Gnome On The Range (22 page)

We sat shoulder to shoulder on my couch watching a James Bond marathon, Ty’s arm thrown over the back of the couch. His hand rested on my shoulder. The shrimp, cheese puffs and beer were spread out on the coffee table in front of us. Ty turned down the stinky cheese with a similar face the boys made. Must be a guy thing.

 “Goldie wanted to see if I knew more about Morty’s murder.”

Ty tossed a cheese ball in the air and caught it with his mouth. He crunched a few times then said, “I called my parents when you were in the shower. They said the police have no real leads as there’s no way to take fingerprints. There aren’t any footprints or tire tracks to give someone away. It must have been raining when Morty was dumped there.”

“Are your parents all right?” If my mom had found a hacked up body in a pig sty, she’d probably have a nervous breakdown. But, she’d probably have a nervous breakdown being
near
a pig sty.

“They’re fine. Taking it all in stride. They’re more worried about you.”

“Me?” I raised my eyebrows. “Really? That’s sweet.”

He popped another cheese ball, had a swig of beer. “I called the sheriff who I met that night. He didn’t have much new either. The only thing they’ve been able to say definitively is that Morty had meth in his system.”

I wondered which body part they’d analyzed to discover that and cringed at the thought. I grabbed a shrimp, ate it, and tossed the tail onto the plastic tray. Not very ladylike, but I’d already gotten the guy. With all the unladylike stuff I’d done already, tossing a shrimp tail wasn’t going to make much of an impact.

“Meth, meth, meth. Everything’s meth around here. Crazy robber guy, Kelly’s neighbor’s kid—”

“The house in Churchill, about five or six calls in the past two weeks.”

I pointed my beer at him. “Exactly.”

Ty’s cell rang.

“Strickland.” Ty listened. “Where?” Listened some more. “I can’t come now. I’ve had a few beers. Right. Seven. I’ll be there.” He hit End and turned to me. “Wildland fire. In the National Forest north of Big Sky.”

“Do you have to go? Now?” It was dark out. Late. “Sorry, I forget fires don’t stop because it’s nighttime.”

He smiled. “I can’t go now. I’ve had too many beers to head out but they want me in the morning. I’ll meet up with a crew coming in from Helena and go down.”

“How big is it?”

Forest fires happened all the time out West. Lightning strikes, negligent campers, tossed cigarettes could create a catastrophic fire that burned acres and acres of wilderness. If it was big enough, firefighters from all over the country came to help fight it.

“So far, just a few hundred acres, but it’s going to be windy up there. It’ll grow more before it’s contained.”

“Do they know how it started?”

“No bad weather in the area, so it wasn’t lightning. Probably a camper, but they won’t know for awhile.”

I stood up and started cleaning up the food debris. “You should get some sleep. Sounds like you’re going to need it.”

Ty stood, too. Turned off the TV. “Your bed or mine?”

Chapter Sixteen

The sun just came up when the alarm went off. I groaned and burrowed deeper under the blankets. Ty moved in close and let his hands roam over my body. “I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered.

I half groaned, half sighed. His hands felt good, but I was sore in places I hadn’t known worked. “When I get back, love, I….” He kissed the back of my shoulder. “Remember we talked about sex versus relationships?” His voice was rough from sleep.

My brain was mostly asleep. “Mmm?”

“This isn’t just sex, Jane.” Ty sighed. “I’ve…I’ve fallen for you.” I smiled, savoring the cocooning warmth of the bed and Ty’s words.

He rolled out of bed and I heard him rustle into his clothes.

I vaguely felt his knee press into the bed. “Please, be careful while I’m gone. I have plans for you, for this
relationship
, when I get back.” He dropped a kiss on the top of my head and was gone. Left for the burning Montana wilderness. I missed his body heat for about thirty seconds before I fell into REM sleep until nine when I woke with a start.

He loved me? Had I dreamt that whole conversation? What were Ty’s exact words?
I’ve fallen for you
. Why the hell hadn’t I woken up? That’s right, having sex for two days straight wore you out. One of the most important conversations of my life and I slept through it. When Ty got back, I’d just blame it on him. It was his fault I missed it.
Right
.

I showered and dried my hair, the whole time with a silly grin. I went extra fancy and did my hair, which meant putting it up in a ponytail. I threw on clean shorts but wore Ty’s T-shirt I’d worn the night before. I was being a sap, but it smelled like him. And because my lips were worn out from all the kissing, I treated them to some lip balm. And I smiled some more.

