One Tough Texan

by MJ Rodgers

  Matt was distracted from his thoughts when Perry gave him a sign that a call had come in for Jamie. Matt quickly introduced a commercial break. The instant the camera was off him, he made his way to the switchboard.

  Matt picked up a receiver next to the switchboard and signaled to Perry to transfer the call to Jamie where she sat waiting in the small studio office.

  Jamie picked up the receiver on the first ring.

  “Hello.”

  “Is this Jamie?”

  Matt noted it was a woman’s voice asking.

  “Yes. Who’s this?”

  “My name is Erline Lagarrigue.”

  “You’re Tony’s mama!”

  “Yes, Tony’s my boy. And, I don’t appreciate your saying he took you out and kissed you, when he never did.”

  “Excuse me, ma’am?”

  “Now, I don’t know why you’re saying things that aren’t true, but you got no call to, no matter what the reason. That’s all I got to say. Goodbye.”

  “Mrs. Lagarrigue, please don’t—”

  Jamie’s plea came too late. Erline Lagarrigue had already hung up on her. Matt replaced the receiver on the hook and turned back to his switchboard operator.

  Perry seemed to read Matt’s mind. He handed over the originating number already recorded on a piece of paper.

  “I want to know the name and address by the end of the show.”

  “You will,” Perry promised.

  Matt felt Randy moving up behind him. He turned just as the assistant producer arrived at the switchboard. “Ten seconds.”

  Matt slipped the number into his pocket and made it back to the set in time to introduce the next segment. During the rest of his half-hour show, Matt kept an eye out for another signal from Perry. There wasn’t one.

  He thanked his crew quickly and went to the switchboard operator. He had the information for Matt on the number from which Jamie’s caller had phoned. Matt made his way to the small office where Jamie waited.

  When he stepped inside, he noticed immediately that she had that haunted look in her eyes. He realized it only came in connection with Tony. He didn’t like what that realization was doing inside him.

  “You want to tell me about the call?” he asked.

  Jamie sighed. “She said her name was Erline Lagarrigue. She said she was Tony’s mama.”

  “Was she?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You didn’t recognize her voice?”

  “I only spoke to Tony’s mama once.”

  “Would you recognize her face?”

  “Yes, I’d know her face.”

  “Then, I’ll pick you up at your place at seven tomorrow morning.”

  Jamie’s startled eyes turned to his. “To go where?”

  “To Louisiana. That’s where the call came from. It’s listed under the name of Oscar Lagarrigue. I’d say we’ve gotten the lead we’ve been looking for.”

  “You traced the call? But how—”

  “Seven tomorrow. Good night.”

  He was out the door before Jamie could make a sound, much less ask any more questions.

  He didn’t want her questioning him. He didn’t want to see that haunted look in her eyes another second and know it was another man she was hankering after. He just wanted this over.

  “Matt?”

  Matt turned around at Randy’s call.

  “The network guys want us in their office tomorrow morning at ten,” his assistant producer said.

  “Can’t make it, Randy. Have to be next week.”

  “Are you crazy? I’m not going back to these guys and telling them they have to wait until next week. Do you have any idea how many local cable programs ever get this kind of a shot?”

  “You have that startling statistic at your fingertips, do you, Randy?”

  “Well, I don’t have the actual statistic.”

  Randy never did. Matt’s assistant producer was a man of lots of sweeping generalizations and few facts. Fortunately for Randy, he was a competent producer.

  “But I can tell you it’s damn few-and I mean damn few,” Randy said, his voice riding high on the scales.

  Matt knew Randy was young and eager. Too eager. “Look, Randy, when it comes to spelling out our terms, it’s always better to do it on our own time and our own turf.”

  “You think you’re going to spell out terms to a network?”

  A confident smile drew back Matt’s lips. “If you place a small value on what you got, nobody is going to up the price.

  Tell them we’ll squeeze them in a week from this coming Wednesday. Six o’clock in my office. That way they can take us out to dinner after the deal is done.”

  Matt turned to go.

  “You don’t want the show to go to the network!” Randy shouted. “You want it to fail. You want out.”

  Matt halted. True, he thought the syndication stupid. But he never would have tried to sabotage it. There was only one way Randy could have known he wanted out. Matt slowly walked back to him. Randy’s tongue nervously slid over his lips. When Matt reached him, he rested his big hands on Randy’s thin shoulders.

  “Randy, give a listen here to some real good advice. Going over my head to talk to Cliff Nevelt isn’t a real smart career move. Matter of fact, it’s downright suicidal. Get my drift?”

  Randy’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

  Matt withdrew his hands, turned and walked out.

  AS SOON AS MATT had left his small studio office, Jamie picked up the phone and punched in a number. Liz answered on the first ring.

  “Liz, I want you to tell me honestly. I can take it, I swear. Why doesn’t Matt like me?”

  “Uh-oh. What has he done?”

  “He just told me he’d pick me up tomorrow at seven and then stomped out of the room before I could say a word.”

  “What does he want to pick you up for?”

  “He thinks he may have found Tony’s folks in Louisiana.”

  “Jamie, that’s great! Didn’t I tell you Matt’s the best!”

