Capitol Offense (Texas Heroines in Peril) (4 page)

"Ain't that nice," the woman said. The
almost-too-friendly smile left her face and she spoke somberly.
"Honey, I'm sorry your trip was for nothing, but we don't have that
nursery school yet. Expect it real soon, though. You should have
checked with Jim before you came. He'd have told you about it." She
turned her attention to a customer approaching the cash
register.

Lacy didn't like the food. Maybe it wasn't
the food. Maybe it was the sick feeling she had for having wasted
her day and making fool of herself. Why hadn't she checked with
someone before she came?

She had, though, checked the last
appropriations bill. Two-and-a-half million dollars for purchase of
a suitable structure, furnishings and teaching supplies. Her
knowledge of state appropriations convinced her the money had to be
used during the current biennium, and the biennium was nearly over.
She had been under the impression that a fairly large site had been
purchased. Perhaps she bad better go see the building on Sheridan
Highway.

As Lacy slid into the front seat of her car
she saw a body crouched on the floor. She gasped, her heart
drumming wildly, her hand groping for the door handle. She started
to scream, then recognized the intruder as the Hispanic girl who
had cleaned off the counter.

The young girl pressed her index finger to
her lips. "Please, no one must know I talk to you. I be finished
after lunch in about one hour. I must talk to you. Meet me on the
other side of the bridge back where the trees are. Don't let anyone
see you. I go now." She poked her head barely above the seat,
looked in every direction, opened the door and briskly walked
around the corner toward the rear of the cafe.

Lacy was left shaken. What did the girl want
to tell her? Could it have something to do with the day care
center?

She drove down Sheridan Highway. The three
miles over which she drove revealed exactly two dwellings. One was
an abandoned shack with a sagging front porch and glassless
windows; the other was a small farm house. The third structure on
the little-traveled road was the old church Lacy sought. It had
once been a church, Lacy guessed by the steeple and wide front
steps and doorway. It was typical of many rural Southern churches:
a large white frame box. Fresh paint proclaimed it to be "PROPERTY
OF THE STATE OF TEXAS." A padlock secured the door.

There was nothing more to see.

As she drove through town again to reach the
bridge, Lacy periodically checked her rear-view mirror to be
certain no one was following her. When she was certain, she turned
her car into a densely wooded field close to the bridge. She drove
the car downward toward a ravine which emptied into the river. The
gentle slope hid her car from the road. She looked around again and
saw no one. She looked at her watch. Fifteen more minutes. She was
nervous and scared and did not know why. What was there for her to
fear?

There had been fear in the girl's face.

Even the forest of trees couldn't protect
Lacy from the sweltering heat. She was hot and sticky and scared.
She wished she had not come. Her cold office with its cold floors
and metal desk would be a welcome retreat now.

Before long, she heard a sudden noise. It
sounded as if twigs were cracking beneath someone's steps.
Queasiness filled her stomach, then she saw it was the Hispanic
girl.

Although her walk was nearly brisk enough
for a run, the young girl examined the path she trod closely and
chose her steps carefully. Lacy judged her to be around sixteen. In
addition to the café's shirt, she wore jeans and athletic shoes. A
sensible choice for one who had to work on her feet all day. It
bothered Lacy that such a young girl had to work all day.

"I thought maybe you would not come," she
told Lacy.

As she had done before, the girl looked in
each direction. Lacy suggested they sit in her car. As they walked
to the car, the girl said she had taken a chance on the red compact
being Lacy's because of the parking sticker from the Capitol.

They got in the car.

"I won't take long. First, you must never
say you have talked to me," the girl said. "It could be very
dangerous for me. The Anglos don't like us. That is why I have to
talk to you. The lady with the hair of yellow, my boss, she doesn't
know I speak English. She say many things I think she would not
like me to hear. There was to be a nursery school for our children
when their mamas are working in the fields. This we wanted very
much. But we will never have it. Mr. Chamber and the people of the
town fixed it so."

Lacy attempted a protest at hearing her boss
slandered, but the young girl cut in sharply.

