Lawman with a Cause

by Delores Fossen

  The name didn’t mean anything to Jordan, and judging from Egan’s head shake, he didn’t recognize it, either.

  “Lorena was a legal assistant at a firm in Austin,” Court continued. “No priors. No red flags to indicate she was involved in anything illegal. She was reported missing two days ago, and her fiancé just viewed the body and made a positive ID.” He paused. “How’d you know it wasn’t Tori?”

  “Because she’s here at the sheriff’s office,” Egan answered. “And get this—she’s Kirk’s lawyer.”

  Court cursed. “How the hell did that happen?”

  “I’m about to find out when I interview them.”

  “You really think that’s a good idea? I mean, because of Shanna. Dealing with Kirk alone is bad enough, but he could use this to dredge up some rough memories for you.”

  Jordan didn’t have to guess how Egan felt about this. The memories were already there, but Court was right. Kirk could use Tori to try to push some of Egan’s hot buttons, and since his patience level was probably about as low as it could get, Egan could end up saying something that would hurt this investigation.

  “By any chance did Lorena work for the same law firm as Tori?” Jordan asked Court.

  “No,” he answered. “Tori’s law firm is in San Antonio.”

  That didn’t mean the women hadn’t known each other, though, or that maybe they’d once worked together, and that might be a critical connection. Perhaps this Lorena had learned something, maybe something about Kirk, and he had her killed for it.

  “The gun we got from Kirk’s housekeeper is on the way to the lab,” Court went on a few seconds later. “It’ll be a while before we hear anything on that, and I’m guessing Kirk will say it was planted.”

  “Yep,” Egan verified. “He said it was Leeroy, that he went to Kirk’s house last night.”

  Court made a sound of skepticism, and Jordan felt the same way. There was something unsettling about how all of this was playing out.

  “I was about to call to get Leeroy in for questioning,” Egan explained.

  “I can do that. I’m on my way back now. My advice—why don’t you go ahead and get Jordan out of there?”

  “There was a problem with the safe house,” Egan explained.

  “I wasn’t going to suggest you take her there anyway. Dad’s alone at the ranch. He moved back into the main house.”

  Since their father, Warren, was a former sheriff, his being alone normally wouldn’t have caused that kind of alarm in Court’s voice. But Jordan knew that Warren was still recovering from a gunshot wound that he’d gotten several months earlier.

  “Isn’t your housekeeper, Ruby, with him?” Jordan asked. Ruby had been working for the McCalls for so long that she was practically family. And even though she was in her sixties now, Jordan knew the woman could handle a firearm.

  “No. Dad insisted she take some time off.”

  Court didn’t mention his mother, but Jordan knew that the woman was in a mental hospital. She’d had a breakdown after learning about her husband’s longtime affair with Alma Lawton. But even though their parents and sister weren’t at the ranch, that left one other person.

  “What about your wife, Rayna?” she pressed.

  “She’s with Rachel, and I’ll have her stay there until things settle down. If you don’t want to stay at the main house with Dad, you can go to the guesthouse. No one’s using it now, and it has a security system.”

  She knew exactly what guesthouse he meant because Egan had taken her there a couple of times when they’d still been together. It wasn’t ideal, but it was probably safer than a hotel.

  Thea came back into the squad room, and she gave Egan a thumbs-up to indicate she had Kirk and Tori in the interview room.

  “If Jordan and you go to the ranch, it’d solve two problems,” Court pressed. “Dad would have someone close by to keep an eye on him. But it would also get Jordan out of the squad room and away from our suspects. I figure she’s already had enough of all of them.”

  Jordan had indeed had enough, and she did want to make sure Warren was okay, but if they stayed at the sheriff’s office, she might be able to learn something from the interviews. Though the chances were slim. Tori probably wasn’t going to let Kirk say anything stupid or incriminating. Leeroy might let his temper get the best of him and blurt out something, but even that was a long shot.

