Death Vetoes The Chairman (Lizzie Crenshaw Mysteries Book 7)

by Teresa Watson

  Hopkins looked at Owen, then T.J., and finally at me. “What do you want me to do?”

  An hour and a half later, we were sitting at the table in the conference room, joined by Brice Dillard. “So you’re the infamous T.J. Roosevelt,” Dillard said as he shook T.J.’s hand. “Hopkins and the other guys at the office have told me a lot about you.”

  “Most of it is probably lies,” T.J. said.

  Dillard laughed. “I don’t believe that for a minute, although I was surprised when they told me you retired from the FBI because of a woman. She must be one heck of a woman.”

  “She is,” T.J. said, looking at me.

  “Oh, she’s the one?” he said, leering at me. “Well, I see why you left.”

  The way he looked at me made my skin crawl, and I resisted the urge to run from the room. “I understand you transferred here from Virginia, Mr. Dillard. What made you give up such beautiful country to come here?”

  “Change of scenery,” he replied. “I’ve heard that things are a bit more exciting in the Dallas area.”

  “The reason we asked you to come here, Brice,” Hopkins began, “is because of the problem we had at the safe house last night, as well as a few things that happened this morning. Ms. Crenshaw believes she knows who is responsible.”

  “Oh really?” Dillard replied, looking at me with renewed interest. “And just who is that?”

  “It could be two people,” Hopkins said. “Edward Winthrop or Barbara Stephenson.”

  “The father and the girlfriend? That’s an interesting hypothesis. The father I understand, but the girlfriend? That doesn’t make sense.”

  “Her reasons are personal,” I said.

  “I’d say Edward Winthrop’s reasons are personal, too,” Dillard said.

  “No, his reasons are professional, too,” I said. “I’m just not sure which one is more important to him.”

  “Where is Ethan right now?” Dillard asked.

  “He’s here,” Hopkins said. “We thought that this would be the safest place for him right now.”

  “You said that something else happened this morning. May I ask what?”

  “The two people that we previously mentioned are in town, asking about Ms. Crenshaw, wanting to know where she lives and works. Shortly after she learned this, someone fired some shots at her and her bodyguard.”

  “Bodyguard? Why does she need a bodyguard?”

  “Because there have been some threats to her life, and someone, we believe it was Edward, tried to kill her last week,” Owen said. “A man that was with her almost died. Under the circumstances, we felt she should have some protection until Edward, or whoever it was that caused the accident, are caught.”

  “Sounds like you’re a very dangerous woman to be around, Ms. Crenshaw,” Dillard said. “I like a dangerous woman.”

  “What we want to do,” Hopkins said before I could say something, “is make sure that both Ms. Crenshaw and Ethan are safe. If we can figure out where both suspects are, we can arrest them before someone gets killed.”

  “We need to draw them out,” he said, leaning back in his chair.

  “That’s what we were thinking,” T.J. replied. “We’re just not sure how.”

  “Well, they want to get a hold of Ms. Crenshaw, correct? So why don’t we give her to them?”

  “Are you nuts?” Hopkins said. “Our job is to protect ordinary citizens, not put them in danger.”

  “We won’t be putting her in that much danger, plus she’s already got a bodyguard and a deputy sheriff for a boyfriend,” he pointed out. “We can also put enough agents in the area to make sure we grab them before they get to her.”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but Hopkins cut me off again. “You have a point, Brice. Where would you suggest we set up the sting: her office or her home?”

  “Where does she work?”

  “She’s the majority owner of the newspaper,” T.J. replied.

  “A rich and dangerous woman,” Dillard said. “I’m liking you more and more, Ms. Crenshaw.”

  “I can’t say the feeling is mutual, Mr. Dillard,” I snapped.

  “Feisty, too.”

  I made a fist, but T.J. put his hand over mine. “Dillard, she’s willing to help us. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to stop treating her like she’s a piece of meat hanging in the butcher shop?”

