Tracking Justice (Texas K-9 Unit)

by Shirlee McCoy

  Austin snagged a cookie from a plate someone had set in the middle of the long table and bit into it as Slade McNeal entered the room and took the seat between Lee Calloway and Parker Adams.

  “It looks like we’re all here, so I’ll go ahead and get started. I have some information to share, and then we’ll let Austin and Lee give us their updates.” Slade scanned his five member team.

  “Information? You mean about the bomb that was mailed to Brady Billows?” Lee Calloway asked.

  “We’re still working our San Antonio angle, Lee. This has got to be something different,” Jackson Worth responded, his dog Titan shifting under Jackson’s chair as his handler spoke.

  “Right. I got some news a couple of minutes ago, and I’m hoping that it’ll help bring this case to a close.” McNeal paused. You’ve heard of Dante Frears? He’s an old war buddy of mine.”

  Austin had heard of him. As a matter of fact, he’d hung out with Slade and Dante on a couple of occasions. A well-respected member of the community, Dante had wealth, power and the kind of good-old-boy charm that had won him friends all over Sagebrush.

  “There aren’t many people in town who haven’t heard of him, Slade. What did he call you about? Does he have information that will help our investigation?” Lee asked.

  “Not directly, but he’s willing to help us get it. He’s offering a twenty-five-thousand-dollar reward to anyone with information that leads to Rio’s recovery.”

  “That’s a lot of money,” Parker said.

  “Hopefully it will be enough to motivate someone to step forward. We need Rio on the force, and I need him home. Caleb isn’t doing well with this new loss.” Slade didn’t talk much about his personal life. The fact that he’d mentioned his five-year-old son hinted at big problems.

  “If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know. I’m pretty good with kids,” Valerie offered.

  “Thanks, but the only thing that is going to help Caleb is having Rio back. Now, let’s get to our next order of business. Any change with Jane Doe, Lee?”

  “She’s unconscious, and the doctors don’t know how long that will last. Her fingerprints aren’t in the system, and so far, no one has reported her missing. Until someone does, we’re walking in the dark.”

  “How about you, Austin? Did your meeting with Camden West pan out?”

  “Not even close. He wouldn’t talk. Didn’t even bite when I mentioned the possibility of early parole and relocation.”

  “Do you think he’s trying to protect someone?” Slade asked.

  “I think he’s trying to protect himself. He’s afraid of someone, and so is Pauly Keevers.”

  “I find that hard to believe. Word on the street is that Keevers is only afraid of God.” Parker leaned back in his chair and frowned.

  “I would have said the same about Pauly before I met with him today.” Austin filled the team in on his meeting with Keevers.

  When he finished, Slade stood and paced to the bank of windows on the far wall. “We’ve got problems, and they’re not limited to Rio’s theft. If Keevers’s information is accurate and the crimes he mentioned are connected, there’s a crime ring in Sagebrush, and it’s been operating for years.”

  Everyone spoke at once after that, a hodgepodge of voices and ideas filling the room. Some members of the team thought Pauly was lying. Others were eager to pay Keevers the money he’d demanded for more information.

  Finally, Slade raised his hand, and the group fell silent.

  “I’m not sure what we’re dealing with, but Pauly has never sold us information that didn’t pan out. Austin, when Keevers contacts you again, let him know we’re willing to pay what he wants for the information.”

  Slade left the room and the rest of the team followed, their moods grim. No chatting or joking. With Rio missing, the team felt incomplete, and Slade’s concern and anxiety were weighing on everyone.

  “Want me to put the word out that you’re in the market to buy information again? Get a little fire burning under Keevers?” Parker asked as they walked to their cubicles.

  “We’re better off waiting. I want Keevers to think he has the upper hand and is calling the shots.”

  “I hope he wants to call the shots soon, then. Whatever he knows has to be huge if he’s worried for his safety.”

  “Worried or not, I’m hoping he talks,” Austin retorted. “If there is a crime ring in Sagebrush, I want to take it down.”

