The Texas Ranger's Family (6 page)

“Oh.” She gave a half laugh. “I taught girls' physical education at Tabor High for thirty-eight years. I used to run marathons. Now I can't make this body work anymore.”

“Amy runs constantly. I think she might have inherited that trait from you.”

Natalie's gaze swerved to Kit's. Streams of unspoken thoughts ran between them. “Do you have friends who visit?”

“Oh, yes. People from our church. I've been well looked after. My husband saw to that. But we couldn't do anything for our Harold.” She wept again.

“Yes, you did,” Natalie contradicted her. “You gave him a wonderful home after his parents died. No one could have done more, but I'm sure you're tired now. I'll come to visit you again soon and bring Amy. I want her to get to know you.”

There was no more talk. They'd worn her out. Natalie held Amy until her little girl started to squirm to get down. Kit must have seen the signs and plucked her out of Natalie's arms. Gladys had gone to sleep.

With tacit agreement they left the room and walked down the hall to the reception area. Kit approached the desk. “We had a nice visit with Gladys and can see she's well taken care of. We'll come again soon.”

“She'll love that.”

Natalie left her name and phone number in case they needed to call her. Then she joined Kit and they left the nursing home for the rental car.

Kit got behind the wheel. “What do you say we stop at a drive-through for lunch and go to a park for a little while before we have to head to the airport? It'll give Amy a chance to run around.”

“That's a wonderful idea.”

Before long they located a nearby park. They found a nice spot for their picnic and Natalie laid Amy down on a quilt to change her diaper. With that accomplished, she disposed of it in the diaper bag then sanitized her hands.

Kit opened the sacks. Natalie fed Amy some yogurt with fruit. She ate part of Natalie's grilled-cheese sandwich while Kit tucked into a ham-and-cheese melt. They drank soda and laughed at Amy's antics as she walked around on unsteady legs in the grass, carrying her cow. It went everywhere with her.

“I don't think I fooled Gladys. She had to have known he'd escaped from prison and was a fugitive. I'm just thankful she didn't press me.”

Kit eyed her thoughtfully. “In my opinion she was so thrilled you gave her news about Harold and let her see her great-granddaughter, she was willing to go with what you told her.”

“She's a lovely, bright woman. So was her husband. It means—”

“It means Harold's parents were great people, too,” he interrupted her. “Something
did
go wrong inside his brain. It's tragic, but it happens. Are you glad we came?”

“Oh, yes, Kit. Thank you for making it happen. I've learned so much...the kinds of things I'll be happy to tell Amy about when she's older. But what about you? Do you think the name of that former friend of his could give you a lead?”

“I'm counting on it, but I'll look into it tomorrow. Tonight I'd like you to call your friend in Phoenix and ask her when would be a good time for a visit. We'll fly out there. The sooner the better. Wednesday if we could.”

Natalie felt a fluttering in her chest. “I'll call her after nine when she's off work.”

“Good. I need to talk to her in person. Her answers could prove crucial to this case.”

Natalie waited until Amy drank the fresh milk she'd poured into her sippy cup. “All right, young lady, it's time to get you back to the car.”

Time to bring an end to this amazing day with Kit Saunders, Texas Ranger
extraordinaire
in every sense of the word. In three days Natalie's life had undergone a drastic change. She could tell she wasn't the same person who'd walked into her house on Saturday to find it violated the way Rod had violated her. The life she'd had with him seemed light-years away.

* * *

T
UESDAY
MORNING
K
IT
was up and out of the house early. He left a note for Natalie that he needed to get to headquarters and that a surveillance team in a television-repair van was parked near the house to keep watch over her until he got back.

He'd dressed in his clerical shirt and headed for the office. Before he did anything else, he needed to talk to his boss. Everyone who saw him walking down the hallway did a double-take before he reached the captain's inner sanctum and knocked on his partially open door.

“Come in.”

