Trail of Lies (6 page)

 

As Daniel grabbed a cup of coffee and started back toward his office, Rangers Gisella Hernandez and Evan Chen came into the reception area. He paused in his trek, taking a long sip of his coffee. “What did you two find out?”

“No one on staff at the restaurant fits the description you gave us of the driver of the white Honda.” Tall with dark hair and eyes, Gisella stopped near Daniel while Evan made his way toward the coffeepot. When he lifted the glass carafe and looked toward Gisella, she said, “I'll take some.”

“Anyone recently quit who did?” Daniel leaned against the edge of the receptionist's desk.

“Nope.” Gisella took the mug Evan handed her.

“That's what I was afraid of. It was a long shot, but I was hoping he worked there. More likely he was calling an accomplice.” Daniel crossed his legs as he sipped more of his brew. He wished that for once something on this case would come easy.

“Or the person who hired him,” Evan said.

“I want you two to dig into the backgrounds of everyone working at the restaurant. See if there is any connection to the others we know are involved in this case. I'm going to have a conversation with the William Thompson who runs the chain for the widow.” As the pair of Rangers headed for their offices, Daniel immediately pictured Melora's ashen features the last time he was at her house. The person on the other end of the phone line had said something that had scared her. His gut told him she was in trouble. Whether she liked it or not, he would stay close.

He stopped at Oliver's cubicle and waited for the Ranger to finish his call.

Oliver glanced toward him as he hung up. “I've been trying to locate Gordon Johnson. No one has heard from him in two years.”

“Keep looking. He might have been involved in his boss's murder. Let me know if the search at the animal rescue center unearths another body. I also want you to work on getting a warrant to wiretap Melora Hudson's phone.” Daniel didn't think they had the evidence yet to do it, but he couldn't shake her frightened image from his mind.

Oliver nodded. Daniel swallowed a few more sips of his coffee and went to his office to put his mug on his desk
before leaving. No time like the present to see what Mr. Thompson knew.

His cell rang as he stepped outside. Quickly he answered it. “Riley here.”

“This is Mercy Hospital. Melora Hudson and her daughter were brought into the emergency room. She asked me to call you.”

“Emergency room? What happened?” He lengthened his strides toward his truck in the parking lot.

“They were in a wreck.”

Daniel went cold. His gut knotted. “I'll be right there.”

 

Her body aching, Melora stood at the end of the bed in the emergency room as the doctor and nurse finished up with Kaitlyn. Melora fought the tears threatening her composure. She couldn't do this anymore. They could have been killed today. The cab driver might have been. All she knew was that they'd rushed him into surgery.

The sounds around her faded to be replaced with remembered ones from the crash—the crunch of metal, a hissing noise, her daughter's cries when something came through the windshield, shattering the glass. She hugged her arms to her chest but nothing warded off the cold that encased her.

“Melora, are you all right?” Daniel appeared at her side.

She hadn't even seen him enter the room in the E.R. She wanted to go into his arms—have them encircle her in a ring of protection. She stayed where she was, tightening the hold on herself. “Yes—no.” The last word came out in a squeak as the doctor finished cleaning the cuts on her daughter's face, Kaitlyn's wide eyes glued to hers, tears swimming in them.

“I'm here to help.” He slipped his arm across her shoulder and brought her against him.

She didn't resist. She grasped on to what he said, hoping she was making the right decision because what she had done so far hadn't kept her and her daughter safe.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Melora peered at Kaitlyn. “Later. Right now I need to get my daughter home.”

Jorge Cantana came into the room. “Melora, I just heard you and Kaitlyn were here. What happened?”

When she saw her best friend's father, Kaitlyn burst out crying. Melora shook her head at Jorge and rounded the end of the bed to draw her daughter into her arms.

“Baby, I'm right here. You'll be good as new in no time.” Melora kissed the top of Kaitlyn's hair, the scent of antiseptic mingling with the aroma of her apple blossom shampoo. “Can I take her home, Dr. Phillips?”

