Texas Target

by Barb Han

  There was no use looking back now. A tidal wave of emotion was building inside Summer behind the wall that had kept her safe. There were cracks—cracks that threatened to pull her under and toss her around until she didn’t know up from down anymore.

  “You know, she wasn’t always like this,” she said on a sharp sigh.

  “Tell me about it.” Dawson clasped his hands together and rested his elbows on his thighs.

  “The two of us were inseparable growing up. Our parents used to fight. I don’t remember the details because we were so young when my father left. But I do recall feeling a sense of relief once he was gone.”

  “Kids pick up on so much. I’ve noticed it with my niece and nephew and they’re only a year old. It’s like a Record button has been hit in the back of their minds and someday, when they’re much older, an invisible finger will hit Play. They won’t even know why they’re acting a certain way—it’s just programming,” he said.

  “That’s a really good point actually.” Autumn had definitely recorded a lot of sadness. She seemed to take it more personally. “I can’t say my sister even had good taste in the opposite sex.” She flashed eyes at him, realizing how that would sound to him.

  He feigned heartbreak before chuckling. “You really know how to hurt a guy’s pride.”

  “Except for you,” she quickly added.

  “Right. Of course.” Now he really laughed.

  “No, seriously, I mean it. Don’t take this the wrong way but I’m surprised you two were ever in a relationship. And what I mean by that is you’re not normally her type. She always seemed to date guys who were edgy, you know, a little rough around the edges. Looking back, she always dated complicated people—a musician down on his luck or a guy in between jobs who needed her help. I used to always worry about her taste in men and told her she deserved better. Maybe that was part of the reason she came and found you. To protect her and show me that she was capable of finding someone who was amazing.” She made the mistake of looking into his eyes as she said the last word.

  * * *

  DAWSON’S CHEST FISTED at the compliment. He couldn’t afford to keep looking into those violet eyes without falling deeper into the well.

  So, he coughed to clear his throat and asked, “What made you decide to work as a waitress?”

  “I wanted to get experience in food service. I guess I saw it as my duty to take care of my sister and so we... I...dreamed of opening a small coffee shop together. Looking back, I did all the planning and talking about the coffee shop. She went along with it.” There was a wistful quality to her eyes now. “She might not have wanted to hurt my feelings by saying she didn’t want to open a business together.”

  “It sounds like you were trying to give her something to look forward to.”

  “True. I was. Now I’m wondering if I ran her off because I steamrolled over her.”

  “Don’t do that to yourself. None of this is your fault.”

  “Oh, I doubt that. I should’ve done some—”

  “I’m going to stop you right there. You didn’t ask for this. You didn’t contribute to this. As much as you might have felt responsible for your sister, you didn’t do anything wrong. She had the will and the right to do whatever she wanted, and the person I knew did exactly that.”

  Summer paused and he hoped like hell she was letting his words sink in. This wasn’t the first time she’d blamed herself for her sister’s actions and if he could do anything else, he wanted to leave the impression with her that she didn’t have to feel responsible. Adults were capable of making their own choices and did. Not all of those choices were good, and Autumn certainly made bad ones, but down deep, he didn’t believe she was a bad person. Mixed up? Hell, yes. Confused? Absolutely. Bad? Not in his opinion.

  “I hear what you’re saying, and I know that in my mind. My heart is another story.” She ducked her chin to her chest and turned her face away, a move he’d noticed she did to hide when she was getting emotional.

  “It’s okay to be upset. It’s easy to see how much you love your sister. That’s not going away and nothing will change that.” He offered more words of comfort and when she turned to look at him, his heart took a dive.

  She sat there, gazing at him, exposing her vulnerability to him. All he could offer by way of reassurance was a few words and his arms. He looped his arms around her, and she buried her face in his chest.

  They stayed in that position for a long time. When she was ready to pull back, he feathered a kiss on her forehead. Being together with Summer like that, vulnerabilities exposed, was the most intimate moment in Dawson’s life.

  “Thank you.” Her voice was shaky despite her chin jutting out.

  “I’m here anytime. I mean that, Summer.” He did. He meant long after this case was behind them and the grief settled in. Long after they were gone from this hotel room, from Austin and back into their normal everyday lives. He wanted to be there for her.

  Summer and her sister didn’t seem to have had a whole lot of breaks in life. He regretted that he’d missed so many signs with Autumn, but he would be there for Summer anytime she needed a friend.

  “You can’t know how much I appreciate it, Dawson.” He could tell by the way she said those words she had no plans to take him up on his offer.

  Why did that sting so much?

  “So, Charley could possibly mean Cheryl.” Summer brought the conversation back on track. “Which meant my sister either knew about Cheryl or heard the name.”

  Dawson nodded. “We’re missing the connection, if there is one. Since you don’t know much about your sister’s daily habits, it’s difficult to figure out where her and Cheryl’s lives might have overlapped.”

