Son of Texas (Count on a Cop) Read online

  “Thank you,” Eric said simply, and Caleb could see the relief on his face. “And thank you for all you’ve done for Josie.”

  “You’re welcome. Now let’s hope that Tad has some info that will pull all this together so Josie can resume her life.”

  “I like the sound of that. Thanks for being so honest.”

  Caleb could do no less. His heart was telling him to fight for what he wanted, but his head was in control. In truth, though, it wasn’t his decision. It was Josie’s and he would never pressure her or cause her any more pain.

  His pain was a different matter.

  JOSIE PICKED UP the box of files in her room. She had to return them to the station. The piece of paper with Mae’s phone number rested on top. How did it get in the box? She sat on the bed trying to figure that out. When she’d started searching for Tracy, she’d made a file with T.W. on it but she’d kept it in her car. She’d been working on the Wilkins file along with a couple of others and she’d left them on her desk, intending to work on them the next day. She’d called Mae that morning and evidently she’d left the number on top of the files. After her disappearance someone had evidently put the number in the Wilkins file, thinking that’s where it went. Thank God it hadn’t been thrown away.

  Lencha walked in and Josie turned to her. Lencha hadn’t been in the house when she’d returned. Josie lifted an eyebrow. “Are you hiding from me?”

  “Nope. Should I be?” Lencha was unflappable.

  Josie kept staring at her, her expression demanding a straight answer.

  “Okay. I lost it. When I heard Big Boone might have shot you, I couldn’t think too clearly. I just wanted to hurt him.”

  “He had nothing to do with shooting me,” Josie told her.

  “Yeah, well…”

  “He didn’t, Lencha. Please believe me.”

  “Ah…he’s still a bastardo.”

  “He’s my grandfather.”

  “Ain’t no way of getting around that one.”

  “No,” Josie said and hugged her.

  Lencha squeezed her tight. “I just got a call from Gloria Martinez. Her young daughter has gone into labor. It’s her first and she’s terrified.”

  Josie waved her away. “Go. Go deliver another baby and give it a kiss for me.”

  “Should be having your own babies,” Lencha muttered.

  Josie set the files on the dresser. “Right now I’m trying to get my life together.”

  “With two very handsome men,” Lencha commented.

  Josie whirled around. “Lencha!”

  “And someone’s going to get their heart broken.”

  Josie flopped onto the bed. “I know.”

  “Just as long as it’s not you.”

  “I don’t think I can avoid it,” she admitted in a forlorn voice. “Two incredible men and I have to make a choice.” She didn’t know how she was going to do that. But she already knew Eric and their past was taking precedence.

  Lencha patted her shoulder. “Your heart will lead you or we can do it with my tarot cards.”

  Josie smiled, well aware of Lencha’s ability to attempt to foretell the future. Marie had always laughed at Lencha’s predictions, not believing in the practices of her Mexican ancestors. Josie would keep away from them, too. Right or wrong, she’d make the decision on her own.

  “Go deliver the baby,” she said.

  “Will you be okay?”

  “Haven’t you seen the armed cowboys outside?”

  “Yes, and if they stomp up my garden there’ll be hell to pay.”

  Her smile broadened. “They’re scared of you and your evil doings and they wouldn’t dare to do anything to upset you.”

  Lencha bobbed her head in agreement. “Good to have a reputation.”

  “Mmm.”

  Lencha kissed her cheek. “I’ll let Caddo know I’m leaving.”

  “Bye.”

  Josie walked around the house thinking until her head began to hurt. She started to call the station, but Caleb would call if he had any news. Instead she made a ham sandwich cutting thick slices of Lencha’s homemade bread. She was almost finished eating when she heard loud voices.

  She hurried to the front door to see what was going on. Caddo and the vaqueros had a car surrounded. It was getting dark so she had to peer closer to see who it was. She yanked open the door.

  “It’s okay,” she shouted to Caddo. Rhonda stood outside her car trembling, half-scared to death.

  Josie ran to meet her. “I’m sorry. They’re guarding me.”

  Rhonda held a hand to her chest. “I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again.”

  “Come into the house and I’ll fix us something to drink.”

