To Catch a Texas Cowboy (Wishing, Texas Book 2) Page 6

  “That’s not a bad impersonation, but AJ’s voice is a little lower.”

  She glared at her friend, not impressed with her attempt at humor.

  “AJ’s ex-FBI? They’re more suspicious than city cops. No wonder he looked at me like I was a gangster’s moll.”

  “Gangster’s moll? AJ would never look at you like that. He’d look at you like you were a criminal in your own right. He’s not the least bit chauvinistic.”

  Grace glared at her friend. Again.

  “Geez, you really aren’t yourself. Normally I can get you to lighten up.”

  “That’s hard to do when I bet he’s sitting at his computer doing a Google search.”

  “He wouldn’t use Google. As chief he has better ways to check you out.”

  “Again, not helping, Cass.”

  “Really? That one deserved at least a smile.”

  “All right. Here you go.” Grace flashed Cass a huge, overly wide, fake smile, to which her friend responded by crossing her eyes. She couldn’t help but chuckle, easing some of her budding panic, bringing her down to mere fear. “No matter what, he’ll find The Times articles on the embezzlement. The first one was terrible. It mentioned I was questioned by both the NYPD and the FBI. While it was clear I wasn’t charged with anything or a formal suspect, it hinted at me being the possible mastermind behind the scheme.”

  Cassie waved a hand in front of Grace’s face. “Stop talking and listen.”

  Stunned at her best friend’s stern voice, Grace froze.

  “AJ’s one of the really good guys. His father died in Afghanistan when he and Ty were freshmen at A&M. Apparently AJ stood by the casket and vowed to take care of his mother and sisters. That and he’d grow up to be the kind of man his father would’ve been proud of.”

  Dependable, sturdy, loyal, and probably not the least bit fun. Just what she wasn’t looking for. She’d bet AJ was one of those vows-are-carved-in-stone kind of guys. Like her father. And once a man like that made up his mind, a bulldozer couldn’t budge it.

  “Ty says AJ sends his mother money every month, and has helped put his younger sisters through college.”

  Yup, a real pillar of virtue.

  “No one can be that good. There has to be a catch, like he eats crackers in bed.” Or worse, he holds everyone around him to unobtainable standards.

  “I’m not saying he’s perfect, but he’s not an ogre either. He’s reasonable, and won’t jump to conclusions. If he reads the articles, he’ll see you haven’t been implicated.”

  Grace traced a finger through the condensation on her champagne flute. “Being questioned by the NYPD was bad, but the FBI were—” Grace paused, and shuddered as the memories rippled through her. “I don’t know how to explain how bad it was. What if AJ reads the articles and reacts the way they did? Once an FBI agent, always an FBI agent.”

  “I think that’s the marines.”

  “I bet there’s not much difference.” Grace’s heart rate sped up like a New York City cabby weaving through traffic. She wrapped her arms around her middle, suddenly chilled. “I don’t want the mess in New York to follow me here. People will look at me differently if they know what happened.”

  “Calm down,” Cassie said, her voice level. Her anchor of sanity in a raging sea of absurdity. “I don’t know who I’m talking to, but I’d like to speak to my rational friend Grace, now.”

  “It’s Texas. I haven’t been myself since I crossed the state line. It’s like I left my brain in Tennessee.”

  She smoothed her hands along the granite breakfast bar. The cool from the stone against her moist palms seeped into her, bringing a sense of calm. Reason started returning. There was a chance AJ wouldn’t do an Internet search on her, or if he did, maybe by some incredible stroke of luck, he wouldn’t find The Times articles. After all, considering her run of bad luck lately, she was due for a change.

  Sure. Anything could happen. And maybe she’d fall into a vat of radioactive material, turn into a giant superhero, and fly around the world saving people.

  Lord, she needed sleep.

  “I think you’re right.” At Cassie’s response, Grace realized she’d said the words out loud. “Get some rest, and when you wake up you’ll see things don’t look so bad.”