  “I like the way you think, Austin.” Parker grinned, but Austin didn’t feel much like smiling.

  Rio missing. Two victims hospitalized. A little boy in danger. Time ticking away, and Austin had more questions than answers.

  He walked into the kennel, retrieved Justice and led him to the SUV. They’d been working long hours, and the bloodhound deserved some time to run and play.

  Ten minutes later, he pulled up in front of his two-story Victorian. A pretty house, that’s what the women who visited said. The guys couldn’t have cared less about the gingerbread trim or the wraparound porch.

  Austin cared.

  He’d painstakingly restored them. Had done the same with the interior, refinishing the time-worn hardwood floors and the hand-carved railing that curved up the winding staircase. To Austin each of those things represented everything that he hadn’t had when he’d been a kid, moving from low-income apartment to low-income apartment while his mother struggled to provide.

  Permanence.

  He’d needed it. Now that he had it, he wanted someone to share it with.

  He frowned, unlocking the front door and letting Justice run inside ahead of him. If things had worked out with Candace, they might have had a child by now. The house might be filled with the scent of dinner cooking, the sound of a baby crying and the weight of Candace’s disappointment.

  Yeah.

  Things would have been great until he couldn’t be there for a birthday party, a dinner date, a movie night.

  He pulled a meal from the freezer and shoved it into the microwave, not sure why he was thinking about Candace. He didn’t miss her. Didn’t wish things had worked out differently.

  His cell phone rang and he answered as he took out the meal. “Hello?”

  “Austin? It’s Eva.” She didn’t have to tell him. A dozen years from now, he was pretty sure he’d still know exactly what her voice sounded like.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes. I just...”

  “What?” He took a bite of lukewarm pasta and thought that he should invest in some cooking lessons so he could eat better.

  “How was your meeting?”

  “Interesting. An old friend of Slade’s is offering twenty-five-thousand dollars for information leading to Rio’s return.”

  “That’s incredible!” She sounded excited, and he smiled, imagining her twisting the end of her long ponytail, her eyes glowing.

  “I’m working on a couple of other leads. Nothing I can talk about right now, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to find Brady’s kidnapper soon.”

  “Me, too. I’m ready for our lives to go back to normal.”

  “What’s normal for you, Eva? You’re a mother, a waitress, a student. What else do you do with your time?”

  “Nothing. I don’t have time for anything else.” She laughed. “What about you? Wait...don’t tell me. Let me guess. In your free time, you climb mountains, hike trails and volunteer as a coach for a local football team.”

  “Not quite.” It was his turn to laugh.

  “Then what? Aside from convincing little boys that you can almost walk on water, that is.”

  “Brady doesn’t think that.”

  “No, but he does adore you,” she murmured.

  “Is that the real reason why you’re calling?”

  She hesitated. “I just don’t want him hurt.”

  “Why would he be?”

  “Because when this is over, you’re going to go back to your life, and Brady will be left with his. He may realize how big a hol
e there is in it.”

  “What hole?” He shoved his pasta away, looking out into the gray-blue evening.

  “He’s never had a father. He’s never even had a man in his life aside from teachers. That makes the attention you’re giving him even more special. Imagine how he’ll feel when he doesn’t have it anymore.”

  “You’re assuming that he won’t,” he said, his tone sharper than he’d intended.

  “You’re upset,” she said quietly.

  “No. I’m insulted. I like Brady. He’s a great kid. I’m not going to track down his kidnapper and then walk out of his life. Not unless you ask me to.”

  “I—”

  “Tell you what. I’m right in the middle of dinner. How about we hash things out later?” He cut her off, not sure he wanted to hear what she had to say. If she told him to back off, he would, but he wouldn’t be happy about it.

  “What are you having? Anything better than leftover chicken noodle soup?”

  “Does overcooked and then frozen pasta count as better?” He nudged a noodle with his fork.

  “Tell me you’re not really eating that.”

