Loaded

by Joanna Wayne

  "Everything looks that way. Langston Collingsworth is the one name that's stayed constant as we've progressed up the evidence level. But the names of all his brothers are playing prominently in the latest deal."

  Her head begin to spin. There had to be a mistake. "I'm inside the family situation," she said. "I find it virtually impossible to believe M—" She stopped herself. "I can't believe anyone in the family is guilty."

  "They've been misleading people for a long time, Shelly. Playing their good-old-boy rancher and philanthropy cards without a miscue. It sounds as if they may have even gotten to you."

  "No." At least she didn't think so. She was almost certain she hadn't been misled. If she was right... Her mind changed gears and was off and running in another direction. "The evidence could have been planted. This could be a setup."

  "Not likely, considering that the investigation has been going on for over a year."

  "But you do admit it's possible."

  "The person setting them up would have to have a lot of power in the company. And motivation."

  Still it was possible. "What do you want me to do now?"

  "Stay on the assignment. I'll pull you off just before we make the arrest. In the meantime, don't miss any opportunity to gather information. Get back to me immediately with anything that could possibly affect our actions."

  "I can do that."

  "And, Shelly, be careful."

  She could do that, too. She wasn't sure that she would. Now more than ever, she needed any scrap of info she could glean. And she'd go to any extreme to get it.

  She was convinced that Matt wasn't involved in this in any way, but suppose she was wrong. Suppose her attraction to Matt had colored her every thought since she'd met him. Suppose he and all his brothers were GAS, guilty as sin. She sank to the loveseat, her mind a foggy blur of fears and possibilities. She couldn't pull out now, not with things racing toward culmination.

  A light knock at the door jerked her to attention. "I'm coming." Her voice sounded as if it were being muffled by gauze. She took deep breaths as she crossed the room and opened the door to find Jaime dancing to a song she was plugged into via headphone.

  "Oh, good. You're still up. I was afraid I might wake you." She pulled off the headphones. "Mom said you needed a dress to wear to a black-tie gala Saturday night."

  "If you're sure you don't mind my raiding your closet."

  "Not only do I not mind, I have several slinky, seductive numbers in mind."

  "Not too slinky."

  "There's no such thing."

  "I'll need a sleeve to cover my bandage."

  "Or a glittery stole. I have several. Come on back to my room. We'll play dress up."

  Shelly wasn't up to playing anything, but she didn't dare turn down an opportunity to pick up a tidbit of new information. No matter what she believed—or wanted to believe— they were almost down to the wire and anything she learned could be valuable.

  "Your date ended early," Shelly said as she and Jaime headed to Jaime's room.

  "Leland is a dud. He's one of those jerks who just wants to hook up with someone with money. I run into more of those than I can count. Always have. It's the worst part of being from a rich family. The best part, of course, is the dresses. Wait until you get a look inside my closet."

  "How did you figure him out so quickly?"

  "All the questions. Like how big the ranch was, how much we were worth, that sort of thing. He even asked about you."

  "What about me?"

  "Who you were, what you were doing here and why. That sort of thing. Like I said he was on the money make. He would have likely called you if he thought you were loaded. He still might."

  "Hopefully not. I can see why dealing with guys like him would be a pain, but growing up rich must have had some advantages."

  "Are you kidding? I didn't have a clue we were rich when I was young. My allowance wasn't even as big as some of the other girls in the class. Not only that, but I also had to work for mine, plus give some to the church.

  "And believe me, there was no designer-label anything back then. As far as Mom is concerned, quality is not determined by price tag." Jaime mimicked her mother with that last phrase.

  "She seems extremely generous now."

  "She's generous to a fault, but she's also a stickler for responsibility. Which explains why she's unhappy that I haven't found my niche in life and settled down with a man or a career yet."

  "You're working at Collingsworth Oil."

  "Hopefully not for long and only to get her off my back. I've tried the corporate life. It's not me."

  "I always thought big business might be interesting. Do you get to hobnob with the movers and shakers when you're in the office?"

