by Jory Strong
And on top of that, Cady hadn’t returned any of his calls. Damn, he couldn’t stand this. He picked up the cell phone and called her again, only to get her voice mail. “We need to talk darlin’, please call me.”
Chapter Eighteen
Cady swung by Crime Tells to pick up Ranger, her heart filling with warmth at finding him waiting next to the door for her, devotion shining in his eyes and the slight wag of his tail acknowledging that he was happy to see her. “Other than doing a great imitation of a police dog when Kieran showed up, Ranger’s pretty much spent all his time waiting next to the door for you to come back,” Lyric said as Cady smoothed her fingers over the shepherd’s ears.
“What do you mean by ‘doing a great imitation of a police dog’?”
Lyric laughed. “Well, Kieran showed up for the appointment book. Being male and a cop, he made the mistake of trying to defend a certain sheriff from Texas. Things got a little, uh…heated…and Kieran ended up seeing Ranger’s teeth.”
Alarm radiated through Cady even though Lyric didn’t seem upset. “Ranger attacked Kieran?”
“No.” Lyric’s attention shifted to the dog. “No. He acted like a police dog would act. Lunging and barking and holding Kieran at bay. I tried some German commands and Ranger responded. I think he’s had some protection dog training. If you’re up for it, maybe we can take him over to Protection Plus Canines and have Deuce McConachie put him through his paces.”
“Sure, that’d be okay.”
“Just brace yourself, Deuce is the stuff of fantasies.” Lyric’s eyebrows went up and down. “One look at him and you might decide to sign up for Schutzund classes with Ranger.”
Cady’s heart took a dive and even though she knew Lyric was just teasing, she said, “I think I’m going to take a break from men for awhile.”
Lyric shook her head, but thankfully refrained from saying anything. “Any new leads in the case?”
Cady nodded and told her about the visit with Nate, and what she’d learned from talking with Jamie Johnson and Roberto Gonzalez.
Lyric frowned. “Barwig. That name sounds familiar. Hold on a second.” She opened the folder containing Ranger’s adoption papers along with a mass of other papers that Cady hadn’t taken the time to read yet. A moment later, Lyric pulled out something that looked like a newsletter. “Here it is. There’s a blurb about the donor/volunteer/staff recognition banquet that the shelter holds every year. One of the people honored was Helen Barwig. According to this, she was instrumental in raising the funds for building a ‘get acquainted’ area so people could visit with potential pets before adopting them.”
Cady’s heart pounded in her ears. There was a notation in Danny’s appointment book about attending the banquet. She moved over to the desk. “Does it mention her husband?”
“Yeah, his name is Andrew.” Lyric turned to the computer and entered the name. Within seconds the connection to Danny was obvious.
“Andrew Barwig, owner of Barwig Construction Company,” Cady said. “BCC.”
Lyric was already reaching for the case folder. A moment later they were looking at the copied page from Danny’s appointment book. Two days after Danny had attended the banquet he’d met with BCC in San Francisco at 10 p.m.
Without being told, Lyric returned to the keyboard and dug a little deeper. “Barwig is based in San Francisco.”
A couple of keystrokes more and Lyric pulled up a picture of Barwig standing in the winner’s circle at Bay Downs with Luke Johnson at his side. Cady’s skin crawled as she recognized the man she’d seen with Luke Johnson as she’d walked out of Jamie Johnson’s barn.
“Odds are, Barwig is the “B” that shows up at the beginning of each month in Danny’s appointment book,” Lyric said, drawing Cady’s attention away from the computer monitor and back to the photocopied pages of Danny’s appointment book.
Cady sat down on the edge of the desk. “It’s also possible that he’s the one Tiny Johnson has been blackmailing and not Luke.”
“My money would be on him as the brains behind the operation, and he’ll be the biggest winner at the end of the day.” Lyric grinned. “At the risk of getting a lecture and one of your severe frowns, a certain Texas sheriff is going to be sorry he decided to play lone ranger when you wrap this case up with a bow and shove it in his face—hopefully breaking his nose in the process.”
