Page 52 of Haystacks and Hoaxes

That way, the perpetrator could rush in and buy the shares much cheaper. “Mr. Plowman, my brother is in the room. Mind if I put you on speakerphone so he can listen in?”

“Absolutely! We need all the help we can get with this.” Mr. Plowman went on to describe the overseas firm that was rapidly buying up shares of his oil company. “They manage some global mutual fund.” He stated the name of it.

Rock instantly recognized it as the same one Carla Kingston had been investing her oil royalties in. From Gage’s expression, he’d recognized the name of the mutual fund, too. It couldn’t be a coincidence. What in the world were the Bentleys up to now?

“I feel so helpless,” the oil tycoon groaned. “There’s no way the Heart Lake police will have any jurisdiction over something like that. Or the FBI, for that matter.” He dragged in a weary breath. “The only thing keeping my sanity at the moment is that there’s no way these rogues can pull off a hostile takeover. Not with how many shares are being held by my two silent partners.”

Rock exchanged a troubled look with his brother. “Are you willing to elaborate on that, sir?”

“And then some,” the aging oil man grunted. “Youprobably know ‘em already, anyway. It’s Carla Kingston and Monty Chester.”

Whoa!Rock sat riveted on the sofa. He’d known Carla was the trustee managing Mila’s inheritance. He hadn’t known about Monty Chester’s role in the matter.

He cleared his throat as he pondered the possibilities. “You said Monty Chester,” he said slowly, “not Troy Bentley.” Troy had inherited his uncle’s oil shares months ago. Why hadn’t they been transferred into his name yet?

“I don’t know what’s going on with Troy Bentley.” Mr. Plowman’s voice grew even more bitter. “He’s called me a few times to run his mouth and try to sound all threatening.”

“Threatening!” That didn’t sit well with Rock. “What kind of threatening?”

“Eh, the usual stuff from a hothead trying to cut corners. He said he was going to bury our company in bad press and poor reviews. The entire time we were speaking, he was loading and cocking his hunting rifles in the background. Although fiddling with a gun isn’t against the law, he knew what he was doing. Unfortunately for him, I’m not easily intimidated.”

Rock and his brother exchanged a worried look. They were less than thrilled to discover Mila’s alcoholic ex owned a gun collection. Like Mr. Plowman had stated, though, it wasn’t against the law. “What exactly is he trying to cut corners on, sir?”

“Getting his uncle’s stock moved into his name. What else?” The older gentleman sighed, “But I don’t make the rules. My office manager has talked him through the legal process at least three different times, but the kid won’t listen. Though it’s a small town where everybody knows everybody, we still need a certified death certificate to make thetransfer. Not the smudged photocopies he keeps sending us.”

Rock’s jaw dropped. “Are you telling me you don’t have a bonafide death certificate on file yet for Monty Chester?”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you,” the oil man growled.

It was an enormous discovery. Though death certificates weren’t a matter of public record in the state of Texas, at least not for the first twenty-five years after a person died, there were ways to verify if one existed. The quickest method would be to get the police involved.

Rock typed an emergency request and shot it off to Sheriff Luke Hawling.

It took the police department a few days to determine there was no official death certificate on file. Luke immediately filed for an emergency court order to exhume Monty Chester’s grave.

The casket they pulled from it was empty!

Chapter 9: Distress Signal

Today was the day Carla Kingston was going to be arrested. Rock was doing everything he could to keep Mila distracted at the office, but they both continued to sneak peeks at their cell phones. Decker had promised to call her when it was over.

And Gage promised to call me. It was an awful way to spend a morning. Waiting, waiting, and more waiting.

While they waited, he and Mila created a forensic art studio out of his office. Since they were doing it in a hurry, the sketches plastered to his walls were taped there, not artfully framed. It still worked.

Their collection of sketches for the oil equipment robberies was mounted at eye level in sequential order. Since they felt connected to the case, Rock had additionally taped her sketches of Chester Farm — preceding the road rage incident that had started them on this journey — at the beginning of the sequence. On a whim, he’d taped a photocopy of her Christmas gift to him at the end of the sequence. There was no way he was donating the original to their case files. It was his and his alone to treasure.Besides, it was mostly fiction. He’d only taped it on the wall in the hope of cheering Mila up.

She paced in front of the sketches, occasionally letting out a gusty sigh. “We’re missing something.” She gestured vaguely at the sketches to include his entire office in her statement. “I’m staring holes through these sketches, but I’m just not able to connect all the dots yet.”

“I know the feeling.” Although his office door was propped open and anyone could walk by and see them together, he moved to stand by her side. He wished there was something he could say to reduce the shadows beneath her eyes, but all he could do was assure her he wasn’t going anywhere. “There’s a lot of extra noise crowding our thoughts today.”

“That’s one way of putting it.” Her voice hitched with emotion.

Speaking of noise made him think of the Christmas carols Johnny had warbled through the house on Christmas day. Though he’d been bellowing them off key, Mila had joined in a few times. The two of them hadn’t sounded half bad singing together, which had stirred a Texas-sized streak of jealousy in Rock. At the moment, however, he was willing to try just about anything to cheer his partner up.

While she wasn’t looking, he fiddled with his cell phone. There were still no messages from Gage, making him wonder if her parents’ flight had been delayed. Unfortunately, the only thing they could do about it was keep waiting.

And maybe infuse the wait with a little holiday cheer. Though it was past Christmas, he searched the Internet for festive music mixes.

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