  “I am. Got it out of my freezer and stuck it in the microwave right before you called.”

  “That’s not healthy eating for a guy who leads such an active life.”

  “Careful, Eva. Keep talking like that and I might get the impression that you care.”

  “I never said that I didn’t.”

  “But you don’t want to.”

  “Brady isn’t the only one who I think is going to be hurt when this is over.” She sighed. “Listen, I’ve got some cod in the fridge. Why don’t you come by, and I’ll make it. We can have salad with it, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.”

  “Keep tempting me, and I might just take you up on the offer.”

  “I want you to. I owe you. If it weren’t for you and Justice—”

  “I don’t want your gratitude. If that’s what this is about, then I think I’ll stick to my pasta.”

  “I... It’s not.”

  “In that case, what time will dinner be ready?”

  “Give me an hour to clean up the kitchen and the rest of the house, then I’ll be ready to cook.” She hung up, and Austin dumped the pasta into the trash can.

  An hour, and he’d be eating dinner with Eva and Brady, sitting at the table in their little kitchen, feeling like part of something bigger than himself. That’s what friendship and family did. They offered a connection that made a single person become something more.

  Eva and Brady’s faces flashed through his mind.

  He could build something with them. He knew it. Build it, nurture it, make it into something better than any of them could have on their own.

  He wanted that more than he wanted to be safe.

  Wanted it more than he wanted to protect the pieces of his heart.

  Prayed that Eva wanted it, too, because finding her and Brady was like finding a puzzle piece that had been missing for far too long.

  A perfect fit?

  Austin didn’t know, but he thought he’d be a fool not find out.

  FIFTEEN

  She shouldn’t have invited him for dinner.

  Didn’t know why she had.

  Or maybe she did.

  She liked having Austin around, felt his absence when he was gone.

  If Brady was in the throes of hero worship, she was in the throes of something far worse.

  “Idiot,” Eva muttered as she pulled the cod out of the fridge and salted it liberally. She’d pan sear it, serve it with a nice Caesar salad. Feed everyone, and then send Austin away.

  Simple as that.

  Only nothing seemed simple when Austin was around.

  When he was with her, all the promises she’d made to herself, all the things she’d sworn she’d never feel again were right there, telling her that she’d been a fool to ever think she had control over any of them.

  The doorbell rang, and Brady shouted excitedly.

  “He’s here, Momma! Austin is here!”

  “I’m coming.” She dried her hands on a dish towel, peered out the peephole. She knew who she’d see, but her heart jumped, anyway.

  Austin.

  She opened the door, stepped back so he and Justice could enter.

  “Sorry we’re late. We had an errand to run.”

  “Actually, you’re right on time. I was just starting the fish. I’ll make the salad after that. We should be able to eat in about fifteen minutes,” she said as Brady patted Justice’s head. The bloodhound’s tongue lolled out in ecstasy, and she was sure there was a smile hidden beneath his jowls.

  “Maybe sooner if we use this.” Austin pulled a large salad from a brown paper bag. “I thought having it premade might speed up the process.”

  “You’re that hungry?”

  “Starving.” Austin smiled, his eyes deeply shadowed, his bomber jacket hanging open to reveal a black T-shirt. She wondered what it would be like to lay her head against his chest, hear his heart beating steadily beneath soft cotton and warm flesh.

  Stop!

  “I’d better get the fish started, then.” She turned, and he snagged her belt loop, pulled her back.

  “Hold on. I brought something for Brady. I thought you might like to see it, too.”

  “What?” Presents? She didn’t like that, and she thought that she’d have to tell him. Make it clear that she didn’t want him to buy her son’s affection. It wasn’t like he didn’t already have it. As a matter of fact...

  He pulled a fluffy, white stuffed dog from the bag.

  No. Not quite white. The fake fur was a little dingy, but not dirt-encrusted like it had been the last time she’d seen it.

  “Snowflake!” Brady took the dog, hugged it to his chest.

