J. Black - The Survivors Club

The sign out front said WOLFE MANOR PERFORMANCE HORSES and featured the silhouettes of a prancing horse and a jumper with the words ENGLISH - WESTERN - PERFORMANCE HORSES FOR SALE underneath. The property was in a natural bowl of land surrounded by the Patagonia foothills, not ten miles from where Tess lived.

Tess parked near a riding ring with low jumps. Three girls that Tess pegged to be between the ages of twelve and eighteen were riding around the edge of the ring, posting up and down in their English saddles. The horses were massive and obviously pricey—muscular animals that seemed much too large for the girls riding them. A woman stood in the center of the ring. She was as thin and breedy as a whippet. She wore vanilla-colored breeches and a black tank top that showed off her dark tan. Her long sun-bronzed hair was pulled back into a ponytail that poked through the back of a blinding white visor. Riding boots finished the ensemble—casual, elegant, and expensive.

Money.

The woman glanced in her direction, sun bouncing off her dark glasses, then turned away and yelled something to one of the girls. The girl sat up straighter and tilted her chin up. She seemed self-conscious.

The woman called out instructions for another fifteen minutes, ignoring Tess. Finally, she told them to cool down their horses and walked toward the fence. A pack of dogs materialized from the stable area—mutts and purebreds. The dogs joined up with the woman in the ring and accompanied her to where Tess stood.

“If you’re looking for the riding stable, it’s back off Highway 83,” the woman said. Tess knew Jaimie Wolfe was thirty-four years old, but she looked older. The sun had already done its damage.

“Jaimie Wolfe?”

She woman turned to look at her. “Is this about George’s death?” She pushed her sunglasses up on her head. “I wondered when you’d get around to me. You want some iced tea?”

Tails wagging, the dogs trotted along beside them en masse as they walked to the house. Jaimie talked as they walked. “I can’t believe what happened. He was such a nice man. Absolutely dedicated to ridding this part of Santa Cruz County of buffelgrass, and even put a lot of his own money into it. He worked like a longshoreman.”

“You mean digging out the grass?”

“Yeah, but also getting the news out. He’d give talks, he did the newsletter. Never missed a meeting, and I guess that’s why I wondered if something was wrong…”

“That would be, when?”

“Day before yesterday? Yeah, we were going to touch base. It all seems so unreal.” They stepped up onto the porch. Latticework corralled the porch and yellow jasmine gave off a heavenly scent.

“You go ahead and sit down and I’ll get us some iced tea.” She slipped through the screen door and was gone.

Tess watched the girls at the stable. One had her giant steed in a wash rack and was spraying him with a hose.

Jaimie Wolfe came back out with the iced tea, handed one to Tess, and sat down, tipping back and resting her booted feet up on the railing. “So what else do you want to know? I’ll do what I can to help.”

Tess said, “Did he talk about anything besides buffelgrass eradication?”

Jaimie cocked her head. “For instance?”

“For instance, if anything was bothering him?”

“Bothering him?” She seemed confused. “I don’t think so.”

“He didn’t have anything on his mind? Anything that might have been weighing on him?”

“No. But really, I didn’t spend that much time with him. Just the SABEL stuff.”

“By the way, do you have a list of SABEL members?”

Jaimie said, “Yes, but it’s on my computer. Give me your e-mail address and I’ll send it to you.”

“Did he get along well with everybody on the SABEL board?”

“From what I could tell, yes.”

Tess looked into Jaimie Wolfe’s eyes. “You know how he was killed?”

Jaimie looked away. “I saw it in the paper today—I can read between the lines. Awful.” She shuddered. “I can’t imagine who would do something like that. Nobody I’d know.” Abruptly, she stood up and yelled at one of the girls. “Don’t let him do that! If you’re not careful, he’s going to step right on your foot. Put your boots back on until you’re done with him. Flip-flops, for fuck sake!” Turned back to Tess. “You’re asking if he had any enemies? Let me think. He took the spread of buffelgrass very seriously.” She launched into a description of how the invasive, flammable African species came to the country, leaving the Sonoran Desert susceptible to wildfires. “Everything could go up, and fast,” she said, waving at the golden hills around them. “He was a true believer. He was also worried about his daughter and his son-in-law. He thinks—thought—they’re headed for divorce.”

Tess said, “Have you met them?”

“A couple times. That was enough for me.”

“What do you think of Bert Scofield?”

“What I know about Bert Scofield is that he came on to me. It was at one of our get-togethers we had here at the ranch about three months ago. I was in the kitchen and he kind of had me trapped between the door and the kitchen table.”

“What did you do?”

“I stomped on his instep. And I told him if he pulled that crap again, I would tell his wife.”

“What was his response?”

She shrugged. “He said he was gonna leave her anyway. He also said she didn’t care.”

“How would you characterize his relationship with his father-in-law?”

“I only met them socially, they weren’t the least bit interested in SABEL or anything that didn’t include eating—the two of them really put it away, a pair of greedy-guts—and I noticed she was sneaking leftovers from the spread into her purse. I didn’t say anything, because I loved George. I felt so sorry for him.”

“Why?”

“He pulled up stakes to come here to be near her. But she always seemed like a sour old ingrate, to me. Hate to say it, but sometimes I think the wrong daughter died.”

“You’re talking about her sister? Karen?” Tess asked. In Tess’s research, she’d learned that Pat wasn’t George Hanley’s only daughter. Years ago, his other daughter had been shot and killed during a holdup at a convenience store.

“Yeah, that was a long time ago, apparently.” Jaimie stood up and bracketed her mouth with her hands. “Alison,” she shouted. “Is your mom coming soon?”

One of the girls looked up from where she’d been sitting on a chair outside the barn and yelled, “After she gets off work!”

“I want to talk to her, so don’t sneak off, okay?” Jaimie said to Tess, “That woman owes me for two months board, plus lessons. I know it’s hard times for everybody, but she should pay at least something . I try hard to keep these kids going, but this is an expensive business.”

“Riding lessons?”

“Oh, it’s much more than that. Showing . Big money, you wouldn’t believe how much those warmbloods cost. Alison’s mom has a good job, but she doesn’t have anywhere near the money she needs for them to compete on the highest level. The sad thing is, Alison has the talent. She could go all the way.”

“I got the impression it was George’s daughter who wanted him to come out here.”

“You got that right. But then he did and she ignored him. She’s a cold one. Don’t get me wrong. She’s needy, and kind of weak, but it’s all about her. She wanted her dad to come down here but once he was here, it was like, she had that box checked. Pat’s such an insecure person. She knows down deep what a disgusting creep her husband is, but she wants to hold on to him. Why, I don’t know. She’s the type that only grabs on if she thinks she’s going to lose you. You could tell George thought he’d made a mistake coming down here, but that only made her tighten her grip. And when he did come over to her place, she just got in arguments with him.”