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

by Margaret Daley

  “No, I was injured in practice before school started. After my pain meds ran out, I bought mine from Sam.”

  “Does he sell to others?”

  “Yes. For all I know, he could have come into the warehouse and taken the drugs from the bowl. He lives in the housing project near it. He could have gotten wind of the pill party. Kelly could have told the whole school. She was the new one in our group. Jared vouched for her, but I didn’t totally trust her.”

  While Kalvin talked, Ethan studied his father’s face. By the end, the doctor’s expression went from shock to pain to anger. Ethan believed the teen. He wasn’t the dealer at school.

  As Kalvin took the paper and pen, Cord rose and left with Ethan. “I’ll wrap this up with Kalvin and wait to see what’s found at Patti’s house before charging her. If they find drugs at her house, she may be more willing to make a deal with us in exchange for who she sold the drugs to. I’ll also have an officer bring in Sam. I’d intended to talk to him anyway. Now more than ever, I want to.”

  “So far nothing at Patti’s house, but her husband is missing. I told the officer to put a BOLO out on him. I’m going to see Mary Lou at the hospital. I’ll be back in time for Sam’s interview.” Ethan headed down the corridor, feeling as though they finally were getting somewhere on the cases. At the end of the hall, he turned and said, “Ask Kalvin if he called Sadie the other day and warned her to keep her mouth shut.”

  “Definitely. I want that solved.”

  “Now all we have to discover is whose latent prints are on the water bottle, rafter, and lighter. Then I can breathe easier that Lexie will be all right.”

  “I promise not to fall apart today, Oliver,” Lexie said and stepped to the side for the teen to come into Sadie’s house. “I wasn’t even sure you’d come back. Most guys don’t like to deal with a girl sobbing.”

  He grinned. “I’m not like most guys.” He glanced around. “Where is everybody? The other night this place was jammed packed with people.”

  “This is one of the quieter moments. I think Mom and I will be going back home tonight. Uncle Ethan is wrapping up some of his cases, and Ms. Thompson should be fine. That’ll leave only me he’s worried about.”

  “Because of what happened to you at school?”

  Lexie nodded and walked toward the den at the back of the house. “There’s a game table in here. This is usually Steven’s domain, but he’s gone to his grandparents’ house with Ashley. Ms. Thompson is in the kitchen grading a ton of papers that have piled up these past few weeks.”

  “When do you think you’ll be able to come back to school?” Oliver took the seat next to Lexie at the table.

  “According to my suspension, in three weeks. Mom won’t let me go back, though, until she knows I’m safe although she is fighting the suspension with the evidence being uncovered. The police feel Luke spiked my water, but with him dead they don’t know one hundred percent sure, so Mom is being extra protective. I hope I can go back soon because I miss seeing my friends. I miss—” She pushed thoughts of Kelly from her mind before she starting crying as she did previously when Oliver came to work with her. “I’ve learned I don’t want to be home-schooled. It’ll be good getting back to school.”

  Oliver caught her gaze. “If you need to talk about what happened, I’m a good listener.”

  “Am I that transparent?”

  “Just a little. Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.”

  “The other day you were so upset about Kelly’s death. Aren’t you angry at her for what she did to you?”

  “No, Kelly and I made up Saturday before she disappeared.”

  “After all she did to you?” His eyebrows slashed down.

  “We’ve been friends a long time. I couldn’t let one thing change that. Besides, I hated how I felt being so angry at her. It was easier than I realized to forgive her.”

  “I don’t understand. If you’re always forgiving someone for doing something bad, they have no reason to do anything right. They get away with it without any consequences.”

  “I did it for me. Being mad takes too much negative energy.” Lexie inhaled a deep, soothing breath—the scent of smoke was in the air. “Do you smoke?”

  He frowned. “No, my aunt does. I had to drop my aunt off at work this morning before coming over here. We share a car, and she smokes in it. It’s a nasty habit.” His nose wrinkled as though he were trying to block the odor emitting from his clothes. “I hate the smell of smoke. I’m saving my money up for my own car. One day.”

