Son of Texas (Count on a Cop) Page 18

  Brushing her hair, she couldn’t take her eyes off the paper. Following an instinct, she grabbed the phone and dialed the number. The person on the other end might be able to give her some answers. It rang and rang, then an answering machine came on, “You’ve reached the Williams’. Leave a message and we’ll call you back.”

  Josie hung up. Williams. She knelt on the floor and flipped through the box of files. No Williams, but there was a Willis. Could the number have been misfiled? Yes. Yes. Yes. She remembered seeing it the first day she’d searched. The number was in the Willis file and it meant nothing to her. It still didn’t, other than there could have been a Williams file.

  Speculation and grasping at straws—that’s what she was doing. Her head pounded and she held it with both hands. Oh God! The pain was severe, like sharp pins darting through her head. It hadn’t hurt like this in a long time. When she’d first experienced the pains, they frightened her. But Dr. Oliver had assured her they were normal—part of the healing process.

  She got up and stretched out on the bed, the pain growing intense. It eased for a moment and she flipped off the light and curled into a ball, needing sleep more than anything now.

  CALEB WAS FRUSTRATED. He had nothing. Eric and Dennis checked out with stellar reputations; there wasn’t so much as a traffic violation on either. Even Dennis and Rhonda’s adoption was legal. No secrets anywhere. Damn. Damn. Damn. He got up and paced. Who was this mysterious person who wanted Josie dead? What secret did Josie uncover? Who was the missing girl?

  He stopped in his tracks as something Dennis had said came back to him. This is a small town and if someone was missing, everyone would know about it. What if the girl wasn’t from Beckett? That would explain no one knowing. Maybe a friend called Josie, needing help. Maybe…

  He darted across the hall to Josie’s room. The light was out and she was sound asleep. He watched her for a moment, then backed away, letting her rest. It was what she needed now. Going back to his room, he began a missing person’s check for young girls, dating from eighteen months ago for the surrounding towns and Corpus. He worked on into the night.

  JOSIE TOSSED AND TURNED in a dreamlike state as voices tortured her. Was she dreaming or sleeping? She fought to make the distinction.

  “Are you Josie Marie Beckett?”

  She heard the anxious voice clearly. “Yes.”

  “This is Mae Williams from Corpus. I knew your father.”

  “Oh.”

  “He was a good detective and I could trust him. I’m hoping I can trust you, too.”

  “How did you get my number?”

  “Frank Colson, a cop friend of Brett’s gave it to me. He said you might be able to help me.”

  “What’s this about?”

  “My daughter is missing and I need help.”

  “I’m not sure how I can help you. I work in Beckett now.”

  “I know—that’s why I’m calling. My daughter left for Beckett over two weeks ago and hasn’t returned.”

  “I can file a missing person’s report.”

  “No.” The scream jarred Josie almost to wakefulness, then she floated back to the conversation.

  “Why not?”

  “Boone Beckett is the law there and I’ve heard the man is ruthless. Brett never trusted him.”

  “Does my grandfather have something to do with this?”

  “I don’t know. My daughter got herself into some trouble and I don’t know who to trust or who to blame.”

  “Why are you calling me?”

  “For help. Could you look for her confidentially? I’m willing to pay you. I just need someone I can trust.”

  “I’ll see if I can help and you don’t need to pay me. What’s her name?”

  “Oh, thank you. Her name is Tracy and she’s seventeen years old. I’ll give you my number so you can get in touch. Call me anytime. I’m worried sick. Please keep this confidential. My daughter’s life depends on it.”

  The voices faded away into a deep dark void. A piercing pain shot through her head and the voices started again.

  “Josie, I got a call from her and she’s scared to death. I gave her your number and told her she could trust you and that you would help her. She said she’d call you.”

  “Where is she?”

  “She wouldn’t tell me.”

  “Mae, none of this makes any sense.”

  “I know. Tracy has been acting so strange lately and she won’t talk to me. She only said she got herself involved in something she can’t get out of.”

  “With whom?”

