Lone Star Standoff. Margaret Daley
dishes, and then we can play a game.”
A resounding cheer came from her children as Aubrey rushed toward the entry hall and reached to clasp the knob. She stopped in mid-motion. Instead she looked through the peephole and saw it was Texas Ranger McNair, then opened the door. “Thank you for coming.” She stepped to the side for him to enter.
She hadn’t seen him at the courthouse in over a month and had forgotten how tall and well built he was. Dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt with a striped gray-and-red tie, black pants, an off-white cowboy hat, brown boots and his badge pinned over his heart, he had a commanding air about him. The sight of him dressed for work reminded her of her husband, and a knot clogged her throat. That first year after Samuel’s murder, she saw Sean a couple of times a week while he worked the case.
He paused a few feet from her, turned toward her and held out his hand. “It’s nice to see you again.” His dark blue eyes roamed over her features, and a slow smile spread across his tanned face. “Although I wish it were under different circumstances.”
She shook his hand. “I agree, Sean. I have a home office where we can talk. My children are in the kitchen, and I don’t want them to overhear our conversation.”
“I understand. Lead the way.”
Aubrey passed him in the foyer, feeling dwarfed by his large frame. She was only five four while he must be at least six and a half feet, if not more. She waved her hand toward a brown leather love seat and two chairs. Although she had a desk, she usually ended up working on the two-cushion couch with her laptop and papers spread all over the coffee table.
“When I’m not in a trial, I often work from home to be here for my two kids. It helps that my mother lives with me, and I’m only ten minutes away from the courthouse.”
While he took a chair, she sat on the love seat, thinking they should switch places. He looked so big in the wingback. He took off his hat and laid it on the coffee table between them, then ran his fingers through his thick, short black hair. “Being the judge in the Bento Villa trial must be tough.”
“Yes, it’s taken days to find a jury. The trial will actually start on Monday. When you leave, I’ll open the garage door and show you the dead rat in my car’s trunk. I didn’t touch it. In fact, I left a shopping bag in there with clothes I bought at lunch for my twins, Sammy and Camy. They’re four and a half. My mama takes care of them when I’m working.” When she and Sean had talked before, it had been centered on her husband’s case, but if someone was coming after her now, Sean needed to know everything about her family. They could be affected, too.
“Is your son named after his dad?”
“Yes, and Camy after my mama. Her name is Camilla.” Texas Ranger McNair had always been easy to talk to. Aubrey reclined back, trying to relax some of her tight muscles that had stayed with her since she left the courthouse. The only place she dealt with her job at home was in this office. When she walked out of here, her family became her focus—until someone had left that message in her trunk. “A dead rat has been used by the cartel before as a warning. I’ve also received a few hang-ups at my office in the courthouse since I was assigned to the Villa trial.”
“Have you received calls like that at other times?”
“Occasionally, and that’s why I shrugged them off this time. I know it’s not Bento himself, since he’s in jail and his communications are monitored. But the Coastal Cartel is big and ruthless.”
“What’s the security for this trial?”
“Extra guards at the courthouse and inside where the trial is. I’ve always felt safe at work. Someone coming after me won’t change the fact that Bento Villa is on trial for the murder of Hector Martin.”
“This is a high-profile case.” Sean wrote something on the pad he held. “Can we narrow down the time and place where the rat could have been put in your trunk? Then I can check security cameras to see if I can catch the person on tape.”
“During lunch, I usually eat in my office at the courthouse, but today I needed to get away. The atmosphere is tense. Since we were getting near the end of the selection of jurors, I announced a two-hour lunch period. I still ate in my office and decided to lie down on the couch and take a nap. Since this case began, I haven’t slept as well as I usually do. But I couldn’t fall asleep. So I decided to go shopping for summer clothes for the kids. The dead rat wasn’t in the trunk when I put that bag in there after visiting the store I usually get their clothes at.”
“What store?”
“Clothes Galore on Main Street.”
“Did you go right back to the courthouse?”
Aubrey looked away from Sean’s intense gaze. “No. I went to Sweet Haven Parlor and had a double scoop of cookie-dough ice cream in a waffle cone. Indulging always manages to cheer me up.”
He chuckled. “I’ve been there before. Their ice cream is great.”
“What flavor?” He made her feel at ease during this tense time.
“Chocolate. Don’t tell anyone that’s my weakness.”
She laughed. The sound surprised her even more. For the past thirty minutes, she’d been tied in knots, and in a brief time he’d gotten her to laugh. But she quickly sobered as he wrote on his pad. This visit was about someone leaving her a message. She couldn’t take that lightly.
“I’ll check the security cameras at the courthouse and Sweet Haven Parlor, if they have any. Did you go anywhere else?”
“No. I came right back and had only a few minutes to get to my office and put on my robe.”
“When you drove home from the courthouse, did you stop anywhere and leave your car unattended?”
“No. After this week, all I wanted to do was get home.”
Sean stood and pocketed his notepad. “Show me your car.”
“Let’s go out front. I’ll raise the garage door. If we go through the kitchen, my children will want to come with us. They’re curious and ask so many questions.” They reminded her of her husband in that way. He’d always proclaimed that was what made him a good investigator—and what had probably led to his death. She shivered at the thought.
As she exited her office, laughter from the kitchen drifted to her. She smiled. No doubt Sammy and Camy were competing at clearing the dishes from the table.
“Your kids sound like they’re having fun.” Sean opened the front door.
“They love to compete with each other but are quick to stand up for one another when needed.” Aubrey put in her code on the pad at the garage. The noise of the door rising filled the quiet. She hoped her kids didn’t get curious at hearing the sound and want to check it out.
As she approached the rear of her car, she popped the trunk. The odor of the dead rat overwhelmed her even more than before. Shivering at the sight, she pinched her nose and gestured toward the rat.
Sean took pictures of it then put on gloves to handle the rat. “I need something to put this in. Can I use the bag your children’s clothes are in?”
“Sure.” She moved toward Sean and picked up the bag to remove the outfits. As she pulled them out, something dropped onto the concrete. She heard it before she saw what came out of the bag. Clutching the clothes against her chest, she intended to kneel and pick up whatever fell.
“I’ll get it.” After putting the bag with the rat on the floor, Sean squatted and reached under the vehicle. When he stood, he held his palm out flat toward Aubrey.
She stared at her husband’s hammered-gold wedding band with her name engraved in it. It had been missing since his murder.
The twins’ outfits fell to the concrete as her legs gave out.