"It is so. I heard my boss talking with the
town's realtor. They used the money for the school to build the new
shopping center, Hacienda Square. On paper they made it look like
they paid the whole amount for the Sheridan Highway property and
building."

"You can't be serious!"

The girl nodded. "I tell you these things,
but I will tell no one else. I do not fear for myself but for my
parents and my brothers and sisters. I hoped you could help us, but
now I fear for you. My boss tried to call Mr. Chambers after you
left. She couldn't get him, but she talked to Mr. Mac something. I
didn't hear what else she say. She talked in a whisper, but you
could be in trouble."

"This is all so unbelievable. I've known Jim
Chambers for two years. He's been a good legislator," Lacy
defended.

"Believe it. Mr. Chambers is evil. He is
like those mafia men in the movies who have people killed. You
mustn't go back to him. You are now in danger."

"That's ridiculous. Jim Chambers couldn't
hurt a fly." Lacy stopped for a minute, then asked, "Give me one
shred of evidence and I'd help you--to prove him right, if for no
other reason."

The girl got out of the car. "Please believe
these things. I have no proof. I only know that what I say is
true."

Chapter 5

Part of the aura which had attracted Lacy to
a political life had been the gala Washington parties she read
about. The women in their haute couture, the sprinkling of
cosmopolitan ambassadors, the debates over tomorrow's laws. They
all added to that magical lure Lacy had found so enticing.

The Austin political get-togethers supplied
no such glamour. Tonight's affair called for somewhat dressy
attire. Lacy chose a white linen suit with matching heels. She
examined herself in the mirror and approved of the attractive
reflection.

"Well, you couldn't be any straighter if you
had a two by four down your spine," Becky, Lacy's roommate, teased.
"What is it tonight?"

"A reception for lawmakers. The Headliners
are hosting it."

"Wow," Becky mocked, "And I bet you get to
stand in one of these boring receiving lines pretending to be
delighted over the never-ending stream of people you don't
know."

Lacy laughed.

"Going with Smiling Jim?"

"Yep," Lacy nearly whispered. She was
thinking again of what the girl had told her that day about Jim.
She knew she had to handle the time bomb of suspicions with all the
shrewdness and aloof coolness she could muster. She had thought it
strange that afternoon that McNally hadn't contacted her when she
returned from Schneiderburg. She had been in her office all
afternoon throwing together a promissory speech on improving Texas
day care.

Goodson scanned it and told her it was
precisely what he had in mind. But still she had not heard from
McNally. Because of what the girl had said, Lacy knew he had heard
of her jaunt to Schneiderburg. He must have decided to approach the
subject casually at tonight's party. She decided to wait for
McNally to make the first move.

* * *

Lacy impatiently eyed the hands on her watch
and the elevator dial at the same time. She'd had some difficulty
finding a parking place. If she wasn't at the club on the top floor
of the high-rise hotel in four minutes, she would be late. When one
had to stand in a receiving line, one simply wasn't late. She kept
pressing the UP button, although she knew one push was enough. She
was about to push again when a man's voice chided her.

"On your way to a fire?"

She turned around and greeted Jim
Chambers.

He stood looking down at her from his
six-foot-two inch height. His presence was commanding, his manner
confident. It helped that he was young--thirty-two--and possessed
blond good looks. "Don't worry. We're not late," he said. "Even if
we were, they can't start without me." He smiled down at her. She
suddenly felt awkward.

They rode the elevator alone. Jim pressed
against Lacy and firmly secured her hand in his much larger
one.

"I won't be able to do this the rest of the
evening," he whispered. His dark eyes longingly raked over her.
"You're beautiful."

She cast her eyes downward. Her lashes
nearly rested an her cheeks. "Thank you, Jim."

As the elevator came to a halt on the top
floor, Jim dropped her hand and straightened his tie before making
his entrance.

The boisterous crowd hushed when they
entered. All eyes shifted to the young couple. Although Lacy moved
gracefully and retained a soft smile, she shook inwardly. She never
had become accustomed to being a focal point.

