Defender

by Diana Palmer

  “Do you know where your father is right now?” Hayes asked Sari.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t,” she replied. She noticed the look Hayes was giving her. “I really don’t,” she added. “Sheriff Carson, we loved our mother very much. You’ve surely heard the gossip about her death being suspicious?”

  “I have,” he replied. “In fact, I was involved at the time. I’d just started with the sheriff’s department. I never thought her death was accidental.”

  She stared at him. “I don’t think it was, either. If you knew my father, you wouldn’t doubt that he’s capable of murder.” She swallowed. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was going to have to. It had bearing on the matter at hand. “You see, my sister and I have been the victims of…well, of beatings, since we were in grammar school. Anything could set him off. Our mother pulled him off me when I was ten. I’d left a wet towel on the floor of my bathroom. He hit me…” She broke off, swallowing, aware of the furious looks on the men. “He liked perfect order, everywhere. It wasn’t too many years after that when our mother died. She fell and hit her head. So he said.”

  Hayes winced. “Good God, why didn’t you tell somebody about what he was doing to you?”

  “I tried,” she said. “But Daddy had us watched 24/7. We’re still watched,” she added worriedly. “By tonight, he’ll know that I talked to you.” She wrapped her arms around her body. “He’ll be wild…”

  “We’ll get some protection for you, before tonight,” Hayes told her firmly. “He’ll never hit you again.”

  She fought back tears. It had been so long that she and Merrie had lived with the pain and the terror. “We’ve been like prisoners all our lives,” she said tautly. “He wouldn’t let us get jobs, or earn money, so we’d have no means to get away from him. Mama left us half of the house and its contents, but he’s made sure we can’t claim them by tying them up as collateral for loans. And in case that didn’t work, he threatened us with people we loved.” She looked up. “He knows you have a family, Sheriff Carson. That’s how he’ll try to stop this investigation. You must take precautions…”

  Hayes just smiled. “I have two of Eb Scott’s men living in the house with us.”

  “Oh,” she said.

  “And by tonight, you’ll have two of them guarding you.”

  “Daddy will have them arrested for trespassing, or he’ll have Morris or one of his men shoot them,” she worried aloud.

  “No, he won’t,” Hayes said flatly.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You will,” Hayes said. “For now, do what you normally do. When you go home, you’ll have company.”

  “How will I know who they are?”

  “Oh, you’ll know,” Hayes said amusedly.

  “Whatever you say,” Sari replied. “Poor Merrie. She can’t even leave the house except to go to art classes. When Mandy goes to get groceries, she’s followed. We’re always followed.”

  “It will end,” Hayes told her. “I promise you, it will all end soon.”

  She swallowed. “I hope so,” was as far as she’d go.

  * * *

  That afternoon, she told her coworkers goodbye and went outside to get into the limo. Morris was standing, dumbfounded, beside two tall, muscular men dressed in camo and carrying small automatic weapons.

  “What the hell is going on, Miss Grayling?” Morris asked.

  “Retribution,” Sari said. She looked at the two men and smiled. “Thanks,” she said quietly.

  They only nodded. They opened the door for her, giving Morris a look that sent him quickly to the driver’s seat, and then they climbed in on the seat facing her.

  She didn’t speak all the way home. She worried. Her companions were equally quiet. She worried about what the authorities were going to do to her father. But she worried more about what her father was going to do to them. They were underestimating his ability to protect himself. He had a fortune and he knew how to intimidate people at the highest levels. Once he saw her protectors here, he was going to go ballistic. She dreaded the thought of what he might do to her, and to poor Merrie.

  And then there was Paul. What in the world was he doing back in Texas? He’d left without a word three years ago, gone back to his family up north. Had he brought them with him?

  At least he knew that Sari wanted nothing to do with him, that none of them wanted him around. Maybe they’d have another agent, perhaps the one with Homeland Security, question her and Merrie and Mandy. She didn’t even want to see Paul ever again.

  She thought of the deep scars on her back, still felt the blows, the pain, the horror of her father’s attack. Because of Paul. Because he’d gone to her father and accused her of coming on to him, a married man.

  She would never have let him touch her if she’d known he was married. It made her sick, remembering how much she’d loved him, the dreams she’d built around a future with him. Even if it had been unrealistic, the dreams had been sweet. He’d held her and kissed her, hungered for her. Probably because he was missing his wife, she thought bitterly.

  Paul had turned her whole life into one long misery. She didn’t want to see him. It would bring back all the memories that still tormented her.

  “Mr. Grayling isn’t going to like this,” Morris said as he parked the car, glancing through the open window at Sari’s companions.

  “You know what, Morris?” she asked coldly. “I don’t give a damn!”

  * * *

  Morris actually caught his breath. He’d never heard her talk like that, in all the years he’d worked for the boss. Now he wondered if he’d lose his job, because he didn’t call and warn Mr. Grayling about these guys. But how could he? They carried small automatic weapons, and he had no doubt that they knew how to use them. Maybe he could use that as an excuse. He did wonder what Miss Grayling was up to. The boss was going to be mad. Really mad.

