Pepper bristled at Enid’s insolent manner. She’d let this happen and had only herself to blame. In her grief, she’d given up control of her home and her life to this woman and her husband. She now saw what a mistake that had been.
“I’m going to have to let you and your husband go.” Her words seemed to hang in the humid kitchen air, surprising them both.
She waited for Enid to put up an argument. When she didn’t, Pepper added, “I’m sorry.”
To her surprise, Enid began to laugh. “Alfred and I aren’t going anywhere.”
Pepper couldn’t believe her ears. “I beg your pardon?”
“You best give it some thought,” Enid said, and started to turn back to whatever she was cooking.
Pepper felt her temper rise. “I’ve made up my mind.”
Enid sighed and turned back to her, eyes narrowing into menacing slits. “Do you know how long I’ve been on this ranch?”
“That doesn’t have anything to—”
“I’ve been here since before Call brought you here. I’ve heard every argument, seen it all, know you better than you know yourself.” She lowered her voice. “I know where all the bodies are buried.”
“Are you threatening to blackmail me?” Pepper demanded, barely able to contain her rage.
“If I wanted to blackmail you I could have done it a long time ago.” Enid smiled. “Even now I wonder what that new acting sheriff would think if I told her just half of what I know about her grandmother.”
Pepper’s stomach twisted into a knot at the mention of McCall. Her heart was pounding so hard in her ears she had to steady herself, her hand going to the kitchen counter for support.
“I’d hate to see you have to spend the rest of your golden years behind bars.” Enid sounded so self-satisfied that Pepper had to restrain herself from picking up one of the kitchen knives and ending this right here.
She might have done just that, except then she couldn’t finish what she’d started. But once she knew the truth about Trace’s murder...
“So, to answer your question,” Enid was saying, “of course I’m not blackmailing you. I’m just saying you might want to reconsider.” Enid turned and picked up the spoon she’d laid down earlier. “Of course, if you saw fit to put a little something in your will for Alfred and me, that would be greatly appreciated. We have been loyal servants on the Winchester Ranch almost our whole lives. Call, bless his soul, always said he didn’t know what he would have done without us.”
Pepper’s gaze bored into the woman’s back like a bullet at the mention of Call’s name. She felt powerless and hated the feeling, even knowing that it wouldn’t be for long. The day would come when she would turn the tables on Enid and it would be soon if she had anything to do with it.
“Why don’t you sit down and have some of this soup I made?” Enid said. “You can tell me what you’re up to getting your family back here to the ranch.” She glanced over her shoulder at Pepper. “I told you, I know you better than you know yourself.”
If that were true, Pepper thought, then Enid would be terrified of her and what she had planned for her.
“You’re mistaken about my motives,” Pepper managed to say, and started to leave the room. “I just wanted to see my family.”
She was almost to the door when Enid’s words stopped her.
“Some people think you’ve already lost your mind, locking yourself up all these years in this old place,” Enid was saying. “Wouldn’t take much for someone to think you’re not in your right mind. Now why don’t you sit down and have a little soup. I made it special just for you. It will calm you right down.”
Pepper turned back to watch Enid ladle out a cup of the soup and stir something into it before setting the cup on the kitchen table.
“You’ll want to eat it while it’s still hot.”
She stared at the cup of watery-looking soup, Enid’s threat still ringing in her ears as she stepped back into the room, sat down at the table and picked up her spoon.
“A little of my soup, that’s all you need,” Enid said, as she went back to work at the stove.
Pepper took a bite. She gagged a little, the bile rising in her throat. She took another bite and felt the warmth of the soup and the drugs take hold. She put down her spoon.
Enid took the rest of the cup of soup and dumped it down the drain. “You should lie down for a while. You look a little peaked. I’m sure you’ll feel better after a nap.”
DINNER WAS A solemn affair. Josey noticed that Jack’s grandmother was especially quiet. Virginia drank her wine without incident, and Jack seemed lost in his own thoughts.
She was grateful he hadn’t wanted to talk about what had happened on their ride. Josey was embarrassed. She never cried like that, especially in front of a stranger. And she needed to remember that was exactly what Jack was—a stranger.
As soon as dinner was over, she excused herself, saying she needed a little air, and went outside for a walk.
The air felt close. She was taken with the wild openness of this place. She could literally see for miles.
Josey thought about her mother and felt that old pain and frustration. For months she’d been trying to help her. Now she’d made things worse.
But once she got money wired to the new health-care facility and knew for sure that her mother had been moved...
She hadn’t realized how far she’d gone until she turned around to head back. The sky had darkened. Thunderheads hunkered on the horizon to the west, and the wind had picked up, sending dust swirling around her. She raised her hand to shield her eyes, squinting in the direction of the Winchester Ranch lodge.
Lights
