Texas Ranger Showdown

by Margaret Daley

  She agreed to meet with both men at their houses to have their sessions. She still needed to tell Ian that, and she hoped he wouldn’t disapprove. Maybe it wouldn’t be an issue if the killer was arrested by then. Each of the men’s appointments was toward the end of the following week.

  Ian appeared in the doorway of her office. “Are you ready?”

  She glanced around to make sure she had everything she would need at Emma’s. “Yes. I asked Rob Owens and Blake to help us take the boxes to your SUV. With them helping, we’ll only need to make two trips.” She covered the space between them. “Where did Blake go?”

  “He didn’t leave. He’ll be back soon.”

  “I’ll let Rob know I’m ready to leave.” She made a quick call to the nurse. “How’s Sean doing at your grandmother’s?”

  Ian chuckled. “The second we arrived, he had three ladies doting on him. With Alice, Sally and Nana, my brother won’t get much alone time.”

  “Poor guy, but he needs to know there are a lot of people who care about him.”

  Rob poked his head in. “I’m ready. I was getting ready to leave, so perfect timing. Where are the boxes I need to help you with?”

  Caitlyn pointed to the three stacks.

  “Are you moving out?” Rob headed in the direction she’d indicated.

  “No, but I’m going to work from home next week.”

  He squatted and lifted two cartons. “You aren’t meeting patients here?”

  “No. I need some time away. This break-in was a good excuse to do that,” she said, while Blake returned and grabbed a load too.

  With their help, the back of Ian’s SUV was filled up with evidence of her seven years of practice.

  “Thanks, Blake and Rob, for helping me.”

  “Anytime.” Rob dug his keys out of his pocket and walked to his car.

  Exhaustion wove through her. She shouldn’t have stopped. Now all she wanted to do was sleep. Caitlyn climbed into Ian’s vehicle while he shook hands with Blake, who then also left. She leaned against the headrest and closed her eyes.

  When the driver’s-side door opened and closed, she rolled her head focus to on Ian. “You look as tired as I am. I don’t know how sharp I’m going to be checking these files tonight. Over the years, I’ve had some patients with problems that break my heart. I have to be objective, but there were times that was hard. I’ve had a few I couldn’t help. One moved away. Another stopped coming, even when I told him I would adjust the cost of a session to fit his budget. The worst was six months ago. I had a young man who committed suicide. It devastated me. He’d been making progress, then he missed a session. He’d called the receptionist to cancel. When I called him to see if everything was okay, he didn’t answer.” Her throat tightened at the memory.

  “How did you find out he committed suicide?”

  “Later he called me back. He told me he couldn’t live any longer. I stayed on the phone with him while I drove to his apartment. But by the time I arrived at his place, the medication he had used to overdose on had killed him. He left a note, saying he couldn’t handle life anymore.” Why didn’t I see it? “During his last session with me, there were no signs he was thinking about suicide.” But still, she had questioned herself concerning her plan of treatment for him.

  “We both have difficult jobs. I try to remain objective in a case, but sometimes it isn’t easy, especially when there’s a child involved.”

  “For a while I contemplated working with children but, in the end, I knew I couldn’t do it for that very reason. I’d never be able to stay detached.”

  “You were always so good with kids. Didn’t you take care of the nursery at church every Sunday as a teenager?”

  “I still do, once a month. I love holding the babies.” When she’d learned she was pregnant from the rape, she’d decided to keep the child. She’d begun to think being a mother was the blessing from the life-changing ordeal. But she’d miscarried when she was six months along, and that devastated her life all over again. She knew she was going to have a girl and had already named her Kathleen. Byron might have taken her innocence from her, but her baby was hers to love as though nothing tragic had caused her conception.

  “Then why aren’t you married with several of your own babies? You would be a great mother.”

  She’d visualized that herself with Kathleen. Byron had robbed her of a sense of self-assurance, and even now she grappled with being confident in certain situations with men. And for that reason, she’d rarely dated and instead threw her life into her studies and later her career. “I never found the right man. How about you?”

  When Ian didn’t say anything for a moment, she glanced at his profile, the line of his jaw hard, as if he were gritting his teeth. Had she touched on a forbidden subject? “You don’t have to answer that.”

  Ian pulled into his grandmother’s driveway and switched off the engine. “I was engaged once.”

  His statement surprised her. “Emma never told me that.”

  “It’s because I wasn’t engaged for very long. I hadn’t told my family yet.”

  “What happened?” she asked, knowing from his stiff posture and tight hold on the steering wheel that she was treading into a subject he didn’t like to discuss.

  “Are you asking as a therapist or friend?”

  “Which one do you need?”

  He released his grip on the wheel and opened his door. “We’d better get inside before the grandmothers get overly curious. Nana is getting quite good at interrogating me.”

  In other words, he didn’t want to share why he’d never got married. She understood. She had her own secrets, which were best left in the past.

  As she strolled to the porch, the front door swung open, and Granny filled the entrance with her lips pinched together. “Are we late for dinner?” Caitlyn whispered to Ian next to her.

