by Angi Morgan
One of his hands dropped to her shoulder as her lips parted and he swirled his tongue next to hers. Was she still thinking? Or just absorbing every tantalizing feeling coursing through her body.
“Miss Watts?”
She jerked her head to the right where the voice had spoken. “Mr. Stevens. Sorry, you caught us...off...off...”
“You caught us.” Slate winked and made a clicking noise like he might be telling a horse to move. She stared at him while pushing at his chest with her left hand. He moved in slow motion, one hand dropping to her hip instead of pulling away completely. Did he want—
He did. The sincere look, the kiss, the touches...it was all to...to what? Catch her off guard or Ned Stevens?
“Slate Hansom.” He finally moved his body and stuck his hand out to shake Ned’s.
“For real? Oh, sorry. Of course you’re real. I’m...” Keys out, Victor’s attorney pointed to the door. “I need...let me just open this.” Ned squeezed between them. “Oh, my. I was sure I locked it.”
“Would you look at that. We didn’t even think to try the knob while we were waiting,” Slate said with a heavy, drawn-out Texas inflection.
Ned passed through the door and they followed. She gripped Slate’s bicep, stopping before he took a step inside. Giving him a stern look, letting him know she knew what he’d done, she half mouthed, half whispered, “Hansom?”
He shrugged. “It’s all that came to mind.”
“Please, please. Have a seat.” Ned pointed to the one chair in the room that looked like it was office furniture from the fifties. “My apologies for being late. And Mr. Hansom, there’s a folding chair for you right behind the door.”
“Great. Just let me scoot behind you, hon.”
What game was Slate playing? Why go to such efforts to make Victor’s attorney think they were a couple?
He placed the chair directly next to hers and took her hand between his, continually patting it as if comforting her. As much as she enjoyed being touched, his constant tapping reminded her of all that he had at stake. Why would he risk everything for her and Victor?
“Now that we’re all settled, what can I do for you?”
“We’ve come about the study my—”
“Mr. Stevens, I sure hope you don’t mind my being here,” Slate interrupted. “Our Vivian here needed to let you know about how to contact her now. You see, her apartment caught fire last night and she lost everything she owned.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.” Ned handed them a notepad and pen. “Just write your phone number down and I’ll put it in your brother’s file. But really, you could have just phoned. Your message mentioned something regarding a payment?”
Slate wrote two numbers and handed it back to the attorney. Ned shuffled through several files on the corner of his desk and tugged Victor’s out of the stack. He slipped the paper inside and left the folder on top.
“I thought it would be better to come down and meet you personally and let you know Vivian’s not in this alone any longer. She’s staying with me now.”
“That’s all well and good, Mr. Hansom. But I can only share details of Victor’s case with Victor. I’ve been over this with Miss Watts several times. Her brother has been very clear about his wishes.”
“He’s my only family and we think we have a new le—”
“Honey, I’m sure Mr. Stevens is doing his best.”
Vivian was about to let Slate Hansom have every pent-up frustration she’d been keeping to herself. But he smiled—a terrible fake attempt that made her want to cry.
“Look,” Ned began. “There’s really nothing new. You can look up the arraignment information since it’s a matter of public record. The prosecutor hasn’t contacted me since the first offer of a plea bargain. You know that your brother confessed but decided to go to trial. Nothing’s different. If you’ll excuse me, I have a very busy afternoon.”
Ned Stevens, attorney at law, was only interested if more money was involved. That was very clear as he dismissed them.
“There is just one more thing, Mr. Stevens.” Slate leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice. “Vivian mentioned that you’ve been recommending private investigators for her to work with. I hope that my humble investigation isn’t going to turn up anything untoward between you and them. Is that a possibility?”
The attorney’s face contorted. “Out. I’m not going to stand for you insulting me in my own office.”
“You’re right, Stevens.” Slate’s voice was back to his normal, commanding self. “Time to go, Viv.”
Her stare went from man to man. Slate hadn’t mentioned any of that to her. Nothing. Stevens continued to point toward his door as Hansom put the folding chair away. She managed to hold her peace until they rounded the corner by the elevators.
“I have no idea what that was all about or what it accomplished. But a heads-up would have been nice.”
“Oh, man, I think I dropped my keys in the office. Be right back.” He pivoted and ran back the way they’d come.
She waited at the elevator, literally tapping her foot with her arms crossed hugging her body. Right until another person walked up and pushed the down button. Vivian stepped to the other side of the hallway, concentrating on not acting annoyed. She wasn’t. She was worried.
Helping her was one thing. Risking his career was quite another. What was Slate’s motivation? Why would he do something like that?
“Let’s go.” Slate jangled his keys in the air just as the doors opened.
“Why did you keep interrupting me before I could tell him anything?”
He ignored her. He took her hand in his, holding onto her through the parking garage until he opened the door, waiting to help her into his ginormous truck. Once in her seat, he winked at her and made his clicking sound again.
