Free Spanking Her Highness by Patricia Green Page B

capabilities, and the experience he had writing and solving mysteries for TV. It wasn't much to work with—Will fully realized that real life wasn't much like TV—but it was all he had.
    Nonetheless, Will had done what needed to be done with the information he'd gleaned.
    It made him that much more suspicious of Reno Casteneda, however. The man knew about driving trucks. If he had any connection to the oil truck, Will would have his saboteur.
    In several ways, it made sense. Casteneda had been passed over for the foreman's job, simply on the basis of Ralph Caswell's scribbled notes about each of his hands. Will hadn't even interviewed the fellow, turning right to Marco, who was clearly the more experienced of all the hands. One conversation with Marco and Will knew they'd deal well together. Maybe he should have interviewed more of the men. Maybe it made him seem like an interloper to swan in and mess with the hierarchy. But why hadn't Casteneda quit when he hadn't got the job?
    He thought about it as he drove back, directly to Journey's End. Ace Journey had imposed a deadline, and Will didn't want his easement revoked. Although the culprit hadn't been caught, Will was determined to do whatever it took to make the situation work out. He only hoped the Journeys would be satisfied with his methods thus far.
    Reaching Journey's End, he found both Ace and Leo standing on the front porch, enjoying the early morning cool before the August heat set in for the day.
    Without much greeting, they showed him into Leo's office. This time, Leo sat behind the desk. Will realized what kind of conversation it was going to be.
    "I'll get right to the point," he told them. "I know what's poisoning the river."
    "So do we," Ace responded.
    "Crude oil."
    Will nodded at Leo, acknowledging the information. "Right. And, I hope it's obvious to you that I don't have access to crude oil."
    Ace held up a hand. "Hold on. That's not obvious at all. You have a few wells on your property."
    "A few, yes. But I have no idea how to access the oil in them, nor do I have a method of transporting the oil to the river. And why would I do that anyway? I have no reason to harm you."
    "Depends on your goals, son. If you want to make Journey's End less of a competitor for your cattle and produce, then, yup, there's a reason."
    "But that's not what I want! I'm in Texas to build a ranch. One ranch. I have no designs on Journey's End or your place in the market."
    Ace narrowed his eyes at Will, and once again, Will felt the discomfort associated with that assessing gaze. After a few moments, Ace nodded. "I think you're tellin' the truth." He looked over at Leo. "Could be someone else is tryin' to do us wrong."
    "I have a theory," Will told them.
    Leo's eyes moved from his son to his guest. "What is it?"
    "Well, it's no secret that I come from Hollywood. I'm not hiding it."
    The other two men nodded.
    "I think someone is trying to get me in trouble so that I quit the ranch and move back to California."
    "That's a mighty tall accusation," Leo said with a scowl.
    "Hear me out. I don't mean you are doing this. I have a suspicion about who is behind it. I just can't prove it yet."
    Ace reached for a pen off his father's desk and began to rotate it through his calloused fingers. "Did you call the sheriff?"
    Will nodded. "Yeah. But he's being less than cooperative."
    "Hmph. He hasn't been much help about Queenie's car accident either," Leo said.
    "He's had some family problems, Dad. I think he's distracted. Don't think we've had these issues with him before."
    "True enough. Doesn't make it less annoyin'."
    "No."
    Will added his impression of the sheriff to the mix. "He didn't seem inclined to help me, either. Maybe he doesn't like people from California."
    "Now that's a sure-fired possibility, son," Leo agreed. "He's never been much on city-folk, and has made that clear over the years." He tapped his index finger on his blotter to emphasize his point when he said, "But that