Dead Eye

by Carolina Mac

  “He had lots of experience dealing with bureaucracy?”

  “Oh, my yes. He was an expert in his field.”

  “Did he receive threats from any groups he was opposing?”

  “All the time.”

  “And did he keep them in a file somewhere?”

  “I’m sure he did. McLean was supremely organized.”

  Maybe the lab will have them.

  “Did he talk to you about any threats lately?”

  “I guess it was a week or so ago, he joked about the pro-gun people.” She wiped an invisible tear away. “He said, ‘those idiots will probably shoot me.”

  Downtown Dallas.

  CARLOS and Fletcher arrived at Doyle Marshall’s law office in downtown Dallas more than three hours after leaving Austin. Lily had called ahead for the appointment and Marshall had argued against meeting them, saying he was far too busy with important clients to speak to the police. Lily exerted considerable pressure the way only Lily could and secured the appointment for eleven o’clock.

  The elevator doors opened on the twelfth floor of the tower where Marshall, Day and Wilson maintained their suite of offices. Carlos stood in front of the reception desk and looked a six-foot tall brunette in the eye. “Mr. Marshall, please.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m in the middle of cancelling all Mr. Marshall’s appointments for today. He was called away by an unexpected emergency.”

  “Called away where?” asked Carlos.

  “I’m sorry, but that’s private information.” She smiled at him, batted her thick false eyelashes and pouted her red lips.

  “I’m sorry too,” said Carlos. “You will have to tell me where Mr. Marshall is, and I’d like you to tell me right now, Miss. Otherwise I’m going to issue a bulletin for his arrest.”

  “I’ll lose my job if I tell you. Mr. Marshall is a very strict boss.”

  From the lobby of the building, Carlos called Blaine.

  “Hey, boss, we’ve got a problem here in Dallas. “Mr. Marshall made himself scarce and his receptionist won’t tell me where he went.”

  “Where are y’all now?”

  “In the lobby of his building.”

  “Have a seat for five minutes and make yourself invisible. Read the paper.”

  “Yep. Waiting, boss.”

  The Blackmore Agency. Austin.

  BLAINE called the cell number he had for Doyle Marshall and he answered on the second ring.

  “Mr. Blackmore-Powell, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?”

  “You had an appointment to speak with my men this morning at eleven and you are not at your office.”

  “The appointment was for your people?”

  You know damn well it was.

  “Where are you, Mr. Marshall? Avoiding the questions will do you no good.”

  “I had an emergency at the courthouse.”

  “My men are coming to the courthouse, sir, and if you are not there when they arrive, you will be charged.”

  Marshall laughed. “With what?”

  “Obstruction of a murder investigation, sir. That’s what you are doing right this minute. Obstructing my investigation into McLean Cornish’s death.”

  “I had nothing to do with his death.”

  “Then you won’t mind answering a few questions and providing an alibi.”

  “Of course not. I’ll meet your men in the rotunda.”

  Blaine pressed end and called Carlos back. “He’s waiting for you in the rotunda of the courthouse. Charge him with obstruction, make sure you cuff him in front of witnesses and bring him all the way back to headquarters in Austin. He wants to play hardball. Okay. I’m up for it.”

  “Got it, boss. See you in a couple hours.”

  Santa Fe. New Mexico.

  THE PLANE landed in Santa Fe and Annie rented a Jeep Wrangler for easy mobility.

  “I’m looking forward to this, Annie,” said Luke. “I’ve seen your store in La Grange, but I’ve never seen this one.”

  “This is my flagship store in an old mill I renovated when I was married to Russ Coulter.”

  “Am I going to the store, or can I go to Papa Pete’s house and play with my toys?” asked Jackson.

  “You’re lucky you have so many toys at Papa Pete’s. I think he spoils you.”

  Jackson giggled. “We like the same toys, and the same video games, Mommy.”

  “To answer your question, we’ll go to the store first, check in with your nana, then we’ll walk across the road and get something to eat before you go to see Papa Pete. How’s that?”

  “Okay, I am kind of hungry.”

