by Carolina Mac
Jesse nodded at Leighton. “We need to know where they are at all times. The monitors are a good idea.”
“I feel my clients are being railroaded,” said Carrillo. There isn’t a shred of evidence against Dustin or Milo. What are they guilty of?”
The DA ignored Carrillo. “It’s settled then.” Perry Leighton got to his feet and the meeting was over.
LUKE AND FLETCHER were parked under their favorite tree down the block from Leigh Kryssa’s office. “Seems like we been waiting for days for nothing,” said Fletch. “We need a break.”
Luke’s cell rang and he said, “You might get your wish. It’s the boss. Yeah, boss, something?”
“Get set up at the courthouse. The Carpenter brothers will be coming up in front of a judge to have their charges dropped in a little while. The DA is letting them go wearing ankle monitors. Don’t lose them.”
“Roger that, boss. Leaving for the courthouse now.”
Fletcher turned off the equipment and they moved from the camper unit around to the cab of the truck. “Why are we going to the courthouse?”
“DA is letting the Carpenter brothers go.”
“Fuck that,” hollered Fletch. “We heard that bitch, Ginette, talking to them. Those guys are in it.”
“Then it’s up to us to get the proof,” said Luke, “and that’s what we’re gonna do, partner.”
Fletcher rammed the Ford into gear and took off. “Damn right we are. “Those guys are only out for a minute. One breath of fresh air is all those fuckers are gonna get.”
Ranger Headquarters. Austin.
LILY knocked on Chief Calhoun’s door and showed Misty in. “Boss doesn’t want Misty doing her thing in the lab. I’ll go down and borrow the bullets and bring them up. Boss already called and made the arrangements.”
“Sure. We can have privacy here. I’m keen to watch Misty anyway.” The Chief smiled at her.
“Might not be much to watch,” she drawled. “Sometimes there is no energy left from the person on what I’m given.”
“The sniper has a lot of bad energy,” said the Chief, “and I hope he left some of it on the bullets when he touched them.”
Lil was back quickly with a small evidence bag in her hand. “Here we go. How do you want to do this, Misty?”
“I’ll just sit here and hold them one at a time.”
“Wait one minute until I grab a bottle of water,” said Lily.
“Do you need water?” asked the Chief. “I have little experience with visions.”
Misty shrugged. “Sometimes if the feelings are strong, I tend to faint.”
“Oh,” the Chief looked concerned. “I hope that doesn’t happen.”
Lily returned with a bottle of water from the vending machine at the end of the hall and placed it on the desk, just in case. “Okay, ready when you are.”
“I’m not sure, I’m ready,” said the Chief. “This is making me nervous for some reason.”
Misty giggled as she reached for the envelope and emptied the spent bullets onto the desk. She picked up one of the misshapen lumps, closed her hand around it and relaxed into her chair. She closed her eyes and waited.
She moaned a couple of times and Lily took the top off the water bottle. The Chief stared and they waited.
Misty opened her eyes and said, “Could you call the lady that draws a picture. The one who helps me when I know what he looks like?”
“The police sketch artist?” asked the Chief. “That’s Celia Winthrop and she works out of Austin PD.” He scrolled through his cell. “Sure, as soon as you’re done, I’ll call her.”
Misty picked up the second bullet and repeated the process. She began talking in a whisper and the Chief leaned in closer. “Burning. Bike is burning.”
She moved onto the third bullet, closed her eyes and dropped her head down onto her chest. When she straightened up she said, “It’s his father’s deer rifle.”
The Chief opened his eyes wide. “Oh, interesting.”
Lily hugged Misty. “You did fantastic, and if you can get a sketch going even better. I have to go into the DMV archives for a while, but I’ll wait for you and Celia to do your thing.”
“Thanks, Lily. I hope a picture of him will help.”
“It certainly will, young lady,” said Calhoun. “I’m calling Celia right now.”