  “I don’t blame you. The smell of smoke gets into everything, even your hair.”

  Oliver’s frown evolved into a scowl. “Yeah, I know.”

  After Ethan read Mary Lou her rights, he asked, “Do you understand your rights?”

  “Yes,” she said in a raspy voice.

  “We’re arresting you for stealing drugs from the nursing home. We found all of them stashed in your house. Why, Mary Lou? Were you selling them? Working with someone else?”

  She closed her eyes, and for a moment, Ethan thought she had gone to sleep. The doctor said her blood test indicated she had high levels of tranquilizers and painkillers in her system. She would have withdrawal symptoms if she went cold turkey, so they were easing her off the drugs. Her doctor would move her to the psych ward later today,

  “Mary Lou?”

  Her eyelids slid open. “I don’t have an answer for you. I was in pain and needed something for it. But the pills I took didn’t seem to be enough. I needed more and more to make it through the day.”

  “Are you working with anyone else?”

  “No. I didn’t want anyone to know what was happening to me. Kelly . . .” Her head rolled away from Ethan. When she finally looked at him again, her eyes held a deep sadness. “Kelly knew although she really never said anything about it.”

  “So stealing the pills from Greenbrier was the first time you did it?”

  She nodded.

  “You don’t know about anyone else there stealing pills from patients to sell or take for themselves?”

  “No, but it wouldn’t surprise me. A lot of drugs go through the nursing home. So what’s going to happen to me?”

  “You’ll remain in the hospital for the time being. I suggest you get an attorney. The DA will be filing charges against you.”

  “I’ve messed up big time.” Mary Lou’s eyes became heavy.

  “But your life isn’t over with. Yes, you’ll do time for what you did, but you control how you handle it. Make something of yourself for Kelly. Lexie told me she was so worried about you and just wanted you to be all right. Do that for her.”

  “How? I’m a mess.”

  “Work with the doctors here to help you with your addiction. It won’t be easy, but nothing is too much for the Lord. Turn to Him. He’ll get you through it.”

  She peered at him for a moment, her eyelids sliding lower as the seconds ticked away until she slipped into a sleep. Ethan left, praying Mary Lou could get her life together.

  “Sam is gone. His uncle who he lives with said he went to school this morning but didn’t arrive. He received a call from the attendance office saying Sam didn’t show up,” Cord said to Ethan when he returned from the hospital.

  “Does Sam have a car?”

  “Yes, a light gray Chevy. I had the two officers working on the surveillance tapes of the area around the warehouse go back and see if they found one like it Tuesday night when Kelly was killed. So far they haven’t.”

  “He lives near there. It could be on the tape and not mean anything. But it’s worth looking into. Also, let’s get another officer on this and expand the search of the traffic cameras around the warehouse and the park on the Saturday night Jared was killed. See if we find the same car in both places. Expand it to light-colored cars. In the dark, from a distance where those apartments are, a gray or light-colored one could possibly look white.” Ethan half-sat, half-leaned against a desk in the main room of the p
olice station.

  “I’ll bring in an off-duty cop to join the other two. We’re stretched trying to cover everything. Also, I’ve put a BOLO out on Sam Travis’s car. The uncle wouldn’t let the police come inside to check Sam’s room. So they’re bringing the uncle in while we’re getting a warrant to search the whole apartment.”

  “We’re close. I can feel it.”

  “We’re checking calls on Sam’s cell phone.”

  “I’m assuming it isn’t on to track him that way.” For the first time in days, Ethan felt close to getting some answers and possibly some normalcy back in his life. He wanted time to explore his growing feelings toward Sadie without everything falling apart around him. He yearned to be with her all the time, to protect her, to love . . . The realization struck him with the force of an EF-five tornado.

  “Nope. If only it were that easy.”

  “Chief,” one of the officers on the traffic cameras came into the large room, carrying a sheet of paper, “we found something. When we widened the search, we did find Sam Travis’s car caught on camera a block away from the warehouse at 1:15 that night.”

