Wanted By The Cowboy Tiger (Heroes of Shifter Creek 3) (7 page)

“I’ll try to head out that way later on,” Danny added, “but I’ve got a few things I want to take care of first.”

They smiled and stood while the older two men departed, and then faced each other.

“So,” Danny said. “Are you going to let me take you out to dinner?”

Janelle smiled. “If you didn’t ask me, I was going to ask you.”

“Do you like green enchiladas?” Danny asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “But I’m willing to try anything once.”

“Oh, you’re in for a treat,” Danny said. He led the way to his pickup and opened the door. “I’d like to take you to Rosalee’s.”

Rosalee’s didn’t look like much from the outside. Honestly, it didn’t look like much on the inside, either – there were a few tables surrounded by folding chairs, and a basket of cactus set in the front window. Danny and Janelle had the place to themselves. She looked around skeptically.

“Trust me,” Danny said. “We’re a little early. Mama Rosalee doesn’t officially start cooking until five.” He smiled at the young man who’d come out to take their order. “But Luis is going to take care of us just fine.”

Luis smiled. “You want enchiladas?” he asked, adding something in a rapid fire Spanish that Janelle couldn’t follow.

Danny nodded, and said something in Spanish back, before concluding in English, “Yes, she is very beautiful.”

“So,” Janelle said, after Luis disappeared toward the kitchen, “we know that you’re shy and subtle.”

Danny laughed. “Guilty as charged.”  He tilted his head and smiled. “Beautiful women don’t just show up in Loma Rita on an everyday basis. Never mind ones with a brain like you’ve got.”

“Be careful, Mr. Russell,” Janelle said. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”

“I’ll take that warning under advisement,” Danny replied. “So tell me, how’d you get into the bat business?”

“It didn’t start with bats,” Janelle said. “I grew up in Chicago.”

“Not exactly known for its wildlife,” Danny said.

“You’d think that,” Janelle said. “But when I was eight years old, I was walking home from school one day. Not too far – just a couple of blocks through my neighborhood. It was me, my best friend, and her older brother. We were walking along, and out of nowhere, a deer came bounding across our path. And that deer was flying. She was running as fast as she could go.” She shook her head and smiled. “There we were, shocked – none of us had ever seen a deer before. It went over a fence and was gone in the blink of an eye. And right behind it? Three coyotes.  They were right on her tail, but they couldn’t clear the fence.”

“How close were you all to them?” Danny asked.

“As close as you and I are right now,” Janelle said. Her eyes met Danny’s, and for a long moment, neither of them spoke. “Of course, we were terrified. But my friend always had a big mouth, so she started hollering at those coyotes. They took off running then.” Janelle laughed. “Of course, I wanted to follow them. I’d never seen animals like that. I didn’t know that wild things lived in my neighborhood. One thing led to another, and, well. Here I am today.”

“The Bat Woman.”

“The Bat Woman,” Janelle agreed with a laugh. “I should have a superhero costume to go with that title.”

Danny looked like he had a reply to that comment, but Luis returned with their food just in time to keep him from saying it aloud.

“Green enchiladas, beans, some nice rice,” he said. “Would you like sweet tea, or do you want a real drink?”

“Sweet tea is fine,” Janelle said. “It’s a long drive home.”

“For me too,” Danny said. “Well, not the long drive part. But I’ll have tea just the same.”

People started filtering into Rosalee’s, first in pairs, and then in groups of four or five who lined up in front of the counter. “What’s going on?” Janelle asked.

“It’s five o’clock,” Danny explained. “That’s when Mama starts cooking for real. We were lucky enough to beat the rush.” He nodded toward Janelle’s plate. “Try it. You’ll see why in just one bite.”

Janelle poked at the enchiladas with her fork. “This is chicken?”

Danny nodded. “With a green chili sauce on top.”

She took a bite, and her eyes widened. “Wow!”

“I know, right?” Danny began to eat in earnest. “This is the best meal to be had in Loma Rita.”

