From Here to Texas

by Stella Bagwell

  “We’re going back to Aztec so I can put my head together with Jess. I’ll call him from the Jones House. Maybe he can drive by on his way home. The shape you’re in right now, I don’t want to drag you into town. You need to rest.”

  The fact that he was so thoughtful of her feelings made her heart ache with love and she reached out and touched his shoulder. “You won’t leave me alone tonight, will you? I’m afraid to stay there by myself now that I know what Niles is up to. But I’m afraid for you, too. Maybe we should go to your place?” she suggested with desperation.

  He cast her a grim glance as he put the car into gear and quickly wheeled it around toward the adjacent street. “You’re not staying anywhere without me. And we’re not going to my place. The man might be crazy, but he’s clever. Be assured that he knows where my home is. Along with the Jones House.”

  “But I—I don’t think I ever told him about the Jones House,” she said. “Especially after my parents willed it to me. By that time Niles had revealed his true character and I didn’t want him knowing anything about my financial affairs. Since he was rich anyway, he didn’t need my money. And I certainly didn’t want him snooping around any of my assets.”

  Beneath the brim of his Stetson, Quito’s brows formed a grim black line. “Darling, you’d be surprised how methodical some criminals are. Trust me, Niles knows about your assets, your bank accounts and everything else that goes down on paper or into a computer data bank.”

  The idea knotted her stomach and she looked at him with fierce determination. “He’s already confessed to me once, Quito. Maybe that’s our way to solving this.”

  Not bothering to look at her, he asked, “What do you mean by that?”

  “I’ll meet with him. I’ll get him to confess again. Only this time I’ll have on a wire.”

  “Hell, no! And don’t mention it again,” Quito spat. “I’ll not have you put yourself in that sort of danger. Not for me. Not for anybody!”

  Chapter Twelve

  On the long drive home, Clementine didn’t mention her plan again and once they arrived home, she was too drained to say much at all.

  She lay down on the couch and, in the kitchen, Quito pulled a wine cooler from the refrigerator and poured it into a tall glass.

  When he returned to the living room, he thrust the glass down at her. “Drink this. You need something to calm you.”

  “I am calm,” she protested, but she took the drink from him anyway. “Thanks.”

  “Drink it all,” he ordered. “I’m going to get on the phone and contact Jess.”

  While she rested and they waited for the under sheriff to arrive, Quito prepared sandwiches and a pot of coffee.

  He’d just set the plate of food on the kitchen bar, when Jess arrived and knocked at the door.

  From her place on the couch, Clementine could hear the murmur of the two men talking in the foyer. Quito was obviously giving Jess a quick rundown of the situation before he entered the living room. Clementine was glad for that. This whole thing was worse than humiliating. Her past association with Niles made her feel like a criminal herself. It was bad enough just to know that Quito’s friend and right-hand man knew her ex-husband was a would-be killer. She certainly didn’t want to hear Quito telling him the whole sordid story.

  The two men eventually walked into the living room. Clementine started to rise from the couch to greet Jess, but he quickly waved her back down.

  “No need to get up, Ms. Jones,” he said as he removed a black cowboy hat from his head. “Quito and I are like brothers.”

  “Call me Clementine, please,” she told the tall, sandy-haired man. This was the second time she had met Victoria’s husband and she could easily see why her friend appeared so happy and in love. “And I’m thankful to you for your help.”

  “How about some coffee, Jess?” Quito asked him. “I just made it and some sandwiches.”

  “I’ll take coffee, but nothing to eat. I just finished lunch. But you two go ahead.”

  Quito gestured to Jess to take a seat. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he told the two of them.

  While Quito went after the drinks, Jess sank into one of the overstuffed armchairs which was squared at an angle to the couch.

  Clementine sat on the edge of the cushion and looked at the other man with great concern. “I’m really scared about this, Jess. My ex-husband, Niles, is, well, I actually think he’s gone insane. Or maybe he was this evil all along and I just didn’t know it. Either way, he can’t be trusted to stay put in Houston. Now that he knows where I am, I wouldn’t put it past him to come here to try to kill Quito himself!”