  “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with his P.I. skills.

  But I swear sometimes I could cheerfully string him up by that stiff neck of his. What would have been so terrible about his staying around to see if I was ready to go tomorrow?”

  “The way Matt acts around you is passing strange, Jamie.

  He’s never been a ladies’ man, but he’s normally real polite. Matter of fact, most women find him so attractive that he’s generally having to fight them off.”

  “Yeah, but this woman married his brother.”

  “Naw, that can’t be it.”

  “I’m convinced it is. He’s been like this from the first moment we met. He didn’t think I was good enough for Cade. Compared to the kind of roots the Bonners have-the kind of roots that count in a Texas town-I’m just a tumbleweed.”

  “Jamie, Matt doesn’t think like that.”

  “I think he does.”

  “Don’t forget, Jamie, I’ve known him all my life. He’s not small-minded. Whoever Cade or I brought home, Matt was always hospitable to them. And you should have seen some of the guys I used to bring home! Well, you did see Hank, so you know.”

  “What is it about me, then?”

  “I don’t think it has anything to do with you. I think it’s probably a love affair that went bad and has soured him on women.”

  “Who was she?”

  “I’ve no idea. It was when he came home from that military-intelligence assignment five years ago that I started to notice. the changes. He moved out of his wing at the ranch and rarely came back even for dinner. He started up his P.I. firm and buried himself in work. I don’t even think he’s dated since.”

  “Liz, I just want to be friends. It makes me so mad that he won’t meet me halfway.”

  “Still, you got to admit he got you on his show in record time, and now he’s set aside all his other work to fly to Louisiana to find Tony for you.”

  “That’s
true,” Jamie said, more puzzled than ever. “He has been real accommodating.”

  “It’s going to be all right, Jamie. Trust me. Matt has a real soft heart beneath that tough exterior. And he’s just as competent as hell. It’s not going to take him long to find Tony for you. Remember, you’re family, and family means everything to Matt.”

  Jamie didn’t believe that last bit about Matt considering her family, but she loved Liz for saying it. Liz had been her first real friend in the world. And her best.

  “Did I ever tell you how much you mean to me?” Jamie asked.

  “And right back at you, Jamie Lee Bonner. Come on out to the ranch for supper Sunday if you can break free. Cade will still be out of town, but Mama and Daddy would love to see you. And we’re all going to want an update on the Tony search.”

  “I’ll call and let you know if I can make it. Thanks, Liz. For everything.”

  Jamie hung up the phone feeling a lot better. Liz was the sister she had never had but had always wanted. What’s more, Liz had made Jamie part of the kind of family she had never had but had always wanted.

  If Jamie had had to give up the other Bonners when she divorced Cade, she knew she’d probably still be married to him.

  She’d fallen flat in love with the bunch of them because each and every one of them had accepted her from the first with open hearts.

  Well, all of them except Matt.

  That long-legged son of a gun hadn’t once sent her even one of those half smiles of his. He still stared at her with steel-gray eyes as cool as a March moon.

  Well, she was tired of trying to warm them up. If he wanted to be as ornery as an old longhorn, then let him be.

  Besides, Liz was no doubt right. Matt was going to find Tony real soon, and then she wouldn’t have to be around that big, ol’ ornery bull anymore.

  It should have been a comforting thought. Finding Tony. Losing Matt. But for some reason, it wasn’t comforting at all.

  Matter of fact, it turned the smile right over on Jamie’s lips.

  ROLLO PICKED UP THE phone and dialed the number. It rang several times before Val answered with a sleepy hello.

  “Val, I’ve seen him!”

  “Rollo? What in the hell are you doing calling me in the middle of the night?”

  “Didn’t you hear me? I’ve seen him!”

  “Seen who?”

  “Well, now who in the hell do you think?”

  Rollo heard Val’s startled intake of breath.

  “Where?”

  “On TV. They ran his picture on this late-night cable show.

  ‘Finder of Lost Loves’ it’s called. Reyenna puts it on sometimes. I watch it with her when I spend the night. It comes out of Texas.”

  “What was his picture doing on the show?”

  “Turns out a broad in Texas is looking for him.”

  “What broad?”

  “I don’t know. When Reyenna turned it on, his picture was on the screen. I nearly choked on my beer.”

  “You didn’t blab to Reyenna about him, did you?”

  “Val, sweetie, give me a break. The only redhead I shared both a bed and my secrets with was you.”

  “Knock it off, Rollo. It’s not amusing. What good is any of this if you didn’t get her name?”

  “Hey, I got the station number. The show’s out of San Antonio. I can call them and get her name.”

  “Is it an 800 number?”

  “No.”

  “Good,” Val said, sounding relieved. “Eight-hundred numbers always capture the originating telephone number. Still, you better use a pay phone just to be on the safe side. Find out her name, how she knows him and why she’s looking for him. Do it now.”

  “Now?” Rollo asked.

  “Right now. And be smart about it. Don’t say anything that could leave a trail back to us.”

  “Give me a break, Val. I’m always careful.”

  “You weren’t with him when it counted.”

  “Are you still blaming me for that?”