Thanks to Veronica, Goldie’s trusty employee, I had the day off. I ate stinky cheese and watched morning talk shows in between bouts of napping. I had no idea a sex marathon could be so exhausting.

My cell phone beeped from the bedroom signaling a text. Sighing with laziness, I went to read it. Ty wrote: new info re Morty @ DD ranch. meet @ 1. I perked up at his message. I’d all but given up ever learning anything new about Morty, knowing I’d tried everything, just short of sleeping with Dex, to learn something new. What had Ty found out?

I looked at the time. 11:30. I had just enough time to change into jeans and boots to protect from animal poop—or dead bodies.

***

I spent the hour driving to Dex’s ranch working through everything I knew about Morty Moore. It wasn’t much and I’d finished that train of thought by the time I drove by the mall. Morty worked at the DD Ranch and had a side job selling stolen horse sperm. Someone blew up his parents’ house. He’d been killed for some reason, by somebody. That’s it. That’s all the definitive information I had.

After that I thought about sex with Ty. I had a mental porn movie going, starring the two of us. It lasted until I was south of Norris. I was smiling to myself and felt surprisingly horny as I drove through the DD archway. I was eager to see Ty even though it had only been a few hours when he’d left for the wildfire. Must have been put out much quicker than he’d thought. 

I followed the driveway like I did last time up to the large horse arena. I intentionally skipped Dex’s mega-mansion first, not super interested in seeing the house Dex intended me, as his future wife, to clean every day. As if. The house had to be over 5000 square feet. No chance in hell I could keep that monstrosity clean.

The sky was big and blue, the sun bright. It was exactly the same as my previous visit, although there appeared to be less action. I parked and got out. I didn’t see anyone else around, although the side door to the stable was open. I smelled hay and horses. No Ty. In fact, I didn’t see his car.

I held my hand up to my eyes to shield the sun and looked around. Where was Ty? I ventured into the arena first, taking time for my eyes to adjust. Only half the lights were on, the building cool and quiet.

“Hello?” I called out. Nothing.

I returned outside and looked around again. I heard some knickering and horse snuffling coming from the stable and headed that way. A few horses had their heads out over their half stall doors. Nothing else was going on down the long central aisle. No one on poop patrol with a wheelbarrow. No hay tossing. Nothing. I pulled my cell from my pocket to see if I’d missed a message from Ty. “Crap,” I muttered to myself. No service.

I returned to the car to consider my options. My watch said 1:15 and Ty wasn’t here.  I didn’t have much choice but to go up to Dex’s house and knock on the door.

I pulled up and parked in the circular drive. The house was much larger up close than from the main driveway. It was two stories, a large porch ran the length of the main section with a wing off to the left. A four car garage was to the right. Shake shingle roof. Stained siding and deep eaves. Tall pillars made from rough hewn pines graced the entry leading to double wooden doors ten feet tall. The home was what Donald Trump would build if he wanted to live in Montana and get horse poop on his shoes.

I rang the doorbell.

“Hello, Jane,” Dex said as he opened the door. He stepped back. “Come in.”

I took in the large entry, two stories tall. Slate floors, several closed doors which I assumed were closets for winter coats and boots. Beyond was a great room facing west that had wall to wall windows with vistas of the Tobacco Roots. The furnishings were dark leather and lots of wood. An interior decorator had been through because there were unusual knick knacks and throw blankets worthy of a show home. A large elk head was positioned above a river rock fireplace big enough to stand in. I had to admit, it was beautiful.

“Hi. I’m supposed to meet a friend of mine here. Ty?”

“Would you like a drink?” He turned and walked toward what I assumed was the kitchen. Since he hadn’t answered my question, I had no choice but to follow.

The kitchen was everything you’d expect. Stainless steel appliances made for Wolfgang Puck, a marble topped island the size of my kitchen, gleaming wood floors. By the time I’d taken in the views from the big windows—which were everywhere—Dex held a glass of red wine out to me.

“Thanks,” I replied, not sure what to say. I wasn’t a big wine drinker and it was a little early in the day. I took a polite sip. Good stuff. There was no way Dex was a boxed wine kind of guy. “So, about my friend?”