  “You’re sure you want to tackle questioning both Kirk and Leeroy?” Egan asked his brother.

  “Definitely. This wouldn’t be nearly as hard for me to do as it would be for you. And while I’m talking to our suspects,” Court went on, “Jordan and you can work on following up with the lab on the gun and trying to figure out how Lorena Lovett fits into all of this.”

  Egan still wasn’t jumping to agree to that. But then he looked at her, and she saw his expression change. That was probably because she made the mistake of touching the bandage on her shoulder. Yes, the stitches were hurting, and she hadn’t wanted to take any pain meds because it would have clouded her mind. No way could she risk that now. Still, she was in pain, and there was no way to hide that from Egan.

  “How far out are you?” Egan asked Court.

  “Only about fifteen minutes. Go ahead and leave. I’ll be there soon enough.”

  Egan ended the call, but even after everything Court had just said, there was still some hesitation in Egan’s eyes.

  “I could follow you to the ranch,” Ian volunteered. “After you’re there, I could come back here if there are enough hands to help you guard the house and the rest of the grounds.”

  The McCall Ranch was huge, which meant it would be next to impossible to keep watch of every part of it. Egan was no doubt considering that, but after one look at her again, he nodded and then turned to Thea.

  “Call one of the reserve deputies to fill in here for a while,” Egan said to Thea. “If they’re all tied up, ask Griff to come in.”

  Griff was Thea’s brother, Texas Ranger Griff Morris. He would also soon be marrying Egan’s sister. Better yet, he’d once been a deputy in McCall Canyon so he’d know how to handle their suspects. If Egan wanted him to handle them, that was. Apparently, he did because he motioned toward the break room.

  “Get your things, and we can leave now,” Egan instructed her.

  Jordan nodded and headed to the break room. The interview room door was closed, but she could hear Tori and Kirk having what appeared to be a heated conversation. Jordan couldn’t hear specifically what they were saying, but Tori sounded agitated. She considered putting her ear to the door, but since that would be a violation of attorney-client privilege, Jordan walked away. If Kirk was charged with something, then she didn’t want to be the reason he was set free.

  By the time Jordan had gotten her things and made it back to the squad room, Egan was already at the front door, and he had the cruiser keys in his hand.

  “Move fast,” he told her.

  She did, and when they were both in the cruiser, that was when she spotted Ian in the vehicle parked directly behind them. The moment Egan pulled out, so did the deputy.

  “If you’re going to the ranch because of me—” she started, but Jordan didn’t get a chance to finish.

  “It’s not just you. My dad’s been getting death threats.”

  She pulled in a quick breath. “Because of me?”

  He quickly shook his head. “We’re not sure who’s sending them, but he’s been getting them for a couple of months now. Ever since his shooting. The threats keep getting worse with each new one he gets.”

  Jordan was relieved that this wasn’t on her shoulders, but it couldn’t be pleasant for the McCalls for this to be happening. They were a family of cowboy cops, and it probably ate away at Egan that he hadn’t been able to protect his father. Warren had nearly died from his gunshot wound, and apparently someone might
try again to kill him.

  “My dad takes too many chances,” Egan went on. He took the turn off Main Street and onto the rural road that led to the ranch. “It’s almost as if he’s trying to draw out the person behind the threats. Maybe so he can put an end to them. That’s why Court wanted someone to be with him.”

  Jordan understood that need for the threats to end, and if she thought that calling out her attacker would work, then she would do it. At least then Egan might not be in danger.

  “I think Kirk and Tori were arguing in the interview room,” she told him.

  That caused Egan to give her a long glance. “Something’s not right between those two. I hope Kirk hasn’t been able to convince Tori to kill the other recipients as some kind of sick revenge for his brother.”

  Jordan hoped that, too, but even if Tori didn’t know anything about the murder plot, she could still be in danger.

  “Maybe we can find something you can use to arrest Kirk,” Jordan threw out there. “If Christian’s CI can identify Kirk in a lineup, will that be enough for you to make an arrest?”