  “She said someone powerful who wouldn’t hesitate to kill her.”

  “Mae, this is Beckett and there’s only one powerful person here. That man is my grandfather.”

  “I’m sorry, Josie. I didn’t even know Tracy knew him.”

  “So give me a clue as to what’s going on. I don’t have a good relationship with my grandfather, but I know he doesn’t hurt seventeen-year-old girls.”

  “Unless Tracy was blackmailing him or something.”

  “Pardon me? What type of girl is Tracy?”

  “She’s always been a problem child. My husband and I could never do anything with her. Then my husband died and things got worse. Tracy was angry all the time. She left home when she was fifteen and moved in with a boyfriend. They were arrested for trying to extort money from a wealthy man. I hired an attorney for her and she got off with a six-month sentence. I wanted her to come home but she wouldn’t. Then she called and said she was in deep trouble again, but she knew a way out. A profitable way out.”

  “But it didn’t happen?”

  “No. She called in a panic and said she was going to Beckett and if she didn’t return, I’d know she was dead. I tried to talk her out of it, but Tracy wouldn’t listen. I waited and waited and she never called and she wouldn’t answer her cell. That’s when I finally called Frank for help. He and Brett helped me when Tracy was fourteen and ran away. They brought her back and tried talking to her. Your father kept checking on her and I got to know him. When I told Frank Tracy had gone to Beckett, he said he couldn’t help, but that Brett’s daughter now worked on the police force there and I could trust you.”

  “So evidently Tracy’s somewhere in Beckett hiding out?”

  “I hope.”

  “I’ll wait for her call and I’ll find her and deliver her to your doorstep. But you have to promise to get her some help.”

  “I will, and thank you, Josie.”

  Josie, Josie, Josie.

  Her name echoed through her mind and she fought to capture it, to stop it. But the dream took over and the voices continued.

  “Miss Beckett, this is Tracy Williams.”

  “Yes. I’ve been waiting for your call.”

  “My mother says I can trust you.”

  “Yes, you can.”

  “But you’re a Beckett and you’re on the police force.”

  “You have to trust me.”

  “You haven’t told anyone about me, have you?”

  “No, Tracy. I promised your mom I’d bring you home. So tell me where you are and I’ll come and get you.”

  “Alone?”

  “Yes. Alone.”

  “I’m in a deer cabin on County Road 249. Hurry. I don’t think I have much time.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  “Hurry.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  STILL IN A DREAMLIKE state, Josie crawled out of bed and slipped into her jeans. Walking into the hall, she paused at Caleb’s door, then she hurried through the dark house, and out the back to Lencha’s truck.

  Starting the engine, she headed for County Road 249. She knew the way. It was late and no cars were on the road. She turned off the highway and took a dirt track that led to the deer cabin.

  Hurry.

  The track was overgrown with brush and mesquite and they scratched against the pickup as the headlights shone the way into a small clearing. Then she saw it—the cabin. It had burned to the
ground. No! Nothing was left but ashes and a chimney.

  She was too late.

  Josie pushed open the door and stepped out. As she did, a searing pain shot through her head and she sank to her knees. In that instant she woke up. She looked around at the darkness and the headlights leveled on the pile of ashes.

  Where am I?

  Suddenly dawn crept up on the horizon, lifting the darkness and illuminating the early morning. A rabbit scurried from the bushes and darted away. She rose to her feet and held on to the truck door for support. She remembered. The darkness of her memory had lifted.

  Oh, God! She remembered!

  The day she was so angry at Lorna and Mason she drove to town, breaking the speed limit. Taking a moment, she called Eric and told him she was going home to Corpus and she’d explain later. He wanted answers, but she was so angry she wasn’t ready to give them. Then she called Dennis, severing her ties in Beckett.

  Lencha wasn’t home so she’d have to explain to her later. She removed her gun and badge and placed them on the nightstand. Her job here was over. She wouldn’t be returning. She hurriedly threw clothes into a suitcase. Then her cell rang. It was Tracy. Since the girl hadn’t called all day, Josie assumed she’d changed her mind. Tracy sounded desperate and Josie tore out the door to help her. She’d given Mae her word and she was going to Corpus anyway so she’d just take Tracy with her and deliver her to her mother.