“Well, thank you for bringing me here,” Janelle said. She took a few more bites, smiling the whole time. “I never would have found it on my own, and I’m glad I didn’t miss this.”

Danny’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, and frowned. “Excuse me. I need to get this.”

Janelle nodded. “Go ahead.”

“You’ve got Danny Russell,” he said. Then Danny’s eyes flickered up toward Janelle. “You’ve got to be shitting me.” His expression was so strange that Janelle set down her fork and watched him closely. Danny bit his bottom lip and listened intently. “No, no, she’s with me. So we don’t have to worry about that. Who’s on scene?” He nodded. “All right. We’ll be right there.”

He hung up the phone, pushed back his chair and said, “We’ve got to go.”

Janelle stood up. “Is everything all right?”

Danny surprised her by taking her by the hand and heading for the door. “No, not at all.”

“Wait,” she said. “What about the bill?”

“I’ll take care of it later,” he said. “We’ve got to get back to town.” They were out of the car and up in Danny’s truck before Janelle knew what was happening. Danny was in third gear before they left the parking lot. He turned his head toward her only briefly to explain, “That was Jorge. Someone set your car on fire.”

“What?!” Janelle sputtered. “What do you mean set my car on fire? Who would do that?” She answered her own question. “Somebody needs to get their hands on that Roger Wilson before I do. I just got that car.”

“A unit’s been dispatched to look for him,” Danny said. “That’s all I know at this point. Finding you was actually the top priority – EMS wasn’t sure if you’d been in the car.”

“Oh, god,” Janelle said. “This doesn’t sound good at all.”

When they pulled up in front of the town hall, Loma Rita’s volunteer fire squad had already extinguished the flames. Janelle’s car was a steaming snarl of blackened metal. The air smelled strongly of charred electronics and gasoline.

Janelle stood, staring at the smoking remnants of her car. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest, hugging herself and rocking back and forth on her heels.

“I am so sorry,” Danny said.

“I should have had that drink after all,” Janelle replied, with a half-sob, half-laugh. “Because I’m sure not going to be driving anywhere for a while.”

Jorge approached, with a short, stout Latina woman at his side. She was wearing khaki-colored turnout gear. “You’re Janelle Washington?” she asked. “I’m Camilia Ruiz, fire inspector.” She nodded toward the wreck. “I’m very sorry about your car.”

“Me too,” Janelle said. “Do we have any idea what happened here?”

Camilia shook her head. “Not yet. We are beginning our investigation. But I need to ask you if you’ve been having any problems with your car?”

“No,” Janelle said. “Not at all. I just had it serviced last weekend. I’ve got the paperwork from that in my bag…” Her face fell and her voice trailed off. “Which is…which was…in the trunk. Man. My computer was in there. All my files.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “What a mess.”

“I know,” Camilia said. “It is very traumatic to have an event like this happen. Just for right now, try to stay with me, all right?”

Janelle nodded.

“So you had no mechanical problems with the car? No issues with the electrical system or the battery?” Janelle shook her head in response to each question. “What about interpersonal conflict? Do you have an ex-boyfriend with issues, a stalker, anything like that?”

“No,” Janelle said. “I’ve been single for a while now. The last man I dated is very happily married, with a baby on the way. There’s nothing in that direction.” She frowned. “But in terms of conflict, just today I had a very heated exchange with Roger Wilson.”

Camilia glanced at Danny. A look passed between them, but Janelle couldn’t tell what it meant. “What was the nature of your argument?” Camilia asked.

“Roger wants to build on property that’s home to an endangered species of bat,” Danny explained. “Janelle works for the Fish and Wildlife service. She was here to present the government’s case during the appeal hearing.”

“And Roger lost the appeal?”  Camilia asked.

“There was never any chance he would win it,” Janelle said. “It was a very cut and dry case. But it wasn’t personal.”

“Just because it wasn’t personal for you doesn’t mean it wasn’t personal for Roger,” Camilia said. “I don’t want to leap to any conclusions, you understand. But once this scene cools off a little, we’ll be examining the wreck for any traces of accelerant or other signs of arson.” She looked down at her boots for a long moment and then back at Janelle. “Do you have somewhere safe to stay while we continue the investigation?”

