Texas Showdown. Barb Han

but I’ve never had luck with the images from security footage, so I wouldn’t be too hopeful. Based on the age of the cameras in the hallway I can already tell it’ll be too grainy.” Maria had regained her composure as she seemed to switch gears into investigative mode. Her ability to close off her emotions had made her great at doing her job. And now he could see that it had contributed to the undoing of their relationship, too.

      Austin was beginning to have doubts that any event in the past week had been random. And that meant talking to her fiancé given that a woman’s biggest threat was the people closest to her. He would have access to her apartment. Could he want to harm Maria? Maybe he just wanted to scare her into remembering him.

      Austin’s mind was going places he didn’t like. The list of people who had access to Maria’s apartment had two names on it... Dave from maintenance and the fiancé he wasn’t supposed to talk about.

      A knock at the door came two minutes after the call to Dave ended. Maria checked the peephole before letting him in, confirming it was building maintenance. Austin was keeping an eye on the basket in the next room or he would’ve been the first one to the door.

      “What happened?” Dave asked, sounding concerned as his voice trailed behind Maria. He was in his late thirties and stood at the same five feet seven inches in height as her. He had sandy-blond hair and light eyes. His distress seemed genuine based on the worry lines creasing his forehead.

      It could be an act, though, so Austin planned to keep a close watch.

      * * *

      “ANIMAL CONTROL IS on its way.” Maria involuntarily shivered just thinking about what had just happened after filling Dave in. The investigator in her had asked him to rush over without giving him a heads-up about what was going on. She’d wanted to gauge his reaction to the news in person. She glanced at the top drawer of her dresser where she kept her service revolver.

      “What kind of snake is it?” he asked.

      “Viper,” she responded.

      “What on earth?” he asked, stopping before the bathroom door. He sounded as freaked as she felt. “It’s in there?”

      “Yes,” Maria said.

      She appreciated the vigilant watch Austin kept on the basket as he introduced himself to Dave. But why the need for introductions? Austin had said that he spent most of his time on the ranch but wouldn’t he and Dave already know each other? She’d lived here for a year. Wouldn’t they have crossed paths at some point?

      Maria made a mental note to ask Austin what that was about later. Right now, she had a deadly snake to get rid of...

      “Are you sure it’s still in the basket?” Dave asked, dropping down to one knee in the doorway to get eye level with the basket.

      Austin nodded and Maria could tell that her husband was sizing up the maintenance man. Austin was huge by comparison. His features darker and his expression far more serious.

      “You have any idea why a saw-scaled viper would be in the building?” Austin asked.

      A knock at the door sounded before Dave could respond.

      “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back,” Maria said, excusing herself to answer the door. A quick peek through the peephole revealed a man wearing a City of Austin shirt. She let him in.

      “Good evening, ma’am.” The guy was barely out of his twenties. His hair was already thinning on top and he was a little shorter than Maria. “Name’s Mark Tailor and I’m from animal services. We got a call about a snake at your residence.”

      “Yes,” Maria said, opening the door wider. “It’s in the bathroom.”

      She motioned toward the door as another round of heebie-jeebies rocked her. The sooner he got that thing out of her home, the better.

      Mark put on a thick set of gloves and made a beeline toward the bathroom. He wore a hunter green shirt with a lighter shade pant. She didn’t want to be anywhere near that room when the snake was disturbed. She had no idea if it could run out of venom and had no plans to be anywhere near it to find out.

      Austin stood guard at the bathroom door. Dave joined her in the adjacent room.

      Mark walked out less than three minutes later with a captured viper making a lot of noise from the bottom of a very thick bag. “This should take care of it.”

      “Thank you,” Maria said as she showed him to the door. She’d breathe easier now that thing was out of her house.

      Dave’s hands were on his hips when she returned and Austin was moving around, checking behind pillows and pieces of furniture.

      “I think I know who that snake belongs to,” Dave said.

      Maria looked at him expectantly.

      “Your downstairs neighbor,” he said. “Tyson Greer.”

      “There’s one way to find out if it’s his,” Austin said, already tracking toward the exit, Dave at his heels.

      “If that’s the case then I need to have a little chat with this Tyson.” Maria wasn’t far behind. “And file a complaint. I didn’t know tenants were allowed to keep dangerous pets in the building.”

      Maria knocked on the door a little harder than she’d planned. Her nerves were still heightened so she took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Focusing on treating this incident like an investigation calmed her a few notches. She could easily slip into her role at the FBI and shelve her emotions.

      There was no answer.

      “I’m calling him right now.” Dave’s phone was to his ear. “If that was his pet, he’ll want to know right away.”

      Maria knocked again.

      Nothing.

      The neighbor didn’t answer his phone, either. Didn’t that get the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up.

      “Guess he’s not around,” Dave said after leaving an urgent message and then ending the call.

      “I want to talk to him the minute he responds,” Maria said.

      “And I have a few of my own questions,” Austin stated.

      Dave nodded. “I’m sorry this happened. That could’ve turned out pretty bad.”

      “It’s a good thing I came home when I did.” Austin rubbed the scruff on his chin. “Have you checked your key ring?” he asked Dave.

      Dave unclipped the set of masters from his belt loop and fanned the couple dozen keys, stopping to account for each one. “They’re all here.”

      Maria’s gaze traveled from the keys to his belt loop. She trusted Dave, especially given that the manager had asked her for help with his background check. He’d been clean. She liked Dave and didn’t want to look at him as a possible suspect. Experience had taught her not to take anything for granted. People could have a solid background and then end up tempted by the right offer.