  “That’s true. It’s interesting to note that Cheryl doesn’t have any relatives who she was close to.” Summer frowned and he immediately realized why. “So, they have that similarity. And we know that they both visited the same coffee shop. Maybe they lived near each other. Maybe that’s another link. So, the perp lives or works in the area of the coffee shop.”

  Dawson wrote the question down on the pad of paper: “Did they live near each other or possibly know each other?”

  “We know they looked alike and spent time in the same area of town. They might have had a few other touch points.”

  “Your sister left the money I gave her in the bank. She never touched it. I still can’t figure out why. She must’ve needed it,” he said.

  “Unless she went somewhere she didn’t, which would mean she left you to go back to the perp.”

  “Why?”

  Good question. One he intended to find an answer to.

  Dawson didn’t realize how late it was getting and neither one of them had really slept last night. He’d be fine running on a few minutes of sleep here and there but Summer looked absolutely wrung out. She needed food and rest.

  “What do you think about taking a break and grabbing some dinner?” he asked.

  “I seriously doubt I could eat anything,” she countered.

  “Would you be willing to try?” It was important and she might surprise herself like she had with the meatloaf.

  “I probably should but I don’t want to be alone right now.” Her violet eyes pleaded.

  Taking her with him carried risks. One could argue leaving her alone in a hotel room also left her vulnerable. The mental debate going on in his head was a force to be reckoned with and yet he knew in his heart he couldn’t leave her there alone.

  He thought about ordering food and staying in. That could draw unwanted attention and expose them should someone be watching the room. It was dark so the sunglasses wouldn’t work. That, too, would draw attention. Granted, Autumn had always been done-up with full makeup and her hair done to the nines, and Summer went with an all-natural look. It was possible the perp could recognize her.

  “You
could wrap the scarf around your hair,” he said.

  She was on her feet faster than he could say, “Boo.”

  Her violet eyes were red rimmed. He wanted her to know how brave she was. Most would buckle under the circumstances and yet she kept pushing forward, searching for answers for her sister.

  When she was finished covering her hair, he linked their fingers and walked with her outside. Glancing around, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Not exactly a warm and fuzzy feeling, but he was on high alert.

  The feeling persisted during the entire walk to the truck. Again, he put his arm around her to shield her as much as possible from view. Being this close to Summer, breathing in her clean and flowery scent, filled his thoughts with the kisses they’d shared.

  Under different circumstances, she was exactly the kind of person he’d want to spend time getting to know better. Now?

  It was complicated. His feelings were complicated. And despite their off-the-charts attraction, acting on it any further would make things between them even more complicated.

  And the crazy thing was that a very huge part of him didn’t want to care about the consequences.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The restaurant was one of those taco chain spots found in every major Texas city. Loud music was playing when they entered and, unlike everyone else, she didn’t love tacos. They were okay. Edible.

  Summer pointed toward the booth in the corner where she and Dawson could continue talking about the case. The images of Cheryl Tanning would haunt Summer for a very long time. Erasing those wouldn’t be easy.

  And her mind drew the parallels to her own sister’s case. Obviously, the bastard had killed Autumn in a similar way. It was impossible not to imagine Autumn’s face instead of Cheryl’s.

  She’d tucked the notebook and pen under her arm before leaving the hotel room, just in case they wanted to jot down more notes. She placed the items on the table and scooted them toward the wall in case a server brought their order.

  One word jumped out at her. Suspects. Below the word, there were three names. Dawson had explained that law enforcement officers had interviewed everyone they could find. Cheryl Tanning might not have had a family to stand up for her but she’d had a voice in the detective who had taken the case.

  “Drake Yarnell, what do you think of him?” she quietly asked Dawson.

  “He was an ex-boyfriend who was in a biker club. He had a jealous streak and I didn’t like that at first. But the timeline of their relationship ending? They’d broken up almost a year prior. I doubt he still had the kind of feelings or possessiveness required to circle back and murder his ex-girlfriend.”

  “Even though their neighbors overheard him threaten to kill her if she walked out the door when they lived together?” she asked.

  “He was a hothead. I can’t see him waiting almost a year to act on his threat. It was idle, said in the heat of the moment. I still want to talk to him but he isn’t sending up any red flags to me so far.”

  “Okay. How about Sean Menendez?”

  “He was the creepy maintenance worker in her apartment complex.” Dawson tilted his head toward her and then looked down at the pad of paper.

  “Right.”

  “It’s possible he had a thing for her and even more possible he was stalking her. Going down that path, she rebuffed him and that’s the reason the detective thought he was a good suspect.” Dawson made a face.

  “You don’t think so.”

  “Not really. Why would anyone cover the body with the leaves? And what’s the connection to the violin strings?” he asked.

  “This detective believed he might’ve found the strings in one of the trash bins,” she stated.

  “Which makes sense and would be possible. But then, what about your sister? How is she connected to the apartments and this guy? Did she live there? He’s a creep, don’t get me wrong. If I was a beat cop, I’d be keeping an eye on him. But, I can’t connect him to Autumn and we’re banking everything on these two cases being connected.” His lips formed a thin line.

