Lone Star Standoff

by Margaret Daley

  Sean called the sheriff. “Let your deputies know we’re here. We don’t want to search the same area.”

  “With all that’s been going on here at the station, I didn’t think of that. I’ll have each one call you and let you know their whereabouts.”

  “We’ll wait until we—”

  A dog barked in the distance to the left.

  Sean looked in that direction. “It sounds like the dog found something.”

  Not a moment later, Sean received a call from Deputy Worth. “The dog found a dead body.” The deputy gave Sean the location where they were.

  Sean and Juan hiked southeast down the slope into the woods. Deputy Worth was on watch for them and waved his arms. When Sean arrived at the scene, he saw Deputy Simpson was there, too. Sean was surprised to see that the body belonged to the fake nurse.

  Sean shook both men’s hands, then moved to the dead man to assess if the murder had been committed here or the body dumped here. He lifted the guy, noting the pool of blood beneath his body from a single shot to the heart. This was where he’d been killed, then. By who? A member of the cartel? Someone not pleased with his services?

  Sean stood and shifted toward the two deputies with the canine sitting between them. “Have you taken photos of the body and the surroundings?”

  “Sheriff Bailey told me to back off and wait for you,” Deputy Worth said.

  “We’ll need to search the surrounding bush for anything that might tie into this murder.” Sean pointed in the direction of where the shooter must have been. “Especially that way. I think the killer was over there. Did the dog sniff the driver’s seat to use as a guide to where the driver went?”

  Deputy Worth nodded.

  “I know the ground is mostly covered with grass and vegetation, but did either one of you see any fresh footprints?”

  Deputy Worth grimaced. “I was keeping an eye on Butch. He was moving quickly, so I didn’t really notice.”

  “I did,” Simpson said. “And I only saw one set of footprints that Butch was following.”

  So the cleaner had been alone. Where was he going? Why was he here? “We’ll take the same way back and check as we go for anything unusual, possibly widen the area. It’s possible this guy was followed.”

  Juan moved around the body, taking photos. “Or he was meeting someone here.”

  “An odd place, out in the middle of nowhere.” Sean felt as though the pieces of the puzzle of this case kept being rearranged. “Somebody left on a motorcycle. Most likely the killer. It’s possible the motorcycle didn’t come off the truck, but that the dead man was followed by the person on the motorcycle.”

  “Or came early and waited for the man?” Juan squatted down by the guy.

  “Deputy Simpson, scour the ground near the corpse. I’ll help Deputy Worth search the surroundings while you continue processing the crime scene here.” Sean waved for the deputy to go to the left while he went right. “We’ll start five yards out then expand the area.”

  After slowly circling the crime scene twice, Sean discovered a trampled area where someone had stood recently. The grass hadn’t bounced back yet from being stood on. He searched the area around it to see if any clues had been left. Nothing.

  Why did the cleaner come out here with another person? Or was his killer waiting for him?

  Sean took photos of the ground. “Deputy Worth, we’re going to try to follow the trail this person used. Let’s see if Butch can pick up the scent.” He stepped back, careful not to go too near where the killer stood.

  “We can try. Butch is one of the best bloodhounds at doing that.”

  Butch sniffed the trampled grass, indicating to Worth that there were two trails to follow. The deputy looked at Sean. “Which one?”

  “Let’s go away from the road and see where it leads us. We can come back and follow the other one later.”

  After fifteen minutes of following the bloodhound, a cabin appeared through the trees in the distance. They cautiously approached the place. Sean wasn’t sure if the killer had come from here or gone here after. He tried to make a call to Juan, but cell reception didn’t extend here.

  He drew his gun and said in a whisper, “Let’s leave Butch here while we check the cabin.”

  Worth nodded and removed his weapon from his holster, too.

  Sean indicated that the deputy should go to the left while he went right to assess the outside from the side and back before barging in. After circling the structure, which had only one way in—the front door—Sean tried the knob, and it turned. He signaled to the deputy to go to the left again while he went right when they entered.

  Sean held up one finger, two, then three—and burst into the cabin.

  * * *

  Aubrey sat in Sheriff Bailey’s office waiting for Sean to come pick her up. She knew he was outside town running down a lead and wouldn’t know that she’d shut the trial down early after the defense called their witnesses. There wasn’t enough time to get closing arguments in today, so they would give those tomorrow. Then she hoped the jury would start deliberating Villa’s verdict by the afternoon. The prosecutor had a solid case against Villa, but juries had surprised her in the past.

  Aubrey rose and began pacing. Don had asked her to stay in his office, but she felt like a caged animal wanting to get out. Smell the fresh air. See daylight. Move freely around without worrying she could be killed.

  Father, please end this trial tomorrow. I want my family back.

  She checked her watch and sighed. Six o’clock. Where was Sean? She stared at the door, debating whether to ignore the sheriff’s “request” to stay in his office or leave and get answers to all the questions swirling around in her mind. Was Sean in danger? What had been so important he had to leave town? Was Sean all right?