  “I don’t think so, but then I don’t know when dinner is supposed to be. Nana hasn’t had the evening meal at the same time the whole week I’ve been here.”

  “What’s wrong, Granny?”

  “I just got a call from the killer.”

  EIGHT

  As Sally stepped to the side, Ian hurried Caitlyn into the house. “What did the man say?”

  Caitlyn’s grandmother opened her mouth, then snapped it close. “Shh. I don’t want the others to hear. Emma is barely holding herself together. She hates having to stay in the house all the time.” She took Caitlyn’s arm and pulled her down the hall, through the kitchen to the back door and out onto the patio. She gestured toward the four-foot fence that enclosed the yard. “We should be safe, especially with the police involvement and protection.” When she turned, she faced away from the home. “You two had just parked in the driveway when I received a call on my cell phone. When I said hello, silence was all there was. Then when I was going to hang up, an odd, husky voice said, ‘Tell Caitlyn to stop me.’ Didn’t the killer write Stop me! on Jane’s photo? And he called her radio show too and said that.”

  “Yes, but you still need to keep quiet about that. The town is already panicked enough.” Ian pivoted to mentally pan the backyard. “Let’s go back inside and get your phone. I want to see what number he used. We still haven’t found Kelli’s, but we’ve put a trace on it.”

  “I was in my bedroom. I left it on the dresser when I saw you two pull up. I’ll go get it.” Sally scurried ahead of Ian and Caitlyn into the house.

  “Where’s Alice, Emma and Sean?” Ian asked before Sally disappeared into the hallway.

  “In the den, trying to figure out where you and Sean will sleep.”

  “We’ll sleep on the floor,” Ian said to the departing Sally, then turned to Caitlyn. “I hope Sean isn’t shutting down. I hated leaving him with three ladies who love to dote.”

  “Let’s go rescue him. I need to talk to him. I thought I
might before dinner.”

  “That sounds good.”

  In the hall near the den, Caitlyn stopped Ian’s progress and pulled him around to face her. “You know I can’t tell you what he says to me unless Sean is okay with that.”

  “Don’t ask him to. Right now, I just want him to get help. I’m hoping that he’ll tell me what’s going on on his own.”

  She smiled at him and slipped her hand off his arm. “I hope so too.”

  When Ian entered the den, Sean sat between Alice and Emma, who were conversing about how to put some cushions together for Sean and Ian. The wide-eyed look that Sean shot Ian screamed his brother’s need of rescue.

  “Emma, you have a king-size bed. Can Alice or Granny share your bed while the other stays with me? That way Sean and Ian can stay in the third bedroom.” Caitlyn looked from the women to Sean, then Ian. “Wouldn’t that work, rather than try to make beds on the hard floor?”

  “Well, yes, that’ll work.” Emma rose from the sofa. “I’m glad that’s been taken care of. Alice, thanks for offering to help me with dinner. We’d better start now.”

  Alice and Emma headed for the kitchen.

  Sean relaxed against the back cushion. “Thanks for thinking of that, Caitlyn.”

  “Are you okay, Sean? You looked like you felt cornered.” Caitlyn made her way to the couch and eased down onto the other end from Sean.

  “I was! I’ve been refereeing since Ian left me alone with the ladies.”

  “Welcome to my world,” Ian said with a chuckle. He glanced from his brother to Caitlyn. “I need to see Sally. Will you two behave while I’m gone?”

  “Of course.” Caitlyn shifted her attention to Sean. “I’d like to talk to you. Is that all right?”

  Ian’s brother nodded.

  “I’ll let y’all know when dinner is ready.” Ian walked toward the hallway and shut the door as he left.

  He went in search of Sally, relieved that Sean hadn’t said no to talking to Caitlyn. He wanted his brother back. What was happening in Longhorn was tearing the town apart. He didn’t want Sean to be an emotional victim.

  Ian found Caitlyn’s grandmother coming out of her bedroom with her cell phone in her hand. She gave it to him, the screen showing the information of the last caller. “It’s not Kelli Williams’s number. Can I take this?”

  “Sure. I have my calls from my home number transferred to this one. Not many people know my cell number. When will I get it back?”

  “A few hours at most. Can I borrow your house key?”

  Sally blinked rapidly. “Why?”

  “I want to check your house.”

  “You think the killer is in my house?”

  “I don’t know. Stay here and help Alice and Nana in the kitchen. Caitlyn is talking with Sean in the den. I’ll feel better if I do a walk-through of your house.”

  “Because the killer is fixated on Caitlyn?”

  “It’s a precaution. That’s all.” After today, there was no doubt the guy had a reason to involve Caitlyn. If he could figure out why, then he might find the killer—hopefully before someone else died.

  Ian left Nana’s house and crossed the yard to Sally’s. When he unlocked the front door and stepped inside the home, the eerie quiet churned his gut. Chills tingled down his spine. Everything looked in order, but he didn’t have a good feeling. He remembered Caitlyn’s town house had been in perfect order except for the photo pinned to the door. He glanced over his shoulder and sighed in relief when he didn’t see a photo anywhere.

