by Carolina Mac
“Okay, let’s not go there.”
Blaine tipped up his glass and chugged the remaining beer. “What do you want from me?”
“I want you to find out who killed Markwood and clear me. I wouldn’t give a shit if I was staying in Columbia, but I severed all ties with the DEA and I’m stuck here now.”
“You quit?”
Enright nodded.
“I can talk to the Governor and see if I can consult on the case. He wanted me to and I backed off because I was fairly sure you did it, but now… “
“You believe me, don’t you?”
“I want to, in a way.”
“Yeah, and in that other way, you’re pissed about me and Fabiana. Hey, that just happened. Didn’t plan it. Easiest thing I’ve ever done was loving her.”
Wish you’d quit saying that.
“I can’t fault you. I asked her to quit, and when she wouldn’t, I had to let her go. I made my choice a long time ago.”
Jesse and Tyler strode down the aisle of booths to where Blaine and Enright sat. “We’re calling it,” said Jesse. “Nice to see you, Enright.”
“You too, Jesse.”
“Where are you staying?” Blaine asked Enright. “You
laying low until you’re cleared?”
“Guess I’ll have to. I checked out of the motel I stayed in last night. “Too risky.”
“Give me a minute,” said Blaine. He stepped away from the table with Jesse and filled him in.
“You want the case, Blacky? I can call Scott in the
morning and ask for it.”
“Yeah, I think we’ll take it after all. Can you put Enright up at the trailer until we have something solid?”
“Yep, sure can. He can follow me home right now.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Tuesday, March 14th.
BLAINE FINISHED BREAKFAST at the same table as Race without incident. A minor miracle. Maybe Annie had put the fear into the big ganger somehow.
Annie can control most people, but not Race. Maybe that’s what keeps her attracted to him.
“Annie, can I see you in the office for a minute?”
“Sure, honey,” she followed him down the hallway to the back of the house. “What’s up?”
“Nothing too important,” he closed the door behind her and pointed to the sofa. “I’m finding it hard to work here with all the distractions and I think I’ll use the office in Austin
instead.”
“You mean you can’t work in your own home office
because of Race.”
“Uh huh. That’s exactly what I mean.”
Annie jumped to her feet and color rose in her face. “Well, do you know what? I’m sick of it too. Everybody being at odds all the time is making my life hell. Do what you need to do, and I’ll do the same.” She stomped out of the office and slammed the door behind her.
“Fuck, that didn’t go well.”
BLAINE AND FARRELL headed to Austin for Markwood’s autopsy.
“What did you say to Annie, bro? She came out of the
office mad as I’ve ever seen her.”
“Told her The Blackmore Agency was going to work out of the Austin office, and she didn’t take it well.”
“It’s for the best,” said Farrell. “With the kids here, and all the Race crap going on, who can concentrate on work?”
Blaine pointed a finger at Farrell, “That’s what I said.”
“And she didn’t like the mention of Mr. Ogilvie?”
“Uh huh. Not a bit.”
“I’ve noticed that she gets her back up when we say anything about him. Do you think she’s falling for him again? She must have loved him once if they have a kid together.”
“I’ve been getting that feeling more and more, and I hate to see it happening because Jesse is the one suffering. He’s a decent guy and deserves better treatment than he’s getting from our mother.”
“They’re supposed to be newlyweds,” said Farrell. “The honeymoon shouldn’t be over yet.”
“I’ll talk to her tonight, but I don’t know what good it will do. She seems snowed by the new Race.”
AFTER THE AUTOPSY, Blaine and Farrell took Lopez to lunch at Whataburger. They ordered, then mulled over the findings of the pathologist.
“We got nothing from the autopsy,” said Lopez. “that we didn’t already know. We knew he was shot in his bed during the night with a forty-five caliber.”
“Ballistics might match the gun,” said Blaine, “You can hope.”
“Hoping is what I do on most of my open murder cases, but it doesn’t solve them.”
“What is your solve percentage, Detective,” asked Farrell. “Just curious.”
Lopez shook his head. “Don’t ask me stuff like that when I’m eating, kid. Ruins my appetite.”
“Did the crime scene techs pull any prints from the
condo?” asked Blaine.
“Tons of them, and they’re working through them. I won’t get that report for a couple days.”
“Where was the wife?” asked Blaine.
“A recent split,” said Lopez. “She moved into a hotel a week or so ago.”
“Interesting,” said Farrell.
Lopez wiped his face with a paper napkin and gave Blaine a hard stare. “You haven’t said the words, but you showed up for the autopsy and you’re asking me questions like you do when you’re consulting. Am I supposed to guess that y’all changed your mind and are coming on board?”
“Jesse is clearing it with the Governor,” said Blaine.
Lopez covered his fries in ketchup. “Something happened between yesterday and this morning that made y’all do a turn around. Am I allowed to ask what that was?”
“You’re right,” said Blaine. “Something did happen last night that cast a new light, but I can’t tell y’all about it at this time. I’ll share with you as soon as I can.”
“That clears it up.”
JESSE AND ENRIGHT sat at the little pine table in the
kitchen of Jesse’s trailer eating scrambled eggs and toast.
