Lone Star Christmas Witness

by Margaret Daley

  “I was planning on it. Right now, we’re waiting on any forensics from today’s shooting and the bombing yesterday. Maybe something there will help narrow down the suspect or at least help the case when he’s caught.”

  As the three law enforcement officers planned their next moves, Sierra fought a yawn. Even with a cup of coffee she couldn’t stay up much longer. She found herself starting to nod off like her nephew.

  A hand grasped hers. “Go to bed, Sierra. We’re about finished, and tomorrow’s going to be another long day for all of us.”

  She slanted a look at Taylor. The kindness in his eyes quieted all her fears concerning going to Mindy’s funeral. She would be in safe hands.

  * * *

  “You’re up early. How long have you been working?” Taylor asked as he caught sight of Sierra sitting at the dining room table, staring at the computer screen.

  She gasped and looked at him. “I didn’t hear you come down. You need to wear a bell or something to let me know when you’re nearby. In fact, I think I remember I put one on your Christmas tree. I’m sure I can find it for you.”

  He chuckled. “I’ll pass, but I’ll try to remember to make some noise as I enter a room. Any coffee left?”

  “Yes. I just made it. I haven’t been down here long. I’m hoping we can find the killer before Mindy’s funeral tomorrow.”

  “What are you working on?”

  “I’m looking at the patients who used Ryan Morton as an insurance broker. Then we can see who is on my other list.”

  “Good. You’re a natural at this.”

  She lost herself again in the files she was looking through.

  As he entered the kitchen, he couldn’t forget Sierra using we as though she was his partner. In the past couple of days, it had become more and more true. He even found himself thinking of them as a we. That thought stopped him in mid-action of pouring his drink. He could see them dating when this case was over. He wanted to continue seeing her and Ben. Before he spilled the coffee, he set the carafe down on the counter. His feelings for Sierra were deeper than he thought.

  And Ben was becoming special to him. He was going through something traumatic and needed a lot of support. Sierra would have her hands full—mourning her sister’s death and at the same time trying to be strong for her nephew and providing a safe home for the boy.

  Taylor shook the thoughts from his mind. His focus had to be the case right now. Nothing else. If anything happened to either one of them, he would blame himself for not paying enough attention.

  “What’s wrong, Taylor?”

  Caught off guard, he stiffened and whirled around. But he saw Sierra and immediately relaxed, although his heart still pounded against his chest. “I didn’t hear you come in here.”

  “Good. Now you know how it feels.” She smiled. “Actually, I thought you got lost between the dining room and the kitchen.”

  “Cute. Just thinking.” No way would he tell her she was the subject of his thoughts.

  He finished pouring his coffee into a mug, then followed her to their command post. “I’m going to start looking for pictures to match the names on your list.” As he put in the first search, he asked, “Where’s Dad?”

  “He’s in the den. He wanted to catch the news. I told him that a photo of a possible suspect hopefully will be on it.”

  “Nash said it would go out last night. He’ll call me later with any good leads from the picture.”

  “Yeah, people are just getting up and starting their day. Some won’t even look at the news until this evening. And last night was too late for the photo to be shown on the late-night news.”

  “If it’s the killer, he’ll probably see it, too. He might leave San Antonio.”

  “That’s why we have a statewide BOLO out on him. The search can be expanded, especially if I can match it to a patient. Nash has some officers going through the insurance company’s records, especially when you are finished with your list of patients using Ryan Morton Insurance Brokerage.”

  Sierra picked up a pencil next to her computer. “Are all your cases this intense?”

  “Some.”

  “Do you live and breathe a case?” She began to doodle on a sheet of paper.

  “Yes. Each one is a challenge to me.”

  “Well, this one is certainly providing that.”

  Taylor turned his attention to the list of people he needed to find a photo of, but his eyes were continually drawn to Sierra. She was definitely a distraction. Maybe he should work in the kitchen. Yet he liked having her nearby. He didn’t feel so alone.

  When his dad came into the dining room a short time later, he paused between Taylor and Sierra. “I’ll fix breakfast when Ben gets up. Don’t worry about him. I’ll make sure he does his schoolwork and gets some exercise with Oscar. Good for both of them.”

  “Thanks, Robert. Ben has become attached to both of you. I’ve been praying each day that he’ll start talking. Until he does, he’s keeping his fear and pain inside, and that isn’t good.”

  “I’m glad he’s here. It makes me think about how it was when Taylor was his age.” Robert clapped his hand on Taylor’s shoulders. “And until this case I haven’t seen my son nearly enough.” He started across the living room. “I think I hear Ben. I’ll go check if he’s up.”

  Not five minutes later, Ben made his way down the stairs with Oscar.

  Robert poked his head into the room. “Oscar needs to go outside. We’ll be in the backyard.” When Taylor opened his mouth to tell him to survey the surroundings before stepping outside, his father waved his hand. “Son, I know the drill. Remember, I was in the police force for the Marines.”

  “Is he why you became a police officer?” Sierra asked when his father left.

  “He was always my role model growing up, and sometimes I used to think he could read my mind.”

