Cowboy Above the Law

by Delores Fossen

  He handed his phone to Thea. “I recorded a call that Bobby Joe supposedly just made. I need the voice analyzed on it. Also the voice on the message left for Mitch.”

  Thea nodded. “I’ve already started working on tracing that call to Mitch. It came from a burner, so no luck.”

  That was too bad. A burner was a prepaid cell phone that couldn’t be traced.

  “But I did find something strange,” Thea added a moment later. “Using that same burner, someone called Mitch three times before leaving that message. It appears Mitch answered the other three calls, but Bobby Joe or whoever it was didn’t talk to him. Or if he did, they were very short conversations. It appears the only time the caller actually communicated was through the message he left on the fourth call that Mitch didn’t answer.”

  Yeah, that was strange, and it was right in line with Court’s theory about Bobby Joe’s conversation being spliced together. Maybe someone had taken old recordings and used them.

  But again. Court didn’t know why.

  “I’m done with his phone,” Thea added. “I’ve gotten everything I can from it—including copying the message from Bobby Joe. Now I’m just waiting on the phone company to email a complete record of all the calls and texts he’s made in the past couple of months.”

  It might take a while to get that, especially since Mitch wasn’t being charged with a serious crime.

  “I can give Mitch back his phone when I talk to him,” Court said, taking it from her.

  Thea nodded again. “It can’t wait until Ian is done taking his statement?” she asked. Her concern wasn’t because she had doubts about his interrogation skills. It was because Mitch was a hothead who could set off Court’s own temper.

  “No. I’m not going to interview him right now. I just want to ask him about that message.”

  Thea still looked a little skeptical. So did Rayna, and she followed him to the interview room. Ian was typing something on a laptop. It was no doubt Mitch’s statement.

  Mitch immediately got to his feet when Court opened the door. “Did they find Bobby Joe?”

  Court shook his head and quietly apologized to Ian for interrupting the interview.

  “You’re sure your brother is actually alive?” Court asked Mitch. He put the man’s phone on the table next to him.

  The surprise went through Mitch’s eyes. “Of course he is. You heard the message.”

  “I heard what could have been something recorded years ago. Something that was put together to make you believe it was actually from Bobby Joe.”

  “It was from him,” Mitch practically shouted. But then he stopped and slid glances at both of them. “Is this some kind of trick?”

  “You tell me,” Court argued.

  “If you’re accusing me of...whatever the hell this is, then I want a lawyer.” Mitch’s voice got even louder, and his hands went to his hips. “And I want bail. You can’t lock me up for trespassing.”

  Well, he could put him in jail, but Court couldn’t hold him for long, since right now the only charge he could make against Mitch was a misdemeanor. But maybe there was another way of going about this.

  “Can you think of a reason why someone would want you to fake that message?” Court asked.

  “No! My brother wanted to meet me. He wanted to show me the gun that Rayna has hidden somewhere.”

  Not likely. There’d been plenty of searches of Rayna’s place that should have already revealed a gun if there was one. Of course, Bobby Joe could have hidden it as he’d maybe done when he’d put the key in the birdhouse.

  And that led Court to an idea.

  Bobby Joe might not try to see Mitch as long as he was here, but if he was indeed alive, he might contact Mitch as soon as no cops were around.

  “You’ll be able to leave as soon as you’re done with the interview,” Court told Mitch.

  Ian made eye contact with Court and seemed to know what Court was thinking. “We’re done. Well, unless you’re going to press charges against him for trespassing,” Ian said to Rayna.

  She glanced at all of them. Paused. Then shook her head. “No charges unless we prove Mitch actually broke down the door.”

  “I didn’t,” Mitch insisted.

  Maybe he was telling the truth, but it didn’t matter. “Just stop by Thea’s desk,” Court told Mitch. “She’ll print out a copy of what Ian just typed up so you can read through it and sign it. Will you need a ride?”

