(I have to thank Lewunrem for her invaluable help editing this story. I hope this turns into an enjoyable read for you folks. If it does, then we got it right. If it doesn't, then perhaps next time.)
My Dad once told me that my honesty was simply too much for most folks. Kinda dumb when you think he was the one that always said that I should never lie.
He was right though, through high school I sure got into a few fights over it and as I got older, being hauled in front of the local sheriff didn't exactly fill me with much happiness either. But then I see that damn poster and a whole world of shit ensued. I have to say being part of the military wasn't high on my list of want to do's, but that poster just kept nagging at me. Eventually I talked to my Dad about it, I have never seen that man smile so much. We both walked into the recruitment office and as they say, the rest is history.
The Army and I parted ways some five years back, we left on better than good terms and for my part many thanks. I now had a stake and some ambition, I also dampened down my honesty some, not much I hasten to add but I get all the way through town now without being in a fight and the sheriff and I have even been known to go fishing from time to time.
I was shrewd with my stake. I bought a parcel of land with one half and played the stock market with the other. The land stayed on the back burner until the town grew out a little. That's when it became important; it's also why it earned me three times what I paid for it. I still classed it as dead money since my adventures into the stock market were keeping me comfortable, I took it all and bought more land on the other side of town, a year or so later the highway came by, I got two out of the three right the last one I sold to a company who wanted to put a gas station on it.
My accountant started calling me lucky. I figured I would have one more spin of the dice and bought one more parcel of land. Three months after that my lawyer got a call, since the highway was bringing in more people to the town they wanted to put a shopping mall up, you can guess were. I sold and my lawyer started using words like rich and millionaire, well I'm sure I made my Dad proud, to bad he wasn't alive to see it or benefit from it, so I decided it was time to move out of both the town and state.
The stock market still kept me amused. A strange breed of man who would stand in the middle of a room and wave his arms around while shouting a lot wearing the most ridiculous looking braces that clearly weren't there to hold his pants up. The internet and a brokerage firm proved an interesting buffer between me and them and I was sure comfortable with that little fact. I now lived just shy of three hours drive from Las Vegas and knew some very discreet ladies I could call on while I was there on business.
Las Vegas was also where my life took on an unexpected side road and hasn't let up since. I was a good hour out of Vegas following another pick up, I could clearly see both people in the truck having one heck of a set to with each other, it was when the pick up began to swerve around a bit I put some distance between us but still kept watching the commotion through their back window. Finally the tail lights came on and the truck swerved to the side of the road, the passenger door opened and a hold-all and a guitar case hit the floor seconds before some girl did.
The pick up drove off and the sudden forward motion closed the passenger door for the driver as he went on his merry way. The temptation to leave the girl there was only canceled out by the fact that this road gets used once every two to three hours and on either side of this road is pure desert. By the time I had pulled up along side the girl she had picked herself up and had already slung her hold-all over her shoulder. She watched as I let the passenger window drop.
"Before you ask I ain't going to fuck you for a ride either mister."
She watched me smile for a moment before she lifted her guitar case across her chest. The recognition was instant, for some strange reason I simply chose to not let her know. The posters I had seen of her simply didn't do what was in front of me justice.
"I'm relieved to hear that ma'am, it shows you have morals. Shame I can't say the same for your dirty mouth though."
Her cheeks flushed and the anger left her eyes for a moment, finally her composure returned.
"I'm sorry mister."
Judging by the deepening redness of her cheeks I could tell she was genuine.
"Hop in the back ma'am, this here road doesn't get used all that often and those clothes won't keep you warm tonight, there is bottled water in the ice box if you need it."
She paused once more to access me. I just stared back at her, the lift was genuine it was up to her to figure that out or fry out here before her next hope of a lift came along. With a shrug of her shoulders she opened the door to the crew section of my pickup and slid her guitar case and bag in then followed, the truck went into gear and I pulled away from the side of the road. I left her alone for awhile as she made herself comfortable and then an arm rested on my shoulder, the hand on the end holding a bottle of water.
I thanked her and opened it, drank half of it and then stuck it in the holder on the dashboard. Moments later I heard her open a bottle to drink from, I sighed to myself, what started out to be a simple ride to the next town and out of harms way of this desert had now it seemed turned into a test of trust.
"What the hell is all this shit in the back for mister, blankets, torches, an ice box full of water and a satellite phone? Are you fixing to stay out here for the duration?"
I smiled. "No ma'am I'm making sure I don't stay out here for the duration. I told you this road is poorly traveled and I meant it. If I break down I want to be alive when help finds me."
She mumbled something, I managed to pick out the word weird and then the rest shot passed me. Less than ten minutes later I heard her breathing become regular so I looked back into the crew compartment. She had spread out one of the blankets across all three seats and was now asleep on top of it, an empty bottle of water in her hands. I just shook my head, the least she could have done was told me were she wanted dropping off before she slept.
*******
It was close to seven in the evening when I heard a scream and two women going at it. I rolled my eyes and started to really think that picking that woman up wasn't one of my better ideas. When calm settled Maria came barging out the door and onto the porch.
"She wants to see you, she said I'm to tell you there are laws against kidnapping and she won't move from her room until the police come."
The rest I lost when she went straight to Spanish. I nodded to Maria, thanked her and did the only thing I could think of to stop her waving her arms around and speaking so much Spanish, I hugged her. I had hired Raul her husband for his abilities around the ranch, what he didn't know about caring for horses wasn't worth sticking on a postage stamp. Maria came a few months later when Raul had settled and she had been part of my family ever since.
To many she looked like an overweight fifty something woman. What she actually was, was a perfect foil for my temperament, although she stood almost level with my chest she could still put me in my place with a stare and one of those hand on hips gestures. Her eyes although dark were always so full of life and the smile that always seemed to dance across her lips what ever the situation had a calming effect on everyone on the ranch. Maria was a matriarch, everyone looked up to her and everyone respected her advice when they came to her and asked for it.
Grabbing the house phone on the way up the stairs, I knocked on the door and waited. Silence, this time I banged on her door and waited to which I got a very brittle 'come in'. She was still in bed, her legs now up to her chin, and her arms around her legs. I ignored the glare she gave me and tossed the house phone onto the bed.
"I suggest you call the doctors first, his name is Dr Hartman, he's expecting your call, he's in the book or you can get the operator to call if you wish. The sheriff's name is Jack Mitchell, he's also expecting your call, again he's in the book or you can get the operator to hook the call up for you. I'm getting tired of your attitude and if it wasn't for the fact you're a guest in my house I would not have been as polite as I have been so far. You're showing little respect for Maria and I won't allow that. When you're done with your phone calls get dressed and one of my people will take you to the bus station."
