Quito’s arms tightened around her. “You mean you’re not leaving soon?”
His question ripped at her heart and she had to swallow again before she could answer. “No. I don’t want to leave anytime soon.”
He released a heavy breath. “What about the trip you were planning to the Mexican mountains?”
“A definite date hasn’t been set for the trip yet. And even when it is set, they don’t necessarily need for me to be there in person. My funding is mostly what they need.”
Easing back from her, he trailed his fingers down the side of her face. “I don’t think I have to tell you what it means to me to have you back. All these years I knew that I would see you again. I just didn’t know when or where.”
Tilting her head back, she stared up at him in wonder. “How could you know that, Quito? So much time has passed. Eleven years. I wasn’t even sure you would still be here.”
A quizzical frown wrinkled his features. “This is my land, my home. The people of San Juan County depend on me to keep them safe. I would never leave this place.”
Even for me, she thought. But she kept the words to herself. She didn’t want them to start arguing again. She didn’t want to ask him why he hadn’t come to Houston all those years ago and demand that she return to New Mexico with him. For weeks and months after she’d moved back with her parents, she’d watched for him, prayed for him. She’d wanted him to come after her, to change her mind. But he was a man with great pride. And, after all, she’d told him not to follow her. She should have known he would respect her parting words.
“I’m very glad you were here,” she whispered.
He bent his head and kissed her lips. “It’s getting late. I’d better get to work. Or they’ll think I’ve been bushwhacked.”
She frowned as she stepped out of his embrace. “Quito! That isn’t anything to joke about!” she scolded.
His face grim, he reached for his hat which was hanging on a peg by the door. “Who says I’m joking?”
After Quito dropped Clementine off at the Jones house, he hurried on to the sheriff’s department and found his troop of deputies, along with his under sheriff, already gathered for the morning briefing.
“I thought we were going to have to send the cavalry out looking for you,” Jess said under his breath as Quito took a seat beside him at the front of the room.
“Just running a little late,” Quito muttered back.
From the corner of his eye, Jess cast him a sly glance. “I won’t ask the reason for your tardiness.”
“Thanks. I wouldn’t have told you anyway,” he said wryly, then his expression turned serious. “Has anything come back on the envelope?”
“I’m expecting to get the preliminary findings later this morning. I’ve ordered Redwing to keep calling until he gets an answer.”
“Good,” he said, then rising to his feet, he called the deputies to order and began the day’s agenda.
Lunchtime was growing near when Jess knocked on the door of Quito’s office.
He motioned for the under sheriff to enter.
“You have news?” he questioned before Jess had a chance to speak.
Jess nodded and sank onto the wooden chair sitting at an angle to Quito’s desk. “Finally. They tell us the DNA belongs to a male.”
“That’s not much news. I hadn’t expected a woman to be firing at me point-blank,” Quito muttered.
Jess tried not to smile, but he did anyway. “I don’t know about that. I’m pretty sure you’ve angered a few around town when you wouldn’t go out with them.”
“Hell,” Quito cursed. “You make it sound like women come after me. I can’t remember when that’s ever happened.”
Jess looked at the ceiling and whistled. “Oh, I’d say about three, four days ago.”
Quito thought he was long past the age of blushing. But he could feel red heat crawling up his neck. “Clementine is different,” he said gruffly.
“I’ll say.”
Quito shot him a steely glare.
Jess cleared his throat and crossed his ankles. “Uh, well, back to the test. So far forensics hasn’t found a match in the data bank. But they plan to run it through again after the in-depth testing is completed.”
“Hmmp,” Quito grunted. “I don’t expect they’ll match it.”
Jess looked at him curiously. “Why do you say that?”
Quito shrugged. “Not any certain reason. Just a hunch I have. Maybe it’s just my Indian blood talking to me. I don’t know. But I don’t figure this man has a criminal record. He’s probably been careful about getting caught. And I still have the feeling he was hired.”
