The stranger, except he wasn’t a stranger to me, moved through the café in my direction. I waited, muscles tensing. If he came much closer, I’d be on my feet. There was no way I planned to be sitting when I came face-to-face with the man who stabbed me. I’d be on my feet and ready to fight. He’d soon learn just how foolish he’d been to not make sure he accomplished his mission.
In the few moments it took for him to near, I stepped back years. Instincts honed in combat returned. So did the desire to live one more day, to get home without the enemy sending me there in a body bag. I might not be the bad ass Quinn was or a cop like Lucas or Drew, but I could and would hold my own.
“Can I help you, son?” Miss Peggy asked as she stepped in front of him three tables away from where I sat.
Where in the hell had she come from?
“Out of my way. I’ve business to attend to,” he replied.
Several of those gathered, pushed back their chairs. They didn’t stand – yet – but they were ready to. At the same time, I felt Apollo’s soft growl rumbling up my leg and through me.
“Sonny, it’s obvious your mama didn’t teach you manners. Either apologize to Miss Peggy or leave.”
I looked at Mr. Pattison in surprise. The few times we’d spoken, the elderly man reminded me of a kindly grandfather. Unimposing in appearance and stature, soft spoken, it hadn’t surprised me to learn he’d been the local high school’s math teacher. Now, however, there was nothing unimposing about him. He stood ramrod straight and the bite in his voice had me instinctively wanting to brace to attention. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to learn he’d been a senior NCO before becoming a teacher.
“Get out of my way, old man.”
Anger spiked as I realized what he was about to do. I stood, gathering energy as I did. When the man reached out to push Mr. Pattison out of his way, he found himself shoved back several steps. Electricity danced around my hands as I released a quick, controlled burst of air, forcing him away from the former teacher. Then I stepped away from the table, motioning Mr. Pattison to the side.
“Well, well, well,” the newcomer mused as he looked at me.
Foolishly, he ignored Apollo. Well, that might well come back to bite him, figuratively and literally.
“Surprised to see me?” I slid my right foot back, blading my body. Smaller target but also, with the foot back, it would be easier to leap if necessary.
“Why don’t we go somewhere a bit more private?” he suggested.
“I like it just fine here. The last time we were alone, or at least close to it, you tried to kill me.”
“No, that was just a little prick.” He smirked and glanced around.
As he did, Apollo growled loudly enough to pull his attention back to us. Anger suffused his expression. More chairs scraped across the floor as diners shoved away from their tables. The sounds distracted him, angered him. I watched, my focus narrowed to him, as he looked around, searching for danger.
“Gun!” one of the deputies yelled as the man reached behind his back.
The female deputy launched herself at Miss Peggy, grabbing her and pulling her over and then behind the counter. The male deputy upended his table and pulled Mr. Pattison down behind it. Others scattered, diving for cover. That was all the distraction I needed.
“Hey!” I yelled, calling his attention back to me.
He spun, his hand coming around from his back. My fingers danced in the air in a complicate pattern. Then, as the air crackled around me, I thrust my doubled fists out before me. Lightning flew from my hands, striking him square in the chest. At the same time, a woman who looked vaguely familiar stepped up behind him. I heard the unmistakable sound of a Taser going off. The man’s eyes rolled up and he crumpled to the floor. Before the deputies could react, the woman had the man’s wrists handcuffed behind his back. Then she looked up at me, a smile on her lips.
“I see Quinn is spreading her obsession with Mals to others in town.” She nodded to Apollo standing at alert next to me. “Ciara O’Donnell.” She stepped over the man to shake hands. Then she turned to the deputies. “Transport him to jail. Tell Sheriff Moore I’ll be along in a few minutes to give my statement.”
“Understood, Ranger.” The male deputy said as he reached down and dragged the man who’d stabbed me to his feet.
“You go tell the others that you’re all right and that we got him. By then, Lucas will probably have more information for you.”