  Jess held up a palm to hush her voiced fears. “I understand how you must be feeling, Clementine. This whole thing must have been a huge shock to you.”

  Groaning, she dropped her head in her hand and shook it back and forth. “Niles has stalked and threatened me for a long time now. But I never dreamed he would take this obsession with me to such lengths. Dear God, he’s never even met Quito. He doesn’t know anything about him, except that I love him.”

  A few moments of silence passed and then Jess said, “Most criminals don’t have a conscience Clementine. And when a person doesn’t have a conscience it’s hard to figure what’s going on with their thinking. Don’t feel badly about this. Just be glad you found out about it in time to do something.”

  Her head jerked up and she stared helplessly at him. “But what can we do? We don’t have any proof against Niles,” she miserably pointed out.

  “Not yet,” Jess said, “but that’s coming.”

  “That’s right, honey,” Quito said as he entered the room with a tray. “Jess and I aren’t Dumb and Dumber. We understand a little about this law stuff. And we’ve caught one or two criminals in our time.”

  Clementine rolled her eyes at his joking. “This is serious, Quito!”

  “I am being serious.” He placed the tray on the coffee table and passed one of the cups to Jess. To Clementine, he handed a small plate with a sandwich and a napkin.

  She shook her head. “I can’t eat. My stomach is in a knot.”

  “You can’t be of any help if you collapse on us,” Quito urged. “Try to eat something. It will make you feel better.”

  How could he be concerned about her, she wondered, when she’d very nearly gotten him killed?

  Quito retrieved his own plate from the coffee table, then sank onto the cushion next to Clementine.

  After a bite of sandwich, he began. “All right, Jess, what do you think is the best way to handle this? As far as I’m concerned, I’d like to fly down to Houston right this minute and call the man out.”

  Clementine stared at him in horror. “You mean like a gun draw in the Wild West? Quito, that’s crazy!”

  He frowned as he glanced at her. “I didn’t say I was going to do it. I said I’d like to. Along with a few other things,” he added grimly.

  “Well, I think the first thing we need to do is call Seth,” Jess replied. “The Rangers can immediately put a tail on the guy. When or if he crosses the Texas line into New Mexico, we’ll know it.”

  Quito nodded. “Yeah. You’re probably right about that.”

  Jess thoughtfully sipped his coffee. “The man’s house, offices and car needs to be bugged. I wonder if Seth could pull off a phone tap?”

  “We don’t have time for that!” Quito exclaimed as he swallowed another hunk of sandwich. “He’s only given Clementine four days to get back there. I don’t know if warrants could be obtained by then. Or if they could be obtained at all. We don’t have any reasons for probable cause. Other than the phone call he made to Clementine. And a judge might view her statement as biased accusations against her ex-husband.”

  “Biased!” Clementine practically shouted. “The man is the devil incarnate! And I know all about judges. I was lucky to find one who was willing to put a restraining order on Niles on two separate occasions. Neither of which helped one iota. A piece of paper doesn’t stop
a maniac from coming after you.”

  Reaching over, Quito took her hand and squeezed it within his. “Clem, you won’t have to worry about that ever again,” he murmured. “Trust me.”

  Clementine did trust him to do everything in his power to keep her safe. But that was the whole problem. While protecting her from Niles he would be putting his own life in jeopardy.

  She turned her gaze on the under sheriff. “Jess, I’ve told Quito that I think I should try to get Niles to confess again about hiring someone to kill Quito. And when I do, I’ll wear a wire.”

  Jess studied her thoughtfully, then looked to his boss. “What do you think about this?”

  Quito glared at Clementine before he leaned up and placed his plate on the coffee table. “No way. I won’t even consider it!”

  “But, Quito, it might be our only way,” Clementine argued.

  His expression was both loving and adamant as he studied the jut of her determined chin and the worried shadows in her eyes.

