Trusting A Texan (Try to Remember)

by Leann Harris

  “I need some shoes.” She disappeared down the hall.

  Rafe folded the picture and put it in his shirt pocket. There was something going on here, and he would get to the bottom of it.

  April took several deep breaths to slow her racing heart. She leaned back against the door of the bedroom she’d used. Although she couldn’t exactly remember what the body looked like in her dream, she had a feeling that she didn’t want to examine too closely.

  When Rafe had shown her that picture, it was as if all the air was sucked out of her lungs, leaving her suspended between life and death.

  He was a deputy. The word sent a shiver racing up her spine.

  She should tell Rafe about her reaction. But then again, she probably wouldn’t have to. He already had seen it and no doubt was wondering why she was acting so skittish. Pulling her crocheted flats out of the suitcase that Rafe had loaned her, she slipped them on her feet. Her ankle was doing much better.

  She looked into the mirror over the dresser. She was Lynn A. Carson and had seen the driver’s license with her picture on it. That name should mean something to her, but it didn’t.

  So why did Rafe think she’d be able to recognize the missing deputy of Austin County when she didn’t know her own name and couldn’t tell him anything about herself? She fought off the depression threatening to envelop her.

  What other horrors were waiting for her in her past?

  She picked up her suitcase and walked out of the bedroom. Rafe was waiting, and no doubt he had questions. He always did.

  Rafe locked the front door to his friend’s house and followed April out to his sister’s Jeep. He set her suitcase behind the seat, then helped her inside.

  As he pulled out of the driveway, he noticed that April’s hands were folded in her lap, her fingers tightly interlaced. She’d been as tense as a bow string since she’d seen the picture of the missing deputy.

  To him it was obvious that April didn’t want to have anything to do with the missing deputy. And her reaction was probably not conscious, but it was there nonetheless.

  He pointed to the glove compartment. “I’ve got a Texas map in there. Why don’t you pull it out and read me the distance between Alpine and San Antonio on both 90 and 10.” He knew exactly how many miles it was on both routes; he’d traveled them countless times. But April needed something to keep her busy and focused on besides her troubles.

  She pulled out the map and looked. “It’s shorter on 10,” she said after a few minutes.

  He nodded. He considered staying on Route 90 since it would take them through Austin County, but Rafe wanted to see April’s house in San Antonio before he tackled that mountain. He didn’t like going into a situation blind, and if he didn’t know about April’s life, he would be just begging for trouble.

  “Yeah, I believe 10 is quicker. I’ll take 67 coming up here and that will get us onto 10.”

  April stared out her window at the sparse landscape. Her hands were still folded in her lap, but she worried the thumb of one hand with the other. It was obvious that she was anxious.

  “What’s worrying you, April?” he asked, tired of dancing around the issue.

  She looked down at her hands. “That picture you showed me. I don’t know if it was the man I saw in my dream. I only remember seeing the back of his head. He was a blond. Was the man in the picture a blond?”

  Although the photo had been in black-and-white, the guy’s hair color had been listed as blond. “Yes.”

  “Well, I didn’t see the man’s face. But when you showed me that man’s picture, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I don’t know why.” She shrugged.

  “Don’t worry about it, April.”

  She stole a glance at him. He didn’t sound surprised at her admission. “You knew, didn’t you?”

  He nodded. “I had a suspicion.”

  “But I can’t be sure if I knew him. I mean, we just found out that I live in San Antonio. Where was that man from?”

  “He was from Austin County on the Texas-Mexico border.”

  “That’s quite a way from San Antonio, isn’t it? It’s on Route 90, isn’t it?”

  “It’s about three hundred miles, give or take a few.”

  “So how would I have known him? I mean, you said I sounded like a native Texan who’d grown up around Austin, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, how did I know a man from the border?”

