Lone Star Standoff

by Margaret Daley

  “So it looks like Paul Davis was probably murdered by the cartel, like my brother.”

  “Either that or it was a huge coincidence that the male nurse was buried close to a place where others were disposed.” Juan closed the folder and pushed it to the side. “I’ve got the list you requested. What are you looking for?”

  “Information from a reliable source has surfaced that there’s a mole in your police department.”

  Juan frowned. “That’s what I was thinking, and one of the reasons I’m here working in Port Bliss. I thought it was Officer Adams. Now I’m not so sure.”

  “Why?”

  “I went to talk to him this weekend before he left the hospital. He couldn’t think of anyone who would shoot at him. I went by his house yesterday after he was released from the hospital. He answered the door and came out onto the porch to talk to me.”

  “How was he?”

  Juan tilted his head to the side and thought for a few seconds. “I’d say scared. I guess that’s the best word to use. I asked him if he wanted protection. He didn’t.”

  “Where was his wife?” Sean remembered meeting Jana at last year’s Fourth of July picnic.

  “I don’t know. After a few minutes, he said he was tired and needed to go inside and lie down. In other words, his message to me was to get lost. I plan to go back later today.”

  “I think I should pay him a visit when I leave here, if that’s okay with you.”

  “Yes. He might talk to you.” Juan passed him a piece of paper. “This is the list you wanted. Most of the officers I have were here then. Officers Johnston and Watkins joined us this past year.”

  “Thanks. The trial should wrap up in a couple days.”

  “Not looking forward to tomorrow, with the star witness testifying.”

  “Yeah, Aubrey told me she might be finished early today. They start with Mrs. Fields’s testimonial tomorrow. Then the defense has to present their case.”

  “And we’ll all be happy when it’s over and life can go back to normal.”

  Sean rose. “In your dreams.”

  The police chief chuckled. “We can always wish.”

  “I’m going to see the white car that I asked Sergeant Daniels to find, then I’ll go by Adams’s house.”

  Sean left the police station, crossed the street to the courthouse and walked around the west side of the building to the rear parking lot. When he reached his SUV and slid into the vehicle, he took his phone out and texted Aubrey where he was going and that he would still be back in time for lunch with her in her chambers. He drove to the place on Bayshore Drive and found a white car, as he’d seen on the video footage, parked in the driveway on the right side. He pulled up behind it and headed for the front entrance.

  A woman in her sixties with salt-and-pepper hair opened the door before he had a chance to push the doorbell.

  “Ma’am, I’m Texas Ranger McNair.” He showed her his badge. “I’m here because you reported that the car in your driveway isn’t yours. Is that right?”

  She nodded. “My husband and I returned from a long, exhausting trip late last night. We were surprised to find that car in our driveway.” She waved toward the vehicle. “We were so tired that I decided to report it this morning. I don’t think I could have stayed up long enough to talk to any police officer who would come to check on it, so I waited.”

  “You have no idea whose car this is?”

  “No. I don’t understand why someone would even park it there. My husband at first thought the owner was in our house, but he let Willie inside to see if someone was there.”

  Sean peered over the woman’s shoulder and glimpsed a large German shepherd right behind her in the entry hall. “Your dog is Willie?”

  “Yes,” she answered at the same time the canine barked. She turned toward her pet and said, “Stay,” then came out onto the porch. “He’s the best watchdog around. He goes with us when we travel, and no one bothers us.” Mrs. Kirkland descended the steps and walked toward the white car. “Why in the world is a Texas Ranger here about this car? It was probably a bunch of kids joyriding.”

  “The person driving it was possibly involved in a case I’m working. You don’t have any idea where it came from? Maybe it was parked in the wrong driveway. Do any of your neighbors have a car like this?” Sean pointed to the vehicle, noting the damaged rear fender on the driver’s side that he’d seen in the surveillance cam footage. When he stepped behind the sedan, he took a photo of the license plate, then sent it to Juan to find out who owned the car.

  “No one I know. Will you be able to have it removed from our driveway? It’s blocking my car in the garage.”

  “Yes, I’ll have it towed away.” He handed her his business card. “If you find out anything about how it might have ended up here, please let me know.” Sean moved to the driver’s-side front door and opened it. He put on gloves then checked for a set of keys to the car. “No keys in it.” He shut the door and turned toward Mrs. Kirkland. “Have you or your husband touched this vehicle, especially inside by the driver’s seat?”

  “I opened the driver’s door to see if the keys were in the ignition so I could move it. I need to go to the grocery store.”

  “I’d like to take your fingerprints. When we check for latent prints in the car, I want to be able to rule yours out.”

  She nodded. “I hope you catch who left this car here.”

  “I hope so, too. I’ll be right back. I need to get my kit to take your prints.” As he headed for his SUV, he called Juan about having the vehicle towed away and the doors and interior checked for latent prints. He also requested that police officers go house to house to see if anyone in the neighborhood saw the car being left in the driveway.

