Walt nodded his head. “I’m fine, Colby. Worried about the governor, but it’s out of my hands for now. Nothing that a few hours’ sleep shouldn’t take care of.”
“Come on in. You want something to eat? A drink? Water?”
“Maybe a glass of water and then a bed.”
Colby led the way into the house and introduced Killer to Walt. “I got him back when someone was trying to kill me.”
Walt stooped and scratched Killer behind the ears.
“Now, you’ve made a friend for life,” Jack said. “Here’s that water you requested.” Jack handed him a tall glass.
Walt took a sip. “If it’s okay, I’ll just take the water to my room. Point me in the right direction.”
Jack led him to the hallway with a curving staircase. “Second bedroom on the left. If you need anything, just holler. One more thing. We have a meeting in Shannon’s office at four this afternoon. You want me to get you up for it?”
“Damn right.” He turned and made his way to the top of the stairs, glass in one hand and suitcase in the other.
Jack and Colby filled coffee cups. Jack sat at the breakfast table and turned on the news while Colby got a skillet from under the stovetop and loaded it with bacon. Then she returned to the table. “Now, tell me everything.”
While Jack brought her up to speed she rose to turn the bacon twice. Once it was done, she placed it on a paper towel covered plate to drain and cracked four eggs that went into the skillet. She continued to listen and put bread in the toaster. Within ten minutes she placed eggs, bacon, toast, grape jelly and butter before Jack and refilled his coffee.
“You not eating?” Jack asked.
“I had breakfast three hours ago. Dig in. Then I think you’re going to need a nap before that meeting this afternoon.”
Jack ate quietly, allowing his mind to drift back to the night before, again thinking through what he knew in an attempt to make some sense out of it. Walt had told him the governor had a couple of death threats over the years, but nothing that amounted to anything. He knew of no one who wanted Lardner dead. As to Edward Hale, he again had no clue. He and his brother were generous with their money for conservative political causes. No doubt he had made some enemies, but which of them would be so angry as to plot and execute his murder? Jack was beginning to lose focus and couldn’t come up with anything. When he finished, he said, “I think you’re right. If I’m not up by three, kick me out of bed. Then, I’ll get Walt up.” He rose, bent over to kiss Colby and walked down the hall to his bedroom. Stripping off his clothes, he was asleep in five minutes.
Colby’s cell rang. “Hey, is dad all right?”
“He’s exhausted, but fine. He just went to take a nap. He’s got a meeting at four. Have you heard that Joe appointed him special prosecutor, and he’s in charge of the investigation into what happened last night?”
“Holy shit. He’s not a detective.”
“Maybe you forgot what you and your dad did three years ago in solving those Dead Peasants murders. I even helped a little. He may not have the badge but Joe thinks he can get the job done.”
J.D. paused. “Yeah, you’re right. Wish I could get involved, but I’m right in the middle of the season. We’re playing Oklahoma this weekend. You think that you and dad can make it to the game?”
Colby smiled. “I bet your dad will figure that the investigation can be put on hold for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. Just remember to score a couple of touchdowns.”
“You got it. Tell dad I called.”
14
Joe looked across the table at Jack, who was now dressed in jeans and a green golf shirt. Walt sat beside him, wearing his wrinkled suit. Culbertson, White and Meacham rounded out the meeting. “Jack, you’re in charge,” Joe said.
Jack looked around the table and began. “Sorry, gentlemen, but I’ve got nothing to report about the investigation. I can tell you that Governor Lardner survived the surgery and is expected to make a complete recovery. Otherwise, after we left the hospital, Walt and I went to my house for a nap. Got up just in time to make the meeting. I’ll be back to my old self by morning. Roger, let’s start with you.”