  “There are numerous ways in this day and age, April. Rarely do folks stay in the same area where they grew up. Look at me, I grew up in the Valley, yet here I am in west Texas. Hopefully, when we get to your house in San Antonio there will be some clues to help us. Could be that the deputy came from San Antonio to that border county. He could’ve been the one who moved away. Or maybe you went to that county.”

  She looked out at the horizon, a frown on her face. Pieces of the puzzle that were April were coming to him. Too bad he didn’t have a clue how to put them together.

  “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned growing up in the Valley. How did you end up here in west Texas?” she asked.

  “Well, as I told you, after I became a Ranger, my uncle died and left his ranch to me. I’d been a favorite of his and he wanted me to inherit his land. It wasn’t hard to get a transfer from Company E to Company D. The hardest part was convincing my wife to move out here.”

  April turned curious eyes toward him.

  Rafe laughed. “What are you staring at?”

  “Well, the last time you mentioned your wife, you weren’t too—”

  “Kind?”

  She squirmed on the seat. “That’s not exactly the word I would use. You seemed very intense when you mentioned her.”

  He raised his brow. “Well, I’ll tell you something—my ex-wife was a career woman who had no interest in being a wife. She had ambition and none of it was directed my way.”

  “She was very beautiful.”

  “Yeah, Carmen was a good-looker. Too bad it didn’t go deeper than her skin.” His bitterness rang clearly, and that surprised him. He thought he’d put that ghost to rest a long time ago.

  “Oh.”

  “It’s amazing how a beautiful face can hide a shallow, callous heart.”

  Glancing at April, Rafe could tell from the way she bit her bottom lip that she wanted to question him more. Well, he certainly had gotten her out of her doldrums. Unfortunately, he’d opened his mouth about Carmen—again.

  “How long were you married?”

  “Five years. And I can tell you, they weren’t the best years of my life. Things went from bad to hellish when we moved out here. Carmen didn’t like the dust, the weather, the people—there weren’t enough and there wasn’t a branch of the bank she worked at and there was absolutely nothing for her to do. She rarely had any fun—as if it were my job to make sure she had fun.” He broke off his tirade and took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure.

  “And I was never home.” The words slipped out of his mouth. “It took her only two weeks out here to decide she’d had enough, and she left.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry to dump on you. I don’t know what has gotten into me.”

  Her smile eased his guilt. “Don’t worry. I don’t mind. I certainly have dumped on you, numerous times.”

  It amazed him that he could say anything about Carmen and sound sane. He hadn’t said anything about his ex-wife to another living soul. Not to his mom, relatives, or colleagues. It was too personal. Yet here he was spilling his guts to a virtual stranger. And yet, he couldn’t think of April as a stranger. It was almost as if she’d been dropped into his life for a purpose. He just wished he knew what that purpose was.

  “It was the best thing for both of us when Carmen decided to leave me. I wasn’t what she wanted; she wanted a man who enjoyed partying. And she—well, let’s just say, we never agreed on anything, except the divorce. That was the best thing she and I ever did for each other.” He laughed and shook his head. “It’s
amazing how quickly passion can die without anything to support it.”

  His words echoed in the truck. He thought about the first months with his ex-wife and the wild nights of furor they’d shared. But oddly enough, nothing he’d shared with Carmen ever came close to the feelings he had during the night with April. Sure, his lovemaking with April had been passionate, but there had been something more there. An understanding. A comfort.

  He shied away from that train of thought. “Carmen would’ve died for sure if she’d known who my father was. Rich oilmen like him weren’t her favorites, but she would’ve liked the money he had.”

  “Well, I’ll say this for your family, they all seemed to care the other night when they called,” April said, “and the night I met them.”

  Rafe laughed. “It still seems mighty odd to have sisters.” After a moment he added, “But I think I like it. All the time I was growing up, I envied my cousins their closeness and easiness with each other. I wanted that sense of family, and to my cousins’ credit, they tried. But when I met J.D., Toni and Alex, there was an immediate connection. With George bursting at the seams because he finally had a son, I was nervous how my sisters were going to be with me, but they welcomed me with open arms. J.D. even grumbled she wished they had known about me when she was a kid. Then she wouldn’t have tried to be the son George didn’t have. Toni and Alex agreed.”

