Texas Proud and Circle of Gold

by Diana Palmer

  “Jack Morris and his son just opened a drive-in theater outside town,” she said. “He even built a snack bar with restrooms. He says he’s bringing back the 1950s all by himself. It’s pretty successful, too.”

  “What’s playing right now?”

  She named the movie, an action one about commandoes.

  He smiled. “You like movies like that?” he asked.

  “Well, yes,” she confessed.

  He chuckled. “I thought you had an adventurous nature. Mrs. Brown told me about those books you read in bed. She said you have some on outfits like the British SAS and the French Foreign Legion.”

  She blushed. “My goodness!”

  “So, how about a movie Friday night?” he asked. “I’ll have Santi rent a smaller car, one that won’t get so much attention from the populace.”

  Her heart skipped a beat and ran wild. “You want to take me out, on a date?”

  “Of course I do,” he said softly.

  She thought she might faint. “But I... I have all sorts of health issues...”

  “Bernadette, you have a kind heart,” he said quietly, his dark eyes soft on her face. “None of the other stuff matters. Least of all an illness you can’t help.” He grinned. “I won’t ask you to go mountain climbing with me. I promise.”

  She laughed. “That’s a deal, then.”

  He shook his head. “Why would you think you’re untouchable?”

  “A local boy told me that when I was in high school. He said he didn’t want to get mixed up with a handicapped girl.”

  “Idiot,” he muttered.

  She smiled at him. “Thanks.”

  “How long ago?”

  She blinked. “How long ago was it?”

  He shifted. “Clumsy way to put it. How old are you?” he added. His dark eyes twinkled. “Past the age of consent?” he probed.

  She closed up and looked uncomfortable.

  He put a big, warm hand over hers on the table. “I don’t proposition women I haven’t even dated yet,” he said softly. “And you aren’t the sort of girl who’d ever get such a proposition from me. Honest.”

  She caught her breath. He was so unexpected. “I’m twenty-four. Almost twenty-five.”

  He was shocked and looked it. “You don’t look your age, kid.”

  She beamed. “Thanks.”

  He laughed and curled his fingers around hers, enjoying the sensations that ran through him. Judging by the flush, she was feeling something similar.

  “Careful,” she said under her breath as more people came in the front door.

  “Careful, why? Somebody with a gun looking our way?” he asked, and not entirely facetiously.

  “Gossip.”

  He scowled. “What?”

  “Gossip,” she repeated. “If people see you standing close together or holding hands, they start talking about you, especially if you’re local and unmarried. You’ll get talked about.”

  “Like I care,” he teased.

  She felt as if she could float. “Really?”

  His teeth were perfect and very white. She noticed, because he didn’t seem to smile much. “I don’t mind gossip. Do you?”

  She hesitated. But, really, nobody here was likely to gossip about her to him, at least. Not many people knew about her parents or, especially, her grandparents. “No,” she said after a minute. “I don’t mind, either.”

  “Just as well. I have no plans to stop holding hands with you,” he said. “It feels nice.”

  “It feels very nice,” she said.

  * * *

  He had Santi drive her back to her office. He even got out, helped her from the car and walked her to the door.

  “That woman in the courthouse said she works here. That right?” he asked.

  She made a face and nodded.

  “Then I won’t come in. Phew,” he added. “She could start a perfume shop on what she was wearing.”

  “She could in there, too,” she said.

  He laughed. “Well, I’ll see you back at Mrs. Brown’s later. If it starts raining, you call me and I’ll come pick you up.”

  She looked hesitant.

  “Oh. Right.” He pulled out his wallet, extracted a business card and handed it to her. “Cell phone. At the bottom. You can call me or you can text me. Texting is better. I hate talking on the damned phone.”

  She laughed. “So do I.”

  “Okay, then. See you later, kid.”

  “See you.”

  He got back in the car. She went into her office and closed the door behind her.

  Jessie was watching. Her face was livid. She’d tried to cadge a ride back to the office in that nice limo and been refused. It made her furious that little miss sunshine there had managed it. And she was late back to work, to boot!