  "Yes, but that's not all it's cracked up to be. The movers and shakers don't have great moves. Give me a cowboy any day."

  Shelly could definitely identify with that, though she wouldn't have understood it mere days ago. Jaime bounded ahead of her and was already pulling ball gowns from a walk-in closet the size of most people's bedrooms when Shelly caught up.

  Jaime held up a blue silk that looked like something a starlet might choose for the Academy Awards. "Try this one on. You'd have the guys falling out."

  Shelly ran her fingers along the low-cut bodice. "The guys wouldn't be the only things falling out."

  "I have two-sided tape to keep the puppies in."

  Shelly looked down to her size 34D puppies and shook her head. "Let's go for something cut a bit higher."

  "Party pooper." Jaime pulled out several more before she came up with an emerald-green silk dress that made Shelly's mouth water.

  "Let me try that one on."

  Jaime kept rummaging through the closet while Shelly slipped out of her clothes and into the dress that hugged her bodice, waist and hips before flaring a bit to the hem. There was still plenty of cleavage showing, but no danger of a wardrobe malfunction. The most daring element was the slit that revealed lots of thigh.

  Jaime returned with a beaded wrap to accessorize the dress and hide her bandage. She draped it over the bedpost and stopped to stare at Shelly. "Wow! You look fantastic. That dress was made for you."

  "I love it," Shelly admitted, "but the slit may be cut a tad too high."

  "For church, maybe. Not for an artsy affair. And I have just the jewelry to go with it." Jaime went to a wall safe hidden behind what appeared to be an electrical box in the closet. In seconds, she'd opened it and produced a diamond-and-emerald pendant and a pair of dangling emerald earrings. The trio was probably worth more than a year's pay for Shelly.

  Shelly shook her head. "They're beautiful, but much too expensive. I absolutely can't wear them."

  "You have to." Jaime circled her neck with the pendant and fastened the clasp. "They look terrific with the dress and your eyes. Just look at you. You'll have Matt panting so hard he won't be able to drive."

  The mention of Matt brought the full weight of the investigation crashing down on Shelly again. The dress started to bind like ropes and she had to fight the urge to rip it from her body and run from the room.

  "Shoes," Jaime said, oblivious to the change in Shelly. "What size do you wear?"

  "Seven, but I can wear something I have."

  "Not unless you have the perfect pair. I can't let you mess up that gorgeous dress with anything less. Becky's a size seven and she has a gorgeous pair of silver sandals I talked her into buying at the last Neiman Marcus sale. I doubt she's even worn them yet."

  "I can't ask her to—"

  "I'll do it for you, but she won't mind if you wear them. We share everything but men in this family. I'll even share that. You can have Leland."

  "Now you're being much too generous."

  A half hour later, her arms laden with her attire for Saturday night, Shelly dragged herself back to the guest suite.

  With all her heart, she hoped Brady was wrong about the Collingsworths' guilt. But was he right about her? Had her feelings
for Matt and her bonding with the rest of the family made it impossible for her to see the bigger picture? Or were the Collingsworths truly the most amazing and close-knit family she'd ever been around?

  All she knew right now was that she'd never felt as if she belonged anywhere the way she felt here on Jack's Bluff Ranch. She knew it was only an illusion, one that could never last. Matt might be enthralled with her now, but he'd tire of her soon enough. Men moved on when relationships grew stale.

  Shelly had witnessed that over and over again, with friends as well as her mom, though her mother held the I've-been-dumped prize. Not to mention that Matt would hate her when the full truth came out.

  She opened her door and dropped the beautiful emerald dress on the bed. She'd wear it for Matt two nights from now. And then if things went according to Brady's educated predictions, she'd be on the team that sealed the deal against Mart's family.

  There was no surer way to nip a relationship in the bud.

  * * *

  "Fine. I'll find another driver, but don't come whining to me the next time you're looking for a job you old reprobate."

