Free Beef Stolen-Off by Liz Lipperman Page A

luck. “Since I’m giving up the next few Sundays for the newspaper, I want Friday afternoons off.”
    “You got it.”
    She couldn’t believe how easy that had been and decided to go for broke. “And I want that empty office downstairs.”
    “Get out of here, McAllister, before I change my mind about Friday afternoons.”
    She popped out of her chair and bolted for the door, surprised when Jackie Frazier looked up and gave her a nod. There was no doubt the woman had been eavesdropping.
    After sprinting back to her desk, she called her brother. “Guess who has tickets for the game tonight?”
    “Yeah, right. What’d you have to do to get them—rob a bank?”
    “You really don’t want to know.”
    Jordan fought to keep her eyes open as she drove down the country road. Last night’s game had gone into overtime, which ended with the Cowboys finally kicking the winning field goal. By the time she and Danny had pulled up to Empire Apartments, it’d been well after midnight.
    She had huge bags under her eyes and was hoarse from screaming, but being in the awesome new stadium and pigging out on nachos and hot dogs had made it all worthwhile. Unfortunately, with the lack of sleep, she’d nearly forgotten today’s lunch date with Brenda Sue Taylor.
    When she’d called for directions that morning she’d detected a hint of hesitancy in Brenda Sue’s voice. From the way she whispered on the phone, Jordan got the feeling the woman hadn’t told her husband they were meeting that day. Or maybe she was having second thoughts about it and didn’t know how to back out. Either way, Jordan had ended the conversation before she’d had a chance to cancel.
    Pulling up to the gate, she scanned the miles and miles of land on both sides of the road, and she whistled. She had no idea Taylor’s Wagyu Ranch was as big as Santana’s. After rolling down her window and punching in the codeBrenda Sue had provided, she waited while the massive wrought iron gate swung open. Heading down the paved road, she drove for over five minutes before a three-storied brick house came into view. Several smaller structures dotted the landscape off to the right of the building.
    After parking the car, she got out and saw Brenda Sue waving from the wraparound porch.
    “I’m so glad you came,” the dark-haired woman said, her tone a direct contrast to their earlier conversation. “It’s been a long time since I enjoyed lunch with a friend.”
    Jordan did the compulsory girl-hug thing and then followed the petite woman through the huge front door laden with stained glass and heavy wrought iron. The entire wall of the long hallway was filled with pictures of Brenda Sue and her husband and a lot of cows. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude the Taylors probably didn’t have children.
    “Let’s visit here for a while, Jordan,” Brenda Sue instructed when they reached the living room, pointing to the caramel-colored leather sofa. “Can I get you a glass of wine?”
    “I’ll have to pass on the wine. I’m heading back to the office after lunch,” Jordan replied, leaving out the part about how wine and hiccups were synonymous as far as Jordan was concerned.
    “Then let me get us both a glass of tea.” Brenda Sue turned and walked to the kitchen, giving Jordan a chance to study the room.
    Her dad always said you could tell a lot about people by the way they lived. If that was true, Brenda Sue was sophisticated and smart, without being snooty.
    Decorated in warm earth tones, the couch and matching love seat along with an antique rocking chair were the onlypieces of furniture in the room. A massive stone fireplace that went all the way to the ceiling served as an incredible focal point. With the temperature still in the low seventies during the day, a roaring fire would have been ill advised to say the least; instead, rows and rows of lit candles decorated the inside of the fireplace.
    Jordan breathed deeply, taking in the sweet