Chapter 18
Amy walks into the house after completing her early chores and spending the rest of the morning working with Chance. She washes up and then sees Lou, who's in the kitchen preparing lunch. Lou says to her, "So Amy, I called dad this morning and he's coming over for lunch. Lisa thought it would be a good idea to keep tabs on him and grandpa while she's meeting with Val."
"That's fine, Lou...I just hope everything goes as planned."
"I know...all we can do now is keep our fingers crossed. Lisa left already and dad should be here pretty soon. Where's grandpa...do you know?"
"He went out to check on the cattle as soon as the chores were done. That was hours ago, so he should be back anytime now."
"Have you spoken to Ty since yesterday?"
"No, I haven't. I guess he's pretty busy today and with Scott returning tomorrow..."
Amy's interrupted by Jack who walks in and says, "Boy...that was brutal! The cattle got through Tim's fence again and I had to spend most of the morning rounding them up by myself!"
"Why didn't you just call dad to give you a hand?" Amy asks.
"And have to listen to his moaning and gripping? Not a chance! Besides, I think I misplaced my phone...you two haven't seen it lying around somewhere have you? Lisa will kill me if she finds out I lost it again."
Lou answers, "I'm sure it'll turn up grandpa. Oh..and by the way, dad will be joining us for lunch. It'll just be the four of us since Lisa is attending to some business over at Fairfield."
"Please tell me you're kidding about Tim."
"No...I'm not kidding. I thought it would be good to get his mind off of what's going on."
"That would be a miracle. I'm going to wash up."
"Good...you do that. Lunch should be ready pretty soon."
Jack washes up and walks back into the kitchen just as Tim walks through the door. "Jack..why don't you ever answer your phone? I've been trying to call you for the past hour."
"What is it now, Tim!"
"I was thinking..."
Jack interrupts, "That's a first!"
"No, this is serious, Jack. I need you to call Val, so we can go talk to her about all this. She's back in town and maybe she can talk some sense into Jesse. You have a better relationship with her than I do."
"She's here?"
"She is. I ran into Caleb and he told me he saw her driving towards Briar Ridge."
"That may not be a bad idea, but I don't want you going anywhere near her or Briar Ridge. You've already made a big enough mess of things and I don't want you to make it any worse."
"So, your saying you'll talk to her for me?"
Worriedly Lou says, "Listen grandpa, maybe you should let things settle down for awhile...maybe wait a day or two."
"What...a day or two? No! This should be done now!" Tim complains.
"I agree. I was already thinking of calling her, but since she's here, it'll be better if we talk face to face. We might as well get this over with and I don't see any point delaying it now."
Jack walks over to the phone and picks it up. In a panic Lou says, "No grandpa..wait!"
Lou quickly looks over at Amy who gives Lou a nod acknowledging that they have no choice but to tell Jack and Tim what's going on.
Tim asks, "Wait for what?"
"There's something Amy and I need to tell both of you."
"No! There's no waiting. We need to get this done."
"No, dad! It'll ruin everything."
"Ruin everything? What are you talking about, Lou?" Jack asks.
"Grandpa...dad, sit down and we'll tell you."...
...
Lisa answers the door of her residence at Fairfield. Inviting Val in, she says, "Val, thanks for coming by. Can I get you anything...coffee or tea maybe?"
"No, I'm fine. I think we should just get down to business. I have to say again, I was surprised you called. I thought for sure it would be Jack who would want to have a chat about all this."
"Actually Val, Jack has no idea I called and I think for the time being we should keep this just between us. Let's have a seat."
While taking a seat across from each other in the living room, Val responds, "I'm not sure I agree with that. Jack knows Tim better than anyone and once he hears what I have to say, I'm sure he'll agree that Tim should have to suffer the consequences of his actions."
Lisa replies, "I'm willing to listen, so what is it you want to say?"
"I know my son...he's smart and he would never do or say anything that would provoke Tim to do something like that. I've already spoken to Jesse and if you think you can influence me or him by competing with Briar Ridge then you're wrong. We have an excellent reputation and there's nothing you can do that'll take our customers away. So go ahead with your plans and we'll see how long it takes for you to find out I'm right...even with Amy on board to help you.
Jesse is doing an excellent job and I have all the confidence in the world that he'll continue to do so. Especially now that we're expanding. Pausing for a moment, she continues, "He did admit that business was a bit slow for awhile, but that's why he wanted to bring Amy in as his head trainer and I thought it was a great idea. Now, since business is just starting to pick up again, he thought with Amy there it would increase even more once the construction and improvements he had planned are completed."