Dex took a sip of his wine as well. “What do you think of my home?”

“Um, well, it’s very nice.” Dex made me nervous, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why. He wasn’t answering my question about Ty, although he never seemed one to like to talk about other men. I took another sip of wine to ease my nerves.

“I knew you would like it.” He put his wineglass down on the counter. “Would you like a tour?”

A tour?  “Sure. A tour.”  I started to put my glass down.

“No, you’re welcome to bring your wine with you. Please, enjoy it. I have more.” He took my free hand and led me through the downstairs. His hand was warm, his skin slightly rough with calluses. Dex talked about the building of the home, the details, and his plans for the future.

That was great and all, but I was getting worried about Ty. “Dex, I was supposed to meet my friend here. He’s really late. Have you heard from him?”

Dex looked down at me and smiled. “Yes, sorry. He called and said he was running behind. Something about a fire?”

“Right. The fire.” I relaxed then and took another sip of wine.

“Let me show you the upstairs while we’re waiting for him.” He led me through six bedrooms, a study, media room and laundry before ending at the master suite. It was bigger than my entire house. Lots and lots of cream carpet. Again, the views, the dark wood furniture. The bed. A great big bed.

I had this funny feeling in my stomach. This was not where I wanted to be with Dex. Alone. I swallowed. All of a sudden I didn’t feel so well. The bed started to lose focus. I blinked to clear my vision.

“Jane, are you all right?” He sounded concerned.

“I think I’m scared of your bed.” I giggled. “Everything all of a sudden feels…groovy.”

Dex took the wineglass from my fingers and placed it on a dresser. “That’s to be expected.” He didn’t sound concerned anymore.

My foggy brain was slow to process. Next to the wineglass on the dresser were the boys’ gnomes. “Whuh?” I looked at Dex and he was all soft around the edges. I was so confused. What were the gnomes doing in Dex’s bedroom? “The gnomes….how?” I lost my train of thought. “I don’t think I can feel my fingers. What’s…what’s wrong with me?”

I think Dex smiled. “You didn’t think I’d let you taint my bedroom, did you? This is where I plan to bring my wife someday.”

I felt wobbly, the room spinning. “I thought….” I couldn’t formulate what I wanted to say. Something about Dex and a wife and me. Gnomes.

“You thought I wanted you to be my wife?” He yanked me by the hand he still held, pulled me close to him. “I did. Not now. I don’t bring sluts to my bed.”

I felt so funky, so spacey, so foggy, so…happy. Whatever was wrong with me didn’t feel bad. It was like being drunk, but drunk on happy juice. My limbs were loose, my skin felt tingly. I swear I could feel each and every hair on my head. Even with the weird feelings, I could hear the anger, the evil in Dex’s voice.

“You betrayed me and you will be punished.” He released me and I stumbled, fell toward the dresser. I grabbed its edge with both hands to keep upright, the movement tipped over George the Gnome and knocked him onto the carpeted floor with a soft thump.

The lethargic feeling moved into my chest. My lungs felt heavy. It was difficult to breathe. “I…can’t…catch my breath.”

“Or you may just die. Who knows how much of the drug I should have given you.”

With those words my body let go, and I fell without fear into blackness.

***

When I slowly came to, my first thought was about how dry and funky my mouth felt. It tasted like I ate a wadded up tissue. I slowly blinked, but my eyes flew open in panic when I recognized my surroundings. I was in a horse stall, lying on scratchy hay. 

My body felt sluggish as if I’d had a fifth of whiskey and slept it off. I looked up and blinked some more, clearing the fog. I took in my surroundings. Cinder block walls on three sides painted white. A closed half gate on the fourth. Feeding trough in one corner. I stood up on shaky legs, wobbly like a newborn colt, and recognized the space outside the gate. I was in Dex’s breeding shed.

This was not good.

I heard a door open, the clip clop of horse hooves. Dex walked up leading a big, black horse. The animal’s large head came into the stall and he snorted. I stepped back, shaky and afraid. I could feel his hot horsy breath on my skin.

“Dex! What is going on?”

“You didn’t die after all.” He sounded as if this disappointed him. Leading the horse away, he looped the lead on the bridle to a ring on the…what had he called it? The phantom mare. Dex returned and leaned his forearms on the half gate, watching me. I backed up further, slipped on the hay and landed on my butt with a jarring thud. That hurt!