“We found three shell casings near the bar as you suggested. We retrieved two slugs from the wall behind the stage. Also found various other slugs in the walls, nowhere near the stage. One slug was in one of those expensive paintings in the balcony, a Remington, not the slug but the painting, is what I was told. They probably came from the partiers who started shooting wildly. We have retrieved the slug from the governor’s surgery and it’s a match with the slug in the wall behind the stage. Preliminary identification is they’re from a Glock 26. We’re waiting for permission from Ms. Edward Hale to retrieve the one that killed him. Oh, and one of those slugs probably wounded Mr. O’Connell, who is doing fine and was only treated in the emergency room and discharged.”
“I can report that we did GSR tests on everyone in the ballroom,” Culbertson said. “Found a few with residue. We released them and know how to find them. The consensus is that the shooter was a woman dressed as a cat burglar who was near the bar. So, there’s not much point in contacting them right now. A few of the attendees on the guest list managed to get out before we sealed off the mansion. I’ve got detectives chasing them down for interviews. I don’t believe anyone other than the cat burglar is going to be involved.”
Meacham let out a low whistle. “You’re telling me that this woman fired three shots and hit three men on stage. I suppose I can understand getting the governor, but then pandemonium broke loose and she still fired only twice more and killed Hale and wounded O’Connell. Who the hell is this woman and where did she come from?”
“Both excellent questions,” Jack said. “Right now we can’t answer either one.”
Sheriff White cleared his throat. “I may have something. My deputies walked a grid in those woods behind the house, including two houses on either side and all the way down to the golf course. Just beyond the house wall we found some footprints and blood. You’ll remember we had a little rain a couple of days ago. For want of a better word, it looked like a staging area beside a big tree. Two things of note. The footprints were from sneakers and also what appeared to be slippers. And,” he paused, “the prints were small, almost surely a woman’s. So, that seems to confirm the limo driver’s comment that he thought it was a woman. He must have wounded her.”
Silence filled the room as the men absorbed what White had said. Finally, Jack spoke.
“So, a woman scaled an eight foot wall, snuck up behind that security guard and slit his throat and entered the ballroom. Then she killed Edward Hale, almost killed the governor and wounded O’Connell. And, on top of that, she was wounded but managed to scale the wall again and escape.” He shook his head. “Amazing. Why two pairs of shoes?”
“I’ll give you a theory,” Walt said. “She jogged from somewhere to the wall, changed into the slippers, which were probably part of her costume, did what she planned and then changed back into her jogging shoes to escape.”
“And, we started searching the area within thirty minutes after the shootings,” Chief Culbertson interrupted. “We had patrol cars and a dog team. Dogs picked up her scent under that tree. They followed it as far as the creek that runs along the eighteenth hole and lost it. Even with a bullet in her leg, looks like she made a clean getaway.”
“Wait a minute,” Jack said. “What about the security cameras at the mansion. Hale must have had some focused on the patio.”
“He did,” Meacham said. “We have the footage from the cameras in the ballroom, and have the cat burglar on the discs, but she’s in costume and a mask that comes down to her mouth. We’ll be studying the film but I don’t expect to identify her. Someone had turned the outside ones off at 3:38 in the afternoon before the party. That’s the other issue.”
“Raises another question,” Shannon said. “Why the hell turn off the outside cameras and leave the ones on inside the house?�
��
“Maybe whoever did it was not really familiar with all of the switches and thought that he had disconnected the cameras, inside and out,” Walt said
“Good a guess as any,” Jack said as he put his elbows on the table and rubbed his hands together while he thought. “Then, it looks like our cat burglar had help from the inside. If the cameras were cut, one of those partiers, or the staff, or the security guards, or the cooks and wait staff, one of them must have been in on the deal. Boy, that makes it more complicated. Suggestions, anyone?”
“If the ones outside the mansion were cut off in the afternoon, let’s start there,” Sheriff White said. “Let’s go back a week and study them all. If we’re looking for a woman, I’m like you, Jack, a little surprised. Only we shouldn’t be. Women are cops. They fly fighters. They are on the front lines of wars. They bolted out of the kitchen a long time ago. All that means is that we may be able to cut our search by half of the population. I’ll get discs of the camera feeds and see where we go from there.”