  “Good. Check the cameras from Saturday for Sam’s car. Have you gotten them yet?”

  “We’re getting to them next.”

  “I’m calling in some more help for you.” Cord crossed the room to his office and disappeared inside.

  “Let me see what you’ve got so far.” Ethan took the paper from the young man and scanned the list. He came back to one name after examining the whole list.

  Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wright. What is it about that name? He noted the car registered to the couple was a 2008 white Chevy and had been seen at 2:00 in the morning going away from the warehouse area.

  Ethan tapped the list. “What do you have on this car? Can you get me a photo from the camera it was captured on?”

  “We’ve just started going down this list. Let me see what we have.”

  Ethan’s gut churned. “Give me an address and phone number. I’ll check this one out.”

  “I think I’m getting this,” Lexie said with a big grin. “It’s only taken me an hour, but finally what you’ve been showing me is starting to make sense.”

  Oliver basked in the glow from her smile. “I’m glad I can help you. Why don’t you work the next two while I use your bathroom, then get us some Cokes from Ms. Thompson?”

  As he rose, Lexie put her hand on his, seizing his full attention and sending an electrifying jolt up his arm. Looking up at him, she said, “I can’t thank you enough. This is one class I need to be in school for. Hopefully soon.”

  “I hope that, too. But I don’t mind helping you until then. Be back in a minute.”

  Oliver left the room, joy spreading through him. He’d always like Lexie and hoped one day to be more than friends. He had even arranged his schedule so he could be Ms. Thompson’s student aide the hour Lexie had English with Ms. Thompson, but still hadn’t found an opportunity to ask her out. Maybe helping her with her math would give him the courage to ask her for a date.

  As he made his way toward the restroom downstairs, he heard the phone ring and Ms. Thompson answer it in the kitchen next to the bathroom. He started to go into the room to take care of his needs, but something in his teacher’s voice stopped him. He detoured toward the kitchen, pressing his body up against the wall near its entrance from the hallway.

  Ethan stood in the Wright’s living room, waiting for Mr. Wright to come downstairs to talk to him. He held his cell phone and said to Sadie, “I’m staring at a picture of the family. Oliver is in the photo. The little girl who let me in said he was her cousin who lived with them. I asked her where the white car was. She said Oliver had it. It’s his car so long as he takes his aunt to work. Is he there?”

  “Yes, he’s been here for an hour helping Lexie with her math in the den.”

  “I’m coming over. Is there anything he’s touched I can get a latent print from?”

  “Why do you want his fingerprint?

  18

  Oliver stiffened when he heard what Ms. Thompson said about fingerprints. Who was she talking to about him? Her brother? Or Lexie’s uncle?

  He inched closer to the kitchen and peeked inside to see his teacher across the room, standing at the desk, her back to him. He crept forward, grabbing the handle on a frying pan with remnants of breakfast in it.

  His teacher said into the phone, “I’m sure you’re wrong about Oliver, but I’ll keep an eye on him until you get here. See you then.” She hung up.

  Oliver swung the skillet and struck Ms. Thompson on the side of the head. He caught her as she sank to the floor and let her down gently, then took the phone and put it in its cradle.

  Now what?

  They were on to him.

  He took his switchblade out of his pocket and cut the pull string to the blinds to use as a rope to tie up his teacher. After he secured her, he dragged her to the utility room nearby and stuffed her inside. Then he hurried and grabbed two Cokes, took out some sleeping pills from his pill party stash and crushed two. Then he dumped the contents into Lexie’s drink and started back for the den. He hated giving her any medication, but he had no choice.

  She met him at the door. “I’ve done three problems. I thought you might have gotten lost or Ms. Thompson put you to work grading papers.”

  “Nope, but we did chat.” He handed her the doctored drink, then took a long sip of his while she enjoyed hers. “I’ll check your problems, then I need to leave.”

  “Oh, that’s a shame. Are you sure you can’t stay around?” she asked and slid her paper to him then downed several more swallows of her Coke.

