riverfront property. I figured he’d come see you, too. I was gonna call you about it, but then you got hurt and I didn’t want to mention it to you while you were in the hospital.” I shrugged again. “He sent in reinforcements.” I told him about Lorna’s visit and last night’s events. I had discussed Lorna with him a few weeks back, during our first attempted father-son dinner at the Sit-a-Spell. “Were you going to sell to Callahan?” “I wanted to, but Gretchen thought we should hold out for more money,” Bob Don said. Let me digress for a moment about Gretchen Goertz. Gretchen is Bob Don’s wife and they’ve had about as happy a marriage as the Royals. Gretchen used to drink pretty heavy, but after it came out that Bob Don was my daddy I guess she decided to clean up her act so Bob Don wouldn’t leave her. She’d checked herself into a clinic in Austin, dried out, and had been sober for the past several weeks. She’d also been cloyingly sweet to me. I didn’t believe for a second it was because she’d been dying for a stepson and was just showing her appreciation for my debut in her life. I couldn’t tell, though, if her kindness was because she was finally sober for the first time in years or because she wanted to stay on Bob Don’s good side. Either way, I avoided her as much as I could. “Well, it doesn’t look like Gretchen will get any money now,” I said. “Who even knows if Intraglobal will still be interested in building here after this mess?” “Good morning,” a voice came from the stairs. It was Lorna, her hair a bit disheveled, dressed in some old pajamas and a robe of mine. God, I hoped Candace didn’t see her in that. Bob Don leaped to his feet. “Hello, there, darlin’, you must be Lorna. I’m Bob Don Goertz, Jordy’s daddy. It sure is nice to meet you, but I’m just sick that it’s under these here unfortunate circumstances.” Lorna wasn’t quite awake yet and in full command of her etiquette. She stared, I mean stared, at Bob Don. From the helmet of carefully coiffed hair to the scuffed tips of his well-worn cowboy boots. “You’re-you’re Jordan’s father?” “Yes, ma’am, proud to say I am. He’s just the best boy a man could hope for, you know, he is as smart as a whip and got his mama’s good looks and of course he’s all educated-” I didn’t want Bob Don quoting my resume for the remainder of the day, and he will do so given the opportunity. “Bob Don, I bet you Lorna could use some coffee. Lorna, that sound good?” “Wonderful.”
She wiped sleep from her eyes, regarded Bob Don anew, and offered her hand. “Forgive my rudeness, I’m not quite myself this morning. I am delighted to meet you, Mr. Goertz. Jordan told me all about you last night and it’s obvious he thinks you’re a remarkable man.” Bob Don’s eyes lit up like he’d won the lottery and his mouth worked as he smiled at me. All right, so I’m not the most affectionate soul around.
He knew I cared, didn’t he? I frowned and fled, going to get Lorna her coffee. Sister crossed her arms and grimaced at me as I came in.
“Well, those two ought to get together like a house afire. They’re both into trying to bust up relationships.” Clo quickly excused herself to go use the rest room. I poured a fresh cup for Lorna and turned around. “Let’s get this straight, Sister, right here, right now. I don’t care if you like Lorna. I don’t care if you hate Lorna.
But she is a guest in this house, and I think Mama would be ashamed of you for talking trash like you are.” Sister opened her cavernous mouth to respond, but I didn’t give her a chance to spew further venom. “And as for the other side of that little crack, I will remind you-once and just once-that you are talking about my father. Now his presence in my life may not set well with you, but this is my house, too, and I will not have him bad-mouthed in it.” She shut her mouth and I paused for breath. I’m not really used to giving my big sister that much sass and I waited for the imminent explosion. I’d miscalculated. “I’m sorry,” she said, and she sounded it. “I’m mad at him, and I don’t know how not to be mad at him. I appreciate what he’s done for us. I do. But when I see him, I don’t think about the good things he’s done, I think about all those years ago when he must’ve tried to steal away Mama from Daddy-” “Daddy is dead. Mama is dead in nearly every way. You have me, you have Mark. We aren’t going anywhere, okay? And enough craziness is going on without you and me bickering.” She nodded, unable to look at me for a moment. I could’ve hugged her and had a real Kodak moment. It got spoiled, though, by another ring of the doorbell. I patted Sister’s hand, went through the kitchen, and out to the front door. It was Junebug, which wasn’t a surprise. The surprise was that he was accompanied by a dark-haired woman I didn’t know, a smiling Gretchen Goertz, and a frowning Billy Ray Bummel, Mirabeau’s pride and joy of the legal system.
CHAPTER SIX
“Jordy, darling!” Gretchen squealed, throwing her arms around me. It was so unexpected I sniffed her neck, wondering if I’d smell a daub of bourbon. “Junebug just told me about what happened last night, you poor angel.” Gretchen pulled back and patted my cheek.
