Swelter

by D. Jackson Leigh

  “Me, too, kid. But I’m sure they’re up there looking out for us.” He pushed her back and moved away, clearing his throat. “Go on and call that guy. You only got a few hours of daylight to get out to that pump. You can take the Gator. The tools are already loaded in the back of it.”

  “Sure you can get that car by yourself?”

  “No problem. Julio had an automatic winch put on the front of the trailer some years ago so one person could load the tractor if it broke down. I’ll need her keys, though, so I can get inside and put the gearshift in neutral.”

  “I’ll get ’em.” August strode back through the spacious ranch house to Teal’s room and knocked lightly on the partially open door. As she expected, Teal was still in the bath. Her duffel of clothes was in the bathroom, too, but her shoulder purse and keys were on the bed. August grabbed the keys and hesitated, glancing at the bathroom door. This would be a perfect opportunity to check Teal’s identification, just to make sure she was who she said she was. Of course, there was no reason to suspect she wasn’t. But then she hadn’t really given out anything more than her first name and her destination, had she?

  “August?” BJ stood in the hallway.

  “Got ’em right here,” she said quietly, turning away from the purse and leaving the bedroom door ajar for Rio as she exited the room.

  *

  Teal jerked awake. Confused for a split second by the slosh of water, she instantly stilled when her memory flooded back. She wasn’t drowning. Intent brown eyes stared at her from little more than a foot away. She’d dozed off and the dog must have nosed her to wake her up before she slipped under the water. Her heart—the less logical of her organs—still beat wildly in sync with the throb in her head. Not as bad as before, but the headache hurt enough to make her squint against the glare of the bathroom’s light. She felt as weak as a newborn calf.

  She opened the drain and cautiously levered up to sit on the edge of the tub. The towel August had set out for her was thick and soft. Her legs were shaky, so she dragged her duffel over to the tub and plundered through it until she found underwear, the bottoms of a nylon warm-up suit, and a T-shirt.

  “Oh, thank God.” Teal held up her toothbrush and mint paste. She braced against the sink and gave her teeth and tongue a good scrubbing. Her hair was damp, but she didn’t think she could stay upright to dry it. She was struggling just to hold her eyes open long enough to brush out the tangles.

  She put down the brush and stared into the mirror. She’d done a good job picking out an over-the-counter hair dye very close to her naturally very dark brunette. You had to be blond to get anywhere in Washington, so Lauren had paid an outrageous amount to have her hairdresser streak Teal’s beautiful dark hair with reddish-blond highlights, then touch up the roots every few weeks.

  She narrowed her eyes and growled at the woman in the mirror. She was glad to see the real Teal reflected back at her for a change. She didn’t like Senator Lauren Abbott’s TJ Giovanni anymore. Her shoulders sagged. But who was the woman in the mirror? She didn’t know her either. She could never be that mousy farm girl again. And the chances of her being a player in the political arena now were slim to none. She hadn’t donated that money in Lauren’s name, but the sizable anonymous donation had been widely reported. Lauren had surely figured it out, and Teal could never work in DC again.

  She trudged into the bedroom and crawled onto the four-post bed. She tugged one pillow under her head and hugged the other to her chest. She missed her sisters. They’d had to sleep three in one bed when they were girls and complained about it bitterly as they grew older. Their father had grudgingly built triple bunks when Teal hit puberty and her mother whispered that she deserved a bed of her own for a little privacy. But now, sleeping in a stranger’s house with no idea what tomorrow would bring, Teal would have given anything to see the only two people in the world she knew would still love her.

  She choked back a sob. Crying was making her head hurt worse. She sat up. A box of tissues sat next to a digital clock on the bedside table. Blowing her nose, she spotted the small bottle of aspirin next to the sports drink BJ had left for her. She shook three capsules out of the bottle and chugged half the drink, then blew her nose again. Her head was beginning to clear with her change of position. She lay on her back this time but hugged the pillow to her chest again and closed her eyes. Damn it. As much as she wanted to hate Lauren, Teal still missed falling asleep with the weight of Lauren’s head on her shoulder and Lauren’s breath warm on her neck.