  Dallas Courthouse.

  CARLOS turned the strobes on as he parked at the curb in front of the courthouse in downtown Dallas. “Okay, let’s do this, partner. This guy is gonna be arrogant and a solid gold prick so let’s keep our cool and not paste him in the face.”

  Fletcher smiled. “I’m down with that.”

  The rotunda inside the courthouse entrance was a massive study in wasted space. There were people scattered all over—lawyers and clients, off-duty cops waiting to testify, and media hounds trying to come up with a scrap of something for the news at six.

  “How about that guy in the gray suit sitting on the bench?” Fletcher pointed. He was about the only guy sitting alone reading the paper who appeared to be waiting for someone. A tall thin man in a designer suit with a hundred dollar haircut.

  “Could be,” said Carlos. “Let’s try him.”

  They crossed the marble floor and stopped in front of the bench. “Mr. Marshall?”

  He took his time glancing up from the Dallas paper and smirked at them. “You must be the lackeys the Super cop sent.”

  “Yep, we be them.” Carlos snapped a cuff on Marshall’s wrist before he had a chance to think about it or jerk his hand away. “Doyle Marshall, you are under arrest for obstruction. You are to accompany us to headquarters in Austin.” Carlos jerked Marshall to his feet, finished cuffing him while Fletcher patted the attorney down and removed a Glock from a waist holster and a small Colt from an ankle holster.

  “You can’t arrest me. I’ll sue the state for this. Just watch me.”

  Carlos marched Marshall across the courthouse rotunda in full view of anyone who was looking. They secured him in the back of Carlos’ truck and amid loud protests, hauled the lawyer’s well-dressed ass back to Austin.

  Austin High.

  TODD LINGERED at Austin High and chatted to his girlfriend after school was over for the day. They had talked several times about running away together. Marta was the same age as Todd, a pretty black girl from a poor family and she had nothing to lose by running away and trying to make it on her own. Todd on the other hand was being raised by his Aunt Laura who owned a stately old home, had an inheritance to fall back on and a well-paying job to boot. He had a lot more at risk, but the price he had to pay for living with Aunt Laura was much higher than he wanted to pay.

  “I’ve got some time to kill before… before I run an errand for my aunt. Do you want to get a burger or some pizza?”

  Marta smiled. “Sure, that would be fun. I don’t get to eat out much.”

  Todd held Marta’s hand as they walked two blocks from the school to a Pizza Hut. He held the door for her as she went inside.

  Quantrall Ranch. Giddings.

  JESSE arrived home from headquarters tired and out of sorts from cases that were going nowhere. He didn’t have the patience for investigation that he’d had in the beginning. Maybe he was too old to be an investigator. These days he felt too old for almost everything.

  He stopped in the foyer to hang his hat on the hook and he could hear Charity laughing in the great room. Whenever his daughter laughed, he smiled. He couldn’t help himself. Maybe having a nanny, a constant companion was good for Charity. Ty would know better. He was the one who’d read every book he could get his hands on, on how to raise a baby.

  Jesse strode down the hall and crossed the Navajo carpet in the
great room to the bar in the corner. He opened the small fridge under the counter and helped himself to a Lone Star. “How did your day go, Skylar?” he asked, hoping he sounded more pleasant than he felt.

  “Wonderful. Charity is such a sweet child. She’s no trouble at all and loves to play little games.”

  “I think she’s special,” said Jesse. He sank into one of the big Spanish chairs and offered Skylar a drink.

  “No thanks, I don’t like to relax with a drink until after the baby is in bed. It’s a rule I made for myself.”

  “Sounds like a sensible one,” said Jesse.

  I can’t seem to find fault with anything she does.

  Ranger Headquarters. Austin.

  BLAINE met Carlos and Fletcher at headquarters when they returned from Dallas with Doyle Marshall. “How was your drive down from the big city, Mr. Marshall?”

  “I’ll get you for this, Blackmore.” Marshall sneered at him.

  Blaine smiled. “Threatening an officer. Good start. Let’s get you settled in for the night, and we’ll book you in the morning. I don’t have time right now.” He winked at Carlos.

