The Dinosaur Hunter(82)

I went back to Bob, put the Glock back into the backpack, and drove home. I went to my trailer and checked to see if the Marsh brothers were still there. They weren’t so I showered, got into some clean clothes, and sat on my veranda with a nice fresh g&t. Tanya soon joined me and I fixed her one, too. As the evening sun faded and the stars came out, nobody came to visit. It occurred to me this was by design. “I have some macaroni and cheese,” I told her. “And I can whip up some fresh biscuits with butter.”

“You know how to spoil a girl, mister,” she said and our evening was planned.

A gentleman does not kiss and tell but I guess it doesn’t matter now. There was some kissing and there was some telling each other how much we liked each other, and there was some bedspring bouncing and it was all really, really good. Tanya was an amazing lover. She made this old heart sing. I hope I provided some songs, too. Her lyrics, as I recall, were all vowels. That’s always a good sign.

The next morning, I was alone, Tanya slipping off in the night I guess to sleep on Jeanette’s living room floor. I rustled up some coffee, warmed up a few of last night’s biscuits, and had myself a nice little breakfast. Then I walked on up to the turnaround just like old times. Rage and Fury were there, each with a mouse dangling from their mouths. I praised them, then went inside the house where I found Ray and Tanya cooking breakfast. Tanya gave me the shy eye and I provided her with a grateful smile. If anyone was aware of our pleasant time together, nothing was said. After breakfast, everyone started to pack up to go back to Blackie Butte. Laura said, “I called Pick every hour on the hour last night but he didn’t answer.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” I said. “There’s hills between us and Blackie Butte and the radios don’t reach out that far, anyway. But trying to check was a good idea.”

“Should I have checked on you, too?” she asked.

I smiled. “No. I was OK. Better than OK.”

“So I hear,” she said, returning my smile. “Well, maybe Tanya and I can draw straws again some time.”

I didn’t know what to say to that so I didn’t say anything, which was fine since Laura sashayed away. Dinosaur girls are pretty wonderful, all in all.

I next visited Jeanette, catching her feeding her bum calf. “I’m going to take Bob and go into town to see Ted and Edith,” I informed her. “They came out here to see us. I want to find out what they wanted.”

“Why don’t you just call them on the phone?”

“I need to buy some more rice and beans, too.”

She studied me, then shrugged. “All right, Mike. Whatever you think is best.”

It just popped out of me. “Jeanette, I’ve been thinking about going to work for the Parkers. You know, Mary and Wade. They always need a good hand.”

She studied me anew. “Whatever you think is best,” she said, again.

“I think that would be best.”

“Bill would have been disappointed,” she said, then turned on her heel and walked back to the house.

I swallowed hard, then climbed into Bob and headed to town. I found Mayor Brescoe in her office. She looked a little stressed when I walked in, then rallied with a smile and an outstretched hand across her desk. It felt really strange to shake the hand of a woman I’d once made love to but Edith was a politician and I guess that’s what politicians do. There are a couple of ways that can be taken, I suppose.

I sat. “You and Ted came out to see us. Anything you need?” I asked.

“Ted wanted to know the progress of the dig,” she answered. “BLM work, you know.”

“And you?”

“I wanted to know, too. If you’ve found something special, this could be big news for Fillmore County.”

I will confess it occurred to me at that moment that what I should do was to tell Edith, “Why, yes, Mayor. We’ve made a spectacular find. Please go forth and alert the national news media of this wonderful event so hundreds of reporters can descend on us, thus perhaps keeping the Russian mob away.” Foolishly, I didn’t. Instead, I said, “Well, we’re sweating a lot. And we almost got washed away by that storm a couple nights ago.”

“We wondered if that hit you,” Edith answered. “So, come on, Mike, you can tell me. What’s been found?”

“Maybe you should call Ted and have him come over so I can tell you both at the same time.”

“He’s gone to Billings,” she replied. “Come on, cowboy. Give.”

I sat back in my chair and gave her a long Fillmore County stare. “Edith, are you mixed up in something?”