  Chapter Four

  Bernie didn’t have to look to feel Jessie’s fury, but she sat down at her desk without even glancing toward the front desk. Apparently Jessie wasn’t going to push her luck by attacking Bernie, though. She settled down at her desk and busied herself typing up letters for the boss while she answered the phone.

  It wasn’t hard to avoid her at quitting time. Jessie was always the first one out the door, just in case the phone rang and somebody had to answer it. She was never on time in the mornings, either, something resented by all her coworkers.

  “Phew,” Bernie said with heartfelt thanks when Jessie was out of sight. “I thought my number was up when we got back from lunch.”

  “Jessie won’t quit,” Olivia said quietly. “She’s got that nice rich visitor in her sights and she’ll do anything to get his attention. You watch out,” she added.

  Bernie sighed. “I guess she’ll really hit the ceiling when she finds out I’m going to a movie with him.”

  “Movie?” Sari asked, all ears.

  “When?” Glory asked.

  She laughed. “Friday night. He’s taking me to the drive-in.”

  “Ooh,” Sari mused. “Heavy stuff.”

  Bernie blushed. “He’s so good-looking. Honestly, I feel dowdy compared to Jessie.”

  “He didn’t like Jessie, though, did he?” Olivia reminded her. “He told me not to mention he was having lunch with us when I went back to the office. He wasn’t impressed by her. In fact,” she added with a chuckle, “he said he knew how deer felt during hunting season.”

  “Wouldn’t that get her goat?” Sari teased. “I wasn’t kidding about Mikey,” she added to Bernie. “He really isn’t a ladies’ man.”

  “He could be in movies,” Bernie said.

  “Yes, he could,” Glory agreed. “I wonder.” She glanced at Sari. “Didn’t anybody ever try to get him to audition for a movie?”

  “In fact, Paul says he was pursued by a Hollywood agent who saw him in Newark. He just smiled and walked away. He’s shy, although that never comes across. He puts on a good act,” Sari added.

  “He’s good with people,” Bernie told them as they went out and locked the door, Mr. Kemp having gone home from a day in court already. “The ladies at the boardinghouse think he’s just awesome.”

  “And what a lucky thing that Mrs. Brown only had one vacancy,” Sari said. “Or Jessie would be over there like a flash.”

  “I still can’t figure what she’s doing down here,” Glory said. “She’s a bad fit for our office, and she doesn’t mix with anybody in town except her friend Billie at the county clerk’s office.” She frowned. “In fact, Billie hasn’t been here long, either, and she’s a city girl from back east somewhere. They’re both of them out of step with local people.”

  “Do they room together?” Bernie asked.

  “Yes, at some motel out of town. That’s got to be expensive, too, since none of our local hotels serve meals.”

  “Which one do they stay at?” Gl
ory asked.

  “The one where all the movie stars live when they’re in town filming,” Sari told her. “The one with whirlpool baths and feather pillows and mini bars.”

  “Ouch,” Glory laughed. “That’s the most expensive place in town. Jessie doesn’t make enough here to afford such luxury.”

  “Well, she and Billie share,” Sari said. “I guess they share meal expenses, too. Jessie would never manage it alone.”

  “Don’t mention your upcoming date in the office,” Glory cautioned Bernie.

  “I might not need to,” Bernie said, waving Olivia goodbye as she drove off in her car. “We were sort of holding hands in Barbara’s Café,” she confessed.

  Sari whistled.

  Bernie looked at her curiously.

  “And Mikey knows about small towns, too,” she mused. “Apparently he doesn’t mind people knowing that he likes you.”

  Bernie flushed. “Really? You think he does?”

  “Paul does,” Sari said. “And he knows Mikey a lot better than the rest of us do.”

  “Wow,” Bernie said softly.

  “There’s my ride. My boys,” Glory gushed, waving to Rodrigo at the wheel of their car and their little boy in the back seat. “See you tomorrow!”

