Loving the Texas Lawman_A Texas Lawman Romantic Suspense

by Mary Connealy

  “And at work, you’re just going to have to stay in this building.”

  “Oh, great. It’s not prison. It’s house arrest with a work release program.” Trudy thought about that night when she’d seen a man on her beach. Was it him? There was no proof, and the judge hadn’t believed her.

  Secured? Right. What good was house arrest if the bad guys could walk right up to her back door?

  She spun her computer screen around so Ben could get a good look.

  His eyes narrowed as he studied her email listings. “How many, today?”

  “I don’t count anymore. You want me to keep forwarding them to you?” She closed her email and opened it again. Three more messages ticked onto the screen.

  “Keep putting them in the file you created. He might change the message and write something incriminating.”

  “And the restraining order can’t do anything about it, right?” Trudy’s stomach sank as, ‘Give me what I want, or I’ll take it’ popped up on her subject line again. Each of them came from a different sender. They popped onto the screen like an army of invading ants crawling down her monitor and up her spine.

  “Watson denies he’s sending them.” Ben ran a hand through his unruly brown hair. “There’s no way to prove him wrong.”

  Trudy rested one elbow on her desk and sank her chin into her hand. “Turn the other cheek,” she muttered.

  “You know, you mutter that every time you’re upset.” Ben tilted his head. “I think that makes it a mantra. Isn’t that kind of…I don’t know…Hindu or something?”

  Trudy managed her first real smile since Ben had dropped her off this morning. She looked away from her computer screen to a pile of unopened letters, knowing she’d have just as many at home tonight, since Liz wasn’t throwing them out. And the hang-up calls never ended here or at home. Since the number was always different, it couldn’t be blocked, so the phone rang constantly.

  “It’s a wonder this guy has the time to write his books.” She pointed to the stack of thrillers on the corner of her desk.

  Ben picked up a book and studied it. “Why don’t you get rid of them? Even if reading them teaches you something about what makes this guy tick, it doesn’t make any difference. Bottom line, he’s a loon. Reading those books just fills your brain with sludge.”

  “They’re awful, aren’t they? All the violence, especially toward women, all the graphic, loveless sex. I can hear Ralph speaking out of the pages of this book, telling me how he views the world.”

  “Yeah, I heard they’re making a movie out of the first one.”

  Trudy growled. “Great, that means he’s got even more money, which makes him more sure he’s the center of the universe. And that means he’ll never face his problems and get help.”

  “Well, we wouldn’t want poor Ralph to go without help.”

  Trudy shrugged. “Unless he gets help, he’ll never believe he’s doing anything wrong by pestering me.”

  “It’s stalking, Tru, not pestering. Pestering is what a two-year-old does who wants something from the candy aisle at the store. This is a little more serious than that.”

  “I know it’s serious,” Trudy snapped. She froze, then slipped her hand over her mouth and gave Ben a wide-eyed look of apology. “I’m sorry.”

  Ben smiled. “Me, you got no problem giving a hard time. But, Ralph, you worry about.”

  “I’m failing.” Trudy’s eyes clouded up. She blinked to keep the tears from falling. “The first real test I’ve ever had, to remain true to my convictions, the convictions I’ve been spouting…” Her voice broke.

  “No, please, don’t cry.” Ben groaned and fished in his pocket for a handkerchief.

  She took it and dabbed under her eyes, mindful of her make-up and the approaching class and her failure.

  Trudy flipped a paper over on her podium as she made her closing point for the night’s class.

  “The psychology of turning the other cheek has long been recognized. In a study done by the Institute for…”

  A gangly boy stood from his desk and slapped himself on the back side. “Turn this cheek, baby.”

  The class broke into smothered giggles as the troublemaker plopped back in his chair.

  Trudy was used to the high spirits that followed a big test.

  Ben glared at the mouthy kid until the room fell silent and the kid almost slid under his desk.

  After class, Trudy and Ben stood alone in the room. “You can’t use your police tactics on my students, Ben.”

  “Sure I can. I just did.”