  “I won’t let you go to Houston. Nothing you or anyone can say will make me change my mind about that,” he said firmly.

  “Maybe she wouldn’t have to go to Houston,” Jess countered. “Maybe we could get the guy up here on our turf.”

  Clementine looked optimistically to Quito. “That would work, Quito! You and Jess could be hidden out of sight but close by just in case Niles did try something.”

  “Could you lure him up here, do you think?” Jess asked her.

  Even more hopeful now, she nodded eagerly. “I’m pretty sure of it. I can call his office and leave word that I need to talk to him. Or if I’m lucky, the secretary will give me his private cell number. You two might have some ideas of what I need to say from there on,” she said to both men. “But he’ll come. Even if I have to goad him into it.”

  Quito’s hand shot up as he quickly rose to his feet.

  “Just hold on a minute here. Both of you. I haven’t said I would allow any of this!”

  “Can you think of a better plan?” Clementine gently challenged.

  Cursing under his breath, Quito ran a frustrated hand through his black hair. “Not at the moment. But maybe—with time.”

  “Look, Quito,” Jess said with patient calmness. “We don’t have any clue as to who Niles hired to kill you. We can’t go that route. It would take too long and we might not ever find out who he is. We have to get that information from Niles himself. He’s already told Clementine about his involvement. I’m betting he’ll talk more.”

  “Damn it, Jess, he might hurt her! Can’t you understand I can’t risk that!” Quito practically bellowed.

  Jess did not seem intimidated by Quito’s outburst. The under sheriff simply continued to sip his coffee while Quito paced in a small circle around the couch. Clementine could see that Jess had spoken the truth about the two of them being like brothers. Only a man Quito was close to could be as frank with him as Jess was being.

  “If we don’t put a stop to this somehow, you’d be putting her in more risk of being hurt or even worse, being killed. The man sounds off the wall to me.”

  “Hell,” Quito sputtered. “That’s an understatement. I’ve got scars to prove he’s more than off the wall!”

  “Quito, what if I asked him to meet me here at this house?” Clementine asked. “That way, you could have total control of the situation. At least, almost total control. There’s plenty of rooms and dark spaces to hide in this place. Niles would never know you were around until it was too late.”

  Quito stopped his pacing and looked at her for long, thoughtful minutes. “You’d be willing to do that? Do you think you could handle it? If you said one wrong word who’s to say he wouldn’t pull out a knife or gun?”

  She sucked in a bracing breath. “I can handle it, Quito. I’ve been attacked by him before. I’ll be ready this time,” she said with fierce resolution.

  Quito’s gaze softened briefly on her face before he turned to Jess. “How quickly do you think we could set it all up? The warrants and all?”

  Jess smiled with confidence. “Two days. Give me and Redwing two days and we’ll have this place ready to catch a killer.”

  Quito walked over to Clementine and enveloped her hand between the two of his. His whole demeanor was grave as he looked down at her. “Will you be ready? If not, if you want to back out, tell me now. In fact, I wish you would tell me you’ve changed your mind. There’s other, safer ways to him.”

  Yeah, she thought, the slow, methodical way. Detectives would begin investigating and gathering evidence and in doing so, tipping Niles off that he was under suspicion and being watched. The man was evil, but that didn’t mean his brain was slow to calculate. He’d destroy every shred of evidence involving himself, then play the cool, innocent businessman. Until Niles was taken care of there was no way she and Quito could have a life together. That was the only thing giving her the strength and courage to go on with the plan.

  “I’ll be ready, darling, to do whatever it takes.”

  The next two days passed in a blur for Clementine. The Jones House was infiltrated with lawmen planting bugs in every room and even hiding tiny video cameras in several spots throughout the house.

  In her own opinion she believed Quito was going overboard with all the technical equipment, but she also realized his main objective was to keep her safe. And she could hardly scold him for that.

  By late evening of the second day, the wires and cameras and tiny microphones were all in place and she and Quito, along with Jess, and Deputy Redwing gathered in the living room. Outside, deputies were stationed in several spots around the rugged terrain of the house and near the entrance of the estate.