  The waiter brought their taco baskets, so they tabled the discussion for the moment. The minute he left, they started up again.

  “So, Jasper Holden? What are your thoughts about him?” she asked.

  “He was a server at the coffee shop and that meant he would know both of the victims. He might not know them but he was acquainted with them both. Or at least, we think he was. He would’ve seen both of them coming and going, except that they might not have been there at the same time,” he said. “He was a biochemistry major, which meant he was smart.”

  “Did he graduate by now?” she asked. It might be harder to track him down if he’d moved on. People came from all over Texas and beyond to attend UT in Austin. It wasn’t an easy school to get into and a major like biochemistry would be even harder. Jasper would’ve had to have been pretty brilliant to pull that off. She wondered if he’d played in his high school band.

  “I can’t remember off the top of my head if he was a junior or senior at the time of Cheryl’s murder. Could rule him out if he’d graduated and moved away at the time of Autumn’s murder.”

  “There’s another thing that’s been bothering me about my sister. How did she have money for things like coffee? As far as we know she didn’t have a job. And she didn’t touch the money you put in the account for her.” The fact he’d done that despite how her sister had treated him was above and beyond honorable.

  “It’s possible she had a job. The coroner’s office had very few of her personal belongings. No purse, no wallet and no cell phone. It’s a big part of the reason he was having trouble identifying her.”

  “And also unheard of not to carry those items around everywhere. I can’t live without my cell.” She nodded toward her purse.

  “We could talk to the detective in the Tanning case. She might be able to give us insight into Jasper’s current whereabouts.”

  “That seems like a good idea,” she agreed.

  “She also seemed especially thorough in Cheryl’s investigation. It signals to me that she didn’t want to give up on the case.”

  “What do you think happened?” Summer must’ve been hungrier than she realized because she finished off the beans and rice that came on her plate alongside her pair of tacos.

  “Austin’s a fairly large city with higher crime rates than what we see in smaller towns. These things generally come down to available resources. Detective Libby was most likely pulled from the case when she stopped making progress. She might’ve worked it on her lunch breaks or after hours but eventually leads dry up.”

  Summer shivered. An icy chill ran down her spine. The thought that Cheryl Tanning had died alone nearly broke Summer’s heart. Their lives were not so different now. It wasn’t like there was anyone at home waiting for Summer. No life that extended much beyond a small group of coworkers at the diner who she spent hours on end with but barely knew on a personal level.

  Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. She knew about Marta’s boyfriend who revved his motorcycle engine out front to signal he was ready to pick her up after her shift was over. She knew that Dane, one of the cooks, had tattoos running up both arms. He used to joke that he’d gotten them so no one would try to chat him up in line to get his morning coffee. He was the biggest teddy bear once she got to know him.

  Summer, on the other hand, shared very little about her private life with her coworkers. She’d always seen the diner as a temporary stop, a place she shouldn’t get too comfortable. She’d always played her cards close to her chest, sitting quietly in the breakroom while the others talked about weekend plans or bills due.

  She’d gotten so good at keeping everyone at a distance, not unlike Cheryl or Autumn. Cheryl probably had goals. She was probably working toward something when her life had been cut short. Everyone had a dream. Didn’t they
? Everyone deserved to live out their potential.

  Seeing two lives cut so drastically short sent a hot, angry fireball through her veins. Her eyes were too dried up to cry. She let those tears flow earlier in sweet release.

  The anger motivated her to find answers. If Sean Menendez wasn’t the killer, or Jasper Holden, or Drake Yarnell, Summer wouldn’t stop until she figured out who was. The small amount of money she’d socked away for the business would be enough to get by. She’d been afraid to turn up at the bank after the jerks had chased her.

  An idea struck.

  “I could draw him out, Dawson.”

  “We talked about this before. This bastard isn’t getting within five feet of you.”

  “Think about it. I could hang out at the coffee shop. My sister used to go there and so did Cheryl. That means this jerk might go there, too,” she countered.

  “Yeah? What if that’s true. Do you really want to walk right into his hands?”

  “I could dress up like my sister—”

  “I think the words you’re looking for are a sting operation and it would be way too risky. No responsible law enforcement officer would use you as bait to bring out a deranged killer and I might not be able to cover you from every angle. He knows what you look like, which puts us at a huge disadvantage.”

  “You’re right.” She needed to do something. Sitting here, doing nothing, would drive her insane.

  “We have to be patient.”

  * * *

  IMPATIENCE ROLLED OFF Summer in waves. Dawson understood. They were still studying the facts of the case and it wouldn’t feel like they were making any progress to her. The way she was twisting her fingers together, picking up her food just to put it down before eventually taking a bite told him that her nerves were on edge.

  It was easy to feel like they were spinning their wheels at this stage of the investigation. They were making progress, though. Slow, steady progress. Inch by inch but he’d take it. They had a similar and linked case to work with. It was a lot more to work with than what they’d had twelve hours ago.