  Egan shook his head while he continued to keep watch around them. “Just because Kirk was at the chop shop, it doesn’t mean he had them build that custom truck. What I need is someone who saw Kirk with a truck like that. Maybe someone like his housekeeper.”

  True. But since she’d tried to keep the gun from the reserve deputies, the woman seemed very loyal to Kirk. Loyal enough to lie about a truck that was a key part of a murder investigation.

  “The reserve deputies arrested the housekeeper,” Egan went on, “so Court can question her, too.” He added a low groan at the end of that. Probably because he was frustrated about all of these interrogation duties landing on his brother.

  “I’m sorry you have to babysit me,” she mumbled.

  Something flashed through his eyes. Possibly anger. But Egan’s attention didn’t stay on her for long. That was because his phone dinged, the sound shooting through the cruiser, and when he took it from his pocket, Jordan saw his father’s name on the screen. Egan immediately hit the answer button and put it on speaker.

  “We have a problem,” Warren McCall said the moment he was on the line. “One of the hands just spotted an armed intruder coming over the fence.”

  Chapter Nine

  Egan felt the slam of adrenaline and fear. This was what Court and he had been worried about.

  But now he had another worry. Jordan was with him, and while everything inside him was yelling for him to get to the ranch, he could be taking her right into the middle of another attack.

  “Don’t even think about driving me back to the sheriff’s office,” she insisted. “Your father could be in danger, and you need to get there ASAP.”

  It wasn’t a surprise that Jordan wanted him to hurry to the ranch. No way would she expect him to put her safety ahead of his father’s.

  And Egan didn’t intend to do that.

  He wanted them both safe, but that might not happen if he did indeed turn around. That would mean either heading back to the sheriff’s office while Ian proceeded to the ranch. That would leave Jordan and him open for an ambush. Plus, it would leave his father more vulnerable. Ian was a deputy, but Egan might need even more backup if this intruder went after Warren.

  If this guy was after him, that was.

  It was entirely possible that this person was after Jordan and him. Even though Egan had told only Ian, Thea and Court that he was going to the ranch, that didn’t mean the person after them hadn’t anticipated what might happen. This could be a would-be killer getting himself into position to make sure Jordan and he didn’t survive another attack.

  Egan didn’t have time to debate this with himself. “I’ll be at the ranch in about five minutes,” he told his father, and after he ended the call, he handed Jordan his phone. “Call Ian and tell him what’s going on. Court, too.” He hit the accelerator and continued toward the ranch.

  Jordan made the calls while she kept watch around them. She also threw open the glove compartment. “I want a gun just in case.”

  He hated the idea of her having to be in a gunfight, but there wasn’t much about this situation that he liked. He reached over, his arm brushing against hers. Her muscles were already tense and knotted, something he completely understood. Egan took out the Glock that he kept as a reserve weapon and handed it to her.

  “Thanks,” she muttered just as his phone rang again with another call. It was his father’s name on the screen again.

  “Put it on speaker,” Egan instructed. He wanted to hear what his dad had to say, but he also needed to keep his attention on the road. After all, the intruder could really be just a trap for another attack.

  “Art lost sight of the armed man,” his father immediately said.

  Art Stovall was one of the top hands at the ranch and wouldn’t hesitate to protect Warren. “Where did Art last see him?” Egan asked.

  “The west fence near the guesthouse.”

  That caused Egan’s chest to tighten. The guesthouse had come up during his conversation with Court. It might be just a coincidence that the intruder had gone there, but it was entirely possible that Kirk and/or Tori had heard him mention it. Even if they had, though, there probably hadn’t been enough time to send someone to the ranch. Still, maybe they’d had the thug waiting nearby.

  “I’m taking the final turn to the ranch now,” Egan told his dad. “Stay inside and stay down.”

  His father made a sound to indicate that wasn’t going to happen. And it wouldn’t. Once a lawman, always a lawman, and there was no way his dad would just stand by and be attacked.

