Free Lone Star Legacy by Roxanne Rustand Page A

Chicago, but since the last call I don’t think he could’ve made it down here that fast. And coming all that way to trash my yard just isn’t plausible.”
    “People have done crazier things, ma’am. If this guy has a real vendetta going he could even find a way to hire someone. Do you have caller ID? Have you tried recording his calls?”
    “Caller ID, yes—but he’s always just used pay phones.”
    Talbot nodded thoughtfully. “I’ve got a gadget in my car—you can route your phone cord through it and attach a tape recorder, just in case he calls again. Not to say that he’s the only suspect today. We’ll do some checking with some high school boys, too. Maybe some of them had a little too much to drink and thought this would be a lark. I’m afraid it’s happened a time or two before, though I thought most of the troublemakers here were grown and gone.”
    Frustration and rising anger made it hard to speak. “A lark? All of this would be a lark to them?”
    “Stupid, I know.” He wrote a few more notes. “If I find the responsible parties, you can bet they’ll be facing charges and paying restitution.”
    If they were found, which seemed highly unlikely. “So in the meantime…”
    “Loraine Gilbert doesn’t live too far out of town, and I’ll bet she has a tractor and a big hayrack you could use. I’ll call and see if she’ll have her hired man bring them into town so you can haul this stuff to the landfill.” He studied the perimeter of her yard, where sections of an old wrought-iron fence had twisted and fallen from decades of neglect. “If I were you, I’d consider getting my fence up, then I’d invest in a good dog. At least you’d have some warning next time, before things go too far.”
    Next time? The thought of facing something like this again sent a shudder down her spine. Beth mentally added fence fixing and dog shopping to her to do list. “And that’s it? That’s all you can do?”
    Talbot shrugged. “If we find out who did it, we’ll arrest them for trespassing and vandalism. Maybe one of them will brag about it, or someone saw something suspicious, and word will spread. But honestly, don’t count on it.”
    “That’s just depressing.”
    “Most people don’t even lock their doors around here, but maybe you’ll want to look at a security system.” He studied her for a moment, then shook his head. “Someone went to a lot of trouble here. That tells me it was probably more than just a teenage prank—and ups the likelihood that they just might come back.”

     
    T ALBOT HELPED HER attach a tape recorder to the café phone, and the tractor and wagon appeared by late morning, parked in front of her house. After sending Sophie to Gina’s house for her play date with Olivia, Beth donned a pair of leather gloves and got to work. When Walt arrived with a half-dozen teenagers to help, she could have kissed his feet.
    “Saturday mornings are quiet around here,” he said with a benevolent smile as he watched them tackle the mess. “And jobs are hard to come by. Don’t worry, though—I promised fifty bucks to their youth group at church, and they were more than happy to help.”
    “I’ll pay them, Walt. I’m just thrilled that you were able to get them here.”
    He waved away her offer. “Consider it a gift. I’ve got to get over to the clinic for my Saturday morning appointments, but I think you’d best stay here and supervise.”
    “Gladly.” She nearly gave in to the temptation to give him a hug of thanks. “By the way, have you seen Joel? He was going to install my dishwasher.”
    “Nope.” Walt glanced at his watch. “He had to run up to Austin early this morning after some light fixtures for my office. He won’t be back until evening.”

     
    B Y TWO O ’ CLOCK , the front and back yards were spotless, save for the larger car parts and the rusted VW, and the rubbish hauler agreed to pick up those things on Monday. Beth tipped the teenagers an extra