Capitol Offense (Texas Heroines in Peril) (14 page)

Lacy felt for the key. Luck was with her
still. It, too, was there. Eagerly, she opened up the top drawer of
the filing cabinet. Like most filing cabinets, it was
alphabetically indexed, starting with the A's. She knew she was
racing against time and wouldn't have all night to browse through
the files looking for just the right bit of incriminating
evidence.

She quickly thought of a once-liberal,
vituperative state senator, Al Simpson, who, two years earlier,
reversed his opposition to Jim Chambers and began rubberstamping
all of Chambers' endorsements. Lacy had wondered why he had changed
so completely, so suddenly. Now, she might find out. She opened up
the R through V drawer. Under the S's she did, indeed, find a file
on Al Simpson. She grabbed up the manila folder. In it, among other
things, was a Xeroxed club roster, some twenty years old. Simpson
had signed it while he was a student at Texas Tech. The club was
titled Student Religious Liberals. He had signed "Al Simpson,
devout atheist."

"So," thought Lacy,
Jim
was
blackmailing him. Simpson knew his rural constituents would
never reelect a man they thought was an atheist.

She kept out the file and quickly snatched
others. At random, she looked under the R's. Myron Rainey, the
imminent state supreme court justice, merited his own file. In his
folder Lacy saw, but did not look at too closely, a photograph of
the elderly judge in bed with a young woman who most definitely was
not Mrs. Rainey. Hating to do it, she kept out this file, too.

Turning back to the top drawer, she looked
under day care. It seemed unbelievable to Lacy, but there was
actually a file on the shady transactions at the Schneiderburg day
care center. Deeds and cancelled checks and even a payroll to
non-existent day care workers.

Just as she was about to put the files in
her purse, she heard the outer office door open.

Her insides jolted violently. Sweat drenched
her. Her first instinct of survival was to hide. But where? The
desk was the only shelter in the room, and it was of little help.
She edged up against the wall, wedged between the filing cabinet
and the window. She would be hidden for a few seconds, but if
someone were looking for her, they would find her easily.

She shook all over and was afraid to breathe
for fear of being heard. She heard footsteps coming across the
receiving office. Then she heard McNally's door
open  she'd forgotten to relock it. She childishly hoped
it was just a watchman making his rounds, or even McNally,
hurriedly fetching something from his desktop. Perhaps, she tried
to assure herself, whoever it was would just turn around and go
away.

The overhead light flashed on. Footsteps
came toward her. She knew the top of her was lower than the top of
the filing cabinet because she stooped at the knees, but she
suddenly discovered that since the light had been turned on, her
reflection showed in the nearby window, just as Jim's did as he
came toward her.

"Hello, Lacy."

She looked up and saw the gleam of the gun
he pointed at her.

Her first sensation was of total fear. After
a few seconds, though, her logically calculating mind took charge,
giving her renewed strength. "Jim, you couldn't possibly use that
gun in this building. Not even you could get away with that."

"Don't be so certain. I don't want to use
the gun in this building, but I will if I have to. I've already
figured out my story. I'll say I was alarmed by the twisting of my
outer door knob as I was up late reading. I got up to investigate,
just in time to see a short man with a hat enter McNally's office.
And knowing it couldn't be McNally, I got my gun and came upon the
intruder who was stealing from McNally's cash reserve. There was a
struggle, of course, and the gun went off."

"They'll never believe you."

"I think they will."

"How did you know someone was in here?"

"I heard a sound like a drill. You know,
only that wall there separates my bedroom from Richard's office.
Instinct told me it was either you or that Italian fellow of yours.
Naturally, I came to investigate."

"How'd you find out about Mike?"

"From your letter, of course. One of my men
in Houston followed up my lead. It seems a Mike Talamino, rather
than a Mike Q. Public lived at the address, and after some
investigation we determined that Mike Talamino had not shown up at
work today--very out of character, according to his coworkers. The
fact he graduated from UT law school placed him in Austin, so it
seemed likely you and he had known each other. From the Houston
airport my man was able to find out that Talamino had gone to San
Antonio the night before. How, I'm wondering, did you make it
through my usually capable network in San Antonio?"

