? I doubted Sunny could shoot nearly as well as Rickoff. I was halfway to the cabin before my heartbeat returned to normal.

  Thirty-Five

  When I got to our cabin, Meredith was dressed for dinner and bursting to tell me what she learned at the stable. When she noticed my grubby shirt and scratches, I told her not to worry; I’d walked through some brush and had another long-sleeved shirt to wear.

  “I’m dying to hear what you learned this morning,” I told her. “Will you wait for Sam while I clean up and answer letters to Dear Aggie? Then you can tell Sam and me both on our way to the lodge.”

  “Sure,” she said, and headed for the bench under the oak tree to wait for Sam.

  I set a record freshening up for dinner and plopped down at my computer to research Wayne Rickoff’s service records, especially his medical history. What if he’d been discharged for anger issues? Were we sitting on a time bomb?

  I searched Ask Jeeves for the National Archives and Veterans Service. Veterans and next of kin could obtain free copies of a record of their military service called Report of Separation to obtain post-service employment or verify their qualification for military benefits and retirement. Even if I could obtain Rickoff’s service record, which I couldn’t, it apparently contained general information such as duty stations, assignments, training, awards, medals and administrative remarks.