Disclaimer: I own nothing
Sorry guys, going on seven straight work days of arvos and nights. Doubt if I will get much chance to write again until next Friday but if I do I will post for sure. Looking for lots of reviews, some people have gone quiet and would love to hear from someone new.
Five minutes later they were seated at the bench, Olivia with a long black, Judy and Tate with a flat white and Alex with a Mocha. Tate had made them toasted sandwiches. Ham, cheese and tomato. It really hit the spot. She had made them for the guys before they left knowing they hadn't had enough breakfast to last them until lunch. She'd kept two back as Alex had warned her they would be popping in. As they sat there Olivia decided to question Judy.
"Judy is there anything this ranch has that is unique to it? Extra fertile land, more cropping pastures, mineral deposits?" Olivia asked
"Not really, not that I know of. It has the stream running through it, but that goes through several properties in the area. It can be a headache and a nuisance at times when we've had too much rain and it bursts it's banks"
"Like today?" Olivia asked
"Good Lord no, it would need a solid week of this to come close. Why?"
Olivia sighed and looked at Alex who shrugged and nodded. Olivia explained her theory behind Chase, not surprised when Judy shook her head.
"That's a bit farfetched Olivia, please don't go hurling that accusation around. We don't need to be sued" Judy warned and Olivia sighed. Of course Judy wouldn't want to blame the neighbours she had lived next to for nearly 50 years. She shared a look with Alex that Judy missed but Tate didn't.
Unlike Judy Tate trusted Alex, who trusted Olivia so she wasn't ready to throw the theory out the window. Besides Chase was a snake in the grass and his pursuit of Tyler had been long and hard, even knowing she was gay. She would be careful around him and his men. Sleaze attracted sleaze and some of the hands on Chase's ranch gave her the creeps.
Once the small snack was complete Olivia and Alex headed out again. Alex was glad that there would be no more gates to open and she could stay inside the warm cab. They remained quiet as they drove, Olivia needed all her concentration on the road due to the rain. They were practically crawling down the main road as that was slippery enough, Olivia was dreading driving on the gravel.
Turning onto it she took one look and selected the 4WD option before taking off. The truck slid almost straight away, the road was nothing but slop. If anyone had been down here they were bloody stupid. Which said a lot for them. Bearing that in mind, if they had been down here in the middle of the night it wouldn't have been that bad.
Alex kept her eyes peeled left and right but all appeared well at this stage. It took them a good hour to drive and slip 5 miles. Once they got to the end Olivia decided she needed a five minute break before heading back.
They were about three quarters of the way back when the back end slid out around a slight bend. Olivia swore, Alex gripped the arm rest as the truck slid sideways into a ditch. Olivia did everything she could to get the truck out, reversing then driving, rocking the truck back and forth but to no avail. They were stuck. Fuck.
Picking up the radio she had no choice but to radio base
"Olivia to base" she called and sighed as she waited. "Olivia to base" she repeated and seconds later got a reply
"This is base" Tate's voice came over the radio
"Tate we're stuck, we slid into a ditch out here, the road is a mess" she admitted
"Shit, are you Ok. Alex? Babe you alright?"
"We're fine Tate, we were doing about 5 m/h when we slid. The rear wheels are stuck and I can't get any purchase in 4WD to get us out" Olivia calmed her down.
"Ok, I'll see if Jimmy is around to come help out. Sit tight we'll be in the tractor so it will take a bit"
"Tractor?" Alex asked and Olivia shrugged
"Roger, out" Olivia said
"Out" Tate replied and hurried to find Jimmy.
Olivia and Alex sat back in the truck, they kept the engine running to keep the heat on. Wasn't it supposed to be spring?
"So Alex, tell me about Tate from 5 years ago" Olivia smiled and Alex sighed and closed her eyes. She couldn't quite comprehend how the overweight Goth had turned into the sexy lean cowgal.
"Not much to tell really. 5 years ago she was twice the size, dressed like a Goth and could set a metal detector off with all the piercings she had in her face" Alex chuckled "She sure has changed, or I doubt if I would have looked at her twice. Of course I only looked at her at the airport because I thought she was a man" she admitted and Olivia laughed
'Come on Lex, you can do better than that" Alex sighed and sat back against the door
"Alright she was very quiet, probably because she was stoned out of her mind most of the time. She sat up the rear of the classroom." She paused to think, letting her mind drift back "For the first few weeks she didn't hand a single piece of homework in then out of the blue she started to. I realised then she was smart, just not applying herself. I never paid it much attention though. Sometimes she would be disruptive in class and I sent her the Cabot stare. She always stared right back which I admit confused me"
"She was crushing on you and doing things for attention" Olivia smiled
"Yep, from what she has told me that probably sums it up" Alex chuckled "Sometimes she would answer questions in class but if I specifically asked her she would try and answer, stutter, then come out with some belligerent answer that ultimately led to her being kicked out of class"
"No shit"
"No shit" Alex laughed
"Once, maybe a couple of weeks before I left, I saw her outside the school grounds, she was with a group of guys who were giving me a hard time. She made them leave me alone, told them I was cool" she smiled "She gave me a direct look and told me to fuck off before she changed her mind. We never mentioned it again but I never kicked her out of class for the following two weeks"
"Sounds like she may have saved you" Olivia scowled
"I figured that, I was out at the wrong time of night, Ms Carsen didn't live in the same type of neighbourhood as me"
"You were lucky" Olivia growled
"Very" Alex nodded
"What were you doing out at that time of night?" Olivia scowled
"Trolling for guys"
"Very funny" Olivia joked "Really"
"I'm serious. I was out trolling the pubs looking for a guy. I did it frequently. I told you I was messed up during the Witsec time and after I got back. I was self destructive Liv. Sexually and mentally. I think I was probably on a downward spiral to self harming eventually" she admitted and Olivia could only stare in shock. How come she was only just hearing about this now? Alex sighed
"You said to be honest, so I am. I never told you before because I didn't want you to judge me" Alex admitted and Olivia was aghast
"I would never, Lex I love you, you're my best friend ...and sister" she teased making Alex smile "I hope you were careful"
"Yep, it's amazing the amount of College boys who carry condoms in vast numbers" she chuckled and Olivia's eyes popped wide
"College boys!"
