He frowned.“What do you mean, you hope so?If he had gas pumps, the drums would be right under that area, so you must remember where the pumps were.”
“I do.Somewhere behind the big corral.”
“Somewhere behind the big corral?”
Tears threatened.She’d been on an emotional roller coaster for too many days, and it was taking a toll.“I was ten, Ry!I don’t remember exactly.”
He rose from his chair.“Hey, it’s okay.”He crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her, in full view of Leigh and Belinda.“We’ll dig up whatever we have to in order to satisfy those creeps.”
She started to struggle away, but he held her tight.“Belinda and Leigh don’t care if I give you a hug,” he said gently.“And you look like you could use one.”
“Hey, kiss her if you want,” Leigh said.“It’s been a long afternoon.”
Ry chuckled.“I just might.”
“Don’t worry,” Belinda said.“I think I can remember where the pumps were.And Dexter can remember, too.We’ll find the right spot.”
“Somebody’s talking about me.”
Freddy peeked over Ry’s shoulder.Dexter stood in the doorway of the dining room.Balanced on his walker, he surveyed the stacks of files with disapproval.“What a mess!”
“We’re trying to find the receipt from that trucking company,” Freddy said.
“They are.”Dexter swept an arm toward Leigh and his wife.“You’re not.”
Freddy laughed.“No, I’m hugging Ry.”
Dexter nodded.“Good.”
“Yeah.”Freddy leaned back and smiled into Ry’s face.“He’s one of the good guys.”
“That’s it!”Dexter exclaimed, clomping into the room with his walker.“Good guys!Good guys!”
Freddy disentangled herself to turn and stare at Dexter.
“Dragging!”Dexter said, obviously very excited.“No, lifting!Big.Real big!Round!Thataway!”He pointed in the direction of the road.
Leigh pushed herself up from the table, her attention focused on Dexter.“Are you talking about the drums, Dex?”
“Yeah!Good guys!”
Disappointment swept over Freddy.She had thought maybe Dexter was remembering something significant, when he was only making a comment about the men who had done the hauling.Apparently, he’d liked them.“I’m sure they were good guys, Dexter.But we need the name of the company.”
Belinda jumped up so fast, she knocked over her chair.“That was the name of the company.There was a trucking company back then that called themselves Good Guys!”
With a gasp, Freddy ran for the Yellow Pages.She hurried back, flipping through the book.Then her shoulders sagged again.There was no Good Guys Trucking Company.“I guess they’ve gone out of business.”
“Or somebody else bought them out,” Ry said, reaching for the book.“Give me a few minutes in your office,chérie.”
“Ooh la-la!”Leigh said as he left the room.“Big sister, my hat’s off to you for catching a stud who speaks French.”
“Good Guys,” Dexter said again, nodding.“I remembered.”
“Yes, you did.”Freddy walked over and squeezed his arm.“It’s not your fault they’re out of business.”
Belinda started reloading files into a drawer.“We’ll have to clean this up pretty quick.Dinnertime’s almost here.”
“Right,” Freddy agreed.She and Leigh lifted stacks of files and settled them in the drawers.Leigh started to pick up a drawer that was full.“Let Ry do that when he comes back,” Freddy said.
