Maxine Tells Her Story

 Allie looked at Haylee with tears in her eyes. "I thought you wanted to be my friend. It was all lies. I can't believe you would treat me that way. You even said you loved the same music I loved and I believed you! You spoke Spanish to this little dog and she understood you. What's up with that? "And you, she pointed at Josh, how could you act like you were my friend? You helped me with money and food, you've helped around the ranch, you even showed me how to get water! You made me believe that you would stay and get the place cleaned up and back as good as new. But you're a crook! A low down crook! Just who is your father anyway? I need some answers and I need them now. No, just forget it. I'm done. I'm going to have the sheriff arrest all of you. I want you all gone and gone now. Get off my ranch right now!"

The sheriff walked back to the group of angry and upset people and said, "Nobody's going anywhere. Okay, Haylee. Tell Allie what you are about. Allie, I had a hand in this too, so please forgive me, but it had to be done. Our little town was becoming corrupt and I knew it, but I couldn't clean it up by myself. I called for help and they sent me Haylee. Okay, Haylee tell them who you are."

Haylee was petting Chata and softly whispered Spanish in her furry little ear. "I'm really sorry, Allie, but I was just doing my job. I am an under cover agent for the Federal Securities Office. Chata is my dog. I have taught her Spanish so that I can give her commands in a language that might not be understood by the bad guys. I let her loose at the gas station where you stopped for gas. Her collar has a tracking device on it so that I could know exactly where you were at all times. I knew that the Jeep had been compromised by Josh, but I knew Chata would stay with you as long as you gave her treats. I was hired as a bank teller in this little town so I could watch the coming and goings of the people that were stealing from your Uncle Bill. He had no idea why he was losing money. Then he became sick. Your Uncle Bill made K.R. the executor of his estate. He was taking a large salary every month for that "job". For the last few months Josh's father has been selling stock in your ranch illegally. He tells folks he has a get rich quick deal for them, they fall for it then  he gets their money. When you came into the bank the other day, I couldn't give you the money that I knew was meant for you, because I had found out that the president of the bank was in cahoots with K.R. He had a small but very effective ring of hoodlums selling these stocks for him. He would promise these guys a big percentage of the profits, but to  my knowledge he has never paid them. No one has recently bought a new car, or left town or deposited a large amount of money.  I was concerned the other day when I left the sheriff's office that you might have seen me." 

"I saw you when I was coming back from the feed store, said Josh. "I wondered what a young woman like you was doing at the sheriff's office. The only thing that I am guilty of is being blackmailed by my father. Years ago when I was in college my friend, now a senator, cheated on his exams. My father told me that if I didn't help him with his dirty work, he would have my friend's mistake exposed to the media. That would mean he would lose his law license, his job as senator, and probably his family. His mother works in the cafe here in town. She put a hot pepper in Allie's chili when we stopped there. She was rude and never smiled once when we were there. Justin is my friend's name and he is trying to help me get to the bottom of dad's scheme. Hopefully his mother isn't mixed up in this stock fraud going on.  I have set a trap for my dad, sheriff. It should help you catch him. I wasn't running away, I was trying to get the new Real ID so I could fly back to Springfield. I wanted to go to the capitol and get an original copy of my birth certificate. I was hoping that they would accept my drivers license and my address on a utility bill and not ask for my birth certificate. I sometimes get this feeling that my dad isn't my dad. I wanted to see for myself exactly who my father was. I don't know how to explain it. I guess you will just have to arrest me."

Maxine sighed and said, "I have it. I'm your grandfather's sister-in-law. Naomi and I were good friends. She hated the ranch and I loved it. She had a son that hated the ranch and mine loved it. Then our sons had sons and the opposite happened, Josh. You love the earth and making discoveries. You were a great disappointment to your father, K.R.. as he was to me. William was the son I always wanted. His sister was your mother, Allie. Rex sent for Maggie and her son when Naomi ran off. It's a complicated family tree you have, but that's the story. You can believe it, or not. It's up to you."

Laura looked at Maxine, then the sheriff. "I wondered. Who we considered the third musketeer swore me to secrecy, my friend; sorry." Then she walked over to Maxine and said, "The man that won the ranch in a card game over sixty years ago is in a nursing home not ten miles from here. He was young and reckless in his day.  He and his brother, your husband, never did see eye to eye. They were always competing with each other. The last contest was their last. Your brother-in-law married a wonderful woman whose name was Naomi as you well know. He loved her with all his heart, but she couldn't live on the ranch. She loved the bright lights and city living. She hated it here. She ran off, but their son, Bill, stayed here and made this ranch a thriving dude ranch for hundreds of folks to enjoy. At one time the Texas plains sang with the sounds of children laughing and people singing around the bonfires every evening. Oh it was a sight to behold. The ranch had over fifty people working on it. Oh the stories I could tell. You could have been part of this ranch's wonderful history, but you decided to be a bitter old woman with an ax to grind."

 "I remember how much your son hated this ranch.. Your brother-in-law made him work and clean the barns and tend to the horses. He made him get up at sunlight and work 'til sundown. He forced him to go to law school when he saw that he would never stay on the ranch. That also made your son angry. He never wanted to go to law school. Maxine said, "I know. One day he called and said he was never coming back. I could stay if I wanted to, but he would never set foot back on this piece of dirt again. Rex spent his days and sometimes nights working on that old mine. It's been played out for years, but he wouldn't give up on it. Whatever. I gave up on him years ago as well as his brother.  I asked Rex if I could move back to the original cabin that his brother had built for me. He told me I could live out my years here if I wished, so that's that. So, Miss Allie, you can't do anything to me except try to kick me out and that will get you nothing but a bundle of bills you can't pay and years of heartache. I haven't done anything wrong. I have enough money that I will fight for my piece of this ranch. It's my home and I'm staying. And someday it will belong to my son, K.R. He can do with it what he wants once I am gone." With that she got off her bench kicked up some dust and walked away. You could hear her chuckle on her way to her cabin. "I guess I told those whippersnappers what's what."

Allie and Josh looked at each other. Without saying a word they realized that they weren't just friends; they were cousins. Allie's eyes got big. She suddenly realized that she had a brother somewhere. What in the world just happened?  They needed answers. They both started talking to Laura and the sheriff, but before they could get any answers, the sheriff's phone rang. It was the same unknown number.