“Who? I didn’t hear about any thefts.”
“The Pattersons, down just north of Whitesboro, were robbed Monday night, and the Trevino family over off Sycamore Creek was robbed Wednesday.”
“They’re okay? Of course,” Ellen said immediately. “You said they weren’t home.”
“I didn’t hear about the robberies until yesterday, since they were in Grayson.”
Cooke and Grayson counties had similar demographics, andthe county line cut through farmland to the extent that unless you were a native, you didn’t really know where one county ended and the other began. County Line Road and Farm to Market Road were roughly the boundary. Baldwin’s property abutted the county line, not too far from the end of Sycamore Creek Road where the Trevinos lived.
“Ellie, you need to be careful.”
“We have nothing of value here, other than livestock and farming equipment. What did they steal?”
“The Pattersons lost cash, electronics, paper—banking records and the sort. They’re worried about identity theft and are working with their bank to lock down their finances. The Trevinos lost electronics and some jewelry. The Pattersons were robbed at night—they were visiting family down in Houston—and the Trevinos were robbed during the day while they were in the field. The thieves broke some stuff, making me think these are older teens who are just being jerks. But then Baldwin, well, this just feels different, even though the thief or thieves stole the same kind of stuff. I already have a call into Vance so we can compare notes, see if he has a suspect.”
Sheriff Vance Jefferson was in Grayson; Rick was in Cooke.
“Is Greg going to be okay?”
“I can’t say. He hasn’t regained consciousness. But he’s a tough old bastard, I’m putting my money on him.”
Through the phone, she heard a helicopter in the background. She looked out the kitchen window; in the distance she could see the whirlybird over Greg’s property.
“They shot him for what? Some collectibles?”
“Don’t know what they got specifically, but all the damage was in his office. They came in through the back but left through the front, maybe because in the confusion of being confronted by Baldwin they were disoriented. They didn’t touch his gun collection, which is worth a pretty penny and not even locked up. They triedto access the safe in his library, but it’s still secure. His computer is broken on the floor, paper everywhere. You know the rumors.”
She did. Greg Baldwin was considered one of the wealthiest landowners in the region. He had a gentleman’s farm, had made his money in banking and investments and was semiretired, even though he was only in his fifties. People who didn’t personally know him might think he had a lot of valuables in his house. He had nice things, but most of his money was in real estate, stocks, and horses.
“Ellie, I mean it. You need to be careful, hear me?”
She didn’t respond. She thought about Bobby and Avery heading toward the Mendozas and wished she hadn’t let them go.
“Ellen,” Rick said. “You listening?”
“Of course. But Greg wasn’t supposed to be home until Sunday.”
“You certain about that?”
“We talked after the hailstorm, and he said he was leaving Wednesday to visit the girls in Dallas and look at a mare he was thinking of buying and would be back Sunday. I gave him a box of Penny’s cookies for the trip.”
“Hmm,” Rick said. “Could be the thieves didn’t expect anyone to be home, he surprised them. But that tells me they are local, because who else would know that he was supposed to be out of town?”
“I don’t know the Pattersons,” Ellen said, “but the Trevinos don’t have expensive items lying around the house. What about Greg’s caretaker?”
“I put in a call to him, but Jake said he doesn’t live on the property and only stays in the apartment above the stables when Baldwin is out of town.”
That was true. If Greg came home early, his caretaker would have left. “Still, call him because he might know why Greg came home early.”
“Will do,” he said. “Just keep your wits about you. I’m going totalk to the Robinsons, though they have more security than most folks in the area. Make sure they’re aware that we have this situation. You want to reach out to the Coulters, Mendozas, and oh, the um… that new family at the end of the bend?”
“The Pritchards,” she said.
“I haven’t had a chance to meet them, but Ryan said they’re friendly.”
“They are. They have a couple of young kids; I’ll make sure they’re okay.” She had planned to call them anyway about their storm prep. They’d moved up here from Dallas last summer in a back-to-nature move, and Ellen wasn’t certain they were ready for all that Mother Nature could throw at them. “I’ll ask Travis to keep an eye out as well,” she added.
“Well, just, um, be careful out there.”