JESSE headed to the infirmary when he returned from the meeting in Perry Leighton’s office. Pedro Herrera was in the third bed down the row, an IV in his right hand and his left hand chained to the chrome bedrail. Wearing only a blue hospital gown, Jesse could see the large bandage covering his left thigh. “Hey, Mr. Herrera. Feeling better today?”
He turned angry black eyes on Jesse and spit out the words. “I’m shot. How good can I feel?”
Jesse smiled. “Did you expect to break into the AG’s house without a problem? Is that what Leigh Kryssa told you?”
“Who?”
“Who sent you to kill Mr. Madill?”
“Nobody sent me.”
“You expect me to believe that you hate Mr. Madill enough to break into his house and kill him? Why? What did he ever do to you?”
“Go away. I ain’t talking to no cops.”
“Talking to me is your best option, Mr. Herrera. The people you’re working for ain’t gonna help you. They’re gonna say they never heard of you.” Jesse placed a card on the table next to Herrera’s bed. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone for now. But you think it over and call me when you want to tell me what’s really going on, and I may be able to get the charges against you lowered.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I want the person who hired you, that’s why. Think about it.”
RealtyTex. Northside. Austin.
ANNIE parked her Maserati in front of the real estate office hoping today spent with Leigh Kryssa would be better than the day before. Nothing was shaking loose. If this was the woman after Brad Madill, she wasn’t giving away a hint of nervousness or a hint of anything else. Stone cold and nerves of steel.
“What should I do?” asked Tyler.
Annie hadn’t been keen on bringing Tyler along, but he was trying to be more supportive when she was on a job and that was a positive thing.
“Just be yourself, sugar. No need to do anything. We’re just hanging with her hoping she says something we can use to put her away.”
Tyler grinned. “I’ve never been a spy before.”
Annie winked at him and reached for his hand. “Come on, James Bond. Let’s see what you’re made of.”
Montopolis Area. Austin.
FARRELL parked his truck in a graffiti covered strip mall hoping his wheels would still be there when they got back.
“Jeeze, I don’t know,” said Carlos glancing around the neighborhood. “I’d be worried about the truck.”
“I am worried,” said Farrell. “Let’s be quick and hope I don’t have to shoot any jackers when we come back.”
Inside the first place they visited, a Latino gang was hanging out eating tacos and drinking beer. A couple of kids jeered at them and gave them hand signals. “The cops are here. What the fuck do you assholes want?”
“Not much,” said Farrell. “Looking for word on the sniper. You guys heard any talk on the street?” He tossed a couple of cards onto their table. A skinny punk with a ring in his nose picked up a longneck and poured beer on the card. The rest laughed.
Farrell ignored them. “What’s the word?”
“Ain’t got no word and we ain’t got no bikes, so what do we care. Sniper ain’t after us.”
“Maybe tomorrow, he’ll start doing ugly punks on foot.”
Farrell had a way of building tension wherever he went, kind of like Pig-Pen with negative charges circling around him instead of dirt.
Carlos eased him towards the door. “Let’s move on.”
Ranger Headquarters. Austin.
BLAINE stopped in to see how Misty was doing with Celia Winthrop and the two of them had
moved into one of the visitor’s rooms to work undisturbed. The Chief had called, pleased that there was a possibility of an ID on the sniper.
While Blaine waited to get a look at the sketch, he called Mary Polito. “Mary, it’s me. Farrell told me what happened. Are you okay?”
Mary sniffled for a moment, then took a deep breath. “I’m okay. It’s not like I didn’t know this was coming. He’s been more and more distant, and we’ve been spending hardly any time together.”
“He’s hard to read. If you need anything, call me. I don’t want any walls between us.”
“No, there won’t be. I love my job with the Agency, and I’ll get through it. For now, I’ll keep my distance. As long as I don’t see Farrell face to face for a while, I’ll be okay.”
“Are you busy at the moment?”
“Just typing up some ideas for my column. Do you have something for me?”
“Misty’s working on a drawing of the sniper with the police sketch artist and I’d like to get it into the paper with a ‘have you seen this person’ type of headline.”
