Unbridled

by Diana Palmer

  “Excuse me?”

  “Gwen Marquez—Rick’s wife. Outshot me. A hundred bullseyes out of a hundred shots.” He sighed. “I think I’ll go live in Fiji.”

  “You can go with Colter Banks and me,” John said. “We’re already looking at ticket prices.”

  Hollister chuckled. “Come on in.”

  John closed the door behind him. “The priest and I made a connection, and I need a favor.”

  “Shoot.”

  “There’s a call girl. Tina Lopez. I need you to have an officer arrest her, and I need access to her while she’s here.”

  “Tina?” he asked, surprised. “She doesn’t belong to a gang.”

  “You know her?”

  “Yes. She dances at Fernando’s on Friday nights. That’s how Rado gets her rich patrons. It attracts some of the wealthiest patrons of any restaurant in town.”

  “Small world,” John said. “Getting smaller all the time. No, Tina hasn’t done anything. But I’ve heard that her brother had his arm broken by Rado, and she had a connection to Melinda McCarthy... They were friends.”

  Hollister ground his teeth together. “Ruiz, I can appreciate the effort to get Rado, but if he knows you’ve talked to Tina—”

  “I know an attorney who works down in Jacobsville at the district attorney’s office,” John interrupted. “I’ll ask her to wear a wire and record anything Tina tells her. Rado will never know.”

  “If the attorney can keep her mouth shut.”

  “You don’t know this one,” he chuckled. “She’s Jason Pendleton’s stepsister and she’s married to DEA agent Rodrigo Ramirez.”

  “Glory Ramirez,” Hollister replied, smiling. “She was a crackerjack assistant DA here. I hated to see her relocate to Jacobsville.”

  “Me, too, but she does a good job for our DA in Jacobs County. And she can keep secrets. Tina won’t be in any danger. Even if Rado knows she’s been talking to a female lawyer, he won’t know anything else. I’ll make sure Glory uses a fake name and says she’s with the public defender’s office here.”

  “The public defender’s office will barbeque you. Over a flame.”

  “Not likely,” John said, with a chuckle. “I’ll clear it with the chief over there. He thrives on defending poor criminals, but he wants Rado behind bars, too, even if his office has to give up someone to defend him. We all want Rado off the streets. We’ve had enough murders.”

  “I can’t argue with that.” Hollister picked up the phone. “Marquez, can you step into my office for a minute? Thanks.”

  Rick Marquez opened the door and was motioned to the desk. John closed the door again.

  “What’s up?” Rick asked.

  “The Texas Rangers need a favor,” Hollister said, grinning. “And if you could persuade your wife to let me outshoot her just once... I am the captain here, after all, you know. I outrank her.”

  Rick was laughing heartily. “I could try, but you know these hotshot former FBI agents,” he replied. “Even two daughters haven’t slowed her down with that pistol or this job.”

  “I noticed.” He glanced at John. “He has two of the prettiest little girls you’ve ever seen. One looks like him. But the other...”

  Rick, encouraged, pulled out his cell phone and brought up the photo app. There was his wife, Gwen, and his daughters, Jackie and Bella. One was dark haired and had pretty brown eyes. The other was blonde and light eyed, like Gwen.

  “They really are pretty,” John agreed, handing back the phone. “Nice family.”

  “My whole world,” Rick replied, smiling.

  “What’s this about your mother and Fred Baldwin?” Hollister asked suddenly.

  Rick cleared his throat. “I know nothing.”

  “Marquez?” the captain persisted.

  Rick grinned. “I know next to nothing. It’s just the ballet. She’s taking him. I’ve been asked to provide handcuffs.”

  “What for?” John asked.

  “To keep him in his seat while they watch The Nutcracker,” Rick explained. “He’s not a fan of the arts, but mom thinks she can convert him.” He laughed. “It’s so cool, to see them together. They’re not alike at all, but they are, if that makes sense.”

  “It does,” Hollister said.

  “So, what can I do for the Rangers?” Rick asked John.

  “I need a woman arrested for prostitution.”

