by Carolina Mac
“Yes, you are,” said Annie, smoothing down his wild blond hair. “Let’s get a couple of rooms and crash.”
Once she had Farrell in a room, Annie turned to Tyler. “We need to find an all-night Wal-Mart. Did you see Farrell’s clothes?”
Tyler made a face. “Didn’t look too close but I could smell the cow shit and the blood on him. Not a good mix.”
“It will only take me a few minutes to grab him some clothes and toiletries. You can stay in the room and warm up our bed if you want, sugar.”
“I’ll go with you,” said Ty, “I might get a coffee and a donut.”
“Good idea. We’ll shop, then get coffee and a snack to go.”
FARRELL stumbled into his room next to Annie’s at the Best Western and stripped off all his clothes. He hadn’t thought about it or noticed the stink, but the clothes reeked, and he’d have to toss them.
After a long hot shower, he wrapped a towel around himself, sat down at the little table in the corner of the room and called Mary and woke her up. “Sorry, Miss Mary, I’m wrecked and should have called you earlier. I fell asleep in the waiting room.”
“What waiting room, honey? What are you talking about?”
“Shooter hit Blacky, Mar. He’s in Acute Care in Laredo.”
“Laredo? That’s hours away. Are you sleeping there?”
“Annie got us rooms at the Best Western. I had a shower and I’m sacking out now.”
“I’ll talk to Ben and come down in the morning, sweetheart. I’ll find you, don’t worry. I love you, Farrell.”
“Love you, Mar.”
Farrell set his phone on the nightstand and was about to crawl into bed when he heard the tap on the door. He tightened up the towel around his waist and opened the door a crack. “Hey, Mom.”
Annie shoved the bag through the opening. “Here’s something to wear tomorrow.”
“Aw, thanks, Mom. I wondered…”
“You’re too tired to wonder. Sleep now.”
“I love you, Mom.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Thursday, June 25th.
Giddings.
JESSE carried Charity downstairs and strapped her into her highchair for breakfast. He could carry his little girl now with a lot less stress on his breathing. Stronger ever day was his new mantra.
Charity pointed a chubby finger at Tyler’s empty chair and said, “Ty.”
“Tyler went on a trip with Mama.”
“My Mama,” said Charity, and Jesse felt a rush of tears behind his eyes. “I’ll get you some cereal.”
Annie was such a good mother to Charity.
“Any word yet on Blacky?” asked Bobby.
Jesse shook his head. “Ty texted and said he’s sedated, and nobody can see him until tonight at the earliest.”
“Do you want me to inquire for you?” asked Brian, “I could get details from a medical perspective if you want to know the severity of the wound.”
“Would you, Brian?” asked Jesse. “I’m worried.”
“I’ll do it right after breakfast.”
Molly came in from the kitchen carrying a platter of eggs and bacon and a basket covered by a napkin. She set it all on the table and Charity reached out a hand. “Me.”
“What does me want, little girl?” asked Jesse.
Bobby chuckled. “What she always wants—corn bread.”
Jesse’s cell rang, and he stepped into the foyer to answer. “Morning, Chief.”
“It is a good morning after all,” said Calhoun. “A security person found Royce’s body in a clump of buses outside his condo. Mort is on his way over there now, but traffic is moving slow. I heard from a couple of squads that there’s a media gridlock on that street.”
“Just finishing breakfast and I’m there,” said Jesse. “Half an hour. I’ll call the boys. I wasn’t sure they’d be working today.”
“They must be stressed.”
“That’s affirmative.” Jesse went back to the table, ate a quick breakfast and left Charity in Molly’s capable hands. “Call my cell when you know about Blacky,” he called to Brian on his way out.
On the way to headquarters he called Travis. “I’m taking the Royce scene. Meet me there with all the boys.”
“I’ll call them, boss. See you soon.”
Travis didn’t ask where. He already knows.
Laredo.
ANNIE ordered breakfast from room service and texted Farrell. She didn’t have the energy to battle the masses in the breakfast room on the main floor.