  Shelly had just poured her third cup of coffee of the morning when she heard Jeremiah's loud and very angry voice. She turned to the see him hobbling down the staircase, dressed in a suit and tie instead of his usual chinos and cotton shirt. His cane was in one hand, his cell phone in the other. Not the safest way for a man with his lack of balance to descend, but also not the time to point that out, unless she wanted to chance the cane flying in her direction.

  "Can't get decent help anymore. Dadgummed idiots leave you high and dry without a never-you-mind about it," he sputtered to himself. He stopped when he noticed Shelly staring at him. "No, I'm not doing any exercises this morning," he snarled, taking the stairs even faster. "I got business to take care of."

  "So that's why you're looking so dapper this morning."

  He straightened his tie with a bony hand and stretched his thin, corded neck. "I have to go into town. That damned CIA—paid for with my tax dollars by the way—has got nothing better to do than torment God-fearing, patriotic Americans."

  "Are you meeting with the CIA?" Brady hadn't mentioned that.

  "I plan to set them straight, as soon as I find out exactly what the Sam Hill's going on." He reached the bottom step and lifted his cane to point it in her direction. "They've got my grandsons buffaloed, but they don't scare me."

  "Does that mean you're going into the office today?"

  "I don't see any other way to get to the bottom of this."

  A rather drastic move on his part; Lenora had told her he hadn't gone back since his stroke. Obviously, he had some mental grasp of the seriousness of the situation. She wondered if the rest of the family was fully clued in as well.

  Sleep had been a long time in overtaking her troubled mind last night, and she'd had lots of time to rethink everything she'd seen and heard since first meeting Matt Collingsworth only a week ago. The crime and the family refused to meld in any scenario she concocted, leaving her more convinced than ever that they were being framed.

  "Do you drive, Shirley?"

  "It's Shelly." The stress was obviously affecting his short-term memory. "And I'm an excellent driver." Stunned that the opportunity to visit the height of the action might be about to fall in her hands, she wasn't about to blow it. "I'd be happy to drive you into Collingsworth Oil today, if you have a vehicle I can use."

  "We can take my Lincoln. Not that I couldn't drive it myself if it came to that, but my license expired and I don't aim to have one of those smart-alecky Houston cops haranguing me."

  "I'll drive. Give me fifteen minutes to change clothes."

  "Make it ten."

  "Yes, sir."

  This would not only give her extended time alone with Jeremiah, but also give her a firsthand look at the business setting of the CIA investigation. She didn't know what she was looking for exactly, but it was imperative that she find it today!

  * * *

  The executive offices of Collingsworth Oil encompassed the eighteenth floor of an older and very stately skyscraper in downtown Houston. Shelly knew this from CIA research, but seeing it in person gave her a much better feel for the setup.

  Her first impression was that Houston professional women were more sophisticated than she'd expected. After encountering two stylishly dressed young women in the elevator, Shelly was thankful she'd changed into the more chic of the two business suits she'd brought to Texas with her.

  "I'll get that," Jeremiah said when she started to push though the double glass doors to the reception area.

  She stood back and waited. He might be all brag and bluster when it came to conversation, but like the rest of the Collingsworth men, he was also a gentleman.

  "Mr. Jeremiah," the receptionist called, obviously pleased to see him. "No one told me you were coming in." She rushed over and embraced him warmly.

  "Don't go blubbery on me." His voice grew husky, and though the hug was quick and perfunctory, Shelly could tell his return after so long an absence had a bigger emotional impact on him than he would ever admit.

  The receptionist turned her gaze to Shelly as if expecting some kind of introduction. Shelly extended her hand. "I'm Shelly Lane, Mr. Collingsworth's physical therapist and occasional driver."

  "Nice to meet you." Her attention reverted back to Jeremiah. "Is Langston expecting you or are you here to see our illustrious CEO?"

  "I'm here to see both of them. And, no, they're not expecting me."

  "I'll let their secretaries know you're here."

  "Don't bother. I'll announce myself."

  "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

  "Didn't ask you." His bluster was back. He started toward a closed door. "Come along, Shelly. You can wait in the lounge while I take care of business. The coffee's decent, or it used to be."