  She’d made the same trip as she just had, except she’d spotted smoke from the highway. Pressing down on the gas pedal she flew down the road and braked to a stop not far from the burning cabin. Flames leaped and roared from the back of the building.

  Wrapping her arms around her, she could feel the tremendous heat of the fire as if it was that day. She’d jumped out of her car screaming Tracy’s name. Sprinting to a window she could see a girl lying on the sofa, her face tilted sideways. Josie didn’t know if she was alive or dead.

  She tried the front door, breathing heavily, frantic to get to Tracy. As she opened the door, the flames drove her back. She needed something to cover herself and dashed back to her car and grabbed her jacket. She heard an explosion, felt a paralyzing pain in her head, then total, dark oblivion overtook her.

  Oh my God! Oh my God!

  Her hands trembled against her face. Josie never saw the shooter. Her breaths came in gulps and it took a moment for her to realize what all this meant. She’d been waiting to see the face of the person who’d shot her and left her for dead, but she’d never known who that was. She’d been shot trying to save Tracy.

  Questions ran through her mind like angry soldiers looking for a target. But there were no answers. She heaved a painful breath, knowing one thing. Her life was still in danger. And she had to get back to Caleb.

  BY EARLY MORNING, Caleb had a list of names. He wanted to show them to Josie, but he’d wait until she was awake. He slept for a couple of hours, then took the list to Josie’s room, hoping a name would jog her memory.

  She wasn’t in bed, but he wasn’t alarmed. She was either in the kitchen or the bathroom. In the kitchen, Lencha was drinking a cup of coffee at the table with Chula on her shoulder.

  “Where’s Josie?”

  “Still asleep.”

  “No. I just checked.”

  “Bathroom then.”

  Caleb hurried to the door, getting a bad feeling in his gut. “Josie,” he called. There was no response, so he opened the door. The room was empty.

  Where was Josie?

  He ran outside and called her name over and over. She was nowhere in sight, but he noticed Lencha’s truck was gone. He phoned the police station to see if she’d gone to visit Eric. She hadn’t.

  Since Caleb was there at night, there was no guard. Damn. What had happened? Caleb grabbed his hat. “Lencha, I’m going to the police station. Call me immediately if you hear from Josie.”

  “Okay. Ranger?”

  He stopped for a second, looking at the fear in Lencha’s eyes that echoed his own. “Find her. Please find her.”

  “I intend to.”

  As the truck roared into town, Caleb fervently hoped that he would find Josie. And he prayed even harder that she was still alive.

  AS JOSIE CAME THROUGH the back door, Chula leaped onto her jeans and crawled to her neck making chirping sounds. She stroked her with a shaky hand.

  Lencha whirled around from the sink. “Josie, child.” She held a hand to her chest. “Where have you been?”

  “It’s a long story. Where’s Caleb?”

  “Looking all over this town for you. The man’s half out of his mind with worry and so am I. I’m getting too old for this.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry anyone. Please call Caleb and tell him that I’m back.” She couldn’t call him. She had to stop depending on Caleb and sort this out herself. But if she heard his voice…

  The door flew open and Caleb charged in. Josie did the only thing she could. She ran into his arms. He held her so tight she thought her ribs might crack, but she didn’t mind.

  He drew back. “Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?”

  Taking his hand, she led him to the table. As they took seats, Eric came through the door. “Josie, you okay?”

  “Yes. I was just going to tell Caleb what happened.” Eric looked worried, but she wasn’t sure she could trust him. She really didn’t know who to trust, except Caleb.

  She told them about the dreams, Tracy and the fire, how she’d arrived at the cabin as if she were in a trance, unsure of how she got there.

  “So you never saw who shot you?” Caleb asked.

  “No. I was totally focused on getting Tracy out of the cabin. I never saw anyone else. That’s my last memory of living in Beckett.”

