Severed Trust: The Men of the Texas Rangers | Book 4

by Margaret Daley

Her eyes flared before she lowered her eyelashes and turned away from him.

  Missy was the weak link. He felt it deep in his gut. She was eighteen. All he needed to do was find a way to speak with her when Carrie wasn’t around. That might be hard. They were always together.

  Until then he would bring in Brendan, Kalvin, and Zoe to see what they had to say.

  The last of Sadie’s students had left the classroom for lunch. She stood at her door as the teens passed her in the hallway and headed toward the cafeteria. When the corridor emptied of kids, Sadie stepped back into her room to grab her purse and make her way to the cafeteria herself. At her desk she half-sat, half-leaned against it for a moment—a moment she really didn’t have if she wanted to eat and get back before the next hour class.

  She didn’t even think a fully-staged rock concert would engage her students’ attention this morning. With Kelly now missing and two of their classmates dead, the teens were hurting. How fragile life could be hit them square in the face.

  When her cell sounded, she gasped and jumped away from her desk, staring at her purse where she kept her phone. Another blare of her ring tone prodded her into action. She answered the call.

  “I hope I’ve caught you at lunch,” Ethan said, weariness coming through loud and clear.

  “Yes, I was just about to leave for the cafeteria. Is something wrong?”

  “Why would you ask that?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. You don’t usually call me at school to chitchat. Call it women’s intuition if you want.”

  “Yeah, something is wrong. This is the first chance I’ve had to call you. I never want to have a morning like this one again.”

  “You found Kelly?” Although a question, she knew the answer.

  “Yes. Dead, and it isn’t looking like a suicide or an accident.”

  Sadie sank into the nearest student desk. “Where? How?”

  “At the warehouse where the pill party took place. She was hung. Staged to look like a suicide, but I have too many questions about the crime scene. We pulled latent prints from several places.”

  “This is going to be awful for Lexie.”

  “Yes. I called Beth before you, so she could let Lexie know.”

  Panic swamped Sadie as she pictured Kelly in her last moments. “Where is Lexie?”

  “She’s safe. At church, with our pastor who is an ex-Marine. Beth is letting him know what’s happening probably right now.” His tone softened. “I wanted you to know about Kelly because I’m sure it won’t take long before the kids at school find out. This kind of news circulates quickly.”

  “Especially since it’s lunchtime.”

  “I’d better let you go. Like I said, this has been a crazy morning. Besides Kelly, Greenbrier was robbed of prescription drugs. A lot has been happening.”

  “I thought my day was bad. Yours beats mine.” She rose and snatched her purse off her desk.

  “The bright spot was hearing your voice. Good-bye.”

  His last words soothed some of the tension zipping through her for a few seconds as she left her classroom to head for lunch. She’d cut across the auditorium to speed her trek to the cafeteria. She was sure it was open, because one of the teachers was using it today with her classes. When she slipped inside the cavernous hall, off to the side a couple of rows back from the door, she spied Kalvin with a junior she had in class. Sam Travis held some money while Kalvin held something in a plastic packet.

  The door closing behind her clicked loud in the silence. They turned toward her and froze in place. Sam swung around, snatching the money back, and ran while Kalvin stuffed the packet into his pocket.

  Without thinking, Sadie rushed forward and caught Kalvin’s arm. “Stay put.”

  He glared at her.

  “What do you have in your pocket?”

  “None of your business.”

  “Show me.”

  “No.”

  His scowl cut through Sadie, and suddenly she realized where she was with a teen that was not happy with her. She fumbled in her purse and withdrew her cell phone. After placing a call to the office with her hand still on Kalvin’s arm, she turned her head toward a seat nearby.

  “Sit. Mr. Howard is on his way and should be here any second.”

  Kalvin glanced at the door in the back of the auditorium where Sam had disappeared then back at her.

  “Don’t think it,” she said in a tough voice while inside she quaked. The teenage boy was over six feet and burly. And they were very alone with most of the building empty.