"It sounds to me like Jesse hasn't told you everything."
"He told me that Tim would probably have made up some story by now to defend himself and he did tell me about the mixup with those horses, but that wasn't his fault. He wasn't even there. It was one of our clients who made that arrangement and then one of the stable hands mistakenly loaded the wrong horses onto the trailer. Jesse fired him once he found out about it. Granted, it doesn't look very good, but with our reputation we can certainly recover from that little mistake."
"So, Jesse said nothing about the three other times he arraigned to have horses picked up to go to a kill buyer?"
With surprise, Val responds, "What are you talking about? Jesse would never do anything like that!"
"I'm assuming he also failed to tell you about the company he started too...Calgary Investment and Development?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I've never heard of that company. Jesse runs Briar Ridge and that's all."
"Well, maybe you should hear our side of the story then."
"Fine, if I must...but I doubt there's anything you can say that'll change my mind."
"We'll see...let's start with what Jesse said to Tim that brought all this on."...
...
Meanwhile, at Heartland...
"...So, let me see if I understand all this. Ty pieced together a bunch of things and came up with this idea to have Lisa talk to Val in order to convince her to have Jesse drop the charges?"
Lou answers, "He did, grandpa, but not just to have the charges dropped...but also to get rid of Jesse once and for all. I think it'll make more sense if we start from the beginning."
"Yeah, do that since I'm a bit confused here."
Amy suggests, "Lou, I think you would do a better job than me, so you explain it."
With everyone sitting around the kitchen table, Lou explains, "That first night Ty was back, Caleb mentioned to him a rumor he had heard about Jesse looking for land to purchase and flip. He also mentioned a rumor about Briar Ridge not doing as well since Jesse took over. Then there was Chance, the abandoned horse. Ty tried to locate the owner and that's when he came across records referring to Calgary Investment and Development company. When checking the records, he was surprised to find that the property where Chance was found apparently had gone into foreclosure, but wasn't auctioned off by the bank. Instead, it was quickly transferred to that investment company. When trying to locate the owner of Chance, all he could find was a Post Office box for that investment company in Calgary.
After that, he rescued those horses from the meat truck. That's when Wes told him about his dealings with Jesse and that one of the horses he was suppose to pick up, which as it turned out was Chance, was from that property the bank sold to the investment company. The receipts for all the horses Wes picked up was from Calgary Investment and Development. So, Ty figured it had to be Jess's company.
He then started asking more questions and found out from Cassandra that business at Briar Ridge appeared to be doing very well...almost at capacity, although the rumor indicated the opposite. Ty then contacted Ashley and that's when he found out that the investment company was probably fictiticious and also that Jesse wouldn't have the personal funds to run an investment and developement company.
It might have been a stretch, but Ty thought it was possible that Jesse might be embezzling money from Briar Ridge to finance his land purchases and using a contact at the bank to help him acquire them. That's one of the reasons why Amy and Lisa went to the bank yesterday. To find out who, if anyone, was working with Jesse. As it turned out, it seems it was the bank manager which would explain why dad was refused an extension on his loan. You add all that up and include what Jesse said to dad and also some lies he told and it all makes sense."
"Well, I would have to agree, except I'm not so sure about the embezzlement part of it. That does sound like a pretty big stretch." Jack comments.
"I agree too, Jack. Except I wouldn't doubt for a moment that he would embezzle money... and I wouldn't be surprised if he purposely started that rumor about business at Briar Ridge being down to cover his tracks with Val should she ask questions..."
Tim is interrupted by Mrs. Bell who appears at the door. "Excuse me. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"Mrs. Bell, it's nice to see you." Amy replies.
"Good to see you too, dear. Do you have a moment to talk?"
"Go ahead Amy. We're just about finished. I can take it from here." Says Lou.
"I didn't mean to disturb you. I can wait or come back another time."
"No problem. Like Lou said, we're just about done here. So, what do you want to talk about?"
"Lets go outside, so we don't disturb them. There's something I want to show you."
Amy follows Mrs. Bell outside while Lou continues.
"Let's see, where were we?...oh yeah. That's what Ty thought too, that Jesse was using it to explain a loss in revenue...The money he was using to finance his company. He also thought Jesse wanted to use Amy's partnership with him to cover up even more. That's why Ty suggested to Ashley that she conduct a full audit, should she end up taking over the business there."
"But, embezzlement? What's to say he doesn't have investors working with him. It is an investment company."
