“What?”
She gestured with her chin. “I don’t recall seeing that before.” Kelly placed the papers on the counter, reached inside the box and pulled out the piece of folded yellow notepaper. “This is Andrew’s handwriting.”
“It must have been wedged in the bottom flaps until you dumped the box on its side.”
She opened the paper and flattened it, her mouth dry, her hands shaking. “It’s a list of owners in the Ranger Corporation.”
“Isn’t that the corporation that’s purchasing the West family’s ranch?” Wade asked, setting aside the box and leaning over her shoulder.
“Yeah.”
“Who’s on the list?”
Andrew’s scrawl was hard to read and she’d had more practice than he had. “Niles Deagen. Mayor Daniels. Sheriff Wilson. My father, Paul Lambert and Donald Church, plus a list of twenty investors I don’t recognize.” She sighed and put down the paper. “It doesn’t seem important.”
Wade picked up the paper. “But it might be.”
“How? There’s nothing illegal about forming a corporation or the fact that Niles is a major contributor to the mayor’s reelection.”
“Lots of voters wouldn’t appreciate their mayor siding with big business.” Wade snapped his fingers. “Didn’t Andrew have the mayor’s financial statement in that box?”
“So what?”
Nevertheless she dug out the papers Wade was talking about and handed them to him. He scanned the typed and stapled pages. “There’s no mention of the mayor owning part of the Ranger Corporation in this document.”
She was catching on. “If he failed to disclose his ownership and Andrew found out and confronted him—”
“It would most certainly hurt his upcoming election,” Wade speculated.
“So he kills Andrew? It seems far-fetched.” Kelly wasn’t buying the motive.
Wade placed all the papers back in the box and left Andrew’s note on top. “Suppose the Ranger Corporation invested in other land or businesses. Big money could be involved, and the mayor’s influence might be needed to construct roads, change zoning, etcetera.”
“So what do we do now?” Kelly asked. “Go talk to the mayor?”
“That’s what Andrew might have done.”
And look what had happened to him. Wade’s implication rocked her. She hadn’t forgotten their earlier conversation or how he’d asked for more time to think about his feelings for her, either. She picked up her car keys. “Before we do anything else I want to speak to Lindsey and Cara.”
CARA, LINDSEY AND KELLY met for a late-night snack at Dot’s. Wade had refused to allow Kelly to drive there alone, but once she’d met up with her friends, he’d headed over to the Hit ’Em Again Saloon to check on business. Kelly had promised to call Wade when their meeting broke up, and he would come by and take her wherever she wanted to go.
In a corner booth, Cara and Lindsey had listened to Kelly bring them up-to-date while they’d all eaten their sandwiches. Currently they shared a trio of desserts.
Between sips of her diet cola and forkfuls of chocolate cake, Lindsey spoke. “You’ve got enough proof to nail the mayor for incorrectly filling out his financials for reelection but not enough to investigate him for murder.”
“She’s right,” Cara agreed, breaking a cinnamon-raisin cookie into pieces. “The mayor doesn’t even own a registered gun. I checked.”
“Did you find anything useful on Niles Deagen?” Kelly asked, ignoring her slice of lemon pie for the moment.
Lindsey checked her notes. “He’s been brought up on racketeering charges twice, but so far the charges never stick. The man can afford top-notch lawyers.”
Cara brushed crumbs from the table. “There’re still rumors going around that Deagen’s company is on the verge of collapse. But since he holds the stock privately, I have no way to check the real situation. On another note, when will the sheriff’s office finish comparing the paint on Deagen’s car to Johnny’s?”
Kelly sighed, feeling weary and emotionally exhausted. “It could take days or more. And Johnny’s still in a coma.”
Cara eyed her across the table. “You aren’t giving up, are you?”
The tension in her must have been obvious to Cara, and she tried to make her tone sound less dejected. “What makes you say that?”
“You sound discouraged,” Lindsey told her. “But you’re doing an excellent investigative job.”
“So excellent that all we’ve found are dead ends.” Kelly shoved her hair out of her eyes, cut her pie into pieces but didn’t eat. “I’m not sure what to do next.”
Cara pointed her fork at her. “What’s really wrong?”
“Nothing,” Kelly murmured, but Cara knew her too well.
“It’s Wade.” Cara spoke knowingly to Lindsey. “She likes him. A lot.”
“And how does he feel about you?” Lindsey asked the big question with unerring accuracy.
Kelly rubbed her chin, glad to get another take on Wade. “That’s the problem. He says he doesn’t know.”
“That’s so typical of men,” Cara told her. “Sometimes they are the last to know.”
“Sounds like a cop-out to me.” Lindsey gazed sympathetically at Kelly.
Cara nodded her agreement. “Seems to me that you need to bait a trap.”
Kelly raised a skeptical eyebrow. “To catch Wade?”
Cara signaled her a thumbs-up. “Him, too.”
KELLY PHONED WADE to tell them their meeting was about over. He told her he would come by and pick her up within a few minutes. After Lindsey and Cara left Dot’s, Kelly paid the check, then used the rest room. She’d promised Wade she wouldn’t leave Dot’s until he returned and she took her time brushing her hair, refreshing her makeup and checking her teeth for smudges of lip gloss.