  She was so tired she barely registered the bed’s slight dip and the warm, furry weight that settled against her side.

  *

  “Special Agent Walker.”

  “It’s August Reese.”

  “Where the hell are you?”

  “I’m safe.”

  “I didn’t ask you that, God damn it. Where are you?”

  “There’s a leak in your department, so all you need to know is that I’m safe.”

  “Son of a bi—” Pierce Walker stopped and lowered his voice. “Why do you think there’s a leak in the DEA?”

  August figured his yelling must have turned the heads of several lesser agents sitting at cubicles outside his office. She sank into the tall back of the thickly padded leather office chair and swung her boots up onto the huge desk. She checked her watch. Thirty seconds. “Because when I visited Christine at the jail, she told me Reyes had a contact in the DEA who was feeding him information.”

  “Ah, that would be the Christine who lied and cheated on you, then helped her boyfriend try to frame you for money laundering?”

  His barb sank deep into her still-raw wound, and August focused on her watch to ignore the stab of pain. He was angrier than she’d anticipated. “She warned me that he knows I have copies of the computer hard drives your people took from our law offices and wiped clean so there was no evidence on them.”

  “We didn’t wipe them, damn it. They somehow had them set up to self-destruct when they were disconnected from your office network. If you don’t turn those copies over to us, I can charge you with impeding an investigation.”

  Ninety seconds.

  “Are your IT people amateurs? They should have been prepared for booby traps.”

  “Word on the street is that Reyes is looking for you. Come in with the copies so we can protect you.”

  “You’re too late. I drove home from the jail to find my security system bypassed, the house ransacked, the safe torn out of the wall, and my dog missing. Makes you wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t been under your protection.”

  “You’re saying they didn’t get the copies?”

  So, the son of a bitch already knew about her house. She wondered what else he knew that he wasn’t sharing with her.

  “I did find my dog, thanks for asking. She’s a border collie, not a pit bull, and managed to escape before they could hurt her.” If they had harmed Rio, Reyes wouldn’t have had to look for her any longer because she would have found him and beat him within an inch of his life.

  “Damn the dog, Reese. What about the computer records? Right now, that’s the only hard evidence we have on him.”

  Two minutes.

  “They weren’t at the house. They’re in a safe place.” August put her feet back on the floor. “The evidence stays where I put it until the trial.”

  “I can have you arrested.”

  “You’ll have to find me first.” She sighed. “I’m not trying to be difficult, Pierce. I’m just afraid you’ll decide you don’t really need my testimony and get sloppy. If you know where I am, then Reyes’s contact in your office could find out.”

  He cursed under his breath. “How can I get in touch with you?”

  “You can’t. I’ll be in touch with you every three days.”

  “This is my cell phone. It isn’t secure.”

  “Neither is your office.”

  “God damn it, Reese.”

  Two minutes, thirty seconds.

>   “Gotta go, Walker. Just know that I’m safe. Say that when you hold the news conference tomorrow morning. Better yet, cancel it. Because if you start showing my face all over television, I won’t be safe any longer.”

  “Reese, damn it. I can’t protect you if I don’t—”

  She flicked the phone closed, ending the call. She smiled. She enjoyed hanging up fifteen seconds short of the three minutes he needed to lock a trace on her. She pictured him throwing things around his office and screaming at a couple of junior agents right now. He really was wound just a little too tight.

  Chapter Four

  Teal woke to semi-darkness and silence. She was so utterly comfortable, she lazily snuggled deeper into her warm nest to take stock of her situation. She sighed in relief. Her pounding headache and nausea were gone. So was her furry sleeping companion. She was still in her warm-up pants and T-shirt, lying on top of the bed covers, but someone had tucked a soft blanket around her while she slept.

