Chloe was about to give in when a deep voice said, “Excuse me.”
The raspy baritone, coming from so close behind her, made Chloe jump. She wasn’t surprised when she turned to find the beaded stranger standing almost on top of her. Her heart kicked hard against her ribs. “Oh, hello again,” she managed to say with a semblance of calm.
This time, one corner of his hard mouth actually turned up, not exactly a smile but close. He extended a ballpoint pen. “I think we missed this when we were picking up. I spotted it lying under the edge of a shelf.”
“Oh, thank you.” Chloe took the pen and slipped it in her purse.
He glanced at the sacks behind her. “I couldn’t help overhearing the puppy-food debate. I happen to be something of an expert, if you’d like some advice.”
“You are?”
His half-smile deepened into a grin that softened his stern countenance. “You could say that, yes.” He turned to Jeremy. “Your mom’s absolutely right about the pictures, son. They mean nothing.” With impressive strength, he flipped over a bag to reveal the list of ingredients. Tapping the print with a long finger, he said, “This is the number to check, percentage of protein. Too much is bad for a pup’s skin and may cause hot spots.”
Jeremy ducked behind Chloe to peer around her hip at the stranger. Under the best of circumstances, the child was timid around men, and given their recent discussion about Native Americans, he was warier than usual.
The stranger’s smile blinked out. After studying the boy for a long moment, he directed a burning look at Chloe. All warmth gone from his voice, he said, “You can take the advice for what it’s worth. No skin off my nose, either way.”
She stared bewilderedly after him as he strode off. She didn’t know what had upset him, but his gruff tone had frightened Jeremy and set him to trembling.
She smoothed a hand over Jeremy’s curly hair. “It’s okay, sweetheart.”
The child clung more tightly to her leg. “See? He doesn’t like us.”
Chloe could think of no better explanation. “I guess maybe not.”
Twenty minutes later, when Chloe pushed a brimming cart to the checkout counter, the dark stranger had already left. Still upset over the way he’d frightened Jeremy, Chloe was glad to find him gone.
The clerk greeted them with a friendly smile. An older woman, she had a wiry, no-nonsense look well suited to someone working in a feed store. Propping her elbows on the counter, she took in the cart of merchandise, her blue eyes dancing with amusement. “Looks like you found everything.”
Chloe nodded. “And then some. I’m afraid we went a little overboard.”
“You must be the new gal over at the sheriff’s department.”
Chloe was momentarily taken aback. “Why, yes. How did you know?”
“I’ve seen your car parked over there—or one like it, anyway. You could have been a tourist, but when you mentioned the puppy, I figured you had to be the new gal. You’ll get used to our grapevine. Jack Pine isn’t very big. Gossip travels fast, and a new hire at the sheriff’s office is hot news.” She thrust out a hand. “Lucy Gant.”
Returning the handshake, Chloe said, “Chloe Evans and my son, Jeremy.”
“Hi, Jeremy.” Lucy grabbed a jar of individually wrapped candy from a nearby shelf and unscrewed the lid. “Help yourself, young man.” Jeremy politely selected one piece. “No, no, take a handful,” Lucy urged.
Jeremy helped himself to several candies. “Thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome,” Lucy said. “I got a soft spot for boys. Have two of my own.” She watched Jeremy wander away to look at the animated displays in the front windows. “Handsome boy.”
“Thank you. I think so.”
“I heard your last name is Owens.”
“That’s amazingly close. I guess there really is a grapevine.”
“Anytime you want to know anything about anybody, honey, just come see me. How do you like the new job?”
“I love it. The people I work with are really nice, it pays pretty decent, and the health insurance is great.”
“With the cost of insurance nowadays, that’s a plus. You get weekends off?”
“Unfortunately, no. I work the three-to-eleven with Wednesdays and Fridays off. But I lucked out on a sitter. Deputy Bower’s daughter, Tracy, stays with Jeremy. He absolutely adores her.”
