Page 99 of Spilling the Tea

“What the hell?!” Jake said loudly.

“Uncle Jake? What’s wrong?” a number of male voices asked simultaneously.

“Alex, I’m putting you on speaker phone. Several nephews are here helping me put up this bounce house for Amethyst’s party. Why do you think Mama and Zoey’s lives might be in danger?” he asked as his long strides took him to his truck with his nephews on his heels.

“It’s something I came across in an investigation Mama Laverne asked me to do.”

“An investigation on who?”

“I can’t say right now, Jake. Just get to the cabin to make sure they’re alright.”

Jake disconnected the call as they crowded into his truck. “Corbin, call Chance. He’s a lot closer to the cabin than we are.”

Corbin nodded. “I already have.”

***

“Unlock this door!” Zoey yelled at the top of her voice.

“I won’t unlock it!” a feminine voice called back. “This is my lucky day. I’ll get rid of two birds with one stone.”

Zoey recognized the voice.Ravena.“Ravena, you have no right to be on this property.”

“I have every right. This land should have been mine, and it will be mine once I get rid of the two of you.”

Zoey frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about how Waylon Satterfield let his parents banish his sister from this land. I promised my grandmother before she died that I would seek revenge.”

Zoey’s gaze slid to Ms. Felicia, who seemed just as confused by Ravena’s statement as she was. “Who was your grandmother?” Zoey then asked Ravena.

“My grandmother was Wanda Hagan, the daughter of Charlotte Satterfield. Gramma Wanda raised me when my mother died of a drug overdose. Charlotte told my grandmother everything. Namely, what the Satterfields and the Madarises had done to her.”

A shocked Zoey looked at Ms. Felicia and asked in a low voice. “Is Ravena insinuating we’re cousins?”

Before Ms. Felicia could respond, Ravena began speaking again. “I thought I had everything worked out when I got engaged to Chance according to plan. My first goal—to seek revenge for what the Satterfield and Madaris family did to mygreat-grandmother Charlotte when they ran her out of Texas. Once Chance and I got married and while he was away in the military, I was to get rid of his great-grandmother Felicia Laverne by making it look like an accident. But when Chance nearly got himself blown up playing soldier and returned home in a wheelchair, I decided I wasn’t so desperate for revenge that I’d marry an invalid.”

Ravena began laughing and the sound grated on Zoey’s nerves. Pulling her phone from her jeans, Zoey tried calling the police but couldn’t get a connection. Turning to Ms. Felicia, she said in a low voice, “I can’t call out on my phone. See if you can.” Zoey intended to keep Ravena talking until help arrived.

“Then, before my Gramma Wanda died last year, she found out Chance could walk again and that he had bought the Satterfield land,” Ravena said. “Can you believe that? That’s when I promised Gramma Wanda on her deathbed that I would return to Texas and rekindle my romance with Chance, get rid of both him and his great-grandmother, and as his widow, reclaim the Satterfield land. What I hadn’t counted on Zoey, was you getting in the way. When I discovered your identity and that we were related and could stand in the way of me not only getting the land but getting Chance back, I placed you at the top of my kill list.”

Ms. Felicia got Zoey’s attention to indicate that her phone wasn’t connecting either. Trying not to panic, Zoey quickly walked to the table and said, “Chance should be on his way back.”

Ms. Felicia gently patted her hand. “No worries, dear,” she said calmly. “I have this.” She showed Zoey her medical alert necklace before pressing it.

***

Chance had parked his truck a half mile from the cabin and walked while texting Corbin. When he told them of the strong smell of kerosene in the air and what he figured Ravena intendedto do, Jake devised a plan. Since Ravena had been yelling at Zoey through the barn door, Chance had heard everything. All the details of her sordid plans, including the reason she’d wanted to marry him in the first place.

When he heard her say to Zoey, “I’m through talking,” and she pulled a book of matches from her shirt pocket, he knew that he had to make his presence known. He texted Corbin.Moving in.

“Ravena! What are you doing here?” he asked.

She snatched her head around. “Chance, I didn’t hear your truck.”

“I rode my horse,” he lied, approaching her slowly. “I wanted to see if Mama Laverne and Zoey wanted lunch.”

A smirk appeared on her face. “They won’t be needing lunch where they are going.”

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