  “Well, having met Alex and Toni, I look forward to meeting your other sister.”

  He hadn’t allowed himself to fantasize about the future. Carmen had all but cured him of thinking about tomorrow and what was going to happen. Each day had enough grief for itself, and he had learned not to borrow trouble. But hearing April sound as if she wanted to stick around for a while brought a peace to his soul.

  They fell into a comfortable silence. It was a relief that he didn’t have to talk every minute—to entertain April.

  They stopped for lunch in a diner outside Sheffield that Rafe frequented when he traveled this road. The owner greeted them, showed them to a table and took their orders. Everyone in the restaurant greeted Rafe as if he were an old friend. Rafe, in turn, introduced each one to April. Several of the patrons had seen the piece done on her, but no one knew her.

  They were halfway through the meal when the sheriff walked into the café. He immediately walked over to Rafe.

  “Rafe, what are you doing in Crockett county?” The man offered Rafe his hand.

  “Tom, it’s good to see you. April and I were going to San Antonio to see if we can discover something about her past.”

  Thomas Grant turned to April. The man was in his early 50s, with a charming smile and brown hair that showed gray around the temples. “I didn’t see that report on the tube, but my wife did. Have you gotten any leads?”

  Rafe explained what they had learned. “We’re going to check out the lady’s house today.”

  “Well, it caused talk around here. But then again, we’ve got our own news story. One of the local girls married a young man who was a deputy in Austin County. The man’s been missing for several days.”

  Rafe rubbed his neck. “Did you know him?”

  “I met the kid briefly a couple of years ago before they moved to Austin County. He seemed a real straight arrow. That’s what always puzzled me about the situation.”

  A surge of adrenaline washed through Rafe’s body. “Why’s that?” he asked.

  “Oh, come on, Rafe. You’ve never heard about the sheriff of Austin County, Nelson Baker?” The tone of Tom’s voice spoke volumes about his dislike.

  Rafe searched his memory for any mention of a Nelson Baker. “No, I can’t say I have.”

  “Oh, sure you have. You must have heard of ‘Money Bags’ Baker, the slickest fingers in the state? Or maybe his other name—the meanest bastard on the border?”

  A memory surfaced of a sheriff known for his high living and poor salary. “Yeah, I think I heard something about a border sheriff living beyond his means.”

  A bark of laughter erupted from Tom. “It’s obvious to everyone that Baker is taking money for something, but no one, including the Rangers, has been able to pin anything on this guy. He’s slick—slicker than anyone I’ve ever known. Too bad all that energy isn’t directed on the good side of the law.” He shook his head. “Of course, there have been a number of border sheriffs that needed to be in the jails they ran instead of outside them.”

  Rafe glanced at April. She’d gone whiter than a blazing sun at noon. “You say he’s been under investigation by the Rangers?”

  “Yeah, a couple of years, if memory serves me. But they couldn’t get anything on him. Heard he was in a nasty divorce. Apparently, the wife couldn’t live with him. Of course, it’s said that Baker has a violent temper, so who knows what happened.”

  “Do you know what happened to the wife?”

  “No. She left the county and I don’t know where she moved. Of course, I don’t keep up with a lot of that, but I can call my wife—see if she remembers about the wife.”

  “Would you mind doing that for me, Tom. I think it might be important.”

  “Sure. No problem.” Tom stood and walked to the wall phone by the door.

  April stared down at her hamburger. Her face seemed lifeless. Lightly, Rafe touched her arm. “April, are you okay?”

  She slowly raised her eyes to his. “I think I’m going to be sick. Excuse me.” She darted from the table into the women’s bathroom.

