“Nah, flat fields of Iowa. But we didn’t have much. My brother and I did most of the work to keep the place running.”
“What about your parents?”
He turns to me, the mixture of pain and hate in his eyes has me taking a step back.
“While my dad sat at the bar in the nearby town, Mom was isolated at the house trying to raise us, tend the animals, and make side money by any means she could. She was a transcriptionist and did baking and cleaning when she could. They’re both gone.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. Was it an accident?”
“There was a bus that picked up the country kids for school, even the junior high kids. Bram, my brother, and I would take care of the chores when we came home. One day we came home and found Mom beat to hell. We called an ambulance. Bram went with Mom to the hospital. I went to find our dad.
“Mom was never the same. Brain damage, couldn’t work because of a shoulder injury, got addicted to the pain meds.
“They’re dead.”
I touch his arm. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugs. “She made it until we graduated. Then quietly died of an overdose. She’s in a better place. I joined the military, Bram went to school and runs a private Therapy and Rehab Clinic on the old property.”
“Your dad?”
He holds my gaze. “They never found him.”
“I won’t ever hurt you. I won’t let anyone else hurt you. But I’m not a nice man. Remember that. Now get in bed and go to sleep. I’m gonna do a perimeter check.”
I watch him leave. I can read between the lines of what he said and didn’t say about his father. Part of me knows I should be shocked, terrified, and hightailing it as quick as I can off this mountain.
Then I think of Nana, and wonder if her accident was really an accident. I had doubts when I first heard. But Mom was so confident. Now, hearing Rake’s immediate response... I agree with him. That kind of an accident doesn’t sound like Nana.
Mom was pushing her to do something. I don’t know what. I do remember overhearing Nana telling her, ‘When hell freezes over’. Mom’s a bitch but she wouldn’t harm Nana. Would she?
I don’t trust my jerk wad stepdad. The ‘I’m a Pyles and my family built this town’ has always been a player and self-important. He even tried to grope me one night then played it off as an accident. But if what Rake is saying is true, we’re talking about murder. Even if he’s a loser, could he be a killer? And does Mom know?
God, my head hurts. Rolling to my side, I curl around one of the pillows. This can’t be happening. It has to be a bad dream and I’ll wake up soon.
CHAPTER 5
Rake (Silo)
I should have given Twila the office number. Steel would have sent someone to her.
I run a hand over my neck as I make my way to Twila’s cabin. Hell, she wouldn’t have called. She didn’t even tell me she had issues. I do an external sweep. I’m still not comfortable.
My call to I-Tee rings once and he’s on the line talking. “There’s a problem. The car is scheduled to be picked up for local demolition tomorrow. It hasn’t even been inspected. That’s not normal. They don’t even have the autopsy reports yet. Someone is pushing this through. Steel wants you to continue protection of Norah. A couple of the guys from the Love Beach office are going to sneak in tonight to see if there is anything obvious on the car, but we’re also getting a court order to halt the demolition and have the vehicle moved to Love Beach.
“We found a record of a new will being filed but have not been able to get a copy. We’re reaching out to the lawyer today.
“What do you know about Twila?”
“She was cantankerous and independent as hell. Heart of gold.”
“Twila Johnson Barlowe owned a good chunk of that mountain and what she didn’t own is federally protected land. Been in her family for over five generations. A small portion of land was sold to the Pyles family a couple generations ago by Twila’s great-grandfather just before he died. When the sale was claimed by the Pyles after his death, the Barlowe’s contested it was a forgery, but it was hard to prove in those days.”
“Shit, the same Pyles family that her daughter married into?”
“One and the same. We’re following a couple other threads, but this last one is important. Somehow land samples were acquired on Twila’s land that indicate possible deposit of vermiculite, a big commodity in the construction world. We’re doing more research to find out who supplied the samples.”
“Is there enough of this Vermiculite to kill for?”
