by Carolina Mac
Tyler sounded out of breath when he answered. “Hey, Annie, I planned on calling you today.”
“I was hoping to hear from you, Tyler. What have you decided? Are you coming home?”
“Can’t right now, at least until the rain stops. We decided to ship some of the cattle. Got no place to move them and might as well ship them before they fuckin drown.”
“True,” said Annie. “Can you get away for an hour, so we can talk, or have you already decided that you’re not coming back?”
“Umm… haven’t had a lot of time to think it through. Give me a few more days.”
“Yeah, sure.” Annie ended the call, left her coffee on the table and ran to her room in tears.
Quantrall Ranch. Giddings.
TYLER was at the breakfast table with Marnie, Charity and his brothers when Annie called. He stepped into the foyer to talk to her then went back to finish his breakfast.
Jesse stared at Ty for a second then asked, “Ace wants you to come home?”
Tyler nodded and viciously stabbed another piece of ham on the platter. “She wants to know what I’m thinking.”
“Only natural, bro. You’ve been gone for five days. What’s she supposed to think?”
Tyler gave Jesse the stink-eye. “You on her side?”
“In a way, I am,” said Jesse. “She didn’t do anything to you. She was doing a job she had to do and you’re treating her like she cheated on you or something.”
“Yeah, same thing. After she took the bullet, she promised she wouldn’t work for a long time and then as soon as the guy calls, she does another job for him.”
Jesse nodded. “Why don’t you take an hour today and go talk to her?”
“I might.” He threw his napkin down and left the table.
“He’s better off without her,” said Brian. “We all are.”
“Shut up, Brian,” hollered Jesse. “Ty is not better off without Annie. He loves her and he’s miserable without her. Give your fuckin head a shake.”
“Don’t you yell at me, Jesse Quantrall. I can voice an opinion anytime I have a mind to.”
“Not in my house you can’t.” Jesse stood up and pointed a finger at his brother. “Matter of fact, it’s high time you moved on out of here and bought a place of your own.”
“I think I’ll do that today,” said Brian. “Then I won’t have to hear about how Annie Powell ruined your life and Tyler’s life and who knows how many other men she’s brought to their knees with her wayward ways.”
“Get out of here, Brian. Pack your stuff and leave before I plant my fist in your smug doctor face.”
“I’m siding with Jesse on this one, Brian,” said Bobby who hadn’t said a word up to that point. “Annie is a wonderful giving person and she loves Tyler. You have no right to bad-mouth her all the time.”
“Your day will come, Robert,” said Brian, “and then I’ll be happy to say, ‘I told you so.”
The Blackmore Agency. Austin.
BLAINE sent Carlos and Farrell to talk to the members of the latest victim’s bike club while he sat down in the dining room to go over Casey’s test results with Marisol Ibanez, his tutor.
“How did he do?” asked Blaine. “Can you tell what grade he should be in?”
Marisol had the tests spread out in front of her. “Casey did well on the tests. Surprisingly well for someone who hasn’t attended school for two years.”
Blaine gave Casey a fist bump. “Way to go, buddy. Now we’re cooking.”
Casey grinned.
“I think we’ll start him on a third year course aimed towards graduation and at the same time focusing on a future career in law enforcement.”
“Did you make a list of the books y’all will need?”
“I’ve already given it to Lily,” said Marisol.
“Excellent,” said Blaine. “Are you including computer instruction courses?”
“Yes, he’ll need a good understanding of computers.”
“These days everybody in the workforce does,” said Blaine. “I’ll get him his own laptop and printer for his room. His desk and chair already arrived.”
Casey’s dark eyes widened.
Blaine left Casey with Marisol and went back to his own office to work on finding a connection between the Carpenter brothers, Ginette Romley and Brad Madill. There had to be something in the past horrific enough for them to set their elaborate plan in motion to assassinate the Attorney General of Texas. What the hell was it?
Should he ask Madill for a clue?
Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Austin.
BRAD found it hard to concentrate on his work. His thoughts kept wandering to Annie Powell and wondering if she would agree to having dinner with him this week, or if she was only being polite. Should he call or leave it for a couple of days and call on the weekend? He didn’t want to seem overanxious, although he was.
His cell rang, and he didn’t have time to decide. “Ranger Blackmore, nice to hear from you.”
“Do you have any free time today, sir? I think we need to talk.”
“Okay, sure. Let me ask Charlene what my schedule looks like for the rest of the day.” He walked to the outer office and asked, then spoke into his cell. “She thinks around one thirty I have half an hour.”
“I’ll come downtown.”
Before Brad could say anything, Blaine was gone.
Wonder what he wants to talk about?
Hellstorm Clubhouse. East Austin.
SIX HARLEYS were lined up in a neat row next to the building on Airport Road that said Zak’s Bodyshop on the faded sign over the overhead door.
Farrell pounded on the door trying to be heard over the wailing southern rock coming from inside. Nobody answered. He tried the knob and the door wasn’t locked. He pushed it open holding up his creds and walked in with Carlos behind him. “Hey, guys, I knocked but the music is so fuckin loud you didn’t hear me.”