  Each of the three lawmen were looking at her, waiting for her to finally pick up the phone and dial Niles’s number. A few moments earlier, she’d called his office and a secretary had kindly given her his private cell phone number. Now all she had to do was punch in the numbers and pretend she didn’t hate the man’s guts.

  Standing at her side, Quito said, “Don’t overdo it on being agreeable to his terms or he might get suspicious. Don’t try to hide the fact that you’re annoyed with him. Just make it clear you’re trying to get back to Houston and you need his help.”

  At that moment Clementine wanted to simply fall into Quito’s arms and keep her face buried in the middle of his broad chest. But she didn’t have that luxury. She had to play this role and play it well.

  Nodding slowly, she picked up the telephone. “Okay. I’m ready.”

  The three men glanced at each other as if to make sure everyone knew there had to be total quietness in the room. Then at Quito’s nod, Clementine punched in the numbers and the men picked up the extension phones so they could also hear what was being said.

  After three rings, she began to think all the suspenseful buildup to the call would have to be done all over again if the man didn’t answer.

  But finally the fourth ring was cut short as he connected on the other end.

  “Niles Westcott,” he clipped out. “Who is this?”

  Apparently caller ID hadn’t given him the information that she was at the opposite end of the line. Which gave her the slight edge of catching him off guard.

  “Niles, it’s me. Clementine.”

  Long, long moments passed without any sort of reply or sound. Clementine looked desperately at Quito and the other two lawmen for help.

  But then she heard his soft, arrogant chuckle and realized that he was all too glad to hear her voice.

  “So my little dove calls. Been missing me, have you, honey?”

  “Not exactly,” Clementine answered. “I’ve been trying to do as you ordered and get on the road to Houston, but I’m having a bit of trouble. I—”

  “Don’t start it!” he barked the interruption. “There will be no trouble. No delays. Or Quito Perez will see his last sunset. You hear me, bitch?”

  From the corner of her eye, she could see Quito flinch at the expletive he’d called her
and she knew without being told that he already wanted to kill the man.

  “Listen yourself, Niles!” she shot back at him. “If you want me to return to Houston in another two days, then I need your help, not your smart mouth!”

  “Well, well. Showing a little spunk for me. I guess that’s a good thing. I never did want a puppet for a wife.”

  “You never wanted a wife. You wanted a slave to do your bidding,” she muttered.

  He clucked his tongue with disapproval. “Don’t get nasty, sweetie. Or you’ll wish you hadn’t. Now what sort of help do you need? Surely you haven’t already gone through the millions your parents left you.”

  Her jaw snapped together. “Not everyone needs money like you, Niles,” she goaded, then said, “I’m having trouble with my car. I have everything packed and loaded, but it’s not running right. I’ve taken it to a mechanic and he says it will take at least a week to get a special part for it.”

  “That’s hardly any trouble. Leave the damn thing there. Buy another one!” he ordered.

  She glanced at Quito to see he was shaking his head. To Niles, she said, “Nothing doing. I love that car. I’m not about to part with it. I thought you might fly up here and drive back with me. That way if I have any breakdowns I won’t be alone.”

  Clearly she’d shocked him with the suggestion and Clementine held her breath while praying he didn’t find her request suspicious.

  “This isn’t like you, Clementine. Since when have you wanted my company? Years ago, if ever,” he accused.

  “Look, Niles, at one time I enjoyed your company. But then your behavior became so abhorrent you gave me no choice but to leave. If you expect us to be man and wife again, then you need to show a little care and concern. The drive back to Houston together would give us a chance to talk things over and set some guidelines.”

  “Guidelines?” he asked, his voice eerily calm. “I’ll be setting those. Understand, sweetie?”

  Her nostrils flared as she tried to swallow the sickening taste in her mouth. “Only too well, Niles.”

  “Good. As long as you do, I’ll be glad to fly up and drive back with you. We might even make a mini vacation of the trip. Sort of a celebration of our reunion.”