Mesa nodded as if she hadn’t heard a word, obviously thinking about something else. She finally looked up. “They probably had to go out to the ranch. But, I’ve learned years ago to trust our foreman and not get involved unless he needs me. His family has been here as long as mine, and Granny is on her way home. The rescue horses are my project and the rough stock is Granny’s. I’m sorry if the problem out there ruined your evening.” Mesa touched Rainey’s hand and looked up at Dannie. “Really sorry.”
“That’s part of being married to a lawman.” Rainey turned to Dannie and asked, “What kind of job do you have in Houston?”
Before Dannie could answer and without warning, a bigger-than-life boom rattled the building, shaking the antique chandeliers.
A second and third boom shook the wooden door, and nearly knocked the ladies off their barstools.
Dannie’s heart jumped into her throat. The sudden noise sounded like the backfire of an old engine combined with the recoil of a shotgun. Chills ran down her spine, and her hands began to shake like they had only one other time in her life. She closed her eyes, but all she saw was red. Blood gushing like it was coming from an open fire hydrant. She jerked to her feet, mumbled that she had to go to the restroom, and headed in that direction, praying she’d make it before she passed out or vomited. Luck was with her, as nobody occupied the only stall. She rushed to the toilet and threw up. Sliding to her knees, she hugged the toilet seat without the thought of germs or anything else; she needed it to keep from falling to the floor.
All she could envision was blood flowing freely, rushing to the door. Every time she lifted her head, another round of rancid liquid hit her mouth.
Shaking her head didn’t dislodge the sound of an exchange of gunfire. Memories flooded back like a dam overflowing.
One. She turned slightly toward the first shot.
Two. Her partner Lee stepped in front of her, but she tried to move him out of her way so she could get a better aim.
Three. Lee grabbed the side of his face as he tumbled to the ground. Dannie got off numerous shots at the shadow before her, but the man returned fire, hitting her right forearm. Her Glock service pistol flew from her hand and slid across the floor.
Four more shots from the perpetrator before she could slither toward her weapon and retrieve it, leaving a trail of blood from her arm. Rolling over to her back she saw the figure, although he obviously couldn’t see her, and she unloaded the remainder of the magazine. Unable to reload without being seen, she laid her head on the floor tainted with her own blood mixed with Lee’s and prayed.
While pushing away the memories, she choked as though a python clutched her neck.
Vaguely she heard Mesa call from the door. Dannie couldn’t respond and put her hands over her ears, not wanting to hear anything. All she wanted was for the visions before her to go away, far away, and never return. But she knew that wasn’t going to happen.
“Dannie, let me in. I know what you’re going through. Let me in,” Mesa called loud enough to be heard over the music of “Big Balls in Cowtown.”
“You don’t know.” Another round of nausea slapped Dannie in the gut.
“No, you’re right. I don’t know, but I do know that you need someone right now. I’m your oldest friend, so please, Dannie, let me help you. Please!”
Dannie laid her forehead on the toilet seat, while the camera in her mind began the recurring nightmares she had dealt with for months. Through a veil of blood, Dannie heard sirens in the distance. Louder and louder. Even louder, until she put her hands over her ears again to drown out the shrill noise. The flashing yellow, blue, and red lights blinded her.
“Tell them to turn their lights off. Go black! We don’t need them. I don’t need anybody. Everyone, please go away. I must help Lee.” She had felt a dozen arms trying to pull her to her feet.
“Dannie, I’m not going away.” Mesa pounded on the door. “Open it or I’ll tear it down with my own hands.”
Dannie tried desperately to chase away all the memories and breathe at a normal rate. She tried again and again until finally she moved to the door and unlocked it, sliding down the wall behind the entryway and barely brushing her hair by the paper towel dispenser.
Mesa squeezed inside.
Dannie heard the click of the lock and knew she was safe. She fell into the arms of her best friend.
“I shouldn’t have said that I know, because I don’t, but you’re safe with me, Dannie. You’ll always be safe.” Mesa smoothed her friend’s hair.
