Lean, Mean and Lonesome

“Me?!”

“Aw, come on, Mandy. You’re not that naive. The man is obviously playing the protector role where you’re concerned. Not that I blame him. In his place I’d be doing the same thing. After all, if Dan hadn’t been worried abou something several weeks ago, he never would have sent me that letter. The fact that he has now disappeared and no one seems to know why or where, or even—God forbid!—it he’s even alive tells me we’ve got something serious on our hands. If something has happened to Dan, that leaves you in a very vulnerable position.”

She stopped what she was doing and looked at him. “In what way?”

“You’re a very attractive woman, Mandy, as well as being the only family member left to inherit the ranch if something has happened to Dan. Don’t pretend not to see wha a sweet setup that would be for some unscrupulous male.’

“Ah. I see. You think Tom hopes to acquire me and this ranch in one neat package. How gracious of you to believe that a man would want more than just me in a relationship Not only that, you’ve already managed to figure out tha Tom is just unscrupulous enough to make a play for me based on those terms.” She crossed her arms and glared a him from across the room. “What sort of stuff are you smoking these days, Rafe? I swear, you must be downrigh delusional!”

He certainly wasn’t making any points at the moment Rafe decided. So maybe he’d better get started on his plans for the day.

He got up and carried his dishes to where she stood Nudging her aside, he rinsed his plate, utensils, cup and saucer and quietly placed them in the dishwasher. He looked down at her, suddenly amused at the fiery glints shooting from her eyes. He’d forgotten how much fun he’d had as a kid teasing her in order to provoke just that expression.

He had a sudden urge to kiss her, just to provoke another reaction. He leaned toward her, wondering if she would taste as sweet as he remembered. She’d been staring past him, looking out the window. When he leaned toward her, she glanced back, focusing on him once again.

Their eyes met and he realized how much trouble he’d be in if he actually followed through on the idea. Man, what was he thinking!

He immediately straightened and turned away. He had already learned one thing since he’d returned to Texas. Mandy Crenshaw affected the grown man just as strongly as she had the young boy. This time, he was supposed to have enough self-discipline not to succumb to the temptation she presented.

Four

Rafe walked over to the door and looked outside, watching the activity in the ranch yard and concentrating on why he was there. “You mentioned Dan’s partner last night,” he finally asked when it became obvious that Mandy wasn’t going to speak. “His partner in what?”

“He and James Williams started a business with computers. I think they met in college. They make circuit boards for computer companies who want to hire that part out. I guess they’ve been fairly successful. I know they have a small factory with over fifteen employees. James takes care of running the plant—he’s some kind of computer whiz—while Dan’s been handling sales and contacting potential clients.”

She walked over to the table and sat down. Rafe glanced around and saw what she had done. With a certain amount of reluctance he decided to join her. He needed whatever information Mandy could give him. The sooner he resolved the matter, the sooner he could hightail it out of there.

He crossed the room and sat down across from her. “Which would explain why he spends his time traveling,” he replied, thinking out loud.

She nodded.

“But this Williams—he doesn’t know where Dan could be?”

“No, but he said he isn’t worried. He said Dan travels all the time. When I pinned him down, he admitted that Dan usually lets him know when he’s going to be out of town for any length of time.” She hugged her waist. “He’s never been out of touch for this long.”

“When is the last time either the foreman or Dan’s partner saw him?”

“It’s been almost two weeks now since July 1. Tom said he spoke to Dan that evening, but he wasn’t around the next morning when he came up to the house for their meeting.”

“Any of his clothes gone?”

She shrugged. “I have no way of knowing. Plenty of his things are still here. I don’t know what kind of luggage he kept, so I have no way of knowing if he has bags with him.”

“You mentioned last night that you reported this to the sheriff. What sort of response did you receive from that avenue?”

“A deputy came out to talk to me. He was very patronizing. Asked a lot of personal questions about me and my interest in my brother and his possible disappearance. Wanted to know if I was his heir if something had happened to him. He was a real jerk.”

“Do you remember the deputy’s name?”

“Oh, yeah. I’d never forget it. Dudley Wright. I think of him as Dudley DoRight. Treated me like some kind of neurotic female who needed to get a life instead of trailing along behind my brother, asking inane questions.” She looked at Rafe for what seemed to be a long time before she asked, “Do you think there’s a chance Dan could stil be alive?”

“Will you stop thinking that way?” Rafe replied in a growl. “Just because we don’t know where he is doesn’ mean he’s dead. There could be all sorts of explanations why we haven’t heard from him. Let’s don’t start jumping to conclusions.”

“Then why hasn’t he been in touch with anyone?” she replied with some heat. “Why is it I’m the only one who sees something strange about the fact that he hasn’t gotten in touch with me, or with Tom, or even James?”

He shook his head as though he wasn’t sure what she was implying. “You think it’s a conspiracy?” he finally asked “You think everyone else knows where he is but no one i: telling you?”

She glared at him. “Oh, puleeze. So now you’re agreeing with the good deputy and think I’m neurotic as well?”

Rafe took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. “For what it’s worth, Mandy, I think you’re a tad sensitive abou what others might or might not think of you. Like you, I’m puzzled about how a person could disappear like that with out somebody, somewhere, knowing what happened and where he is now. It’s possible someone knows more than he or she realizes he knows.” He rearranged the salt and pepper shaker, moving them around each other. He glanced up at her. “When did you last speak to him?”

Mandy was quiet for a moment. When she spoke, she sounded calmer. “About a month ago. He’d been checking on me more often than usual. During that particular conversation he suggested that I might want to take my vacation early and come to visit him.” Her voice wobbled and she swallowed before continuing. “He said we hadn’t spen much time together since Mom died. He thought I could use a break.”

“From what?”

She nibbled her lower lip. “I recently broke an engagement.”

“Seems to run in the family.” He smiled, trying to put her at ease. “Dan wrote me about his engagement. Then later let me know there was not going to be a wedding.”

She shook her head. “That was Sharon. He seemed to be crazy about her. All she wanted to do was party. I wasn’t sorry to see her back out of their engagement, although I think Dan took it hard at the time.”

“Could his disappearance have anything to do with her?”

She looked at him, startled. “Oh, I don’t think so. That was a couple of years ago. He’s dated several women since then.”

“Any seriously enough that they might have some idea where he would be?”

“I don’t know. I could talk to James about it.” She hesitated, then said, “Better yet, I’ll let you talk to him. He makes me uncomfortable.”

“How?”

“Every time I see him, he makes a pass at me.” She shivered, as though repulsed by the idea.

Rafe smiled. “The man shows good taste, at least.”

She frowned. “Very funny.”

He could see he wasn’t going to win any points around her at the moment. He shoved back his chair and stood. “I’m going out to get my bag. Is the cabin in use these days? If not, I might as well bunk down in it.” He moved rapidly toward the door, but came to an abrupt halt when Mandy spoke.

“Uh, no. The cabin burned a few months after you left here.”

He turned around.

“Really,” he said softly. “How did that happen?”

She shrugged. “One of the hands got careless, was my dad’s guess. Left a smoldering cigarette too close to something flammable. By the time anyone saw it, the cabin was in full blaze. It was too late to do anything but keep the fire from spreading.”

Rafe looked out the window for a moment before returning his gaze to her. “Then I’ll find a motel in town. I have a rental car parked outside the gate that I need to return. ] figure there are enough vehicles around the ranch for me to use one of them while I’m here.”