Page 65 of Texas-Sized Secrets

Prairie Rock’s volunteer Emergency Medical Services, only a block away, arrived minutes after Patricia fell into Reed’s arms. The crowd moved outside the diner to give the emergency personnel room to work.

The sheriff’s squad car spun around the corner and skidded to a halt. Sheriff Parker Lee leaped from the car and strode over to where Reed and Mona stood. “What’s going on?”

“Mrs. Teague went crazy and passed out,” Mona said.

The EMS technicians wheeled the gurney carrying Patricia Teague out of the diner and toward the back of the ambulance.

The sheriff got back in his car and led the ambulance away from the diner, lights flashing.

Grace Bryson laid a hand on Reed’s arm. “We need to talk. Would you come back to the house with me?”

“Of course.” He turned to Mona. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes and we’ll find Wayne and Les.” Reed’s face was set in a mask as he led his mother away from the diner, his father following behind.

Mona shook her head. “What the heck just happened?”

“I don’t know, but my guess is there’s a history between Patricia Teague and Grace Bryson.” Catalina stared after Reed and his family. “I’d give my eyeteeth to be a fly on the wall in the conversation she’s fixin’ to have with your man Reed.”

“He’s not my man,” Mona said absently, her mind struggling to wrap itself around what Patricia said before she passed out. Grace Bryson had ruined her marriage? “I just wonder how Grace Bryson ruined Patricia Teague’s marriage.” Since she hadn’t been invited to the show-and-tell with Reed’s parents to get her answers, Mona decided to take the matter into her own hands.

“When Reed comes back, tell him I’ll be at the library.”

Catalina frowned. “I thought he told you to stay put.”

Mona smiled at her friend. “How much danger can I get into at the library?”

“Knowing you, a lot.” Catalina shook her head. “But my telling you not to go won’t do any good, will it?”

Mona shook her head.

“That’s what I thought.” Catalina sighed. “Be careful out there. With three people dead, the odds aren’t looking good for the citizens of Prairie Rock.”

“If it makes you feel better, I’ll take the truck.”

“It does.” Catalina stood in the doorway to the diner, rubbing the back of her head, a reminder that whoever was playing this game played rough.

The library was only two blocks away. Reed could walk that more easily than she could. Though she’d lived near Prairie Rock all her life and gone to school in the town, she couldn’t help looking over her shoulder as she climbed down from the truck. Even in broad daylight, she didn’t feel safe. The street was deserted, most of the activity still back at the diner.

Once inside, she pulled up a chair in front of the computer and checked in the newspaper archives for any references to Patricia Teague and Grace Bryson.

Her efforts were rewarded with a plethora of newspaper articles about the wealthy widow of Andrew Teague.

Mona scanned article after article going all the way back to the Austin society column announcing Andrew Teague’s engagement to a relatively unknown woman, Patricia Lee Kuhn.

Within four years of his marriage, Andrew died of a heart attack, leaving Patricia the wealthiest widow in the state of Texas.

Patricia Kuhn. Had Patricia been married to Jeffrey Kuhn before Teague? Mona performed a search on Patricia Kuhn and found a wedding announcement for Jeffrey Kuhn and Patricia Lee Taylor, dating back thirty-two years.

Mona guessed the Kuhn marriage was the one Patricia had referenced when she’d accused Grace of ruining it for her. What had Mrs. Bryson done to ruin that marriage? And did Reed know anything about it? She’d bet he’d know after his little talk with his parents.

There were only three articles on Grace Bryson. One dated back thirty-two years to her wedding announcement to William Bryson. A month after the Kuhn wedding. The second article was eight months later with the birth announcement of Reed Charles Bryson. The third, most recent article involved the sale of the Bryson ranch to L & T Oil after Grace’s stroke.

The ranch had fallen on hard times following a drought-induced prairie fire that killed seventy-five percent of their herd. Mona remembered that fire. The Rancho Linda had to reposition their herd just in case the winds shifted and sent the flames back toward their property.

With no connection to be found between Patricia and Grace, Mona ran a scan on Teague Oil & Gas. The articles dated over twenty years. The most recent information dealt with purchases made in the panhandle around Prairie Rock. In one article both Lang Oil Exploration and Teague Oil & Gas had been locked in a bidding war for one particular property. Teague, with their vast cash reserves, won out.

“Need help?” Ann Gooding, the librarian, looked over Mona’s shoulder. “Trying to decide which oil company to sell to? I’d go with Teague. I hear Lang is on the verge of filing for bankruptcy if they don’t find a new well soon.”

“How do you know?”

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