  “Ruiz, what have you been doing?” Rick teased.

  “I am an upstanding member of law enforcement,” John said haughtily. “I would never engage in any sort of clandestine activity that involved prostitutes.”

  “Think McKuen Kilraven,” Hollister said in a stage whisper.

  Rick’s eyebrows raised.

  “Okay. What’s that look about?” John wanted to know.

  “Kilraven was married and had a little girl. His wife and child were both murdered.”

  “I didn’t work the case, but I know people who did,” John replied somberly. “It was a nightmare of a crime scene.”

  “So Kilraven finally married again, to Winnie Sinclair. Her brother—”

  “Owns one of the biggest ranches in Jacobs County,” John interrupted. “I know him. We both belong to the local cattlemen’s association.”

  “Yes, Boone Sinclair,” Rick agreed. “He and his wife, Keely, eat at Mom’s restaurant.”

  “Everybody eats at your mother’s restaurant,” John chuckled.

  “True. Anyway, Kilraven had been a widower for seven years when he remarried and the gossip was that he’d gone high and dry all those years in between wives.” He gave John a steady, amused look.

  John’s high cheekbones flushed, just a little. He glared at the other man.

  Rick held up both hands. “No wonder you and Cash Grier get along,” he said, grimacing. “Honest to God, Ruiz, you could set fires with that look!”

  “Are you wearing asbestos?” John drawled.

  Rick chuckled. “No, so I take back any inconvenient comparisons I may or may not have made. Who do you want arrested?”

  “Tina Lopez,” Hollister interjected.

  Rick grimaced. “She’s such a sweet woman.”

  “It’s not a real arrest,” John said. “She has a connection to Melinda McCarthy’s murder. I’m going to get Gloryanne Ramirez up here to question her, pretending to be from the public defender’s office. She’ll wear a wire and Rado won’t find out that she’s talking to anyone about what she knows. If she’ll talk at all.”

  Rick was somber. “You know that Rado broke her little brother’s arm?”

  “I do know. That’s why I’m taking elaborate precautions. If we had to, we could get Eb Scott to hide her and her brother at his place in Jacobsville. Even Rado wouldn’t dare go there after her.”

  “No, he wouldn’t,” Hollister said. “That’s not a bad idea, if it comes down to that. But if she can give us some leads, it might be enough to bag Rado without involving her. At least, until the trial.”

  John nodded. “I wouldn’t want to endanger the boy, either. What sort of lowlife bum breaks a child’s arm?”

  “Rado’s kind,” Rick said. “Okay, when do you want me to do it?”

  “I’ll talk to Glory and the public defender’s office here and let you know,” John said. “And none of us is going to mention this. Right?”

  The other two agreed. John left and went straight over to the public defender’s office to explain what he was going to do.

  * * *

  He drove by the Jacobsville District Attorney’s office on his way home, just as the staff was heading for the doors at quitting time.

  Blake Kemp, the district attorney, gave John a curious look. “Do you need to talk to me?”

  “No, I need to talk to Glory,” John replied with a smile. “I need a little help with a confidential
witness.”

  “Nobody better than our Glory for that,” Blake chuckled. “She’s always the last one out.” He indicated a blonde woman backing out the door to lock it behind her.

  “Glory, you have company,” he told her.

  She looked up. “Ruiz,” she said, smiling. “How are you? How’s Tonio?”

  She knew about Tonio because she’d been at the hearing when he was expelled from school, representing him against the school’s attorney. She didn’t often do private practice, since she worked for Kemp, but she took the case because John had asked her to.

  “Tonio’s fine. I’ve got a problem in San Antonio. Can I buy you a cup of decaffeinated coffee and we can talk for a minute? Barbara’s Cafe doesn’t close until late.”

  “Okay. Let me text Rodrigo and tell him he’ll have to watch Jack until I get home.” Their son’s full name was John Antonio Frederick Ramirez, but they called him Jack. He was the spitting image of his father.