"Let your usually capable network figure
that out."

"Where's the boyfriend?"

Lacy looked at her watch. "If I'm not out of
here in five minutes, he'll bring the FBI after you."

"I'm not going to fall for that. My men will
be able to deal with him. Now, I want to escort you into my
apartment until I decide how to dispose of you. I hope I don't have
to remind you not to try to escape. I'm quite a good shot."
Thinking of Mike, Lacy's confidence suddenly buoyed, so sure she
was of his ability to get her out of this perilous situation.

She and Jim walked the short distance from
McNally's office to Jim's spacious lieutenant governor's
apartment.

He led her to his study and ordered her to
take a seat in a straight chair near the desk. With his gun still
aimed at her, he lifted the phone receiver and punched a
number.

"Rich, Lacy's here with me. I caught her
breaking into your files. Can you come over right away?" He watched
Lacy as he listened.

After he hung up, he punched out another
number, this one only four digits  indicating that he was
calling someone in the Capitol complex.

"Bernie," he began, "this is Governor
Chambers. Has a young, dark man been hanging around down there?"
Another pause, this one longer. Instead of replying, Jim broke out
into hysterical laughter. After a minute, he said, "Well, I'd
rather that we'd have gotten him first, but I guess it's too late
now. How'd you like to earn a thousand dollars? Here's what you do.
Try to keep the fellow from contacting anyone. You grab him as soon
as he posts bail. I don't care what you have to do. Pete ought to
be back in time to help you take care of him once you've got
him."

With a sadistic smile of his face, Jim
glared at Lacy. "Now I know how you and the boyfriend got past my
men in San Antonio. We'd covered the car rental agencies, airport,
bus and train stations. Pity we didn't post someone at Senator
Marshall's unoccupied house. By the way, the Senator was driving by
just as you and Talamino left the little sports car. He immediately
confirmed that it was his car, watched the pair of you enter the
Capitol, then called the Capitol police to report it."

At least Jim didn't have Mike yet, Lacy
assured herself. But, it was of little comfort, knowing the strong
forces that worked against them. She decided to find out more about
those forces.

"What do you mean by your network? Do you
actually have some sort of crime ring under your command?"

"I guess you could call it that. Sort of a
miniature mafia. I'm at the head of it  started laying
the foundation for it when I was still a state rep. Small stuff at
first. A little blackmail here, securing state contracts for
various business associates of mine. When I became Lieutenant
Governor we really got organized. Me, Richard, the Schneiderburg
realtor, and big businessmen from around the state. We've got a
payroll of over a hundred. You might call it my own private
army."

"Oh, God, you sound mentally deranged."

"Is that why you didn't fall far me?"

"I've only recently learned of your
problem."

"I could tell you always thought you were
too good for me. You and that ultra respectable family of
yours. All the money I've got couldn't buy you. I would have bought
you everything you could ever have wanted if you'd just have
married me. There's not a woman in this whole building who wouldn't
go to bed with me without a minute's hesitation. Don't look at me
so high and mighty."

"I'm not looking any particular way at
you."

"You damned bitch. Not everyone had the
advantages you had. Do you know what it is to work two jobs and rob
your sleep in order to study to get through college? I used to wash
dishes at dorm for my meals. It was not only humiliating, it was
also slave's work in that steaming kitchen."

"You can cut out the Horatio Alger stories,
Jim. On a professor's salary, my dad couldn't afford to send all of
us to school. We got some help with scholarships, but we all
worked."

The door to McNally's office burst open.

Chapter 18

"I let myself in," McNally told
Chambers.

"Glad you got here so fast." Jim did not
take his eyes off Lacy nor his finger off the trigger of the gun.
"We've got to get her out of here right away. There's an outside
chance that boyfriend of hers may be able to get someone to search
my place when he can't find her. He's being booked right now for
car theft, but he may be able to get someone to listen to him.
Bernie's going to try to hit him as soon as he's out."