  Trudy snapped the latches on her briefcase. “He was just voicing his opinion. It’s my job to reply in a way that demonstrates my methods. I have to give him a soft answer. If he’s determined to be unkind, I have to turn the other cheek. It’s what we’ve been working on together.”

  “Tru-Blu, you can’t run a class without discipline.”

  “Stop calling me that.” Trudy flinched. She slapped her hand over her mouth and looked up at Ben.

  Ben let his head droop as if he was too exhausted to hold it up.

  “Ben,” Trudy said from behind her fingers. “I don’t know why I do that to you.”

  Ben looked up at her and smirked. “Gotcha.”

  Trudy swatted him on the arm and stormed out of the room.

  Ben caught her before she could get outside. “Tru, how many times do I have to tell you to let me go first?”

  A cold shiver raced up Trudy’s spine. She lagged back and let Ben go ahead.

  Ralph Watson stood ten feet in front of the door, his hands in his back pockets, and a contrite look on his face.

  Ben reached for his handcuffs. “Watson, you’ve been informed that you have to stay away from Dr. Jennings.”

  “I know.” Watson just stood there. Silent. Sad.

  Ben approached him and grabbed him by the shoulder. “You’re in violation of your court order. That gives me the right to arrest you. And this time they can hold you. You have the right to remain silent.”

  “No, I’m afraid they can’t hold him, Garrison.” Another person stepped up beside Watson. Trudy hadn’t noticed him until he moved. “I am accompanying Mr. Watson. As an officer of the court, that makes this a supervised visitation. The court order allows that.”

  Trudy recognized Watson’s lawyer. Harold Merrick had argued Watson’s case at the preliminary hearing and Watson hadn’t been required to attend. Trudy had been required to show up, though.

  “Merrick, what do you want? You’re impeding Dr. Jennings. She hasn’t agreed to any visitation and supervised visitation requires her consent.” Ben stood so his big body blocked Trudy from both men.

  On her tiptoes, Trudy peaked over Ben’s shoulder. Ralph was dressed well, clean, his hair trimmed. She saw no aggressive, threatening behavior in body language or his expression. He seemed to be a changed man, or maybe better to say he seemed to be more the man she’d first met.

  “I just wanted to tell Trudy that I’ll never bother her again. I don’t know how things got so out of control. It was never my intention to harm her. All those things you said I did, the emails, the calls, the letters, hanging around your house, that wasn’t me. I just wanted to make absolutely sure that you know I’m staying away. If someone is really doing those things, then you need to look for someone else.”

  Watson looked up from his contrite study of the ground long enough to stare into Trudy’s eyes. “I’m worried about you, Trudy. As long as you’re blaming me, you’re in danger.”

  Watson turned on his heels and headed across the parking lot. He climbed into the passenger’s side of a dark blue Lincoln and sat there, staring straight forward.

  “For what it’s worth, Ben,” Merrick, a stout, expensively dressed man with ruthless eyes, said, “I believe him. If he’s not stalking her, then there’s someone still out there. Don’t spend your time watching out for Ralph and miss the real danger.”

  On that grim note, Merrick went to his car and drove away. />
  Trudy came up beside Ben. She watched the car all the way out of the parking lot, and turned to Ben. He studied her with his neutral cop’s eyes.

  “He sounded sincere.” Trudy bit her lower lip as she considered who else might be haunting her.

  “He’s good. It’s no wonder the judge believed him.” Ben rested a hand on Trudy’s upper arm and escorted her to his truck. He clicked the lock with his remote and opened the door.

  Trudy hoisted herself up into the truck quickly so Ben wouldn’t give her a boost. She was getting good at scaling the pick-up. Once in, she turned to Ben. “How can you be sure, Ben? He might be telling the truth.”

  “Because I’m a cop. I’ve got a nose for liars. And Watson stinks. But it doesn’t matter.”

  Trudy felt her eyebrows arch nearly to her hairline. “Why doesn’t it matter?”

  “‘Cuz I’m gonna be around to save you from Watson. I’ll save you from anybody else while I’m at it.” He smiled at her and she couldn’t help but smile back.