Lucy nodded. “Nice girl, Tracy. Spittin’ image of her mama, that one.” Lucy leaned across the counter to pass a scanner over the bag of dog food. “Sheriff Lang’s a decent fellow. A little too laid back to be a good lawman, but nice. We graduated the same year. He went off to college.” She tapped her chest. “I got married to a good-for-nothing, gave him two sons, and then got left to raise them alone.”
Chloe knew how hard that was. She laid a red puppy collar on the counter. “I’m sorry to hear that. It must have been very difficult for you.”
“I managed. All things considered, I was better off. He was a mean-tempered man and quick to rile.”
Chloe’s throat tightened. She and Lucy Gant had a great deal in common, it seemed.
The older woman shook open a sack and glanced after Jeremy again as she began bagging items. “So what did you think of Crazy Ben?”
“Pardon?”
“Ben Longtree, the fellow who about knocked you down.”
“Oh! I really couldn’t say. I spoke with him only briefly.”
Lucy’s mouth thinned. “I’m not your mama, but I’ll give you a piece of advice anyway. Watch your step with that one.”
Chloe lifted a rubber chew bone from the cart. “No worries. I’ll probably never see him again.”
“Trust me, honey, you’ll see him again. When a man gets that look in his eye, he always comes back around for another sniff.”
A cold sensation moved through Chloe. “Oh, I don’t—”
“Cash or charge?” Lucy interrupted.
Thanks to her ex-husband, Roger, Chloe’s credit cards were all maxed out. “Cash—or rather a check. You do take checks, I hope?”
“Sure. If it bounces, I know where to find you. That’s forty-two dollars and ninety-three cents. The advice is free.” While Chloe fished through the jumbled contents of the purse for her checkbook, Lucy rattled on about Ben Longtree. “I always did say he’d come to no good. Wasn’t no surprise to me when he up and killed a man a few years back.”
Chloe gave the clerk a startled look.
“Figured that’d get your attention. One blow of his fist—next stop, the funeral parlor. Happened down in Riverview. I figure Ben was probably drunk. Quarter-breed Shoshone, you know. Mix Injuns with booze, and you get trouble every time. Not that I’m racist or anything.”
Chloe glanced over her shoulder to make sure Jeremy was still out of earshot. “He actually killed someone?”
“Deader than a doornail. Highfalutin lawyer got him off. Self-defense and lack of malice, they said. Ha. Money talks. That’s the truth of it. A cold-blooded killer’s walking our streets, all because he could buy himself an innocent verdict.”
Recalling the burning anger that had flashed in Ben Longtree’s eyes, Chloe had no trouble believing he had a hot temper. “How terrible.”
“He’s a mean one—make no mistake,” Lucy continued. “His father beat on his mama every day of their marriage. The apple never falls far from the tree. I could tell you some stories that’d curl your hair.”
“I’d better pass. My little boy is sensitive.”
Lucy went on as if Chloe hadn’t spoken. “There’s some real strange happenings up on that ridge.”
“What ridge?”
“Cinnamon Ridge, where Longtree lives. You don’t know nothin’ about nothin’, do you? I take it you’ve never driven out that way. Beautiful place. A quarter section of Ponderosa pines, bordered on three sides by forestland. From the house, you can see clear into next week. Isolated, too. Not many people venture up that way, but those that have can tell you some mighty spooky stories
. Wild animals milling around everywhere. And rumor has it that Ben has been seen walking a grown cougar on a leash.”
“A grown what?”
“A mountain lion. We got a lot of them in these parts, but most folks don’t make pets of them.”
“I don’t imagine so.”
“There’s something strange going on up there—mark my words.” Lucy rubbed her sleeves and shivered. “Take that wolf of his, for instance. Who in his right mind would have a dangerous critter like that for a pet? Claims it’s a hybrid, but no one believes it. Looks like a real wolf, don’t it?”
Chloe recalled the creature that she and Jeremy had encountered in the parking lot. She wasn’t surprised to learn that Ben Longtree was its owner.
“What if the thing attacks someone?” Well into gossip mode, Lucy ignored the check Chloe laid by the register. “Mandy Prince over at the Clip and Curl thinks Ben is dabbling in witchcraft. She got into all that hocus-pocus stuff at college, and she thinks that cougar could be his familiar.”