“We heard you,” said a fat guy with a mangy gray beard flowing all the way down to his belt buckle. “We don’t answer the door to no cops.”
“Why not? Might be good news,” said Farrell.
“Never would be.”
“Today the news ain’t good,” said Farrell. “Y’all have a guy named Cameron Crockett?”
“Yeah, we do,” said the guy with the beard. He seemed semi-interested.
“Dead. Killed by a sniped over at Clarke and route 183 last night. Sorry for y’all’s loss.”
Two of the boys were on their feet. “You bullshitting us?”
“Why in hell would I?” hollered Farrell.
“Know anybody who wasn’t happy with Mr. Crockett?” asked Carlos. “Anybody hate him enough to kill him?”
“I guess,” said one of the bikers. “He collected money owed to the club and somebody might have been pissed at him.”
“He was the enforcer for y’all?”
“I don’t know if you’d call him that,” said beard guy.
“Yeah, I would,” said Farrell. “Was he on a job last night?”
Beard guy shrugged. “None of your business.”
“Who moves up into Crockett’s spot?” asked Carlos. “One of y’all?”
A skinny guy with a patch over his eye said, “Guess I’m in line for number three spot, but Cam was my best friend and I sure as hell didn’t kill him.”
Farrell threw three cards on the filthy cluttered table. “Think of anything, call me.”
“We don’t phone up the cops just to jaw with them,” said the bearded wonder. “We got more smarts than that.”
“See how smart y’all are when a .308 hits you in the face.”
Office of the Attorney General of Texas.
“RANGER BLACKMORE, please come in. Let’s sit over here where Charlene put the coffee tray.” He showed Blaine to the seating area near the window and sat down in one of the gray leather wing chairs. “What brings you to my office?” Madill pointed to the coffee inviting Blaine to help himself.
&
nbsp; “We need a clue into why the Carpenter brothers tried to kill you. If they were only the jerks on the front line, then the threat isn’t gone, and we can’t bury our heads in the sand.”
Brad’s eyes widened. “You think there’s more to it than the three of them?”
“Has to be,” said Blaine. He leaned forward and filled one of the cups with coffee. “Jesse interviewed all three of them and he thinks they’re too fuckin stupid to come after you on their own.”
“You have faith in Ranger Quantrall’s appraisal?”
“Sure do. If Jesse said they’re dumb as dirt, then they might have been the ones to approach Ginette—their cousin—to set them up with Jeff Turkovich, the hitter, but they are not the brains behind the plot and they are not the ones who hate you enough to kill you. We need to know who that person is before they try again.”
Brad leaned forward in his chair. “You think there will be another attempt?”
“I do. If someone hates you enough to pull off what they almost pulled off last week, they won’t give up.” The hair stood up on the back of Blaine’s neck as he realized something was wrong. “Where’s Travis?”
“I… discharged him.”
“You can’t do that,” Blaine hollered. “Not your call. Obviously somebody values your life more than you do.” Blaine was on his feet pacing and on his cell to Travis. “Where the hell are you? You’re not in Madill’s office, because I am.”
“He told me to beat it.”
“Why didn’t I know?”
“You did. I called and left a message.”
Blaine checked, and the message was there. “Okay, sorry, but still, until further notice does not mean Mr. Madill can call the shots. You’re on him until you hear different.”
“That’s what I said, boss.”
“Sorry,” said Brad. “My fault. I thought I was tying up a good man for nothing.”
Blaine blew out a breath and sat down. He sipped his coffee and tried to regain his focus. “Think about cases in the past. Doesn’t have to be since you were in this office. Could be somebody you put away a long time ago. Who was angry enough to threaten you?”
“Copies of all the threats are in a file. Charlene has them.”
“Christ, man, why haven’t you mentioned the threats? Let me see them.”
You being the number one law enforcement official in Texas, you are one dumb son of a bitch.
Brad spoke to Charlene in the outer office and she made a copy of the file for Blaine and brought it in. “Here you go, Ranger Blackmore.”
“Thanks, that gives me a place to start,” said Blaine. “In the meantime, could you think back to a case where somebody hollered out a get-even threat or anything along those lines. I need to check out everybody and anybody.”
“I will. I guess I thought it was over and done with.”
“Would be nice,” said Blaine, “but I don’t think that’s the case.”
Travis opened the door and joined them.
“Mr. Madill was mistaken when he told you to leave,” said Blaine. “Have a coffee.”
“Yes, sir, boss.” Travis grinned. “I’m having a coffee.”
AFTER BLAINE left the office Brad drained his coffee cup and strode back to his desk. “That’s one volatile young man,” he said to Travis.
Travis chuckled. “His way or the highway.”
“In the future I’ll remember not to cross him.”
“Always a plan to stay on Blacky’s good side. I learned that the hard way. He fired me more than once.”
Brad smiled. “But you got your job back?”
“I groveled.”
“I see.”
Travis’ cell rang, and he strode over to the window to answer. “Hey, Annie-girl.”
“Everything cool there, soldier?”
“Yep. All calm. Blacky just left with a file of old threats. He’s working on them this morning.”
“I’ll call him later.”
“You okay? You sound… down.”