“I hadn’t even thought about it,” Janelle shook her head. She turned to Danny. “Do you think you could help me find a hotel?”

“You can stay at my place,” Danny said. He glared at her smoldering car. “At least then I’ll know you’ll be safe.”

“Can we go there now?” Janelle blurted. “I’m sorry,” she said to Camilia, “but I just can’t stay here anymore. This is freaking me out.”

Camilia nodded. “I totally understand. We’ll follow up with you as soon as we know anything.”

“Thank you.” Janelle started walking toward Danny’s truck. “I cannot even…I don’t know. This is not real. This is not happening.” She sat in the passenger seat and buried her face in her hands. “I cannot believe any of this.”

Danny started the truck. “We’ll go out to the ranch. A change of scenery will do you good.”

It took a few miles for Janelle to recover her composure. Once she did, she started making lists. “I’m going to have to call the office. And my insurance company.” She sighed. “And I’ll need to get someone to go over and feed Lenny. I wasn’t planning on leaving him overnight.”

“Lenny?” Danny asked.

“My cat.” Janelle shook her head. “He’s going to be pissed. You know what that means. A little ‘surprise’ on the carpet when I get home.”

“Sounds like a pretty bossy cat,” Danny said, stifling a laugh.

“He’s got a little bit of attitude,” Janelle said. “But all the best boys do.” She looked sideways at Danny. “Do you think Roger did this?”

“Do I think he went out and set your car on fire himself?” Danny asked. “No. I don’t. He’s too smart for that. Did he talk somebody else into doing it for him?” he shrugged. “That’s more his style.”

“Chickenshit motherfucker.” Janelle shook her head. “Pardon my French.”

“That’s French?” Danny said. “Down here we call that cowboy talk.” He slowed the truck down, turning left onto a side road. “Anyway, welcome to the Lost King Ranch.”

“What’s that name about?” Janelle asked.

“When I was a kid, my Dad worked here. We lived down by the river bottom, over that way,” Danny said, nodding out the truck window. “We didn’t have much, but things were alright. My Mom had a pair of blue heelers, Lady and King. She used to raise their pups for extra money.”

They rounded a curve in the road, pulling up in front of a long, low home with a huge porch. Danny stopped the truck, but kept talking. “Lady never seemed to mind it when we sold off her pups, but King took it hard. He’d run all over the place looking for them.”

“Poor King!” Janelle said.

Danny nodded. “Yeah. He just couldn’t figure out where they went, and for a cattle dog? Not knowing something drives them nuts. One day he went out looking and never came back.”

“The Lost King.”

“That’s right.”  Danny opened his door and got out. “I kept thinking one day he’d show up, but at this point? That’s not going to happen.”

“How old were you when all this happened?” Janelle asked.

Danny wrinkled his brow, searching his memory. “Four, maybe? Five? I wasn’t in school yet.”

“And now you’re?”

“Old enough to know better,” Danny said with a smile. “But not quite old enough to care.” He led the way into the ranch house. “Could I interest you in that drink now?”

“I could definitely use one.” Janelle looked around the house. It was spacious and had really nice furniture. “So clear something up for me. This is your ranch?”

Danny nodded.

“And you live in this big house all by yourself?”

“Not all of the time,” Danny said. “My Mom spends a good chunk of the year in Tennessee, with my sister. But after a while, Debby will get on her nerves, and then she comes and stays with me for a while.”

“Until you get on her nerves?”

“I know, it sounds absolutely impossible,” Danny said. “But on rare occasions, I can apparently be exceptionally annoying.”

“Well, I don’t think so,” Janelle declared. “I think you’ve been exceptionally sweet.” She took a long sip of her drink, and then raised her glass in Danny’s direction. “Well above and beyond the call of duty.”

“If you keep looking at me with that look in your eyes,” Danny said, “I am going to have to kiss you.”