  “It was all your fault that he gave us the slip. Call me back when you get the information. And be ready to leave in the morning. I’ll pick you up at nine.”

  “We’re going to Texas?”

  “Of course, we’re going to Texas. This woman is our lead. You know how many years I’ve waited for this? I swear to you, I’m going to get him. If it’s the last thing-I do, I’m going to get him!”

  Chapter Four

  “I never figured you for a Cadillac man,” Jamie said as she slipped onto the passenger seat of a big bronze El Dorado. It was plush and as comfortable as a couch. Matt said nothing in response to her comment, just closed the door and circled around to the driver’s side.

  He’d been on time and on his usual reserved behavior. He even refused to. come in for a cup of coffee. He’d stubbornly stood on her doorstep until she had collected her things and then corralled her out to the car.

  But Jamie had promised herself she was not going to be upset by it. She’d thought long and hard on what Liz had said the night before..She decided that it wasn’t her, after all. Matt had been disappointed by some previous experience with a woman. She was- going to have to remind herself of that whenever that rough edge of his mashed against her nerves.

  She watched as he maneuvered his long legs into the car. His huge hands expertly spun the wheel as he drew away from the curb. She remembered what else Liz had saidabout how women found Matt attractive.

  He was attractive. Okay, attractive was an understatement. His rugged profile and well-packed frame projected a straight shot of unadulterated maleness that could be downright dizzying. If a gal was into that sort of thing.

  Jamie wasn’t, of course. She’d always been drawn to men with big hearts, not big biceps.

  Not that Cade hadn’t had some bulk, too. But that was just an added feature, like a nice accessory on a car.

  “So what kind of car did you think I’d drive?” Matt asked suddenly, surprising her with how closely his question mirrored her mental ramblings.

  “A tank, at least,” Jamie said with no hesitation. “Certainly not this plush, comfortable, normal car.”

  She watched his profile carefully in hopes of a smile. She didn’t get one.

  “Cade drives a Seville,” Matt said.

  “Yes, but Cade is normal. Now you…”

  She let her voice trail off deliberately and waited. And waited some more.

  “What about me?” he asked, finally taking the conversational bait just about when she was ready to give up. Was she imagining a speck of interest in his gravelly voice?

  “You are a man no one would ever dare call normal. So, how long will the flight be to Louisiana?”

  “About three hours. We change planes in Houston. Why wouldn’t 1 be called normal?”

  So, he was interested. Well, maybe he was human after all.

  “Because you’re not an experience for the fainthearted, Matt Bonner. I remember that first day I saw you. Suddenly, I looked up and there you were just like an enormous chunk of Texas-ninety-percent sky and ten-percent earth and far too big to be believed.”

  Jamie waited for a response, but he was quiet after that. It wasn’t a comfortable, companionable quiet, which sometimes stretched between two people. It was charged, and made her nerves positively dance. Now what was wrong?

  “Matt, I meant no offense by that description.”

  “No offense?”

  His words had come out with just that touch of gruffness that she’d come to recognize with discomfort.

  “I was just kicking around a little conversation so as to get you to smile.”

  Once again Jamie was greeted by quiet, only this time it was even more charged. She could see what appeared to be a real busy pulse throbbing in his jaw. This conversation had crossed that line from uncomfortable to troublesome real quick.

  “So where in Louisiana are we going?” she asked, redirecting. the topic back to the much safer territory of business.
/>
  “Far end of the Saint Tammany Parish.” His voice sounded real cool. “It’s in an area called the north shore of New Orleans.”

  “And that’s where Oscar and Erline Lagarrigue live?”

  “That’s the address that goes with the telephone number she used to call you last night.”

  “About that call, Matt. I suppose you’d better know that Erline said something…odd.”

  “You mean about the fact that according to her you never went out with Tony?”

  Jamie whirled around in the passenger seat to fully look at him. “You listened in on my call!”

  His eyes remained straight ahead, focused on the road.

  “Someone calls you up and threatens you, and I’m supposed to sit back and just let him call again without taking any precautions?”

  “Why didn’t you at least tell me that you were going to listen in?”

  “Would you have agreed to let me?”

  “No.”

  “There’s your answer.”

  “Damn it, Matt, I would have told you what she said.”

  “Just like you would have told me what your last caller said? As I recall, I had to drag every word of that conversation out of you.”

  Jamie crossed her arms over her chest and took several deep breaths, trying to remind herself the whole time that she’d promised herself not to get frayed on Matt’s rough edges. After the way he had grilled her about the contents of the first call, she should have guessed something was wrong when he’d asked so little about the second.

  “You haven’t answered my question,” Matt said. “Why would Erline Lagarrigue deny Tony went out with you?”

  “You ask me that as though you think I should know the answer. How could I?”

  “Have you considered that Tony might have sneaked out that night to meet you? His folks may never have known.”

  “Tony didn’t have to do something like that. His folks were nice. Real nice.”

  “I thought you said you only met them the one time.”

  “It doesn’t take long to determine who’s mannered and who isn’t. And while we’re on the subject of manners, the next time you want to listen in on one of my telephone calls, Matt Bonner, I strongly suggest you ask me first.”