  Shelly took a quick look around the reception area. The furnishings were in subdued earthy tones and rich woods and fabrics that embodied the family's ranching heritage.

  Jeremiah looked straight ahead, his pace slow but steady. He didn't stop until they'd almost reached the end of the long hallway. "This is Langston's office," he said, stopping in front of a closed door. And that's my office." He nodded toward an open door just past them marked CEO, Lenora Collingsworth. "At least it was my office before this." He shook his cane as if it were the cause instead of the effect of his problem.

  "It's nice you had Lenora to step in for you."

  "It probably saved a lot of jockeying for power among my grandsons."

  "But Bart and Matt don't seem that interested in the oil business."

  "The CEO has final say at Collingsworth Enterprises. That's the oil company and the ranch. And while the boys are one for all when it comes to trouble, they don't like taking orders from each other."

  "So Lenora basically took over to keep peace in the family."

  "You could say that."

  "I guess you must have given her a lot of help and advice."

  "Nope. I wasn't doing a lot of helping with anything those first few months after the stroke. Luckily, my daughter-in-law didn't need much assistance. She just stepped in and took over. Made a lot of changes that probably needed to be made, though she tends to go overboard with handing out benefits."

  "What kind of changes?" Shelly tried to sound only casually interested in the operations of the business.

  "Better health benefits, more lenient family leave program. She's even got a fully-staffed nursery on the seventeenth floor so that new mothers can be close to their babies after they return to work."

  "She's an amazing woman."

  "Won't argue that, but they've got things in a hell of a mess without me."

  "You mean because of the CIA investigation?"

  He narrowed his eyes. "How'd you know about that?"

  "You told me."

  "Right. 'Course I did. I know that."

  A slightly overweight middle-age woman with graying
hair stepped out of Langston's office. Her pale gray suit was accented with a bright teal scarf that lit up her eyes. Her two-inch pumps looked expensive, but sensible. Her smile looked strained.

  "It is you," she said, walking toward them. "I heard you were here and I had to see it for myself." She slipped an arm around Jeremiah's waist as if they were old friends. "You look terrific."

  "Still a charming liar, I see." He turned to Shelly. "This is Langston's executive secretary, Lynette Hastings. And this is Shelly Lane." He stepped around them as they exchanged handshakes and moved toward the door she'd just exited. "Is Langston around?"

  "He is, but he's about to start a very important meeting and I doubt he'll be free for a couple of hours."

  "Did he tell you to say that?"

  She was saved from answering by the arrival of Lenora. In lieu of a greeting, Jeremiah pointed his cane at her accusingly. "Why didn't you tell me there was a family meeting this morning?"

  "I didn't want you to worry. How did you find out about it?"

  "I was looking for Matt. Jim Bob said he and Bart had both gone into Houston for some kind of emergency meeting. I can still add two and two and come up with four."

  The newly discovered possibility that Matt might appear at any moment upped Shelly's pulse, but only until the gravity of situation hit home again. Anxiety had pulled Lenora's usual smile into taut lines and painted dark circles under her eyes.

  Lenora laid a hand on Jeremiah's forearm. "You're the rightful head of this family, and I should have told you about the meeting. Bart and Matt are already here. We should join them."

  "Langston said Jeremiah should—"

  Lenora put up her hand to interrupt Lynette. "It's okay. I'll handle Langston. Jeremiah's in this as deeply as the rest of us."

  Shelly tried not to read too much into that last comment.

  "You can wait in my office, Shelly," Lenora said, finally including her in the conversation. "It's more comfortable than the lounge. Martha can get you coffee and if you want something to eat, she can order it from the first-floor deli. Oh, and there are several daily newspapers on the bookcase behind my desk. Feel free to peruse them."

  "Thanks."

  That was Lenora. Hospitable, even when her heart was in anguish. Which would make them hate Shelly all the more when they found out she was an integral part of the team out to prove them guilty and end life as they knew it.