“I’ll tell Ben and come over as soon as I can. I’m sure he’ll hold a spot for me on the front page. All the talk in the newsroom is about the bike sniper.”
“No rush, Mary. It takes hours to put a sketch together.”
I might as well go home and work for a couple of hours.
Historic District. Austin.
LEIGH KRYSSA parked in front of a two-storey brick house with a wide veranda across the front. The balusters were curvy and huge and might have been hand turned. The walkway leading up to the steps was wide, made of flagstone and bordered on both sides with wide beds of wildflowers. A slight breeze swirled the scent of the flowers through the air.
Annie stood on the sidewalk and pictured it as an antique store. “My first impression is favorable,” she said to Leigh. “I can see this as a destination for antique shoppers. What do you think, Tyler?”
“The house seems solid and I like it so far.”
Leigh turned to Tyler and said, “I’m happy you could join us today, Mr. Quantrall.”
“My pleasure, ma’am. Spending time with my wife is always a good time for me.”
Annie stifled a giggle and walked towards the porch. “Is the house empty now?”
“Yes, the previous owners are deceased, and the family is selling the house. They’ve cleaned the interior thoroughly, although some unwanted furnishings remain inside.” Leigh’s phone rang and she pulled it out of her jacket pocket and checked the screen. “I should take this. You go on inside and I’ll be along in a minute.”
Tyler held the front door open for Annie and they waited in the foyer. “Can you hear what she’s saying?” asked Annie in a whisper.
“I only caught a couple of words,” said Ty. “Ridiculous and something that sounded like monitor.”
“I’ll tell Blaine as soon as we’re done here,” said Annie. “I do like this house. Let’s see if the upstairs could be made into an apartment.”
“Sorry about that,” said Leigh as she hurried in from the porch.
“No problem,” said Annie, “I was just saying to Tyler that perhaps the upstairs could be made into an apartment and rented separately.”
“What a wonderful idea. Let me give y’all the tour.”
Office of the Attorney General for Texas. Austin.
BRAD MADILL paced back and forth in front of the windows in his office, staring out at the city but not appreciating the view from the fifteenth floor. “I can’t concentrate and I’m not getting a damn thing done, Travis. Any suggestions?”
Travis held up a finger. His cell was ringing. “Hey, Annie-girl. Umm… not so hot. Yeah, sure.”
Travis crossed the room and handed his cell to Brad.
“Hello?”
“Go to my ranch and have Monroe saddle up a couple of horses. You need to ride, clear your head and shake off the trauma.”
“I can’t. I have too much work to do.”
“How much are you getting done?”
“Umm… none.”
“Get out of the city for the morning at least.”
“Thanks for caring about me, Annie. I appreciate it, and I appreciate you saving my life for the second time.”
“No problem.”
Brad gave the phone back to Travis. “That’s quite a woman. She says we should go riding for the morning, as if that will make a difference.”
“Want to try it?”
“Sure. Why not? Nothing is getting done here.”
The Capitol. Austin.
THE MEDIA crowded into the rotunda for Governor Campbell’s return to office after suffering the death of her newly acquired spouse.
Special Agent Gene Wyman and three others on the security team hovered around and guarded her closely.
Dressed in a black suit and wearing little makeup, she stood behind the lectern set up for her and delivered a speech outlining her plans for Texas for the coming year.
In closing, she added, “I want to thank the people of Texas for the outpouring of condolences and heartfelt wishes I received, and I also want to thank the members of the media for allowing me time to grieve in private.”
She smiled as the crowd applauded and she ignored the questions they shouted out. Before leaving the podium she scanned the crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of Blaine. She needed his support more than ever to get back on track.
Blaine isn’t here. What does that mean?
Penny was hard at work when Catherine reached the outer office. “I’m here, dear. Come on in and we’ll go over the appointments for today.”
Penny smiled. “How did the speech go downstairs?”
“Well, I think. The media seemed happy to see me back in action.”
“Of course, they are, Catherine, and I’m glad you’re back too. We’ll take it slow. Today will be hard for you.”