  Rhonda followed her. “Dennis told me what happened and I just wanted to visit for a bit. A neighbor is sitting with Jenny, who is finally asleep, and I needed to get out for a while.”

  They walked into the house and Josie closed the door, but not before she saw Caddo and the paint prancing up and down the front yard.

  “I wish you’d brought the baby,” Josie said, heading for the kitchen.

  “She’s been up all day and night. Dennis came home and finally got her to sleep. Jenny loves her daddy. I was just worn-out and got some sleep, too. When I woke up I needed some fresh air, and I didn’t want to wake Jenny.”

  “I’m glad you came by. I left the station about five. Now I’m wishing I’d stayed because it’s not much fun here by myself.”

  “Lencha’s not home?”

  “No. She’s helping with a birth.” Josie opened the refrigerator. “What would you like. Tea, fresh juice or coffee? Lencha doesn’t allow soft drinks in her house. Says they’re poison. I can brew some good herbal tea or…”

  Josie looked up to see Rhonda pointing a gun at her. Her pulse skittered to a stop. “What…what are you doing?”

  “I can’t let you take my baby,” Rhonda said in an unfamiliar voice. Her eyes were glazed over and filled with hatred.

  Josie calmly closed the refrigerator, not sure what this was about, but keeping a close eye on the gun. Rhonda had had a nervous breakdown after the loss of her baby. It was very obvious that Rhonda was close to losing it now. Josie wasn’t clear why the woman thought she would take her adopted child.

  “I would never take your baby. You love Jenny and I would do nothing to change that.” Josie said the words slowly and succinctly so Rhonda would understand.

  “Why did you have to come back? Why?” Rhonda cried, the gun shaking slightly. “I couldn’t believe it when Dennis told me, then I saw you in town with the ranger and knew I had to do something, to scare you so you’d go away again. I fired a gun through your window and that didn’t work so while you and the ranger were at the station I took a sharp knife and punctured a tire on both sides. I heard Dennis talk about that one time, how a man had done that to kill his wife. That didn’t work, either.”

  Josie heard the words, but they were too horrible to believe. She forced the words from her throat. “Did…did you shoot me?”

  “I like you, Josie. I really do, but you’re not taking my child.”

  Josie kept her eyes on the gun. “Did you shoot me?” Her voice was loud, demanding an answer.

  “It was all done. I had the baby and was ready to leave when I saw you drive up.”

  “Oh my God!” Tracy Williams was pregnant! That’s what Tracy was selling—a baby. Why had no one known that? Not even Mae. That explained all the blood.

  “Tracy Williams sold you her baby?” Someone powerful—the police chief and his wife. Finally, something was making sense.

  “Yes.”

  “But you went through an agency. It’s a matter of record.” Josie attempted to get the facts straight.

  “Dennis forced me to give the first baby back. He said it was best to let the mother have her child. I hated him for that.” She spat out the words. “He’s never been there for me. Never!” Rhonda inhaled deeply. “But I kept the birth certificate. The
agency kept calling and calling and finally I told them I’d destroyed it. I just wanted a baby, but I knew the agency wasn’t ever going to give me one.”

  Rhonda had used the old birth certificate and no one had noticed. Josie took a deep breath, trying to stay focused. “How did you find Tracy Williams?”

  “Dennis said I was being paranoid and irrational and I needed to see a therapist again. To get him off my back I agreed to go. I was sitting in the lobby of the doctor’s building, angry that Dennis was forcing me to do this, when a pregnant girl sat down by me. We got to talking and I told her about the baby I had to give back. She said her boyfriend didn’t want the kid she was carrying and for the right price she’d sell it to me. It was like a dream come true. For ten thousand dollars she’d give me the baby.” Rhonda inched around the room, never letting go of the gun and never taking her eyes off Josie.

  “I put the fear of God into her, telling her my husband was a powerful man in Beckett and if she reneged on the deal, he’d kill her. The silly bitch thought I was talking about Boone and I didn’t disillusion her. But then she got greedy. She wanted fifty thousand.” Rhonda heaved a breath. “I had to think fast because I wasn’t losing that baby. I told her I’d pick her up in Corpus at a McDonalds and I did. I gave her special instructions not to tell anyone or the deal was off. I took her to the old deer cabin on Boone’s property that no one ever uses and told her I had to go get the money from my husband. She was so gullible.” Rhonda laughed, a spine-tingling sound that sent chills all over Josie’s body.

