to one another in eleven years. She had attempted to be civil with me, but it was clear she had wanted to be as far from me as she could that night. Then the way she left right before midnight after getting a phone call… Something felt off, and I had sat on it for all these months before I finally gave in to the temptation to ask Phil for help.
Subject: M.E. Update
I hit his number and heard the phone ring.
“Hey, you do know what time it is, right?”
“No, what time is it?” I asked.
He laughed. “Let me guess, you just crawled out of some woman’s bed and are now heading to your own hotel room.”
“You would be correct.”
I glanced down at my watch. It was four in the morning.
“Damn, Phil, I didn’t realize it was this late. I can call you back later.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’d be getting up soon to head to the gym anyway, so this gives me a head start.”
I got off the elevator and walked the short distance to my room. Once inside, I started to shed my clothes. I needed to get the smell of cheap perfume off of me.
“What did you find out?” I asked.
“She wasn’t fired from her job, she resigned. From what I could find out, no one knows why she stepped down. From all accounts, she had seemed happy working there and had never once mentioned moving back to Montana. Her boss wouldn’t talk to me, but her assistant did.”
I nodded. Then I asked the one question I had no right asking at all. “Dating anyone?”
“Not for the last eight months or so. It looks like she’s been in a few short-term relationships, nothing long term. Well, this last guy, I guess, was long term. They dated off and on for the last two years. Right before the new year, when she moved back home, they broke up. He’s already engaged to some model in New York City.”
“Who was he?” I asked.
Phil laughed. “Chris Warren. An actor, if you can believe that.”
That caught my attention. “Merit was dating an actor?”
“He’s British and more popular over in the UK than here in the States. That might account for the on-again and off-again part of their relationship. When I asked Merit’s old receptionist, who was more than eager to answer my questions, she stated she thought it was more of a friends-with-benefits type of relationship, but she wasn’t certain. Merit wasn’t in the habit of talking about her personal life much at all. She told me she got the feeling Merit might have had feelings for someone else, and that’s why things with the actor didn’t work out.”
I nodded and turned on the shower. I’d think about that last bit of information later. “And the farm?”
“Yeah, I’m thinking I might have found the reason she headed back home. It’s near foreclosed on, Dirk. Or, at least, it was.”
My heart dropped. That farm meant the world to the Edens. It had been in the family for generations. How in the hell had it been losing money?
“They were behind on the equity loan her father, Roger, took out a few years back when he purchased some new farm equipment. I also found out Michael’s been taking trips to Vegas…and lady luck has not been on his side. One of his good friends let it slip to me that he’s made a few trips there over the last year. He hasn’t been back since the New Year, though.”
I ran my hand over my unshaven face. Merit’s brother Michael was not the type of guy to gamble.
“There’s something else. Merit’s dad is hitting the bottle hard and has been since last year. He was admitted into an addiction recovery place in Missoula earlier this year. Michael maybe turned to gambling to try and bring in some extra cash to get the bills caught up. At least that’s what I’m guessing. Once the loan was brought up to date, he stopped going to Vegas.”
“Roger’s in rehab? Michael’s gambling? They aren’t the type of men to do anything like that,” I stated.
“Yeah, well, it’s been a while since you’ve actually been home long enough to notice anything about them both. People change, Dirk. Hard times make people do crazy shit.”
“I guess so,” I mumbled as I sat down on the edge of the bed, completely naked now. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight. The farm is in financial trouble, and most likely Lori asked