Page 53 of River Strong

CHARLOTTEBREATHEDAsigh of relief as she hung up from speaking with her lawyer. She’d been worried sick about what Oakley would tell him. Her daughter had been so furious with CJ that she could have said just about anything—not that she could blame her. What CJ had done was unforgiveable. What had he been thinking taking a potshot at her like that? He could have killed her and then nothing Charlotte could do would have saved him from prison.

As she’d disconnected, she’d felt her son watching her, waiting, and now turned to look at him. She hadn’t heard him come down the hall. He looked tense until she said, “Oakley said exactly what I told her to say.”

“You’re sure?” he asked, even as he looked as relieved as she felt.

“I just spoke to our lawyer.” Charlotte had hoped Oakley would obey her, something she seldom did. Although it did surprise her. She thought about that awful fight Oakley had with CJ. She could have disabled him for life or worse. Whatever had made her come to her senses, Charlotte wasn’t going to question it.

She was more worried about CJ. “We need to take you to Billings for your next checkup,” she said.

“I don’t need my mother to take me.”

“You’re not driving yourself all the way to Billings.”

“Then call and move my checkup. I’m doing well. I want a little more time to heal. I don’t want to be poked and prodded right now.”

She looked at him with concern. “Are you sure Oakley didn’t injure you worse?”

“Yes, I’m fine, all right? Set it up for a few months from now. Being here on the ranch is the best medicine I could ask for.”

Charlotte smiled, loving to hear that. She hated arguing with him. But she also worried about him.

“Anyway, I know all these doctor bills, even with insurance, are costing you a fortune. That’s why I’m glad the new methane well is going in tomorrow. We should be getting a check from CH4. There are several sites they found last time that they believe are viable. I was thinking, since we didn’t get the Turner Ranch, I’m looking at some other property I’d like to personally invest in. I know you don’t like drilling on the ranch. We could drill on that land and use the extra money for this ranch.”

It thrilled her, this interest CJ was taking in the ranch. Her first husband had taught her that a ranch needed to keep growing to survive. “I love that idea.”

“It’s the smart thing to do,” he said, nodding. “I’ll take care of all the arrangements and dealing with the gas company and the workers. It’s the least I can do since I can’t do anything else from this chair. It might make me feel like I’m not completely worthless.”

Charlotte’s heart went out to her son. She told herself that giving him more control over decisions had definitely been the right thing to do. Although she hated to drill on the ranch, buying property away from the ranch to drill on sounded like a good investment in their future.

CJ asked for so little and clearly, he needed this. And he was right; they certainly could use the cash flow. Cattle prices were down. So much of her worth was tied up in land. She would have had to risk some of it to buy the Turner place—but that was behind her now.

“Fine, you take care of that,” she told her son. “I’m going to have Boyle get the cattle shipped. There’s no reason to wait any longer.”

CJ didn’t show any interest in the cattle side of the ranch. He didn’t respond as he wheeled down the hall toward his room. She heard him making a call and decided to go out to the stables in the hopes of catching her ranch manager around. Otherwise, maybe she would go for a ride.

She almost called down the hall to ask CJ if he would be all right alone. But stopped herself. There was always staff if he needed someone and she was only a phone call away. She headed for the stables almost hoping she didn’t see Boyle Wilson before her ride.

She figured Boyle had heard about the PI being in town asking about Dixon Malone, the man she was still married to but hadn’t seen for years. Boyle had always hinted that he knew what had happened to Dixon, but she’d ignored him.

In no mood for his veiled threats, she entered the stables, glad not to cross paths with him today. She reminded herself that with Oakley’s testimony, CJ probably wouldn’t spend any time in jail—let alone go to prison. She couldn’t let CJ go to prison any more than she could let Boyle Wilson hold his suspicions over her.

But as she started to saddle up, she realized that there was something she’d forgotten to take care of back at the house.

WITHTIMEBEFOREhe met Abigail for a burger, the sheriff decided to find out what he could about Rory Eastwood. Duffy’s visit this morning had him wondering. Someone had to know who Rory was planning to leave town with, he thought as he drove out to the airfield. The closest airport with a paved landing strip was in Miles City. The local airport had a windsock and a grass landing strip. CH4 had even built themselves a hangar for their plane. Unpaved, the strip was used by crop dusters and more recently, by gas company pilots who flew employees into the area.

If he wanted to find out what he could about Rory Eastwood, it was the place to start since Rory had worked for the gas company—up until the night he allegedly left town with a mystery woman.

Stu was hoping to catch one of the company’s pilots, Howie Gunderson, and lucked out. Gunderson’s pickup was parked next to the CH4 hangar. As he pulled in, he saw the hangar door was open, a small plane inside. Not Gunderson’s. His was sitting a short distance away.

The pilot was in conversation with a man wearing a suit, no small occurrence this far from Billings. He parked and climbed out. The two men looked up, breaking off their conversation as he approached. “Afternoon,” he said. “Howie.” He looked to the other man. “I believe we’ve already met.”

“This is Douglas Burton,” Howie said nervously. “He’s the CEO of CH4.”

“That’s what he told me when he came by my office,” the sheriff said and turned to the CEO. “I thought you would have left the area by now.”

“I was just getting ready to fly him to Billings,” Howie said before his boss could respond.

Stuart kept his attention on Burton. “I’m glad to catch you, then. I wanted to ask about a former employee of yours. Rory Eastwood.” He saw the CEO recognize the name even as the man shook his head. “His pickup was recently found in a reservoir.”

---