Meacham had been quiet up to this point. “Why don’t I get the camera info from Shady Oaks for that same week. I know the manager there. Won’t even require a subpoena.”
“Agreed,” Jack said. “Roger, I’d like you to put some cops knocking on doors on Roaring Springs and the streets in Westover Hills. Randall, if you can spare some officers, please assist. They know the neighborhood. Let’s see if anyone saw someone walking with a limp around ten that night. Long shot, but worth a try.”
15
Walt got up before dawn. After leaving a note, thanking Jack and Colby, he was on I-35 and headed south for Austin. He turned off at the Leander exit. Leander was a bedroom community about twenty miles northwest of Austin. Mary was surprised to see him so early. She made a fresh pot of coffee, and he brought her up to speed on the events of the past two days.
“I’ll be put on administrative leave. The Rangers will conduct a full investigation. Any way you slice it, my detail and I failed. The governor was almost killed.”
Tears filled Mary’s eyes. “Could you lose your job? You don’t want to go back to being a street cop. What do I tell the boys?”
Walt rose and pulled his wife into a hug as he also began crying. “I’ve been thinking of nothing else since it happened. We did as we were trained. Can some Ranger look at the events and find a flaw in our handling of the situation? I suppose. Hindsight’s twenty-twenty. Someone may be looking for a scapegoat.” He paused. “I don’t know. Tell the kids that I’ll be spending most of my time in Fort Worth for a while.” Walt took a napkin from the table and wiped his wife’s eyes, then his. “Hell, and remember I was a damn good street cop.”
Mary managed to break into a slight smile. He climbed the stairs and put on a fresh shirt, suit and tie, re-packed his suitcase, retrieved his personal Sig Sauer and kissed her goodbye.
He drove south on 183 to Mopac and cut over to Lamar to the DPS headquarters. He parked in front and entered the building. He showed his credentials at the desk and asked to see Colonel Burnside. The receptionist called Burnside’s assistant and told him to take the elevator to the fifth floor. When the elevator opened, an attractive, middle aged woman smiled and led him down a hall to Burnside’s office. After twenty minutes, she invited him through the door to find Colonel Burnside standing in front of his desk, hand extended.
“Sergeant Frazier thanks for coming. I’d like to hear a firsthand account of what happened. Thank God Governor Lardner is going to be okay. Have a seat.” He motioned to a sitting area to the right of the door with a picture window looking south toward downtown and the University of Texas tower to the left.
Walt outlined the events of the past two days. Colonel Burnside interrupted frequently, searching for more details. When Walt finished, the colonel said, “I know you’ve thought of little else. Looking back, could you have prevented this?”
Walt shook his head. “No, sir. We did exactly as we were trained.”
“How are you doing? I mean you, personally. I’ve looked through the files on all five of you. I saw what you did in Desert Storm. They should have given you a goddamn Congressional Medal of Honor. I know you suffered from PTSD for several years, but you passed all of the DPS exams with flying colors. This kind of tragedy can cause that to flare up sometimes. You doing all right? Be honest with me.”
Walt hesitated just enough that Burnside caught it. “I’m fine, sir. I know I’ll have to have a psychological evaluation before I go back to work.” He paused again. “I’m not worried about passing.”
Burnside drummed his fingers on his desk. “Well, I suppose we’ll just have to let the Rangers deal with it. For your sake, I hope you’re right.”
“One more thing. I presume you’ve heard, sir, Hal was assigned as limo driver. He saw the shooter. It was a woman dressed as a cat burglar. He exchanged fire and thought he wounded her. Yesterday afternoon I attended a team meeting. Sheriff White’s men found footprints and traces of blood in the woods behind the house. Judging from the size, they are almost certainly female.”
Colonel Burnside stroked his chin as he absorbed the information. “At least, that ought to narrow down the search. We’re looking for a woman who just happens to be a sharpshooter with an assassin’s personality.”
