Hennessy nodded.
“I’ll look into that, but tell me Emmy, do you know the combination on Dr. Penn’s drug safe?”
“No. I’ve seen him open it a bunch of times, but he never told me the numbers.”
Hennessy studied the two women, then nibbled on his lower lip.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait until the DNA comes back on those skin cells.”
Rayne recalled what the waitress, Jeanne, had said about the mayor’s need to correct everyone, and then moved behind Velma.
“We believe that whoever drugged Velma injected her in the back, like this,” Rayne said, and then proceeded to pantomime jabbing a needle into Velma.
The mayor nodded at the demonstration, and Rayne did it again.
“Dr. Hennessy found a puncture mark right about here I believe,” Rayne said, and pointed to a spot just below Velma’s neck.
The mayor looked annoyed.
“It was lower.”
“Excuse me?” Rayne said.
The mayor pointed.
“I said the mark is lower, near that cut on her—”
She stopped talking as she realized what she had done.
“What cut?” Rayne said.
Sheriff Hennessy pulled a photo from a file on his desk. The photo was one that was taken by Deputy West, a photo that showed the small cut on Velma’s lower back. A photo that the mayor couldn’t have previously seen.
“This cut, Mayor?” Hennessy said. “But how could you have known it was there, or that it was near the spot she received the injection?”
Mayor Penn looked down at the floor.
“I... I have nothing to say.”
The sheriff knelt down beside her chair.
“That blood on Miss Parker’s blouse proved that whoever was wearing it killed Peter Gates, but there’s a question about just who was wearing it at the time. Reese Brown found a second set of skin cells inside the blouse. Once we match their DNA to a suspect, there will be no doubt that Miss Parker was framed. Now, is there anything you’d like to say to that, Mayor?”
Mayor Penn gazed at the sheriff with tears in her eyes.
“I want a lawyer.”
CHAPTER 22
Pachaw, Texas
Sheriff Hennessy shook Jake’s hand as the two men said goodbye.
They were at the airport in El Paso, and with Velma cleared of murder, they were preparing to fly home.
“I wanted to meet Jake Caliber, and by God if I didn’t. That battle you had with Diablo’s Doubles will be talked about for years.”
“I just did what I had to do to stay alive.”
“But that’s just it, most men in your shoes would be dead.”
“Take care, Sheriff, and I guess I’ll see you again when I come back to testify.”
Hennessy smiled.
“I look forward to it.”
A few yards away, Chris was speaking to Rayne, as Velma watched them just out of earshot.
Rayne wiped at her eyes.
“You don’t want to see me again?”
“Not in the way you mean, but I do hope that we can still be—”
“—friends?”
“Yes, and partners, but I guess it remains to be seen if you and Velma can work together.”
Rayne looked over at Velma and was surprised to see that her face was blank. She had expected to find a smug look of satisfaction staring back at her.
“I want you to remember two things, Chris.”
“What’s that?”
“That I’ll always love you, and that Velma can’t be trusted.”
“Rayne.... I won’t change my mind.”
“We’ll see.”
They were boarding the plane when Pruitt came running over with a suitcase.
“Hey! Caliber, can I hitch a ride?”
Jake sighed, and then laughed, before telling Pruitt to stow his suitcase and climb aboard.
Pruitt did so, and afterwards, he took a seat across from Rayne and Jake.
As the plane leveled off in flight, Pruitt looked at Rayne and saw that she was crying.
“Hey, what’s with the tears, Madam X?”
“I told you not to call me that again,” Rayne said, as she looked over at Chris and Velma, who were seated ahead of her, and on the other side of the plane.
Velma turned in her seat, spotted Rayne, and gave her the look that she had expected to see earlier, a smug look of triumph.
Pruitt saw where she was looking, and understood.
“Oh, he chose her over you, huh? Well, that just makes him a fool.”
Rayne looked at Pruitt, and smiled slightly.
“Thanks for saying that.”
“I mean it, hell, you’re hotter than she is.”
Rayne’s smile faded.
“Is everything about sex to you?”
Pruitt looked confused.
“What do you mean? That was a compliment. I mean, Velma’s hot, don’t get me wrong, but I’d take your type over hers any day.” Pruitt looked her over. “I mean, you’re kind of petite, but you’re really built, and I bet that once you get going you’re—”
The slap was so hard and sudden that it made Jake cringe and caused Pruitt to slump in his seat.
“You’re a pig, Pruitt! A pig without a heart.”
Rayne grabbed the duffle bag at her feet and moved towards the rear of the plane where there was a rest area that was separated from the seats by curtains.
Pruitt looked over at Jake as he flexed his jaw.
“Do you think she’ll stay mad at me?”
“What do you care?”
Pruitt thought about it and then laughed.
“You know something, Caliber, I think I’m falling for her.”
Jake said, “Oh God,” and buried his face in his hands.
***
Rayne sat behind the curtains with tears rolling down her cheeks, as the sound of Velma and Chris laughing together pierced her heart.
She had not lied when she told Chris that she would always love him, or when she told Velma that she’d always welcome Chris back.
However, she feared that she had lost her chance with him, and that she might be alone in love forever.
She wiped at her tears and then gripped the duffle bag tighter.
The bag contained nearly a million dollars in cash, all in unmarked fifty and hundred-dollar bills. It was the remaining money stolen from the drug dealer.
On the previous day, when Rayne stood on the rise with Pruitt and gazed about, the answer to where the money was hidden came to her, and she had prepared for her return to the site that afternoon.