“Lyric…”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Well, not really, I’m just pissed at him for hurting you and if you’d just say the word…” Lyric’s voice dropped into a gangster impersonation, “I got friends who could pay him a visit and show him the error of his ways…slowly and painfully.”
Torn between crying and laughing, sadness over Kix and profound joy at having such great sisters, Cady leaned over and gave Lyric a hug. “Enough already. Let’s just get this thing solved.”
Lyric hugged her back. “You bet.”
Cady pulled away and asked, “Did Kieran tell you what the ME found when the autopsy was done on Danny?”
“Murdered. They found tranquilizers in his system. He was probably out cold when someone shot the coke in him.”
“What about Valdez?”
“Still up in the air. Kieran called someone he knows in the SFPD and gave them a heads up on how the case could connect to Danny’s murder.” Lyric shrugged. “No telling how the SF police department is going to play it. It’s not like they don’t have plenty of people try and go off the bridge—we just don’t hear about them. If Valdez hadn’t been a ’somebody’ because he rides at Golden Gate Fields, we probably wouldn’t have known about his death so quickly. For the last couple of years the media has really towed the line about not attracting copycats by giving jumpers publicity.”
Lyric’s comment blasted through Cady like a bolt of lightening. “Remember the photo club meeting that Erin and I dragged you to?”
“You mean the one where I had to tell the two of you a million times that your talk on ‘Taking Award-Winning Pet Portraits’ was better than anything besides the invention of the Harley? That club meeting?”
Cady laughed, still feeling embarrassed about how stressed she’d been about talking in front of a huge group of people. “Yeah that one. Remember The Ghoul?”
“Oh yeah, I remember him. He had a permit to set up a camera and film the bridge 24/7 for a year. Man, he gave me the creeps talking about putting together a coffee table book on the Golden Gate Bridge—complete with jumpers. His sick little face lit up about already having pictures of three of them committing suicide.” Lyric’s eyes widened. “Shit, Cady, he might have caught Valdez going over.”
“Can you track him down? I want to see if I can corner Tiny Johnson.”
Lyric stood up and moved toward the filing cabinets. “I’m on it. Erin probably has a copy of the meeting program along with some contact numbers.”
Cady picked up Ranger’s leash and snapped it onto his collar. “Call me if you find anything.”
* * * * *
Kix eased the white car away from the curb, careful to stay back far enough so that Cady wouldn’t notice him. Damned if he wasn’t a sorry sight. His brothers would sure howl if they could see him now, reduced to renting a nondescript car and skulking around after his woman until he got her alone and had a chance to talk to her.
It was not one of his finest moments.
Then again, if he couldn’t talk her into forgiving him, his future was going to be made up of a whole string of bleak minutes.
* * * * *
Yummy, Lyric thought as she watched Dante Giancotti, the San Francisco detective assigned to look into Valdez’s death, climb out of his unmarked police car. Who’d have guessed that so many bad boys ended up cops?
“Baby, if you don’t stop staring at him, your ass is going to hurt for a week when I get done with you,” Kieran growled, not liking the way his hot little wife was giving the other cop the once-over.
He moved into her so that her back was pressed to his front i
n a territorial display that screamed mine. The little hellion had the nerve to laugh and rub against his cock, sending a rolling wave of lust through him. When he got her home…
Lyric grinned. As excited as she was about making contact with The Ghoul and setting this meet up so they could go over his film of the bridge, a few minutes with Kieran and she was hot to get it over with so they could go home. Oh yeah, he was already worked up, already walking around with an erection that made her mouth water and her cunt slick. Lyric decided to torment him a little more just for good measure. She sent him a saucy, challenging look. “I’m married, Kieran, not blind, but I bet your sister would like him.”
