Taken in Texas

by Susan Sleeman

  She couldn’t even imagine the weight of his guilt. Not really, but she sure wished she could help him work through the pain so he didn’t need to be in control of everything around him to prevent another accident.

  His head suddenly shot up, and he turned the book to face her. “There. Look. The missing item is a basketball trophy. Must have been Ollie’s from high school. But I don’t know if he played ball or not. I could ask...no.”

  She couldn’t ignore the added pain in his eyes this time. “Can’t what?”

  He took a long breath and let it out slowly, his eyes raised to the ceiling. “I almost said, ‘I can ask my mom.’ I still forget. All the time. Each morning I wake up and then I remember.” He shook his head hard, like he was forcing away all emotions, and took the photo out of the book to hand it to her. “Can you scan this into a computer and enlarge it so we can read what’s engraved on the trophy?”

  She’d rather talk about how he was feeling, but he clearly didn’t want to, so she studied the picture. “I can at least try.”

  He closed the book and picked up another. “Weird that someone took the trophy, right?”

  “Maybe Eve got rid of it, and it has nothing to do with her disappearance.”

  “Maybe.”

  She went back to the album in front of her, with each turn of the page, hoping to find answers. She didn’t know why Danny’s picture was in the front of this book, as the following ones were much older. After seeing the same man’s photo several times, she took one out and looked on the back, where his name was scribbled, along with the date. “Who’s Herman Ball? I keep seeing pictures of him with Ollie in oil fields.”

  “I don’t recognize the name.” Cord studied the photo. “Ollie made his money in oil—that much I know. I suppose they could’ve been partners at one time.”

  Kendall finished reviewing her album and picked up another. Envelopes fell from between the pages and fluttered to the floor. She retrieved them and ordered them by date, starting in 1955 and spanning two years.

  “What’re those?” Cord asked.

  “Letters to Eve. No return address on any of them.” She opened the first one and read.

  “Read this.” She gave the old letter to Cord and moved on to the next one, also from Herman, trying to win Eve back. It hadn’t taken long for Kendall to realize that Eve had once dated Herman Ball, they’d broken up and Herman now wanted to get back together.

  Cord looked up. “If Herman’s still alive, he could be back in Eve’s life.”

  “But if he worked with Ollie, would he be younger than Eve, like Billie Jo said?”

  “Eve was nine years younger than Ollie, so she and Herman could be the same age.”

  “And he could be the guy Billie Jo saw at the restaurant.”

  “Could be, indeed.”

  Kendall finished the second letter and passed it to Cord. They continued through the pile until there were only four more to go when Herman’s tone drastically changed, and he accused Ollie of scamming Herman out of oil leases.

  “You have to read this one next.” She gave the letter to Cord.

  He held it out, his eyes narrowing as he read. “Ollie a scammer? No way. I don’t buy it.”

  “Neither did Eve. Maybe Herman was trying to discredit Ollie so she would break up with him. Or what if this was after she and Ollie married, and Herman didn’t care that she was married and was trying to start something with her again?”

  “She would never do that,” Cord said. “Never, and if he’d tried it back then, I can’t see her getting together with him now.”

  Cord laid the letter on the table. “It’s so odd that she kept these, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe she wanted them for proof of something.”

  “Like what?”

  Kendall shrugged.

  “This wouldn’t be a reason to keep the letters, but what if Ollie did scam Herman, and now that Ollie has died and can’t protect Eve from Herman, he’s blackmailing her about the oil leases? Would explain where the money went.”

  “But then why not take out one lump sum to give to Herman instead of chunks of money?”

  “To keep the bank from reporting the withdrawals.”

  “Could be.” Kendall gave the thought more consideration. “Or she could be dating him again. It wouldn’t explain the withdrawals, but it would explain the good mood that Gladys mentioned.”

  “Only one way to find out. Locate this Herman guy, if he’s still living, and question him.”

  * * *

  Back in Walt’s home office, Kendall brought up Herman Ball’s DMV record, and Cord stood behind her, waiting for the results. Herman’s file opened, his picture loading on the screen.

  His silver hair, along with his height of six foot one and sixtyish age, told Cord all he needed to know. “Fits the description of the guy Billie Jo identified.”

  “She can’t see his DMV details, so let me download this photo and crop it to eliminate any identifying information, and I’ll text it to her.” Kendall stood. “I want to try to enhance the picture, too, so it’s not so grainy. I have to do that on my laptop, as Dad doesn’t have photo-editing software on his computer.”

  Cord backed up and spotted a scanner by the printer. “I could use his computer to scan those pictures of the trophy while you work on the driver’s license picture.”

  “Sure. That’d be great.” She dug them out of her bag and handed them over. “The scanner will put the pictures on the desktop.”

  He placed the photos on the machine, scanned them and then went to the computer to locate the images. He opened and enlarged the first one. The picture was too grainy to make out any engraving. He tried the second one and got the same result. “They’re not any clearer.”

  “Give me a second to finish this and I’ll try.” She worked for a few more minutes and then came around the desk to lean over his side. She brushed his hand from the mouse, and her touch fired off his senses. He could hardly focus on the picture, so he slid away, hoping she’d think he was giving her better access. She glanced back at him, her expression saying she’d picked up on his reason for moving.