  By the time Sean left the Kirklands’ property, the white sedan was being towed away, and he had Mrs. Kirkland’s fingerprints. In his SUV, he glanced at the clock and realized he wouldn’t have enough time to go by Cal’s place. He would go see the police officer after lunch with Aubrey. He hoped Cal might have remembered something about the time he was shot and about Jack’s roommate’s case. For both his brother and Davis to be killed, probably by the same killer, six months apart, wasn’t a coincidence. Did this have anything to do with Jack working undercover for Samuel?

  * * *

  Aubrey dismissed the court. She rose and headed to her chamber, eager for the thick, juicy cheeseburger and vanilla milkshake she’d asked Sean to bring for lunch. When she opened the door to her office, he stood and covered the distance between them.

  He clasped her upper arms. “How’s it going?”

  His question and presence released the tension she’d held since the trial started this morning. “The prosecutor’s main witness is a sixty-year-old woman who saw Bento Villa grab a gun from one of his men and shoot the victim.”

  “Where was she when the crime went down?”

  “On the beach where the body was buried in the sand.”

  “Which beach?”

  “The one off Bayshore Drive.”

  Sean let go of her arms and took a couple of steps back. “That’s what I thought. Bayshore Drive is where the white car trailing you was left in an older couple’s driveway. That’s where I just came from. And it’s not that far from where the burial ground was found. A coincidence that all of this is happening in the same area?”

  Aubrey shook her head. “Do you think the person in the white car was the one who killed those people and buried them in the same area?”

  “It’s looking like that’s a possibility.”

  “So everything comes back to the cartel.”

  Sean took her hand and tugged her toward the coffee table in front of the couch where he’d laid out their food. “Tell you what. Let’s enjoy our lunch. I’m hungry.”

  “Is that your way of saying let’s talk about something else?”<
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  “You know me well.”

  Yes, she was getting to know him. They’d been thrust together because of this case and trial, but when she was with him, she felt safe even at her own home and now at the safe house with two other Texas Rangers who had worked with Samuel. She and Sean had spent hours on what was happening now and two years ago in Port Bliss, but they’d also spent time sharing who they were beyond a judge and law enforcement officer.

  Sean dug into the sack and pulled out her cheeseburger then his. “How were the kids this morning when you talked with them?”

  “Missing me—and you—but they’re having fun swimming. Pierce has taken them under his wing and is giving them lessons. Apparently, he knows exactly what a four-year-old wants to do.”

  “Because he has a son who was four once. How’s your mother doing?”

  “Mama says she feels like she’s on vacation. Pierce does so much of what she usually does.”

  “I’ve known Pierce a long time. He’s a good guy, and I couldn’t have asked for a better man to protect your kids and your mother. I miss them.”

  “So do I,” Aubrey murmured right before taking a big bite of her cheeseburger. “Mmm. This is so good. I didn’t eat much breakfast. I should have asked you to bring me two of them.”

  He chuckled. “I actually did. I thought we could split it.”

  “Sounds great.”

  For the next ten minutes they both sat and ate their lunch. She felt no need to fill the silence with talking. The quiet and relaxation in her chambers was just what she needed—not to mention having Sean sitting next to her, enjoying his food and occasionally smiling at her.

  After he cut the third cheeseburger in half, she leaned back against the couch, exhaling slowly. “I wish we could stay in here all afternoon.”

  “How’s the testimony going?”

  “Slow. The defense is challenging everything they can. After lunch they have their chance with Mrs. Fields.”

  “Where was she when she witnessed the killing?”

  “Behind a dune. She has a spot where she sunbathes and can’t be seen by people walking along the beach. Weather permitting, she does it every day for half an hour. Her way of getting her vitamin D, she says. When she heard the voices, she peeked over the top of the dune with sea grass and caught Villa shooting Hector Martin. Her life has been so disrupted. I know the feeling.”

  “This afternoon I’m only going to see Cal Adams.”

  “How’s he doing?” Aubrey reclined back and finished the last bite of her cheeseburger.

  “He didn’t want to talk to the police chief yesterday. It might be depression. I’ve seen that happen when a law enforcement officer is shot—actually anyone. But I’m going to see him because he was the one who handled my brother’s roommate disappearing six months before Jack. Cal was first on the scene. Sergeant Daniels took over the case to investigate the missing person. I also found out that another body from the burial ground was identified. It was Paul Davis, the roommate. Jack came back from working on the oil rig to find Paul gone, but not his stuff. My brother reported him missing.”

  “Why didn’t you know this?”

  “The police chief didn’t even know it. It happened before he came to Port Bliss and was named the police chief.”

  “What do you think Cal can tell you?”

  “Probably nothing. But he interviewed Jack right after it happened. I want to know what my brother said to him. His impressions of the case. I’ve read the sergeant’s notes on it, and there wasn’t much there. Lots of dead ends.”

  “I hope you can get answers.”

  “I want closure on my brother’s murder just as you do for Samuel.” He placed his hand over hers. “We’ll get justice. Jack made a lot of mistakes. I think he decided to help your husband when Paul disappeared. I wish Jack had a notebook like Samuel, with evidence I can follow.”

  “I know. At least we found Samuel’s notes and his concerns about a cartel mole at the police department.”

