“What did it involve?” Knight stood behind them all, hulking and glowering. Maybe the man was allergic to fresh air and mountain sunshine or something. It certainly looked like it.
Miranda barely kept her eyes from rolling. Knight was going to be a problem. A real problem.
“I’m not certain. I just recall hearing that it had something to do with Lesley and his father, and maybe one of the Clary girls. But they were so much younger than us, I don’t know what. Or maybe it was with Junior?”
“Thanks.” They were going to have to talk to Luther next. Find out what he had been so angry about back then.
It looked like she and Knight were headed to Medicine Bow now, instead of tomorrow like planned.
She sighed. It was a long drive down there—maybe she could get Knight to actually relax a bit on the way.
Miranda always had been a bit of an optimist.
21
Luther didn’t even try to evade them. That stuck with Miranda. They called the trucking companies and asked around until they found where he worked. His supervisor was more than happy to give them his approximate location, and radio Luther’s truck, and have him wait at the nearest rest stop.
It was just that easy.
Luther Beise—now Dwayne Luther Maynard—was a weathered-looking, burlier, older version of the Luther in her memories. Miranda never had liked Luther back then. He had been crude, rough, and crass, and far too into conspiracy theories. The only outer change she could see was that he had a scar that rivaled Knight’s for severity—only on the opposite side of his face.
Most of the reason Monica had wanted to spend so much time at the Talley Inn had been to escape her father. Well, both of her parents and her grandmother. Pauline Beise had been very harsh and distant with her daughters and almost fawning with her sons. Unless she was trying to coddle Monica and force a bond that Miranda didn’t think was actually there. It had been extremely inconsistent.
It had always struck Miranda as off.
Miranda hadn’t known enough as a kid to figure out the family dynamics, but she’d analyzed the Beises through the years, whenever her thoughts would turn to her past. She hadn’t much liked what answers she’d speculated on.
“What’s this about? I have fifty-two head of cattle that I need to move between here and Idaho in the next fourteen hours.” Luther looked at her, a contemplative expression on his ruddy, weathered face. “I know you, don’t I? I’m sorry, my memory’s not so great since the tree fell on me eleven years ago.”
“I’m Flo Talley’s granddaughter. I was good friends with your daughter, Monica.” She made a mental note to have Jac search medical records for Luther, as well.
“Now I remember.” He shot Knight an angry look. No doubt he felt Knight was more of a threat than she was. Knight was the one keeping him from finishing his task, not her. Some men would always see other men as an immediate threat. Especially a federal agent.
Knight was probably the biggest threat Luther had ever encountered.
Of course, a man like Knight could be a threat to the average guy out there.
She shot a look at Knight. He had put himself at an angle to her. His hard, tough body was between hers and Luther’s. Like he wanted to protect her somehow. Subconscious movement, possibly?
Well, that was an intriguing concept. She didn’t think he was aware that he’d done that. Interesting.
“Luther, have you been watching the news over the past nine weeks?” She kept her tone friendly and polite. Unthreatening.
They needed him to open up. Fast.
“No. Not much on the news. Too much governmental bull going on. You can’t believe any of it. It’s all fake. Just for money.” His eyes narrowed on her face. “You with the highway patrol?”
“No. We’re…special investigators. Working with the FBI.”
He practically recoiled. He put space between them wide enough for a herd of cows to walk right through. “What do you want with me? I didn’t do nothing.”
“Luther, we just have questions. We’re trying to find Pauline. It’s about her mother. We need—” Miranda knew not to come across as anyone in Luther’s family was responsible for the death. Not with him being so anti-government. “Are you still married to Pauline?”
He rubbed his mouth, then spit on the ground near his feet. “No. We split some ten years back. No. Twelve. It was twelve. Meg was a baby then, still in diapers.”
“Do you know where she is?” Children left trails out there. At least, they should in today’s world. No one was completely off-grid anymore. “Your children?”
A guilty look flashed over his face. “I… Look here, I’m only telling you this because your grandma was a good woman. Kind and all.”
“Still is. Going strong at the diner and inn. Finally starting to turn things over to us girls, but it’s so she can do other things, she says.”
“That’s good to hear. She was always good to my Monica. A real good influence on her. I…never said it, but I appreciated that.” He stared at her for a long time. Miranda stood, just patiently waiting. And waiting.
He sighed. “Look, I took the four younger girls and my youngest son and left. Older two stayed with their mother.”
“Where are they now?” Four? Well. Apparently, there had been more Beises born since then.
“Girls are…” His face showed momentary confusion. “Megan was born after we left Masterson. Honey goes by Olivia now. I remember.”
“You just changed her name? Can you tell me why? Why did you change yours?”
Heat hit his cheeks. “We just…did. Pauline didn’t like the Beise name anymore. She made us change everybody’s. First and last. It was easier just to give in to what she wanted in front of her. Pauline…could be pushy when she wanted something. She took care of all of it.”
“Why did you take the younger children and not