Chloe struggled not to smile. Granted, Ben Longtree had been surly, but it struck her as being a little outrageous to accuse him of practicing witchcraft.
“He’s a big man,” Lucy went on. “If he’s a witch, maybe a regular-size house cat isn’t big enough to suit him.”
Chloe nudged the check closer.
“Something is attracting those animals to his place. Maybe he casts some kind of spell over them. Even as a boy, he was a strange one.” She arched her eyebrows. “You heard about the two young fellows that vanished up that way?”
“No, I don’t believe I have.”
“Went out bow hunting last summer and never came back. There’s a number of folks who think Ben killed them and let his critters eat the evidence.”
Chloe’s stomach lurched. She shot a pointed glance at Jeremy, but Lucy just kept talking. “Ben gets fighting mad if anyone pesters his critters. Those boys were out hunting. What’s to say they didn’t accidentally wander onto Longtree land and shoot one of the deer?”
“I suppose that’s possible.”
“More than just possible. Then they up and vanish? Ben Longtree had a hand in it—mark my words.”
“I’m sure Sheriff Lang would take action if he thought that were the case.”
“No evidence,” Lucy volleyed back. “You gotta have a body—or bloodstains or something. You can’t arrest a man on supposition.”
Exactly, Chloe thought. And so far, Lucy had spouted nothing but supposition.
“You know what I think?” Lucy asked in a stage whisper. “I think something more dangerous than witchcraft is happening on that ridge. When Ben came home after that murder trial, he was flat broke. Now he’s rolling in it.” She pointed to a poster on the bulletin board. “How can a man without a job offer that kind of a reward?”
Chloe turned to regard the poster in question. It read
$10,000 REWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE ARREST AND CONVICTION OF THE PERSON/PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR WOUNDING WILD ANIMALS NEAR CINNAMON RIDGE.
Below the large block print were particulars, namely that the weapon being used was a .22-caliber rifle, and that the intent of the shooter was to maim the animals, not kill them.
“Why would anyone want to wound helpless animals?” Chloe mused.
“The thing that bothers me is, where did Ben Longtree get ten thousand dollars to give away?”
Chloe had no idea, and suddenly she wanted to get out of there. She glanced at her watch. “My goodness! Look at the time. It’s almost four.”
The clerk barely paused to draw breath. “No more’n a year after he came back to town, he started building that big, fancy house he lives in now. You can bet he didn’t foot the bill with his mama’s social security checks.”
“This is very interesting, Lucy, but we’ve got a hungry puppy waiting at home. I really need to be going.”
Lucy held up a finger. “The way I see it, honey, I’m doin’ you a favor. If, by chance, Ben does come sniffing around, you’ll know to run the other way.”
Chloe had no intention of allowing Ben Longtree or any other man within sniffing distance.
“He’s doing something illegal up there. I’d bet my retirement on it. Nan—that’s his mother—never worked a day. She must be drawing on Hap’s social security, and God rest his soul, he was always too busy drinking and fornicating to hold down a steady job. She can’t be getting very much per month.”
“Maybe Mr. Longtree got some kind of inheritance.”
“Nah. His daddy frittered away every cent they had on booze. When he plowed his truck into that Ponderosa pine on Dead Man’s Curve a few years back, he died drunk and flat broke.”
Chloe didn’t care to hear any more of this. “I need to—”
“I think Ben has a drug lab up on that ridge—that’s what I think. Big money to be made in drugs, and being a vet, he’s got the education to know about chemistry and such. That would explain why he runs folks off his land with a shotgun. A man doesn’t behave that way unless he has something to hide. Now, does he?”
Jeremy returned to the check stand just then. Chloe flashed Lucy a warning look. The older woman fell silent and reached across the counter to pat the child’s auburn curls. “Well, now, young man, I can assure you of one thing. You got yourself the best puppy food in the store.”
“I did? Mostly, we got it ’cause it’s cheap.”
Lucy laughed. “Cheap or not, it’s good puppy chow. People can say what they want about Ben Longtree, but he knows animals. He’s a vet. It’s a shame he lost his practice after that spot of trouble with the law. Healing critters is the only useful thing he ever did in his life.”