All I could do was nod as she turned and strode out of the café. If Quinn was a bad ass, and she was, this woman – her sister? – was much more. Thank goodness she was on our side.
“Close your mouth,” Miss Peggy said with a smile as she appeared at my side. “Ciara is a force unto herself. You’ll see that now you’re staying in town.”
Whether I’d accepted the fact she would always know what happened in town, often before it did, or I was too stunned after what just happened, I didn’t question how she knew I’d be staying. Obviously, the grapevine was alive and well and centered on the café. Instead, I numbly took the large bag Janny brought me. Before I could dig in my pocket for my credit card, her mother sent me on my way, saying they’d just bill the office.
I thanked her and signaled for Apollo to come with me.
Chapter 26
“Well?” I asked Annie as a deputy I didn’t know led the two of us to the observation room.
She shook her head, whether to indicate she didn’t know or she didn’t want to talk about it just yet, I didn’t know. But I took the hint. Until we were behind closed doors, she didn’t want to say anything that might be overheard. Worried, I watched as the deputy knocked on the door. A moment later, he opened it and indicated we should step inside. Once we had, he closed the door behind us.
I looked around. The room was small and nondescript. Unlike TV shows where the room was on the other side of a two-way mirror, this room sported several large TV-like monitors. Each one showed the video feed from the interrogation room where Lucas questioned the man from the café. However, for the moment, my attention focused not on the interrogation but on the other person in the room with us.
“Ciara, when did you get home?”
Annie rushed across the room – okay, she waddled. Ciara turned from the monitor and smiled in affection before pulling Annie in for a hug. Then she held Annie at arm’s length and studied her. I had doubted she missed anything as she did. After giving her another hug, she led Annie to a chair and told her to sit.
“Late last night. Quinn had just enough time to fill me in before she got called out on a case.” She turned her attention to me. “We didn’t get a chance to properly meet earlier. Ciara O’Donnell. I’m with the Texas Rangers.”
“Meg Sheridan.” I shook her hand. As our palms touched, my eyes narrowed. “Fire. No, earth elemental.”
“Quinn was right. You are good.” She smiled in approval. “And yes, I’m an earth elemental although fire is my second talent.”
“What’s going on?” Annie asked and motioned at the monitors.
“So far, he’s not saying much.” Ciara shrugged. “But we have him, especially since he didn’t deny stabbing you, Meg.”
I nodded and stepped closer to the monitor. As I did, I thought back to the encounter in the café. Now that several hours had passed and emotions no longer rode a wave from panic to fury, I could consider what happened. One thing stood out. I hadn’t caught any indication from him that he was anything but normal. Had he been able to mask his talent from me or had we been wrong about him?
“Ciara, he was reaching for a weapon when we took him down,” I began.
Annie gasped, and I cursed softly. I hadn’t exactly told her that part. Well, not all of it. I’d said Ciara had tased him and the deputies moved in. I hadn’t mentioned my part in it because I knew she’d be upset. Now she was more than upset. She was pissed at me for trying to protect her.
“Don’t,” Ciara said simply before Annie could say anything. “M
eg handled herself like a pro in there and managed to keep him from hurting anyone else. Unlike a certain person I can think of who faced off against a murderer with her gun locked in her desk.”
Now it was my turn to look at Annie in surprise. I’d heard how she wound up face-to-face with the woman responsible for Spud Buchanan’s murder. I hadn’t heard how she’d locked her gun up where she could get to it quickly. No wonder Sam had been so insistent she keep her weapon on her the other day.
“Your point?” Ciara looked at me once convinced Annie wasn’t going to interrupt.
“More like a couple of questions.” I thought for a moment, picturing the scene in my mind. “When he was searched, what weapons did he have on him?”
Ciara didn’t answer. Instead, she sent a quick text. A few moments later, her cellphone buzzed with a response. “He had a .45 and a knuckleknife, possibly the one he used on you.”
I nodded. That didn’t surprise me. It did please me. If it was the same knife, they’d be able to use it to build the case against him.