  “I wish Ben had a role model. His dad didn’t want to be involved with him. Thankfully Ben doesn’t know the whole story. Now it’s up to me to make him feel he’s loved and special.”

  “That’s important for all children.”

  The idea that Sierra and Ben were in danger because of the killer he was looking for super focused Taylor’s attention on his task—finding photos of the people Sierra was gleaming from the patient files. Hours later, he stood and stretched while staring down at the computer screen with a picture of a man who looked similar to the one whose image was being blasted all over the news. Had he found the killer?

  NINE

  “Have you got something?” Sierra asked, tired from staring at the laptop screen for hours. She was almost through the files and had a good list of patients who had insurance through Ryan Morton.

  The corners of Taylor’s mouth slowly lifted as he looked at her. “I’ve got a match with the photo of the guy in the car.”

  “Who?” She rose and came around to see the man.

  “That’s Max Richardson.”

  “He’s on my list of Ryan Morton’s clients. I’ve looked at so many files these past couple of days. Let me pull up the file associated with him. I don’t think he was a patient.” Sierra retook her seat and began searching the patient archives.

  “But you put him on your list for the clinic. Why?”

  Sierra clicked open a patient file for Charlene Richardson. “The patient was his daughter. He and his wife, Josie, came in with her. She was eight years old and suffering from a rare disease.”

  Taylor stood behind Sierra and read the file over her shoulder. “She died two Christmases ago. Was Charlene the reason you flagged him and put him on your list?”

  “Yes, but there’s something else. I don’t remember it all, but my sister was her doctor. I skimmed Charlene’s file yesterday but I need to read Kat’s notes. It should tell me more.”

  “Do you want more sweet tea?”

 
; “Yes, please.” She passed the empty glass to him, her hand brushing against his. A thrill shot through her. The memory of the brief touch of their lips the other night made her wonder what it would feel like being really kissed by him.

  “Be back in a sec.”

  Stay focused on the task, Sierra.

  She watched him disappear into the kitchen and dragged her attention from the doorway. Quickly she found Charlene Richardson’s file and flipped to her sister’s notes. Sometimes Kat’s handwriting was hard to read, but she had learned to decipher it over the years. In the middle of the task, Taylor set her glass near her and quietly went to work at his laptop. She chanced a quick peek at him, then returned her focus on what was before her. She and Ben would not live their lives scared this man would come after them.

  The last notes Kat wrote in Charlene’s file made goose bumps flash up her arms and throughout her body. “This is what Kat said in her last entry. ‘Mr. Richardson was livid when I had to tell him and his wife the new study wouldn’t accept Charlene as a subject. She didn’t fit the protocol. All I can do is try to make her life as pain free as possible, but Charlene is too near death to qualify.’ This note was dated two weeks before Christmas two years ago.”

  “When did Charlene die?”

  Sierra read an addendum to Kat’s notes. “Two weeks later, on Christmas. My sister never told me how dire the situation had been. She didn’t like to discuss her work at home. There were notes throughout the chart that insurance wouldn’t pay for an experimental drug that would delay her death and increase her quality of life. That part I remember as far as the insurance company denying my sister’s requests.”

  “Definitely a motivation to push a father over the edge, and it connects the two shootings. But why did he wait two years?”

  “It also explains why at Christmas. But why not last year? What triggered him to kill now?” Sierra reclined back and sipped her tea, staring at the screen. “The cost of drugs has skyrocketed, and ones that are for only a few people are out of range for them.”

  “I’ll delve into his life. For this kind of rage after two years, something had to set him off.” Taylor snatched his cell phone from the table and pushed to his feet. “I’m going outside. I don’t want Ben to overhear any of this. I’m calling Nash and Dallas.”

  As Taylor left the dining room, Sierra wondered if this meant the case would come to an end soon. Then she and Ben would be safe and could go back to their home.

  And face that Kat’s gone.

  Working with Taylor had allowed Sierra to ignore her grief over losing her sister—her best friend and her surrogate mother.

  Tomorrow was the first of the funerals for the victims. There’d be no more time to avoid thinking of what would change in her and Ben’s lives. On top of that, in preparation for her and Ben returning to their home, the place had to be cleaned, all evidence of the shattered ornaments and smashed decorations removed.

  But also, she needed to address the feelings she was developing for Taylor. She cared for him—no, she was falling in love with him. And after only five days. She’d always been leery of men and only dated occasionally. Now, though, she wanted to put her past behind her and hope she could move forward.

  But would Taylor understand about her past?

  * * *

  Taylor pulled up behind Nash and three SAPD police officers and exited his rented SUV at Max Richardson’s residence. Dallas had relieved him at his dad’s house, so that he could be part of the apprehension of the suspect. Everything they’d discovered in Richardson’s background so far pointed to his being the killer.

  The car registered to Richardson was sitting in the driveway. He prayed the man was inside the house. He wanted this nightmare over for Sierra and Ben.

