Saving Hope: Men of the Texas Rangers Book 1

by Margaret Daley

  “Am I that transparent?”

  “Afraid so.”

  “To be a buffer between Maddie and me.”

  “That’s all?”

  “I want to see you.”

  The implication of what he was saying melted any resistance she might have. “Only if you let me cook. I rarely cook for just myself, and I enjoyed helping your mom last weekend.”

  “You won’t get an argument out of me on that. We can stop by the grocery store and get whatever you need.”

  “See you later then.” When she hung up, she realized he’d lifted her spirits as nothing else could have.

  She was falling for Wyatt Sheridan.

  Wearing cowboy boots and hat, blue jeans and white T-shirt, Wyatt entered the busy café right across the street from the East Dallas Community College and took the table off to the left of the door with a direct line of vision to Emma. A Dallas female police officer greeted him as though they were a couple. After giving his order to his waitress, he relaxed back, smiling and nodding his head toward his “date” while scanning the restaurant and noting his surroundings.

  At a back table, Emma sipped a soda and watched the entrance. She’d already shredded one paper napkin and was working on the second one. The waitress approached Emma with the check and laid it down on the table along with an envelope. After the woman left, Emma finished her drink, put some money on the table, then got up and ambled toward the exit.

  The gym bag full of Zarah’s belongings remained on the floor where Emma had placed it when she came in. Daniel covered the right side of the café while he did the left. Waiting for Liz Taylor to appear. Two guys, college age, took chairs at the table but didn’t seem to notice the bag by the seat between them.

  Keeping an eye on the pair, Wyatt nursed a cup of coffee and picked at his piece of pecan pie, his favorite, for ten minutes. When two girls joined them, the heavyset male saw the gym bag, picked it up, and stood. Wyatt tensed, readying himself to follow the guy. But he detoured toward the counter and gave the bag to the waitress that served him.

  Great. Emma received her money, but no one came for the bag. What was going on?

  “Something’s wrong,” came through his earpiece. “The envelope was stuffed with paper, not money.”

  14

  Kelly, he called. He wants to meet me, and I’m grounded.” Maddie plopped down on her bed and sat back against her pillows. She moved the cell to her other ear so she could grab her Dr. Pepper.

  “What are you gonna do?”

  After taking a long sip of her drink, she placed it on the nightstand. “I don’t know. Dad didn’t say anything about not being able to ride Star Champion. In fact, I’ll have to because I have a rodeo in a couple of weeks.”

  “Then you’re gonna meet him?”

  “Yeah, and remember his friend with him at the mall? He told me Chad thinks you’re cute. You and I could meet them at the stream near the fence that separates our ranch. It’s near the road. Easy for them to spot and get to. How about it?”

  “Do you think we should?”

  “I’m not leaving the ranch. What’s the harm? We’ll be together.”

  “They are sooo cute,” Kelly said with a giggle. “Oh, I’m getting the shivers just thinking about seeing Chad again.”

  “Me, too. Tyler is such a hunk. I’ll give you a call back and let you know when we’ll meet.”

  After Maddie hung up with her friend, she pictured the high school junior she’d met at Ashland Mall. A sigh slipped from between her lips. Her dad would never approve. He would say Tyler was too old for her because he was in high school. Three years had separated Dad and Mom. But her father treated her as if she were a child. She wasn’t. And, she wasn’t going to do anything stupid. Meeting Tyler and Chad at the ranch was perfect, especially with Kelly there. It wasn’t like she was meeting Tyler alone somewhere.

  Satisfied with her plan, she punched in Tyler’s number to set a date and time to meet him.

  The waitress’ eyes grew round as Wyatt and Daniel approached her in the back near the kitchen.

  While Daniel headed to the counter to get the gym bag, Wyatt stopped in front of the young woman and held up his badge. “I need to talk to you in private.”

  “Why?” Her blue gaze fixed on his ID.