“In the café, did you once feel him gathering power to use against any of us or to try to escape?”
Her head tilted slightly to one side as she considered what I said. Then she shook her head. Once more, she pulled out her phone and sent a text. A moment later, I watched as the monitor showed Lucas glancing at his phone. His brow knitted and then he nodded.
“I’m going to ask you one last time,” he said as he sat across the table from the man who’d stabbed me. “Why did you attack Meg Sheridan?”
“Who said I did?”
The man leaned as far back as he could with his hands cuffed to the table in front of him. He no longer wore his hoodie, tee shirt and jeans. Instead, he wore an orange jumpsuit with Harkin County Jail printed across the front and back. Even as he tried to appear unconcerned about the charges against him, sweat pricked out on his upper lip. Good. Hopefully, he’d soon break and tell Lucas what he wanted to know.
“You did.” Lucas touched the screen of his cellphone and a moment later the sounds of our conversation in the café filled the air.
“Surprised to see me?” I asked.
“Why don’t we go somewhere a bit more private?” the man’s voice asked.
“I like it just fine here. The last time we were alone, or at least close to it, you tried to kill me.”
“No, that was just a little prick.”
I shivered. I’d not heard the menace in his voice before. Now it sent chills down my spine. I’d been lucky he hadn’t gotten a second chance at me. I had a feeling I wouldn’t have been as lucky if he had.
“So, let’s try this again,” Lucas said, placing his phone on the tabletop. “I’ll even start with an easy question. Name?”
“Go to hell. I want an attorney,” the man said. “Attorney.”
To my surprise, Lucas didn’t respond. He didn’t even blink. Instead, he gathered up his notepad, pen and phone. Then he stood. “Very well. I’ll make sure you have some really nice cellmates while you wait for an attorney.” The smile he gave the man chilled me. “I will warn you, it might take a while. Ms. Sheridan is well-liked by members of the Bar here in town. We might have to find someone from another county to come talk with you. But your cellmates will be sure to make you feel welcome. You see, we’re a real friendly town.”
With that, Lucas left the room. A few moments later, he entered the observation room. Grinning, he closed the door behind him. He kissed Annie on the cheek. Once he had, he slid an arm around my shoulders and gave me a quick hug. Then he stepped up to Ciara’s side and they watched the monitor, waiting to see what my attacker did.
“Damn, damn, damn and damn!”
The man tugged against his cuffs. He didn’t have a chance in hell of freeing himself of them – or of freeing them from the table. But he tried. When that didn’t work, he sat back, even so, he didn’t look defeated. We waited, closely watching for what he did next.
“Your thoughts?” Lucas asked as the man turned his attention to trying to free his ankles from the shackles securing them to a bolt in the floor.
“He’s a normal,” I said.
And that put suspicion back on my mother’s blood relatives.
“I agree,” Ciara put in. “I’ve already send word to Quinn. She should be able to put some pressure on him for using a tainted blade, federal pressure.”
“Isn’t there anything I can do?” I asked.
“No!” they all replied.
“Sorry,” Lucas said. “We need to make sure this is done by the books, Meg. He’s our only tie to whoever is behind what’s been happening.”
“He’s right, Meg.” Annie climbed to her feet and moved to my side. “What do you want us to do, Lucas?”
“We’ll keep working on this guy. I have an idea he’s going to be more willing to talk after he’s spent some time in Holding with a few friends.” Now he grinned, and I knew I never wanted to be on his bad side. “He’s trying to act tougher than he is.”
“Do you have an ID on him?”
“Not yet, but we have his prints. We’ll find out soon enough.”
“We’ll let him sit in a cell for an hour or so,” Ciara took up. “If he hasn’t recanted his request for an attorney, I’ll have him brought up to let him know what charges the Rangers will be leveling against him. Hopefully, by then Quinn will be done for the day and able to join us. She’s our big gun right now.”