  “Feeling a bit possessive, Roosevelt?” he laughed. “Or a bit threatened by a man who appreciates a good woman?”

  This time, it was T.J. who rubbing his knuckles as Dillard picked himself up off the floor. “I don’t feel threatened by you, and I don’t think of Lizzie as a possession. She’s one of my best friends, someone I can talk to about anything, someone who has a big heart and is willing to forgive a person when they make a mistake. She’s the type of person that will go out of her way to help someone who needs help, and doesn’t ask for anything in return. She’s a strong woman who won’t ask for help, no matter how badly she needs it.”

  “Frankly, Dillard,” Owen said, “if this is the type of attitude you’re going to have, I’d rather not include you in this operation. Is there someone else we can call in, Hopkins?”

  “Well, I can see if Crawford is free,” Hopkins said, “or maybe Bodine. He would be a good one to have around.”

  “Bodine would be perfect,” T.J. agreed. “He loves these kinds of stings.”

  “I know. Remember last year, when we were waiting for that guy to show up for the drug buy? Bodine was all over him as he walked in the door. Poor guy was in traction for a couple of weeks after Bodine broke his leg.”

  “Don’t forget the guy with the ruptured spleen,” T.J. said. “Bodine was suspended a month for that one.”

  “You guys are funny,” Dillard sarcastically said. “You should take your act on the road.”

  “We’re just giving you a hard time, Brice,” Hopkins said. “In all seriousness, it’s going to take a lot of cooperation to pull this off and keep our witness alive.”

  “What exactly going on?” he said. “Do you have a plan?”

  Hopkins looked at T.J. and Owen. “We believe that someone has leaked Ethan’s location to certain people who would like to see him dead,” T.J. replied. “We don’t know that for sure, but after what happened last night, we have to go on the assumption that it’s true.”

  “A leak? From what agency? Us or them?” Dillard asked, glancing at Owen.

  “I resent the implication,” Owen said indignantly as he stood up.

  “Well, it certainly didn’t come from the FBI,” Dillard snapped, standing toe to toe with Owen. He pointed at me. “And what she’s doing here? Since when we allow civilians to sit on operational meetings?”

  “She has an interest in seeing this situation come to an end,” Owen said.

  “Is that so? In what way?”

  “That information is part of a different, ongoing investigation,” Hopkins replied, “and not relevant to the current situation.” Not entirely true, but that wasn’t any of Dillard’s business.

  “In that case,” Dillard said, yanking me out of my chair and pulling me toward the door, “you need to leave.”

  I jerked my arm away from him. “You don’t get to tell me what to do, Mr. Dillard. I’m staying, and the reason I’m staying is because you couldn’t do your job last night, which was to protect your witness. He ended up under lock and key at my house.”

  “Who authorized that stupid idea?”

  “Hopkins asked me, and I reluctantly agreed. If I were you, I’d be more concerned about keeping my job.”

  “All right, that’s enough!” T.J. said. “She’s here, and she’s staying here because we need her help to carry out our plan. Now, if you can’t handle that, Dillard, I’m sure that Hopkins can find you a new assignment.”

  “I think Juneau, Alaska has a new opening,” Hopkins added.

  “Whatever,” Dillard said. He sat down in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest.

  �
��What we want to do,” Hopkins began, “is use both Ethan and Ms. Crenshaw as bait. One of them obviously will be a decoy. We’ve received information that Edward Winthrop could be behind the attack at the safe house.”

  “If the intended target last night was Ethan, then why use her?”

  “Because she’s also been a target of Edward’s, and he’s been asking around town about her today,” T.J. replied. “And he’s not the only one. There’s also a couple of women possibly involved as well. Several people told us that a woman was asking about her today.”

  “We think that they believe wherever she is, Ethan will be close by,” Hopkins said.

  “Is she the new love of his life?” Dillard said. “I thought he preferred blondes.”