  She did that and walked with John to the cafe. Everybody knew that Glory had a bad heart, so decaffeinated coffee was a necessity. Her job was stressful, but not nearly as bad as being an assistant district attorney in San Antonio, where she and John had worked together on a couple of federal cases being tried in the city. They got along very well.

  * * *

  John sat sipping hot black coffee. It was the dinner hour, so diners were filing in and out of the restaurant. John and Glory had a private booth in a corner, where they weren’t likely to be overheard.

  “I have a woman who’s in danger of being killed if she’s seen with anybody in a uniform,” he said. “I don’t even know if she’d talk to us voluntarily. But another woman might make an impression. She knows something about Melinda McCarthy’s death. A gang leader killed her brother for talking about it. She’s terrified of Rado, so she’s kept her mouth shut. He pimps for her.”

  “Rado. Even down here, I know that name,” she replied. “I knew it when I worked in San Antonio. We tried for years to find anything that would put him away. He’s too slick.”

  “This time, we might get lucky. I need you to talk to Tina Lopez and wear a wire while you’re doing it, so that nobody can connect me with it.”

  “Why particularly you?”

  “I’m working Melinda’s cold case with Colter Banks.”

  She whistled. “They tell stories about Banks.”

  “They’re mostly true,” he chuckled. “He’s a character.”

  “Putting it mildly,” she agreed. “I was an assistant DA in San Antonio,” she pointed out. “If she knows—”

  “You’re going to be a relief public defender. I cleared it with Tom Simmons.”

  “Oh. Okay. That might work. When?”

  “When you have time.”

  “I could give up an hour’s sleep,” she laughed.

  He sighed. “I know how that goes. The captain has me on speed dial. How about tomorrow evening, about seven? I’ll have Marquez pull her in earlier and you can talk to her in an interrogation room.”

  “I can do that. I hope...” Her eyes widened.

  Her handsome husband was walking in the door with a small boy by the hand. The child broke into a huge smile and came running.

  “Mommy!” he exclaimed. “We came to have supper with you!”

  “Yes, so Mommy doesn’t have to cook after a long day,” DEA senior agent Rodrigo Ramirez chuckled. He bent to kiss his wife. “I came right over when I knew he was going to be with you,” he added with a wicked smile at John. “I don’t trust this maverick around my wife.”

  John sighed. “It would never work. She’s too crazy about you to look at anybody else. Pity I wasn’t around when you married her,” he added.

  “You were around,” Glory laughed. “But you were married.” She grimaced. “Sorry, John.”

  He shrugged. “It’s been three years. The memories are sweet, even though I miss her like hell. You two are lucky,” he added, smiling at the child. “Hi, Jack!”

  “Hi!” the boy replied. He cocked his head. “You got on a star,” he said, pointing.

  “Yes. I’m a Texas Ranger.”

  “My daddy works for the feberal goberment,” he replied seriously, while mangling the name of his father’s employment, to the amusement of his small audience. “My daddy got a badge!”

  “Your dad is a great agent,” John told the child, smiling. “What are you going to be, when you grow up?”

  “I’m gonna fly jet planes,” he said, making a swishing motion with his hand. “I’m gonna be a pilot!”

  “Too many war movies, my darling,” Glory chided her husband.

  “I’m a pilot,” he replied. “I love planes. He’s my son. Of course he wants to be a pilot!” he added, laughing.

  “No argument here,” John replied.

  “You’ve got a pilot’s license, and a plane,” Rodrigo said. “Why don’t you ever use it?”

  “No time,” John said. “I’m a working stiff.”

  “You could live in Monaco and sail yachts,” Rodrigo said, lowering his voice. “Or live on the property in Argentina. This is small potatoes, for someone with your background.”

  John raised his eyebrows over twinkling eyes. “I could say the same of you,” he pointed out. “You could buy a small country with what you inherited. But you work for the ‘feberal goberment,’” he added, using the child’s pronunciation with a grin.

  Rodrigo sighed and smiled at his family. “I like my life as it is. Besides that, I want to do with my son what you’ve done with yours.”

  “Put him in reform school?” John said, sighing.