  “You can’t do that. I want my phone call and I want it this minute.”

  I left Marta’s row house after walking her home and started walking to the target’s address. It was a long way from the high school, but Aunt Laura didn’t give a hoot about how much trouble I had to go to, as long as I carried out her insane wishes. As I approached the block where the student lived, dusk turned into darkness.

  The delinquent grad student lived in a large house near the U that some enterprising landlord had converted into small apartments for student rentals.

  I sat across the street for two hours waiting for the guy to turn his lights off and go to bed. He was probably studying for an exam he’d never write. This is my last one, I told myself. No more.

  The vestibule of the house was dark and quiet, but the front door was unlocked. I sneaked up the stairs with no problem although the second step from the top creaked a tiny bit when I stepped on it.

  As silently as possible, I turned the knob and the door opened. I was in and out in under a minute. The student had received his punishment from Aunt Laura for not returning his book and I had the book in question under my arm.

  At the bottom of the stairs I heard someone coming and I quickened my pace. As soon as I made it though the door to the street, I ran around the back of the house to hide until the coast was clear. Behind the house a couple of dogs were rooting through a garbage can and they ran towards me in the dark, growling and snarling at me like I might take their food away.

  In a panic, I ran. I scrambled over the fence and in my haste to jump to safety, I dropped the book. I waited in the trees for a few minutes, and after the dogs ran off, I groped around in the dark for ten minutes and couldn’t find it.

  Old West Austin.

  LAURA MAY waited up for Todd. He’d never been this late before carrying out one of her missions and she was a little concerned. While she waited, she continued with her knitting and enjoyed a glass of red wine.

  Finally, she heard Todd’s key in the lock and relaxed.

  He walked into the sitting room messy and dirty with twigs poking out of his curly hair.

  “Where have you been? I was worried.”

  “I had a problem with some dogs. That’s all it was, and I dropped the book.”

  “What?” Aunt Laura let go a little screech that Todd had never heard before. “You can’t come back without it.” She pointed at the door. “You have to go back for it.”

  “Not tonight, Aunt Laura. I’m exhausted. Maybe tomorrow. It’s Saturday.”

  “No maybe, Toddles. You will go back right this minute and get the book.”

  Todd shook his head. “I’m too tired. I can’t go all the way across the city unless you drive me.”

  “You know I don’t drive at night. You’ll have to go first thing in the morning.”

  I locked the door of my room and packed everything I wanted to take with me into my backpack. In the tin where I’d been saving my allowance I had fifty-six dollars. Not a lot, but enough to last a few days. In three days, I’d be in California. I’d get a job and start a new life.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Saturday, May 30th.

  Quantrall Ranch. Giddings.

  JESSE joined his brothers in the dining room for breakfast. He was showered and dressed for the interview he was doing at headquarters and today, he felt good. Better than he had in a long while.

  “Morning, Bobby, how are things going at the Foundation?”

  “Going fine, Jesse. The boys have been around a while now and they’ve settled in.”

  “Anything new at Coulter-Ross?”

  “Are you fishing for news about your ex-wife?” Bobby knew his brother and Jesse’s jealousy over Annie was unending no matter how long they’d been divorced.

  Tyler entered the room at that moment and sat down at the end of the table. He poured himself a glass of juice, listened to the conversation and said nothing.

  Jesse shrugged Bobby off and didn’t favor him with a reply, but Bobby continued anyway. “Annie went to New Mexico to work in the Santa Fe store and she took Jackson to his grandmother’s for a few days. Luke went with her because he’s off work and he’d never been to New Mexico.”

  Tyler raised a dark brow and stared at Bobby, but still said nothing.

  Skylar breezed in, plopped Charity in her highchair and did up the strap. “Good morning, everyone.”

  “Good morning, Miss Skylar,” said Brian. You seem cheerful this morning.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” she beamed a smile at all the Quantrall brothers. “Life just gets better and better.”

  Is she for real?

  The Blackmore Agency. Austin.