  Weapon drawn, Ian walked through the living and dining rooms, everything again seemingly in order. He stepped into the kitchen, recalling only a few days ago he and Caitlyn had eaten lunch together there. After being at Jane’s dump site earlier that day, the sight of Caitlyn had lifted his spirits.

  As he proceeded, he dug into his pocket for his cell phone to call the sheriff and let him know about the killer contacting Sally and the number he’d called from. He hoped Tom could trace it. While he headed down the hallway to check the rest of the house, he punched Tom’s phone number in. As it rang, he entered Sally’s bedroom, his attention glued to a photo lying on a pillow.

  “Hello. I hope you have good news for me,” Tom said.

  Ian held the phone to his ear while juggling the grip on his gun. “I’m at Sally Rhodes’s house and...”

  Something heavy struck the back of his head. Pain flashed through him. His gun flew out of his hand. He started to turn to defend himself when an object smashed into the side of his face.

  And everything went dark.

  * * *

  Caitlyn exchanged a few pleasantries with Sean, his tensed posture relaxing. “Tell me what led to you picking up the gun and pointing it at yourself today.”

  Sean blinked rapidly, sitting straight up. “You don’t pull any punches.”

  “And in the past, you never did either. We’ve been friends for years. I’m concerned about you. I want to understand your reasons and the feelings you had at the time.”

  “I’d just returned from the Shephards’ house. Jack took one look at me and began yelling that his baby was dead because of me.”

  “Why did he say that?”

  “Because the morning of her death Jane had told him she was dating me. He had said to Jane he would do anything to keep us apart. It’s not a secret that Jack and my dad had issues over the border of our ranches.”

  “Why were you drinking that day?”

  “I knew how Jane felt about her father. She’d been sure she could convince him that I was perfect for her and that it was time the feud over our ranches be resolved. If we married, then the ranches could be merged into one. Jane did everything her dad asked. She adored him and feared him.”

  Exactly the impression Caitlyn had come to over the months she’d been counseling Jane. The young woman never said anything about Sean, but Caitlyn had sensed she was seeing someone important to her. Could the senator, in his rage, kill his own daughter? He could have killed Jane, then left for Austin. He hadn’t wanted Caitlyn to talk to Ian about Jane’s sessions. It was Mrs. Shephard who’d given her permission. But what about Kelli’s murder? How would that connect to Jane’s?

  “I don’t think you’re the killer, but do you blame yourself in any way for Jane’s death?”

  Sean’s shoulders sagged, and he lowered his head. “I should have been able to protect her somehow. Instead I went home after seeing Jane and drank more and more when I couldn’t get hold of her by phone. I figured Jack had convinced her to stay away from me. I tried to tell her he wouldn’t come around. He was stubborn and ruthless at times. I would have been satisfied if we just met in secret. I would...”

  “Would what?”

  Shaking his head, he folded his arms over his chest, avoiding eye contact.

  He was closing himself off. “Do you want to find Jane’s killer?” she asked.

  He lifted his head, and his sharp gaze fixed on her. “Yes.”

  Good. He had a reason to live. He still had more to share and work through. He’d lost two people he loved within months of each other and was struggling to deal with their deaths. “Then you need to help Ian. Think about your conversations with Jane. Did anyone stalk or bother her? Did she complain about anyone?”

  The den door slammed open. Granny, as white as the shirt she wore, rushed into the room. “There are two police cars in my driveway and I can’t find Ian. He was going to check my house.”

  Sean and Caitlyn simultaneously jumped to their feet. While Sean exited the den first, Caitlyn stopped to say, “You, Alice and Emma stay on the front porch. Do not follow us. I’ll let you know what happened.” Then she hurried outside after Sean as another cruiser pulled up and the police chief climbed from it.

  Not a good sign. Had Ian found something? Then she heard a siren, its sound growing closer as t
he seconds ticked. An ambulance? Her heartbeat thundered against her skull, drowning out the noise slightly. A police officer stopped Sean a few feet from the porch.

  “What’s going on in there?” Sean asked, his hands opening and closing at his sides.

  “I’m not at liberty—”

  “My brother’s in there.”

  Caitlyn touched Sean’s arm. “Blake, I’m so glad you’re here. What’s happening?” She gestured toward Granny standing between Alice and Emma. “This is my grandmother’s house and she’s beside herself. Ian came over to check on the place. Is he all right?”

  “Ma’am, I’m not—”

  The arrival of an ambulance coming down the street interrupted Officer Collins’s explanation.

  Caitlyn swung her attention from the vehicle parking at the curb to Blake. “How bad is he?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Sean stepped into the policeman’s personal space. “You can’t send my brother to the hospital. He’ll die there.”

  While Blake was distracted, Caitlyn ran up the stairs to the porch, reaching for the door. Before she could grasp the handle, Chief Franklin came out, his expression grim. “Is Ian all right?” she asked in a breathless voice.

  “He will be.” He moved Caitlyn and himself to the side to allow the EMTs inside.

  When Sean spied the police chief, he skirted Blake Collins and took the steps two at a time. “What happened?”

  “Ian was attacked and knocked out.”

  “Is he conscious?”

  The police chief looked at Caitlyn. “Yes.”