Every muscle in Kieran’s body went taut. Son of a bitch, he hadn’t seen that one coming. His gut was already churning at the thought of his baby sister interviewing with Bulldog. Goddamn. He didn’t want her around Lyric’s cousins, especially Braden, and he sure as hell didn’t want Calista hooking up with Giancotti. Even if only one of the rumors about the other cop was true, it was one too many.
The cop in question was moving in too fast for Kieran to respond to Lyric’s comment, and from the smirk on Giancotti’s face, he was getting a kick out of something. Kieran tightened his hold on Lyric, feeling like a dog guarding its bone, but shit, he’d given up fighting the effect she had on him. “Let’s get this over with,” he growled.
Chapter Nineteen
Cady felt the first stirrings of uneasiness when she turned onto a dirt road and saw a barn in the distance, an ancient house trailer and a couple of cars sitting near it. When Roberto had said Tiny’s girlfriend looked after horses that were being laid-up until their injuries were healed and they were ready to go back into training, Cady had envisioned a nice facility, not a run-down place in a remote area.
She reached over and rubbed Ranger’s ears. “You’re going to get out at this stop,” she told him, his presence making her feel safer. As if sensing her worry, the shepherd was staring out the window, his eyes alert, his body tense and ready for action.
There was no way of sneaking up on Tiny, not with open fields and the trail of dust Cady’s pickup was leaving behind on the dirt road. She half-expected someone to come out of the trailer or the barn, especially since there were two cars. When no one did, she thought about turning around, but there was no reason to think this was a setup, or that she was in danger. She opened her door and climbed out of the truck, tugging slightly on the leash so that Ranger jumped out.
* * * * *
Amusement rippled through Detective Dante Giancotti as he took in the way Kieran Burke was hovering and growling over his wife. Not that she wasn’t a fine piece of ass, she was—and then some. But this was business and Dante never mixed business with pleasure. He also never got involved with married women. Why make things complicated?
He liked his women easy and he liked to share them with his brother.
End of story.
He sure as hell never felt the way Kieran obviously did about his wife.
“Ready?” he asked and they moved into the apartment building with Lyric leading the way. Three flights of stairs and a geek with slicked-back hair opened an apartment door, his face going from anticipation to dread when he saw that Lyric wasn’t alone. They stepped into a hole of a room that had been arranged with seduction in mind.
Candles and chilled wine?
Dante grunted. Shit. Condoms and ice-cold beer had always worked for him. He leaned over and flipped on the light switch while keeping an eye on Kieran. He had to hand it the vice cop, Kieran was keeping his cool. The geek, on the other hand, was sweating.
“These guys are cops,” Lyric said and Dante thought the geek was going to wet his pants. Out of habit his eyes roamed the apartment and he almost cracked a smile. Not that they were going to need it with this guy, but their leverage was sitting on the kitchen windowsill. Cannabis Sativia. Nothing like a pot plant in plain view to make for a cooperative visit.
The geek licked his lips and waved toward the computer. “The camera caught it last night. The murder. That’s what you were after, right? The murderer must have known the cameras on the bridge wouldn’t be able to see him in the fog. My camera wouldn’t have either if the fog had layered up like it sometimes does.” He licked his lips again. “After you’re done with it, do you think I can use it in my—” Dante’s glare cut him off.
They moved over to stand in front of the desk. The geek hit a key and the digital movie rolled forward, showing Luke Johnson guiding a barely functioning Valdez to the railing of the bridge and pushing him over, sending him to his death.
* * * * *
Kix’s heart went into overdrive when Cady left the main road. He didn’t like the looks of this and he didn’t like the fact that she was going in alone.
He hit the gas and sent the rental car charging down the dirt road just as she climbed out of her truck. When she stopped and turned in his direction, relief rushed through him with the force of a one-ton bull. “Stay put, darlin’.”
But it seemed like the words hadn’t even left his mouth when something startled her. She spun toward the barn and Ranger lunged forward, jerking the leash from her hand and dashing toward the entrance. She took a few halting steps after the dog and Kix felt like his heart was going to explode with the fear of losing her.