Used to getting up at five for chores, Tyler was dressed and downstairs waiting for the staff to make the coffee. When the waiter brought the tray to their room, he’d already eaten one breakfast.
“What are we gonna do all day while we’re waiting for Blacky to wake up?” asked Ty.
“We’ll drive out to the ranch, check on the herd and see if Rowdy is around,” said Annie. “I want to spend some time with him while we’re here. He must be lonely.”
“Last night, Lily brought Misty down, Mom,” said Farrell. “They must be in Laredo somewhere.”
“Okay,” said Annie. “This morning, we’ll find out where everybody is and all meet for lunch.”
“Mary is coming. I don’t know what time she’ll get here,” said Farrell. He pointed at his clean shirt. “Thanks for the clothes. Mine were wrecked. Blacky… we… we…were running… in a field.” He left the table and went into the ensuite.
Tears filled Annie’s eyes. “Farrell is so upset,” she whispered to Tyler.
MISTY had Tarot cards spread out on the table in their room when Lily woke up. Lily hadn’t slept well after leaving Carm in such a state of distress. Carm was crying over Blaine, but she wouldn’t leave Casey and Casey wouldn’t leave the dogs or the house. His first real home and nothing could drag him out.
Jesus. What a mess.
Lil sat up and wondered what the rest of the team were doing. They were a close unit, and all worked as one.
Misty turned around, noticed Lil was awake and said in that Louisiana drawl that took her a whole minute to say a single sentence. “I’m dressed. I’ll go down and get us coffee.”
“Thanks, Misty. I could use one.” Misty left the room and Lily texted Carlos. She felt closest to Carlos and hoped for more, but Blacky wasn’t keen on relationships between team members. She’d been hot for Travis at one point, but that big Marine only had one thing on his mind. He was a lost cause.
“Missing you guys. What’s happening?”
“Royce is dead. We’re just getting to the scene. Check the news feed. More later. Miss you, Lil.”
Lily smiled. “Better than nothing.” She opened the double cabinet doors hiding the TV and pressed the power button on the remote. Carlos was right. It was already on the news. The first shot was of a high rise condo and the blonde with the perfect hair was saying Senator Royce lived in the penthouse of the building. She went on to say there was a fire scare the day before in the same building and all the residents had been evacuated. “No details have been released yet on how the senator died. Stay tuned.”
“Thank God that asshole is dead,” said Lil to herself. Misty knocked on the door and Lil let her in. She’d brought four cups of coffee and a paper plate stacked up with Danish and muffins. Lil smiled then took the coffee tray. “A free breakfast.”
“Crowded down there,” said Misty. “I tried to get a yogurt, but a little girl grabbed it out of my hand and ran away with it.”
Lil giggled. “Couldn’t you catch her?”
“I can’t run,” drawled Misty. “Barely walk, but I’m getting there.”
Lil took the lid off one of the coffees and took a sip. “I’m going to phone around and see where everybody is and when we should go to the hospital.”
Misty nodded. “The babe won’t wake up until midnight.”
“Good to know,” said Lil. She had no idea from which hemisphere Misty gleaned her information, but it was amazingly accurate.
FARR
ELL had opted to stay in the room and go to the hospital when visiting hours started instead of driving out to Annie’s other ranch north of Laredo. He understood that she wanted to keep busy until it was time, but the events of the previous day had knocked it out of him. He felt like a gravel truck had run over him.
Drinking his third coffee and eyeing the unmade bed with sleepy thoughts in his head, he groaned when his cell rang.
“Morning, Governor.”
“Not one of the best mornings I’ve had. When I arrived last night, the surgeon had left the hospital and the nurses wouldn’t let me into the ICU. But I’m here in Laredo and ready to go to back for another try. Where are you?”
“Sitting in my room feeling like shit.”
“Are you going to the hospital soon?”
“Yep. What hotel are y’all at?”
“Marriott.”
“I’ll meet you at the hospital, then Annie said we were all going to meet for lunch.”