“I got it.”
“I know. You showed me your keys on the fifth floor.”
He took several folded pieces of paper from behind his back. “No. I got your brother’s file.”
Chapter Fourteen
“You stole that?” Vivian’s voice echoed throughout the parking garage, followed by a cough.
No one was around on their floor of the parking garage, but Slate didn’t want to take any chances. He closed the passenger door then rushed inside the extended truck cab and closed his door to let her shout if she wanted.
“You okay?” He shoved a bottle of water into her hands to help with the coughing left over from the smoke inhalation.
She nodded slowly as she sipped from the bottle.
“Keep your voice down. And no, I didn’t steal it.” Slate scratched just above his ear, deciding he should be totally truthful. “I did sort of coerce it. If you want to get technical.”
“Why?”
He’d expected her to ask how. Not why.
“Why keep your voice down? It’s sort of obvious.” Her look of puzzlement threw him for a loop. “Wait, why what?”
“I can’t believe you’d do something so stupid.” She shook her head and rubbed her hands together the way he’d observed loved ones who worried about men he was tracking for arrest. “Why would you do something like that?”
Her anger was baffling. He’d obtained the information they both needed to continue the investigation, so why wasn’t she happy?
“You’re angry.”
“Yes.”
“At me? I’m trying to help.”
“By blackmailing my brother’s attorney?” Vivian’s voice first raised, then dropped off to a whisper.
“That guy is definite appeals grounds for incompetency.”
“You’re serious? You blackmailed him.”
That tone was...astonished? Was she as surprised by his actions as he was by her reaction? He hadn’t explained his actions in a very long time, probably not since high school
. But he could...if it would clear the air and get them out of a parking garage.
“Blackmail is too strong a word.”
“It won’t help Victor if you break the law and end up in jail, too.”
“Wait a minute. I just sort of twisted Stevens’s arm a little. I got a heads-up from Wade this morning that your lawyer friend might not be a hundred percent on the up-and-up. So I fast-forwarded the process a little by suggesting you might not press charges.”
“Another decision that you made unilaterally instead of saying two words of warning to me?” She swished her curling hair from her face and behind her ear. “What if I want to sue him for the money he’s taken?”
“I didn’t say anything about my office not pressing charges.” He grinned, hoping it would put her at ease. “Bottom line, Vivian. I’m a trained investigator. I want to investigate, to find justice for the innocent. Your brother’s case reminded me of that. I just want to help.”
“You really believe he’s innocent? Even after the police got a full confession?”
“Things don’t add up. One glance at the file and I’m wondering why no one checked out who Subject Nineteen is. I agree that person is the likely murderer. I just don’t think it’s your brother.”
“That’s your true motivation for helping us?”
“A long time ago, I decided that being a part of putting the bad guys behind bars was important. At the time, it seemed like one of the most significant things a man could do. I don’t know where I got that idea. It doesn’t matter. But it stuck.”
“You can’t become one of those men while trying to help me.”
“You mean picking the lock.” He cringed inside and out. “Okay, I might have been showing off a little. What if I agree to rein it in, do everything by the book? You okay with using this information?”
He lifted the papers from the seat between them. She nodded.
“Where do we start?” she asked.
“We’ll need to go back to the VA Hospital. But I think checking out the information you uncovered yesterday might help us narrow down our search.”
“Because someone tried to kill me?”
He put the truck in gear. “After you discovered something. Must be important.”
“I’m not certain I found anything at all.”
“That’s where having this list is vital. We begin a search of violent crimes like you did and then compare it to the people on this list. I’ll also get an appointment with the person in charge of any studies at the VA that Dr. Roberts was involved with.”
At a red light, he snapped a picture of the list with his phone, stared at the image to make certain it was readable, then texted it to Heath. He turned south toward the VA Hospital on Lamar.
Vivian looked at the list. “There are at least seventy names here. It’ll take quite a while to get through them.”
“Not for a computer geek who knows what he’s doing.”
His phone rang. “Right on cue.” Knowing how his partner was going to react, he lifted it to his ear instead of leaving it on speaker. “Thompson.”
“No,” Heath answered as predicted. “You aren’t involving me in this off-books investigation that Wade instigated. I have Skylar Dawn on Saturday and told Sophie I’d cover the kid’s riding lessons this weekend.”
“Mom and Dad appreciate that. Since you can’t help me, could you just explain how to run one of the cross searches you do?” He watched the confused looks pass across Vivian’s lovely face.
“Have you asked one of the techs at headquarters?”
“Not really, but I thought I could put it together. If you walk me through it.” As soon as he admitted that, he knew Hearth would know he’d been right to assume it was about Victor’s case.
“Weak strategy. It won’t work on me.”
“What? I have a strategy? I just want your advice,” Slate said, knowing his friend would see straight through his helpless act.
“No way. I’m not getting involved.” Heath cut the connection.
Slate wasn’t worried. Heath was reluctant...a lot. He dropped the phone in the cup holder.
