I started pushing Cam so hard to get out there and get more listings. I rode him hard, thinking that if even one of the ranches sold we would have the down payment on the Timberline.”
While she talked, she drew invisible patterns on the tabletop with her index finger.
“That’s when poor old Stuart Tanner showed up with his file. We didn’t figure that Tanner would research the deed and find the same thing I did. So when Cam told me that we needed to forget about buying the place and move on, I played my hole card.”
“You called Eric,” Joe said.
“Right. We’d kept in touch for years.” She batted her eyes coquettishly. “He’s been smitten with me, like forever. We’d had a relationship years before that Cam never knew about. I moved on but Eric kept a torch. Even when he started getting sick he never lost his feelings for me. He said he’d do anything for me. Then he’d talk like a nut about his obsession with aliens. I let him go on and on about that. So when I called him and asked him for a favor, he came. Eric and his buddy Bob did Tanner and Montegue. Eric did it to please me, which was kind of sweet when you think about it.”
Joe felt his stomach curdle, but tried to stay calm and ask his questions. “Why did they choose Tuff Montegue?”
She shrugged. “He was just there, I suppose. But Eric was clever in a devilish kind of way. He told me that they intentionally messed up the job on Montegue. They did it to draw attention away from Tanner, and as you know, it worked. Your task force would have been working the wrong angle on that one until hell froze over, if it weren’t for you, Joe.”
Joe said nothing. He was thinking. Most of the pieces had finally fallen into place. But there were still problems.
“So Cam didn’t know about his brother being there?” Joe asked.
“I think he assumed he was somewhere close. He told me he thought it was just a matter of time before the family was back together, now that his parents were there. He dreaded the prospect.”
“Did he know Nurse Bob was living in a shack on your property?”
“I didn’t even know that. I thought he was living somewhere out in the woods.”
“What about Cam’s parents? Did Cam know they were coming? Did you?”
Marie laughed sourly. “That was as big of a surprise for me as it was for Cam when they showed up. I knew about Bob coming, of course, but I had no idea they were bringing him. Old Clancy and Helen really threw a kink into things.”
“Did you tell Eric to kill his brother?”
Marie reacted with shock. “Of course not. Of course not. I was gen-uinely shocked when you told me what happened. I just wanted Eric to put a little spine into Cam, because Cam was wavering on me.”
“Why was he wavering?”
“You spooked him,” Marie said, smiling at Joe. “That meeting you had with him shook him up. When he found out you were checking out the deeds at the county clerk’s, he told me we needed to forget the whole damned thing. But I had no intention of giving up.”
Joe was chilled by her. She was so matter-of-fact, and actually a little charming. Poor Cam, Joe thought. He’d married a manipulator.
“I never saw it,” Joe confessed. “I never even considered you.” “You weren’t the only one,” she said.
“I kept wondering why they went after Not Ike,” Joe said, “but now I know. It’s because I told Cam that Not Ike said he had seen somebody in the alley behind the real estate office. When Cam told you the story, you panicked and called Eric.”
She leaned forward and fixed Joe with her eyes. “I don’t panic,” she said. “Do you know where Eric is?”
“Absolutely not,” she said adamantly. “I swear it. I haven’t been in contact with him since that morning. I hope you find him, and I hope he hangs or whatever they do to killers in Wyoming. Joe,” she said, tilting her head to the side. “He killed my husband, remember? As far as I know, he’s still out there.”
“You mean in Wyoming?”
“As far as I know,” she repeated. Then she looked to Agent Scoon, as if she was exasperated with Joe.
“Don’t you think I’d give him up in a heartbeat if I knew where he was? Eric’s location is the only thing I’d have to make a deal with. You people have me on so many charges, at least if I knew something I’d be able to, you know, negotiate a little.”
It did make sense, Joe conceded to himself. Damn it.
“So it was all about money,” Joe said sadly. “All about getting the CBM leases.”
She turned on him. “Of course, Joe. Why would there be any more to it? You’ve got these rubes all over the state becoming instant millionaires, just because they own mineral rights. It’s not like they earned their money by being virtuous, or working hard. Why not Cam and me?
“What did you expect? That we were going to just bump along all of our lives living paycheck to paycheck like you and Marybeth?”
That stung, and he blinked.
“Cam was okay with that kind of existence, but I never was,” she said. “When it’s raining money, you can either put on your raincoat or get the buckets out. You better think about it too, Joe. You’ve got your family to think about. Marybeth wants more, Joe. She deserves more. Don’t think we haven’t talked about it, either.”
Joe sat in silence, staring at her. “Stop staring,” she snapped.
“Never once have you asked about your daughter,” he said. “Not once have you even mentioned her.”
