Deadly Sanctuary Page #3

Plus, she hated the ranch life.

That drove Tally's mom nuts.

Truth is, she was a little

nutty before that, but...

Stephanie made this big old announcement

they were going back to New York.

And, honey, that's when the bad,

bad fighting started.

And I'll bet you anything

Lucinda knows what I'm about

to tell you right now.

Don't look!

Woman ticking my nerves already.

Anyways, two years ago,

at the annual Starfire Ranch

summer barbecue...

And everybody goes to it...

Tally saw Stephanie's horse

outside the tack room.

So he went up to check it out

and he found John and Stephanie

sucking face.

- Hey, easy, easy, easy! Hey!

- [grunting]

Tally kicked John's ass real good.

I mean, literally kicked his ass.

Stephanie ran out of there screaming,

"He's gonna kill me!

He's gonna kill me!"

Then, she hopped a horse

and lit out of there

like a bat out of hell.

Stephanie, she never came back.

Next morning,

Tally and a couple of his guys

found her face down

in a cholla cactus field.

Face down.

Deader than a doornail.

Oh, my God!

It was ruled an accident,

but rumor has it

the cinch on the saddle

had been tampered with.

Roy Hollingsworth,

he questioned Tally

pretty dang good about that one.

Some folks around here, they

don't think it was an accident,

including John Dexter.

John thought that Tally killed her?

I mean, I don't think

he's capable of murder, do you?

Well, you know, Tally, he has

a bad temper. Don't be fooled.

But I don't think

he coulda killed her either.

Man, must have been fun

having Tally and John in

the office together after that.

- Oh, yeah!

- Ooh.

But I felt the baddest

for Yolanda Reyes,

John's girl.

Now, she knew he was a playboy,

but she said he always

came home at night, so...

In fact, I just saw her

at the dry cleaners

the other day where she works.

Oh. Ginger, let me get this.

Well, sure.

I was just gonna show you

a picture of John and Yolanda.

He was pretty proud

of that truck, I tell ya.

LUCINDA:

Oh, excuse me.

Do you have any money for lunch?

Mm, well, I'm not running

a shelter down here,

so head on out

with all the other runaways.

What?

Oh, come on, Lucy.

Kid looked like

she was starving to death.

It wouldn't kill you

to give her a sandwich.

Oh, it wouldn't kill you

to give her a sandwich either.

Why don't you mind

your business, Elwood?

I cannot afford to feed

every ragamuffin runaway

that comes in this town.

Let Claudia Phillips

and her shelter do it.

Oh, honey, I gotta go. Okay to

leave you here for the check?

Can I just leave money

on the table and come with you?

Gross, Ginger.

Cryin' shame, these girls.

Young as 12, turning tricks

for food and drugs.

I read somewhere

they call them "throwaway kids."

Sometimes they disappear and

end up in those sheiks' harems.

Hey. Hey, when's the last time

you had something to eat?

Yesterday. I had

some French fries yesterday.

Okay. Here.

Take this, go in there

and order the daily special.

It's delicious. Okay?

What's your name?

- Courtney.

- Courtney.

When you're done eating,

you should call home.

I bet somebody really misses you.

Hey, where did you say that shelter was?

Uh, Desert Harbor?

About three blocks north, honey.

All right.

I'll see you back at the office.

Okay, hon.

- Hey, Ginger?

- Yeah?

You don't think that Tally

really had anything to do

with John Dexter's

disappearance, do you?

Of course not, honey.

But, hey, you're the big fancy reporter.

Go on down to the sheriff's office.

Roy will give you the skinny

on everything.

Okay.

Well, hello.

Hello, I'm Kendall O'Dell.

I'm the new reporter with The Sun.

I was hoping I could speak

with Sheriff Hollingsworth, please.

Uh, uh, he's out.

I can help you though.

I'm Deputy Duane Potts.

I believe the young lady

was asking for me, Duane.

For gosh sakes, Roy,

I thought you were, uh, gone.

Come on in, Miss, uh, O'Dell, is it?

Please.

Come on in. Have a seat.

Thank you.

I was hoping if I could

just ask you a few questions

about the disappearance of John Dexter.

God Almighty.

Tugg has you digging into that dead end?

Things must be slower

than I thought over at The Sun.

Bring me the John Dexter file, Duane!

Thanks, Duane.

Acts like he's never seen

a beautiful woman before.

- I apologize.

- It's okay.

Who was the last person

to see John Dexter?

It might've been me.

I pulled his ass over for speeding

in that souped-up truck, and, uh...

Here it is...

I wrote him this ticket right here

on the 10th of April.

- And where was that?

- He was heading south on 89

toward Phoenix.

Did he seem upset or anything like that?

Well, nobody's really happy

when they get pulled over,

but he might've been a bit more

pissed off than usual,

I suppose.

John and I had our differences.

How so?

Well, it was nothing really.

He had a job to do,

and I understand that

sensationalism sells newspapers.

So there wasn't anything unusual

about him that day?

His car was filled with his belongings,

and he was in a hurry, obviously.

John... liked the ladies.

I think one of them

was giving him some pressure,

and he just skipped out.

Do you mind

if I see that ticket, please?

No, sure.

Thank you.

I just have one more question.

Did you ever suspect Bradley Talverson

to be a suspect

in John Dexter's disappearance?

You are too much.

You do understand that Tally

is one of our

most respected citizens, right?

Yes, but I heard there was

bad blood between them.

There was a woman between them,

who looked a lot like you, incidentally.

Spunky like you too.

Must be a red hair thing.

[chuckles]

And she's dead.

And you're convinced

that was an accident?

That's right, an accident.

Well, thank you.

I appreciate your time

and your willingness

to help me do my job.

Anytime.

Always glad to help a lady.

Especially one

that works at our newspaper.

What did you say to Roy?

About what?

I didn't say anything. I just...

About covering up a murder.

- You didn't say anything?

- No.

Demand to see files and throwing

a bunch of questions at him?

None of that happened, huh?

No, I don't know why he would say that.

I went in there to introduce myself.

I can't believe he would even say that.

There's a lot of things

you better start believing in.

If it wasn't for Roy bailing us out

when this paper went belly up last year,

you wouldn't have a job, you understand?

What?

Roy owns 60% of this paper, darling,

and... he's my brother-in-law.

- [breathes on glasses]

- Oh, brother. I...

Sorry.

Let's just pick this up tomorrow, okay?

Are you okay?

I'm fine. Go.

See you tomorrow.

[wind whistling]

[woman whispering]

Get out.

Get out.

[wind whistling]

[woman whispering]

Get out.

Who's there?

[ring tone]

Hey, Ginger.

Girl, you got to get over here

and see this baby right now!

Right now?

Um, did I stutter?

I said right now.

Okay, I'm on my way.

- Hi!

- [squeals]

[laughs]

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