  While the two uniforms went around back, Nash and Taylor approached the front entrance with SAPD Sergeant Baker holding the leash to a bomb-sniffing dog. Taylor held the screen open while Nash struck the door with a battering ram. The second time it burst open. After notifying the two in the backyard, the sergeant went in first, checking for any bomb traps. Nash notified the two in back that Baker was making his way through the house. Taylor moved inside with Nash closely following behind him.

  Taylor went to the left with Baker and his K-9 partner down the hallway to the bedrooms. After letting the other two officers inside, Nash joined Taylor while the others checked the garage for Richardson.

  When Taylor came to the last bedroom, the sight only reinforced that they had the right suspect. When Nash stood at his side, Taylor stared at all the pink and frills. “Richardson’s preserved his daughter’s bedroom for the past two years. He hasn’t moved on.”

  “We need to canvass the neighborhood,” Nash said. “I’ll inform headquarters he isn’t here. Maybe someone saw him or has a surveillance camera that might reveal when he left and how.”

  When they made their way back to the kitchen, one of the officers was waiting. “You might want to take a look at the car in the garage. It’s the one stolen after the second shooting.”

  “Did you find a way into the attic?” Taylor asked the officers as he walked toward the garage.

  “Yes, but we didn’t find anyone up there. In fact, nothing was stored there.”

  While Nash stayed with Baker to call headquarters, Taylor stepped into the garage with the two officers. The stolen car sat a few feet away. He circled it, ending up peeking into the driver’s side window. He opened the door. “There looks like a bloodstain on the seat.” He popped the trunk and examined it, filled with items that were most likely the original owner’s. “Go out to the backyard and thoroughly search it to make sure he didn’t leave that way.”

  When Taylor returned to the kitchen, Nash disconnected his call and looked at him. “Forensics is on its way.”

  Taylor was puzzled. “We didn’t find any bomb-making materials. Richardson might have another place, but how did he get away? The last car he stole is in the garage and the vehicle registered to him is in the driveway.”

  The sound of a dog barking out front drew Taylor into the living room with Nash right behind him. Baker’s German shepherd was on alert by the trunk of Richardson’s car.

  “There’s a bomb.” Taylor ran out the door as Baker and his dog moved away from the area.

  * * *

  Sierra finished cleaning up after lunch. Taylor had been gone over an hour. She stared at the stainless-steel sink, chewing on her thumbnail, a habit she used to have when worry consumed her—not for her, because Robert and Dallas were here to protect Ben and her. But for Taylor. When he had told her he needed to follow through and be part of the raid on the suspect’s home, she understood. This case had become personal for him, as well. If he hadn’t reacted so quickly in her office, the bomb would have killed both of them.

  She turned away from the sink and began pacing. Surely, they had raided the suspect’s house by now. She wanted this over with. How could she and Ben move on with the killer still out there?

  Why hadn’t Taylor called to tell her what happened? What was going on at Richardson’s house? Was there something she missed? She thought back to when her sister had been dealing with Charlene and her illness. A memory taunted her, but she couldn’t quite grasp it.

  So intense in thought, Sierra gasped when John appeared in the doorway.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to surprise you.” John came into the kitchen.

  “How did it go today?”

  “Not well. How much does Ben know about the case?”

  “I’ve tried to keep details from him. I don’t want him to worry and get any more upset than he is.”

  “You need to tell him some of what’s going on. He drew a picture of you and Taylor sitting at the dining room table. Right after it, he started to tear it up. I stopped him. When I asked him about why he drew it, he pressed his lips together and sat on the floor with
Oscar.”

  “I wish he would use his words. You think he knows something and is upset.”

  “Taylor is gone. Dallas is here. Do you think he knows about the raid on Richardson’s house?”

  As she ran her fingers through her hair, she thought back over the morning. “Maybe. It’s hard to have a conversation with him. He doesn’t respond.”

  “But he does. His facial expressions, drawings and gestures say a lot. I noticed your pacing. If you’re worried about Taylor, it’s possible Ben is, too.”

  “What do I do?”

  “Tell him what’s going on. Not in detail but let him know where Taylor is. Then try to take his mind off of it. You mentioned earlier to me that Dallas has a friend who has some puppies, and that Ben’s going to pick one of them out soon. How about doing it today? Dallas can get a message to Taylor.”

  “Okay, if Dallas thinks it’s safe.” In that moment she realized she could use the distraction, too.

  * * *

  While waiting for the bomb squad to deal with the bomb, Taylor and Nash had the police officers cordon off the area around the car.

  “We need to let the neighbors know and interview them about Richardson,” Nash said. “I hope some are home right now.”

  Taylor nodded. “I’ll take the other side of the street. I’ll get two of the officers to help us.”

  Taylor started at the end of the block and worked his way toward the middle of it where Richardson’s house was. Officer Perez began at the other end. When Taylor rang the doorbell of the house across from the suspect, he glimpsed Perez approaching the place two down from him. Taylor hoped the officer had leads because Taylor had come up empty-handed so far.

  When no one came to the door, he knocked on it and glanced over his shoulder at the bomb squad dealing with some kind of device in the trunk of Richardson’s car. He turned to leave but halted at the sound of someone unlocking the door.