  Grace stood, walked across the kitchen, and then looked over her shoulder at Cassie. “I still say you’re asking for trouble not cancelling dinner tonight.”

  When AJ walked into the Wishing Police Department located in the courthouse in the center of the town square, Marjorie handed him two messages.

  “This is it?”

  “It’s all you need to handle.”

  He and Marjorie had discussed this issue shortly after he’d arrived. He’d informed her he wanted to sort through messages, if only to familiarize himself with the issues people called about. Then he’d decide what to deal with and return the remainder to her for distribution to the other officers. Marjorie responded that was a waste of time. With almost twenty-five years in the department, she knew what to do. He should let her do her job as she saw fit, and concentrate on mastering his own.

  “I divided the rest among the boys,” Marjorie said.

  Deciding the messages weren’t worth battling another female over, he let her comment pass, and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling at her referring to his officers as the boys. Luke was the youngest, and he was twenty-four, but then to a woman closing in on sixty-five, the rest of them probably did seem like kids.

  “You need to prepare for your meeting with the mayor which I rescheduled for three, and he’s heard about your accident.” She shook her head. “He said the chief getting into a car accident doesn’t instill confidence in the town’s folk.”

  AJ suspected the mayor wasn’t the only one who held that opinion. “Did he also hear it wasn’t my fault?” She nodded, her heavily sprayed hair moving like a helmet, and he continued. “Have Luke send a copy of the report to the mayor when he finishes.”

  His dispatcher/officer manager nodded to the messages in his hand. “The top one is from Jerry. He said it was urgent, and to make sure you were sitting down before you called him.”

  AJ had contacted his landlord to check out the kitchen sink. Whenever he turned on the faucet a sound between a cat with its tail caught under a rocking chair, and a ghost walking up creaking stairs dragging chains behind him filled the room. Jerry must’ve figured out what was wrong, and by the sounds of his message it wasn’t good.

  “You said no one was hurt in the accident?” Marjorie asked, pulling AJ away from his plumbing issues.

  Since he’d told her that during their initial conversation, he realized she wouldn’t let him go until he gave her some additional information. “The woman who hit me had a minor cut and some bruising from the airbag, but that was it. Her little sedan was another story.”

  “I’m not surprised about her car. Even by Texas standards your truck is a monster. Some would say a man who drives one that size is compensating for other things.”

  AJ wasn’t sure how to take Marjorie’s comment. Did the woman mean it as good-natured ribbing or as a subtle dig? Deciding to push back a little, he grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

  “You couldn’t handle this much woman,” Marjorie fired back.

  AJ chuckled, and damned if he didn’t blush. “On that, I have no doubt, Marjorie. Not many men could.”

  “We need to keep an eye on the weather. Pete Dantzler on Channel Eight said there are nasty storms west of here heading our way. He says they’re potential tornado producers.”

  “Is there something in particular I need to be concerned about?”

  Marjorie tilted her head, crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him as if he’d stepped in a giant cow pie. “Being a city boy, you wouldn’t know with a large rural population, not everyone can hear the sirens. As for those weather app things, Jack had a campaign to educate people, but there are still folks who won’t use ’em.” Marjorie g
lanced at him over her glasses, and he braced his stance. “Then there are folks like Mabel Cantor, who takes her hearing aid out at night. Though she’s within range of the sirens and has the phone app she won’t hear either one.”

  In other words, the department needed to ensure those folks knew about any warnings issued. “Is there a list of citizens we need to check on if a tornado or flood warning is issued?”

  “There’s a copy on the computer share drive, and a hard copy in the file cabinet.”

  “Is everyone assigned a person or persons to check on?”

  The dispatcher nodded. “That’s on the list, too.”

  “Good. I’ll take a look at it first thing.”

  Just what he needed, storms to worry about. At this rate, he’d never catch the forgers.

