Out of Time

by Shirlee McCoy

  He should take her home.

  Levi knew it, but he didn’t have the heart to drive Susannah back to her place.

  “You’re quiet,” she said, and he cast a quick look in her direction.

  Her eyes were closed, curly hair framing her face.

  “Just thinking that I’m making a mistake.”

  “By taking me to the Alamo?”

  “It’s a crime scene, and you’re a civilian.” And he was allowing his heart to lead his head. Not good when he had a job to focus on.

  “I’m also a security guard there. Not to mention a witness to the crime.”

  “A wounded one.”

  “It barely hurts.”

  “Then why are your eyes closed?”

  “Because I’m trying to remember what happened, trying to bring it into my mind as clear and crisp as I can get it. The more I remember, the easier it will be for your people to track down the guy responsible.”

  “San Antonio P.D. is running the investigation.” But the Rangers would be involved. They had a vested interest in the Alamo, and until they knew why Quin kept gesturing to the picture of it, they’d keep their fingers on its pulse. What they couldn’t do was step on toes, get in the way, offer support that SAPD didn’t need.

  “But your people will be there, too.”

  “True.”

  “And I’m sure some of my coworkers will be there. So, I’ll fit right in.”

  “I hate to break the news to you, Susie, but walking around in a hospital gown isn’t going to make you fit in anywhere except a hospital.”

  “I’ll borrow a shirt from someone.” She sounded so completely unperturbed that Levi laughed.

  “What?” She straightened, and he felt her gaze without looking at her. It was a physical touch, drifting from his cheek to his neck to his hands.

  “You have three inches of gauze on your shoulder, you’re pale as a ghost, and you look more like a seventeen-year-old kid than a security professional. There is no way you won’t be noticed if you go wandering around the crime scene.”

  “I’m not planning to wander. I’m planning to listen.”

  “To?”

  “Everyone. Everything. The guy who shot me, he wasn’t a stranger.”

  “You saw him?” Levi’s pulse leaped at the idea, his mind racing with a hundred possibilities.

  “He was standing in the shadows while I was trying to stop Chad from bleeding to death. I didn’t see him at first. By the time I did, it was too late.”

  “You recognized him, though?”

  “I had the sense that I knew him. That something about the way he stood and moved was very familiar. I keep thinking he’s Aaron, but he’s not. That only leaves one other option—he’s someone else I know.”

  “Fear can play funny tricks on our minds.”

  “True, but I don’t think that’s what happened tonight.”

  “I’m not saying you didn’t see someone you know.”

  “You don’t have to. I’ve been trying to convince myself that I was mistaken for the past hour. I can’t. Whoever is doing this is someone I know. I’m hoping he’s going to be at the Alamo tonight, and I’m hoping that if he is, I’ll recognize him.”

  “That’s a dangerous game, Susannah.”

  “No more dangerous than hiding away and hoping he won’t come after me again.”

  “You’re assuming he was after you. He shot Chad first. You may have just been in the way.”

  “Who he was after doesn’t matter. You said it before, Levi, and I didn’t want to believe it. Someone on the Alamo Rangers’ team is behind this. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.”

  She was right.

  But there were more than two dozen Rangers. Fourteen were men, each one innocent until proven guilty. So far, four had been in for polygraph tests. All four had passed. Ten more to go, and Levi was confident one of them was on the Lions’ payroll.

  “Okay. So, you’re coming with me. You’re staying out of the way, and you’re keeping your eyes and your ears open.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” There was a smile in her voice, and she patted his knee as if all the years between them didn’t exist.

  Maybe they didn’t.

  Or maybe they simply didn’t matter anymore.

  His phone rang, and he grabbed it, holding it to his ear as he pulled up behind a police cruiser parked in front of the Alamo. The entrance to the building was blocked by an evidence van, and several officers were standing guard.

  “Hello?”

  “Levi. It’s Ben.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Are you on your way to the Alamo?”

  “I just pulled up in front of it.”

  “Good. San Antonio P.D. just called. Said there was something there they wanted us to see. Apparently, the gunman left a calling card.”

  “A rose?”

  “A couple dozen.”

  “Anything else?” He glanced at Susannah. She was staring out the window, her attention on the Alamo, but he knew she was listening to every word.

  “A photograph of an Alamo Ranger getting in a car. She’s pretty. Early twenties.”

  “Late twenties, but who’s counting,” Susannah muttered, pushing open the door and letting cool air rush in.

  “We’ll take a look.”

  “Is Oliver with you?”

  “No. He’s still at the hospital, waiting for more news on the male gunshot victim.”

  “That’s Chad Morran, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “And the other victim?”

  “Susannah.”

  “You suspected as much.”

  “But I hoped I was wrong.”

  “Is she still at the hospital?”

  “No. She’s with me.”

  “You’re at the Alamo.”

  “Right.”

  “You’ve brought a victim back to the scene?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not a good idea, McDonall.”

  “Too late. We’re already here. I’ll check back in after I see what San Antonio P.D. has collected.” He hung up before Ben could offer a hundred reasons why having Susannah with him wasn’t a good idea.

