by Susan Stoker
“That’s where we lost you.” Rex pulled back onto the highway.
Mina stayed quiet for a while, and closed her eyes. What if she hadn’t run? She rubbed her hand on her belly, nerves making the contents of her stomach feel like a heavy weight. They would have found her. As it was, they’d seen Rex’s report and were now looking for her in the Fort Worth area, and that was too close.
“Do you need me to pull over?”
She shook her head without opening her eyes. “I’m fine, for now.”
He checked his watch. “If you need a break, we’ve got a couple hours if you want to sleep a while.”
She snuggled down into the soft seat, and looked at his strong profile. His concern warmed her, but she couldn’t get too complacent. “I’ll finish my story, then if you have questions…”
His gaze shot to hers. “If?” He snorted. “Yeah, I’ve got a few questions for you, Doctor. Like, what did you do with the footage on the camera, and how did you get from the ranch to my house, and how the hell did you know where I lived?”
Chapter Three
‡
“Oh, right. The camera.” That was the most important part of this, and she’d skimmed right over it. Not enough sleep and too much fear didn’t make for much brain activity. She adjusted her seatbelt and turned toward Rex, wanting to see his reaction to her next statement.
“I saved the video from the memory card onto the camera.”
He nodded. “And the memory card?”
He wasn’t going to like this. “I went to a shipping store and had them send it by courier…to the governor.”
“To the…” His brows drew down. “Why the governor?”
“I didn’t know who else would take it seriously. Who would actually do something about it and not destroy it to protect someone in their department.”
He whistled, low and slow. “I want to call my partner and have him check on that.”
“No.” She sat up. “No one can be trusted.”
He tipped his head. “Except me? How do you know I’m not taking you out into the hills to…”
She smiled. He couldn’t even say it. “Kill me? Or were you going to say, hunt turkeys?”
A short groan came from him and he sucked down more coffee.
“I did some research online at a library in Fort Worth, using…a friend’s login. Someone who has higher clearance level than I do.”
“You’re a government employee. That’s how you found me.” He sounded angry.
“Desperation and self-preservation. I won’t apologize.”
He drove, silent and frowning, for a couple miles. “Okay, it’s all starting to fit together. You left the ranch and got to the city by…?”
“Hitchhiking. Wearing a blonde wig.”
“Dangerous.” His hand tightened on the wheel. “Do you know how many hitchhikers disappear every—”
“No, but again, desperation.” He wanted to lecture her? “I could have stolen a car from the ranch, but that would have led to more police involvement. As it was, I ran more miles than I’ve ever run in marathons.”
“Okay.” He held his hands up in surrender. “As long as you never do it again.”
She drew an X over her heart with her finger. “Promise.”
“Yeah, right.” He let out a humorless laugh. “So, now I have questions.”
Mina picked up her cup of tea, holding it in both hands, drawing warmth into her bloodstream and strength into her spirit. “Shoot.”
He tapped the grip of his gun. “Don’t tempt me.”
*
Rex asked his questions, and Mina answered, sounding honest, but something just wasn’t adding up. He couldn’t get a fix on what, though, so he started asking the same questions in different ways, hoping to get a glimpse of something shifting. She stayed true to her original statement.
He plugged in his phone to charge it, and talked into it, recording a few things that sat heavy on his mind. He was dead tired, and didn’t trust that he’d remember everything once he got to Wild Oak.
The sound of her breathing reached him, slow and steady, and he glanced over to see her asleep. Crazy woman. She’d risked her life to get away, then decided to trust him. Feeling the incredible weight of that responsibility, he grudgingly acknowledged she’d probably done the only thing she could have, in her desperate state. There was no way he’d let her get hurt on his watch.
He went over the things she’d said happened five nights ago. There’d been no reports of a murder or even a shooting in the area of the school. No unidentified bodies had shown up, either. Whoever had done this had taken the evidence with them.