Jess grimaced. “Yeah. I kinda have that feeling, too. Sorta makes it even scarier somehow. To think two people plotted your death.”
Quito let out a rough sigh. “There could be worse things.”
Jess looked at him as though he’d just discovered his boss was crazy. Well, he was a little crazy, Quito thought. Thanks to Clementine for that malady. Even the fact that someone was trying to kill him came as a second thought to the Texas heiress.
Last night as they’d made love, he’d felt her giving body and heard her words of love. But this morning, he’d sensed a barrier between them. And when she’d talked about the Jones House he’d known that she wasn’t expecting to stay around forever. If that had been her plans, she would have thrown her arms around him and promised to never, ever leave him. She hadn’t done that. Instead she’d been evasive and he couldn’t understand any of the mixed signals she’d been giving him.
He’d been a fool for ever making love to her again, he thought grimly. But he hadn’t been able to help himself. And it was true that a wise man would never know the giddy pleasures of love. If he’d had any wisdom at all, he would have told her to tend to her business and get back to Houston where she belonged. But he loved her. Loved her! After eleven years, it was pretty obvious he wasn’t going to be able to change that fact.
“I can’t imagine what could be worse,” Jess said, breaking into Quito’s deep thoughts.
Quito leveled a stern gaze on his under sheriff. “Think about it, Jess. You’ll come up with a lot worse things than someone trying to take your life.”
His face puckered into a thoughtful frown, Jess was about to speak again, when the intercom on Quito’s desk crackled.
“Sir, Neil Rankin is here. Can you see him now?” his secretary asked.
There were a million things he needed to be doing. One in particular was meeting with the city’s mayor about an upcoming festival. A parade had been scheduled and Quito was going to have to deal with a lot of extra security problems. There was also a case his detectives were presently working on that involved a series of serious robberies. He believed the crimes had crossed over into Texas and, if so, he was going to have to call in the FBI, or at the very least the Texas Rangers. And that was something he didn’t want to have to do. His men worked diligently for him. He didn’t want them to get the idea that they were somehow failing to get the job done.
“Yeah. Send him in,” he told her, then turned his attention back to Jess. “Thanks for the report, Jess. I guess it’s just a waiting game now. Is anyone still working on the tag number?”
Rising from his chair, Jess said, “I gave that job to Olin. Since he only has two numbers to work with, it’s going slowly.”
Quito nodded. “Okay. What about the south county robberies? Is Redwing getting anywhere with that?”
Jess nodded. “He’s headed down to Dalhart this afternoon. He thinks some of the horses might have ended up there.”
“Good. Tell him to take another man if he needs him,” Quito said.
As Jess nodded, Neil knocked on the door and sauntered in before Quito could answer.
After greeting the lawyer, Jess said, “You two go ahead. I’ve got work to do.”
“So do I,” Quito muttered for Neil’s benefit. “But this guy doesn’t seem to realize it. What are you doing here? This i
s twice you’ve visited my office in the past few days. Do I look like I’m sick and need to be checked on or something?”
Neil chuckled and taking hold of the chair Jess had been using, he turned the straight-back toward Quito’s desk, then straddled the seat. “Well, actually you do look a bit peaked this morning. What’s wrong? No sleep?”
Quito refused to look at him. “I don’t have time to discuss my sleeping habits with you this morning, old friend.”
“Boy, you sound out of sorts this morning. What’s wrong?”
Everything was wrong, Quito thought. He was repeating the same old mistake he’d made with Clementine eleven years ago. He was going to have to go through that same ripping pain of losing her again. He could feel the devastation coming and he didn’t know any way to stop it.
“What you need is some lunch at the Wagon Wheel. Come on,” he invited as he jumped to his feet. “I’m buying.”
After the heavy breakfast Quito had shared with Clementine, he wasn’t feeling any sort of hunger pains. But Neil was one of his best friends and he didn’t want to offend him.