  It always came back to that last question. She’d chewed her thumbnail, a habit she’d broken as a teenager, down to the quick, mostly in the past ninety minutes while she waited. She’d only seen Don once in that time. Was he avoiding her because something bad was going down?

  She stopped in the middle of the room and drew in a deep breath, then another. She was working herself up because...

  I care about—no, I’m falling in love with Sean.

  And here she was doing the one thing she didn’t want to do—waiting for the bad news concerning him.

  Her shoulders drooped. She stared at the linoleum floor—a few tiles were cracked. That was how her heart felt—cracked.

  As the door to the office opened, she tensed, her hands balled at her side. She hoped it was Sean, but instead it was Texas Ranger Conde. Not a good sign. “Where’s Sean?”

  “He’s working out of cell reception. All I know is the last time I talked to him, he went to check out the deserted black truck parked off the shoulder of a highway.”

  “When was that?”

  “Over three hours ago.”

  “Isn’t that a long time to be out of contact?”

  “No, not if he’s working a case. There are many areas in Texas that don’t get cell reception. We often move in and out of it. I do know he has three men with him, so he isn’t alone. There are times I get caught up in my case that I forget time.”

  “Yes, he does, too.” Aubrey forced a smile. “I’d like to go to the safe house.”

  When she left the sheriff’s office, Bailey was standing nearby. “See you tomorrow. When I hear from Sean, I’ll have him call you.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  Don followed her and Texas Ranger Conde to the station’s rear entrance, where a deputy opened the door. Jorge’s car was parked as close as it could get to the exit. Three steps and she climbed into the vehicle, practically collapsing in the front seat. Her tight hold on her thoughts and body was breaking down. The past few hours had thrust her back two years while she waited to hear from her husband and
never did. Instead it had been the major in Company D who had come to visit her and given her the news of his death.

  When Jorge pulled into the garage at the safe house, her cell phone rang. She dug for it in her purse and saw that it was Sean—or someone using his phone.

  She quickly answered it. “Hello.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t let you know what was happening. I thought you would still be in the trial.”

  The sound of his deep voice released the tension that gripped her. “I’m glad you called, Sean.” She waved for Jorge to go inside. He climbed from the car and stood at the door into the house to give her privacy.

  “I called Don to let him know what we found and when you would dismiss the trial. He told me you already went to the safe house with Jorge.”

  “What happened?”

  “I’ll tell you the details later, but the good news is we found the cleaner and apparently where he’d been living, at least most recently.”

  “Are you bringing him in?”

  “No, he’s dead.”

  “Who killed him?” At least she wouldn’t have to worry about the cleaner.

  “That we don’t know. That’s why we’re processing the scene. I’ll see you in an hour or so.”

  “Goodbye.” She put her phone back in her purse and then slid from the car.

  As she walked toward Jorge, all she could think about was the new threat out there somewhere. Were there two bad guys responsible for all the things that had happened, starting with the dead rat?

  * * *

  Sean sat at the kitchen table with his laptop, trying to figure out who might be the mole in the police department. Jorge originally had been working from Company D headquarters on financial records of the members of the Port Bliss Police Department and had continued doing that when he became part of Aubrey’s detail at the safe house. While Aubrey was in court, he worked on narrowing down any police officers living above his means. Sergeant Vic Daniels stood out, with various gambling debts that made him ripe as a candidate to be a mole.

  If Cal hadn’t said Vic might be the one working for the cartel, he might have overlooked him because he’d covered his tracks well, using a fake ID in an undercover operation years ago. Sean went back through the surveillance tapes to see if he could find the time Vic came around the corner, when Jana picked Cal up from work and they argued about the drawing and her cousin possibly being the fake nurse. There was a camera angled to show Vic pausing and listening to their conversation before he revealed himself as Cal and Jana were leaving.

  Jorge entered the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

  “Is Aubrey up yet?”

  “Yes, I heard her moving around in her room. I’m not surprised she took a nap. She looked exhausted when I picked her up at the sheriff’s station.”

  “I think I gave her a couple of gray hairs.”

  “That’s what happens when you get caught up in a case. Just ask my wife.” Jorge poured the coffee into his mug. “I’ll tell Aubrey you’re in here when I see her.”

  “Thanks. The financial records you’ve found on Vic will help me make the case he’s the insider for the cartel.”

  “Good. Nothing’s worse than a bad cop. Thankfully most police officers are dedicated to protecting the public.”

  “But when we find someone like this, it never makes us look good.” Sean sighed and leaned back in his chair, staring at the computer screen with the condemning information against Vic. Sean would show the police chief the evidence tomorrow.

  Hearing a noise in the hallway, Sean glanced over his shoulder as Aubrey came into the kitchen. The sight of her always revved his heartbeat to a faster tempo. He stood and pulled out a chair for her. “Jorge said you got a good nap.”

  “I hadn’t intended to do that. My mistake was sitting on my bed, and before I knew it I was lying down. The next thing I remember is waking up. I’ve had tough trials before, but this one has become personal. How long have you been here?”