An hour later, when he finally pulled onto the gravel driveway to the ranch, he stopped and waited to see if any vehicles passed by. The rising sun tinted the eastern sky orange. He missed this place. He hadn’t counted on how much. But his job kept him in the city, for now. Once he had enough experience in this position, he’d try for a job closer to the ranch. It wouldn’t be as a big-city detective, but that would be just fine with him.
After all the things he’d seen go down, and after hearing what Mina said she had witnessed, a quieter, less-intense job was looking better and better.
After five minutes with no activity on the road, he drove along the quarter-mile stretch toward the ranch building. Fences bordered both sides, and here and there, the cattle grazed on the fresh spring grass. The urge to jump on a horse and ride out across the acres of land nearly sidelined him.
At the end of the driveway, the old two-story white house stood strong, but looked like it needed paint. He’d have to see to that this summer.
Lower in the valley, the creek cut a winding path, and the buildings and barns looked deserted. They hadn’t had a foreman here in over a decade. One of the neighbors sent a ranch hand over to handle the daily chores, charging them a ridiculously reduced fee as a way of honoring Bennet’s contribution to the community during his years as sheriff.
Rex and Bennet hired more help only when they needed it, but the herd grew smaller every year from the lack of attention. His detective’s salary covered the costs but gave him very little more to live on, much less make improvements on the ranch.
Rex slowed and stopped in front of the house, and slid out of the truck, leaving Mina sleeping. Pretty, like a naughty angel with that messy red hair all sticking up and uneven. Naughty angel? He shook his head. “Get that shit out of your thoughts.”
He stepped up onto the porch, avoiding the long ramp that had been built to accommodate a medical walker. The inside door stood open, so he knocked on the screen door.
“Come on in,” Bennet Cader’s voice called. “You own the place, so you don’t need to knock.”
The voice made Rex smile. He stepped inside and spotted Bennet pushing his walker toward him, the brown slippers Rex had given him for his birthday sliding along the linoleum floor. Only in his early sixties, the man had succumbed to a degenerative disease that kept him unsteady and weak.
“Good to see you, boy.” Bennet’s voice shook a bit, but his smile lit his craggy face. Tall and rail-thin, the man’s flannel shirt and jeans hung on him. He’d lost weight.
“Bennet.” Rex took the man in a hug and patted his back. “How are you doing?”
Pulling back and giving Rex a grin, the older man nodded, fast and excited. “Better, now that you’re here. What’s the occasion? Ain’t my birthday again, is it?”
“I brought someone. Sleeping in the truck, now.” He gestured toward the front door. “But it’s work this time.”
Bennet glanced out the door. “Work?” He wheeled himself past the kitchen table. “Sit, and I’ll make coffee while you tell me the story.”
Rex wouldn’t dare offer to do it for him. The man had his pride. He took a seat and a deep breath. “She’s a missing person.”
Bennet turned, raising an eyebrow. “Why are you handling this, and not the sheriff’s department?” The man had been the county sheriff for twenty ye
ars before his health forced him to retire. He was the reason Rex had joined the police force and become a detective. That, and the prospect of incarcerating criminals like the one who’d shattered Rex’s world when he was a kid.
“Rex?” Bennet hadn’t moved.
“She’s from Austin, disappeared there, and somehow this landed on us.” Rex had thought it strange when the request had first crossed his desk. His partner had, too, but then a few days later, Sontag had gone at the case with a gusto the veteran hadn’t shown for very many cases. “I haven’t reported that I’ve found her yet.”
Now Bennet’s other brow shot up. “Not standard procedure. You got a reason for this?”
“She doesn’t trust the police. She claims they shot a man by the university, with not just one police department involved, but possibly two or more.”
“Yeah?” Bennet turned back and worked on the coffee.
Rex could almost hear the gears turning in his mentor’s head, and would give him time to process. He walked into the living room, which used to be the dining room. They’d moved all the furniture in this room and turned the old living room into Bennet’s bedroom when he couldn’t make the stairs any more.