“All right. I guess I could eat a burger or something.”
Quito grabbed his hat and the two men quickly left the building. As they walked down the sidewalk toward the old diner, Quito asked, “Neil, when Clem talked to you about the Jones House, did she say she was going to sell it, or what?”
Neil shrugged a shoulder. “Said she hadn’t made up her mind. But the day we discussed the place was the first day she’d gotten back here,” he reasoned. “I imagine she’s been thinking things through since then. And I have a feeling that Ms. Jones will be sticking around for good this time.”
Quito grimaced. “I doubt it.”
Neil jerked his head toward his friend. “Why do you say that? I’ll bet she hasn’t said that to you.”
“Not in so many words. But I can feel it. Hell,” he added crossly. “I don’t want to talk about Clem. I don’t know why I brought her up anyway.”
“Hmm. Sorry, old man. Have you seen her lately?”
Quito nearly sputtered at his question. “Uh, yes. And no, we didn’t have an argument or anything like that. Forget it,” he said with a shake of his head. “Let’s go eat.”
By now the two men had reached the front of the Wagon Wheel. Before Neil reached to open the plate-glass door, he patted Quito’s shoulder. “Women are not to be taken seriously, Quito. You follow my motto and you’ll not be going around feeling like you’ve been dropped into hell.”
Quito growled at him. “You have a horrible track record with women. Why should I take advice from you?”
Neil laughed. “Because I’m your best buddy in the world.”
The power utility truck was lumbering back down the mountain as Clementine walked into the house. The first thing she was going to do now that she had electricity was to turn on the air conditioner. Thankfully, each year, her father had hired a maintenance man to make sure the plumbing and the heating and cooling system of the house were in working order.
She was setting the thermostat when her cell phone rang.
Since Quito, Oscar and her parents were the only people who had the number, she figured it had to be Oscar. She couldn’t see her parents calling from Italy or Greece, or whichever place they were hopscotching to.
“Hello?”
“Clem, it’s Oscar. Hope I’m not disturbing you.”
She sat down on the end of the couch, a red floral chintz that would hopefully look beautiful again once she ran a vacuum cleaner over it.
“Not at all. What’s up?”
He didn’t respond immediately and Clementine could feel a cloud of dread creeping over her as she waited for him to answer.
“Oscar? Has Niles shown up at your office again?”
“No. No. It’s not that. Sorry I’m hesitating. I was just trying to find the right words to tell you about this. But I guess there’s not any right words.”
She gripped the phone. “Okay. Just tell me.”
“Don’t get alarmed, Clementine, but someone broke into your house last night.”
“What?” She didn’t realize she’d whispered the word until Oscar asked her to repeat what she’d just spoken.
“Oscar, did you say someone broke into my house?”
“Sorry, Clem. But that’s it. The police called me after a neighbor reported seeing the lights on. Apparently your neighbor must have known you were gone.”
Her mind was suddenly whirling with questions. “That must have been Geneva. She keeps a watch on things for me when I’m out of town. But why did she have to call the police?” Clementine demanded. “Why didn’t the alarm system go off?”
“Someone disabled it.”
Clementine cursed under her breath. “Damn it, Oscar, I spent a fortune on that security system. If it isn’t going to work—” She suddenly stopped as more questions invaded her mind. “Okay, lay it on me. What was stolen? The television? Everything electronic? Or did they manage to break into the safe where I store my jewelry?”
“No. And no. So far as I can tell, nothing was taken.”
Clementine was so surprised, she unconsciously rose to her feet and began pacing around the room.
“Okay, Oscar, just back up and begin again. Someone broke into my house, but nothing appears to be taken? That’s crazy! Did the alarm eventually go off and scare them away?”
“No. As I told you before, the alarm was totally disabled. Whoever did it, wasn’t dumb.”
She shivered at the very thought of someone in her house, going through her private things. “What do the police think?”