“Is your mother with you?”
“We have another ranch north of Laredo and she drove up there to check on her herd. The doc said he wasn’t letting anybody near Blacky until tonight at the earliest.”
“Why are you going then?” asked Cat.
“I need to be there.”
“Uh huh, and I need to speak to his doctor just for my own peace of mind. I’ll meet you there in half an hour.”
Farrell pressed end and Mary’s picture came on his screen. “Where are you, Miss Mary?”
“Just past Cotulla.”
“Okay, go straight to the hospital when you get to Laredo. I’ll meet you there in the fifth floor waiting room. Cat is meeting us in half an hour.”
“The Governor is there?”
“She’s been here since last night, but it don’t matter. We can’t find out anything. Wait and see and wait some more.”
“You sound depressed, sweetheart. I’m so sorry Blaine was hurt.”
“Not your fault, Mary, but it is mine. Totally my fault. I was supposed to be protecting him and did I do it? No fuckin way. I let my brother get shot by one of Royce’s fuckin maniacs.”
“Royce is dead,” said Mary. “It’s on the news.”
“Not in time,” mumbled Farrell. “Not in time.”
Austin.
SIXTH STREET was paralyzed by the media. Jesse sat at the corner with his signal on and even though his light was green, he couldn’t make the turn. No where to go. “What a mess this is.” He turned on the strobes and the siren that he rarely used and bullied his way around the corner and onto Sixth. He stuck his head out the window and hollered at reporters to move their goddam vans and let him pass.
“The boys won’t be able to get here for a goddam hour,” he mumbled to himself. “They’ll have to park and walk a fuckin mile.”
When he tired of the battle and could see the building up ahead, he urge the Rover up over the curb and parked on the median.
Uniformed security came out of nowhere. They pointed at the Rover and yelled at him that he couldn’t park there.
“Yeah, that’s what you think, buddy.” Jesse waved an angry arm. “You get busy and clear all media vehicles out of your parking lot, so the police can work. Do it now.”
The guy stomped off mumbling to himself and Jesse vowed to deal with the prick later. He needed one of those lists like Blacky had. Pricks that pissed me off list.
Wonder how the kid is doing.
As he made his way along the sidewalk, pushing through the throng of media and looky-loos, Jesse spotted Mort Simon on the other side of the yellow tape over by a clump of bushes. The Medical Examiner’s assistant, Tim, was down on his knees taking the body temperature. “Morning, Doc,” said Jesse. “How’s our dead senator?”
“One shot to the temple. Suppressor for certain. The senator didn’t even know what hit him. Instantaneous death.”
“Too bad,” said Jesse. “He deserved much worse. I wanted him to suffer.”
The good doctor looked up and gave Jesse a glance.
Good job, Ace.
Twenty minutes later, Carlos, Travis, Luke and Fletcher arrived looking none too happy.
We’ve got to investigate this death and file all regular reports.
“Fuckin bitch of a mess out there, ain’t it?” Jesse nodded to his crew, glad they finally made it.
“Big crowd for a big story,” said Fletcher. “His men shot the boss and I’m fuckin glad he’s dead.”
Jesse raised an eyebrow. “We’ll drink to that later, son. Right now, we have to work.” Jesse pointed at each of them and barked out the orders.
“Carlos: Get a complete statement from the concierge about the fire scare and evacuation yesterday.” Jesse winked at Travis. “That might be connected.”
“Travis: Interview the security guard who found the body this morning, then go up and see what the techs have found in the senator’s penthouse.”
“Luke and Fletch: Search the grounds for a weapon. You probably won’t find one, but we have to be thorough and I want it in the report that we did the search.”
With the boys dispatched, Jesse strolled out to the curb to speak to the crowd of media who’d been hollering out questions the whole time he’d been talking to Mort Simon and then his crew. Nobody ruder or more aggressive than the fuckin media.
“Ranger Quantrall, any leads on who killed Senator Royce?”