Chloe piled her purchases back into the cart. Left with no choice, Lucy finished the transaction. Handing over the receipt, she said, “It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Chloe.”
Chloe wished she could say the same.
Though it was her day off, Chloe felt as if she had worked a full shift by the time she parked her Honda in the dirt driveway in front of their rental. Eager to check on his puppy, Jeremy was out of the car like a shot. Chloe almost called after him not to run, but she gulped back the warning. According to the doctor, Jeremy was fine physically. A sprint to the house wouldn’t hurt him, and she had to stop being so paranoid.
The child never broke stride as he raced up the rickety steps. Chloe stared after him, feeling oddly disoriented. This was their home now, she reminded herself as she studied the ramshackle house. She spent a moment taking inventory of the needed repairs, all of which would be at her own expense. The landlord had just shaken his head when Chloe asked him to fix things.
“As is!” he’d shouted, fumbling with his hearing aid. “You think this is New York City or somethin’?”
Chloe merely felt seven hundred dollars a month entitled her to a kitchen faucet that didn’t drip, a back door that locked each time she turned the key, and a living room floor that didn’t sag under her weight.
Ah, well, I’ll manage, she assured herself. Some paint and elbow grease would work wonders on the house, inside and out.
The screen door slapped back open just then, and Jeremy spilled onto the porch. One look at her son’s face, and Chloe knew something was wrong.
Bolting from the car, she cried, “What is it, sweetheart?”
As pale as milk, Jeremy worked his mouth, but no words came out. Chloe broke into a run. When she reached the front steps, Jeremy wheeled and dashed back into the house.
“He’s sick!” the boy shrieked. “He’s really, really sick, Mom.”
The smell almost took Chloe’s breath. She raced to the bathroom, where they’d left Rowdy while they were shopping. At the doorway, she careened to a stop. Never had she smelled anything quite so foul. Puppies made messes on the floor. That went with the territory. But Rowdy had messed and vomited everywhere. Blood was mixed in with the watery excrement.
Chloe’s heart plummeted to her knees. The puppy had seemed a lit
tle listless that afternoon, but she had blamed it on weakness due to starvation. One of a litter, he had been abandoned in an old barn at the edge of town, and he’d nearly died before someone found him. Chloe had hoped good care and plenty of food would turn him around.
Stupid, so stupid. She inched into the bathroom. For a moment, she didn’t see Rowdy anywhere. Then she spotted him slumped against the chipped tub, his front paws spread, his muzzle flattened on the floor.
“Oh, dear.” She crouched by the motionless puppy. That he was still alive was the best that could be said for him. “Oh, you poor baby.”
“He’s so sick,” Jeremy said shakily. “We need to take him to the doctor, Mom.”
Chloe couldn’t afford a vet bill. She had just under a hundred dollars to last until she got paid. Granted, the situation was heartbreaking, but she had other, equally pressing concerns, like keeping food on the table. Only how could she tell Jeremy that? He had already been through so much. This puppy was the first really wonderful thing that had happened to him in a very long time.
Surely veterinarians carried balances for services rendered. Maybe she could get Rowdy treatment now and pay for it later. It was worth a shot, wasn’t it? She just hoped the puppy wasn’t beyond help.
She opened the cupboard under the sink and plucked out a towel. “We’ll just bundle him up and take him to the vet, sweetie.”
When Chloe lifted Rowdy into her arms, his head hung limply over her arm. His furry little body felt hot even through the towel.
Jeremy started to keen—an awful wailing sound that nearly broke Chloe’s heart. Wrapping his thin arms around himself, he swayed on his feet. “He’s gonna die, isn’t he?”
“Oh, Jeremy, I don’t know.” Without loosening her hold on the puppy, she twisted her arm to look at her watch. It was 4:40, which left only twenty minutes to find a vet.
Thirty minutes later, Chloe stood at one side of a stainless steel examining table, staring stupidly at the veterinarian across from her. The half-dead puppy lay stretched out between them.
“Can’t you make an exception? I’ll have the money here in the morning.”