  “I have some questions about who gave you the envelope you passed on to the girl sitting at that table.” Wyatt pointed toward the one Emma had been at.

  “I—I . . .” The waitress swallowed hard.

  Wyatt guided the woman toward a deserted alcove near the restrooms. He remained silent. He’d found that often worked better with witnesses.

  She shifted from one foot to the other and back. “Some— woman asked me to give it to the lady who sat there. She gave me a twenty to do it. More money than I’ve made so far in tips.”

  “Was the lady at the table when the woman asked you to do that?”

  “Yeah. I’d just taken her order. One lousy drink. Wasn’t gonna make much on that. I didn’t see any harm in taking the twenty and giving the lady the envelope. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Does this place have a security camera?”

  She shrugged. “I guess. There’s a camera over the door, but I haven’t been a waitress here long. I don’t know if it even works.”

  “Is the owner here?”

  “Yep. In his office in the back.”

  “I need you to come with me to see him.”

  “Why? I was just trying to earn a buck.” Fear tensed her face into a frown, puckering her red lips.

  “If the camera works, I need you to ID the woman who gave you the envelope.”

  Wyatt followed a step behind the waitress to a door with “Office” stenciled in black letters on it. He reached around the woman and knocked.

  A deep husky voice shouted, “Come in.”

  Wyatt pushed open the door and waited until the waitress entered before he came in. Withdrawing his badge and ID, he presented it to the owner who rose.

  “What’s going on? Something happen?” The baldheaded man looked from Wyatt to his employee.

  “Does your security camera over the door work?”

  “No.”

  Couldn’t something go their way in this investigation? Wyatt expelled a deep breath in agitation.

  “But the one on the wall behind the counter does. I need to get the other fixed.” The bald-headed man came around his desk.

  “I would like to see the tape for the past hour. There was a customer this waitress interacted with that is involved in an ongoing case. We need to have her ID the woman.”

  The owner scowled at his employee. “Did Bonnie do anything wrong?”

  The waitress tensed next to Wyatt. “No, in fact, she’ll be a big help to us.”

  The rigid set to the man’s shoulders relaxed. “Sure. It’s over here. I can pull up the footage for you.”

  It took the owner a few minutes to set up the tape, then he moved back and let Wyatt control the speed of viewing.

  “Bonnie, let me know when you see the woman.”

  The waitress leaned in close. Halfway through the footage, she said, “Stop. That’s her.” She tapped her red fingernail against the TV screen.

  Liz Taylor as Emma had described her to the sketch artist. She existed. For a moment when everything had fallen apart, he’d wondered if Emma had lied the whole time to him. Now her story was confirmed. Although they weren’t any closer to finding Liz. “May I take this tape?”

  “Sure anything to help the Texas Rangers.”

  Wyatt removed the tape, an antiquated system for security but one that worked in this case. He handed the waitress a card. “If you remember anything else about the woman, please contact me.”

  Maddie galloped toward the stream and grove of trees close to Front Road and Kelly’s ranch. A perfect place to meet with Tyler, Chad, and her best friend. Technically I’ve done what Dad wanted—staying at the ranch. The thought brought a grin to her mouth, and it grew
the closer she approached the rendezvous. Dad wouldn’t be home for hours. So long as she was back before dark, he wouldn’t realize she’d even left her room, and if he did, she would just tell him she needed to exercise Star Champion. She wasn’t even lying. She did need to ride her horse to keep him in shape for the competition.

  Tyler moved from the stand of trees and waved at her. Maddie increased her speed into a flat-out run. A minute later, the drop-dead gorgeous hunk helped her dismount by placing his hands on her waist and easing her to the ground. And she let him as though she didn’t know how to get off a horse she’d been riding for years.

  “Where is Kelly and Chad?” she asked when he stepped away from her, much to her disappointment.

  He flipped his wrist toward the stream. “Over there. They’ve got their feet in the water.”