  “I have Jordan with me,” Egan added. “So when we get to the front of the house, open the door for us.”

  “Will do,” his father assured him.

  Egan motioned for Jordan to press the end-call button, and he used the remote to open the large cattle gate that stretched across the ranch road. The gate would stop someone from getting to them by vehicle, but it obviously hadn’t stopped someone from coming across the fence. Egan closed it behind them as soon as Ian and they had made it through.

  There were acres of pastures on each side of the road, and the ground was flat enough that it would have made it impossible for someone to hide there. It was a different story, though, when they made it to the house. The place sprawled out, and there were plenty of trees and shrubs in addition to several trucks and outbuildings. An intruder would find plenty of places to hide if he’d made it this far.

  Another ranch hand, Bennie Jensen, was on the side of the house near one of the trucks. He had a rifle, which meant he’d been alerted that there was a problem. Egan wanted the hand as backup, but he didn’t want him out in the open like that.

  “Take cover in the barn,” Egan called out to Bennie the moment he came to a stop in front of the house and opened the cruiser door. Bennie could still keep watch from there. Well, hopefully he could. No matter where he was, there’d be blind spots.

  Bennie moved, hurrying to the barn, and Egan intended to hurry as well when he got Jordan from the cruiser to the house. As he’d instructed his father, the front door opened.

  “Don’t come out on the porch,” Egan warned his dad. “Stay back.”

  As soon as his father had done that, Egan drew his gun and motioned for Jordan to crawl across the seat and get out on his side of the vehicle. He waited until both Ian and she had their feet on the ground before he took hold of her arm to help her get up the eight steps that led up to the porch. They got up the first two when Egan heard a sound he didn’t want to hear.

  A gunshot.

  This one blasted through the air and slammed into the steps right where they were.

  Egan got another jolt of the adrenaline, and even though he had his gun ready, he didn’t know where to shoot to return fire. Plus, his first priority had to be to make
sure Ian, his father and Jordan were out of the line of fire.

  “Dad, get down!” Egan shouted.

  Egan hooked his arm around Jordan’s waist and dragged her off the steps and into the yard. It was a risk because they could still be in the path of any other bullets, but it was even riskier to try to make it to the front door. They’d be easy targets while on the steps.

  They landed, hard, in the middle of some shrubs, and Egan tried not to react to the sound of pain that Jordan made. It was possible, though, that she’d been hurt in the fall. Or maybe she’d even been shot. He didn’t see any blood, but he couldn’t take the time to check and make sure she was okay.

  That was because another bullet came at them.

  This one smashed into the stone step and sent a spray of debris through the air. Egan automatically pushed Jordan all the way to the ground and covered her body with his as best he could.

  “You see the shooter?” Ian called out. The deputy had scrambled beneath the cruiser. Not an ideal position, but then the bullets hadn’t gone in his direction.

  Egan glanced around, trying to pinpoint the direction of the two shots. They had come from straight ahead. Not from the pasture, though. He thought these shots had come from the heavily treed area on the other side of the road past the cattle gate. If so, it meant the shooter was using a long-range rifle. However, it also meant something else.

  They likely had two gunmen targeting them.

  Art had said he’d seen the intruder near the guesthouse. That was at the back of the main house. The guy probably wouldn’t have been able to get past Bennie’s or Warren’s watchful eyes to make it to the front of the property. The second shooter could have already been in place by the time Jordan and he arrived at the ranch. The guy probably hadn’t shot at them sooner because he would have known that the cruiser would be bullet resistant.

  Egan passed Jordan his phone. “Text Ian and Dad. Tell them there could be a second gunman. Bennie needs to know that, too.”

  She gave a shaky nod and took his phone. That was when Egan got a better look at her. And this time he saw what he didn’t want to see. Blood. The stitches on her shoulder had obviously come out, probably in the fall, and she was bleeding again. He didn’t have time, though, to do anything about that because another shot came.