  “Thanks, but no, thanks. I left my truck on a trail near Rayna’s, but I’ll find a way to get home.” Mitch grabbed his phone and hurried out of the room.

  “I know it’s a risk, letting him walk,” Court said to Rayna.

  “But it might help us catch Bobby Joe,” she finished for him. “If he’s really alive, that is.”

  Yes, that was the million-dollar question, but Mitch might be able to give them the answer to that.

  “You want me to follow him?” Ian asked the moment that Mitch was out of earshot.

  Court nodded. “But I don’t want you to go alone. And we don’t have another available deputy.” He didn’t like this much, but it was a temporary solution until he could get some Rangers in place to pick up the tail on Mitch. “Rayna and I will go with you.”

  Ian didn’t look so certain about that. Neither was Court, but he had no intentions of leaving her at the sheriff’s office, where Thea already had her hands full.

  “It’ll be okay,” he told Rayna. Without thinking, he brushed a kiss on her cheek.

  He immediately cursed himself for doing that. Yeah, that other kiss had definitely broken down some barriers that should have stayed in place. At least until this investigation was over.

  Court texted Thea to let her know what was going on, and Ian, Rayna and he went out the back to one of the two unmarked cars they kept there. It was reinforced just like a cruiser, but maybe Mitch wouldn’t recognize it was a cop car. Ian got behind the wheel, and after Court got in the back seat with Rayna, Ian pulled to the side of the building so they’d be able to see when Mitch left.

  Court was so caught up in keeping watch that it gave him a jolt when the sound of his phone ringing shot through the car. Not Unknown Caller this time. It was Rachel.

  “How’s Mom?” he asked the moment he answered.

  “Not great. They’re transferring her to the hospital in San Antonio.” Rachel was crying. No doubt about that. Court could hear her sobs. “They’ll commit her there until she can have some evals done.”

  “You need me there?” Though he wasn’t sure how he would manage it. Still, he would if necessary.

  “No need. We won’t be here much longer, and Mom won’t be allowed visitors for a while at the other hospital.”

  That meant Court wouldn’t be able to question his mother anytime soon about what he’d seen on the surveillance footage. However, there might be a way around that. “By any chance did Mom bring her purse to the hospital?”

  He could tell from Rachel’s slight huff that the question had surprised her. “No. It’s at the house. Why?”

  Court hoped he didn’t alarm Rachel unnecessarily with this, but it was something they had to know. “I believe she might have gotten a business card or something from the murdered PI, Jennifer Reeves. That was a couple of days ago. I know it’s a long shot, but I need to see if she still has it.”

  Rachel’s slight gasp let him know that he’d alarmed her after all. “I’ll be going back to the ranch when Mom is transferred. I want to get some things and go to the hospital in San Antonio. I can check her purse as soon as I’m back at the house.”

  “Thanks. But I don’t want you driving alone.”

  “Egan’s already told me that. He’ll take me back, and then we’ll drive to San Antonio together. He’s arranging to have some local cops guard me.”

  Good. He thanked her again and ended
the call when he saw Mitch finally come out of the building. The man didn’t even look their way. He immediately took out his phone, made a call and started walking on the sidewalk away from them. Ian eased out of the parking lot so they could follow him.

  Mitch had made it only about a block when Court’s phone rang again. For a moment he thought it was Mitch calling him, but it was Whitney’s name on the screen. Court pressed the answer button, ready to blast her for not coming directly to the sheriff’s office as he’d ordered her to do. However, Whitney spoke before Court could say anything.

  “Oh, God. You’ve got to help me!” Whitney blurted out. “Oh, God. There’s a fire.”

  And then Court heard something on the other end of the line that he definitely didn’t want to hear.

  The sound of a gunshot.

  * * *

  RAYNA HAD NO trouble hearing the sound. Or Whitney’s bone-chilling scream that quickly followed the blast from what had to be a gunshot.