  “If you’re going to get into trouble for bringing me here, I’ll go home.” Susannah spoke quietly, giving Levi an out he should have jumped at, but didn’t.

  “A little trouble never hurt anyone. Come on. Let’s see what those roses look like.”

  “I already know what they look like. Long-stemmed. Red. No thorns.”

  “He had to get them from somewhere. Maybe we can trace him that way.”

  “There are hundreds of florists around here. It’ll take a week to contact all of them.”

  “That’s not defeat I hear, is it?” He tugged her out of the car, slipping an arm around her waist as they moved toward the Alamo.

  “I don’t know the meaning of the word.” But she sounded tired, and he thought about turning around, helping her back into the car and driving her home.

  “I’m afraid you can’t come any closer.” A police officer stopped them a hundred yards from the chapel entrance, and Levi introduced himself, flashed his badge and waited while the officer checked his credentials.

  “You’re clear to go through, but your friend will have to stay.”

  “She was one of the victims. I want to have her look at the crime scene, see if it jogs any memories.”

  “Good to see you up and moving around, ma’am.” The officer moved aside, calling the information in on his radio while Levi and Susannah walked into the chapel.

  Another officer met them there. He greeted Levi with a firm handshake. “Sergeant Jason Richardson.”

  “Ranger Levi McDonall. This is Susannah Jorgenson.”

  “Ma’am. Sorry we’re meeting under such terrible circumstances, but I’m glad to see your injuries weren’t life-threatening. I heard the other vict… Your coworker is going to make it.”

  “It looks that way.”

&
nbsp; “Good. I planned on coming to the hospital to interview you, but if you’re up to it, I can do that now.”

  “That’s why I’m here, Sergeant.”

  “Great.” He asked her several questions as they walked through the chapel and out into the compound, and Levi only half listened to the answers. Whatever had gone down, it hadn’t been planned. The more he thought about it, the more sure he was about that. The fact that more roses had been discovered on the compound only seemed to confirm his theory. The intruder had meant to drop the roses and leave, but Chad had gotten in the way.

  “All right. Thank you for cooperating, Ms. Jorgenson. I know this has been a stressful night. I just have one more thing I’d like you to do for me. We found something on the ground behind the long barracks. More than one thing, actually. You up to taking a look?”

  “Sure.” But her voice was weak.

  “You don’t have to do this, Susannah.”

  “Yes, I do,” she said, but she didn’t resist when Levi pulled her to his side, offered support as they walked to the long barracks.

  Several teams worked the ground beside the building, crisscrossing the path and the grassy area beyond it. A dozen feet away, a man snapped photos of the pavement, capturing a dark stain that glistened in the flash from the camera.

  “That’s a lot of blood,” Susannah said quietly, and Levi squeezed her hand.

  “Our perp wasn’t playing around, that’s for sure,” the sergeant responded, leading them past the wide stain and around the building. A woman stood in the shadows there, snapping photos of a pile of roses that lay abandoned on the ground. She frowned as they approached, stepping back, but continuing with her job.

  “So, here’s what we found.” Richardson crouched close to the bouquets. “Ring any bells?”

  “Yes.” Susannah offered a quick explanation as she studied the roses.

  “And how about this?” Richardson used a gloved hand to lift a Polaroid picture, and Susannah nodded.

  “I’ve never seen the photo, but that’s me coming out of my house. It looks like it was taken recently.”

  “Not very likely you have another stalker.” Richardson rubbed the back of his neck, scanning the area as if he could find more clues hidden there.

  “No.”

  “Someone is going through a lot of trouble to make you think you do. Why would that be?”

  “She’s lead security officer for the opening ceremony at the Alamo this weekend. We think the perp was trying to scare her into leaving.”

  “To what end?”

  “To further the cause of a group called the Lions of Texas.”

  “I just recently started hearing about them. There was a big sting down near the border, right? A sheriff and a border patrol agent taken into custody.”

  “That’s right. We believe Captain Gregory Pike was investigating the Lions when he was killed. We also believe the Lions are planning something for the day of the opening ceremony.”

  “Not something good, I take it.”

  “No.”

  Richardson whistled softly and shook his head. “Big troubles around these parts, for sure.”

  “What’s going on here?” Hank Zarvy stepped around the side of the barracks and speared Levi with a look designed to make him cower.

  Too bad he wasn’t a cowering kind of guy.

  “This is a crime scene, Mr. Zarvy. It’s probably best if you wait outside the compound. We’ll fill you in on the details of our investigation when we finish here.” Richardson seemed as unimpressed by Zarvy’s show of force as Levi was.

  “Crime scene? This is a historical landmark. One that is going to be hosting the governor, the lieutenant governor and the vice president of the United States in just a few days. Your men are tromping all over the grounds like a bunch of first graders at the playground.”

  “We’re doing our job and making sure we do it thoroughly.”

  “If you were doing it thoroughly you’d have someone in jail already,” Zarvy snapped, his attention on Susannah. “You’re the woman who insisted things were under control, right? The one who had a foolproof security plan in place.”

  “I never said it was foolproof.”