The older gentleman nodded. “I've written a couple of prescriptions for you two. But you both should be fine in a few days. If not,” Dr. Phillips glanced toward Jorge, “I'd call your family physician.”

Her family doctor and friend stepped forward. “I'll talk with Dr. Phillips. Right now, I think it would be a good idea to take Kaitlyn home. Do you need a ride? I can drive you.”

“I'm taking them home,” Daniel said, drawing her attention to the Ranger still at the end of the bed.

“I called him,” she said in answer to the question in Jorge's eyes, purposefully not telling anyone who Daniel was. Although with his gun at his side and his silver star on his shirt, it was obvious he was a Texas Ranger.

“Fine. I'll call later to check up on you two. But don't hesitate to call if you have any problems.”

“I won't.” Melora assisted Kaitlyn to stand, her arm around her to steady her.

As she slowly walked her daughter from the room, Daniel came up to her side. “I'll bring my truck around to the entrance.”

She tried to give him a smile, but her mouth wouldn't cooperate. She nodded instead.

After Daniel left, Jorge approached. “Are you sure there isn't anything I can do?”

“No, we're fine. But please don't say anything to my uncle. I didn't call him.”

“Why?”

“I don't want to worry him.”

“How do you know Ranger Riley?”

“How do you?”

“I saw him at Axle's funeral and asked Hank Zarvy.”

“He's investigating Axle's murder.”

Jorge stopped right outside the hospital's sliding glass doors. “And you called him?”

“Yes, I think this wreck is connected.” At that moment Daniel pulled up and hopped out of his truck to help her and Kaitlyn get in.

Before she could climb in, Jorge stopped her. “What's going on?”

The worry in his expression battered at her composure. She didn't need to fall apart right now. Not with Kaitlyn looking to her for strength. “Don't worry. We'll be fine now that Ranger Riley is here.”

 

As Daniel pulled up to her house, Melora caught sight of her uncle's restored 1956 Thunderbird and moaned.

“Who's visiting?” Daniel slowed his truck.

“Uncle Tyler. Jorge must have called him. I wish he hadn't.”

“Uncle Tyler is here,” Kaitlyn said from the backseat, excitement in her voice.

Melora glanced at her. “Yes. He's driving his latest toy.”

Kaitlyn scrunched up her battle-scarred face. “Toy?” She sat up and looked out the front windshield. “Cool car and my favorite color—red.”

“Yeah, Uncle Tyler's partial to red.” A memory of Kaitlyn's face with bleeding cuts on it flooded her with fear all over again. Somehow she had to keep it from her uncle. She didn't want him pulled into her problems. She wasn't even sure what she was going to do—other than tell Daniel what was going on. She was in way over her head, fighting for her and Kaitlyn's lives.

A minute later when Melora let herself into her house, Uncle Tyler was striding across the large foyer toward her. She went into his embrace and battled to keep the tears that clogged her throat from spilling. Thankfully, at that moment Kaitlyn wedged herself between them.

He bent down and picked her up. “Hi, princess. I heard you had quite a day.”

Although his voice was light and his expression showed only love for Kaitlyn, Melora glimpsed the tension in his eyes. She knew she would have some serious explaining to do—before she talked with Daniel.

“I was scared. Mommy and me were leaving on an adventure when that bad man hit us with a truck.”

“What adventure?” Uncle Tyler swung his sharpened gaze to Melora.

“Don't know. It was a surprise.” Kaitlyn threw her arms around her uncle's neck and kissed his cheek. “I'm glad to be home.”

Juanita scurried into the foyer. “Oh, my baby, what happened to you?”

As Kaitlyn launched into an explanation about the wreck, Uncle Tyler's expression turned stony. There were only a few times when Melora had received that look—only when he was very displeased with her. She needed to talk with him before Kaitlyn said something about the cat disappearing. She didn't want the situation to get any worse than it already was.

Melora laid her hand on her daughter's back. “Juanita, I think Kaitlyn should have some of her favorite ice cream. That will make her feel better.”

Daniel stepped forward. “That sounds great. Can I share some ice cream with you?”

