A Hoe Lot of Trouble by Heather Webber Read Free Book Online

He mentioned something happened there."
    Her eyes darkened. "What did he say?"
    "Not much. There was a report of some gunshots. Apparently Tim's mom didn't know anything." I left out the part where Kevin said he was sure Mrs. Sandowski had been lying. I didn't think Bridget would take too well to that. "What's going on? Does this have something to do with Joe's death?"
    She shifted in her seat, clearly uncomfortable. "I don't know where to begin."
    "At the beginning?" I suggested. I hoped that didn't come out as insensitive as it sounded to my ears. It was that whole impatience thing again. Mix it with my curiosity and it was almost always a caustic combination.
    "About a month ago someone poisoned the sheeps' water."
    "What? Are you sure?"
    She nodded, motioning with her juice glass. "One died and the other two are still under the care of a vet. Startzky's Rat Poison."
    "Oh God."
    "Whoever did it left the box next to the trough, like they wanted it to be found. Taunting us, almost."
    "Do you still have the box?" I'd lived with a cop long enough to learn a thing or two. Maybe fingerprints could still be retrieved.
    "No. We passed it on to the police when it happened. Nothing came of it."
    "No fingerprints?"
    "Not that I know of. No one ever said."
    I pressed on, being my usual nosy self. "What else has happened?"
    "Threatening phone calls in the middle of the night, death threats in the mail, and someone started a fire in the west field. Luckily a passerby noticed before it could do any real damage."
    "Do you have any idea why?" Because it sure as hell didn't make sense to me.
    "The land."
    I remembered Sandowski's Farm quite well. It was nothing to brag about. Multiple acres of fields and crops. Mostly corn and some soy if I recalled correctly. They had a few cows, some sheep, and oodles of chickens.
    "I don't understand."
    Placing her elbows on the table, Bridget leaned forward, her blue eyes searching. "You've heard of Vista View?"
    "Sure." I was lucky enough to have a few clients in the subdivision of half-million- to million-dollar homes nestled snugly together between their ritzy country club, private golf course, tennis courts, and pool. For me, Vista View meant big profits and more publicity than I knew what to do with. "Congressman Chanson lives there, along with dozens of other movers and shakers."
    Off a main road, Vista View houses were set back, rising like monoliths against the horizon. The subdivision itself never held much appeal to me. If I were going to own a halfmillion-dollar house, it would be in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but nature. In Vista View, if you sneezed, your neighbor blessed you.
    "What does Vista View have to do with Tim's family?"
    "It's having traffic problems. I'm sure you know Vista View is a shortcut from Liberty Avenue to Millson."
    "I use it all the time. It's always backed up, especially at rush hour." Most of my work was in that direction. With all the developments popping up on the acres and acres of old farmland to the north, my business was booming. "But what does traffic in Vista View have to do with Sandowski's Farm?"
    "Vista View wants to become gated. Residents only. Guards at the gate, the whole shebang."
    "I hadn't heard." Already I mourned the loss of my shortcut and dreaded the added minutes of commute time along one of the most congested roads in town.
    "They haven't gone public with the announcement yet."
    "Why?"
    She clasped her hands together, looking very lawyerly. "They're having a bit of trouble. In order to become gated, a road must be paved from Liberty Avenue to Millson."
    "So why doesn't the town build it?"
    "Because there's a farm in the way."
    I did some mental geography. "Ahh. Sandowski's Farm?"
    "Exactly. Tim's mom and dad were offered a small fortune to move, but refused."
    "How much and why not?" I hadn't thought of it before, but Sandowski's Farm had to be worth a small fortune. I'd heard a story of one farmer who sold his land for eight