"C'mon grandpa, who would want to go into business with Jesse?"
"Amy was thinking about it."
"She said she was, but I don't think she ever seriously considered it...Okay, I admit that there's nothing to prove it and it is a pretty big leap, but Ty thought it would be a calculated risk worth taking in suggesting it to Val. We all thought it was a risk worth taking and hoped Val would buy into the bluff, so Ty left it up to Lisa to decide how to present it."
"It certainly does sound risky. You said Ty first started looking into all this because Jesse got on his bad side? Remind me never to tick him off!"
Rubbing his chin, Tim adds, "Yeah..I can attest to that. I've seen first hand what he's capable of when he's upset."
"What are you talking about, dad?"
"Nothing, honey."
"So this plan of Ty's...you're all sure it will work?" Jack asks.
"We are. That's why it has to be Lisa who talks to Val. Like Ty said and we agreed, you two have too close of a relationship and she knows you would never try anything like Lisa is going to present as a plan for Fairfield and use it as leverage. You don't have the money to do it and Val knows that."
Tim comments, "You know, Jack...it's too bad Ty's leaving. I'd kinda like to see him stick around."
Yeah...about that. Since Amy is'nt here, there's something we should probably tell you, so you don't screw that up too."...
...
"What is it you want to show me, Mrs. Bell?"
"I hope I'm not overstepping my bounds here by assuming Jack told you about the letters Ty wrote."
"You're not, but it wasn't grandpa who told me...it was Ty."
"Oh good. I guess he won't mind then if I show you one of them. I was thinking the other day about the last time I spoke to Jack and told him about the letters. I remembered one in particular that I thought you might want to see. I wish I had remembered sooner and I would have shown it to you then. It took me a little while to find it, so here it is right here."
Mrs. Bell takes a letter from her pocket and hands it to Amy. "This is one of the earlier letters I recieved from him and also the only one where he specifically mentions you. In some of the others, he only said he hoped everyone here was doing well. This letter is why I always thought he would be back. Most of it isn't important, except for a few sentences."
Mrs. Bell points out the sentences to Amy and she reads..."I remember the first time Amy told me she loved me and each time afterwards. For those moments, I was truly happy and wished that happiness would last forever. I doubt I'll ever feel that way again. I hope she takes better care of her heart than I have of mine."
A tear runs down Amy's cheek and she asks, "May I keep this?"
"Sure, dear." Seeing the tear, Mrs. Bell says, "I hope I didn't upset you by showing you this. It was never my intention.."
Amy interrupts, "No, Mrs. Bell...you didn't upset me. I'm glad you showed it to me. It means a lot. Thank you."
"Alright then...I should get going before Sugarfoot gets too anxious. I think he knows we're going into town to get some of those rice cakes he likes so much."...
...
During this time, Lisa continues her conversation with Val, telling her about the admission Jesse made which enraged Tim and led to the assault.
Val responds, "He would never say anything like that! Tim had to make it all up. I know my son and he would never plan anything like that!"
"I can certainly understand you backing up your son, but you might begin to see things a little differently once I share a few other things with you."
"Go on...I'm still listening."
"First of all, if Jesse thinks he can put Amy and Heartland out of business, we can certainly do the same to Briar Ridge. I have the resources and I don't have a mother I'll have to explain it all to. The agreement I have with Jack is that that I won't interfere with his running of Heartland and he won't interfere with what I do at Fairfield. With that said, once Amy and I have everything up and running, I'm positive our business will flourish.
You see Val, after word gets out about how Jesse runs the operation over there, Briar Ridge will only be a memory. We have documents in the form of receipts and a witness who'll attest to the fact that Jesse sent horses off to the slaughter house. To prove my point, here are two receipts from him for the two horses that were rescued from a meat truck."
Showing her the receipts, Val responds, "This means nothing. It says they're from this company...Calgary investment and Development."
"Yes they do, but maybe you recognize some of the handwriting?"
Val takes a closer look, but doesn't respond.
"That's your son's company and the driver who picked up those horses is willing to swear that he spoke directly to your son. Jesse knew exactly where those horses were going. Not just on this occasion, but also on at least three prior occasions when he intended to send a horse off to its death. The curious thing is, who's horse's were they originally? Perhaps a client who was in arrears with their boarding fees? Maybe that's something worth looking into.
As far as this being your sons company...well, let's be honest here. I don't have the time or energy to look further into it. Given the notariaty of Briar Ridge, I'm sure if the Hudson Times and even the Calgary Herald got wind of it they'll see an interesting story and want to investigate further.