  “An hour.” He quickly closed the laptop. Until he told Juan, he wouldn’t say anything about Vic to anyone not involved in running down the information.

  Aubrey sat catty-corner from him at the table. “What happened this afternoon?”

  “As I told you, the guy who impersonated Chris Newton and killed him is dead. His fingerprint was found on the trunk of the car he used to transport Newton to the burial ground. He wiped his fingerprints off everywhere else but one place on the trunk. He was also involved in Cal’s death.”

  “So he’s the cleaner who was responsible for your brother’s death?”

  “It looks like it. As we discover the identities of all the bodies found in that field, we may be able to tie him to each crime.”

  “Have you figured out what his real name is?”

  “Everything points to Mario Bravo, Cal’s wife’s cousin.”

  “Then he also murdered Samuel?”

  “Yes, as well as his cousin Jana. It may take weeks to tie everything together, but the cabin we processed this afternoon should give us more information. We dusted everything. A lot of the prints belong to Bravo, but not all.” Tomorrow Sean would meet with his informant and see if he’d heard anything else to help wrap this case up quickly. It would help Aubrey—and even him—to move on. “Another body was ID’d from the burial ground. It was the cartel lieutenant that Villa replaced.”

  “Villa was probably behind that death. With everything that has occurred, I want to call my children and let them know they’ll be coming home soon.”

  “Talk to them, but don’t say anything about coming home until Villa’s trial is totally over. Okay?”

  “But I should be able to see them by the weekend?”

  “I’ll personally take you there.”

  She smiled and cupped his hand, which rested on the table by his laptop. He looked into her eyes and felt lost in them. He was falling in love with Aubrey, but she’d made it clear she could never love a man in his line of business.

  * * *

  Sean walked behind an abandoned building on the outskirts of Port Bliss and leaned against the structure while he waited for his informant to appear. A man with a full beard came around the corner, his long black hair with gray sprinkled throughout it tied back in a rubber band. When he smiled, a few of his front teeth were missing, but then, what little he knew about him was that he was a boxer when he was younger.

  Sean had been surprised when he’d received a hang-up from Nate this morning, which was his signal to meet. Two hang-ups in a row meant at the beach. One was here at the abandoned building. He rarely contacted him first. Usually Sean was the one who initiated it. “I was going to get in touch with you today. Why did you want to meet?”

  Nate leaned against the brick structure. “Something big is going down soon.”

  “What?”

  “The cleaner has a score to settle.”

  Sean relaxed his tense muscles. “We caught the cleaner yesterday.”

  Nate frowned. “I started hearing the rumors yesterday, but I heard more this morning. That’s why I called you.”

  “It isn’t common knowledge that we have. We’re still tracking information down.”

  “What kind?”

  “We know who he is, but he was murdered by someone right before we caught up with him.”

  Nate’s eyes darkened, and his frown morphed into a scowl. He shook his head. “Something isn’t right. No one knows who the cleaner is, except Sanchez. That’s why he can move around freely. He uses disguises and blends in when he needs to. He’s made quite a reputation for himself over the years.”

  Maybe he had it wrong about Mario Bravo, but they had him on tape driving away from Cal’s house minutes after Cal had ended the call with Sean. “Was the burial ground we found the cleaner’s?”

  “From the rumors I’ve heard, yes. That’s p
art of his ritual.”

  “Then he’s dead. The news will be released soon. The person we found was associated with the burial ground and the last person murdered there. If you still hear things about the cleaner after the information about Mario Bravo is announced, let me know.” Sean shook Nate’s hand.

  He nodded. “I hope so. He’s ruthless and heartless. A legend in the cartel.”

  As per their protocol, Sean slipped away first, climbed into his SUV and headed for the sheriff’s office. Aubrey had texted him that the jury was deliberating Villa’s verdict as of eleven o’clock this morning. Then they would move Villa to the county jail until his sentencing, if he was found guilty.

  As he started his car, he received another text from Aubrey. The jury had reached a verdict. Sean increased his speed. He wanted to be there when the verdict came down and oversee Villa’s transportation, if guilty. Maybe what Nate was referring to was a plan for the cartel to ambush the moving of Villa back to the county jail.

  He reached the sheriff’s office in record time and hurried to the room where the trial was taking place. He entered just as the jury foreman announced Villa was found guilty of first-degree murder.

  Sean glanced at Aubrey. The relief in her expression smoothed out the wrinkles in her forehead. All he wanted to do was hold her and kiss away the rest of the tension that still gripped her stiff shoulders.

  Villa was escorted from the room by four deputy sheriffs to await the van from the jail. As the rest of the people left, Aubrey waited for him. He made his way toward her, seeing a small smile gracing her mouth. She came around the table where she’d been sitting.

  When the room was empty except for Aubrey and him, he took hold of her hands and tugged her close. “I noticed you scheduled his sentencing for Friday.”

  “Yes. I want to see my children this weekend and bring them home. Villa has separated me from them long enough.”

  He smoothed her hair behind her ear. “I’ll let my sister know we’ll be driving up there to get them on Saturday. Okay?”