  “You implied it. Now look what we’ve got. The compound is trashed, the press is camping outside.” He slashed his hand through the air. “It’s a mess. We’ll be lucky if our guest speakers don’t cancel on us.”

  “We’re celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Battle of the Alamo, but we’re also celebrating the resiliency and determination of Texas and of her people. I’m sure that the trouble we’re having will rally rather than scare our guest speakers.” Susannah’s words seemed to take some of the wind out of Zarvy’s sail. His arm dropped to his side, and he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

  “We have got to get this place under control before Sunday. Do you understand that, Ms. Jorgenson?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then do it, because if you don’t, I will, and that will mean you and a lot of your coworkers will be finding other jobs.” He stalked off without another sound, and Susannah sagged, leaning her back against the wall of the barracks as if she could barely hold herself up.

  “Well, that was fun.” Her smile was brittle, and Levi wanted to pull her into his arms, let her rest against his chest.

  “That guy never ceases to amaze me. I’d rather walk through a pit filled with a hundred rattlers than deal with him. Come on. I’ll walk you out.” Richardson led the way back to the chapel, leaving them with a curt reminder to call if anything came up.

  “I guess there’s nothing more I can do here. Would you mind giving me a ride home? I don’t think I can drive.” Susannah looked ready to collapse, her face parchment-pale, her eyes emerald fire against pallid skin.

  “I don’t think I could let you drive even if you wanted to.” He thought she’d rise to the bait and tell him it wasn’t his decision, but she simply shrugged.

  “You’d get no argument from me. The adrenaline is gone, and so is my energy.”

  “It wouldn’t be a bad thing to take the next few days off.”

  “I can’t. I need to find out who did this, Levi. I need to know why.” She got in the car, wincing as she settled into the seat.

  “It’s not your job to find out, Susannah, and digging too deep, looking too hard could get you into the kind of trouble you can’t get out of.”

  “Then what do you suggest I do? Sit twiddling my thumbs while everyone else tries to solve my problems?”

  “If it keeps you alive, yes.” He shut the door, knowing she wasn’t going to listen, and was more frustrated by that than he should be.

  She wasn’t a kid. She was a grown woman who carried a gun to work, a grown woman who’d proven again and again that she could take care of herself.

  A grown woman he was falling in love with.

  Falling?

  He’d fallen.

  “We need to call all the Alamo Rangers into work tomorrow. Maybe you can get all the polygraphs done in one day.”

  “The test has to be administered at our office. Hopefully we can get a few more done tomorrow. A few more the day after that.”

  “And have our man by the opening ceremony?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Do you think he’ll talk once you bring him in? Tell you who hired him and why?”

  “I hope he will, but there’s no guarantee. Even if he does, if he’s an underling in the Lions’ organization, he won’t know much about what the upper tier is doing or who is operating it.”

  “Maybe I could spend time with each of the other Rangers. Try to figure out which one I saw tonight.”

  “Susannah.” He pulled up in front of her house, turning to face her. “I know you want answers, but I meant what I said. Don’t dig. Don’t go looking. Let us handle things.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You don’t have a choice.”

  Her jaw tightened, anger flashing in her eyes, but she didn’t argue, ju
st got out of the car and walked to the porch. He followed, grabbing her hand and pulling her to a stop when she would have gone inside.

  “I didn’t say that to make you angry. I said it because it’s the truth. This isn’t about you or me, Susie. It’s not about how we feel for one another. It’s about closing down a drug cartel. It’s about finding Gregory Pike’s murderer. It’s about keeping three very high-ranking politicians alive.”

  “I know.”

  “Then don’t fight me when I say you need to stay home and rest.”

  “I…” She shook her head, bright light spilling onto her hair, splashing onto high cheekbones and the shadowy crescents beneath her eyes.

  “What?”

  “I’ve never known anyone else like you, Levi. I’ve never wanted so badly to be part of someone’s life. His dreams. His hopes. Never.”

  “Is that a bad thing?”

  “Only when it keeps me from doing what I feel I should.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to stay out of the investigation?”

  “It means I value your opinion about it.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “It’s all I have right now.” She unlocked the door and stepped into the house, disarming the security system, her hand shaking as she pushed the buttons.

  “Then it’s enough. Come on. You’re exhausted, wounded. Right now, what you need to do is heal.” He led her to the sofa, urged her to lie down, then dragged an afghan from the back of a chair and covered her with it.

  “Thank you.” She grabbed his hand, held it to her cheek, her skin smooth and silky beneath his palm.

  “Thank me by staying here and getting better.” He crouched beside her, inhaling antiseptic, the coppery scent of blood and, beneath it all, the subtle flowery scent that was Susannah.

  “I’m so tired, I don’t think I have a choice.”

  “Good night, Susie.” He brushed his lips against hers, his heart throbbing with such deep longing it took him by surprise.

  She felt it, too. He could see it in her eyes, feel it in the rapid intake of her breath.

  “Keep the alarm on. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He ran a finger along her cheek, felt the silkiness of her skin again, then forced himself to get up, walk outside and shut the door.

  On Susannah.

  On his own desperate need for her.