“Yeah,” Kaitlyn said. Her daughter took Daniel's hand and tugged him toward the kitchen.

Daniel was giving her the time to talk with her uncle, which she appreciated. Through all her dealings with Daniel lately, she realized one thing. He was a very perceptive man. Which meant she couldn't keep anything from him anymore. It took too much energy—energy she didn't have. But first she had to deal with Uncle Tyler.

“Let's go into Axle's office.” A fitting place to have this conversation, she thought as she followed her uncle into the room and shut the door, preparing herself for the onslaught of questions.

“Are you really all right?”

His first query threw her off for a few seconds. She nodded.

“What were you doing in a cab?”

“How did you know about that?”

“I have connections. I checked with the police about the wreck. A hit and run.”

“Yeah, the man fled the scene. Probably didn't have insurance.”

“What's going on?”

Still achy and mentally exhausted, Melora crossed the office to a grouping of chairs and sat. “I was in a wreck. It happens. But I'm okay now and so is Kaitlyn.”

Uncle Tyler took a seat across from her. “Why were you in a cab? What's this about an adventure?”

“With all that has happened lately, I thought it would be nice to get out of town for a while. Just Kaitlyn and me.”

One of his bushy eyebrows rose. “Without telling me?”

“It was a spur of the moment decision. I was going to call you later.”

“Is something going on you should let me know about? Why did you call Daniel Riley?”

“He's been looking into Axle's death, and we've renewed our acquaintance.”

“I didn't realize you knew him.”

“Casually. He's been working with the Alamo planning committee concerning the security.”

Her uncle's gaze bore into her. “If something is wrong, you know I can protect you. You are my only family, Melora. You and Kaitlyn.”

Love filled each of his words, and for a second she considered telling him everything. But looking into his dear features, she couldn't. Not yet. He'd given her a home when she'd lost her parents. He'd become like a father to her. She couldn't put him in the middle of this. She would never forgive herself if something happened to him because she'd involved him. Daniel was better equipped to protect her and Kaitlyn. She had to put her trust in him.

Melora pasted a smile on her mouth. “I love you, Uncle Tyler, and I'm going to be fine. Wrecks happen all the time in San Antonio. The police will find the driver.” She hoped.

 

Two hours later in her living room Melora eased onto the couch, so tired all she wanted to do was stretch out and sleep like Kaitlyn was. After spending most of the previous night going over her plan to escape, Melora was exhausted both mentally and physically. Then her visit with her uncle had only added to that, but he'd left a half hour ago.

Daniel swiveled around from staring out the window that overlooked the several acres of backyard. His features firmed in a determined look, he moved toward the sitting area and took a wingback chair across from her.

“Thanks for waiting for your answers until Uncle Tyler left and I got Kaitlyn settled down for a nap. She went right to sleep.” This time when she attempted to smile, the corners of her mouth lifted—slightly for a few seconds before collapsing.

“I'm glad. I was worried. She chattered for a while when she was eating her ice cream, then she became quiet. No amount of coaxing could get her to say much until you and Tyler came into the kitchen.”

“Even then she was quieter than usual. I think everything was sinking in.”

He removed his hat and placed it on the coffee table then lounged back. “Tell me what happened. Why were you in a cab?”

She prayed Daniel was the right person to trust. She looked him in the eye and before she lost her nerve said, “I was leaving San Antonio.”

“Leaving? A vacation?”

“No, getting as far away from here as I could.”

A shutter dropped into place over his expression. He straightened, leaning forward, his elbows on his thighs. “Why? Who has you scared?”

“I don't know who. The man who broke in was delivering a message to me to keep quiet or I would end up like Axle.”

“Quiet about what?”

“That's just it. I don't know. He talked about a flash drive that Axle had, but I've looked in the house and can't find it.”

Daniel clasped his hands together, his gaze zeroing in on her. “Do you think your husband was messed up in something illegal?”

The word yes stuck in her throat. She swallowed several times but still couldn't get it out. Finally she nodded, sliding her eyes closed. She didn't want to see the disappointment that she'd kept quiet for so long in his face.