  Suddenly, he shrugged and slouched into the chair. “You’ve made a mistake. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “Fine. Mr. Howard will sort it out. Keep your hands where I can see them.” The sound of the door at the back opening drew Sadie’s attention. Some of the tension drained from her as her assistant principal came into the auditorium.

  When Mr. Howard stopped near her and peered at Kalvin, then her, Sadie began to shake. What if Kalvin had defied her and run away like Sam? What would she have done? Gone after him in high heels? If he got rid of the packet, what proof would she have something was going down in the auditorium? What she saw wasn’t something innocent, especially with Sam and Kalvin’s behavior afterwards.

  “What happened, Ms. Thompson?”

  Sadie told the assistant principal what she had seen, keeping an eye on Kalvin to make sure he didn’t slip his hand into his pocket and toss the packet away.

  “I’ll take it from here.” Mr. Howard moved closer to Kalvin. “You still have some time for lunch.”

  “You’ll let me know what you do?”

  “Of course. I’ll fill out a discipline referral for Kalvin.” Mr. Howard indicated for the teenage boy to stand. “We’re going to my office.”

  Sadie watched them walk toward the set of double doors at the back. She had to tell Ethan when she got a chance. Since Kalvin attended the pill party, this might be a connection to what happened with Jared, Luke, and now Kelly. What if Kalvin was a murderer, killing people to protect his business?

  Mary Lou sat in the middle of Kelly’s bed, tears running down her cheeks and dropping onto her lap. When she picked up the pillow nearby, she lifted it to her face and smelled of her daughter’s scent—apples because of the shampoo she’d used.

  No more.

  Gone.

  I’m alone. Totally.

  She threw the pillow to the floor and stomped into her bedroom, grabbed her cell phone, then marched back to Kelly’s room.

  They can’t get away with it.

  She tore her daughter’s room apart until she found her list of numbers for classmates. After finding what she wanted, she punched in the series of numbers and waited, her teeth biting into her lower lip.

  It rang several times before it went to voicemail. The taste of blood only hardened her resolve to make sure they paid for killing her daughter.

  “I know what you did, and you will pay for it. You killed my baby.”

  Sorrow pushed the need for revenge to the background. All of a sudden, her throat swelled, choking off her words, her air. Then the sobs returned. The phone slipped from her grasp and tumbled to the floor. She fell to her knees and cried.

  What a day! Beth pulled up to the church to pick up Lexie. All she wanted to do was sleep for the next twelve hours. Right before she’d left, she had to calm her own mother about Greenbrier. Mom didn’t leave Nana’s room all day. She couldn’t blame her after Lucy’s unexpected death and then the stolen medication. Nana hadn’t gotten her pills until the afternoon. There had been a lot of agitated patients.

  All of this on top of the news Kelly was found dead in a warehouse. Having to tell her daughter about her best friend’s death had been the hardest thing for her, especially over the phone. She couldn’t leave work, but at least their pastor had been there for Lexie.

  She came out of the building, the pastor watching her from the door. When her daughter slid into the car, she immediately said, “We need to g
o by Kel—Mrs. Winston’s house.” Urgency added an edge to the atmosphere in the car.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve been calling all day to make sure she was all right. Kelly’s death will be hard on her, and she doesn’t cope well. Kelly was always worried about her mother.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t want to see anyone. Ethan said he made sure a neighbor came over to her house to be with her if she needed anything.”

  “Is the neighbor still there? Wouldn’t she had answered her phone for Mrs. Winston?”

  Beth pulled away from the church. “Maybe Mary Lou didn’t want her to.”

  “Kelly didn’t say much about this to even me, but I think her mom drinks too much and she’s taking too much medication. She is often sleeping or just not completely there when I’ve been over there lately. I asked Kelly about it, and she said her mother has been worse since her car wreck. She complains about neck and back pain, but she usually moves all right, bending over and getting up from a chair.” Lexie pinned Beth with a pleading look. “Please, Mom. I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

  “We can try, but she might not answer the doorbell if she doesn’t want to see us. Some people prefer mourning by themselves and don’t want people around them.”