Oscar sighed. “They dusted for prints, but they don’t expect to find any. Some of your things—your intimate wear was scattered around the bedroom. And some of your costume jewelry was spilled onto the dresser. The police suspect it might be the acts of a group of randy teenage boys. But I told them I had other ideas.”
Frowning, Clementine paused in her pacing.
“I think Niles is the culprit,” Oscar continued. “That’s what worries me about the whole thing.”
Clementine suddenly felt ice cold even though the air conditioner hadn’t had nearly enough time to cool the huge house.
“Oh, God, Oscar. Please, please don’t tell me—that bastard was in my house, going through my things. I can’t stand it!”
“I’m sorry, Clem. You asked.”
Wiping a shaky hand across her face, she said, “Tell me, Oscar, exactly what in my house was disturbed?”
“It would be hard to say, Clem. Whoever did the deed could have put some things back. Like I said, your underclothes were strewn everywhere. As though the person was obsessed with your body or fantasized about making love to you. God, this is embarrassing just even talking about it,” he muttered. “You’re just like my own daughter. And I’d like to choke whoever did this.”
“Don’t worry about embarrassing me, Oscar. We’re old friends. You know that you can say anything to me.”
“Well, actually, that’s about all there is to tell.”
“Do I need to fly down there? Do the police need to see me?”
“No. No,” he quickly assured her. “Coming back to Houston is the last thing you need to do. I’ve assured the police that I’m your lawyer and director of your family affairs. They can get any information they need from me.”
Clementine felt ill. Although, she didn’t know why. Every day people had their homes broken into, their personal things destroyed or stolen. This incident with her house was no worse. And for God’s sake, it wouldn’t have been Niles, she mentally argued. There wasn’t any point in him breaking in when he knew she wasn’t at home.
“Clem?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re not speaking. What are you thinking?” Oscar asked worriedly.
“Nothing. I mean, I was just thinking it couldn’t be Niles, Oscar. He has no reason to break in. I’m not there for him to harass, to curse at, or slap around.”
&nbs
p; “Yes, but he doesn’t know where you are. He probably thought he could find something, some clue inside your house that would lead him to you.”
“I’m always careful not to leave a trail of information behind me.” Her legs were beginning to feel so spongy that she was forced to return to her seat on the couch. “Uh, Oscar, are you sure the safe wasn’t opened?”
“It was locked. I opened it to make sure none of your jewels were missing. Nothing looked amiss.”
She released a ragged breath. “I’d placed a silk-covered box in there. Did you see it?”
“Yes. But I didn’t open it. Why?”
She swallowed as she thought of the three items she’d cherished for all these years. A love letter from Quito. A small lock of his black hair. And the first badge he’d ever worn as sheriff. Even after she’d married Niles, she had not been able to toss those things away. It would have been like throwing a part of herself away. So she’d hid them within some other family items, knowing that Niles would never go through them. Family history had been one of the least important matters to him. But now, if Niles had found the letter with Quito’s name on it… She shuddered as her thoughts trailed away and refused to picture the worst.
“I had some sentimental pieces inside that box. Things that I would never want Niles to see.”
“I don’t think the safe was bothered. But I can’t be sure. The police did dust it for prints, but they’re not expecting to find any. Gloves easily take care of those. I just think you ought to start watching over your shoulder,” Oscar warned.
Niles had already tried beating her to make her come back to him. She supposed in his sick mind the next step would be killing her to prevent another man from having her, something he’d often threatened to do. But there could be worse things than that, she thought. He could turn his sadistic evilness on Quito. And if that should ever happen, she’d never be able to forgive herself.
Chapter Nine
Later that day, long after Oscar’s ominous call, Clementine gathered herself together and drove into Aztec. She needed linens for the bed and the bathrooms, groceries to stock the kitchen, plus cooking utensils. Thankfully her mother had left behind a perfectly good set of dishes and silverware, so she needn’t bother with those.
From Here to Texas Page 11