  “Have a good night,” Bernie called. Glory waved as she got into the car and fastened her seat belt. Rodrigo waved at the women on his way past.

  “There’s just one thing,” Sari said gently, turning to Bernie when they were alone. “Mikey’s down here for a reason, and it’s a dangerous one. I can’t talk about it. But you should know that there’s a risk in going around with him.”

  “I do know,” Bernie replied. “I don’t care.”

  “So it’s like that already.” Sari smiled. “I’d feel the same way if Paul was like Mikey. You know that Mikey’s past isn’t spotless?” she added a little worriedly.

  “You mean, about his hotel business?”

  Sari didn’t know what to say. She felt uncomfortable telling tales. Well, better to let sleeping dogs lie. “It was a long time ago,” she lied, smiling. “He’ll tell you himself when he’s ready.”

  “I don’t care about his past,” Bernie said softly, and she smiled. “I’ve never been so happy in my whole life.”

  “Judging by how much he smiles lately, neither has Mikey,” Sari laughed. “Paul said he was the most somber man you’ve ever seen until lately. They grew up together.”

  Bernie nodded. “Their grandmother raised them. Mikey loved her.”

  “Yes, he did. Paul and Mikey had a rough childhood. Their grandmother was all they had. Well, and each other, although neither of them would admit it.”

  “They seem to get along well, from what Mikey says.”

  “They do now. It wasn’t always that way.” She glanced toward the curb. Paul was sitting at the wheel of their Jaguar. He waved. “Well, I’ll go home. Can we drop you off?” she added.

  Bernie laughed. “I’m doing really good today, and Dr. Coltrain says I need the exercise when I can get it. But thanks.”

  “No problem. Anytime. See you tomorrow.”

  Bernie waved them off and walked the four blocks to Mrs. Brown’s boardinghouse. She felt as if her feet didn’t even touch the sidewalk. Life was sweet.

  * * *

  She got through the rest of the week relatively unscathed by Jessie, although she received a lot of irritated looks when a couple of local people coming into the office mentioned that Bernie had been seen holding hands with Mikey at Barbara’s Café. But apparently Jessie still thought Bernie was no competition for her. She did mention, loudly, that she was going to spend more time at Barbara’s herself.

  “And good luck to her,” Sari laughed when Jessie left ahead of them all, as usual, at the end of the day. “Mikey’s been in San Antonio for the past two days.”

  Bernie smiled with obvious relief. She hadn’t seen him since their lunch at the café. He’d been out of town apparently. She’d wondered if he was leaving town. She’d hoped he’d say goodbye first, but his absence at the boardinghouse had worried her. Mrs. Brown only said that he had business to take care of, but she hadn’t said how long it might take him to conduct it. Bernie figured it was something to do with the hotel he owned. It must take a lot of work to coordinate something so big, and he must have a lot of employees who had to be looked after as well.

  “You didn’t know,” Sari guessed when she noted Bernie’s expression.

  “Well, no. He just told Mrs. Brown that he had business to take care of. We didn’t know where he was.”

  “He and Paul have something going on together,” Sari said, without mentioning what, although she knew. It was top-secret stuff, nothing she could tell even her worried coworker about.

  “I hoped he wouldn’t leave town without saying goodbye,” Bernie replied.

  “Are you kidding? He’s taking you to a movie, remember?” Sari teased. “How could he leave town?”

  Bernie laughed. “I guess he wouldn’t, at that.” She was beaming. “You know, I’ve only ever been on a few dates in my life.” She hesitated and looked at Sari worriedly. “Mikey’s sophisticated, you know? And I’m just a small-town girl with old-fashioned ideas about stuff.”

  “So was Della Carrera before she married Marcus here in town,” she reminded the other woman. “Nobody’s more sophisticated than Marcus Carrera.”

  Bernie smiled. “I guess not.” She frowned. “Mr. Carrera was big in the mob, wasn’t he?” she added absently.

  “He was. He went legitimate, though. He was actually working with the FBI to shut down a crooked crime figure who planned to open a casino near Marcus’s.”