Walt rose. He took his gun from his holster and his badge from his belt. He retrieved his credentials from his wallet. He placed them all on the table in from of the colonel. “Sir, I know that protocol demands that my team and I be suspended during our internal investigation. Rather than upset my wife and kids with a Ranger showing up at my door, I would appreciate it if you would take these now.”
“Understood, Sergeant,” Colonel Burnside said as he also stood. “I’ve already appointed the investigation detail from our Rangers. They may find it necessary to go beyond an internal affairs investigation since Shannon took the criminal investigation away from us. You know this Jack Bryant?”
“Yes, sir. Very well. He was my platoon sergeant in Desert Storm. I was a grunt. He had served his time with the 101st and was called back up when we had to fight Saddam the first time. He was the best. That incident you mentioned. He was the first one I pulled out of there.”
“Then, he was the one you pushed that thousand pound beam that was on him to free him. How the hell did you do that?”
“Did what I had to do, sir. Back to Jack, he still walks with a cane sometimes because his leg was crushed. They wanted to amputate it above the knee and he refused. He went back to Beaumont and made a fortune as a plaintiff lawyer before he took early retirement and moved back to Fort Worth where he grew up.”
Walt paused.
“Sir, I got him involved in this mess. When I saw what a nightmare it was going to be to protect the governor with everyone in costumes, I called him to assist that night. Maybe I forgot to mention that he’s a Tarrant County reserve deputy.”
Burnside walked over the window and looked out while Walt continued.
“Sir, I know that I am not permitted to participate in the investigation while I’m on suspension. I’m leaving here and heading back to Fort Worth. I’ll be staying with Jack. I’d like to unofficially give advice to him as needed.”
Colonel Burnside whirled with a smile on his face. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard today. We’ll have one of our guys with the ear of the special prosecutor. You do exactly that. I’ll expect you to report back to me from time to time, only no one else in the DPS is to know. Hell, I’m in charge of this outfit and can have a few secrets.” Then he wrote his cell number on a yellow sticky and handed it to Walt. “Here’s my cell. I’ll tell our internal affairs team that you’re in Fort Worth and will make yourself available as needed.”
16
Walt parked in the driveway behind the house beside another pickup, in a spot beside the six car garage that he suspected had once been the place for the RV. He retrieved his suitcase from the back seat of the Crown Vic that Colonel Burnside had told him to continue to dri
ve as long as it was their secret. Jack met him at the back door and handed him a Budweiser. “I presume you’re off duty and can have this?”
“I am. Thanks.”
Colby was in the kitchen, stirring spaghetti sauce. J. D. came from the library that had been converted to a media room where he was watching film of the Oklahoma football team.
“Evening, Colby. I hope I won’t be an imposition.”
“Of course, not. We’ve got more rooms than we ever use, anyway. When I sold this house to Jack, I tried to talk him into something smaller. He wouldn’t hear of it. He wanted to be in Rivercrest and he wanted that view out the back down to the Trinity River and over across to the old bomber plant where his dad worked.”
J.D. walked over to shake Walt’s hand. Walt looked at him. “Let’s see. Best I remember, last time I saw you was in Beaumont when you were visiting your dad, maybe ten, maybe fifteen years ago.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, but I don’t remember it.”
“Not a surprise. I’ve been following your career ever since you walked on to the Frog football team. As I recall, you’re six feet, four inches and two hundred and forty pounds.”
“He’s put on ten pounds at Coach Patterson’s request. Still runs a 4.45 forty, though.” Jack said.
“Excuse me. I’m going back to watch more film. We’ve got the Sooners in town Saturday afternoon. I’m still studying their linebackers and defensive backs. Just holler when dinner’s ready.”
“Ten minutes,” Colby said.
“Drop your bag at the foot of the stairs and we’ll sit at the kitchen table. Colby likes to hear what’s going on.”
Walt did as he was told and took a seat. After another long pull from the Budweiser, he said. “Just as I expected, I’m suspended from the DPS.”
That got Colby’s attention. “Why? They put you in a situation where you couldn’t prevent what happened. From what Jack said, it reminded me of that bar scene out of the original Star Wars movie.”
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