  Caleb got up and went down the hall. In a minute he was back with a piece of paper. “I did a check of missing girls in this area last night. Tracy Williams was reported missing a week after you disappeared.”

  “Mae must have finally figured out something was very wrong when neither Tracy nor I called her back.”

  “That’s why Dennis and I knew nothing about this girl,” Eric said.

  “Yes. But I did have a file,” Josie replied. “I kept it in my car because I didn’t want anyone to see it until I’d had Tracy safely back with her mother. Wherever my car is, that’s where the file is.”

  “Let’s go over this again.” Caleb resumed his seat. “Mae Williams said Tracy was involved with someone powerful.”

  Josie swallowed. “Yes. And Tracy had spent six months in jail for trying to extort money from someone. Mae feared Tracy had gotten in over her head and her life was in danger.”

  Someone knocked at the front door and Lencha let Dennis in. Josie told the story again.

  Dennis wiped a forearm across his forehead. “We have to be careful how we handle this. Boone could be volatile when pressed into a corner and all our jobs could be at stake.”

  “You’re missing the point,” Caleb said, a slight edge to his voice. “Whoever killed Tracy also shot Josie.”

  Dennis shook his head. “This doesn’t jell. Boone wouldn’t get involved with a seventeen-year-old girl.”

  “Maybe he wasn’t involved,” Caleb pointed out. “Maybe Tracy had something on Boone and she was blackmailing him.”

  “Now that would fly. I’m sure there are a lot of crooked dealings in Boone’s past. It’s just not clear how a young girl would be privy to that.”

  “Me, neither,” Eric put in.

  Dennis took a long breath. “I’ll be honest with you. I’m not questioning Boone. Someone else will have to do that.” Dennis glanced at Caleb. “Probably you, Ranger.”

  “No problem,” Caleb replied without hesitation. He’d gone toe-to-toe with Boone on more than one occasion and he wasn’t looking forward to another. But Boone was going to admit the truth or one of them wasn’t going to be left standing. “But I’m contacting the FBI so this investigation is official.”

  The unspo
ken accusation hung between the officers in the room.

  Dennis finally nodded. “Probably best that way with Boone a possible suspect.”

  “Josie’s life is at stake and I’m not taking any chances. And we’ll need a good forensics team to go through the ashes to determine human remains.”

  “I agree,” Eric said. “The FBI is much better equipped for that than we are. And I’ll contact Mae Williams and have her in the office by this afternoon.”

  “I’ll notify the FBI right now,” Caleb said, glancing at his watch. “And we’ll meet at the station at three.”

  “Good deal,” Dennis said.

  “We have to have a guard on Josie at all times.” Caleb wanted to be clear on that one point.

  “I’ll get my shotgun.” Lencha headed for her room. “No one’s gettin’ in this house.”

  “Thanks, Lencha,” Caleb replied. “But I’m talking about a guard outside day and night.”

  “I’ll see that it’s done,” Dennis assured him.

  “That’s going to be useless,” Josie spoke up. “Because I won’t be here. I’ll be at the station helping with the questioning.” She glanced at Dennis. “I want to be reinstated as an officer.”

  “Sure. No problem,” Dennis replied. “I’ll do it when you get to the office.”

  “Thank you. And for the record, I’ll be the one questioning my grandfather.”

  “Josie?”

  “Don’t try to talk me out of it, Caleb. If my grandfather had me shot then he’s going to admit that to my face.”

  “It’s not a…”

  Josie stood, her eyes as dark as he’d ever seen them. “I’ll be at the station this afternoon. Now, I’d just like a hot bath.” She turned and headed for the hall.

  “Josie.” Eric stopped her and walked to her side. “Has all your memory returned?”

  “Yes.” She smiled at Eric and Caleb felt a pain around his chest. “I remember us, but please don’t pressure me. I’m so mixed-up right now.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be here for you.”

  Josie touched his cheek and walked on down the hall. Eric had a smile on his face. Caleb took a deep breath. This is what he wanted—for Josie to be happy—even if it meant his own heart was breaking.