“Nice and peaceful out here, Jesse. I appreciate you letting me hole up here.”
“No problem. I’m into holing up myself these days.”
“Problems?”
“Yeah, a few. My bad heart is taking center stage and I’m being aggravated by a few other things I’d rather not talk about.”
“When we don’t want to talk about shit, there’s usually a woman involved,” said Enright. He reached down and patted Red on his big head. “Love these dogs. Are they trackers?”
“Yep,” said Jesse, “Red and Bluebelle are working dogs. Part of our team and we couldn’t do without them.”
“Wouldn’t mind seeing your horses after another cup of coffee. Quantrall Appaloosas are famous in Texas.”
THE OFFICES of Powell and Associates, Attorneys at Law, were situated in a prime piece of real estate in the heart of the Austin core. Blaine had moved the firm to the current location after a fire destroyed his step-father’s original location.
“Haven’t been here since Travis and I finished hooking up the security system,” said Farrell.
“Must be working well,” said Blaine, “nobody has complained lately—at least not about the security system.”
Farrell chuckled. “Sure you want to work on site, boss? Opens you up to all kinds of possibilities.”
“Yeah, it sure does.”
The reception area looked as good here as it had in the other building. Vintage velvet draperies softened the bay windows, antique love seats and matching wing chairs offered comfortable seating to those waiting for an appointment. And the silver coffee tray on the central ottoman offered a freshly brewed blend along with assorted pastries.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Blackmore-Powell,” said Chantal, the little red-haired receptionist. “Nice to see you.” She
greeted him with a huge smile.
“Mr. Wannacott is doing such a great job as managing
partner, I hardly need to come to the office anymore.”
“We miss seeing you.”
“Thanks, Chantal.” He leaned down and whispered, “You’re probably one of the few who misses me.”
She giggled.
“I’ll be in my office,” said Blaine. “As a matter of fact, you might be seeing more of me lately, and more of Farrell too.”
“My pleasure.” Chantal blushed and turned back to her keyboard.
“She’s cute,” said Farrell as they trudged down the long, carpeted hallway to the corner office.”
“You should ask her out, bro. I don’t think she has a boyfriend.”
As they passed by the office manager’s door, Blaine tapped twice and stuck his head in. “Lily, can I see you in my office in five?”
She beamed a surprised smile at him. “Sure, I’ll be right in.”
Blaine punched the security code into the panel adjacent to his office door and the lock released. “Haven’t been here for so long, I almost forgot what it looked like.”
“Nice digs, boss. We could work from here—no problem. Most of the stuff we investigate is in the city anyway.” Farrell scoped out the space. “We’d need one new cabinet installed for our armory, but we could manage.”
The thick Persian rug in Blaine’s office made footsteps virtually silent. He’d done his best to replace Dave Powell’s antique desk with one of similar quality and design. Annie had helped him search it out through her antique connections across the country, and they’d found one they liked coming up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York. Annie bought it and had it shipped to Austin.
Silver-gray leather loveseats formed a conversation grouping by the window, and Blaine had added handcrafted bookshelves to the entire interior wall. He still lamented the loss of Dave’s legal library, incinerated in the fire.
“Yep, a supply cabinet. Make a list.”
Lily zoomed in with a coffee tray and placed it on the sideboard. “Wasn’t expecting you, sir, but happy to see you all the same.”
“Thanks, Lily, and thanks for the coffee. Have a seat there beside Farrell. You remember Farrell, don’t you?”
“Of course. He did a lot of the security work here along with your other man, Travis.”
Lily was a stunner. Tall, blonde and gorgeous. She kept herself perfectly groomed. Blaine guessed her age at about thirty-five, but she could have been older.
“Things have shifted for me, Lily, and I’m going to be running the Blackmore Agency out of this office for now. I’m not going to interfere with the running of Powell and Associates in any way. I’ll be a separate entity.”
“Okay. I understand.”
“What I’d like you to do is this: start screening applicants and hire a supremely competent person just like yourself to manage the legal office and assist Wannacott with the running of the firm. Someone who can do everything that you do, and someone you’d be comfortable overseeing.”
Lily wore a pensive look, but nodded her head. “Okay.”
Blaine smiled at her. “You look puzzled and that’s understandable, I haven’t made the whole plan clear to you yet. When you find this person, equal in managerial talents to yourself—it may take a while because you’re close to perfect…”
She colored slightly, “Thank you, Mr. Powell.”
“When you do, and you’re happy to step away, I want you for my own, Lily. I’m kidnapping you to be my personal
assistant for the Blackmore Agency.”
Blaine watched her inhale a breath, and waited for her reaction. “Of course, there will be a substantial increase in your salary.”
“Thank you, Mr. Powell. This is so unexpected, I don’t know what to say.”
“I want to be clear. This is not a job you have to take. You can turn me down and stay where you are. The firm is so dependent on you, I’d be a fool not to give you that option.”
“I would be happy to accept, Mr. Powell. Nothing would please me more than to work with you and your team.”
“Okay, then it’s settled. And when you move in here, you can call me ‘Blaine.’ When we work as a group, we’re very informal.”