  BLAINE held his morning organizational meeting at the kitchen table at the Agency which also happened to be his home. He wanted to set all the boys on their tasks, spend the morning on researching Paul Leggatt and Doyle Marshall and be finished by the time Misty left for her follow-up appointment with Doctor Kaplan. The renowned neurologist had done wonders with Annie after her car accident and Blaine hoped he could do the same for Misty.

  The boys were still in the foyer being greeted by the dogs when his best-laid plans went to hell in a hurry.

  “Lieutenant Lopez, you’re on the job nice and early? Eager Beaver?”

  “Fuck you, Blacky. I heard about your maybe murder of the college prof and I’ve got another one you can compare it to.”

  “Oh, yeah? Convince me that I want it.”

  “Grad student in community housing. Not a mark on him.”

  “Fuck that. I’m busy today.”

  “And I’m not?”

  “Are you at the scene?”

  Lopez barked out an order. “Write this down.”

  Travis stopped Blaine on his way out. “I’ve got Cornish’s file of threats, boss, and I want to get on it. Can Lil and I run them down while you’re doing whatever?”

  “Yep, stay on it and try to link anything you can to Leggatt or Marshall. Jesse is on Marshall at DPS this morning. Maybe he’ll pry something out of the smug asshole.” Blaine opened the door and clanked onto the front porch. “The rest of y’all are with me. Bring another vehicle.”

  Quantrall Ranch. Giddings.

  TYLER ran up the stairs after breakfast and threw a change of clothes in a duffel bag. He plopped his hat on his head, grabbed his wallet and truck keys and he was gone. Dust flew up in a cloud as he blew down the long Quantrall laneway heading for the highway.

  From the truck he called for the first short-hop flight up to Santa Fe and booked it with his credit card. He checked the clock on the dash and he had an hour and a half to make it. Tyler wasted no time heading for Austin-Bergstrom.

  Ranger Headquarters. Austin.

  JESSE had mixed thoughts on his drive to headquarters. Skylar was a pretty girl and she seemed to be perfect with Charity, but there was
something about her that was off-putting. What the hell was wrong with him?

  He put the nanny out of his head and chose instead to fume over Luke going to Santa Fe with Annie. It was none of his business what either of them did, but he was still pissed.

  He parked in the lot at DPS and strode inside determined to put all personal thoughts out of his mind and get something useful out of Doyle Marshall. They were nowhere on McLean Cornish’s murder.

  Chief Calhoun was busy at his desk when Jesse popped his head in. “I’m chatting with Doyle Marshall in a sec, Chief. Want to sit in?”

  “Think I will, Jesse.” The Chief smiled. “A bit of an arrogant prick from what Blacky said. He had the boys cuff him in the rotunda of the courthouse.”

  Jesse chuckled. “Blacky would do that to make a point.”

  The Chief picked up the phone and had a deputy bring Marshall upstairs. “Let’s use room one.”

  Doyle Marshall was red-faced and testy when he entered the interview room. “Are these cuffs necessary? You’re treating me like a common criminal.”

  “You are a criminal, Mr. Marshall,” said the Chief. “You obstructed an ongoing murder investigation and the charges will not be dropped no matter how many attorneys your firm puts on it.”

  “I have a fair bit of influence in this state, sir,” said Marshall. “We’ll wait and see how it all comes out in the end.”

  “I’m putting my money elsewhere,” said the Chief.

  Jesse set up the interview and started the recorder. “How well did you know McLean Cornish?”

  “Personally, I didn’t know him well at all, but by reputation I knew what an underhanded piece of work he was.”

  “Mr. Cornish was a profession lobbyist,” said Jesse. “He’d spent years in DC and in many state capitols. I don’t think he would have been hired steadily like he was if he couldn’t be trusted.”

  “He would have done anything to undermine our cause.”

  “And that’s why you had to get rid of him?”

  Marshall shook his head. “His death was convenient, but I certainly didn’t arrange it. I was at home in Dallas when McLean Cornish was shot. The first I heard about it was on the news.”