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Cash's visits had multiplied since Clark's arrest. Crissy noted that Tippy Moore didn't snipe at him
anymore. She was oddly subdued when he was around. She kept out of his way and he ignored her
completely.
"There's fire in that smoke," Maude commented one afternoon just after Cash had driven away.
"What smoke?" Crissy murmured, her head stuck in her text-book.
"That model and Cash Grier," she replied. "Right now it's smoldering, while they avoid each other.
But put them together and it's explosions all the way."
"They hate each other," Crissy said, surprised.
"Maybe. Maybe not." She cocked her head, watching Crissy while she dried plates. "You and Judd both
going to Japan?"
"Not until next year sometime, we haven't even decided on a date. But it's the best news we've had in a
while."
She turned a page. "Judd and I have already decided that we'll use some of the film money to replace
that Salers bull. But some of our heifers had already been bred to him, and to that Hereford bull we
lost, too. When we knew how many pregnant heifers we had, Nick called a man he knew who does
artificial insemination, and we bought seed from a champion Salers bull. We had the remaining
heifers serviced. So now we've got a champion calf crop to look forward to in the spring. That's what
the Japanese are interested in. No additives, no unnecessary antibiotics, grass-fed with only a minor
mix of vitamins and supplements none from animal parts and pesticide-free."
"As I recall," Maude grinned, "Judd had to be talked into that organic approach."
"He knew I'd done my homework when I suggested it. Now he's glad, with this overseas deal
cooking."
Maude smiled at her warmly. "Child, you are a natural-born cattlewoman."
Crissy grinned at her. "Just like my great-aunt Sarah," she reminded the older woman, "who ran her
own ranch long before it became popular for a woman to do it."
"Judd's proud of you," she murmured, averting her eyes to the sink. "He doesn't want you to give up
school, no matter how hard finances get here."
"I'll do what I have to," she replied. "Listen, you keep that back door locked when it's just us here," she
added.
"One of the Clarks is in jail, but the other one isn't."
"I haven't forgotten."
"We can't afford to let our guard down for a minute," she added. "I even carry that pistol in the truck,
under my seat" She sighed worriedly. "It was a sad day for east Texas when the Clark brothers moved
here."
"Maybe they won't be around too much longer," Maude said.
Those words turned out to be prophetic. Four days after the cast and crew had gone home for the
Christmas holidays, John Clark found himself jobless and with no way to afford a lawyer for his
brother.
Thinking he'd get money the easy way, he put on a stocking mask and walked into the Victoria
Commercial Bank and Trust on Christmas Eve with a shotgun, just before the bank closed early at
noon. It was unfortunate for him that the security guard spotted him in time to call for help, and even
more unfortunate that help came in the form of the Texas Ranger assigned to that county, Judd Dunn.
Clark fired the shotgun at the uniformed men and nicked the security guard, but not before he and
Judd Dunn fired their sidearms. Neither shot missed. Clark went down. He didn't get back up.
Judd drove up in front of the ranch house just about dark. It had been all over the six o'clock news
about the attempted rob-bery and its aftermath. There was extensive footage of Clark lying on the
floor in the bank lobby, covered with blood.
Maude had watched it with Christabel, but her sister had called and asked her to come over for the
night because she didn't want to be alone on Christmas Eve. Maude felt bad about leaving, under the
circumstances, but her sister hadn't been well. Crissy convinced her to go. Then she waited, and hoped
that Judd would come to her for comfort.
Incredibly, he did!
Christabel went out to the SUV and waited for him to cut off the engine and get out.
He didn't, for a minute. He stared at her through the dusty side window with eyes that hardly saw her.
They were black, dead eyes.
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