Lacy's heart stilled.

"Better get her out of here fast," McNally
said.

"Can you take her to your place?" Jim
asked.

McNally shook his head. "What would I tell
Viv?"

Now Lacy was absolutely certain Vivian
McNally was completely ignorant of her husband's crimes.

"Better not put a blabbing female to the
test," Jim said. "Before we do another thing, I want you to call
the guys in San Antonio and tell 'em to cool it because they're
here, and tell 'em to send Pete back right away."

McNally punched a phone number and dittoed
his boss's instructions, then hung up. "As good as done. Now, about
our problem...What do you think about me taking her to mine and
Viv's bay house while you fix things up here? You can send Pete
down later. I could get there in about four hours and could be back
by noon tomorrow  if you send Pete on."

Lacy knew Pete would be her assassin. And a
guy named Bernie, Mike's. As terrified as she was, she was sick
that she'd involved Mike, sick that because he loved her, he, too,
would die.

"Sounds good."

"Let me call Viv before I take off."

So she would be carried off to an
out of season bay home where Pete would murder her. Tears
surged. Her heartbeat thundered. They spoke of getting rid of her
as if she were just so much waste which had to be disposed of. If
only there were some way she could get a message out.

Then, it occurred to her. In their anxiety,
McNally and Jim were nearly unaware of the threat of her presence.
When McNally called his wife, Lacy could make her move if she acted
quickly enough.

She was ready after he had
punched in the phone number. At the precise second he said
hello
, Lacy screamed
out: "Help Lacy, Vivian!"

McNally slammed down the phone, then slapped
Lacy. The force knocked her to the floor. She was almost glad of
his sudden blow because she had been afraid that in his anger Jim
might have pulled the trigger. Now, he could be cooling off while
she dragged herself off the floor.

The surprise and sting of the attack had
brought tears streaming down her face. Jim jerked her off the floor
and clenched his hand over her mouth while the other hand held her
arm. Unmasked evil shone in his face. "We'd better tie and gag
her."

McNally nodded. "But what will I tell Viv?
I'm afraid she'll call back any second."

He was no longer the wise administrator. Now
he was a scared man begging instructions.

Jim swept up the phone receiver and placed
it on the desk.

"There. If she calls back, she'll think
we're on the phone. She knows she heard her name called
out--probably by Lacy. But I doubt if she can be sure it was you
who placed the call. Remember, you didn't say anything but 'hi.'
I'll leave the phone off the hook until we can plan on what to tell
her. She wouldn't call the police without getting in touch with you
first."

"Let me be responsible for Viv," McNally
pleaded. "Don't do anything that'll hurt her." He looked worried.
His hand wiped his sweaty brow.

"You can rest easy, there. I don't want too
many corpses found around here or someone will get suspicious. I
can come up with a pretty good alibi to tell Vivian."

A glow of relief spread over McNally's
face.

"Damn, Rich, what do you think I am? I
wouldn't hurt Vivian. Besides, no telling what you'd do to me if
anything ever happened to her. I'll go scrounge up something to tie
Lacy up with. You two have got to get out of here right away."

He was back in a minute, toting a ball of
twine and a kitchen towel, which he tore into thin strips with
which to bind Lacy's mouth. Then he tied her hands with the twine,
showing her no mercy. With savage like vengeance, he pulled
the twine until it cut grooves into her skin. She cried out, but
the sound was muffled. His knots were doubled, then doubled again.
He tugged at them several times to be certain they would hold.

"Okay. That ought to do it. Get her out of
here, and if she gives you any trouble after you've left the
building, don't think twice about doing her in. You got a gun?"

"No."

Jim left the room, returning after a
minute's absence with a large, pewter-colored revolver. "Here.
Don't hesitate to use it, and don't worry about its registration.
No one will be able to trace it to anyone around here."