His heart was still pounding furiously even after she’d taken cover behind her truck. He jammed on the brakes and stopped next to her, barely aware of getting out of the car before pulling her roughly into his arms.
Cady buried her face aganist Kix’s chest and let him hold her for a minute before pulling back and saying, “Somebody fired a gun in the barn. I heard two shots go off.”
From inside the barn came the sounds of furious barking. Kix moved away from Cady and retrieved a gun from the rental car. “Stay here while I check it out.”
“I’ll call 911.”
Kix nodded and moved toward the barn.
Cady watched, her heart thundering in her ears, her throat clogged with fear. If something happened to him… By the time he got to the doorway, she’d shaken off her paralysis and scrambled for her cell phone.
Kix figured he’d find a body in the barn and he did.
Tiny Johnson was propped up against a bale of hay, a bullet through his skull and a gun in his hand.
Two shots. One into Tiny. One with the gun in Tiny’s hand so he’d have gunpowder residue on his skin. Only trouble was, there wasn’t any blood spatter on Tiny’s hand.
It was an easy mistake to make. Same as it was an easy mistake to figure no one would look past the baggie of coke or the syringe when they found Danny Meyers’ body.
What Kix hadn’t quite figured on seeing was Cady’s dog hovering over Andrew Barwig, barking and flashing his teeth like a police dog. Damned if it wasn’t a beautiful sight.
Kix moved in, remembering the command that his deputy used with the department’s dog and told Ranger to “sitz”. When the dog complied, Kix ordered Barwig onto his stomach with his arms flat on the ground and above his head, then yelled to Cady, telling her it was under control and to call Ranger and put him in the truck.
A police siren sounded in the distance. “Looks like we’ve got company coming, Andy. Somehow I don’t think they’re going buy this little suicide scenario. Don’t reckon you’d like to save us all some trouble by confessing…”
His comment was greeted by silence.
“No, not your style. You’re the type that likes to lawyer up quick. But you might want to keep it in mind that the SFPD already has your buddy Luke in custody. He doesn’t strike me as a man who’s going to keep quiet.”
A second siren had joined the first and both were getting close. Despite the grim scene in the barn, Kix’s heart raced with anticipation. When he was younger he liked steer wrestling. These days he got a kick out of taking down the bad guys. But right now neither of them compared to the prospect of going after Cady and getting her to accept his apology, and then his marriage proposal.
There was no way he was going to let her get away from him.
Chapter Twenty
Cady felt like she was riding the edge of an emotional storm by the time she parked the truck in front of her house. Having Kix suddenly show up, realizing that he must have been following her, then being so afraid when he went into the barn and so relieved when he came out had opened up a Pandora’s box of doubt and heartache…and hope.
She wasn’t sure she could handle talking to him right now. But the determined look on his face when he’d said, “I’ll follow you home,” along with the fact that he was already out of his rental car and heading her way pretty much ruled out the possibility of delaying this. She got out of her truck, embarrassed by the way she was shaking.
Kix felt as nervous as a rookie cop. Damn, a lifetime of happiness was riding on how he handled this.
He sucked in a deep breath and shored up his nerve, his heart expanding and contracting, just about bursting with the need to hold Cady in his arms. And when he saw the slight tremors racing through her, he couldn’t hold back. He pulled her up against his body and ran his hand along her back while he rubbed his face in her soft curls.
It felt so good to be in his arms that Cady just stood there, soaking in his warmth until the shaking stopped. But then self-preservation kicked in and she pulled away.
She took Ranger’s leash and gave him permission to jump out of the truck then turned and made her way into the house. The minute she let the dog loose, there was a snick and the feel of smooth, cold steel against her wrist.
Cady looked down at the handcuff and watched as Kix closed the other one on his own wrist. “A lot of men would look down and see shackles, little darlin’, but I’m seeing insurance. Now, you can go quiet and easy, or we can turn this into a rodeo event and spectator sport, but either way, we’re going to talk, and afterwards you’re going to pack up your things and head to Texas.”