The television Rex had given him the Christmas before had all the right cords and cables to hook up her camera. “She has it on video, the shooting. Well, most of it.” If she’d just kept the telescope steady, he wouldn’t be having these doubts surfacing.
“Let’s take a look.” Bennet stood behind him. The guy could sneak up on anyone, walker or no walker. He was a consummate law professional.
“If she’s not awake in an hour, I’ll go get her.” He looked out toward his truck. How had she just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time? In his experience, coincidences usually turned out to be nothing at all coincidental.
“Is she pretty?” Bennet wheeled back to the table and sat in his usual chair.
“She’s gorgeous.” Rex got out the cups, sugar, and cream and set everything on the table. “You think I should contact the captain, right?”
“Son, I don’t see this turning out well if you don’t.” Bennet didn’t have to list all the reasons. Rex knew them. He’d be under fire for about a dozen infractions. “But pour me some of that coffee and tell me the whole story, first.”
“You’re gonna love this.” Rex served coffee and told the whole story, including her vomiting and his suspicion Doctor Mina was hiding something.
Bennet nodded. “In my experience, everyone’s hiding something.”
“True.” He’d heard that from the man for years, but in Rex’s case, that didn’t apply. He was an open book, believed in telling the truth, and insisted on it from everyone around him. He stood. “Except for you and me, of course.”
Bennet let out a hoarse laugh. “Yeah. The two exceptions.”
Rex walked through the living room and out the side door to give himself privacy from both his mentor and his missing person. The sun had reached the treetops in the distance, and birds chirped. The scent of spring growth brought him back to his days on the land.
How had he gone so long without coming back here? In the distance, a vulture soared across the sky, circling slowly downward, then breaking off and flapping to gain altitude. He felt that way, some days. Like he was getting close to finding what he was looking for, but just couldn’t seem to grasp it.
Tugging his phone from his pocket, he pushed aside the self-analysis and pressed the button to call his captain.
“Tarrow, where the hell are you?” Sounds of papers being crinkled and things falling to the floor came through the phone.
“I’m gonna need you to get someplace alone, sir. I don’t want anyone to overhear this.”
Silence. “You’re giving me orders?”
“No, sir.” Rex swallowed to clear his voice. The guy somehow always made him nervous. “Confidential information, possibly dealing with police wrongdoing.”
“Ah, shit. Just what I need today.” It sounded like the captain was walking. “Okay. I’m in my office, and my door’s closed. Let me have it.”
Rex told the story, everything he knew, including where he and Mina had ended up.
“You took a missing person to a ranch outside a dot-on-the-map town.” The captain spoke the words slowly and distinctly.
Rex knew that tone, and knew his explanation had better be good. “Sir, she was afraid for her life. I…” He had to swallow again. “I had a choice to make, and I think…” He wished like hell he could take that last word back. “I made the decision based on the intel I had.”
“Tarrow, you’re a rookie detective.” His superior shouted the words. “Why the fuck didn’t you call me at three this morning?”
Good question. “Sir, under the circumstances, I wanted to get the victim to a safe harbor first.” He’d stand by that, and send up prayers that it wouldn’t cost him his badge.
Captain let out a long breath. “And you didn’t trust the safe houses. Yeah, okay. I can see your point, and I’d probably have done the same thing in your situation.”
About three thousand pounds of stress lifted off Rex’s chest.
“But, detective, you will never, and I repeat, never, move a victim or suspect again without my approval. You got that?”
“Yes, sir.” He tried to sound sufficiently humbled, but Rex knew he’d do the exact same thing again, if the bizarre circumstances ever repeated themselves.
“Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do.” The captain outlined a plan where they’d mark the missing person APB closed, show that the doctor was already en route to Austin in a Sheriff’s Department vehicle to divert attention from their department, and he’d contact the governor’s office and Internal Affairs to coordinate the screening of the video on the memory card. Rex would take three “personal days” and hide out with the lost-and-found doctor.