  Then before the dispatcher dumped more tasks on his plate, he mumbled something about preparing for his meeting and headed for his office. Once there, he printed the warning list and reviewed it. Then he folded the paper, placed the sheet in his billfold, and moved on to returning Jerry’s call. He learned that, when checking the sink, his landlord discovered the problem was bigger than he could handle. The plumber he called said all the pipes in the house needed replacing because they could break at any time. Since the water would remain off until the repairs were finished, AJ needed to stay somewhere else for three or four days.

  Guess he’d be staying at the Wishing Motor Lodge, because he wasn’t about to stay with Ty since Cassie and Ella had moved onto the ranch. Then a thought hit him.

  When he’d arrived in town he’d checked Jack’s computer and paper files for information on the suspected forged documents scheme. After failing to locate anything, AJ searched the office. Every blasted nook and dusty cranny, but again came up empty. Unable to believe Jack hadn’t written notes, AJ wanted to search his friend’s personal space. While he unquestioningly trusted Cassie and Ty, he couldn’t ask them to search The Bluebonnet Inn and Jack’s personal computer without giving them an explanation.

  But now he had the perfect excuse. He could ask to stay at the inn, and while there, search Jack’s personal items. With Cassie and Ella living at the ranch, he wouldn’t have to worry about them getting curious. He knew Jack had notes. Gut instinct told him that. If he found those, he could narrow down his search, speed up his investigation, and return to Houston and work that mattered.

  He glanced at his second message, and cringed, seeing Virgil’s name. AJ tossed the message on the top of his in-box to deal with later.

  Despite knowing the chief of police job was a cover, and AJ was working a case which demanded his time, the mayor insisted on keeping up appearances. Which had prompted his insistence AJ create a strategic plan for the department. When AJ pointed out the futility of doing so when he wouldn’t implement the plan, the mayor claimed failing to do so would raise red flags with the town council. That task led to today’s meeting to discuss the plan in order for AJ to present it at next month’s council meeting. All for a job he’d be in six months tops.

  He pulled up the document on his computer, but couldn’t focus. Instead, AJ kept replaying what Grace had told him at the accident scene.

  The authorities had trouble believing he hadn’t shared his illegal activities with me.

  Sure people reacted differently under the stress of an accident, but Grace’s nervous, almost panicked reaction to involving the police appeared way out there. His instincts told him there was more to the story. Didn’t he owe it to the town to at least do a little digging? Lord help him, if there was a problem and he didn’t. The mayor would fry his ass.

  Instead of preparing for his meeting, he pulled up the Internet on his computer, typed in Grace’s name, and hit search. He scrolled through the options on his screen, clicked on a link to a New York Times article mentioning Grace Henry, and started reading.

  Grace said a guy she’d dated had problems with the law, but she failed to mention Derek McGloughlin had been accused of embezzling from his employer, a marketing firm, and the company’s clients. Not exactly what AJ classified as minor problems, especially not with the amount involved.

  An unidentified source indicated the possibility of someone else’s involvement, but the authorities had no leads as to who it might be. He read further, discovering not only had the NYPD questioned Grace, but the FBI had as well.

  He clicked on the link to another article. This one stated McGloughlin had pled guilty and was awaiting sentencing. Had he cut a deal? AJ continued reading but couldn’t locate details on a deal. Nor could he find anything further regarding Grace.

  Nothing implicated her in any illegal activity. Why was she skittish about contacting the police today? Nothing added up. For example, what was she doing in Wishing? It wasn’t like Dallas where people drove through on their way to somewhere else.

  All the questions Luke had asked Grace, hell, all the questions AJ asked before his officer arrived, and neither of them had inquired why she was in Wishing. He thought about checking Luke’s preliminary report for Grace’s number to call for the answer, but decided to wait until tomorrow in order to dig further. That way he could ask any additional questions that came up, and organize his thoughts rather than rush in like a bull in a china shop.

  Figuring Grace had taken up enough of his day, he clicked on his budget document, but his cell phone rang. “How are you holding up out there in the sticks?” Paul Masters, his boss at the Houston FBI field office, asked when AJ answered.