  “He prefers anything that breathes,” I retorted.

  “How do you know he prefers blondes?” T.J. asked suspiciously. “I thought you just got into town not long ago.”

  “I did spend time with him at the safe house. He likes to brag about his conquests.” Dillard looked me up and down. “She is definitely not his type.”

  For the second day in a row, I was rubbing my knuckles, and Owen was helping another guy up off the ground. “Would you stop doing that?” T.J. said. “You’re going to break your hand.”

  “Dillard, I think you need to go back to Dallas,” Hopkins said.

  “I’ll be fine,” he replied. “She didn’t hurt me. She hits like a girl.”

  “I know for a fact she doesn’t hit like a girl,” Owen laughed. “And you’re not fine. You’ve got blood running down the side of your mouth.”

  Dillard wiped it away with his finger. “Let’s get on with it,” he muttered. “Where is this set up going to happen?”

  “I didn’t suggest that you leave to get treatment, Brice,” Hopkins said. “You’re intentionally being antagonistic toward Ms. Crenshaw. Granted, she isn’t always the easiest person to get along with, but we need her help to do this. If I have to choose someone to work with, I’d rather it was her than you. At least I know she’ll have my back if things get rough.”

  “I see,” Dillard replied, glaring at me. “That is your prerogative, of course, as the senior agent. I will be filing a formal complaint.”

  “Feel free to,” Hopkins told him, “but given what I know about your previous field assignments, it probably won’t get you very far. I take that back. It might get you that assignment in Juneau.”

  Dillard angrily grabbed his jacket and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. “That is not a happy man,” Owen said.

  “I’m sure I’m going to get an earful from my boss when this is all over,” Hopkins sighed. “But I’m not going to worry about it right now. Okay, I’ve drawn up a plan, and this is how things are going to go tonight.”

  For the next two hours, we went over the plan, trying to account for every contingency that might happen.

  But apparently, we didn’t plan for a rat in the woodpile.

  Chapter 40

  “Hey, Ellen, let’s run that piece on the special election at the top of page one instead of the acquisition of land by that Fort Worth company,” I said. “Push it to the bottom of the same page.”

  “I agree. Do you really think Roger Tinsley is going to win?” Ellen said, writing down the changes.

  “Who knows?” I shrugged. “Better him that Gladys Norwell.”

  “Lord help us if they elect her to the city council,” she said, shaking her head. “She’ll make our lives miserable.”

  “How much worse can it get?”

  “Let’s not find out. Anything else?”

  “I don’t think so. We can make those changes in the morning. Go on home.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ve got some research to do for an article I’m thinking about writing.”

  “Sounds serious.”

  “It is. I don’t want to get into too many details right now. I’d like to check my facts first, make a few calls.”

  “You’re learning,” Ellen smiled. “When you first started here, I didn’t think you were going to be a very good journalist. Frankly, I didn’t think you were going to last the week.”

  “That’s encouraging.”

  “Sorry about that. But you always jumped every time Dale said hello. My first thought was ‘there is no way this little mouse of a girl is going to make a hard nosed reporter’.”

  “It’s not like we get a lot of big news around here, you know.”

  “Ever since you moved back home, our crime rate has gone through the roof. I’m getting calls from Dallas and Ft. Worth once a week just to find out what’s going on around here.”

  “Not the way to put Brookdale on the map,” I pointed out. “No town wants to be known as the murder capital of the county or state.”

  “That’s true.”

  Ellen pulled open the right bottom drawer of her desk, took out her purse, and closed the drawer. “Well, Dale must have seen something in you,” she said, standing up. “He always had good instincts about people.”

  “Ellen, I’ve always wanted to ask you this. You aren’t mad that Dale left me in charge, are you? I mean, you’ve been here longer, and certainly more experienced than I am…”

  “Stop right there. I never wanted to run this place. I saw what it was doing to Dale. That man should have invested money in an antacid company! He went through two bottles a day sometimes. No, thank you. I didn’t want that happening to me.”