  They stared at each other for a long moment, their awareness sizzling through the room. She suddenly snapped her focus to the computer and blew out a slow breath as she made quick changes to the picture file. She’d refined it enough to reveal the class year, along with lists engraved on the trophy’s plaque.

  “The year fits the time Ollie would’ve been in high school,” Cord said. “And it looks similar to trophies my high school football team got when we won championships. I’m thinking the engraved lists are the members of the team.”

  Kendall looked at him. “Then if our suspect took it, his name could be on it.”

  “True, but why would Ollie even have a team trophy at his house? They usually remain at the school.”

  “One way to find out.” She grabbed her cell phone. “I’ll call the school.”

  She looked up the phone number online, then dialed. Cord sat back and watched as she talked to the secretary. She asked all the right questions, and he was starting to see that she would make a fine detective.

  And fine life partner, too. Right, that. He was the last person she should be in a relationship with. She deserved a man without so many issues. And she also deserved to have a passel of children. Even through his fog of worry for Lucas, he’d seen how good she was with the boy and the way Lucas responded to her.

  She would be a wonderful parent. Not like him. Always saying and doing the wrong thing. If only he had a partner like Kendall to help with parenting duties, especially someone Lucas didn’t blame for everything.

  Kendall disconnected. “When they remodeled the school, they didn’t have room for all the old trophies, so they auctioned them off to raise funds for the remodel. The secretary’s scanning the yearbook page and
emailing it now. She’ll also look for auction records to see if she can find out who bought this trophy.”

  “Perfect.”

  Kendall drummed her fingers on the desk until the computer dinged. He slid his chair closer to get a better view of an image she opened and enlarged.

  He raced down the list of names and paused at one in the middle. “Do you see who’s on the list?”

  She nodded, a gleam in her eyes. “Herman Ball’s place needs to be our next stop.”

  * * *

  “It was too much to hope that Herman would be home,” Cord said as Kendall parked at Trails End, near three cars that he didn’t recognize. His phone dinged, and he opened the text. “Billie Jo can’t confirm the picture we sent to her was the guy she’d seen with Eve.”

  “That’s odd, right? She seemed so certain when we met with her.”

  “When you get a bit of detective work under your belt, you’ll realize that eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable. We might be barking up the wrong tree.”

  “Let’s not lose hope before interviewing Herman. Hopefully he’ll be home in the morning.” She reached for her car door but paused. “I have to warn you. It’s Wednesday night and that means McKade family dinner.”

  “We had dinner together last night and it was fine.”

  “No, I mean the entire McKade clan. Gavin, his wife, Lexie, and their baby are here. Tessa, her fiancé, Braden, and Matt’s fiancée, Nicole, and her daughter, Emilie, too. Sometimes even Lexie’s brother comes along. If you don’t want to face that, we could take Lucas out for dinner.”

  “I’m good. I like your family.”

  A pensive expression tightened her face. “And it’s not too painful to be with them?”

  “Maybe a little, but Lucas likes it. At least he did last night.” Cord had moments when he thought about how much he missed his family, but for the most part he was encouraged by the McKades’ loving interactions. “You do know how blessed you are, don’t you?”

  She nodded. “I know I sound ungrateful when I complain about little things like my dad trying to hold me back, but with my aunt Isabel so sick and you losing your parents, I can see how quickly things can change.”

  “Enjoy and cherish each and every one of them, honey,” he said softly. “Tomorrow isn’t a given.”

  She reached under the computer mount to squeeze his hand. They simply sat there, connected on a deeper level than usual and not speaking, but Cord felt oddly content. As if he was exactly where God wanted him to be.

  A car pulled up next to them, and the moment evaporated like mist from a sprinkler. Tessa got out of the car, and a tall, dark-haired guy exited on the other side.

  “Let’s do this.” He climbed out.

  Tessa introduced him to Braden, and they shook hands.

  “Heard about your aunt,” Braden said. “I’m real sorry, and if I can help in any way, let me know.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  “FYI, before we go in,” Tessa said, “the DNA came back and didn’t return a match in the system.”

  “Bummer,” Kendall said.

  Cord swung his head in frustration and followed the trio up the stairs and into the house, where a child’s laughter floated out of the dining room to greet them.

  Cord spotted a little imp of a girl with blond curly hair sitting on Matt’s lap and tweaking his nose. A woman with blond hair was in the chair next to him. Gavin sat on the other side of the table, holding a small baby, and a petite woman with striking blue eyes was at his side. Cord was surprised not to see Lucas in the room, but then Jed and Walt were missing, too.

  Gavin stood and held out his hand. “Good to see you again, Cord.” He rested a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “This is my wife, Lexie, and my son, Noah.”

  Lexie stood, and Cord put her at a little over five feet tall. “We’re sorry about your aunt. How are you doing on finding her?”

  “We’re not making as much progress as I’d like.”

  The little girl on Matt’s lap touched Cord’s arm. “I’m Emilie. Matt’s my new daddy.”

  “I’m Cord.”