  Not about to tell his supervisor he was bored, his brain atrophying from lack of use, and he’d gotten nowhere on the case, he said, “It’s all good. I’m making progress. Hopefully, I’ll have a break soon.”

  As long as he got a break from corralling stray cows, training rookie cops who possessed the people skills of a house plant, and mediating squabbles between neighbors, he’d be fine.

  “Did you find your friend’s notes?”

  When Jack contacted the FBI regarding his suspicions about the forged documents, because he lacked concrete evidence, he’d been reluctant to name his suspect. “I haven’t been able to search the inn, but now I’ve got the perfect excuse.” He explained about his plumbing problem.

  “His sister-in-law hasn’t gotten rid of his things?”

  “Not yet.” He explained how becoming her niece’s guardian, dealing with financial issues, and running the inn had kept Cassie more than busy, pushing going through Jack’s and Chloe’s personal items down priority wise.

  “Good thing for us,” Masters said. “Are you and the mayor getting along any better?”

  Mayor Timmons hadn’t wanted AJ placed in the job, insisting it wasn’t fair to the town and its citizens to go without a permanent chief of police because the FBI needed someone under cover. He worried the town would get shortchanged.

  “He never lets me forget the deal you made. That I have to see to all ‘duties and responsibilities’ of the chief of police job as if I were the permanent hire. He keeps forgetting my first priority is catching the forger.”

  “Sorry, but sometimes we have to make sacrifices to get the job done.”

  Later as AJ drove across town, he realized his meeting with the mayor only reinforced his determination to make his term as chief of police as short as possible. Not only did he dissect every word of AJ’s strategic plan, he insisted on going over the department’s budget line by line. AJ agreed the town shouldn’t be shortchanged, but strategic planning and budget issues? There was reasonable, and then there was pain-in-the-ass ridiculous.

  As he pulled into the driveway on his rental property, he glanced at the dashboard clock. If he hurried, he could feed Lu, change, and be on time for dinner with Ty, Cassie and her friend.

  For once he found himself looking forward to a Friday night. If Cassie’s friend was anything like her, the night should be an interesting diversion. He smiled, thinking how he could use some fun. Not to mention some female companionship.

  Nothing had gone according to plan s
ince arriving in Wishing. More than simply his forgery case. He’d anticipated having to separate himself from his staff. At the FBI, he had other agents at his level to pal around with. But as chief, the remaining staff reported to him. Socializing with those he supervised meant he risked people accusing him of playing favorites or lacking objectivity. Not only that, but he lacked a professional confidant, someone to bounce ideas off of when he was frustrated with work. He couldn’t even turn to Ty because of confidentiality issues.

  While he’d been prepared for those realities, he hadn’t anticipated his social life being nonexistent because he experienced similar distance from everyone else in town. Not that they weren’t warm and inviting, but they treated him differently. They weren’t themselves around him. They were reserved. Other than formal invitations to dinner or church socials, people were reluctant to socialize with him. No one wanted to sit around, shoot the breeze and have beers with the chief. It was as if they worried what would happen if they got too rowdy. Would he be a hard ass and haul them off to jail for being drunk and disorderly? Bar owners weren’t crazy about having him around either. Apparently when he showed up liquor sales nosedived.

  All of which left AJ feeling lonely even when surrounded by people. If it weren’t for Ty and Cassie, he didn’t know what he’d do. At least tonight he could be plain old AJ, not Wishing’s chief of police.

  He found Lu in the corral, but he swore he’d left her in the barn. No matter. He’d move her inside, then change, and be on his way. He stepped inside the corral, and reached for Lu, but as if sensing what he meant to do, she darted out of his reach.

  “All right, girl. I don’t have time for games,” he said in a soothing voice. Horses didn’t care what a body said. For animals it was all about the tone and body language. She knew they normally spent time together when he got home, and she didn’t want to get shortchanged. If she wasn’t so smart this would be easier.