  Her smile faded when she thought about what Watson had said. “Ben, is it possible that I overreacted? The man could be completely innocent.”

  “I told you, he’s not.” Ben rounded the truck and got in. He stuck his key in the ignition.

  “Yes, I know. Your nose never lies.”

  “Tru-Blu, I’m an expert, a human lie detector”

  Trudy didn’t mean to snort when she laughed. “Whatever, I’m starting to feel weird about the restraining order.”

  “What about on your beach? What about at work the day after he attacked you? What about before he attacked you? You said he asked for your help face to face once before? What about those rustling bushes at your church? What about all those…”

  “I mean,” Trudy said, touching his arm. “He’s never approached me, except that one time that we know of, in a way that’s anything but perfectly proper.”

  “Sneaking along the coast to your beach is proper?”

  “We don’t know it was him.”

  Ben cranked the key and the engine roared to life. “It was him, Tru-Blu. Now I’m detecting lies from you. Why do you want to lie for this loser? You read his books. You can see he’s a freak.”

  “I’ve read Stephen King, but I don’t think he can raise pets from the dead. Writers have an imagination, you know.”

  “None I’ve ever met.” Ben threw the truck into gear and, for a policeman, sworn to uphold the law, he shoved his foot on the accelerator awfully hard.

  When the tires quit squalling, Trudy snapped, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means I don’t know why you can’t imagine what would have happened to you if I hadn’t pulled that guy off you in the parking lot. It means you’re afraid to ever go to your church alone again at night, and you’re looking out your bedroom window a hundred times a night while you lie there awake, but for no reason you can imagine.”

  Trudy muttered through her clenched jaw. “Soft answer, soft answer, soft answer.”

  “You’re doing that Hindu thing again.”

  “It’s not Hindu to meditate on peaceful things.” Trudy crossed her arms and stared straight ahead.

  Except for the jackrabbit start, Ben didn’t break any laws. If he had, she’d have called the police on her cell phone—assuming he didn’t take it away from her.

  In the chilly silence, they neared her home. “I’m driving myself to work from now on. Don’t bother picking me up Monday.”

  “I’ll be here at eight and you’d better not keep me waiting.”

  Trudy refused to look at him.

  He tapped the new entrance code to her driveway, changed since Liz had left.

  “Watson seemed to understand the seriousness of the charges against him. I don’t think he’ll bother me again.” She turned in her seat as he pulled to a stop. “So that only leaves you.”

  “That whole turn the other cheek thing is only as good as your mood, isn’t it?”

  Guilt welled up in Trudy. She started to apologize, but she caught a glint of something calculating in his blue eyes and stiffened her spine. “Okay, pal, here’s a soft answer.” She leaned close to him and whispered, “Leave me alone. If you show up here to drive me, I’ll call the police and get a restraining order for you.”

  She wrenched the door open and slid to the ground. Before she got to her front steps, Ben was beside her.

  “Listen, Tru-Blu. I’m not going to let you go off by yourself. Watson is probably…”

  “You don’t know for sure it’s him, so quit acting like you know anything about this case.” Trudy’s voice rose as her confusion and fear swirled around. “For all you know there’s someone else out there who’s just an email freak. He could be perfectly harmless. The guy on my beach could be someone out walking. Those bushes at church could have rustled in the wind. You found a guy you want to pin all this on and, when he starts to look innocent, you give me a bunch of garbage about a human lie detector.”

  “Tru, I was trying to lighten things up. But I am a good judge of liars.”

  “So am I. I’m a trained counselor.”

  “Who’s never practiced on human beings.”

  Trudy whirled away.

  Ben grabbed her by the arm. “Tru, you’re overreacting.” He pulled her around to face him. “Watson upset you more than you realize and you’re taking it out on me because you know I’m safe. Calm down. If you want me to look for another guy, I’ll do it. But I’m not letting you go unescorted anywhere until…”

  “Not letting me? Oh yeah,” Trudy jerked against his hold. “I forgot about that house arrest, work release thing.”

