“It’s nice to see you again.” Daniel shifted toward her. “I believe you’ve met Anderson Michaels. He came with me in October to this meeting.”
“Yes, I remember him.” At this moment, Daniel’s look didn’t convey the kindness she’d glimpsed at the gravesite but something else—determination. To dig into Axle’s past and put her and Kaitlyn in danger.
Anderson nodded toward her. “Good to see you again, Mrs. Hudson.”
Why are they here? Struggling to remain outwardly calm while she quietly panicked inside, she forced a smile. She clutched her purse straps tighter to still the trembling in her hand. “Is there a problem with the celebration?”
While Anderson went into the conference room at the end of the hallway, Daniel hung back with her. “Possibly. I’ll explain everything inside. I was going to call you, but then I had to come to this meeting. Afterward, I’d like to talk with you. Let you know what I’ve come up with concerning your break-in.”
She glanced up and down the corridor. Another committee member stepped off the elevator. Rodney Tanner caught sight of them and headed toward them.
“I thought I was late. I guess the meeting hasn’t started yet. Good to see you, Melora.” Rodney patted Daniel on the back. “And you, too, Daniel. How’s your mother doing? I haven’t seen her lately.”
“She’s fine, sir. She went to the Caribbean a couple of weeks ago and just returned.”
“I’ll have to call her and make sure she doesn’t need anything. I told your father I would keep an eye on her.”
“We need to start the meeting.” Hank Zarvy, the chairman of the committee, stuck his head out into the hallway.
Melora used that excuse to hurry ahead of Daniel and Rodney into the room. Taking the last vacant chair on the left, she was relieved when Daniel sat on the opposite side of the table. His eyes zoomed in on her as he removed his white cowboy hat and put it under his seat. She fought the urge to squirm and wrenched her gaze away from his.
After going through a list of items on the agenda, Hank closed the folder in front of him and looked toward Daniel. “I understand the Texas Rangers have some concerns and wanted to express them today at this meeting. You’ve got the floor, Daniel.”
Hank, too, had been good friends with his father. Actually, Daniel knew half of the members personally. He hoped that would help him talk them into the changes the Texas Rangers proposed.
Daniel rose, chancing a look toward Melora. She’d been avoiding eye contact the whole meeting. At the moment, she stared down at the paper before her. What are you hiding?
He cleared his throat and turned his attention to Hank. “We’ve looked over the plans for the celebration and feel we have to recommend that it be toned down in scope. We think a more intimate celebration will give anyone bent on causing trouble less opportunity to disrupt the event. It’ll be easier to keep an eye on the crowd with a smaller function. We’re concerned that with the vice president and the governor attending there could be problems with security, especially in light of the letter in October alluding to bad things happening if the celebration wasn’t canceled and then the anonymous phone call Hank received a few weeks ago threatening problems. It doesn’t appear the person has given up, and we haven’t been able to locate him.”
Everyone began talking at once. Hank held up his hand. “This has been in the planning stages for years. We can’t all of a sudden change plans. What kind of message would we be sending to others? That we can be intimidated? No!” Hank brought his hand down flat on the oak table. “This is Texas and this celebration is important to the state, especially to San Antonio.”
“But we celebrate the Alamo’s anniversary every year. We can make this one smaller and have a bigger one next year.” Daniel looked pointedly at each member of the committee, lingering on Melora for a few extra seconds.
“Celebrating the 176th anniversary doesn’t have the same kind of ring as the 175th anniversary.” Rodney frowned. “And what if we have a threatening letter next year? Do we just cancel the celebration altogether? No, just like the United States doesn’t give in to terrorists, we won’t give in to this blackmail. Beef up security. Find the person responsible for the threats.”
A few others interjected their thoughts. One was in favor of scaling the celebration down while two others weren’t.
Frustrated, Daniel surveyed each member’s face and saw resolve not to buckle under any pressure—except for Melora and the woman next to her. Melora’s gaze connected with Daniel’s for a brief moment, and he saw understanding in those green depths. The visual link stirred feelings of protectiveness in him.
“I think you know how this committee feels, but we’ll put it to a vote. All in favor of keeping the celebration as it’s planned now, raise your hand.” Hank surveyed the people at the table. “Eight to two. It looks like we’ll leave it as is.”
Daniel gave Melora a smile for her no vote and sat.
“We expect you and the other Rangers to make the celebration as safe as possible.” Hank directed a hard look at Daniel, then Anderson. “And we don’t need knowledge of the letter and phone call getting out. They were both vague, nothing concrete. I don’t want the press to get hold of them and build up the threat to more than it is. You know how they can be. Understand, Rangers Riley and Michaels?”
“Yes, sir,” both he and Anderson said.
“Good. Since we’re getting closer to the anniversary, we’ll convene in two weeks at the same time. That concludes our meeting.” Closing his notepad in front of him, Hank rose.
Daniel surged to his feet and headed for the door. Out in the hall he paused and turned to Anderson. “Go ahead without me. I’m going to try and talk with Melora Hudson.”
