Texas Tall - Janet Dailey Page 0,56

Marie. In fact, it almost had been the other way around. Using her married name, Marie Johnson, the woman had hired on as a waitress. But her real agenda had been to avenge her brother’s death and take over Stella’s operation. After Stella hired a Dallas hit man to take Marie out, Marie had fled on her motorcycle, leaving the gunman to burn to death in his blazing car.

Marie was still out there somewhere, and Stella had no doubt that someday she’d be back for revenge.

Now that Nicky was dead, Stella had lost her only protector. She’d changed the locks on the Blue Coyote, bought extra fastenings for the doors and windows of her apartment, had an alarm installed on her Buick, and kept a gun within reach, even in the bathroom. But nothing could lock out her fear, or those blood-chilling dreams.

The bedroom was cool. Stella swung her feet to the floor; she reached for her Chinese silk robe and pulled it around her. At this hour there’d be nothing on the living-room TV but infomercials, shopping shows, and religious rants. But anything would be better than going back to sleep and waking up in the nightmare again, with Marie looming over her bed.

In the kitchen she took a cold beer from the fridge, popped the tab, carried it to the sofa, and switched on the TV. The pitch woman on the shopping channel was selling fake Navajo turquoise jewelry that was probably made in a Shanghai sweatshop. Stella stared blankly at the screen, her thoughts elsewhere. Maybe it was time to pull up stakes and leave the country. There were quiet places in Mexico where Marie would never find her. She had useful contacts there and enough money to last her for years. She’d be fine.

But she had unfinished business here in Blanco Springs. Will Tyler had murdered her brother, and she couldn’t walk away until she’d seen the high-and-mighty son of a bitch pay for what he’d done. She’d been counting on the law to put him away, but the process was taking far too long. The trial was still two weeks away. Meanwhile, Will Tyler was out on bail and sitting pretty. She’d wanted him to suffer, and he was doing far too little of that. She was getting impatient. She wanted some action. Maybe it was time she took matters into her own hands.

With Slade Haskell and Hoyt Axelrod both dead, she was short-handed when it came to taking vengeance. All she had was a friendly sheriff, a county prosecutor who was scared to death of her, and a willing but inexperienced young flunky. But she’d managed with less. There had to be something she could do.

It would have to look like an accident—one that couldn’t be traced back to her. And it would have to be devastating, something that would strike at the very heart of the Tylers’ ranch.

Stella lit a cigarette, inhaled, and blew a smoke ring up into the darkness. Whatever her plan turned out to be, she’d enjoy thinking about it for the rest of the night.

* * *

Tori drove up to the house, parked, and stepped out of the station wagon with her briefcase. Looking across the yard, she could see Will and Erin standing by the paddock fence, watching the spring-born foals romp in the late-November sunshine.

Something tightened around Tori’s heart as her gaze took in the two of them. Erin was pointing toward her young palomino, exclaiming about something. Will was nodding, listening to every word, as if memorizing the sound of her voice.

With Thanksgiving three days away, and the trial scheduled for the following Wednesday, these precious days were all about family. No one at the ranch had expressed any doubt that Will would be acquitted; but everyone, including Will, seemed to be quietly preparing for the worst.

Days ago Tori had notarized a document giving Beau power of attorney to sell Rimrock land without the need for Will’s signature. Either way the trial went, with the hundred-thousand-dollar bank loan due with interest by January 1, they’d have to find a buyer for the land or lose it to the bank. There was no other way to pay the money off. These were dark days for the Rimrock. But at least this year, the ranch family could celebrate Thanksgiving Day together.

Tori was crossing the yard to join Will and Erin at the fence when her cell phone rang. It was Drew. She stopped to take the call.

“Hi,” he