She wouldn’t give up on solving Andrew’s murder, and she wouldn’t give up on Wade. Somehow she’d find a way to make her life go in the direction she wanted. She wondered what her ancestor Shotgun Sally would have done if she’d been in her position, but didn’t come up with any answers.
Kelly exited the rest room and bumped right into Mayor Daniels. She teetered back into the wall. “Gosh, you scared me. Where did you come from?”
He reached out and steadied her. “Oops. You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good.” He didn’t release her arm, shoved a gun into her side. “Don’t even think about screaming for help.”
Oh, God.
Mayor Daniels had a gun on her.
Her weapon was in the glove compartment of the Jag.
Her friends had left, thinking she’d be safe in a public restaurant until Wade came back. But Mayor Daniels had chosen his window of opportunity with a precision that frightened her as much as the gun in her ribs.
Daniels tugged her out the back door, and she doubted anyone had noted her sudden departure or would miss her. People weren’t usually that observant.
Daniels hustled her through the door into a back alley, the same way he must have come inside. So it was highly unlikely that anyone had seen him. When Wade arrived and began asking questions, neither Dot nor her waitress would be able to tell him anything useful.
Outside, the garbage bin smelled and the area lacked decent lighting. With Daniels’s car parked out back, he clearly intended to shove her inside his waiting vehicle. If she got in, he could take her anywhere, kill her and dump her body. It might be days before anyone found her.
Her thoughts circled in a panic.
She needed to do something. But what?
The idea of overpowering the mayor seemed impossible. And if she struck out ineffectively and he injured her, that would lessen her chances of getting away if a better opportunity arose later.
She dragged her feet, stalling. Her mind racing.
Think.
She had a cell phone in her purse, but even if she managed to secretly call 911, no one would know her location. She could try and break his grip and
run, but his fingers dug into her arm with a strength that told her she wouldn’t stand a chance.
Maybe she could play dumb. “What’s this all about, Mayor? You already have my vote.”
“Shut up.”
“Hey, that’s no way to talk to one of your constituents. My daddy always says—”
“Be quiet.” He shook her so hard that she almost bit her tongue.
Talking hadn’t worked. Escape didn’t seem a likely option.
Kelly tried the next best thing. She stepped around him, flung her free hand around his neck as if she was embracing him.
She made her voice low and sexy. “Don’t you think I’m a mite too young for you, Mayor?”
For the moment he stopped dragging her across the pavement. “What the hell are you talking about?”
At least he was no longer urging her toward his car. If she could just play dumb, delay him for long enough, use up enough precious seconds, Wade would search for her, maybe even look out the back door and find her in trouble.
“I’m talking about you and me, Mayor. I’ve always found you attractive, but I didn’t know you liked me.”
“You think I like you?” he sputtered.
“Of course you do,” she said. “But I never worked up enough nerve to let you know. I’m so glad you’ve gone and made the first move.” She ran her free hand up and down his arm. “I find powerful men, especially politicians, so-o-o sexy.”
Had she overdone it? Would he fall for it?
Hurry up, Wade.
Daniels’s fingers clenched her arm even more tightly, and he shoved her against his car. “This is a gun. I’m not fooling around.”
Frustration and fear had her trying one last time to convince him that she was interested in him as a man, not as someone who had to fear anything she might know. “Ooh. I always liked Sheriff Wilson’s gun. I didn’t know that you had one, too.”
“I told you to shut up. Do you think I’m an idiot? Do you think I don’t know that you’ve been asking questions about me all over Texas?”
He flipped her around roughly. He banged her against the car and she grunted in pain as her knee struck the door. When he pulled her arms behind her back, she struggled, stomped on his foot.
In surprise and pain, he released her. She ran a few steps, then his hand clamped down on her shoulder. “Take one more step and I’ll knock you out, right now.”
“Okay.”
She forced herself to hold still, trembling as he used a plastic garbage bag tie on her wrists, then he pushed her into the passenger seat of his car.
Fear like she’d never known made her weak, almost sick. Mayor Daniels must have killed Andrew and now he was going to shoot her, too. Only he couldn’t do it right in the middle of town where too many people would hear the gunshots. He was going to drive her somewhere else.
She struggled against her bonds, but he’d yanked the tie so tightly her fingers were already going numb. She would have risked a scream except the lot behind Dot’s that took overflow parking during the day was empty at this time of night.
Think.
He’d been in such a hurry to tie her up, he hadn’t removed her purse, which still hung from her shoulder. But there was no time to dig into her purse for the manicure scissors that she might use to cut herself free. Once he got away, she would be at his mercy.
Daniels slid into the driver’s seat and started the car. She had to do something to draw attention to her predicament. Something drastic. This might be her last chance to get attention and the help she needed.
Kelly leaned toward the door, raised her leg and kicked the center of the steering wheel. The horn blared.
Daniels cursed. He struggled with her leg and she slammed the back of her heel into his jaw, then pressed her toes forward and onto the horn again.