  “I thought you took that as evidence,” Eva said.

  “I did, but the forensic team couldn’t find anything but mud on it, so I got Slade’s permission and signed it out of the evidence room.”

  “Thank you, Austin! This is the best present ever!” Brady threw himself at Austin, his thin arms wrapping around Austin’s broad shoulders. Seeing them together made Eva’s heart ache.

  She’d always wanted this for Brady. A male influence. Someone her son could look up to. A father figure who could fill the spot that Rick had left. She’d wanted it but had known that going after it could only lead to hurt. Hers and Brady’s.

  So what had she done?

  She’d invited Austin for dinner, that’s what.

  She sighed, heating the pan and laying the fish in it.

  “Need any help?” Austin moved up behind her, his chest so close to her back that she could feel his heat through her shirt. She wanted to turn into him, slide her hands up his arms and into his dark hair. Wanted to let herself believe that one moment could lead to another and to another until they’d built hundreds of moments together.

  “You can grab some plates from the cupboard.” Anything to put some distance between them.

  “You’re uncomfortable.” He opened the cupboard, pulled out three mismatched plates.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “You’re gripping that spatula like you’re afraid it’s going to jump out of your hand.”

  “Right.” She loosened her grip.

  “Momma? Is dinner ready?” Brady padded into the kitchen, Justice right behind him. They looked cute together. The sweet little boy and his furry companion.

  Maybe getting a puppy in the summer wasn’t such a bad idea.

  “Soon. Why don’t you help Austin set the table?”

  She let them work and talk while she finished the fish, plated it and the salad, poured ice water into plastic cups. Did everything the same way she’d done it a thousand times before. Only this time, Austin was there, his gaze following her as she moved around the kitchen, sat in her chair, reached for Brady’s hand and for his.

  “Do you want to pray, Austin?”

  He offered a simple prayer of tha
nks. Nothing flowery or overwrought. When he was done, he squeezed her hand gently. “This looks good. Thanks for inviting me.”

  Her cheeks heated at his praise, and she dug into the fish, tried not to think about the fact that they were sitting at her little table together.

  Like a family.

  Only they weren’t.

  She finished her fish, but it tasted like sawdust, her heart pounding so frantically she thought she might be sick.

  This hadn’t just been a bad idea.

  It had been a horrible one.

  By the time everyone finished eating and she’d tucked Brady into bed, she felt frazzled, her nerves raw.

  She poured coffee into two mugs, handed one to Austin, doing her best to avoid his gorgeous eyes.

  “What’s wrong, Eva?” He took the mug from her hand, cupped her jaw so that she had no choice but to meet his eyes.

  “I wish none of this had happened. Not Brady witnessing a crime. Not him being kidnapped. Not the bomb. Not...”

  “Us?”

  “Is there an us, Austin? Or is this just a game we’re playing until it’s over and we find out that we’ve both lost.”

  “I don’t play games.”

  “That’s what Brady’s father told me a couple of days before I found out he was married,” she said, and regretted it immediately.

  “Let’s get one thing straight, okay? I’m not Brady’s father, and if I were, I wouldn’t be living in Las Vegas while you raised my son,” he bit out.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I guess that I’ve just always figured that if I could fall for someone like Rick once, I could do it again.”

  He searched her eyes. “So you decided not to let yourself fall at all?”

  “Something like that.”

  “How old were you when you met him?” Austin asked.

  “Eighteen. He walked into Arianna’s Café and started spouting a bunch of pretty phrases. I was convinced he meant them. Convinced that we’d get married and have a beautiful house and beautiful children and live happily ever after. Too bad my Prince Charming turned out to be a toad.”

  “I’m sorry, Eva. You deserved better.”

  “My mother said the same thing when I found out that I was pregnant. I think she was relieved that Rick didn’t want to leave his wife and make a life with me. She was terrified that I’d end up married to someone just like my father. You deserve better, she’d said. Funny that she thought that about me and not about herself.”