“Ty went back to Quantrall Friday night and he’s still there.”
“Jesus in a handcart, do you want me to talk to him?”
“He might have time to talk today. With the flooding, he’s shipping cattle right now.”
“We’ll talk later.”
“I couldn’t help overhearing,” said Brad. “Is Annie having a problem?”
“Personal problem. Not much I can do to help her.”
Brad raised an eyebrow. “You and Annie Powell close?”
Travis smiled. “She’s my partner, and I look out for her.”
“Your partner?”
“Annie’s work is classified when she’s on a job and I’m her backup.”
“But you work for the Agency too?” Brad sorted it out.
“That’s right. I work for Blacky, but when Annie needs my services, she takes priority. She’s my side hustle.” He laughed.
Madill was wide-eyed. “Intriguing.”
Quantrall Ranch. Giddings.
THE CATTLE trucks arrived to pick up the first hundred steers that were up to weight and ready to ship. Paul, Tyler and the hired hands had the longhorns in the corral ready to load. Jesse went out to give them a hand and Marnie insisted on helping.
“You should stay in, Marnie,” said Jesse. “We can manage and you’re gonna get soaked and catch a cold.”
“I like helping with the cattle. I’ll be fine.”
The first truck backed up to the gate, all the cowboys and Marnie took their positions and the first truck loaded without a hitch.
When the second truck was in position, the wind picked up and the rain began pelting down harder. The ground underfoot in the loading area had turned mucky and slick. Three or four steers were on the truck when the next one in line baulked and bawled and cut out of place.
Standing a bit too close to the chute, the horns on the rogue’s tossing head caught Jesse in the shoulder and knocked him against the fence. He lost his footing and fell face down into the muck.
Marnie threw herself down on top of Jesse to protect him from the oncoming steers and two of the thousand pound brutes pummeled right over top of her running onto the loading chute.
“Hold them back,” hollered Tyler to the ranch hands as he and Paul yanked Marnie and Jesse out of the mud and dragged them to safety out of the pen. “Call an ambulance, Paulie. Marnie ain’t moving.”
Jesse groaned and tried to get up, but his half-healed leg wasn’t much good to him on the squishy ground. “Help Marnie,” Jesse said in a whisper.
The cattle truck was loaded and gone when the ambulance arrived. The paramedics examined Marnie lying limp and lifeless in the mud and loaded her onto a backboard. They hustled her into the ambulance and came back for Jesse who sat in a pile against the fence, rain teaming down and bouncing off his hat.
“I’m okay, I think.”
“Better go get checked out, sir,” said one of the medics. Could have a fracture and not know it.”
“Go with Marnie, Jesse,” said Tyler. “I’ll drive down in a couple of minutes and bring you home if you’re okay.”
Jesse tried to get to his feet and couldn’t. His left leg was no help to him in the muck. “Help me into the ambulance, would y’all?”
Lee Memorial Hospital. Giddings.
TYLER sat in the waiting area while Jesse and Marnie were in the X-ray department. He pulled out his cell and didn’t think twice about calling Annie. “Annie, I need…”
“What do you need, sugar? Where are you?”
“Lee Memorial. Jesse and Marnie got trampled in the loading pen. They took both of them to get X-rays.”
He heard her suck in a breath. “That’s terrible. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Annie, I’m sorry about before. I know I’m an asshole.”
“I love you, Ty.”
Twenty minutes later Annie walked through the door and straight into Tyler’s arms. “I love you so much, girl. I can’t live without you.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Thursday, September 27th.
The Blackmore Agency. Austin.
THE CREW GATHERED around the kitchen table to get their orders for the day. Lily sat at the end with her yellow pad and Sharpie ready to make a list.
“Travis is still on Madill,” said Blaine. “But there was a whole file of threats the AG was sitting on that we didn’t know about. Any one of them could be our connection to the Carpenter brothers and Ginette Romley. So, this morning we’re going to divide them up and check out every single one of them.”
“Where’s the boss?” asked Luke.
“That’s another problem,” said Blaine. “Jesse and Marnie both got hurt loading cattle yesterday and Jesse won’t be able to interrogate anybody we bring in today. I’ll have to do it.”
“Where are we on the sniper murders?” asked Lily.
“Farrell and Carlos are going to see what the street is saying about that. Maybe we can get a clue. Otherwise we have nothing.”
“Maybe it’s just the rain,” said Fletch. “Once the rain stops, he’ll stop too.”
“Still raining today,” said Farrell.
“Let’s be optimistic,” said Blaine.
“That’ll be a new angle for you, bro,” said Farrell.
Ignoring his foster brother, Blaine opened the folder and pulled out the individual threats against Brad Madill. “Some of these were received by phone and the one recorded message was printed on a sheet of paper. Some came by mail and the envelope and original paper they were printed on have been analyzed by the lab.”
“Are most of them anonymous?” asked Luke.
“Most of them are, but out of the dozen he received in the past couple of years four of the assholes signed their names.”
“Were the senders brought in and questioned?” asked Lily.
“Why weren’t they charged?” asked Fletcher. “Sending a threat is a crime, ain’t it?”