  * * *

  Sari went into the house, accompanied by her two bodyguards. Merrie, coming down the stairs, just stopped and gaped at them.

  “Where’s Daddy?” Sari asked coldly.

  Merrie took a minute to compose herself. “He came home and went into the study and made some phone calls. That was before they got here.”

  “They?” Sari asked.

  “Yes. The FBI, Homeland Security, Mr. Kemp and Sheriff Carson and a handful of deputy sheriffs. They arrested Daddy on suspicion of murder and took him away.”

  Sari caught her breath. Nobody had told her about it, and they surely knew. Did they think she’d warn her father?

  “Who…?” Merrie asked worriedly, nodding toward Sari’s companions.

  “Eb Scott let us borrow them,” Sari said, catching her breath. She looked up at them with a smile. “They’re not going to let Daddy hurt us anymore.”

  “Well, only if you feed us,” the broader one of the two men said, shrugging. “Eb starves us. We’d do almost anything for good food. And dessert,” he added.

  “Eb doesn’t starve us,” the taller one returned. “We had fried snake just last week.”

  The broader one made a face. “Living off the land isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. I had better food when I was stationed in Iraq.”

  “Sheep’s eyes!” The taller one grimaced.

  “Hey, they’re good!” his companion objected. “It’s an acquired taste.”

  “I could acquire a taste for pie, if you’ve got any.” He nodded toward the girls.

  Mandy came out of the kitchen and gaped at the two men dressed in camouflage. “Are you the A-Team?” she asked.

  “Wrong generation,” the broader one said with a grin. “We’re the Avengers.”

  “Don’t tell me,” Mandy quipped. “You’re Hawkeye and he’s Captain America.”

  “I told you people would recogni
ze us,” the broader one told his companion with a grin.

  The taller one just shook his head.

  “If you feed them, they’ll take care of us,” Sari told the housekeeper.

  “In that case, you can have pie. But only if you eat your peas and carrots first,” Mandy said sternly.

  “Beats snake any day,” the broader one said.

  “Sure beats sheep’s eyes,” the taller one said disdainfully.

  “Come on in,” Mandy invited.

  “When did they take Daddy away?” Sari asked.

  “About four o’clock this afternoon,” Mandy said. She glanced around the table. “He’ll make bail any minute and come through that door looking for blood.”

  “If he does, he’ll find some,” the taller of the visitors said grimly. “Nobody’s hurting women on my watch.”

  “Mine, either,” the other one added.

  Sari smiled gently. “Thanks, guys.”

  “Thanks a lot,” Merrie added. “It’s been scary, living here. He’s unpredictable and he hits us.”

  “He gets even, when people go against him,” Sari worried aloud.

  “So do we,” the taller of the two said, and his face was dead serious when he said it.

  “Don’t worry,” the broader one told them in a quiet tone. “We know what we’re doing. The Feds briefed us. They’re shorthanded, and they know Eb. We’re sanctioned to do whatever we need to do to protect all of you.”

  “You don’t know how grateful we are,” Sari began.

  The front door opened and slammed shut.

  “Where are those damned girls!” Darwin Grayling roared.

  NINE

  Sari and Merrie jumped. The men got to their feet and slung their weapons. They turned as Darwin came through the door.

  He stopped short at the sight of them. “What the hell are you doing in my home?” he demanded. “Get out!”

  “You’re within your rights to ask us to leave, sir,” the taller one said. “But your daughters have asked us to stay.”

  “Tell him that’s a lie, Isabel,” he said to his eldest, daring her to argue.

  She stared back at him. “It isn’t. Merrie and I asked for protection. These gentlemen work for Eb Scott. He had them come home with us.”

  Darwin seemed stymied. He was shocked that Isabel would defy him.

  “This is still my home,” he began.

  “And my home. And Merrie’s and Mandy’s,” Sari said, gaining strength. “I will not live in fear any longer.”

  “Neither will I,” Merrie said quietly.

  “The Feds are asking about you, Daddy,” Sari added. “They have a lot of questions for you to answer.”

  “You’re all against me!” Darwin raged. “You want me in prison so you can spend my money! Well, you’ll never get it. Never, do you hear me? I’ll disinherit you both!”

  “So what?” Sari asked. “It will beat living as a virtual prisoner for years.”

  “We can make our own money,” Merrie agreed. “We don’t need yours.”

  Darwin was absolutely shocked. He stared at them without a comeback. He blinked. “Then you can get out of my house!”

  “Not today,” Sari replied, regaining her wits. “Mother left us half ownership of the house. You may have all the money, but we have half the house and we aren’t leaving. Neither are our bodyguards,” she added.

  Darwin clenched his fists at his hips. He was red in the face, absolutely raging. “People will regret ever having charged me in this matter. It was an accident. An accident! I called an ambulance. I called the law! I tried to save her!”

  “You can tell that to your very expensive defense attorney, Daddy,” Sari replied. “I’m sure he’ll move mountains to prove your innocence.”

  “It will never go to trial,” Darwin said coldly. “And you will regret what you’ve done today, Isabel. You will regret it bitterly.”

  He went upstairs into his bedroom and slammed the door.