“Gonna use your charm to get the lady to tell all?”
“I’m working on it.” Daniel chuckled. According to his ex-wife, he had none.
Melora emerged from the meeting room and spotted Daniel. Her mouth tightened and her shoulders tensed. Quickly, she fastened her attention on the opening elevator door and started toward it.
Daniel moved into her path. “I want to thank you for your support in the meeting.”
“You’re welcome.” She took a step away, feeling trapped by the Ranger’s presence yet wanting to know if he’d discovered anything about Axle’s death. Anything that could put her in more danger.
“I think the decision is a big mistake.”
“I agree. It isn’t necessary to take needless risks.” She had enough of them to fill a lifetime.
“With added security there won’t be needless risks,” Rodney said, stopping next to Melora. He directed his look to Daniel. “I’m confident that the Texas Rangers will have the security needed to protect the public, the governor and the vice president. Look at the Super Bowl. The World Series. They manage to have those huge events without incident.”
Daniel donned his cowboy hat. “We’ll do the best job possible. But we wouldn’t be doing that job if we didn’t propose a smaller celebration for safety reasons.”
“Son, I was good friends with your father. As you know, he loved this celebration. We’ll miss him this year. He was looking forward to the event, had even pushed it before his death last year. He was passionate about anything to do with the Alamo. A true Texan to the core. We’re dedicating this to your father and his memory.”
The color leaked from Daniel’s tanned features. “I’d heard that.”
Daniel’s father had been a big supporter of the Alamo, the committee and San Antonio. He’d given large sums of money to various events to promote the city and state.
Rodney slapped Daniel on the back. “It’s going to be okay, son. Nothing has ever happened before.” The older man nodded toward Melora. “If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know. I’m sorry to hear about Axle, but at least now you have some closure.”
A lump formed in her throat. Closure? She didn’t know if she ever would. As Rodney ambled toward the elevator, Melora glanced
around and noticed the hallway was empty except for them. In Daniel’s dark gray eyes she glimpsed a vulnerability that she could identify with. The mention of his father had changed his bearing. For a few seconds his expression reflected pain as Rodney had talked. But also something else? Hurt was something she knew about. That connected them in a way she couldn’t afford. She needed to distance herself as far from the police as possible. She didn’t want the people watching her to think she was cooperating with the authorities.
Daniel blew a breath out. “Mom is happy about the dedication.”
“But not you?”
“I don’t know what I think.” That hurt she’d sensed a few minutes ago inched back into his voice. “Especially if something does go wrong at the celebration.”
“Rodney did spring it on you.”
“Yeah. I’m not big on surprises.”
“Neither am I,” Melora said.
“Would you like some coffee? There’s a café downstairs that makes a good cup.”
“I probably need to—”
“Please.”
The appeal in his expression touched her heart. No one was around. If someone was watching the building, they wouldn’t know she’d had coffee with Daniel. And she wanted to know if he knew anything about Axle’s case. Talking with him in a public place would be better than him coming to the house. From what she knew about Ranger Daniel Riley, their conversation a couple of days ago wouldn’t be their last. She got the feeling he would keep visiting her until he got what he was after and that worried her a lot. The intruder’s warning about the police resounded in her mind.
“Sure. I have a little time before I need to be home.”
Daniel smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “That’s great.”
His expression caused her heartbeat to increase. What would it feel like to have a normal life?
As she stepped up to the elevator, Daniel reached around her and punched the down button. Her stomach clenched at his nearness. A whiff of his fresh aftershave swirled around her. What she knew of him made her wish they’d met under different circumstances. For just a moment, she felt safe in his presence—a feeling she hadn’t experienced in years.
They’d once moved in the same social circles, although Daniel hadn’t attended many functions in the past five or six years. Rumor had it that he and his father, who died last year, had a falling out about his job in law enforcement. Was that what was behind the hurt and pain in his expression earlier?
The ding of the elevator pulled her away from her thoughts. She needed to keep her wits about her. She couldn’t let him know what was going on and risk something happening to her daughter or uncle.
Inside the Java Hut, Melora ordered a chai latte while Daniel got a cup of black coffee. She sat at a table for four and decided it wasn’t big enough. He was too close. Too commanding. Too appealing. Those thoughts stunned her. It had to be her exhaustion talking, what with the identification of Axle’s body, his funeral, the break-in and new threats.
“Will the Rangers be able to secure the celebration?” she asked after taking a sip of her drink.
“We’ll have to. We have no choice now. While the secret service will guard the vice president, our main concern will be the governor and lieutenant governor.” He set his mug on the placemat before him. “I’m glad you’re here. I was going to pay you a visit to let you know about the progress on the break-in.”
The mention of the intruder stiffened her spine. She gripped her cup, relishing the warmth on her cold fingers. “You found him?”
“No, but we think Alicia Wells was the one responsible for giving him a key and the code.”
“Not Alicia. She’s worked for me since I married Axle six years ago. She’s never given me a reason to doubt her loyalty.”