  “Whitney?” Court yelled into the phone. “Where are you? What’s going on?”

  “You have to help me,” Whitney begged. “I’m just up the street by the hardware store.”

  That was the direction Mitch was walking. The direction that Ian went as well, and both Court and he drew their guns.

  The hardware store was about two blocks away, but the moment Ian pulled out of the parking lot, Rayna saw the smoke. It was thick and black, billowing in the air, and the wind was blowing it right toward them.

  Mitch obviously noticed it, too, because he turned and started running back to the sheriff’s office. Maybe he would stay there instead of trying to get to Bobby Joe. That way, someone could still follow him after they took care of this situation.

  “I’m calling the fire department,” Ian said, and he did that while he continued to drive closer to the smoke. It wouldn’t take the fire department long to get there at all. Well, it wouldn’t take long if there wasn’t any other gunfire.

  “Get down on the seat,” Court told her, and he handed her his phone. “Try to find out exactly where Whitney is and who fired that shot.”

  Rayna did get down, and she tried to level her voice. Whitney had sounded terrified, and it wouldn’t do the woman any good if she heard the panic in Rayna’s tone, too.

  “Where are you?” Rayna asked.

  Whitney started coughing, which meant she was probably very close to the smoke. Maybe in the middle of it. “I think I saw Bobby Joe.”

  So, not just a message or phone call this time but a possible sighting. Of course, Hallie had posed as Rayna, so someone could be doing the same when it came to Bobby Joe. “Where did you see him?”

  “In the alley by the hardware store.” Whitney coughed some more. “I’m not sure he saw me, so I went running after him. I saw a car parked back there, but that’s when the fire started. The flames just popped up right in front of me, and I couldn’t get to him.”

  Which meant someone had almost certainly set it. Before Rayna could ask her who’d fired the shot, there was another one. Then another. They sounded much too close, which was probably why Ian pulled off the street and into a parking place outside the bookstore.

  “Everyone, take cover now!” Court shouted when he lowered his window.

  Rayna could hear people running and shouting. She prayed that none of them would be hurt.

  “Where are you?” Whitney said on another of those sobs. “I need to find you. And we need to find Bobby Joe so he can clear your name once and for all.”

  “No. You need to go inside the nearest building and stay put,” Rayna assured her. “You could be shot.”

  Whitney said something that she didn’t catch, and the line went dead. Rayna didn’t try to call her back because she didn’t want the sound of a ringing phone to cause a gunman to home in on Whitney. Maybe she had done as Rayna told her and had taken cover.

  Behind them, she heard the wail of the sirens from the fire engine. But she also heard a fourth shot. It was even closer than the others had been.

  The fifth one slammed into the front windshield.

  Both deputies cursed, and Court pushed her even farther down on the seat. “You see the shooter?” Ian asked.

  “No.” But Court was glancing all around them. “Tell the fire department not to approach. It’s too dangerous.”

  Another shot cracked through the air, and this one hit just a few inches from the previous one. The glass held, but it was cracked enough that other bullets might be able to get through.

  “Get us out of here,” Court told Ian.

  The deputy did. The moment he finished with radioing the fire department, Ian threw the car into Reverse and hit the gas. He didn’t get far though, probably because of other vehicles.

  “Hold on,” Ian told them.

  His warning came only a few seconds before he made a sharp turn, causing Court and Rayna to slam against each other. She lifted her head enough to see that Ian had turned around in the middle of the street and was now heading back in the direction of the sheriff’s office.

  The shooter fired a flurry of shots at the car, all slamming into the back windshield.

  “I see the guy,” Court said.

  She followed his gaze to the left side of the street. The same side as the fire. But she was too far down on the seat to see what had captured his attention.

  “It’s a man wearing a mask,” Court added.

  It was probably the same person who’d shot at them at the hospital. But had he also been the one to set the fire? And if so, why? Maybe he thought it would conceal him, and if so, it’d worked. The guy had managed to get off at least ten shots before Court had spotted him.