Time slid by like watching a bull rider being trampled by a Brahma bull in a death-defying wreck.
“I’m sure Rainey has crossed me off her list of people she might like to get to know.” Dannie pulled up straight and looked in Mesa’s eyes.
“Nope. She got another call about the same time. I told her that I was I going to follow you because I figured you’d eaten too much BBQ. Rainey said she hoped you got to feeling better and she’d see you later.”
“I’m still sorry that I ruined your evening.” Dannie deliberately changed the subject, trying to gather her wits about her. “The rodeo last night must have been a lot of fun. I love the wild cow milking. Do you know how it got started as a rodeo event?” Dannie asked, although she knew Mesa was a walking encyclopedia on the rodeo.
When she didn’t answer, Dannie continued, “They had to haul the mamas out with their calves for calf roping and then decided to justify hauling them out for nursing purposes only, so they made up the event.”
Dannie made an attempt to get her wits about her. “It’s always been one of my favorites, except of course bull riding and barrel racing—”
“You’re not getting off by changing the subject,” Mesa interrupted. “And don’t you dare try to convince me this is the first one of these episodes you’ve had.” She took a hard stance against her friend. “What has your psychiatrist said about these incidents?” She unwrapped and handed Dannie a mint.
“Not a whole bunch. I’ve been cleared to go back to work on desk duty, not in the field. But sometimes when there’s an unexpected loud noise like a gunshot, I go into one of these...whatever you want to call them. Episode is as good as any word.”
“Eventually, they’ll end. Right?”
“Whenever my mind is healthy. My last psych eval showed I’m nearly there, but I know otherwise, when something unexpected like tonight happens. I’ve been working at the shooting range on a regular basis with no problems. My aim is as good as it’s ever been. I’m cleared there. And, I’ve been on the street with more experienced officers and detectives.” Dannie let out a heavy sigh. “Please, please don’t tell anyone about this. Especially my folks, please. It’d ruin my chances of returning to Houston or any law enforcement agency.” Her breath caught in her lungs, but she continued, “I’m not certain what I want to do in the future but don’t want to shut any doors in case I want to go back into law enforcement. So, it’s really important to me that you keep this just between us.”
“You know I won’t tell. I never told anybody about you going swimming nude out on the ranch, and that’s been twenty-something years ago.” Mesa hugged Dannie tight. “And I never have spoken of what occurred in college either and never will.”
“Mesa, sometimes I see what happened in Houston flash before my eyes so vividly it’s like I’m there all over again.
“Standing there with my weapon drawn and my flashlight, backup for Lee, and suddenly out of nowhere the first shot came. Later I found out it wasn’t the kill shot. More shots came and grazed my left hand, making me lose my grip on my flashlight. The second one hit higher up on my right arm, and I dropped my weapon. Lee stepped between me and the shooter.
“Casings flew around like Fourth of July rockets. I finally reached my Glock and emptied it, but it didn’t make any difference. I never had a clear shot, it all happened so fast. At least that
’s what I tell myself. But could I have gotten a kill shot off sooner? The statistics say no, I couldn’t.” Dannie wiped tears from her eyes with a piece of toilet paper. “Nothing makes sense, except seeing blood rushing from Lee, and no amount of pressure I put on his chest helped—”
Mesa broke in. “Precious friend, you don’t have to do this right now.”
Lost in the moment of reliving the nightmare, Dannie barely heard her friend. “I had blood all over my uniform. It was taken as evidence, but I could have never worn it again anyway. Lee’s blood was all over me. My face and up to my elbows. Even my boots were covered with blood. Yet, there was nothing I could do. The smell of blood still haunts me—”
“You never get accustomed to the smell of blood whether it’s human or animal…. You know that,” Mesa reminded Dannie.
“You’re right. I remember the sirens from the units we’d called for backup. And the worst part, the son-of-a-bitch got away, although I emptied my service pistol.
“Lee lost his life because I didn’t provide cover like a good partner should. I didn’t have his back like he would have had mine.... Like he did.” Dannie wiped her eyes again. “Other than my father, Lee was the only man I could count on. I relied on him for my life and he depended on me, but I let him down.”
