Mercy Kill_ A Mystery - Lori Armstrong [57]
Klapperich cut to the chase. “So I’m curious as to why you told Clayton to let it burn.”
The moment of truth. “Because it’s not insured.”
A collective pause.
Klapperich leaned forward. “Did you say this place wasn’t insured?”
I shook my head. “When we learned of the first-right-of-refusal option in the Newsome will, we felt . . . obligated to buy it. Money was tight. Took all our extra cash just to put a down payment on the land. Then medical bills starting coming in, and we had to choose what took priority. Adding liability insurance on this structure wasn’t on the list. I’d planned to do it next month.”
Stunned silence.
“That’s why I didn’t want the firefighters taking chances. Damn place might as well burn to cinders, as much good as it’ll do us now.”
Hope cried softly.
I put my arm around her, and we watched the east wall cave in. Not a single wall was left standing. A sense of relief washed over me, but I kept my face somber.
Klapperich and Clayton Black seemed embarrassed by my confession of Gunderson money woes. I hadn’t embellished that part. Now with my retirement pay rolling in and a great calving season behind us, things were looking up.
“We’ll stick around and put out any embers until the last of it’s burned away.”
“I—we—appreciate it.”
Hope shook herself out of her stupor. “If you don’t need us, I have a baby to tend, and Mercy needs to get back in bed. She’s been sick all day.”
I ducked my face from view. The last thing I needed was Klapperich to ferret out my “sickness” being from breathing propane fumes while rigging this place to blow.
“No problem,” Clayton said. “Feel better, Mercy. And good luck in the election.”
“Thanks.” I noticed he hadn’t offered his support.
We walked back to the truck in silence. I didn’t argue that I was perfectly capable of driving when Hope snatched my keys.
Halfway home, she stomped on the brakes. My body jerked forward as we skidded sideways to a dead stop in the middle of the road. Before I could snap, “Jesus. A little warning next time?” she whirled on me.
“You didn’t think I deserved to know there wasn’t insurance on the Newsome property? Did you forget I own just as much of the goddamned Gunderson Ranch as you do? I should’ve been in on that decision.” She beat her fists on the steering wheel. “Dammit, Mercy, I felt like such an idiot standing there, not knowing any of this stuff.”
“Good.”
Hope’s mouth dropped open. “Good? That’s your response?”
“Yes. It’s about time. Since Joy came home from the hospital, you’ve shown an interest only in her. I understand babies need full-time care, and without doubt you are a great mother.”
“But?”
“But whenever I tried to talk to you about anything besides your baby, you tuned me out.”
Her hands opened and closed on the steering wheel.
“So yeah, since I was saddled with the books, I made some decisions.”
“You made them? Or you and Jake made them?”
“Just me.”
“Good, because Jake is a manager, not an owner,” she tossed back at me.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. But I preferred feisty Hope to fickle Hope. “What would you have done?”
“I would’ve put insurance on the Newsome property no matter what.”
“Something had to give, sis. I looked at the books and went eeny, meeny, miny, moe and picked the one we could do without at the time.”
“That’s no way to do the books,” Hope scoffed.
“If you think you can do a better job, you’re more than welcome to take over.”
“Seriously? You’d let me handle the book work for the ranch?”
The word no hovered on my tongue, but in truth, I couldn’t do it all. I didn’t want to do it all. Pretending I could handle every fucking thing thrown my way was beginning to feel more like a martyr complex than extreme efficiency. Everything would just get more complicated if I won the election. I sighed and rubbed my temples. Damn headache was back with a vengeance. “Yes. I’d gladly hand the books over to you if you’re serious enough to stick with it.”
The engine ticked, and her angry breaths slowed.
Her change