  “I don’t like the taste of antacids.”

  She laughed. “You better get used to them, or start drinking something stronger than Dr Pepper.”

  “I hate Mountain Dew.”

  “Well, I’ve got a hot date with my favorite TV program. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I locked the door behind her, and went back to my temporary desk. After our meeting had ended this afternoon, I went back to the café to let Maddie know my “plans” for the evening, which included picking up something for dinner before going home. We figured Edward and Barbara would go back there at some point today, asking for me again. Hopkins and Ethan were in my house, waiting for Edward, Barbara or whoever to show up. Frankly, I was hoping no one would, but I knew I wouldn’t get that lucky.

  Someone knocked on the front door. For a brief moment, an image from an old movie flashed through my mind: the unsuspecting person answers a knock at the front door, and gets taken by surprise by the bad guy. Pulling out my phone, I quickly called T.J.

  “Where are you?” he said when he answered.

  “I’m still at the newspaper. Are you outside knocking on the door?”

  “No, I’m near the top of your block as a lookout.”

  “What about Owen?”

  “He in that field behind your house. Can you tell who’s out there?”

  “I haven’t gone to look yet.”

  “Don’t go to the door. See if you can find something to use as a weapon. Lock yourself in your office. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything around the desk area to use for a weapon, and I really didn’t want to lock myself in my office. That was a totally different nightmare I didn’t want to deal with right now. My only option was the back door that led into the alley. I could go down that way, and cut over to the sheriff’s station.

  Grabbing my bag, I worked my way toward the back, involuntarily flinching as I passed my closed office. I opened the door…and came face to face with the barrel of a .38. “Hello, Lizzie,” Sage Kingsley said.

  I had to admit I didn’t see this one coming. “Sage, this is an unexpected surprise. What are you doing here?”

  “Tying up a few loose ends,” she replied. “Back inside, please. I’d hate to use this out in the open.”

  We went back inside, and Sage locked the back door behind us. “Was that you at the front door?”

  “Nope.”

  “Kassandra?”

  “I’m not going to spoil the surprise. Why don’t you go find out?”
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  Sighing, I unlocked the front door to find Barbara Stephenson standing there. “About damn time,” she told Sage. “She made a phone call while I was pounding on the door, probably to that boyfriend cop of hers. We need to get out of here.”

  “And go where?” Sage replied. “Cops are crawling all over her house.”

  “Then we’ll go to Jake’s house,” Barbara said. “They won’t expect that, especially after last night.”

  “You mean it was you two that tried to kill Ethan last night?”

  “Not us personally, but we know who it was,” Barbara said. “Too bad he failed.”

  “I guess Brice Dillard didn’t follow his instructions too well,” I said.

  “Never can depend on a man to do what he’s told,” Sage said bitterly. “Moron.”

  “So what’s the plan tonight?”

  “Someone is going to call in a false alarm, which will draw the cops away from your place. Then you’re going to call that agent who is in the house with Ethan, and convince him to come over to Jake’s place. We’ll handle the rest from there,” Barbara replied.

  “And you really think they’re going to fall for all this?”

  “Small town cops, honey,” Barbara said, “can’t afford to ignore cries for help or security alarms. It makes them look bad and keeps them from being re-elected. No sheriff is going to risk losing their job. Where are your car keys?”

  “In my bag.”

  “Well, get them out. You’re driving.”

  “Why?” I said. “Can’t you drive and hold a gun at the same time?”

  Sage smacked me on the back of the head with the butt of her gun. “Don’t get smart. I don’t want to kill you yet.”

  Wasn’t that a warm, comforting thought?

  Barbara shoved me toward the front door. “Turn on the lights in that back office and leave the door cracked. We’ll lock the front door. He’ll think she’s in there, and it will buy us a couple of minutes. I’ll meet you at her car in a minute.”