  “She actually thought I was going to pay her that much money. I kept stalling her, saying we had to take the money out of savings and that took time. But I was just waiting for her to go into labor.”

  “And she did, didn’t she, Rhonda?” The whole scenario was falling into place.

  “Yes. She called and said she’d changed her mind and was leaving. I hurried out there and she was in labor unable to walk out like she’d threatened. I delivered Jenny. Oh, she was so beautiful the moment she was born.” Her voice grew dreamy. “To keep her, I knew I had to get rid of Tracy. Tracy saw how I loved the baby and she said just give her the money and the baby was mine. I wrapped the baby in a blanket and laid her on the floor, then I reached for the gun in my purse. Without a second thought, I pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. She didn’t ask for any more money.”

  A senseless murder by a woman out of her mind with wanting a baby. Rage boiled deep inside Josie and she was desperately trying to hold on to her temper.

  “I took the baby to the car and sprinkled gasoline on the back side of the cabin and lit it. As I was getting in my car, I heard another vehicle. I grabbed my gun and walked to the front of the house. I saw you getting a jacket out of your car and I knew what you were going to do. You were going to try and save Tracy. I couldn’t let you. I raised the gun and fired again.”

  Oh my God! Josie felt the pain—the crippling, mindless pain.

  CALEB PACED in Dennis’s office, waiting for the call. He kept going over bits and pieces, trying to make them fit. Tracy had something to sell. What? Her hair was wet and there was lots of blood. What did that say? He stopped as something occurred to him. Could Tracy have been pregnant?

  That would make all the pieces fit. A baby. But who was she selling it to in Beckett?

  The phone rang and he grabbed it before it even stopped ringing. “Ranger Caleb McCain.”

  “Ranger McCain, this is Lieutenant Will Sims. Sorry for the delay, but I have Tad Hoffman in my office now.”

  “Thank you, sir. This could help my case a lot.”

  “Just be prepared for some attitude. Hold on.”

  A rough-sounding voice came down the line. “Yeah.”

  “Mr. Hoffman, I’m a Texas Ranger, Caleb McCain, and I’d like to ask you some questions about Tracy Williams.”

  “That bitch. I get my hands on her and I’ll wring her pretty damn neck.”

  Caleb thought about how to handle Tad. How to get answers quickly. “Are you aware that she had the baby?” Direct and to the point. He held his breath as he waited for Tad’s response.

  “Damn right. She was supposed to call me as soon as she got the money. But the bitch took the money and ran. Greedy whore.”

  There was a baby! Relief gushed through him. Now he had to find out who the buyer was.

  “Mr. Hoffman, do you know who she sold the baby to?”

  “Nah, some big secret. What the hell did I care? I just wanted the freaking money. Do you know where Tracy is, man?”

  “We believe she’s dead.” Caleb answered. As the baby’s father, he had a right to know.

  “Ah, man, are you shucking me?”

  “No. We believe whoever Tracy was meeting in Beckett took the baby and killed her.”

  “Ah, man.” Tad seemed genuinely upset.

  “Think, Mr. Hoffman. Who was Tracy communicating with in Beckett?”

  “I don’t know, man. I was so strung out most of time and I just wanted her to get rid of it.”

  Instinctively Caleb knew that was all the information Tad had. Drugs were the driving force in his life. When he sobered up completely, he might remember all that he’d lost. Might even make him go straight. Caleb could only hope.

  “Thank you, Mr. Hoffman. I appreciate the cooperation.”

  “Does Tracy’s mom know?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ah, shit. She probably wants me dead.”

  “She’s pretty upset right now,” was all Caleb could say.

  He hung up with a sneaking suspicion at the back of his mind. Walking into the outer office, he found Eric. “Dennis still not here?”

  “No, and I’m getting worried. He always checks in.”