“What now?” Vivian asked.
“We wait. He’s going to change his mind.”
“Slate, we can go to the library and look up the information ourselves. Most of it is public.”
“It’ll take too long. Be too public.”
“But we won’t be asking your friend to do something he feels uncomfortable—”
The phone rang. This time, Slate put it on speaker for her to hear.
“Fax me the originals. I’m not wasting my time typing in all these names.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Slate, take me off speaker.”
Vivian faced the window, giving him as much privacy as a person could in the cab of a truck.
“Yeah?”
“You sure you want to do this?” Heath asked. “I’m assuming you don’t want anyone around here to know what you’re up to.”
Slate heard office sounds in the background. “Officially, you’re right. I’m not on a case. But I have less than a week to prove this theory. Their lawyer’s a joke, man. He’s getting kickbacks from investigators that have taken every penny she has.”
“So this is charity.”
“Not on your life. It’s doing the right thing. Victor Watts is innocent.”
“You think. I’m staring at a copy of his signed confession.”
“Something’s off with this one, Heath. Wade got a feeling and the same day I start looking into things, Vivian’s apartment is set on fire. There may be other victims here. We gotta get to the bottom of this.”
“Yeah, I know. We can only keep this under wraps so long. Somebody’s going to find out what you’re doing.”
“I’ll owe you, Heath.”
There was a long pause. Long enough for Slate to drive half a block. “I’m the one who owes you, man. We both know that you’re losing money boarding my horses and me until I get on my feet.”
“We can get into who owes who later. I’m finding someplace to fax you this list. We need to know if anyone has been involved in a criminal outburst or worse.”
“You got it.”
They disconnected and Slate passed the phone to Vivian. “Can you look up a store that sends faxes?”
She did. She brought up the map so he could follow them. And then she rested her elbow on the armrest, covering her mouth with her slender hand.
Having someone be angry because he helped was new to Slate. Most of the time, he didn’t care if he got credit for a win or not. Team effort and all that. But in this situation, he thought Vivian would at least be appreciative of his innovation to get Heath to help them. It was going to save tons of time.
He pressed his lips together, staring at her during the red lights. She stayed in the car when he sent the fax. He didn’t get it. Shouldn’t she be happy he was helping her, getting things moving along?
“What’s the matter now?” he asked.
“I’m just...sort of overwhelmed. Why are you...? Whatever we do to clear my brother’s name, I don’t want you or your friends to get in trouble. You don’t even know us.”
“Vivian. Maybe I didn’t explain this well before. As a Texas Ranger, I help people all the time that I don’t know. You’ve reminded me why I got into law enforcement. To protect the innocent. I believe your brother is one of those innocents. Something happened and he needs help. I’m willing to give it.”
Slate put the truck in gear and pointed it toward the VA. They’d nose around, ask if anyone had noticed anything about the man who attacked people in the cafeteria. There were lots of things they could do before getting Heath’s search results.
“I can never repay you for this.” Vivian used the bottom edge of her shirt to dab at tears.
�
�Who said I was charging?”
Chapter Fifteen
They were back.
What are they doing here? Abby had broken her routine this morning to watch the news. She knew no one had been injured in the fire. She was disappointed, but the plan wasn’t perfect. It should have scared Vivian Watts or at least deterred her.
And yet, here she was, walking next to the man with a badge. They weren’t on the fifth floor, where the EEG lab was located. She passed them by Admissions when she delivered paperwork to the billing office. There was no recognition on their part. They seemed to have no idea who she was.
The impulse to tear off her gloves was so overwhelming it forced her to stop in a restroom. Her cuticles needed to be cleaned but she didn’t have her supplies. She picked at the edges until the perfect version of herself calmly told her to stop.
“There is no reason to panic, Abby. They don’t know who you are. If they connect Rashid to you, it will only be through the EEG lab, so there’s no reason to panic.”
Perfectly stated and logical. They didn’t know her. If the opportunity presented itself, she could pretend, or why not initiate the introduction? She dried her hands, thinking of possibilities. Who was on her list of afternoon appointments?
“I know it will be hard, Abby, but check if the next sleep patient is here. Begin early. You can allow yourself to be ahead of schedule and let that patient follow Vivian Watts and her law enforcement officer,” the voice in the mirror said.
Drawing on her protective gloves, Abby mentally prepared herself for the rigors of deviating from her routine. She needed a name for the man accompanying Victor’s sister.
She could do anything if it kept her studies on track. By eliminating all the other possibilities, she’d be left with the right choice. They would obtain the perfect death. Nothing would detour them.
Abby headed to the cafeteria looking for her adversaries, for the only two people who could cause her problems. The man was easy to find. His badge was prominently displayed as he spoke to employees who worked in the cafeteria.
Vivian stood at his side. She may have looked uninterested to people who had no stake in the questioning. But Abby could see her taking notes on her smartphone. The woman was very astute.