AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Who would want to kill an eighteen-year-old girl?” Donny says.
My blood is running cold. “Really, Don? After what we’ve recently found out about our esteemed family, you’re asking that question?”
“Anyway, it sparked a memory in me,” Dale says.
“What do you mean?” I ask. “You weren’t alive back then.”
“I know that, numbnuts. But do you remember that old guy who worked with Uncle Ryan back in the day?”
“I don’t,” I say.
“No, you wouldn’t. You were too young. But Donny might remember.”
“I don’t know,” Donny says. “A lot of guys worked around the ranch.”
“Yeah, maybe you don’t remember. But I spent a lot of time with Uncle Ryan. That’s how I got my interest in wine. Anyway, there was this old British guy. Apparently he was the first winemaker at Steel Vineyards.”
“British guy?” I say. “What the hell does a British guy know about wine?”
“This British guy knew about wine. He lived on the ranch, but then he went back to England years later. I was probably twelve or so.”
“Okay.”
“Anyway, his name was Ennis. Ennis Ainsley. He also knew our grandmother from college, and that’s how he met our grandfather.”
“What’s this got to do with our dead girl’s bones?”
“Ainsley never married,” Dale says. “He trained Uncle Ryan to run the winery, and then when Uncle Ryan took over, he stayed around for a few years on the ranch. But I remember him talking about the one true love of his life. Her name was Patty.”
“The one who disappeared,” I say.
“Yes. Probably. Uncle Ryan might remember her last name. Ennis and Patty were visiting Snow Creek, were here to see our grandparents, and apparently Patty disappeared.”
“Was she killed?” I ask.
“That’s what we need to find out. We’re going to do some research. Her parents are most likely dead by now. They’d be in their hundreds. But you know whoisstill alive?”
“Ennis Ainsley?” I ask.
“Yes. Ennis Ainsley is still alive, and he lives in London. He’s eighty-eight years old.”
“That’s way too old to fly him over here.”
“Yes, it is,” Dale agrees. “Which is why we’re going to have to go to him.”
“Drop everything and fly to London?” I say. “With everything else going on?”
“We don’t all have to go. Only one of us.”
“I’ll do it.” My words surprise myself.
But getting the hell out of Colorado? Sounds like freaking paradise to me.
You can’t escape your problems, but when we’re talking about rotting human flesh, my uncle being poisoned, finding out your family reallydoesown the damned town, and still no leads on the whole Brendan Murphy situation… Oh, and the best of all. Finding out Pat Lamone is probably a long-lost cousin…
I just want a fucking break.
Even if the break entails talking to an old man about his one true love who disappeared sixty years ago.