  Wes walked in, waving some papers. “They found human remains, teeth and bone fragments beneath the ashes, but we have to wait to see if the DNA matches Tracy Williams.”

  Caleb told them about the baby.

  “Dammit, how did that slip by us?” Eric slumped into his chair.

  “Tad didn’t want the baby and kept telling her to get rid of it. She knew her mother would throw a fit if she found out so Tracy kept it a secret. It became a deadly secret.” The suspicion nagged at him. “Eric, go to Dennis’s house and see if everything’s okay.”

  “Sure,” Eric agreed, but he looked puzzled.

  “What’s your feel on this?” Wes asked as Eric left.

  “I keep thinking about the baby. I haven’t met many people in this town with a baby about the age of Tracy’s, except Dennis and Rhonda’s.”

  “You’re not thinking…”

  “I don’t like it, either, but I’m checking the dates against the courthouse records again. I only glanced at it briefly when I did the background check.”

  Caleb went to his laptop, knowing Josie was safe. They could have the name of the shooter within the hour.

  THE RAGE INSIDE JOSIE reached a fever pitch and she had to hold herself in check. She had to know the whole story. She’d waited a long time to see the face of the person who’d sentenced her to hell. All she felt was an uncontrollable anger at what this deranged woman had done to her life.

  She took a deep controlling breath. “Why did you take my body to Austin?”

  “I tried to drag your body into the fire, but the flames were so hot I couldn’t. Then there was your car. I didn’t know what to do. Blood was oozing from your head and you seemed dead. I had to get rid of you and the car. No one was taking my baby again.”

  “So…” Josie prompted, having a desperate need to hear it all.

  “The door was open on your vehicle so I dragged you inside. I couldn’t leave my car there or people would know I’d been at the cabin. I ran to my car and drove it out to the highway and left it. I got the baby and her things and hurried back to your vehicle and started driving. I stopped at a motel somewhere and cleaned the baby and dressed her, then I fed her. She was so sweet and she seemed to know me. She was my baby, the one I’d been wa
iting for.”

  “You left me in the car?” She couldn’t keep the horror out of her voice.

  “Yes. I covered your body with a blanket I had in my car. I phoned Dennis and told him the adoption agency called and they had another baby for us but the car had died on the highway close to where a fire was burning on County Road 249. I told him I caught a ride to Corpus to catch a bus to Dallas. He wanted to go with me, but I told him there wasn’t time and I’d call as soon as I had any news. Then I started driving again. When I reached Austin, I found a rough-looking area and dumped your body in an alley. Not far away I took your things from the car, the license and tags and left it.”

  So simple yet so complicated. Her car had probably been stripped, and all evidence of Josie Marie Beckett had disappeared.

  “I stayed in a motel and put your things in the trash. I caught a bus to Beckett the next day, but first I called Dennis to tell him the good news—I had the baby and was coming home. He was so excited and we were happy until…”

  “Does Dennis know you shot me?”

  “I told him earlier and he didn’t see things my way. Pity, but it’s done.”

  Josie had no idea what the woman was talking about, but clearly Dennis wasn’t involved.

  “We were happy, Josie. Why did you come back?”

  Josie didn’t answer, instead she asked, “Do you think you’ll get away with this? You saw all the guards outside.”

  “I’ll tell them you were so upset that you shot yourself and I couldn’t stop you. They’ll believe me.”

  “No. They won’t. I’m not suicidal.”

  Rhonda shook her head. “Shut up. I think you’re a ghost. You couldn’t have survived that. You were dead. You should be dead.”

  At the callous words, the rage she’d been repressing suddenly exploded inside Josie and she wanted revenge as she’d never wanted it before. She wanted this demented woman to pay. She took a step closer to Rhonda. “Look me in the eye and pull the trigger. Go ahead. If you want me dead, you’ll have to do it with me staring at you.”

  Rhonda waved the gun. “Stay back.”

  “Do you have any idea what it was like to wake up on that grimy street with no memory? Do you know what it was like to be held down and beaten until I passed out from the pain? Do you know what it was like to wash clothes on rocks until my fingers bled? Do you have any idea of the horrific pain you’ve caused me?”