  “He’ll be a fine boy. He’s going through a rough patch. It won’t last. No, I meant I want Jack to grow up the same as his friends. I don’t want him to stand out in designer clothes and think it puts him above other people.”

  “Tonio doesn’t even know about the ranch in Argentina. My cousin runs the operation.” He laughed. “He loves the lifestyle. Yachts, beautiful women, the best hotels. He sends me a check every month. It goes in the savings account and stays there. This ranch provides me and Tonio with everything we need.”

  “Too bad our kids aren’t closer in age,” Glory said, cuddling her little boy.

  “It is.”

  “He’s friends with Jake Barnes, though, isn’t he?” Rodrigo asked. “Jake’s father runs Hereford cattle and likes to play poker with Cash Grier.”

  “Chess is more my style,” John said.

  “Mine, too,” Rodrigo replied. He grinned. “We’ll have to get together one evening and wage war across the board.”

  “I’d like that. Except that my captain has me on speed dial.”

  “There’s a mute button,” Rodrigo said in a stage whisper.

  “You and Banks,” he sighed.

  “Common brain patterns,” Rodrigo agreed.

  “Stay for dinner with us,” Glory invited.

  John looked at his watch. “Adele will have supper on the table. I might get a few bites before I’m called back out,” he said wistfully.

  Rodrigo gave him a steady look. “Tonio needs you more than the job does right now, John,” he said quietly. “He really needs you.”

  The way Rodrigo said it was odd. He started to question the statement when his phone rang.

  He answered it. “Ruiz.”

  “Autopsy starts in two hours,” Longfellow said. “Are you coming up for it?”

  “Yes. I’ll go home and eat and then I’ll be along.”

  “I couldn’t eat first,” Longfellow said. “I never eat before or after. I just drink milk and cry on my husband’s shoulder.”

  “Any luck on that note?” John asked.

  “Yes. I’ll tell you when you get here.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Longfellow.” He hung up. “We’ve got an autopsy. I have
to go.”

  “Which victim?” Rodrigo asked.

  “Not sure. Probably the woman from here. The man was found later in the day, unless Longfellow’s going to leapfrog it.”

  “Longfellow.” Rodrigo sighed. “She’s very by the book.”

  “But good at details. I’ll call you tomorrow, Glory.”

  “That will be fine.”

  “Thanks again. See you,” he said and smiled as he went out the door.

  * * *

  Tonio was sitting at the table, quiet and morose. He looked up as his father came in the door.

  “You home for the night?”

  John shook his head. “Sorry. I have to go to an autopsy on a case I’m working.”

  “One of the murder victims?”

  John nodded. “It looks great, Adele,” he said as she loaded the table with food.

  “Thanks. Dig in.” She went back to the kitchen.

  She’d made a nice beef dish with mashed potatoes and sliced apples. John ate hurriedly, because he didn’t have much time.

  “How’s school?” he asked his son.

  “It’s good.”

  John finished his meal and sipped coffee. He glanced at Tonio and frowned. The boy was very pale.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Tonio couldn’t tell him the truth. He wanted to, so badly. But he was afraid for David and Tina. Rado had killed three people, just recently. He didn’t want to cause more deaths.

  He had to come up with a good excuse or his father might drag the truth out of him. He picked at his food. “There’s this older boy. He picks on me.”

  “Stand up to him,” his father advised quietly. “Bullies are full of hot air. Confrontation deflates them.”

  “He’d fight me.”

  John raised a black eyebrow. “Tonio, if he hits you, he’s expelled. That’s the rule. Just make sure you don’t hit him first.”

  “I won’t.” He looked up. His father was so strong. He was like a sturdy oak tree, always tall and straight and unafraid. “How do you learn not to be scared of things?” Tonio asked him.

  “You never learn that,” John said. “There are always going to be things, people, situations that frighten you. Courage is doing what you must, in spite of the fear. People who tell you they’ve never felt fear are lying, Tonio,” he added with a smile. “I feel it any time I’m face-to-face with criminals. But I do my job.”