Becky had been right about the receiving
line, Lacy thought. In her first thirty minutes there she had not
talked to more than a dozen people she knew. Among those had been
the McNallys. As cordial as ever, McNally did not mention her
morning excursion.

Lacy and Jim were greeting the last couple
in line when a lone youngish male approached. Jim was deep in
conversation with a couple, so Lacy offered her hand to the
newcomer and introduced herself.

"Jeff Holcomb." His firm hand gripped
hers.

"Are you from Austin, Jeff?" She had
mastered techniques of engaging strangers in conversation.

"No, I'm with Judge Taylor in Houston."

Lacy knew Judge Taylor was a federal
district judge whom her old boyfriend, Mike Talamino, had been
close to. "Oh, perhaps you know Mike Talamino."

"Why, yes. We're well acquainted. You must
have known him when he was here in Austin."

Lacy nodded. "We
used
to be well
acquainted." Why did the mention of Mike Talamino cause her heart
to flutter and her knees to feel weak? She had a sudden hunger to
see him. Her dark, bespectacled knight. God, she didn't realize how
badly she had missed him. "How Is he?"

"Working himself to death, as usual. Never
relaxes. It would probably take five men to replace him."

"Sounds as if he hasn't time for play," Lacy
said. "Which makes me wonder if he has ever married." Her stomach
plummeted at the thought of Mike marrying.

"Mike? You must be kidding. He's always so
busy, traveling and so forth, that he's too busy to make it to any
events which could be construed as social."

Noticing the couple Chambers had been
talking to leave, Lacy said, "Well, Jeff, I hope you'll mention me
to Mike. I'm glad I got to talk to you, but I'm sure you'd rather
talk to Mr. Chambers than to me."

She went directly to the McNallys. "Vivian,
you look pretty tonight. I think your new hairdo very becoming."
Vivian McNally was a good-looking women in her late thirties.

"Oh, thank you, Lacy, but I must admit I
haven't felt so pretty since I saw how gorgeous you look."

Lacy liked her a lot. She liked Lacy, too.
Vivian liked everyone her husband respected. In fact, Lacy thought,
her ideas were mere copies of her husband's, so enamored of him was
she.

McNally joined the conversation. "I don't
know how you do it, Lacy. Working like a programmed computer all
day. I know you couldn't have finished before six o'clock. What I
want to know is how you got home, dressed so nicely, ate and got
back here by seven-thirty."

"Well, first of all, I didn't eat. And I'm
famished, Why don't we go see what the Headliners have furnished us
with in the way of hors d'oeuvres?"

"We skip a meal, then proceed to more than
make up for calories by hitting the snack table at these affairs,"
Vivian said as she sauntered to the central table with her husband
and Lacy.

Vivian was right about the calories. No
fat-free delights were to be counted among the corn chips, jalapeno
bean dip, jalapeno cheese dip and miniature fried chicken legs.

Sebastian, the roving waiter who served at
most of these functions, not only knew Lacy by name but also
remembered what she drank. After taking orders from the small crowd
gathered around the snack table, he approached Lacy. "The usual,
Miss Blair?"

"Yes, thank you, Sebastian," Lacy answered
with a smile and a wink, for the usual for Lacy was plain Coke. It
wasn't that she didn't like to drink, but that bartenders at these
affairs mixed cocktails far too strong for Lacy to swallow
comfortably. Hosts at these parties didn't quibble over a few more
dollars spent on liquor as a night club manager might.

Besides Lacy and the
McNallys, two former colleagues of Lacy's from the
News
and her former boss
hovered over the long snack table. They struck up a conversation,
then Jim joined them, slipping his arm around Lacy's
shoulder.

The hum of private conversations ceased the
instant Jim arrived at the table.

As if to break the edgy
silence, Lacy's former boss at the
News
spoke. "Mr. Chambers, how many
other state officials, besides yourself, have filed complete
financial statements in the Secretary of State's
office?"

"Well, in the way of a little campaigning,
let me say I'm pleased to report nearly every candidate for a
state-wide office has now filed. Of course there are a few
exceptions--one of my opponents in the upcoming primary among them.
But I can't tell you how pleased I am that so many have followed my
lead."