  “Are you coming to the wedding?”

  “Wedding?” he asked.

  “Mommy and Matt. I’m the flower girl. I got a new dress.” She frowned and stuck out a red cowboy boot. “But I can’t wear my boots. Or my hat. Mommy said.”

  The woman next to Matt introduced herself as Nicole and smiled fondly at her daughter. “Matt gave them to her for Christmas, and we can hardly get her to take them off.”

  If only Lucas still had his parents to dote on him the same way. Cord hoped that one day their relationship would be easy like this.

  The kitchen door swung open to reveal Winnie carrying a platter with the largest beef roast Cord had ever seen. Betty followed with bowls of vegetables. Both women returned to the kitchen, and then the family members took their places at the table. Kendall gestured for him to sit on the far side, and she took a chair next to him. He felt very out of place in the room with everyone having a significant other. Kendall fidgeted, looking like she might feel the same way.

  Betty and Winnie returned with rolls and pitchers of iced tea. Betty looked around the table and frowned. The front door opened, and Walt, Jed and Lucas came tromping inside, laughing and smiling.

  “Sorry we’re late, darlin’,” Jed said. “We had a calf caught in a wire and had to free it.”

  Walt clapped Lucas on the shoulder. “And this guy right here was a big help.”

  Lucas preened, and a stab of jealousy bit into Cord. Why couldn’t he seem to connect with Lucas like this?

  “We’ll get cleaned up and be right down.” Jed jogged up the steps like a teenager, likely running on adrenaline from the rescue, and the other two followed.

  Winnie went to Gavin. “Now give me my grandbaby, and you enjoy your dinner.”

  “No arguments here,” he said. “I live for these nights when I can eat with both hands.” He paused for a second, then grinned. “But even better is being a dad.”

  Emilie swiveled toward Matt, a monster-sized frown on her face. “Do you want me to get down?”

  “No. No way. I love holding you, little bit. You know that.”

  She stared at him for a long time. “Can I call you Daddy?”

  A slow, sweet smile spread across his face. “Of course you can.”

  She wrapped her little arms around his neck and hugged him hard. He looked at Nicole, love for this child, for this woman, flowing from his gaze.

  The amazing display of love and affection sent a raw pain racing through Cord, and he thought he might lose it if he didn’t get out of this room filled with such happiness. He shot to his feet.

  “Excuse me a minute,” he choked out and charged out the door. He went to the corner of the wrap-around porch, planted his hands on the rail and gulped in air. But it was thick with humidity, and he felt as if he was choking instead of easing his breathing.

  How had everything in his life fallen apart so quickly? He suddenly wished he’d been on that plane instead of being left behind.

  God, why?

  He heard footsteps behind him and knew it would be Kendall. He didn’t want her to see him like this. This what? Broken shell of a man? That was what he was, so why couldn’t she see it? She’d go running in the opposite direction, and that would be good for both of them.

  He stood to his full height and waited for her to reach him. He started to turn, but she slipped around front and without a word slid her arms around his waist and drew him close. She didn’t speak. Didn’t move. Just held him.

  He wrapped his arms around her and clung to her for dear life.

  They stood there, time passing, and he still couldn’t move. She finally looked up at him. “What happened in there?”

  “Happiness,” he said. “Too much of it.”
/>
  “We should’ve gone out to eat.”

  “Not for Lucas’s sake. Did you see the big smile on his face?”

  “Yeah, he seemed to be in a good mood, but we’re talking about you here. Not Lucas.”

  “I just don’t get it. I’m happy for your family. Honestly. But why your family? Why not mine? Why did God allow mine to be so utterly destroyed?” He shook his head. “Why do I even bother asking? There’s no answer. At least not one that helps.”

  “Then let’s stay here. Forget about everyone inside. Forget about everything else. And just be. The two of us.”

  He looked at her, her eyes filled with compassion and caring. Despite his near anxiety attack, just looking at her calmed his soul and gave him a hint of hope that maybe, just maybe, he would survive losing most everyone he’d ever loved.

  TWELVE

  Kendall really wished she could have helped Cord more, but he’d finally decided to return to the dining room and eat. After they’d finished, he’d suggested a ride with Lucas. Kendall was all over that, but now that they were back, and she stood holding on to Sunrise’s reins at the barn, she felt like a referee at a tennis match as her focus traveled from Cord to Lucas and back.

  “I’m too tired to do it.” Lucas glared up at Cord. “It was hard work freeing the calf.”

  Cord crossed his arms. “You rode the horse. You find the strength to care for it properly. I may not know a lot of things about you, but I do know your grandpa taught you about caring for an animal properly.”

  Lucas looked up at Cord as if he’d said something so horrific the boy couldn’t fathom it. He dropped Beauty’s reins and went running out of the barn.

  Cord took a step after him, his chest heaving in frustration, but Kendall moved in his way. “You should let him cool off.”

  “But he has a responsibility here.” Cord arched an eyebrow as his breathing slowed. “Besides, what about those boundaries you mentioned?”

  “You’re right. He does have a responsibility to care for Beauty, and under any normal circumstance, I’d say go after him.”