Colton Cowboy Hideout. Carla Cassidy
picked a fine time to show up here,” Linda, one of the maids, said to Josie. “The whole house is in an uproar.”
“So, I’m assuming there’s no news about Eldridge’s disappearance?” Tanner handed Josie a basket of large sandwich rolls.
“Oh, there’s news and plenty of talk,” Linda replied. She was a slightly plump middle-aged woman. Her brown eyes glittered brightly.
“Ms. Marceline came waltzing in while Sheriff Watkins was here and she refused to answer any of his questions. I heard she even told the sheriff to mind his own business. Nobody knows where she was all night. You know she’s always hated her stepdaddy.”
Becky, another maid with strawberry blond hair, leaned back in her chair and shook her head. “And then there’s the fact that Mr. Fowler had that big fight with Mr. Eldridge last night. It was definitely heated. Most of the staff and the family heard them yelling at each other.”
“What was the fight about?” Tanner asked.
“The usual. He wanted his daddy to retire and name him CEO. They both screamed at each other. I’m surprised you didn’t hear them all the way in your suite,” Becky said.
“And don’t forget Mrs. Whitney,” Linda added. “I heard her alibi was she went into her private media room and watched a TV show and fell asleep with her earbuds in so she didn’t hear anything.” Linda rolled her eyes. “A little convenient, don’t you think?”
“Sheriff Watkins is going to have his hands full with this investigation,” Jeb, one of the ranch hands, replied.
Josie added pulled pork to her bun and it felt as if her brain crashed around in her head. She had a gunshot wound in her arm and a mission to accomplish. However, as she listened to the gossip shooting around the table, she realized this Colton clan was a pit of vipers, one of whom very possibly committed murder.
* * *
Tanner didn’t approve of gossip, but he knew there was nothing he could do to halt the wild speculation that was like an extra side dish served up with the evening meal.
“Everyone knows Mr. Fowler wants his daddy to retire and name him CEO and chairman of the board of Colton Incorporated,” Linda continued. “Last night wasn’t the first time the two had fought about it.” She looked at Tanner. “But that’s not the biggest news of all. Did you hear Mitchell Flunt was taken into custody for more questioning?”
Tanner sat up straighter in his chair in stunned surprise. Mitchell Flunt was a groundskeeper who had been working for the Coltons for years. “Why?”
“Mitchell has been angry ever since he didn’t get the big raise he asked for at the beginning of the year,” Becky said. Her blue eyes grew wider. “And when Sheriff Watkins was interviewing him, he noticed Mitchell had some blood on his work boots. Mitchell said the blood was his own, that he cut himself on a lawn-mower blade, but I guess the sheriff didn’t believe his story. He took Mitchell right into custody.”
“There was blood in the master suite,” Linda said as if to remind everyone of the scene of the crime. “I heard there was tons of blood.”
“Not tons,” Tanner replied. “I saw it and there wasn’t a lot.” He frowned thoughtfully. “But what could Mitchell hope to gain by kidnapping or hurting Eldridge?”
“Might have just been a case of revenge,” Becky said. “People do crazy things when they’re angry, and Mitchell has been ticked off about that raise for months.”
Tanner shook his head. “I just find it hard to believe Mitchell would do something like this because he didn’t get a raise, especially when there are plenty of other people who might have a lot more to gain by Eldridge’s death.”
“It’s going to be hard to know who might gain something from Mr. Eldridge’s death,” Linda said. “You two weren’t around when Hugh Barrington showed up and told the sheriff that Mr. Eldridge left specific instructions, which he updated each year. His will is not to be opened until his death and not without a body. Mr. Barrington got all choked up about everything that’s happened. He was practically sobbing like a baby when he talked to Sheriff Watkins.”
Hugh Barrington had been Eldridge’s attorney for years and Tanner knew the two had shared a close friendship. He wasn’t surprised Hugh was upset by Eldridge’s disappearance.
Would the blood on Mitchell’s boots prove to be Eldridge’s? Or was the groundskeeper innocent and the culprit much closer to Eldridge? Would Eldridge be found someplace alive, or would his dead body turn up? Tanner certainly didn’t envy Troy Watkins’s job of solving the crime.
“Could you please pass me the potato salad?” Josie’s voice suddenly reminded Tanner of her presence beside him.
He grabbed the large bowl in front of him and moved it to where she could serve herself. “I’m sorry. This hasn’t exactly been pleasant dinner conversation for you.”
“It’s all right,” she assured him with one of her gorgeous smiles. “I understand everyone is upset about what’s happened.”
Yes, everyone was upset, but there had also been a touch of glee among the merry maids with their gossip. There was no question the arrogant Fowler and snooty Marceline weren’t favorites among the Colton staff.
Through the years there had also been a lot of speculation as to why an attractive woman like Whitney would marry a man over twenty years her senior. More than one member of the staff believed Whitney to be a gold digger who had married for money, not love.
“Surely we can find something better to talk about while we finish our meal,” he said to everyone around the table.
“And we know your favorite topic of conversation is those little dolls of yours,” Becky said with a smile. “Is Brianna still working out okay? She seemed a little unsettled earlier at lunch.”
“Actually, she quit this afternoon, but Josie has agreed to act as temporary nanny until I can hire somebody else,” Tanner replied.
“That’s nice of you,” Linda said with a speculative look at Josie.
“I’m stuck here until the sheriff tells me I can leave, so I figured I might as well help Tanner out,” Josie replied easily.
“Where are the girls now?” Linda asked.
“With Peggy. You know she’s always willing to step in when I need a little extra help.” Tanner couldn’t help but smile as he thought of the maid who was at least five years past retirement age, but still had a spring in her step and a twinkle in her eyes.
Peggy insisted she’d work for the Coltons until she died. Her husband had passed away three years ago and they’d had no children. Although officially she was still a maid, her time was mostly her own. She lived in one of the staff rooms down the hallway from Tanner and nobody required much work from her.
He relaxed a bit as the conversation remained on the twins and then shifted to the hot weather that showed no sign of breaking.
“That was interesting,” Josie said a half an hour later as the two of them walked back toward his suite.
“A healthy portion of gossip is always part of the staff meals,” he replied.
“It just makes me wonder what gossip might be swirling around about me,” she mused.
“You’ll probably never know.” Certainly he’d suspected that before his wife left him there had been plenty of rumors and speculation about him and the state of their marriage, even though he’d been oblivious to the truth.
“It doesn’t matter to me. I learned to live with gossip a long time ago,” she said.
As the daughter of a serial killer, he couldn’t even begin to guess what she must have endured growing up. The fact that she seemed so well-adjusted only spoke of an inner strength he found admirable.
He