  “Our pastor was on the phone or seeing people all day. Parents are worried about their children.”

  “I can imagine. Three kids dying in such a short time is a shock for any town.”

  “Although nothing has been said officially yet, there’s speculation Kelly was murdered.”

  Beth glanced at Lexie, then back at the road. A car stopped at a light, and she slammed on the brakes, barely missing the vehicle. “Ethan hasn’t said anything to me, but then I’ve been busy, and I’m sure he is with the robbery at Greenbrier as well as Kelly’s case.”

  “You didn’t say anything to me earlier about the robbery. What was stolen?”

  “Drugs.” Beth turned at the corner that led to the Winston’s home. “We’ll try to see Mary Lou. If she doesn’t answer, I’ll check with the neighbor.”

  “Thanks. I know you were upset with her because of what happened at school with me, but you still stayed with her last night. We can’t stop being there for her now more than ever.”

  “You aren’t upset with Kelly’s mom? Didn’t you tell me she was the one who spread the rumors in the first place?”

  “She was protecting Kelly.”

  Sometimes she felt her daughter was too kindhearted, but Lexie was the reason she’d agreed to stay at Mary Lou’s house last night in spite of what happened between the girls. If Lexie had forgiven Kelly and even Mary Lou, then she could, too. Through all this, she was seeing Lexie as a good example of what she needed to strive for.

  Beth parked on the street in front of the Winston’s house. “I’m sorry I had to tell you over the phone.”

  Her daughter’s eyes filled with tears. “I know. All I want to do is leave Summerton. I don’t like what’s happening to everyone around me.”

  Beth covered Lexie’s hand on the console between them. “I wish we could. But we have to stay.”

  Lexie rubbed her tears away. “Let’s check on Mrs. Winston.”

  Beth followed her daughter up to the porch. Lexie pushed in the bell, again and again. Beth walked to a window on the left side and peeked into the living room. It was vacant. She did the same to the other window on the right. The dining room and a glimpse into the kitchen was the same—empty.

  Lexie walked to the garage and looked inside. “Her car is here. She must be, too.”

  “She obviously doesn’t want to see us. I could tell this morning when I left she was relieved I did. I thought it was because of what happened between you and Kelly.”

  “But we worked that out. Please check with the neighbor.”

  “Which one?”

  Lexie pointed to the left. “I don’t think she knows the other one.”

  “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” As Beth crossed the yard, she remembered Mary Lou’s odd behavior this morning, clutching her large tote against her, jittery. She’d chalked it up to Kelly missing, but in light of what Lexie said about Mary Lou taking too much medication, maybe it was something else.

  She rang the doorbell, a tickling at the base of her neck nagging her. What if Mary Lou had . . .

  Nancy, an older woman who went to the same church, opened the door. “Hi, Beth. What are you doing here?”

  Beth gestured toward Mary Lou’s. “My brother said you were staying with Mary Lou. Did she go somewhere?”

  “No. She was adamant she was fine and wanted to be alone. I know when my husband died several years back I felt the same way. I couldn’t insist I stay against her wishes. I did call our pastor. He’s coming by to see her this evening.”

  “How was she?”

  “Tired. She said she was going to bed. That she hadn’t slept much the night before.”

  But she had because Dr. Wells had given her something. “Thanks. I was concerned since she didn’t answer the doorbell.”

  “I’ll try later. I thought I would take over some dinner.”

  “Good. Call if you think I should come back.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  As Beth left the neighbor’s house, she couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t quite right. Then she recalled Nancy interrupting her thought a few minutes ago. For a minute, she couldn’t remember what she was thinking about, then it came to her. What if Mary Lou was behind the drugs being taken at Greenbrier? Although she wasn’t on duty last night, she had the knowledge of the nursing home layout and access to the building. Did she have the need or desperation to steal the drugs?