Let's not kid ourselves here. A court case will only bring more to light and spread the story, damaging the reputation of Briar Ridge, Jesse, and quite possibly you. Don't forget what happened to Ashley's horse, Apollo, and how he was rescued from a meat truck too. I don't doubt for a moment that more will be uncovered once everything is given a closer look.
Suppose for an moment that everything I've said is true and that this investment company does belong to Jesse. There are records of at least one land purchase under that company name and the way it was puchased is rather suspicious. It was a foreclosure, but never offered at auction, which is normal in such cases around here. That leads to several questions. First, where did Jesse get the money and second, did he have a special relationship with someone at the bank in order to acquire it? Those are things I'm sure a reporter would like to look into. It would make quite an interesting story don't you think?
Listen Val, you're a long time friend of the family and I'd hate to see that relationship suffer over all this. Granted that relationship has been rocky at times, but nevertheless Jack still thinks of you as a close friend. So, with that in mind, I suggest you have another talk with Jesse."
After taking a moment to absorb everything Lisa said, Val replies, "As a favor to Jack, I'll have a talk with Jesse again and let's say what you just told me is true...what do you suggest to correct it?"
"I'm not going to tell you how to handle you're family, just as I don't expect you to tell me how to handle mine. I'm going to trust you're judgement and leave that up to you. However, you might want to think about putting someone in charge who cares more about Briar Ridge and its future, just as Jack cares about Heartland and I do about Fairfield. I think we all would like to see our businesses stay as they are and prosper. Those are my thoughts and I'm sure Jack's too, but there were people who were hurt by all this and they feel differently, so I think it will be in everyone's best interest..."
...
After Jack and Lou tell Tim what they know about how Amy feels towards Ty and wanting him to stay, Tim replies, "Jack...why didn't anyone tell me about this?"
"Because it was evolving, but now there's no doubt how Amy feels and we all would like to see Ty stay."
"Maybe I should have a talk with him."
"Geez...you just don't get it do you! This is something they need to work out between themselves, so keep your mouth shut about it! We should never have said anything."
"Grandpa's right, dad. Please stay out of it. Besides, your record for getting involved in Amy's life hasn't been stellar of late and we don't need anymore drama around here. So promise us you won't say a word to Ty."
"Okay, I promise."
"Dad?"
"Yeah, I promise I'll stay out of it and not say a word...okay? Besides, I have enough going on right now rather than getting involved in that, but I would appreciate it if someone would clue me in every once in awhile."
"Fine dad, we will."
Amy walks into the house as she wipes the tears from her cheeks, which doesn't go unnoticed by everyone at the table.
"Christ! What's going on now?" Tim exclaims.
"It's okay, Amy. We told dad about what's going on with you and Ty. So, what's the matter?"
"Nothing really...it was just that Mrs. Bell showed me a letter from Ty that reminded me of something...one of the letters he wrote not too long after he left. I'll be okay. I'll tell you about it later."
Tim complains, "Letters? Ty was writing letters after he left? Why didn't anyone tell me about that?"
"Calm down, Tim. He only wrote to Mrs. Bell and none of us knew about it until recently."
"Why am I always the last person to know these things?"...
...
After almost an hour of nervous anticipation by everyone, Lisa returns to the ranch.
"Lisa just pulled in." Lou announces.
Tim responds, "Great...I hope it's good news."
"Don't get your hopes up just yet, Tim. She just finished meeting with Val. If it did any good it will take some time before we find out." Cautions Jack.
Lou goes out to meet Lisa, telling her that she and Amy had no choice but to tell Jack and Tim what was going on.
"So, how did it go?" She asks.
"Let's go inside and I'll tell everyone at once."
Jack meets Lisa at the door and says, "I have a sneaky suspicion you have my phone."
Lisa grins as she reaches into her coat pocket and hands it to him.
"Tim and I know what you three were up to, so let's just leave it at that for now." With a slight grin, Jack adds, "You and I will discuss it further a little later."
"So, Lisa...C'mon, what happened?" Tim asks anxiously
"Well, I assume you've already been told everything, so all I can say is that I laid it all out for her and now we just have to wait. I think showing her those two receipts Ty got from Wes drove home the point, along with suggesting the loss of reputation and losing Briar Ridge too. Up until then she was pretty adamant about backing up Jesse, but by the time we were through, she said she would have another talk with him."
"So, do you think the plan worked?" Lou asks.