Kit did as he was told. “TJ?”

The gray-haired man looked up and gave Kit the once-over. “I thought I'd seen it all. Don't get any ideas about changing careers,
Father
Saunders. We need you around here.”

“Thanks.” Relieved to find his boss in a good mood, Kit sat.

“Give me an update.”

After five minutes TJ had been brought up to speed. “What's your next move?”

“I'll be in my office for a while. I've got to check out the information on Jimmy Salter. After that I'll touch base with Forensics. Tomorrow I plan to fly to Phoenix. Mrs. Harris's friend may hold the key to the person who killed Harold Park.”

TJ regarded him shrewdly. “I take it you've cleared Mrs. Harris as a suspect?”

“I'm one-hundred-percent certain she's innocent of everything except falling in love with an expert con man.”

“Are you taking her with you again?”

“Yes. I believe her friend will be more comfortable with Mrs. Harris there.”

“What about the toddler?”

Just thinking about the little girl put a smile on Kit's face. “Amy will be coming, too. I don't want her separated from her mother.”

“So it's Amy now.” TJ looked amused.

Kit could see where this conversation was headed and got to his feet. “I won't take up any more of your time.”

“Watch your back. Let me know if you need more help.”

“Thanks, TJ.”

Once he'd settled at his desk, Kit made two calls to Denver. The first was to the school board to request information on Jimmy Salter and his family from their records. His second call was to the police in Denver to have them search their files for a rap sheet on a Jimmy Salter. Thanks to Mrs. Park he had approximate dates to go on.

With that accomplished he called Forensics. Stan, the lead forensics expert, invited him to come downstairs to discuss what he knew at this point in the case.

Before he could leave, his cell rang. He saw Natalie's name and his pulse sped up. Maybe she'd reached her friend. “Hi.”

“Hi. You told me to phone if I got one of those hang-up calls. It just happened.”

Kit checked his watch. It was ten to ten. “I'll get someone on it immediately. That's three so far, right?”

“Yes. The two last week and now this one.”

“Okay. Did you reach your friend?”

“My call went to Colette's voice mail. I asked her to call me back ASAP.”

“Then I'm sure she will. I'll be here awhile if anything else comes up. How's Amy?”

“Running around as usual with toys in both hands.”

He chuckled. “See you later.”

On the way down the hall Kit almost collided with his friend Luckey, who grinned. “Well, well. Do I call you
Monsignor
?”

“It's Father Segal.”

“On you it actually looks believable. Cy told me you've gone undercover on the Harris case and she's really hot.”

“I didn't say a word about her.”

“That's why Cy figured it out. Where's the fire?”

“I'll tell you later.”

“I want to know chapter and verse. If you need backup, I'm available.”

“Thanks. I just might need you.”

Kit hurried past him and took the stairs two at a time to reach the bottom floor where the forensics department was located. Once through the doors he stopped at the office of another colleague. Rafe.

The man smiled. “The collar looks good on you, Kit.”

“Thanks.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Check on the call that went to the Rodney Harris home maybe five, six minutes ago.” He wrote down the number of Natalie's landline. “I need to know who made it, anything you can.”

“Will do.”

“I'll be in with Stan when you've got any information for me.”

He moved on and found Stan comparing pictures on a screen. “Stan? Have you got prints from the Harris home yet?”

“We're still working on them, but we have the prints off Harris's cell and laptop. There were several different sets on and inside the car. They found a couple of long black hairs on the front passenger seat. We're running the prints that aren't Harris's or his wife's through the AFIS database. I'll email you a copy of the results.” He eyed Kit but didn't remark on the collar.

“Great.”

“Les has finished going over the car. It was totally clean. By that I mean there wasn't anything in the glove compartment, no litter. Nothing.”

“When he checked the spare tire, did he see anything that could give us a clue where the car was serviced or purchased?”