  As Beth mounted the steps to the porch at Mary Lou’s, she panned the area. Where’s Lexie?

  A scream ripped the air—coming from the backyard.

  Beth bounded down the steps and ran around the side of the house. “Lexie, where are you?” she asked when nothing else sounded. She saw the gate open and rushed through it. “Lexie?”

  “Mom, up here.”

  Beth looked up to find her daughter at the edge of the roof over the back porch. “Get down. No, wait. I don’t want you falling.” Her heart doubled its beat, especially when she stared at Lexie—afraid and shaking. “What’s wrong?”

  “I think Mary Lou is dead or hurt.”

  “Why do you think that? How did you get up there? I’m calling your uncle.” Words rolled one after another through her mind, gaining speed as they tumbled from her tongue. “Don’t move. We don’t need you falling and breaking something on top of everything that has happened.”

  “Mom, I’m okay. It’s Mary Lou. She’s on the floor in Kelly’s room, face down, not moving.”

  Beth fumbled for her cell phone in her pocket and managed to call Ethan as she said again, “Sit down, Lexie.”

  The second her brother answered she told him where she was and what Lexie said.

  “I’ll be right there. Is Lexie up on the porch roof by Kelly’s window?”

  “How did you know?”

  “That’s the way Kelly gets in and out of her house. Lexie told me.”

  She heard the sound of an engine starting come through the line. “I think Mary Lou might have taken the drugs at the nursing home. Lexie told me she believes Kelly’s mom was drinking and taking a lot of medication. I need to help her.”

  “Be careful,” was the last thing Beth heard as she switched off the phone. “Okay, Lexie. Did you use a ladder or something?”

  “The elm tree. I tried to get inside to check on Kelly’s mom, but the window is locked.”

  “Then we’ll break it. If she’s in trouble, time is important.”

  16

  Ethan stood on the porch with the bottle of painkillers in an evidence bag, the medication labeled for a patient at Greenbrier. He’d found it on the floor next to Mary Lou in her daughter’s bedroom. The ambulance pulled away from the house with Mary Lou, barely alive. If Beth and Lexie hadn’t co
me over, she probably would have died. She might still.

  Cord strode up the sidewalk to the porch. “I’ve got the warrant.”

  “Good. I want this by the book, even though she had medication that didn’t belong to her. I told the paramedics what I found, so the doctor would have an idea of what she took.”

  “Are Beth and Lexie inside?”

  “Beth is. Sadie came and picked up Lexie a little while ago. Beth didn’t want her staying around while we searched. A lot of memories for Lexie in this house. If we find the stash of pills, Beth wants to check to see if it’s all that was taken from Greenbrier or if some is missing.”

  “Do you think Mary Lou sold some of it?”

  Ethan went inside the house. “Right now, anything is possible. Beth told me about her behavior this morning. She caught her coming back into her house around four. Mary Lou said she went looking for Kelly. She was carrying a tote as if it were her purse. I found Mary Lou’s real one in the kitchen.”

  When Cord entered the living room, he smiled at Beth. “You keep finding trouble.”

  She rose and bridged the distance to Cord. “This is so overwhelming. Mary Lou and I were friends because of the girls, but I’m finding I don’t know anything about her. Very sobering. Who else has fooled me?”

  Cord clasped her arms. “Not me. What you see is what you get.”

  A grin flirted with the corners of his sister’s mouth. Ethan started to leave to begin his search of the house in Mary Lou’s bedroom.

  Cord stopped him with, “I got Lucy’s autopsy results back. There was only a slight trace of the prescription painkiller in her system. Not nearly enough if she was taking the medication as the doctor ordered.”

  “From what I saw today, there were no discrepancies with the medication. The patients were receiving what they should—at least on paper, but I know when you’re dealing with people who have memory problems or other debilitating issues, it can be easy to switch out their drugs or just not give them their correct medication.”

  Ethan moved back into the room. “Who’s responsible for dispensing the medications at Greenbrier?”