“When you get a name, I want it.” Annie’s tone brooked no disagreement. “In the meantime, did you find his car and who is it registered to?”
“We have it but, for the moment at least, it’s a dead-in. The registered owner says he sold it two months ago and apparently the purchaser didn’t file the title change.”
I thought for a moment. “Lucas, maybe I’m being paranoid.” Okay, I was being paranoid, but I doubted any of them would blame me. “Who supposedly sold the car, and do you know anything about them?”
Annie looked at me in approval. “I want that name.”
Lucas didn’t say anything. I waited. As I did, I knew he wanted to give us the information we asked for. I saw it in his expression and in the way he held himself. I also knew he weighed the risk to the case against his inclination.
“I can’t, Annie. You know that.”
“Then you know what I have to do.” She held his gaze for a moment and he nodded. “C’mon, partner. We have a court motion to draft and file.”
Chapter 27
I sat back and did my best to process everything I’d learned. After leaving the sheriff’s department, Annie and I returned to the office. For the first time, I saw my new partner in full pissed-off attorney mode. It might not have reached quite the level she’d been at when her mother faced murder charges, but I had no doubt it was close. She paced the office, dictating different motions and issuing instructions on how she wanted them filed. Then she snapped off questions at me about Mom and our life together, her will and her estate.
When she finished, she turned to Miss Olivia. Before she could ask, the older woman assured her she had already reached out to the owners of the parking lot where the man who attacked me left his car. I nodded, unsurprised. I didn’t doubt for a moment they would hand over a copy of video without hesitation – as long as Lucas hadn’t told them not to. If he had, I did not want to be anywhere close when Annie found out.
Finally, with that much accomplished, Annie looked at me and motioned me into her office. Beth hissed for me to do as she said, promising to bring me something to drink. As Annie shut the door behind us, I hoped it was a very stiff drink. I had a feeling I was going to need it.
“Sit.” She pointed to one of the client chairs. I complied and watched as she moved around the desk to her chair. “I only want to know one thing from you, Meg. How hard do you want to push this?”
I didn’t answer right away. I knew what she wanted to know, and I understood why she asked. I’d be asking the same thing in her place. But I also kne
w she wouldn’t appreciate a knee-jerk response. She’d want me to be sure of my response before I made it.
A knock at the door interrupted us before I could answer. Beth slipped in and handed me a highball glass with a healthy dose of what looked and smelled to be very expensive bourbon. Then she set the bottle on the edge of Annie’s desk. After telling Annie she’d be back a cup of hot tea once it finished steeping, she slipped back out, closing the door behind her.
I sipped the bourbon, wincing slightly at the burn as it went down. Annie waited, tapping the end of her pen against the desktop. Tap-tap-tap. I glanced at it and lifted one brow. She sighed and put down the pen. Then she looked at me, waiting for my answer.
“What do you think, Annie? I want that bastard to rot in hell and I want to know who sent him after me and why. Then I want them rotting right next to him.” That was the easy part. “I want my mother’s family to pay for what they did to her. That means I want you to find every piece of their dirty laundry. If they’re involved in either the attempt to run me over or in my stabbing, they will pay.”
One way or the other, they would pay. Not only for what had happened to me since my arrival in town but for what they did to Mom.
“Agreed.” She paused as the door opened again. Beth hurried to hand her a cup of tea and then withdrew. Obviously, she knew she did not want to be part of this discussion until Annie’s temper cooled a little. “There’s someone else we should be looking into.”
I closed my eyes. Much as I didn’t want to think about it, she was right. A moment later, I looked back at her. She waited, expression compassionate. I lifted my glass and drained it. Then I nodded.
“Do it.” I splashed some more bourbon in my glass and knocked it back. “Find out everything Miss Olivia discovered. I trust you to decide what I need to know right now.” I set the glass on the edge of her desk. As I did, I thought hard. “Hire Sam and anyone else you need to. I want to know everything there is to know about my mother’s birth family, that bastard who raped her and his family, the other man with them when she was raped.”
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