"I hope so, otherwise Amy and I will have to follow through with the plan to expand Fairfield."
Jack asks, "Val didn't think that was a bluff?"
"I don't think so. I was pretty clear about my intent."
"When do you think we'll hear something?" Tim asks.
"I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's talking to Jesse right now. If I'm right and anything does come of our meeting, I would guess it might happen pretty quickly...probably in a day or so."...
...
After returning to Briar Ridge, Val locates Jesse and, with a stern tone in her voice, she orders him into the office. "Jesse, I want to talk to you right now...in the office."
Jesse moves to take a seat behind the desk, but his arm is grabbed by Val who takes the seat instead. With Val sitting across the desk from him, he says, "If you want to talk to me about dropping the charges against Tim then you're wasting your time. I won't do that."
"No...you will!"
Leaning forward in his seat, Jesse responds, "Listen, when you brought me up here to run Briar Ridge you promised you wouldn't question my methods."
"That's right...I did, but I brought you up here only to run Briar a Ridge...nothing else. From what I've heard you're doing more than that."
"Who are you going to believe...me or..."
Val interrupts, "Stop right there!" Leaning forward and tapping her finger on the desk, she says pointedly, "Jack and the Flemings are my friends. I know what you are trying to do and I don't approve of it. It was the same with your father. I never approved of the way he did business either."
Jesse shifts, leaning back in his seat. "I don't know what you've heard, but..."
Val interrupts again, "This isn't a discussion. You're forgetting who's really in charge here. As of now you're no longer running Briar Ridge. I'm sending you back to Florida."
"You can't do that!"
"Sure I can...remember, I hold the purse strings. Briar Ridge is mine and I still call the shots."
"Fine then, but I'm still not dropping the charges!"
"Yes you are, otherwise you'll be out looking for a job and by the way, the first thing I'm doing is arraigning for a complete audit. If I find so much as a penny missing then you might very well be sharing a jail cell with Tim. I'm sure he'll like that!"
"You wouldn't do that." Jesse replies as he shifts confomfortably in his seat.
"My dear boy, do you really want to test me and find out?"...
...
Later that evening the phone rings at Heartland. Lou rushes to the phone, but Jack stops her. "I'll answer the phone if you don't mind. You women are through involving yourselves in all this and if anyone is going to talk to Val now, it's going to be me."
Jack picks up the phone after the fourth ring while Lou, joined by Amy and Lisa, stand waiting impatiently next to him.
Recognizing the voice on the phone, Ty says, "Hey Jack, I was wondering if Lisa, Lou, or Amy is around."
"You mean the three conspirators?"
"I guess you heard then?"
"Yes, I did. They explained everything."
"I hope you're not mad. It's just that I thought it was the best way to handle this without..."
Jack interrupts, "I know what you were trying to do and I do appreciate it, but it would have been nice if you had let me in on it. So, I guess you're calling to find out what happened?"
"Yeah Jack, I am. I was going to come by, but I have this emergency surgery that came in, so I thought I'd call instead since it's going to be a late night."
"Lisa is here...you know, one of your co-conspirators. She's probably the best one to speak to right now."
Jack hands the phone to Lisa who explains everything to Ty and who then asks, "So, what's your feeling? Do you think it worked?"
"I think it just may have, but we won't really know for a few days...and Ty?"
"Yes"
"Thank you."
"No problem...I just hope everything turns out okay."
"Would you like to talk to Amy?"
"Actually, I really have to go now. Just say hi and I'll catch up with her sometime later. Bye."...
...
Later, Lou seeks out Amy in her room. Opening her door, she sees Amy sitting on her bed looking through a box lying next to her.
"What's all this?" Lou asks.
Amy sighs. "The things I boxed up and gave back to Ty just before he left."
"You still have all that stuff?"
"Yes I do. Everything Caleb found in the trailer when he returned from his honeymoon and gave back to me. I couldn't bring myself to part with it."
Looking over the items, Lou asks, "Where's the painting Ty gave you?"
"I don't know. I asked Caleb about it, but he said this is all there was, so I guess...I hope he took it with him."
"So, what was in that letter Mrs. Bell showed you?"
Amy walks over to her dresser and picks up the letter. Handing it to Lou, she says, "Read this here." as she points to the sentences Mrs. Bell had pointed out to her previously.
After taking a moment to read, Lou says, "Now I understand why you were upset. You know what you have to do don't you?"
"I do...and I hope he'll feel the same way again."...
...
To be continued