  Sari let out the breath she’d been holding. She was shaking. But she managed a smile. “First time,” she said, when the men gave her curious looks.

  “First time for what?” the taller one prodded.

  “First time in my life I ever talked back to him.” She laughed shakily. “It felt good.”

  “It did, didn’t it?” Merrie seconded, smiling from a pale face. “Now all we have to do is keep him from killing us because we did it.”

  “Nobody’s going to hurt you,” the broader one said. His companion nodded. “Ever again. It will be all right. We promise.”

  * * *

  Their father went back out that night with Morris. The girls heard them talking, muffled speech that they didn’t understand. The door slammed behind them and soon there was the sound of the limousine being started up and driven away.

  Sari propped herself up on Merrie’s bed. “He’ll hurt us, if he can. He’ll find a way to intimidate everybody connected with this.”

  “He’s welcome to try,” Merrie replied. “I don’t think he’ll get very far in Comanche Wells or Jacobsville. Not now. He’s on the defensive, isn’t he, for the first time. Even with the best attorney, he might not be able to beat a murder charge.”

  “I’ll have to testify,” Sari said miserably. “I saw him come in, the night the woman died, all upset and sweating, and his head hurting. I heard him say he’d gotten away with murder once, the night Paul left, when Daddy beat us.”

  “I heard it, too. I’ll testify with you.” Merrie hugged her. “If he disinherits us, I don’t care,” she said. “Oh, Sari, imagine being able to live without people following you all the time, without being locked up in a house and never let out to go to dances or concerts…!”

  “I know.” Sari hugged her back. “It would be worth making our own way in the world. I don’t care about the money, either.” She drew back. “And we still own half the house,” she reminded her sister with a short laugh. “He can’t really throw us out.”

  “If our bodyguards weren’t here, he could do that, and much worse,” Merrie reminded her. “What’s he going to do now?” she worried. “Where do you think he went?”

  “I don’t know,” Sari said. She drew in a long breath. “And I’m not sure I want to know.”

  * * *

  In fact, Darwin Grayling was on his way to a secret meeting with two of his coconspirators, men who had helped him and Betty Leeds launder billions in revenue from gambling casinos and prostitution rackets in half a dozen states. If he went down, he was taking them all with him.

  But it wouldn’t come to that, he was certain of it. His overlords would have to save him, in order to save themselves. He wouldn’t think of the other possibility, that of having his accounts suspended, held by the government while they tried to prove him guilty. If he was charged under the RICO statutes, his bail would be almost a billion dollars. Even Darwin Grayling would have had a problem coming up with that much cash. Racketeering was a federal crime of some magnitude and his arrest on suspicion of murder paled in comparison with the money laundering that could hold him accountable for what he’d sent his people out to do. He could go to prison for the rest of his life on those charges alone. If his assets were frozen, he could no longer hire men to take care of his enemies.

  His blood ran cold at the thought of losing all that money, the accumulation of years of illegal enterprises. Betty Leeds had been most useful. But she’d betrayed him to the government in order to save herself. She should never have confessed it. One of the mobsters they dealt with had threatened her precious son, and she had to do it to save him. He was only misunderstood, he would never really hurt anyone, she’d exclaimed. She’d moved her private savings over to his accounts, just in time to save that part of her fortune from the Feds. Her son would be taken ca
re of, even if the worst happened.

  Darwin had showered her with an outpouring of rage. He’d touched his throbbing head and threatened fatal retribution. She tried to put him off. She claimed she wouldn’t have turned the files over to the FBI except to save her son. She was sorry for Darwin, but he was much wealthier than she was, he could get attorneys to prove him innocent. Everything would be all right, she was sure of it.

  That was when his hand had gone to the tire tool one of the men at her farm had left leaning against the barn wall. Outraged, betrayed, bent on revenge, he loomed toward her with it. She raised her hands, still protesting. She screamed, but only once.

  Afterward, he cleaned the tire tool with kerosene and dragged her body to the small corral where her horse trainer worked with two new breeding stallions she’d purchased with her ill-gotten gains. He opened the gates of their stalls and moved them into the corral. Then he waved his jacket to upset them. Highly strung already, upset by the violent storm that was raging, they ran crazily around the muddy ring. One of them avoided the woman’s body, but the other, younger one, was too unsettled to care that he was walking over his mistress in his fear.

  At first sight, it did seem that the woman had been working with her horses and they’d gotten out of control. Hopefully, the authorities would think the storm had frightened them into attacking her. That’s what Darwin told them he was certain had happened, although he’d arrived too late to witness the start of the tragedy. Those horses were dangerous, he’d added, convinced that they should both be put down as quickly as possible.

  But Dr. Copper Coltrain, the medical examiner, remembered the death of Darwin’s wife. He also remembered the barriers that had been placed in the way of his investigation of what had seemed like a suspicious death.

  This time, there was no way he was going to get put off by the seeming coincidence of Grayling’s involvement. A horseman himself, he questioned the sanity of any horse owner putting two breeding stallions together in a small corral. Then, when he performed the autopsy, any remaining suspicions he’d had were crystallized into a verdict of homicide.