Julia eyed the tools in the “Second Hand Shop.” They had Kelly’s initials on them. Whoever stole them had sold them here. She checked this little shop just in case her suspicions were right. And here they were! She picked up all of the tools and placed them in a basket and walked up to the clerk.
“I would like to know who sold these tools to you.”
The clerk shook his head. “Against the rules. Can’t divulge the name.”
“What rules?”
“The owner’s rules. It’s a privacy issue.”
“But this is important. I must know.”
“That’s what they all say.”
“Who?”
“Those searching for valuable information. You see it in the movies all the time.”
Julia frowned. It sounded like he was asking for money. Cash for information! This riled her to no end.
“I’d like to speak to the owner,” demanded Julia. “What’s his name?”
“Mick.”
When the clerk didn’t budge, she said firmly, “I’d like to speak to Mick, please.”
The clerk grinned. “You’re speakin’ to him, ma’am.”
Julia narrowed her eyes. “You’re Mick?”
He nodded. “Yup.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were the owner?”
He shrugged with a smile. “You didn’t ask.”
She cleared her throat, realizing she needed to be more cordial. “Well, Mick. As I said, this is very important.”
Mick shook his head. “Sorry ma’am. Against the rules.”
“But if you will just listen, I’ll tell you why it’s so important…”
Mick held up a hand. “You don’t have to explain. That won’t help one bit. Rules are rules!” Then he looked at the tools in the basket, gave a sly grin, and said, “Buy the tools and I’ll bend the rules.”
“Buy the tools?”
“Yup.”
Julia looked at the tools in the basket and pulled one out. “I’ll buy this one.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Not enough.”
She pulled out another one. “And this one, too.”
“Nope. All of ‘em.”
Julia’s eyes widened. “All of them?”
“Yup.”
That was highway robbery. These tools were stolen. It didn’t feel right to have to buy back the tools that rightfully belonged to Kelly.
Julia straightened to her full height and said firmly, “These tools were stolen. I don’t think it’s fair…”
“Ma’am, whether they’re stolen or not isn’t my affair. I’m in the business of buying and selling. You want information? You buy the tools and I’ll give you the information.”
Julia huffed. It just wasn’t right. She quickly calculated how much it cost to buy all the tools and then gasped. “That’s over two hundred dollars!”
“Plus tax.”
She scowled. “It just isn’t right,” she said as she fished her checkbook out of her purse.
“Uh…”
She looked up and saw him shaking his head. “Now what?”
“I don’t accept checks. Could bounce.”
“My checks don’t bounce,” she said firmly.
“I don’t know that. Credit card or cash.”
Julia dug into her purse and slammed the credit card down on the counter.
“That’ll be an extra $3.00 for processing the card.”
“What?” she exploded.
Mick smiled, took it and proceeded to bill her credit card. Then he bagged the tools and placed them on the counter. When he gave her the receipt and credit card back, he said, “The young man was medium build, medium height, brown hair, gray eyes, and…”
“A name. I need a name. Could you look up his name in your records?”
“Sorry. Against my privacy rules.”
“What? I just paid for information,” she said with frustration. “I didn’t pay for a description of an average looking man.”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry to have to contradict you, but you paid for a bunch of tools.”
“And information,” she added.
“That’s right. But you interrupted before I finished.” Mick held up his hand when he saw her mouth open once again. “Hold on. Patience isn’t a virtue with you, is it?”
Julia folded her arms across her chest and pursed her lips so she wouldn’t say something she would regret.
Mick smiled. “If you can just be a little patient, then I can finish what I was saying. The young man had a tattoo of an eagle on his arm. He was right proud of it. Said it was new, and that he had to borrow the money to pay for the job cause he didn’t have enough. So that was why he was selling his tools.”
“His tools?” blurted out Julia. “They weren’t his tools.”
“Are you going to listen or talk?” asked Mick patiently.
“Listen,” she said a little more humbly. “Go on.”
Mick pointed to the upper part of his arm near the shoulder, “It was here, ma’am. On his right arm.”
“How long ago was this?”
“Just recently.”
“How recently?”
“Couldn’t right tell, ma’am.”
Julia was feeling so perturbed from all his generality and said, “This doesn’t help very much. There’s a lot of guys that get tattoos and you can’t ask every person you meet to roll up their sleeve.”
“I suppose not.”
“Can’t you just bend the rules a little more? Just this once? Give me a name and I promise not to bother you anymore.”
Mick smiled with amusement. “Well, that’s real tempting, ma’am. But I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Taking a deep breath, and trying to hold her patience, she asked, “Don’t you have anything else to give me? Anything pertinent?”
“Pertinent?” He grinned as if he were saving the best for last. “Yup. I have one more piece of info.”
“Can you please be more specific this time,” she begged.
“He works for a neighboring farmer not far from here.”
“Can you give me the name of this neighbor?”
Mick’s lips turned up at the corners as he said, “Buy something else and I will.”
“What?” Julia said with a scowl. “I already bought over $200 worth of stuff.”
Mick shrugged and turned away from his counter and began sorting through a box and placing items on the shelf.
Julia tightened her lips so she wouldn’t say something to rile the man. She needed to know the farmer’s name so she could question him. Quickly she began searching for something she could use. She noticed a bunch of lamps. She needed a lamp in her bedroom for reading.
There were table lamps and floor lamps of all kinds. She noticed a lovely flowered one but when she turned it on, it began playing music as it turned in circles. That wouldn’t do. Too distracting to read by. A tall floor lamp had a life-like snake crawling up its base. That gave her the willies. It reminded her of her trip to the Yucatan. She shook her head. Then she spied an interesting table lamp. The base was the face of an old craggy man chiseled out of hard wood. He looked like an old prospector. It wasn’t her style, but she was feeling desperate. So she grabbed it and put it on the counter.
“I’ll buy this one. How much?”
“Thirty dollars.”
“Thirty? But this is a second hand store. That’s too much,” she complained.
“It’s the only one of its kind. You won’t find another one around.”
Julia knew that it was useless arguing with this stubborn man so she forked out the cash. She wasn’t about to pay another three dollars for a credit card purchase.
After he gave her the receipt, she said, “Okay. It’s your turn. A name! I need a name.”
Mick smiled as he pointed out the window. “He lives out yonder. He’s quite well known in these parts. Just follow that country road over there and it’ll take ya to his place. It’s about ten miles from here. It’s the only one with a large K on the entrance to his place.”
“A K at the entrance?” gasped Julia.
He nodded. “Uh-huh.”
Julia’s eyes widened. “Are you talking about Kelly Thomas?”
“Yup. That’s right. Do you know him?”
Julia held her breath as she nodded. Then she blurted out, “He’s my brother!”
Without another word, she grabbed the bag of tools and her newly purchased lamp and walked out the door, straight to her car. She sat in the driver seat, feeling shocked from this information. One of his own men! She had gotten to know them at the chili cookout and liked them. How could one of his own men steal from her brother…the man who paid his livelihood? Kelly was going to feel sad.
Julia groaned and leaned her head on the steering wheel, realizing they had to have a meeting with all the ranch hands and find out who had an eagle tattoo on his arm.