tough,” Daniel said with a chuckle.
“Yes, and observant, so if she said she didn’t see anyone, there wasn’t anyone out there.”
“What time did you leave this afternoon?”
“1:00. My meeting was at 2:00 and since we’re a ways out of San Antonio, I needed to leave early. And I didn’t see anyone, either.” She trailed after her housekeeper down the hall, again feeling the Ranger’s scrutiny.
“Either the man is good at hiding or he came after you left. Do you follow a certain routine?”
“No. This meeting, however, is public knowledge and so is my participation.” Remembering that the man had indicated he’d been waiting for her return made her fearful. Her hands quavered, and she had to curl them into fists to keep the Ranger from seeing her alarm.
“But the man wouldn’t know about your daughter and her play date?”
The question brought Melora up short. She gripped the frame of the door that led into the kitchen. “So you think he either didn’t care my daughter would be home or he was watching the place?”
Daniel skirted around her. “It’s a possibility we need to consider.” The pounding of her heartbeat nearly drowned out his next words, “I’ll keep you informed of my investigation.”
In other words, he’d keep in touch, possibly come back to the house. Alert whoever was watching her. She wanted to tell him she didn’t want the case pursued, but there was no way she could tell him her reasons. She didn’t know what to do anymore.
Why, Axle? Why did you get mixed up in something illegal? Those questions had rumbled around in her mind for the past two years, and she was reminded yet again that her judgment concerning her husband hadn’t been good. What had she missed? Why couldn’t she have seen what kind of man he really was?
“Mrs. Hudson?”
Daniel’s voice, full of concern, wrenched her back to the present—a present filled with a Texas Ranger who asked too many questions.
“Are you okay?”
She blinked. “What do you think?”
He peered over her shoulder at the housekeeper and moved close to her. “I think you’re scared and hiding something.” He tipped his cowboy hat. “Good day. I can find my own way out.”
Melora watched the man stride away, his steps long, economical, as though he never had a wasted motion. Dressed in tan slacks and a white, long-sleeve shirt with a black tie, he looked the part of a Texas Ranger down to his brown boots, his white cowboy hat and silver star he wore over his heart. Confident. Controlled. Capable—in any situation.
She wished she had those traits, especially right now. Then she would know who to trust, what to do. How to get out of the mess her husband had put her and Kaitlyn in.
Frustration churned Daniel’s gut. Everywhere he’d gone he’d run into dead ends. But he knew that Axle’s widow wasn’t telling him everything. Behind the exhaustion, he glimpsed fear. Of what? He intended to find out. Somehow he felt it was connected to her husband’s murder and possibly Captain Pike’s. It wasn’t just the break-in that had scared her.
Daniel could still remember the text message he’d received, along with all the Texas Rangers in Company D, from Captain Pike three months ago. His last one. Convene at my house, ASAP. Major case about to explode. When they’d arrived, they found him dead from a gunshot wound and another man critically injured. That man still hadn’t woken up or been identified. If only one of the Rangers had gotten there before someone had killed their captain.
Daniel pulled into the parking lot of the Texas Ranger’s station in San Antonio. On the way here from Melora’s house, he’d had Ranger Oliver Drew run the partial license plate numbers against white Honda Accords in Texas. He hoped the list wasn’t too long. He needed a break. After climbing from his truck, he strode toward the building, the temperature warmer than usual for the end of November, a hint of rain in the air.
Inside he found Oliver right away, sitting at his desk. “Did you get anything?”
“A list of seven vehicles in the San Antonio area—more for the whole state of Texas.”
“Seven. That’s not bad. First check them and see if there are any that have been reported stolen. Maybe the suspect was dumb enough to use his own car.”
Oliver chuckled. “You’re dreaming, but I’ll take care of this list for you. Captain wants to see you.”
Daniel looked toward Captain Benjamin Fritz’s office. As a lieutenant, Daniel often ran things by his captain. Pushing open Ben’s door, he stuck his head in. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yep, come in. I need you and Anderson to go back to the Alamo Planning Committee meeting. I don’t like what’s been happening. A lot of important dignitaries will be attending the celebration. Stress that, with the threatening letter the committee received in October and the phone call Hank Zarvy got a few weeks ago about the event, we want them to think about having a smaller, more intimate event for the 175th anniversary of the Battle of the Alamo. We think it would be better and far safer. I know the threats have been vague. Nothing but warnings that if we don’t cancel the celebration, something bad will happen. But we haven’t been able to trace anything.”
“Okay. I’ll check when the next meeting is and get on the agenda.” Daniel immediately thought of the last meeting he’d gone to. Melora was on the committee. Maybe he could talk to her afterward. In a different environment after she had time to think about the break-in, she might be more forthcoming with her information.
“How did it go with Mrs. Hudson?”
“She’s not saying much.” He went on to give Ben a detailed report of the break-in and his interview with Melora and Juanita.
“Get Gisella to help you with digging into Axle Hudson’s background and dealings. We need to know everything about him.”
“Especially if he’s a member of the Lions of Texas. You can certainly say he was a powerful person with lots of connections.” One of the first breaks in their captain’s murder case was the few details about the group they got from Eddie Jimenez, a low-level member of the Lions of Texas, who had tried to get the captain’s notes after the shooting. Eddie hadn’t been successful in getting what he had been after. When caught, the thug hadn’t been able to tell them who had killed Gregory Pike or who had sent Eddie after the notes, but the man did tell the Rangers that the group behind all this was called the Lions of Texas. According to Eddie the members were powerful—and very dangerous. Not much to go on, but a start. And if Axle was a member of the Lions, then getting to know everything about the man could lead to others in the group.
“Do you think Mrs. Hudson knows what her husband was up to? What got him killed?”
His image of Melora, frightened and vulnerable, didn’t fit with her being a cold, calculating woman who approved of her husband’s illegal activities. “I aim to find out. I don’t think the intruder was there to rob her place. Oliver is tracking down the getaway car.”
“Stay on her. Get to be her new best friend. Find out what she knows.”
“That’s what I plan on doing.” As Daniel headed toward the door, his cell rang. Noticing the call came from the sheriff, he answered it as he left Ben’s office. “Riley here.”
“We’re at Alicia Wells’s apartment. I think you should come take a look at the place.”
“She’s not there?”
“Nope, and it appears she left in a hurry.”
After the sheriff gave him the location of the apartment, Daniel slipped his cell into his pocket and started for the exit.
Oliver stopped him. “I tracked down the white Honda, at least I think it’s the one. It was reported missing this morning. It