  Rafe had decided to go himself to get April out of the bathroom when Tom sat down again. “I just got a call. I’ve got to leave. When I talked to Kitty, she said all she’d heard is that the wife went back to San Antonio, where she was from.”

  Bingo.

  “Thanks, Tom. You’ve been a big help.”

  “Sure, anytime, Rafe. Tell your lady friend goodbye for me.” With a final nod, he walked out.

  Rate went to the phone Tom had used, and dialed Derek to explain what he had just learned. “Why don’t you take a picture of Nelson Baker over to Mabel. She might recognize this guy.”

  “Well, it wasn’t Colby who was out here, that’s for sure. When I showed Mabel that picture, she was definite that he wasn’t the guy.”

  “This time, Derek, I think we’re going to get lucky.”

  “You got it, Rafe.”

  When he hung up, April was coming out of the bathroom. Her haunted eyes stood out in her pale face. Stepping to her side, he gently cupped her elbow. She stopped and looked at him.

  “Are you finished eating?” he gently asked her.

  She nodded.

  “Then why don’t we go?”

  She didn’t resist him as he led her to his truck. He considered trying to talk with her now, but some instinct told him to wait.

  They drove out of town in silence. It was close to an hour before he saw the first tears roll down April’s cheeks. There was a roadside park at the top of the hill. He pulled over and stopped the truck. Without preamble, he gathered her into his arms and held her tightly.

  “I still don’t remember, but when the sheriff was talking about Nelson Baker, it made me want to throw up. I got cold and clammy, like someone walked over my grave.” Her gaze lifted to his. “Somehow, I think I know something about what happened.”

  “I think you might be right.” He didn’t want to confirm her worst fears, but he didn’t see any way around it. And he wasn’t going to lie to her. She had had enough deception in her life as it was. She didn’t need him adding to it.

  “Where did the ex-wife go?” she asked quietly.

  Rafe pulled back and wiped the moisture from her face. “San Antonio.”

  She closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest. “Oh, it’s a nightmare.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I’m here, April. I’ll be with you all the way, no matter what we discover.” He raised her chin and looked into her eyes. “Trust me.”

  “Yes. I’ve never doubted you for a minute.” A sad smile appeared on her lip
s.

  “Well, the best thing we can do is go to your house and see what we find there. Hopefully, there will be answers.”

  She leaned back against the seat and took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

  The city of San Antonio had grown, so much so that Rafe didn’t feel comfortable driving around blind. He stopped at the first convenience store he saw, bought a map of the city, and quickly located the street listed on April’s driver’s license. It was in an older section of the city—houses mellow with age, lush trees lining the sidewalks.

  “Do you recognize any of this?” he asked, looking for the address of April’s house.

  She bit her lip. “I don’t know.”

  Glancing at her, Rafe noticed the pounding of blood vessels in her neck.

  He finally found the address and turned into the driveway of the one-story stucco house. The front yard bloomed with spring blossoms. Color and charm. It fit the woman he’d come to know.

  Rafe turned off the engine. “Why don’t we go up to the house and see if there’s anyone there?” Rafe asked softly.

  Her gaze shifted to him. Apprehension colored her green eyes. “Okay.”

  As they walked toward the door, the next-door neighbor, who was working in her garden, straightened and waved at them.

  “Lynn, sweetie, I was wondering when you were coming back. I was so worried about you, I was going to call the police and report you missing.” The woman, in her early 40s, wrapped her arms around April and gave her a squeeze. Then she pulled back, her expression turning from joyful to trouble. “What’s wrong? Did that ex-husband of yours make your time in Cameron bad?” The woman let out a string of Spanish curses, condemning the man’s parentage. “I was worried about you. A snake like him is always no good.” She turned to Rafe.

  “I’m Elena Cortez, Lynn’s neighbor. And you are?”

  Rafe held out his hand. “Rafael Sanchez.”

  Elena’s brow shot up. “You got a good one this time, niña. Not a sickly pale one like your ex.” She shivered. “Where did you meet this good-looking hombre?”