“I’m so happy, I’m speechless.” Lily wiped her eyes with a tissue.
JESSE AND ENRIGHT had just returned from their tour of the barn and the fifty Appaloosas when Annie arrived at the trailer. The dogs greeted her with enthusiasm and she took a moment to stroke their ears.
“I miss you doggies.”
Jesse introduced Enright. “This is my wife, Annie. Jacko
Enright.”
“Mr. Enright, nice to meet you. Am I interrupting anything important?”
“Nope,” said Jesse, “we just came from a tour of the barn.”
“I’ll step outside for a smoke,” said Enright, “and let you have some privacy.”
Annie took two cans of beer from the fridge and put one in front of Jesse. “I want you to come home, cowboy.”
“I can’t, Ace.”
“Why can’t you? You could if you wanted to. Come on, Jesse, this is no good. I want you back in our bed.”
“Brian thinks it’s best if I stay here for a few weeks until… things settle down.”
“You don’t have to worry about Race hassling you. I won’t let him. We had a talk.”
Jesse chuckled even though it was far from funny. “A talk isn’t going to cut any hay with Race Ogilvie. His old personality is taking over more and more. You have to face it, Ace. Soon he’ll be impossible to control.”
“He does seem different from the silent guy I brought home from the hospital a few months ago, but you’re my husband and I’m not giving up on our marriage.”
“Why don’t I talk to Brian and see what he thinks. Maybe we can go to dinner later—the two of us—and work it out.”
Annie circled the table, sat on his knee and kissed him.
“I love you, Jesse, and I’m not letting you get away. Call me later and we’ll make a plan.”
“Yep. I’m happy you came, sweetheart. I feel better
already.”
Annie kissed him again at the door. “Walk me out?”
After Annie left, Jacko came inside. “You have a beautiful wife, Jesse. She’s a gorgeous woman.”
“Thanks, I think so.”
“Any of my business why you aren’t living with her?”
“None, but I’ll get us a beer and tell you anyway.”
ANNIE RETURNED HOME to find Race pacing back and forth on the porch. “Hi, where’s Jackson?” she asked.
Ignoring her question, Race took a stance in front of the door. “Where were you?”
“Talking to my husband, if it’s any of your business. Which it clearly isn’t.” Annie reached for the door handle and Race blocked her. “Get out of my way, Race, and stop acting like a jerk.”
“A jerk?” He grabbed her arm, pulled her close and clamped his mouth over hers. “This jerk loves you. I don’t want you to make up with Quantrall. Let him stay on his own ranch like he wants to.”
“What’s happening to you, Race? Where is all this
aggression coming from?”
“I want what’s mine, and I intend to have it.”
“Let me pass.”
“Not until you say we’re going to discuss ending your
stupid fuckin marriage to Quantrall.”
“I will not agree to that.” She pushed him. “Get out of my way before I call security.”
Race grabbed her and slammed her roughly against the timber wall of the house. He leaned hard against her, emitting low throaty growls and shoving his tongue into her mouth.
“Stop it, Race.” Annie struggled away from him and made a grab for the door handle. The sound of Blaine’s big diesel coming through the gate made Race turn his head. When he saw the black truck, he took a step back. Annie pushed past him and rushed inside.
BLAINE PARKED and was out of the truck in a flash. He ran across the compound from the garage shouting at Race. “What the
hell do you think you’re doing to my mother?”
Race turned and laughed in Blaine’s face. “Just giving her a little affection. Something she’s not getting from her wandering husband.”
Blaine held up a fist. “Don’t touch her again. I’m warning you, Ogilvie.”
“Yeah, or what?”
“You don’t want to find out.”
“Maybe I do, just to see what you could come up with.”
Blaine jogged down the hall with Farrell on his heels. He tried the bedroom door and it was locked. “Mom, let me in.”
Annie opened the door and the boys pushed in.
“What’s Race doing?”
“He came unglued because I went to the trailer to fix things with Jesse.”
“Good,” said Blaine, “I’m glad you saw Jesse.”
“I’ve got to get away from Race for a while. I need to think.”
“Take Jesse and Jackson and go to the cabin. That will give you time to mend things with Jesse and will get Jackson out of the Race mode.”
Annie looked up with watery eyes. “That’s a good idea. I’ll call Jesse and pack.”
And while you’re gone, I’ll do something about Race Ogilvie.
JESSE AND ENRIGHT were on their third round when
Annie called. “Hey, cowboy, I came up with a plan—actually, I can’t take credit—it was Blaine’s idea.”
“Okay, lay it on me, sweetheart. I’m open.”
“Pack some stuff, we’re going up to the cabin for a week. We can talk things out, have some private time, and you can get some rest.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“I’ll get a flight and call you back.”
“You look happier than you did a minute ago,” said
Enright.
“My wife wants to go up to Canada to our cabin for a week and work things out.”
Enright smiled. “That sounds promising… and cozy. You should go for it.”
“Will you be all right here?”
“Sure, if you don’t mind me staying. I’ve lived alone for years. Just show me what to do for the dogs and I’ll take care of them for you.”
“That would be a bonus,” said Jesse, “I hate leaving them alone.”