Daniels yanked her ankle and twisted. She screeched in pain but she kept kicking.
A fist shot in her direction and struck her temple. Pain exploded in her head and the world turned black.
Chapter Thirteen
Kelly woke up just seconds later. Pain made her thoughts sharp. “You can’t kill me and get away with it. I’ve told too many people my suspicions about you,” she lied.
And she would keep lying—especially if it would keep her alive.
Daniels had stuck his gun into the waistband of his pants. He hadn’t bothered with his seat belt. Or hers. She wriggled around in an attempt to grab her purse, which had slipped off her shoulder to the floor.
The next time he made a hard right, she slid to the floor and let out a yelp to make him believe that she hadn’t changed her position on purpose. Behind her back, she felt around for her purse.
Got it.
She opened the bag just as Daniels reached over and lifted her under the arm and propped her back on the seat. Luckily she managed to keep the purse with her.
“Who have you told about me?” he asked, his glance at her more curious than concerned.
She wanted to name Cara and Lindsey, who he knew she’d just met. He would fear Cara and her reporting, Lindsey with her ties to the law. But in case Kelly didn’t make it, she didn’t want this monster coming after her friends.
“Wade knows. So does my father,” she said, lying some more.
“They’ll just think you came off with some goofy idea.”
“Not after you plug a bullet in me, they won’t,” she countered. Meanwhile, she stuck her fingers into the tiny purse. Her wallet was on top, and she dug past her checkbook, hitting a tube of lipstick.
“I have no intention of shooting you like I did your brother.”
So he had killed Andrew. Until this moment she hadn’t known for sure. But why would he have admitted that to her unless he planned to kill her, too?
“You aren’t going to shoot me?”
Her fingers clasped the manicure scissors just as he drove out of downtown Mustang Valley. But maneuvering was almost impossible with her weight pressed again her numbed wrists.
“Of course not. You’re going to die in an accident. On Wade’s land.” Daniels sighed. “With him in prison for your death, my election campaign should go just as I planned.”
“You’re forgetting about my father. I told him about you when I found—”
“Found what?”
“Andrew left me his notes,” she told him, trying to stall for time, hoping she could turn the tiny scissors into a cutting tool.
“And what did those notes say?”
“That you own part of a company—”
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“Except you failed to declare it on your public financial statement.” She hoped her combination of truth and lies might make him reconsider his actions. Her head ached where he had slammed his fist against her temple. And as she maneuvered the scissors, the plastic cut sharply into her wrists. But determinedly, she kept hacking away at her bonds. “The voters won’t be happy with you when that information comes out in tomorrow’s press.”
“Your friend Cara is doing the story, I suppose.”
“It’s already written and has been put to bed.”
Daniels shrugged. “Well then, I guess the Mustang Gazette may have a little fire tonight.”
Daniels pulled onto the highway, and she glimpsed headlights in the sideview mirror. She prayed that Wade might be following, and sawed all the harder with the scissors. She stabbed herself repeatedly and blood trickled down her fingers. Hopefully, she wouldn’t hit an artery and do Daniels’s dirty work for him by bleeding to death.
“You’re willing to kill just to cover up a lie on a financial statement?”
“That lie could keep me from getting reelected.”
“And to keep me quiet, you’re willing to commit murder?”
“Running this town is a power to which I’ve become accustomed. Believe me, I never wanted to kill you. But after you found the note in the bottom of Andrew’s box, I knew you wouldn’t keep quiet,” he said with a sly glance in her direc
tion.
“How did you know about the incriminating evidence against you?”
“The man in the van has been following you for some time. After he saw you find those notes, I knew I had to kill you. And I’m going after Wade next.”
Oh, God. He was insane. He’d actually had someone following her, although no one appeared to be following now. Her heart pounded and her mouth went dry with fear. “You can’t keep killing people.” She said the words to keep him talking, to keep him distracted from her leaning forward to ease the pressure against her wrists.
“What do you mean by people? You’ll only be my second victim. It’s a shame really. Who would have thought that I would have to do away with a pretty young thing like you. Politics really does make strange bedfellows.”
Daniels’s voice was cheery, as if he were discussing his summer vacation plans or his advertising scheme to be Mustang Valley’s repeat mayor. His tone increased her determination to free her hands. But when the tie finally snapped free, she was unprepared to make her next move.
The scissors weren’t big enough to do much damage but they were the only weapon she had. She gripped them tightly behind her back and worked out the numbness in her wrists. Now what? Reach over and wrestle him for the wheel? Should she force the car off the road? There was no guarantee either of them would survive, but at least she had a chance of taking him with her—if she crashed the car.
Oh, God.
She told herself the only way she could protect Daniels from coming after the ones she loved was to grab the steering wheel and yank hard. But she didn’t want to die.
She couldn’t imagine the pain she would cause her parents if she died. And Wade. He might not have admitted having feelings for her—but she had them for him. She wanted the time to explore where their relationship could go. She wanted more days, more nights. Right now she desperately wanted just a minute in his arms.
But she had no time.
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