Mesa pulled her friend tighter to her. “Please, please, remember it wasn’t your fault.” She lifted Dannie’s chin and gave her the stern look Dannie was familiar with. “I know one thing, missy—beginning tomorrow we’re going to target practice at the ranch every day, so you can keep in practice. Even more rounds than the miles you ran. We can get that sound out of your head, but you must get the other memories and visions out of your system yourself. I can’t tell you how, but I can get you help. And, if nothing else, I know a lawman or two here who will help out.”
Softly and slowly, Dannie said, “I truly want to get back to one hundred percent because I don’t really want to be tied to a desk all day, while other officers are out there putting their lives on the line for the people when I should be there right beside them. I’d rather work at a Dairy Queen.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Now there isn’t anything wrong with a Dairy Queen. I happen to love their Blizzards.”
Far enough away from the Buckin’ Bull where no music or laughter clocked them, Dannie felt the stillness settle around her. Fresh air and Texas. The scent of cattle, oil rigs, and the red delineators of wind turbines that lit the sky to the northeast. She missed her hometown, but something was wrong. Very wrong.
An extra sense that comes with being a lawman lingered heavy in the air and filled Dannie with hope that she might be able to overcome the trials and tribulations of Houston.
Yes, she was on the right track by returning to Kasota Springs.
Dannie made an honest attempt to get the thoughts of Lee and Houston out of her mind. She now realized they were slowly being replaced with those of one strapping and handsome pirate. She kept going back to the kisses that seemed stuck to her lips like a wonderful, light, and favorable mouthful of cotton candy.
As they journeyed back to Mesa’s truck, she said, “Oh, by the way, while you were washing your face and I went out to pay our tab, I found out that the shots came from an ol’ coot who was drunk and shooting into the night air celebrating. He’s now in the hoosegow and he’ll see tomorrow how much trouble he’s in.”
They continued to walk.
“Well, I know of several charges I’d be jottin’ down if I was the investigating officer, beginning with shooting a firearm off in the city limits, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, and let’s not forget public intoxication for starters.”
Mesa shot Dannie a raised eyebrow. “And you don’t think you want to stay in law enforcement?”
The night air filled with the women’s laughter.
“I’m gonna walk to my folks’ house. It isn’t all that far. They should be back by now.”
“Are you certain you’re ready to surprise them and then spend the rest of the night answering questions?” Mesa clicked the button on her key to unlock her pickup. “You’ve had a pretty traumatic time this evening, plus your car is out at the ranch.”
“I have access to several vehicles at the house.”
Again, Mesa asked, “Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to spend one more night at our ranch?”
“Positive.” Dannie gazed into the starry spring night.
As Mesa drove away, Dannie waved and thought to herself, I’m as positive about this as I’ve ever been with anything in my life.
Chapter 4
Brody VanZant slid his phone back into his pocket. He sighed loud enough to wake the LeDoux men buried in the park on West Main. Someday he planned to ask about the history behind them, but that’d have to wait.
He couldn’t believe the first night he’d come out from undercover, and gotten a lot of the park cleaned up after the Spring Festival, Deuce had ordered him to come to the sheriff’s office. He’d said it wouldn’t take long, but Brody was pretty sure there wasn’t a Welcome Back cake waiting for him.
To his surprise, when he parked in front of the town hall, there were four Bonita County Sheriff’s vehicles outside. Add his vehicle, and that accounted for the full Kasota Springs Sheriff’s Department.
“Something is seriously up,” Brody said under his breath. “Very serious.”
When he walked through the door to the Bonita County Sheriff’s Department, Chief Deputy Scott met him.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d ever return to us, but glad you did.” They shook hands. “You might not be as glad once you find out why Deuce called you in.” He turned to Jessup, another deputy, who had just hung up the phone. “Where did they put the suspect?” Scott asked.
“In the SODDIT room.” As if Brody didn’t know the acronym, Jessup continued, “Some-other-dude-did-it-room.”