  Maddie brushed her fingers across her forehead, their tips drenched in perspiration. “It’s hot. I wish we could have met somewhere cooler.”

  “Why not? We could go for a ride in my car and find some air conditioned café to sit and talk.”

  The temptation to leave and go get a soda enticed her to say yes. What harm could that be? The sun beating down on her shoulders only reinforced that. A tall, ice cold—

  Tyler tugged her hand. “C’mon. Let’s see if Chad and Kelly want to go. I can have you back any time you need to get back.”

  The smile he sent her, as if she were the only girl in the world, urged her to say yes. She checked her watch and calculated how much time she would have.

  “I love Italian food. Lasagna sounds great.” Wyatt made a right turn into his driveway.

  “With garlic bread and a salad, it’s one of my favorite meals.” Kate took in the expanse of green pastures on either side of the gravel road. Being out of the city was a nice change of scenery. She’d never realized how much she liked the country. The quiet. The stretch of land all around. The fresh air with a hint of grass, pine, and earth.

  “I think it will be nice not to think about the case for an evening,” he slid her a look, a corner of his mouth quirking, “or at least until after dinner. I don’t want to say anything in front of Maddie.”

  “I wish you’d caught Liz today.”

  “We’ve got a pretty good picture of her on the video. We’re going to distribute it and see what turns up. Emma confirmed the woman the waitress picked out. I’m going back to the college tomorrow and show the photo around. Also, places near the college. Maybe something will happen.”

  “Your job isn’t like on TV, is it?”

  “You mean, where I solve the case in an hour or two? No, not usually unless you catch the assailant standing over the victim with the gun in his hand and you have several witnesses to confirm he pulled the trigger. But then you have all the paperwork to still fill out.” Wyatt parked next to a Lincoln Town Car. “I see Jack is here again.”

  “We have enough for him.”

  Wyatt frowned.

  “You don’t like him?”

  “He’s okay. Mom’s doing her usual thing—falling headlong into a relationship without any reservations. She’s fifty-five, and I doubt she’s going to change anytime soon. I just wish she would take her time getting to know a person. It seems so desperate to me.”

  “Maybe it is.”

  He angled toward her. “What do you mean?”

  “There are some women—men, too—that need that connection all the time. They don’t like being by themselves. Another person is what defines them.”

  “That’s Mom. I’ve tried to show her I love her. That she’s important to me and Maddie.”

  “It’s not the same thing. To some women a man completes them.”

  “That explains the three husbands and countless relationships over the years.” He shoved open his door and hopped out, then grabbed both bags of groceries sitting on the front seat.

  “Like I said before, we could always swap mothers.” When he looked at her as if she’d gone crazy, she laughed. “Or maybe not. I don’t blame you. My mother would be difficult at best.”

  He headed for the porch. “I know you told me about your mom disowning you, but surely she’ll change her mind when she calms down.”

  “I don’t think so. She feels I’ve betrayed her by having her archenemy Charlene Foster fund the program.”

  “What were you supposed to do?” He waited until Kate entered the house, then followed her inside and led the way toward the kitchen.

  The sound of country music, not blaring but turned up slightly, drifted from the direction of the bedrooms, momentarily drawing Kate’s attention. Her mother would never allow her to listen to that, only classical. Just another aspect of her life her mother had wanted to control.

  “Kate, you okay?”

  She focused on the man beside her. She started to say yes, then realized that was yet something else her mother had insisted upon—slang wasn’t permitted in the Winslow household. “Yeah, I’m fine. What I was supposed to do was what my mother wanted in the first place, not have the program. I thought over time she would get used to the idea and see the good being done. But she could never see beyond the fact these girls had been prostitutes at one time. She blamed the girls, not the people who preyed on them. She never took into consideration they were still children.”

  Wyatt shouldered his way into the kitchen. “That’s where the media can come in and inform people.”