Rex was surprised he wasn’t being called back to the city. “You want me to stay here? Or move around?”
“Stay put, detective. I’ll be the only one who knows where you are. I’ll tell your partner that you had a family emergency.”
Rex trusted his captain, but with Mina’s life? And his? He’d have to, but he’d take out a little extra insurance. “Yes, sir.”
“And Tarrow…” The other man cleared his throat. “Good work finding her. Or…letting her find you.”
Rex almost laughed. “Thank you, sir.” He ended the call and pulled up the contact for his friend Treven Arnett. The volunteer firefighter owned the next ranch over.
“Rex, hey buddy!” Treven was one of the happiest men he knew, but then, the lucky skunk had it all.
“Trev, man, I’m gonna need your help.” After apprising him of the circumstances, they arranged for him to stop by that afternoon. “I’m gonna call Clint, too.” Clint Black owned a small ranch in the area, and worked as a paramedic for their local fire department.
“Good plan. See you in a few.” Treven ended the call, and Rex contacted Clint, then stepped back into the house. The decadent smell of bacon cooking made his belly rumble.
In the kitchen, Mina stood at the stove, pans of hash browns, bacon, and eggs giving off steam. She turned at the sound of his footsteps. “Hi. Mr. Cader was kind—”
“Bennet.” The old guy sat at the table, smiling wide. Doctor Mina had evidently charmed him, too.
Too? What was he thinking? The woman was not doing anything like charming Rex. Hell, no.
She smiled at Bennet. “Sorry. Bennet okayed my making breakfast for all of us, as long as I made bacon, too.”
Rex nodded. She was a vegetarian, but the old sheriff had talked her into cooking pork? Shit, maybe Bennet had done the charming here. He sat at the table. “Doctor, I called my chief.”
The spatula dropped out of her hand, landing on the potatoes. She turned, her brows dropping. “Why? We can’t trust anyone.”
Rex held up a hand. “This man, I trust. He understands the situation and is covering for me, handling thing
s with the governor’s office, and wants us to stay put.” He looked at Bennet. “If that’s all right with you.”
“Hell, yeah.” He tipped his head to Mina. “Excuse the language, ma’am.” He sat back and sipped his coffee. “You own the place, how can I kick you out?”
Rex caught Mina’s puzzled look, but wasn’t ready to explain that whole dynamic.
“You got something else, son?” Bennet watched Rex’s face.
“Yeah. Treven and Clint will be here this afternoon.”
Mina turned to face him fully. “Detective, how many people have you told about me?”
Rex stood and walked to the stove, picked up the sizzling pan of bacon, and brought it to the sink, straining off the fat into a tin can. “Just people I trust.” He gestured to the stove. “Now get those eggs off before they turn black.”
They made three plates of food, added a basket of biscuits, and sat at the table, Mina with tea, the men with cups of strong, black coffee.
“Bennet, here, he’s a long-time lawman. Sheriff for a couple decades. My friends who’re coming this afternoon? I’ve known them since we were kids, and trust them with my life.” He looked deep into Mina’s pretty blue eyes. “And with your life.” The men detailed the plan they’d devised to keep her safe—keep everyone on the ranch safe—from any unlikely attack.
Rex watched Mina’s face grow less tense, her body relaxing as he went over dozens of scenarios and how they would handle them, including hiding her in the root cellar, which was their term for the secret space under the floor in Bennet’s bedroom, concealed by a rug. Her brows shot up at that, and she looked at Bennet.
“A man can’t be too careful.” Bennet winked at her, then his brows dropped. “Rex is a man I’d trust with my life. Me? I may look used up, but I’m still the best shot in the county, despite the years I’ve spent in retirement.” He wrapped a hand around his coffee cup. “We’ll do everything to keep you safe, Mina. Swear on a Bible.”
The doctor blinked a few times, then glanced at Rex. “I appreciate that, and I’m honored that you both are willing to do this for me.”