  “I had my suspicions when my last drug raid fell apart. Nothing makes me angrier than a corrupt law enforcement officer. Most of them aren’t, but the ones that are dirty hurt the rest of us.”

  Aubrey put her hands on the couch and shoved herself to her feet. “I can’t wait until this testimony is over. From the list of defense witnesses, we should be able to send the jury to deliberation on Wednesday. Maybe I’ll get my life back by this weekend.”

  Sean stood, smiling down at her. “I hope so. When does the trial start this afternoon?”

  Aubrey checked her watch. “In five minutes. Our time has flown by. We should be wrapped up today by five.”

  “Good. That’ll be enough time for me to talk with Cal. I’ll be back before that.” He cupped her face, his soft blue eyes transfixed on her. He dipped his head and brushed his mouth across hers. “I’ll do everything I can to protect you.”

  After he left her office, Aubrey stared at the door into the corridor. She touched her lips where she still felt his kiss. She was falling for him, but she could never go through what happened to Samuel again. She needed this over with so she could put some distance between them.

  * * *

  Sean hated leaving Aubrey, but the security at the courthouse had been tightened. The rest was in the Lord’s hands. He quickly made his way down to the first floor and out the rear exit with two deputy sheriffs at the door checking everyone coming into the building, scanning them and their belongings. In the parking lot, an extra law enforcement officer from the US Marshal’s office stood guard near the vehicles they had used bringing the star witness to Villa’s trial.

  Fifteen minutes later, Sean arrived at Cal’s house and strode toward it. He rang the doorbell, then knocked when he received no answer. He walked around the place to see if there was a window he could look inside. His gut tightened when he came back to the front. Something didn’t feel right. He looked at the garage, but there was no way he could see if Cal’s car was in there.

  He walked back to his SUV and sat out front, trying to decide what to do. Leave or try to get in the house? His cell phone rang, a number he didn’t recognize, and he answered it.

  “Sean, this is Cal. I’m inside my home, but if I open the door and let you in, they will kill my wife.”

  “Who is they?”

  “I don’t know. I need you to drive away. Please.”

  “Okay.” Sean started the SUV and pulled away from the curb. “But if you’re in trouble, I don’t want to go far. Tell me what’s going on. Do you know who shot you? And why?”

  “I don’t know who did, but I think I know why.”

  Sean parked a couple of streets away to continue the conversation. He scanned the area, looking for anyone who might have followed him from Cal’s.

  “I overheard two people talking about the cartel, one a police officer.”

  “Which officer?”

  “I don’t know. The man was talking to an officer on a phone. I only overheard one side of it, but it was clear what they were discussing—Villa’s trial and how to stop it. I’ve been trying to figure out who the police officer was, but I haven’t been able to.”

  “Did you see what this other man looked like?”

  “Yes—at the time I didn’t know him. But when the drawing of the person who posed as the nurse at the hospital came out, I discovered he was my wife’s cousin from Houston. I knew she was worried about something, and she finally said something to me right before I came over to the judge’s house to stand guard that night I was shot. She hadn’t seen her cousin in several years and was surprised to discover he was the impostor at the hospital. I told her not to say anything and I would take care of the problem. At first, I was going to go to the police chief, but after wrestling with the issue, I decided to talk to you that Friday morning first.”

  “So where is your wife?”<
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  “I don’t know, but when I came home from the hospital, I knew there had been a struggle in our bedroom. Soon after I arrived, I received a call from Jana, begging me not to tell anyone about her cousin. Then he came on the phone and told me what would happen to her and me if I did. I know they’re watching my house. It might even be bugged.”

  “Then why did you call me?”

  “I’m in the shower with the water running.”

  Sean rubbed his hand against his chin, trying to figure out what to do. He wanted to go to Juan, but maybe that wasn’t the best idea with the mole still unknown. He hated questioning Juan’s integrity, but people’s lives were at stake. “Do you have any idea who the police department mole is?”

  “No.”

  “Then I have to find your wife’s cousin. He knows. What’s his name?”

  “Mario Bravo. Jana confessed to me she was afraid of him. I don’t think he’ll tell you anything. I’ve never heard such fear in my wife’s voice.”

  But at least he would be able to bring in his brother’s killer and possibly even Samuel’s, even if he didn’t get anything from Bravo. “Any ideas where I should look for him?”

  “This is a long shot, but when he was here a couple of years ago, I met him briefly. I overheard Jana talking to him. He stayed at a house near the sand dunes. Jana mentioned it belonged to her family.”

  “But you don’t know exactly where?”

  “No. But look at the property records at the courthouse. I need to hang up, or whoever put the bugs in my house will know something is up.”

  “When I have answers, I’ll be showing up at your house.”

  Sean disconnected the phone call, made a U-turn and headed back toward the courthouse. He had to find Bravo and Cal’s wife. The man—most likely the cleaner—wouldn’t think twice about killing his cousin, and Sean wouldn’t allow him to add another person to the list of people he’d murdered.

  When he arrived at the courthouse, he hurried inside and to the records department on the first floor at the front of the building. Time was of the essence. After having seen the work of the cleaner firsthand, he didn’t doubt Jana’s life was at stake, even if the killer was her cousin.