"Uhuh" Alex grinned "Fucking energizer bunnies Liv. Pulled several all nighters, some I let come back for seconds or thirds but I ditched them if they became too clingy"
"Oh My God" Olivia laughed "Do I know you at all?"
"Yes, you just didn't know Ms Carsen. I think she would have tried to jump your bones" Alex laughed
"Hey, what's wrong with that?" Olivia was offended
"Nothing Liv, except your my sister, and I never saw you in that light." She reached over and squeezed Olivia's hand "Of course I think Tyler is one lucky lady" and Olivia had to fight a blush and clear her throat
"Thank you, and Tate is very lucky too" she grinned as Alex gave a shy smile "Now, different topic. Tell me about the Congo"
Alex sighed and told Olivia what she needed to know, that it was scary, they had a large security contingent, had to wait to get into the country, had to hurriedly leave it. Got to visit Prague and Paris, go to the UN headquarters. Due to her past history she had decided to get out, she had enough nightmares and had pulled herself out of a deep hole once, she doubted she could do it twice so had opted to research and raise funds. Olivia was very relieved by the descriptions that she got out.
Soon after a large green tractor with 4 giant tyres on the front and back came into view. Jim was finally here to rescue them.
They got home at 12.30, tired, wet cold and hungry. Wiping their muddy feet religiously on the mat they stepped inside the Mess then took off their coats. Alex took her hat off but Olivia just shook hers outside and plopped it back on again. She had to admit she was used to the feel of it.
Tate had placed another mat inside for them to wipe their feet again and when Tate gave them a nod of approval they were finally allowed to step forward. Alex hurried forward and went to Tate to give her a hug. Olivia watched, smile spreading across her face as her best friend greeted her girlfriend openly. She liked this side of Alex. She doubted Lex would be so carefree in NY or DC.
Jimmy and a couple of other hands Dwayne and Tyrell, who she'd met during their trout cookout on the Sunday, were at a table already eating. Tyrell was TJ's older brother and Dwayne was a short stocky man in his mid thirties, with red hair and freckles.
Olivia followed Tate and Alex who had broken from their embrace over to the large pots sitting simmering on the stove. Tate picked up a giant bowl and filled it almost to the brim before handing it to Alex. She gave a second to Olivia who sniffed it and groaned. It smelt heavenly. This was no cheap watered down version like some tried to sell you in cafes back home. The meat was large and chunky, potatoes were also cut in generous helping. There was carrot and celery too that she recognised, some chick peas. Oh yum. Her stomach growled.
They moved to sit with the guys, Judy brought them over a couple of pieces of corn bread each and they thanked her politely which earned them a smile before she walked back to help Tate.
Not five minutes later Callum, Beau, Hank and the other hands rolled in. Judy berating them to take off their coats and to wipe their feet. Only when she gave them approval were they allowed to go to Tate and take a bowl she was offering, before heading over to devour it.
Olivia had to admit the soup was divine and very filling. She was only half way through hers and very satisfied. Alex gave up on hers two thirds of the way through and seeing Dwayne eyeing it pushed it towards him. She got up then to start up the coffee maker much to the delight of all.
Olivia got ¾'s of the way through hers and gave the rest to Callum as she sat back and let the food settle. Callum turned to look at her and asked
"So Detective, any theories on what is going on?" and there was a quiet lull around the table. Olivia hesitated and Callum was sharp "What is it?" his face was serious. Olivia looked at Judy who was otherwise occupied
"Your mother doesn't want me repeating it"
"I'm not my mother" Callum growled and Hank told him to settle down
"OK, but it's just a theory, don't go off half cocked OK" Olivia sighed and after careful consideration Callum nodded. So Olivia told everyone of her theory, she didn't name Chase though, just that someone wanted something on the ranch, or wanted to depreciate the price of the ranch to get their hands on it. Maybe they found something out that the Gates' didn't know about.
"Chase" Callum spat and Olivia wasn't surprised he'd come to that conclusion "Bastards been chasing Ty for 6 years even though she shoots him down. He's wanted to pump water through our place to his from the stream. Says it's unfair for those who don't have the stream running through their property and have to cart. I told him no, he's likely to abuse the ability build himself a fancy lake to ski or something equally stupid. I think one of his hands mentioned the idea once when drunk at the grill"
"Are you kidding" Olivia shook her head "Is he daft or what? How does he run his ranch, he sounds stupid"
"Trust me Olivia, that ranch has gone downhill fast since his daddy passed away 5 years ago. Surprised the bank hasn't foreclosed on it" he paused and looked at Olivia
"Shit" she swore "What if they're threatening too?"
"What's that got to do with the land though?" Hank asked and Olivia frowned
"What if it is about Tyler? Maybe he thinks if he can marry her he can keep his land or try and take over here"
"Why create havoc here then?" Hank asked and Olivia was stumped. Well shit.
"Maybe he wants to play hero, maybe he's setting someone up" Callum piped up and Olivia shook her head. That wasn't it. There had to be a reason. All she knew is he wanted the land and he wanted Tyler to get it. She knew he had no hope in getting Tyler. If the ranch suffered enough accidents though and the Gates' needed to fork out more money than they could afford, could they get into a financially difficult situation? She didn't know, she was clutching at straws she knew, all except for Chase's involvement, that she was positive on.