  While the wall before her was a soothing shade of dark green, it wasn’t adding much to her information-gathering. She reluctantly rolled over but held tight to the pillow hugged against her chest and tugged the quilt up to her chin. Weak sunlight filtered between the slats of the window blinds. The door to the hallway was closed. She wished it could stay closed and keep out the rest of the world, along with all her troubles. She’d just stay under her blanket where it was comfortable and quiet. Her gaze wandered to the open door of the bathroom, and as if on cue, her bladder reminded her of the three bottles of fluid she’d consumed before she slept. Ugh. She’d have to abandon her haven. Just a few more minutes.

  She relaxed again as she replayed the events of the day, then drifted off course and into a slow-motion review of a tall, blond woman wrangler. A rooster crowed and her eyes drifted to the digital clock on the bedside table. Five thirty. Mmm. What was her name? August, like the month. That’s right. August had said dinner in a few hours. It was late afternoon. Dinner should be soon. Teal’s stomach growled at the thought, and her bladder issued another plea for relief. The rooster crowed again.

  “Crap.” Teal shot up to look at the clock. Five thirty AM. In the morning. She’d slept through the afternoon and all night. Stop. Evaluate. Make a plan. “Okay. It’s a little embarrassing but not a problem. There wasn’t much I could do until today anyway. This is a ranch. People will be up early.” She stood slowly. Still good. No dizziness.

  She pulled on a worn pair of jeans and a fresh T-shirt, then quickly plaited her hair into a simple, single braid. She brushed her teeth and checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror. No makeup, but she didn’t really need it. She silently thanked her mother’s Italian genes for her even complexion and thick, dark eyelashes.

  She’d left the wholesome but simple farm girl in Pennsylvania when she headed north for college. She’d never be naive again, but reverting to her farm-girl look would keep her from being recognized. And she was more comfortable in these clothes than the business suits and panty hose she’d been wearing for the past eight years. Maybe leaving that fashionable politico behind in DC wouldn’t be so bad. She could find a new career that rewarded smart but allowed casual.

  “Sloppy is the new savvy,” she quipped. “Maybe I should write advertising slogans.” She shrugged. “Nah. Sloppy isn’t new. The computer nerds started that fad fifteen years ago.” She gave her reflection a stern stare. “You’ll figure this out, Giovanni. You’re not going to give up like your mother. Suck it up, and get moving. You can do this.”

  Her cell phone and purse were still on the bed next to where she’d been sleeping. Crap, crap, crap. She’d forgotten to plug it in. Deep breath. It was the latest iPhone and equipped with a fast charger. It would be a couple of hours before any garage opened anyway for her to arrange a tow, and Wade would surely have voice mail if he didn’t answer. Next order of business.

  She gave her quiet haven one last look and opened the door to re-enter the world.

  The smell of bacon frying made Teal’s mouth water and her stomach rumble noisily, so she followed the enticing scent to a modern kitchen cheered by the sunlight that poured through large bare windows over the triple sink and prep counter. She was surprised, however, to find a huge skillet sizzling unattended. She grabbed the fork on the counter and flipped the bacon slices before turning down the flame. Where was everybody?

  A folded newspaper lay on the kitchen’s island, and with one eye on the bacon, she began to thumb through it. The item was small and on an inside page, but the headline read: PROBE SOUGHT INTO ABBOTT’S CAMPAIGN FINANCES. Shit.

  WASHINGTON, DC A conservative watchdog group is calling for an investigation into the campaign finances of Sen. Lauren Abbott.

  The right-leaning lobby says they have uncovered information that Abbott’s campaign manager authorized more than two hundred thousand dollars to pay expenses charged on two credit cards for first-class plane tickets to and hotel stays at secluded, and sometimes exotic, luxury destinations. Expenses charged to those cards also included restaurant bills averaging several hundred dollars, clothing from designer boutiques, and rent on two downtown DC apartments.