“Well, she’s gone. Her bank account was closed two days ago. She deposited several thousand dollars late last week into it. Do you know any reason she would be putting that kind of money into her account? From the looks of her apartment, I didn’t get the impression she had a lot of money.”
“She works hard, but she’s had some problems with her two kids.”
“Do you know where they live?”
“She told me her son, Nate, was going to move to Dallas. He should have by now. Her daughter lives in San Diego. She was getting married, and Alicia didn’t like the man. She said he was trouble.”
“What’s his name? The daughter’s?” Daniel pulled out his notepad.
Seeing him write something on the paper, Melora glimpsed the patrons in the café. Two others were in the restaurant and had been there since they had come in. The couple’s attention remained on each other. “Pedro something. I don’t know his last name. Her daughter is Bella. You think Alicia went to one of her children?”
“Possibly. I need to check everything out.”
“It was just a break-in—nothing taken,” Melora said without thinking, reliving the terror she’d experienced with the intruder on Monday. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears. Her breathing became shallow.
“But what if the break-in is tied to your husband’s murder?”
“Why? That’s what you keep asking. He was killed two years ago.” She had to remain calm and in control or Daniel would know she was hiding something for sure.
“Call it a hunch if you want.”
The ever-present fear boiled in Melora’s stomach. How could she get him to drop the investigation? “This past month has been very difficult, and I don’t want any more grief. I just want to live in peace.” That last sentence felt wrenched from her as though if she said it enough, it might happen. Peace. She longed for it.
“What if it’s connected to Axle’s murder and the intruder was looking for something now that your husband has turned up dead?”
“Why would you say that?” As much as she tried, panic laced each word. She knew what the intruder was searching for—the flash drive.
“Because it looks like the intruder went to some lengths to break into your place. If it was an ordinary robber, why would he possibly pay your maid for your key and code? Wouldn’t he just find an easier target?”
Melora was in over her head and she didn’t know what to do. These people meant business. How could she say anything to Daniel and keep her family safe? She didn’t know where the flash drive was or anything about Axle’s business. “You don’t know that for sure. Maybe Alicia just decided to live with one of her children, or maybe she’s somewhere else. She isn’t due at my house until tomorrow. Maybe she’ll show up.” Although she knew that wasn’t the case. Alicia wouldn’t have left without telling her.
Daniel scribbled a note on his paper. When his eyes connected with hers, a storm brewed in their depths. “What are you really afraid of, Melora?”
FOUR
“Shouldn’t I be afraid? Someone murdered my husband. That’s not something that happens to most people. I have a daughter to think about. Who knows what they were after or wanted? What will finding my husband’s body do to the person who killed him?” That was as close to the truth she would tell Daniel Riley, and she realized by the glimmer that sparked his eyes it had been too much. But she was so tired of doing this alone, and frankly, she didn’t know what to do anymore.
He leaned close, his gaze diamond hard. “So you do know something?”
“I didn’t say that.” She cradled her mug between her palms and hoped she didn’t slosh her chai latte as she brought it to her lips. She sipped, but the tea’s warmth did nothing to heat her cold insides.
“If you’re in danger, I can help.”
Your presence puts me in danger. What if they think I’m helping you? “I’m fine. I just want to get back to a normal life with Kaitlyn.” That had to be her total focus. She took another swallow of her latte, then set the mug on the table, keeping her hands around it. “You don’t have any clue who broke into my house?”
“Not yet. Alicia is missing. No one has seen her in two days and some blood was found at h
er place. It has been confirmed by the lab that it was human.”
Alicia’s blood? Was she dead, too? The thud of Melora’s heart echoed through her, drowning out the sounds around her. She saw Daniel’s mouth moving, but she didn’t hear his words. His concern finally pierced through her veil of disbelief and fear. “She’s dead?” she asked in a whisper.
“Don’t know. No bodies at the morgue fit her description. I’ve checked the hospitals, and she hasn’t been admitted.”
“But you said her blood was found at her apartment?”
“It was her blood type but not enough to indicate a mortal wound. If it was hers, she didn’t bleed out at her place.”
“But she might have somewhere else?” The very thought scared her even more. If she said anything, that could be her blood, her daughter’s, Juanita’s or her uncle’s.
“We don’t know, but it doesn’t look good. That several thousand dollars she received right before the break-in is definitely a red flag to me. Would her children give her that kind of money?”
Melora shook her head. “They wouldn’t have it. They’re struggling. She was trying to help them. Not the other way around.” Is that why Alicia might have given someone her key and code? Oh, Alicia, I would have helped you if you had asked me. “Do you know anything else?”
“The car the intruder used was stolen. The owner reported it stolen. It doesn’t look like he’s involved in any way.”
“Have you found the car?”
“No, but it’ll probably turn up abandoned somewhere.”
“Is there a chance you can get any evidence from it?”
He shrugged. “It’s possible, but the man was wearing gloves, so unless he took them off to drive, it’s doubtful we’ll find prints. But why should you care? You said you didn’t want to press charges even if we found him.”
Trail of Lies Page 4