Catherine sat down at her desk and stared at the neatly stacked piles in front of her. It would take her days to catch up. Her cell rang and she had no time for self-pity. “Good morning, sweetie.”
“So sorry, I couldn’t make the speech. Emergency meeting in the DA’s office, but I wanted you to know...” Blaine lowered his voice. “Just call me if you can’t manage. Okay?”
Tears rolled down her cheeks and she nodded even though Blaine couldn’t see her. “Thanks.”
I so needed to hear that.
Courthouse. Downtown Austin.
“WHO’S THE DUDE with them?” asked Fletcher as the Carpenter brothers came out of the courthouse.
“Probably their attorney,” said Luke, “the guy who got them released. He must be a heavy hitter.”
“What’s the first thing they’re gonna do now that they’re out of jail?” asked Fletch.
Luke chuckled. “I don’t know. Go to a bar and get wasted?”
“I wish they’d run straight to Leigh Kryssa and we could arrest them all at once.”
“Maybe that will happen, and you’ll get your wish,” said Luke. “Follow the lawyer. Let’s see if he’s giving them a ride home.”
Fletcher followed the black Jag north on I-35 to the Windsor Park exit. Around a couple of blocks, then west on Park Road and the car stopped at a yellow rancher. The brothers got out, gave their lawyer a wave and went inside.
“Wonder if there are good places to eat around here,” said Luke. “We might be here for a while.”
The Blackmore Agency. Austin.
ANNIE AND TYLER stopped by the Agency after they left Leigh Kryssa’s office.
“Mom, Ty, I’m glad to see you guys. How’s the fake store hunting going?”
Annie giggled. “We saw one today that Tyler and I both like a lot. A beautiful old place. We might buy it. Not so fake after all.”
“Mrs. Kryssa saying anything interesting?”
“One phone call,” said Tyler, “and all I heard her say was ridiculous and I thought she said monitor, although I didn’t see how that fit into the conversation.”
/>
“Yes,” hollered Blaine. “Monitor. I love you, Ty. Monitor is the secret word of the day.”
Annie’s gray eyes were wide. “It is?”
“The DA released the Carpenter brothers, but they have both been fitted with ankle monitors.”
“So, one of the brothers phoned her as soon as they were out?” asked Tyler.
“Either one of them or it could have been Carrillo, if Leigh Kryssa retained the attorney for them. Doesn’t matter. If she hired their attorney it’s still a huge connection.”
“Glad you’re happy, Blacky,” said Tyler. “I’m done being a spy for today.”
“Spies get to drink a cold one at the end of a hard day, just like cowboys,” said Blaine. He jogged to the Sub-Zero and got them all drinks.
A few minutes later, Lily came in with Misty and Blaine was alarmed, Misty seemed so pale and drained.
“That was a long day for you, sweetheart. Let me get you a glass of wine.”
“I’ll get it,” said Lil. “After a day in the archives, I’m a little dry myself.”
“How did the sketch turn out? Sorry I didn’t wait, but I’m so far behind on stuff in the office.”
“Nothing you could do, Beb,” said Misty. “I have to tell her what he looks like and then we have to change the features a million times to get it right.”
“How did he turn out?”
“Lil has him in her briefcase,” said Misty. “Mary took his picture to the paper. I think she said there will be a special late edition with a story and the picture.”
“Did headquarters set up a hotline, Lil?” asked Blaine.
“They’re as ready as they can be for a zillion phone calls.”
“Let’s see what the dude looks like.”
Lil pulled the photocopy out of her briefcase and placed it on the table. Blaine stared in disbelief at the blond haired kid staring back at him. “He’s so young. Can’t believe he’d be as good a shooter as he is at nineteen or twenty.”
“You were, asshole,” growled Farrell. He’d hardly said two words since his breakup with Mary.
“Yeah, I guess, I was.”
“And before you ask, nothing in facial recognition,” said Lil. “Chief Calhoun was anxious to run the picture and there was nothing on record for him.”