  As he checked over the paper, he slanted a look toward her. Her eyes began to droop.

  When the doorbell rang, he popped to his feet. “I’ll answer it.”

  “But . . .” Her head fell forward then jerked back up. “Ms. Thom— ” She collapsed onto the table.

  Oliver made Lexie comfortable, then hurried to the door. When he peeked out and saw the officer, who sat in his car guarding the house, standing on the porch, he knew whoever called Ms. Thompson alerted this cop.

  He rang the bell again. Oliver rushed back and grabbed his jacket. Then he returned to the foyer, slipping on the coat. When he opened the front door, the officer had his hand on his gun.

  “Sorry, it took so long. I told Ms. Thompson I’d answer the door on my way out.” He pushed the screen open for the officer to come inside. “She’s in the kitchen.”

  The young cop entered, drawing his gun from its holster. Before he pulled his weapon completely out, Oliver leaped forward and plunged his knife into the man’s stomach. The young man crumpled to the floor, clutching his gut while blood flowed out. Oliver leaned over, withdrew the gun, and went back for Lexie. He wasn’t leaving without her, even if he had to carry her to his car.

  On the twenty-minute drive across town, Ethan received confirmation from the officers working on identifying the cars Tuesday and Saturday night around the warehouse. They identified Oliver’s white Chevy on footage from a camera on Sixth Street as well as one near the Red River City Park where Jared died. He’d figured out who was behind the killings. He needed to find the teen before someone else died.

  When Ethan arrived at Sadie’s house, Oliver’s vehicle was gone and the patrol car was vacant. He ran toward the house, fumbling for the key Sadie had given him in case there was trouble. And this was certainly the time. Another officer pulled up to the house and got out of his car.

  When Ethan started to use the key, he realized the door was unlocked. Every sense became alert as he moved into the foyer, his gun drawn. On the floor lay the officer guarding the house. The man’s gun was gone along with his handcuffs. Ethan knelt next to him and felt his throat for a pulse.

  The officer arriving right behind him charged through the door, weapon up.

  “He’s alive. Call 911. I’m going to secure the house.” Ethan rose.

  His heartbeat pounded a quic
k tempo against his ribcage as he neared the kitchen. This was where Sadie had been grading papers when he’d left for the station earlier. His mouth went dry as he held his gun up and swung into the entrance.

  Empty.

  Where’s Lexie? Sadie? Please, Lord, keep them alive. I can’t lose them.

  The den. That’s where Sadie said Oliver and Lexie were.

  He crept toward the room as the sound of sirens cut into the eerie silence in the house. More backup arrived here. When he reached the den, he went in with his weapon clasped between his hands. As in the kitchen, the emptiness mocked him. But spread out on the game table were Lexie’s papers and textbook.

  As officers and Cord flooded the house, Ethan told them what he’d found when he arrived. Cord issued a BOLO out for the white Chevy and directed his men to search the place thoroughly.

  Think! Where would the kid go? But Ethan didn’t know much about the teen other than what his uncle had told him about Oliver. Quiet. Would never have anything to do with prescription drugs or anything like that. His mother had died from an overdose of sleeping pills, and his father shot himself the day of the funeral. They took Oliver in, but he stayed to himself. He’d been living with them for eight years.

  “Ethan, come in the kitchen. We found Sadie.”

  Cord’s words sent hope and fear through Ethan at the same time. He hastened from the den to find Cord kneeling over his sister on the floor near the utility room.

  “Is she—” a lump captured Ethan’s next words.

  “She’s alive, and I’ve called for another ambulance. But she has a nasty bump on the right side of her head.”

  Ethan stooped next to Sadie, taking her hand and laying his fingers on her wrist. He had to feel her pulse. Its faint pulsating beat gave him the hope he needed. Please, God, the rest is in Your hands.

  Holding Sadie’s hand and feeling helpless, Ethan tried to rein in his anger. It would get in the way of finding the teen responsible for this.