“You must’ve been through hell, but of course, you’ve seen a dead body before. Still, one just couldn’t get used to it.” “What’s going on here?” I managed to say. “Well, Jordy darling, I was trying to track down Miss Wiercinski because I understood she might be continuing to represent Intraglobal’s interests. I thought she might still want to make an offer at our land-Bob Don’s and mine.” It was actually Bob Don’s land, not hers, but Gretchen’s always been a big believer in community property. She glanced over at Bob Don’s white Cadillac.
“Chet Blanton told me she was staying with you. I had no idea Bob Don was already here. Is he meeting with Miss Wiercinski?” “Not exactly.”
I smiled. “I think he came to see how I was.” She smiled back so she wouldn’t look irritated. “Of course, Jordy, you would be his first concern.” “Excuse me,” Billy Ray Bummel interrupted. “Just where is this woman?” I looked down on Billy Ray with as much disdain as I could muster, which in Billy Ray’s case is a great deal. He’s the kind of prosecutor who’s an embarrassment to the legal world. If Billy Ray had been prosecuting the Nazis at Nuremberg, there’d be even more old men speaking German in Uruguay today. He puffed out his very small, unimpressive chest and lifted his briefcase. (I would lay odds the only briefs it ever contained were Fruit of the Looms.) He ran a hand through overoiled hair and adjusted his glasses so he could scowl at me better. We’ve never been friends. “I’m here to see Ms. Wytryski and I don’t aim to put up with interference from you, Jordy.” “It’s Wiercinski, Billy Ray, and I wouldn’t dream of interfering. I don’t need to. You always manage to shoot yourself in the foot just right.”
“Jordy, please,” Junebug said, sounding tired. “We do need to talk to Lorna.” He indicated the dark young woman standing next to him. She was short, a little heavy, and had a look that hinted at deep intensity at whatever she did. “This is Sergeant Teresa Garza, from the Austin Police Department Bomb Squad. She’s assisting us in dealing with the bomber. She wanted to talk to you, too, Jordy, about the mailbox incident.” Sergeant Garza shook my good hand. I surrendered quickly. “Fine. She’s in here.” I brought the entourage into the house with me. It made for quite a crowd. Gretchen made a beeline for Bob Don, doing her best not to glare daggers at Mama. Clo quickly whisked Mama upstairs and stayed with her. I don’t believe I’d leave Gretchen alone with Mama, not with all the pillows in the house. Against my will, I introduced Billy Ray and Gretchen to Lorna. At hearing that Billy Ray was the local prosecutor, Lorna flared. “Good. Have you talked to Nina Hernandez yet?” “Not yet,” Billy Ray purred, walking in a circle around Lorna. She shot me a quizzical look and I just shrugged. He turned to Bob Don, who was sitting on the couch with Gretchen. “And how convenient that you’re here, Mr. Goertz. I’ll be wanting to have a word with you as well.” Bob Don looked surprised.
“Me?” “You knew Greg Callahan, didn’t you?” Billy Ray asked. “You had business with him.” “Well, yes, I’d met him. He wanted to buy my land.
He came by the car dealership day before yesterday, told me about the development plans he had, and offered me a price. I told him I wanted to wait and see if Jordy was selling his land, too.” Billy Ray rocked back on his heels. “Well, Mr. Goertz, I just find all that highly interestin’.” I wasn’t about to stand mute while Billy Ray auditioned for Lear’s fool in my own living room. I also didn’t care for the accusatory stare he was favoring Bob Don with. “Do you have a point, Billy Ray?” Other than the one on your head, I added to myself.
Junebug said, “Hey, Jordy, why don’t you go outside with Sergeant Garza and talk about-” “That’ll keep,” I snapped back. I don’t usually bark at the local constabulary, but I wasn’t about to leave Bob Don or Lorna to Billy Ray’s tender mercies. Sergeant Garza looked pissed, but I didn’t care. This was about murder, not blowing up mailboxes or canine chateaux. Junebug harrumphed. “Listen, Billy Ray, I think that-” Billy Ray didn’t give Junebug a chance to cogitate. Undoubtedly our local paean to jurisprudence thought he was hot on the trail of a career- boosting case, and he wasn’t about to let common sense or decorum get in his way. Billy Ray’s what folks around here call book-smart. He must’ve had one lobe working to get through law school (even if he got his certificate by mail, as it was rumored), but he didn’t have enough common sense to fill a thimble. He’s the type of fellow that’d poke his finger between a cottonmouth’s fangs to see if the mouth really was all soft inside. “You keep some of your land over by the river fenced off, don’t you, Mr. Goertz?” Billy Ray continued, holding up a hand to fend off Junebug’s