  “You want me to go back?” Ian asked.

  She saw the quick debate in Court’s eyes. He wanted to catch this guy and would have almost certainly gone after him if she hadn’t been in the car. “No. Let’s take Rayna to the sheriff’s office. We’ll regroup and go after him.”

  Which meant Court was going to put himself in the line of fire. Of course, that was his job, but it sickened her to think that he could be hurt or worse because some goon was after her.

  Ian screeched to a stop in front of the sheriff’s office, but none of them got out. They sat there, no doubt waiting to see if the shooter would continue. If he did, it wasn’t safe for them to run inside. Even though they would be out in the open only a couple of seconds, that would be enough time for them to be gunned down.

  Rayna lifted her head again. Thea was in the doorway of the sheriff’s office, and she had her gun drawn. There was no sign of Mitch, but Court’s phone rang again, and she saw Whitney’s name on the screen. Rayna answered it as fast as she could.

  “Please tell me you took cover,” Rayna told her.

  “I couldn’t. For your sake, I had to find Bobby Joe.”

  Rayna groaned. “No, you don’t. There’s a gunman out there.”

  “Yes. I saw him. Are you sure it was a man? I thought maybe it was a woman wearing a ski mask.”

  That gave Rayna a jolt of adrenaline. It wouldn’t be Court’s mom, since she was on her way to a hospital in San Antonio, but it could be Alma. Still, that seemed like a stretch. If Alma wanted them dead, she could have just hired someone. That included a female assassin.

  Whitney gasped, the sound coming through loud and clear. “Rayna, tell Court he needs to get here. He needs to see this.”

  That didn’t help with the adrenaline, either. “See what?” Rayna pressed.

  “Oh, God. There’s a body in that fire.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Court didn’t like anything about this, but there wasn’t much else he could do but stand and watch as the fire department finished up with what was now a crime scene.

  One with a body.

  Once they were done, the medical examiner and CSIs could get in the alle
y and maybe figure out what had gone on here. He could question not only the fire chief, Delbert Monroe, but also help track down possible witnesses. Until that happened, Court could only speculate. And worry about Rayna.

  He’d left her at the sheriff’s office with Thea and Ian, and Egan was on the way now that he’d put the ranch on lockdown. Three lawmen would hopefully be enough to keep her safe, but she was in the building with not only Bo but Whitney, as well. At least Bo was still locked up, but he couldn’t do the same to Whitney because there were no charges against her. Still, that didn’t mean Court trusted her.

  Ditto for Mitch.

  But Court hadn’t heard a peep from the man since he’d left shortly before the fire. He wasn’t answering his phone, and no one had seen him. That meant Mitch could have been the person who’d worn a ski mask and shot at them. He would have had time to duck into the alley and do that.

  Whitney had said though that she thought the shooter was a woman. So far, no other witness had managed to corroborate that, but it didn’t mean she was mistaken or lying. That was because their other suspect—Alma—wasn’t answering her phone, either.

  No, there wasn’t any part of this he liked.

  Plus, there was the whole problem of an unidentified shooter. There hadn’t been any shots fired in over an hour, so that probably meant the gunman was long gone. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t be back though.

  Court took out his phone to call and check on Rayna, but he finally saw Delbert making his way toward him. He was sporting a weary expression, along with soot and ashes on his clothes.

  “Our DB is male,” Delbert said right off the bat. “We didn’t touch the body, of course, but it’s badly burned. Too burned to make a visual ID.”

  That didn’t surprise Court because the vehicle that had contained the body was a charred mess. “I smell gasoline,” Court pointed out.

  Delbert nodded. “An accelerant was used. I suspect it was poured over the car and then lit. Most of his clothes burned off, but there’s some tissue remaining. Plus, his teeth are in good shape. We can compare them to dental records.”