  “I heard something about that.” Bernie shook her head. “I don’t understand how people ever get involved with organized crime. It seems a shameful way to earn a living.”

  “That it is,” Sari said, but became reserved. Bernie didn’t know about Mikey and she didn’t feel comfortable blowing his cover. “Well, I’m off. See you tomorrow!”

  “Have a good night.”

  “You, too.”

  Bernie watched them drive away and started back to Mrs. Brown’s. She could hardly contain her excitement about the coming date with Mikey.

  * * *

  Mikey, meanwhile, had been in conference with Paul, Jon Blackhawk and a US Marshal in San Antonio, while the three of them hashed out what they knew and what they didn’t know about Cotillo. Mikey had stayed at a safe house with the marshal while they discussed the case and what they were going to do about the threat.

  “I don’t want the women in my boardinghouse hurt,” Mikey said during one long session. “Just being around me could put them in danger.”

  “They won’t be,” Paul replied. “You’ve got more protection than you realize.”

  “Yeah, well, Merrie Colter had plenty of protection, too, and she ended up in the hospital when that contract man was after her,” Mikey pointed out.

  “No plan is foolproof,” Jon Blackhawk, assistant SAC at the San Antonio FBI office agreed. “But we’ve got most of our bases covered. And, frankly, no place is going to be perfectly safe. If you leave your boardinghouse, the women who live there could still be in danger if the contract man decides they might know where you were.”

  Mikey felt sick to his stomach, although nothing showed in that poker face. “I suppose that’s true,” he said heavily.

  “I’ve never lost a person I was protecting yet,” US Marshal McLeod interjected. He was tall and husky like Mikey, but he had pale gray eyes in a face like stone and a .357 Magnum in a leather holster at his waist.

  “You and that damned cannon,” Paul muttered. “Why don’t you move into the twenty-first century, McLeod, and sport a piece that didn’t come out of the eighties?”

  “It’s a fine gun,” McLeod said quietly. “It belonged to my father. He
was killed in the line of duty, working for our local sheriff’s office back home.”

  “Sorry,” Paul said sheepishly.

  McLeod shrugged. “No problem.”

  “I hope you got earplugs when you have to shoot that thing,” Mikey mused.

  “I got some, but if I take time to put them in, I’ll be wearing them on the other side of the dirt.”

  Mikey chuckled. “Good point.”

  “Where’s your piece?” Paul asked suspiciously.

  “My piece?” Mikey opened his suit coat. “I don’t carry a gun, Paulie. You know that.”

  “I know that you’d better get a Texas permit for that big .45 you keep in your car, before Cash Grier knows you don’t have one,” Paul said with a smirk.

  Mikey sighed. “I was just thinking about that the other day. So. Where’s Cotillo?”

  There was a round of sighs. “Well, he was in Newark,” McLeod said. “I checked with our office there, but he’s out of sight now. Nobody knows where he went. We have people checking,” he added. “One of our guys has a Confidential Informant who’s close to him. We’ll find him.”

  “It’s his contract killer we need to find,” Paul interrupted. “If he offs Mikey, we have no case, and Tony Garza will go down like a sack of beans for murder one.”

  “Speaking just for myself, I’d prefer to live a few more years,” Mikey mused.

  “Especially since you have a hot date tomorrow night, I hear?” Paul said with an unholy grin.

  Mikey embarrassed himself by flushing. The tint was noticeable even with his olive complexion.

  “Hot date?” Jon asked.

  Mikey cleared his throat. “She’s a nice girl. Works as a paralegal for the district attorney’s office in Jacobsville.”

  “Bernie,” Paul said.

  There were curious looks.

  “Bernadette,” Mikey muttered. “It’s short for Bernadette.”

  “Pretty name,” Jon said.

  “She’s a sweetheart,” Paul told them. “Takes a real load off the district attorney, and the other women who work in the office love her, especially my wife.” He glanced at Mikey. “Which begs the question, why don’t you ever bring her over to the house to eat? You know Mandy wouldn’t mind cooking extra.”