  The authorizations were listed on campaign expenditure forms simply as a credit-card number, but Americans for America said they’d received information that those cards were issued to two fictitious campaign staffers.

  Abbott’s campaign manager, Russ Zukowski, said the senator’s personal staff, not the campaign staff, set up the accounts. He said, however, that using fictitious names on some credit cards was a common practice utilized to give high-profile candidates some relief from the crowds of trailing media, especially when they were meeting with big donors who might be publicity shy. Donations made by anyone Sen. Abbott met with privately were properly reported on campaign finance records, he added.

  Federal Election Commission officials said that, while they have no evidence of criminal malfeasance at this point, they are interviewing the senator and her entire staff. They also are seeking to locate and interview Abbott’s former chief aide, TJ Giovanni, who resigned and has dropped out of the public eye since reports surfaced earlier that she and the senator were involved in a romantic relationship. Sen. Abbott, married to financier Paul Abbott, says those rumors were manufactured by the opposing party seeking to unseat her in the upcoming election.

  Two credit cards? Sure, she knew about one card. Lauren had given it to her even before they became lovers. And Lauren had insisted she use it to buy expensive gowns or business suits when she accompanied her to formal functions or important meetings, to charge living expenses on it, and to book their clandestine weekends together. Two apartments? Was Lauren screwing somebody else at the same time they were seeing each other? God, she couldn’t even think about it. Maybe it was for one of her husband’s flings. Yeah. That had to be it. She’d have known if Lauren was seeing someone else.

  She turned the bacon again. Where was everybody?

  The room was an open concept that looked into a spacious den. Nobody there either. A sliver of light shone from a door left ajar on the left, and she could hear the indistinguishable murmur of voices. Must be the absent-minded cook. She turned down the flame under the pan and started for the door, then stopped cold when the conversation grew louder.

  “You should have left her belongings in her car, BJ.”

  “Come on, August. Tank had me dump the car out back of his shop. Kids have broken out the windows of half the vehicles behind there. Everything in her car would have been gone in two days. It ain’t all that much.”

  “She isn’t staying past breakfast, so her stuff isn’t our problem.”

  “You’ve sure had a change of attitude. I’m glad you still remember some of what Gus taught you and didn’t leave that girl stranded on the highway yesterday. But today you’re acting like your daddy, durn his sorry hide.”

  “That was low, BJ. I’ve got too much going on to be playing Good Samaritan.”

  “Your granddaddy was neve
r too busy or too poor to lend a helping hand when somebody needed it, Grasshopper. And, even though you’re acting like your ass of a father this morning, we both know you’ve got your granddaddy Gus’s soft heart.” A low chuckle rumbled from the room. “And when you drag home a stray, dang if it’s not the pick of the litter.”

  “You’re awful, old man.”

  “I don’t hear you denying it.”

  “Doesn’t matter. It’s bad enough I might be exposing you and the rest of the guys to my problem. She can’t stay here another night, so no need to unload her things from the truck.”

  “You call that Walker fellow?”

  “Yeah. I picked up a pay-as-you-go phone from ShopMart. I don’t want him tracking my cell and coming here to drag me back to Dallas. Now tell me what the crew and I need to do today so you can drive her into town after we eat.”

  Teal hurried back to the kitchen. So much for her safe haven and good mood. She transferred the bacon onto the napkin-covered plate left on the counter and sulked as she turned off the flame. If she hadn’t been there, smoke alarms would be blaring by now.

  She shook her head and adjusted her attitude. She still owed August for rescuing her and BJ for towing her car for free, even if August did want her gone as soon as possible. She went to the big stainless-steel refrigerator and perused the contents.

  *

  August wrote down BJ’s instructions for preparing lunch. Geez, these six guys ate a lot. A dozen ham sandwiches, two bags of chips, two gallons of sweet tea. Dessert? Really? Were they ranch hands or vacationers on a dude ranch? She turned the dude-ranch idea over in her mind. Nah. More trouble than she wanted.