Jesse gave them a fake smile. “Since I’ve been here for,” he checked the Rolex on his wrist, “ten… fifteen minutes tops, I have to say nope. The case hasn’t been solved yet.”
Somebody else hollered, “Will Governor Campbell be making a statement today?”
“She will have something to say, but not for a day or two. She’s out of town on a personal matter.”
“Should she be away from the Capitol when a senator was murdered in the capital city of her state?”
“Her absence is unavoidable.”
“What’s her big emergency?” hollered a guy near the back of the crowd.
“I can’t tell you that,” said Jesse. “It’s her private business.”
A blonde reporter from one of the TV stations shoved a mic towards him. “You and the Governor have been seen in public a lot together, Ranger Quantrall. Do you have a personal relationship with the first lady of Texas?”
Jesse chuckled. “I’m going to give you a firm no on that one. My fiancé would be annoyed if it were true.”
Laredo.
ANNIE and Tyler were watching the news in their room and drinking a second pot of coffee before they left for the ranch. Senator Royce’s murder monopolized every channel.
“Jesse is going to talk to the media,” said Annie, as she watched him walked away from the taped off crime scene towards the sidewalk.
“Want me to turn it up?” Tyler held the remote in his hand.
“I can’t hear anything except all those reporters yelling,” said Annie. “The women are the worst.”
“Women are the worst.” Tyler winked at her.
Jesse answered the questions he could about the murder, then one woman reporter started asking questions about his personal life and Annie perked up her ears. Jesse’s last comment—My fiancé would be annoyed if it were true—made her blood run cold.
“Who the hell is he marrying now?” Annie snapped out the question at Tyler.
“Jamie, I guess. He’s been seeing her again, since she moved back to Austin.”
“Fuck that,” said Annie and headed into the bathroom. She came out moments later and said, “As soon as we get home you’re moving to Coulter-Ross. I will not go to Quantrall and watch Jesse do… whatever he’s doing. He’s going to make another huge mess of his life and I for one am not going to watch him do it. He needs to be miles away from me.”
Tyler grinned. “I’ve been thinking about another idea.”
“What?”
“Let’s go to Vegas, play poker like maniacs and get married while we’re there.”
Annie tapped
Tyler’s chest with her finger. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard today.”
Austin.
TRAVIS spent a half hour in the office of building security obtaining the statement of the guard who’d discovered Royce’s body in the bushes on his early morning rounds.
Ed Brinkley was in his early sixties, tall and broad-shouldered with a mop of gray hair and a matching moustache.
Travis set up the interview and turned on the recorder. “Anytime you’re ready, Ed.”
“It was so horrible, I really don’t want to relive the moment.”
“Just tell it to me as you remember it,” urged Travis.
“It was my last round before I went off duty,” said Ed. “The sun was up, and the morning was fresh and cool. I walked through the parking lot checking all the vehicles, then around the back of the building, stopping to check that the exits were locked and secure. I rounded the far side of the building and my stomach was growling. I always eat breakfast as soon as I get off duty. So, I was thinking about what I’d have for breakfast when I saw something sticking out from under the bushes. I’m telling you, Deputy Bristol, when my tired brain told me I was looking at a man’s leg it was a damn good test for my heart.”
Travis nodded. “It would be.”
“I took a few steps closer, pulled the bush out of the way so I could see better and that’s when I saw it was a person—a tall man. A man with half his head missing. I’m telling you, I forgot all about being hungry. I turned away from the sight of him and hurled in a flower bed.”
“Then you called 911?” prompted Travis.
“Uh huh,” said Ed. “Right away, I called, and those guys were fast. They were here in five minutes. Very fast response. Not that they could do anything.”
Travis turned off the recorder and thanked Ed. “Thanks for staying late, Ed. You can leave now and get your breakfast.”
“Happy to help.”
Travis took the elevator to the top of the building, strode across the foyer of Royce’s penthouse and into a hive of activity. Techs from the crime scene unit at DPS were swarming all over the huge apartment. Double the size of an average house, there was a lot of ground to cover.