  Kate’s gaze strayed to Jack and Carrie at the table, sitting next to each other, drinking what looked like iced tea. “I’m hoping so.” She smiled toward the pair. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  “I didn’t know you were coming tonight, Kate. I haven’t even thought about dinner.” Carrie’s gaze latched onto the bags Wyatt carried. “Do those mean you’re going to cook?”

  “Yes, unless you want to.” When Wyatt’s mother’s eyes widened, Kate continued. “But I was looking forward to cooking for more than one for a change.”

  Giving Kate a wink, Carrie waved her hand in the air toward the stove. “Oh, in that case please do. It’s nice not to have to cook for an evening.” She patted Jack on the arm. “He knows that cooking is not my strong suit.”

  Wyatt crossed the room and set the bags on the counter, then began emptying them. “How did it go with Maddie today? I half expected to get a phone call from either you or her.”

  “She’s been quiet. Staying in her room. She came out at lunch, but as you can hear, she’s been listening to music most of the day. Good thing I like what she likes. I’m giving her space.”

  “Probably wise.” Wyatt finished putting away the food that wasn’t needed right away.

  Jack took Carrie’s hand. “I’d better be going. I have business to see to.”

  “Are you sure you can’t stay for dinner? Kate’s a great cook.”

  Jack rose. “I wish. But something has come up, as you know. Can’t stay. I can’t ignore the call from my partner.” He tugged Carrie to her feet. “Walk me out.”

  When they left, Wyatt scowled by the sink with his arms folded over his chest.

  Kate strolled to him and placed her palm on the bunched muscles of his biceps. “Now it’s my turn to ask. Are you okay?”

  “It’s one thing knowing how Mom is and another seeing her in action.”

  “I think it’s cute,” Kate said, remembering the adoring look in Carrie’s eyes when Jack took her hand.

  “She’s fawning all over him.”

  “Some men like that. He didn’t seem to mind.”

  Wyatt snorted and turned toward the sink. “I can help with a salad.”

  Kate stared at the taut lines of his broad shoulders and felt the frustration pouring off him. She began to lay her palm against his back, wanting to help him, but his stance conveyed: Do not touch.

  Carrie kissed King good-bye, then stepped back from his Lincoln Town Car. He drove away watching her waving to him in the dim light of dusk through the rearview mirror. For fifty-five she was in good shape, beautiful and a free s
pirit, much like his deceased wife. Too bad not much would come of this relationship. This was business, pure and simple. But in spite of that thought, the touch of her lips against his stayed in his mind until his phone rang.

  “Yes.” King dismissed from his mind the picture of Carrie as he left the ranch, the wind blowing her long flowing skirt about her shapely legs, her feet bare, her hair dancing about her face. He forced his concentration on the call from his nephew.

  “Everything is on schedule. I met with Maddie but had to do it at her ranch. I almost got her to leave to go get something to drink, but at the last minute she decided she’d better not, in case someone saw her and said something to her dad.”

  “Probably a good thing you didn’t go out together around Bluebonnet Creek.”

  “Her friend came along, so I brought Brad aka Chad. I think we can recruit both girls.”

  “No, not Maddie. Not yet.”

  “How about Kelly?”

  “Wait. I may need them for leverage against Maddie’s father. From what I hear he’s making progress. Set up another time to see Maddie. She’s grounded. You may have to wait until after Tuesday. I don’t want you going to the ranch again. Try to do it alone with her this time.”

  “It won’t take much to get her to do what I want. She’s angry with her father and desperate for a guy’s attention. I think her dad keeps a tight rein on her.”

  When King hung up with his nephew, he finally returned his partner’s earlier call. “I was with Carrie Sheridan and couldn’t talk freely.”

  “Do you know what you’re doing?”

  The question, spoken with censure, iced his blood. “Yes. I’m keeping track of the investigation.”

  “You should have killed Rose six months ago.”

  “She’s my niece.”

  “By marriage. She should never have gotten away from you.”

  “If anything happened to her, she could be tracked back to me. I took care of that john who beat her and left her for dead.”