“No. He found the laptop and cell phone in the trunk. They found a thumb print on the lid and we're looking at it now. The two items were wrapped in a baby quilt, of all things.”

“Obviously it was wrapped to hide it from view.”

“You'll notice two hundred and eighty thousand miles on the car.”

Interesting. Why would an accountant have done so much driving? “Later in the day someone from the staff will drive it over to Mrs. Harris's house with the deceased's personal effects.”

“Thanks, Stan.”

Kit would look through everything with her later. He hoped Natalie could remember how many miles were on the car when she'd first met her husband. If he had a travel allowance, Kit knew the mileage on the car would be way over the limit.

“Kit?” He turned to see Rafe coming toward him.

“What did you find?”

“That call originated from a throw-away phone.”

“I thought so. Appreciate it.”

Whoever had broken into Natalie's house was anxious to get back in. Maybe the culprit thought the money had been stashed in the attic, unless he'd checked it out the first time. Kit phoned Stan.

“Kit?”

“One more question. Did the forensics team take prints on the trap door leading to the attic at the Harris residence?”

“Let me check.” He came back on the phone quickly. “No.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Forensics should have checked that. Kit would do it after he went back to Natalie's house. Now that he was through here, he'd head over to LifeSpan Pharmaceutical and get the status on the investigation of the accounts fraud.

When he reached the car in the underground parking, he removed his clerical shirt and put on the brown Western shirt he'd brought, the badge attached to the front pocket. Then he phoned Natalie.

“Hi. I just found out Rod's car will be delivered to your house later today. They'll phone you first. I just wanted you to know what to expect. You'll be happy to learn that the baby quilt you made was found in the trunk.”

“Oh—I'm so glad. I hated losing it. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Of course. While I have you on the phone, do you have any idea of the mileage on Rod's car when you first started going out with him?”

After a silence she said, “No. Like I said, I simply wasn't that curious. Sorry.”

“Not a problem. See you later.”

But before he could put his key in the ignition, his cell rang. After a glance at the Caller ID he answered.

“Brandon? What are you doing calling me at this time of day? I thought you'd be out practicing with Scott!” He always liked talking with his brother.

“You're not going to believe what happened. Scott was in an accident this morning and went to the hospital with a broken leg.”

“You can't be serious.” Kit's eyes closed tightly. His brother had just lost his hazer for at least three months. The timing couldn't be worse considering his schedule on the rodeo circuit. “How did it happen?”

“A semi's brakes failed and it T-boned Scott's Silverado before it ended up in a field. It was a miracle no one was killed, but Janie's a wreck.” Brandon sounded shaken.

“I'm sure she is.” He ran a hand through his hair.

“What hospital is he in?”

“Seton.”

Kit would have to give Scott a call.

“I don't know what to do, bro. We have a competition coming up this Saturday night in San Antonio. I've got to find another hazer, but that takes time.”

“Ask Whitey. He's worked with you before.”

“I'm afraid he's off his game these days.”

That meant Whitey was drinking again. “Try Pete.”

“He's not up to speed anymore.”

“Then spread the word you need a hazer fast!”

“I'm sure I'll find one, but not in time for Saturday night.”

Kit had too much on his mind to give his brother's problem a lot of thought. “Can you afford to give this rodeo a miss while you search for someone else?”

“I guess I might have to.”

Kit heard the disappointment in his voice.

“Kit?”

He could hear it coming. “Yes?”

“Are you working on a big case these days?”

“Yup. In fact I'm in the middle of it right now and I have to go. I'll call you later when I get a chance.” He rang off and headed across town. It didn't surprise him that his phone rang again as he pulled into the guest parking lot at the LifeSpan Pharmaceuticals.

He clicked on. “Hi, Mom. I heard the news.”

“It's a darn shame, Kit.”

“I agree.”

“But Brandon was counting on winning in San Antonio. Is there any way you could haze for him on Saturday night? You know better than anyone how important it is, and there's no one better on a horse than you.”