She had gone shopping and bought the duffle, a small shovel, gloves, and a pick hammer. She then hid them among scrub brush a hundred yards away from the Gates’ fire-ravaged trailer and drove back to her motel room to wait for nightfall.
She had a short window of time between the aftermath of Jake’s firefight and the coming of dawn, and she used it to crawl beneath the trailer and excavate the money.
Fool that he was, Peter Gates had parked his trailer near the dirt road and then proceeded to spend over a year searching the surrounding landscape for the money his brother had stolen. It never once occurred to him that he might have parked the trailer on top of it.
It occurred to Rayne though, had come to her in a flash of insight, and she had laughed with pure joy when she yanked the strongbox out of the earth beneath the trailer.
With the money inside it, the duffle had heft to it, but also had straps that could convert it into a backpack, as Rayne did, before hiking back to the motel just before dawn, to count her prize.
Rayne laid the duffle down atop the bench seat she sat on, and then leaned over and rested her head upon it.
She would not give up on her quest to have Chris Caliber, but she would wait, wait and be patient, because she could afford to be.
Rayne smiled as she closed her eyes and hugged the duffle of cash like a pillow.
Yes, she c
ould afford to be patient; she could afford many things now.
ALSO BY REMINGTON KANE
The TANNER Series in order
INEVITABLE I - A Tanner Novel - Book 1
KILL IN PLAIN SIGHT - A Tanner Novel - Book 2
MAKING A KILLING ON WALL STREET - A Tanner Novel - Book 3
THE FIRST ONE TO DIE LOSES - A Tanner Novel - Book 4
THE LIFE & DEATH OF CODY PARKER - A Tanner Novel - Book 5
WAR - A Tanner Novel - Book 6
SUICIDE OR DEATH – A Tanner Novel – Book 7
TWO FOR THE KILL – A Tanner Novel – Book 8
BALLET OF DEATH – A Tanner Novel – Book 9
MORE DANGEROUS THAN MAN – A Tanner Novel – Book 10
TANNER TIMES TWO – A Tanner Novel – Book 11
OCCUPATION: DEATH – A Tanner Novel – Book 12
HELL FOR HIRE – A Tanner Novel – Book 13
A HOME TO DIE FOR - A Tanner Novel – Book 14
FIRE WITH FIRE – A Tanner Novel – Book 15
TO KILL A KILLER – A Tanner Novel – Book 16 (Coming Soon)
The TAKEN! Series in order
TAKEN! - LOVE CONQUERS ALL
TAKEN! - SECRETS & LIES
TAKEN! - STALKER
TAKEN! - BREAKOUT!
TAKEN! - THE THIRTY-NINE
TAKEN! - KIDNAPPING THE DEVIL
TAKEN! - HIT SQUAD
TAKEN! - MASQUERADE
TAKEN! - SERIOUS BUSINESS
TAKEN! - THE COUPLE THAT SLAYS TOGETHER
TAKEN! - PUT ASUNDER
TAKEN! - LIKE BOND, ONLY BETTER
TAKEN! - MEDIEVAL
TAKEN! - RISEN!
TAKEN! - VACATION
TAKEN! – MICHAEL
TAKEN! – BEDEVILED
TAKEN! – INTENTIONAL ACTS OF VIOLENCE
The BLUE STEELE Series in order
BLUE STEELE – BOUNTY HUNTER
BLUE STEELE – BROKEN
BLUE STEELE – VENGEANCE
BLUE STEELE – THAT WHICH DOESN’T KILL ME
BLUE STEELE – ON THE HUNT
BLUE STEELE – PAST SINS (Coming Soon)
The CALIBER DETECTIVE AGENCY Series in order
CALIBER DETECTIVE AGENCY – GENERATIONS
CALIBER DETECTIVE AGENCY – TEMPTATION
CALIBER DETECTIVE AGENCY – A RANSOM PAID IN BLOOD
CALIBER DETECTIVE AGENCY - MISSING
CALIBER DETECTIVE AGENCY - DECEPTION
CALIBER DETECTIVE AGENCY - CRUCIBLE
Also by REMINGTON KANE
THE CONTRACT: KILL JESSICA WHITE – A TAKEN!/TANNER NOVEL – Book 1
BOUNTY OF BLOOD – A TAKEN!/TANNER NOVEL – Book 2 (Coming Soon)
MONSTERS – A Detective Pierce Novel – Book 1
DEMONS – A Detective Pierce Novel – Book 2
ANGELS – A Detective Pierce Novel – Book 3
REDEMPTION... Someone's taken her
DESOLATION LAKE
PARKER & KNIGHT
SLAY BELLS
Join my Mailing List and Learn about New Releases. Also, get access to FREE Books and Short Stories, including The TAKEN! ALPHABET SERIES, QUICK – A TANNER Short Story, and A LITTLE OFF THE TOP – A TANNER Short Story. REMINGTON KANE http://www.remingtonkane.com/contact.html
Did you love Caliber Detective Agency - Box Set 2? Then you should read Blue Steele - Box Set 1 by Remington Kane!
From Remington Kane
Blue Steele Box Set 1
Blue Steele - Bounty Hunter - Book 1
Blue Steele - Broken - Book 2
Blue Steele - Vengeance - Book 3
Read more at Remington Kane’s site.
About the Author
REMINGTON KANE is the author of the wildly popular TANNER SERIES as well as the equally thrilling TAKEN! SERIES.
While The TANNER Series and The TAKEN! Series are similar in that they're both packed with action, the hit man Tanner has a little more grit to him.
Please visit www.remingtonkane.com to learn more.
Read more at Remington Kane’s site.
Caliber Detective Agency Box Set 2 Page 26