  “It’s not house arrest.” Ben’s voice softened and his grip, though still solid, eased on her arm. “It’s just me wanting to make sure you’re safe. Is that so bad?”

  Trudy looked into his eyes, dark in the muted street lights. They seemed to be boring into her brain, drilling past her resistance, searching for agreement.

  “Ben, I…I don’t know what came over me. I’m never so rude. I…I didn’t mean…you’ve been so kind.”

  “So you’ll let me drive you to work?”

  Trudy looked up at him. He was too close. She couldn’t resist that strong will when he was so close. “I’ll be here.”

  Ben nodded. “Thank you, Tru. For now, let me keep you safe.” He released his grip on her arm, but his hand stayed near. He walked her to the door and stayed by her side until Eleanor came out to meet them.

  “We’ve got trouble.” Eleanor looked at Ben.

  Trudy wondered who Eleanor thought she reported to these days.

  16

  Ben was glad at least Eleanor reported trouble to him. “What’s wrong? Is it Watson?”

  “Worse.”

  “What could be worse than Watson?” Ben’s mind boggled.

  “Liz.”

  Eleanor held out a sheaf of papers. “I tried to pay the bills today and found out all the accounts are empty. I checked old bank statements and found this.”

  “She’s been stealing from me?”

  Eleanor snorted. Ben wondered why Tru had that ‘snorty’ effect on people.

  “Not exactly, more like she’s been spending your money like a drunken sailor.”

  Tru shook her head. “I haven’t had any large purchases lately.”

  “That turtle neck sweater you’re wearing is a Vera Wang original.”

  “Vera who?”

  Ben looked at Tru’s knit top. He had a couple of them that looked similar. He’d gotten them for ten dollars at Wal-Mart. Still, women’s clothes were always overpriced.

  “It cost eighteen hundred and fifty dollars.”

  Tru inhaled so sharply she started coughing. Ben whacked her on the back half-heartedly, busy trying to breathe himself.

  “Eighteen hundred and fifty dollars?” Tru gasped. “For a shirt?”

  “You’re shoes are Jimmy Choo.” Eleanor pointed at Tru’s beige heels.

  Tru patted her ches
t. “And that’s somebody important?”

  “Four thousand dollars a pair important, Trudy. And you’ve got fifty pairs of shoes that all cost at least that much. Liz bought them for you.”

  “No, I don’t. There aren’t fifty pairs.”

  “I found them in the storeroom on the third floor.”

  Trudy shook her head. “I told her my sizes and where I got them. I just assumed she’d reordered from the same place.”

  “The blazer and slacks are Versace.”

  “I saw that label, but those things don’t have to cost a fortune off the rack.”

  “Originals, ordered from Milan. Nine thousand dollars. Each. And you’ve got a closet full of them.”

  Tru squeaked.

  Eleanor pointed over their heads.

  Ben looked up at the chandelier sparkling down at him.

  Like someone asking for whom the bell tolls, Eleanor said, “Eighty-five thousand dollars.”

  Tru started sinking. Ben caught her around the waist.

  Stiffening her knees, Tru asked, “How much has she spent?”

  “She was here a little over six months. She went through over two million dollars.”

  Ben caught her again.

  “Do I have two million dollars?”

  Eleanor shook her head. “No. A whole lot of it was bought using credit cards she opened in your name. She’s got the credit limit up to fifty thousand dollars and I’ve found eight different cards. She’s been paying the minimum every month. Liz put the minimum down payment on your house but it still took nearly all your cash. Then she started selling your stocks. When those were gone, she borrowed every cent from your IRA and you’re going to pay a nasty penalty if you don’t replace it. And when that was gone, she started with the cards.”

  “What else?” Tru whispered, leaning against Ben.

  “The pretty blown glass vases in the living room are Chihuly.”

  “Who?”

  “She had the yard re-sodded.”

  “I told her we didn’t really need to do that.”

  “And a new underground sprinkler system installed.”

  “The old one was perfectly good.”

  The plump housekeeper lifted one piece of paper after another. “She had the sand on your beach sifted.”