“Thanks for the reminder. That’s interview room one, and two is the pucker-power-room—”
Before Brody finished, Deuce appeared and said, “Yep, only if we need to scare them shitless. I think this dude needs to go there.”
“Who is it?” Brody asked the sheriff.
“That’s why I called you. Let’s sit down for a bit and let me take a second breath. We need to talk.”
Brody knew that Deuce was loose with names and speculations within the walls of the sheriff’s department and rarely wanted to sit and chat. Brody took a chair across from Deuce. “What’s going on?”
“You remember the call I got about an incident out at the Jacks Bluff?”
Brody nodded.
“Scott caught the perp and brought him in.” Deuce hesitated and clasped his hands loosely behind his back. “It’s your sister’s brother-in-law, Tommy Mitchell.”
“Are you sure?” Brody cussed a blue streak beneath his breath and clenched his fists while staring at the certificates on the wall behind Deuce’s desk, not seeing one, just focused on the anger hitting his stomach like a cresting dam on a rainy day.
“He won’t give us his name. Just a lot of street-talkin’ smut, but of course we knew exactly who he is.”
Anger rose even stronger inside Brody. “So he was the one in the ranch’s tack room? What’d he steal?” Brody addressed his question to Scott.
“Nothing, as far as inventory was concerned. So far, if Mrs. Johnson or Mesa want to file charges, I think it’d be for trespassing. But their foreman said he couldn’t identify the intruder.”
Brody slammed his fist into his open palm. “Sonofabitch. Did the little numb nut ask for a lawyer?”
“No.” Chief Deputy Scott stopped and handed papers to Deuce. “Here’s my report. I’m off again to make sure the partiers get home safely.” He turned to Brody. “Truly glad to see you back with us; only wish it was under better circumstances.”
“Thanks, but I’d like to be locked up three minutes in a cell with the little bastard.” Brody gritted his teeth.
Deuce placed a hand on Brody’s shoulder. “Anger won’t get us anywhere, Brody. Even a minor offense of trespassing could send Tommy to the slammer for probation violation. That’s why I called you in, as a friend. I don’t think he needs to go to prison unless there is no other way. Since nobody wants charges filed, do you want me to scare the living hell out of him or let you take him home? Having to face his brother and your sister might be worse than anything I can say.”
Brody weighed the options. “That won’t do any good. I’ve talked until I’m blue in the face about what a second offense could do to him. He swears he was set up on the dope sting.”
“What do you think?”
“I’m really drawn on it. The professional side says he did it, while the personal side of me thinks he didn’t. He has money but doesn’t work except at the café. But then I haven’t seen him high. His worse trait is being stubborn, having a filthy mouth and bad temper, which can be attributed to being young and stupid.” Brody formed his hands in a steeple, giving him time to think through what the sheriff had said. “I’ve even talked to my brother-in-law about Tommy hanging out with the wrong crowd and I’ve gotten nowhere with either of them. Stanley defends Tommy and is adamant that the kid just needs a break. The little filthy-mouthed bastard needs a break okay, but it needs to be at the elbow or knee.” He took off his pirate skullcap and threw it across the room. “Deuce, right now I’m too mad to think clearly, so do whatever you think is best.”
“Let’s move him over to the pucker power interview room,” Deuce said to Brody but gave an undisputed order to Deputy Jessup.
After more bad language than you’d get down at Huntsville State Prison and the rattling of chairs stopped, Deputy Jessup reappeared with two canned Cokes. “He wasn’t too happy about being moved, but I got the job done.” The deputy handed the cans to the sheriff.
“Thanks, Jessup. How about getting out on the square for a while and making sure there’s no problems with the partiers. One arrest for causing a disturbance for shooting a gun in the air is one too many.” Deuce turned to Brody. “I know how badly you want to be involved in the interview, but you can’t, so just sit tight behind the one-way glass window and observe. If there’s anything I need to know and there isn’t anyone else around just tap on the door and step away so Tommy doesn’t see you, and I’ll come out.”
Out of a Texas Night Page 4
