Deadly Sanctuary by Sylvia Nobel Read Free Book Online

to the contestants on the game show. “Ask for an E, you jackass! An E!”
    What I really wanted was to get to the subject of Bradley, and especially John Dexter, but I patiently waited as she told me about her new boyfriend, Doug Sauers, who worked at the Whispering Winds Tennis Ranch. I perked up at that, remembering what Tugg had said about attending the fund-raiser. “This one is worth keeping my eye on,” she said with a wink. “He’s got him a good job, and he ain’t never been married before. Like the spider and the fly, I’m gonna have to set my trap real careful like, so’s he don’t get away like the others.”
    I sensed she was deliberately making me wait, so I interrupted her. “Come on, Ginger. Out with it.”
    “Patience, Girl, patience.” Her eyes blazing with mischief, she poured herself a glass of lemonade, and scooted a chair up close to me. Then she launched into her tale with gusto.
    On his twenty-fourth birthday, Bradley had stunned his family when he told them he’d decided to do something else with his life besides run the ranch. He wanted to get a degree in journalism and write. Overriding the strong protests from his father, Joseph, and tears from his mother, Ruth, he’d packed his things and headed east to stay with an uncle, ignoring his father’s threat to disown him.
    Following graduation, which his father refused to allow either his mother or sister to attend, Bradley met a dazzling red-haired socialite named Stephanie Tate. A sizzling romance ensued, and they married over the bitter objections of both families.
    “Some folks ’round here say she was the cause of his pa’s death,” Ginger informed me, solemnly stirring the ice cubes in her glass with one finger.
    “How so?”
    “Old Joe Talverson’s temper was legendary. He wasn’t easy to take even if you liked him. Anyhow, when Tally finally brought Stephanie home, it was hate at first sight for her and his pa. They squabbled like a pair of fightin’ cocks.”
    “How did she get along with the rest of the family?”
    “About the same. Ronda, that’s Tally’s sister, stayed out of her way most of the time, but, she told me Stephanie deviled the bejesus out of Ruth who’s just a tad flighty in the head, ya know.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Ginger made a face and twirled her finger beside her temple. “Kinda teched.”
    I drew back in surprise. “You mean she’s mentally ill?”
    “Well, she ain’t no candidate for the nut house or nothing. She was always jest a mite fragile. Ronda says it’s chronic depression.”
    “I see. Go on.”
    Between sips of lemonade, Ginger recounted Bradley’s dilemma. His father was leaning on him hard to stay, and Stephanie, claiming she couldn’t survive in such a primitive place, was threatening to leave him. He’d finally given in to her tantrums, and the two had returned to the east coast. Shortly afterward, Joseph Talverson had his first stroke. “Tally’s ma called and lectured him about duty, roots and all that. So he came back, dragging his reluctant bride with him.” Ginger rose to stir the bubbling chili and chop lettuce for the salad.
    “What happened then?” I asked, finishing my drink.
    “It wasn’t too long after that his pa had another stroke. Up and died, he did. Having Tally home made Ruth and Ronda happy as clams, but Stephanie went plum wild, drinking, staying out till all hours, making no secret of her runnin’ around on him. Flaunted it in his face, she did. Ronda said they had some hellacious fights.”
    I gave her a sharp look. “Was John Dexter one of her lovers?”
    Ginger wore a look of disdain. “That’s what he wanted everybody to believe, and she did come onto him pretty hot ’n’ heavy one night over at Buck’s Corral. Knowing John, he wouldn’t have turned it down.”
    “So I’ve heard. But that aside, tell me why he thought Bradley was responsible for her death?”
    Half the town, she replied, was gathered at the Starfire Ranch