Landry's Law (9 page)

“Domestic violence?”

Seth shook his head and gave a melancholy laugh. “Nope, she was his paralegal and his lover. It was her testimony that put Clayton in prison. Perjured testimony, I might add.”

“He’s a lawyer? Can’t you go to her and make her tell the truth?”

“He
was
a lawyer, and I can’t find her. He was dis
barred after the conviction almost a year ago. But Clayton has a hearing on a sentence reduction in a few months. We’ll all be there to testify on his behalf.”

“I hope it works,” Savannah said. She meant it. It surprised her at how strongly she felt about this injustice toward the Landry family. It went beyond empathy for a friend. It went into dangerous ground. “Now, would you like to go to your office—” She was cut off by the telephone.

It was Cody and he wanted Seth. For some reason, it annoyed her that
her
marshal only wanted to talk to his brother. She felt out of the loop and didn’t like it. At least the call only lasted a few seconds, so it couldn’t have been too important.

“What did he want?” Savannah asked, silently telling herself that it was her house and her phone and she had every right to know because most importantly, it was her life.

“Don’t panic,” Seth said. “It wasn’t a relocation order. Cody just wants to talk to me about some of the evidence from your date murders.”

“I prefer if you didn’t call them mine.”

“Anyway, I told him to meet me at Olive’s.”

Savannah smiled. “Thank you.”

He shrugged, then said, “I still think it’s a lousy idea, but it’s your life. And I do happen to agree that if someone wanted you dead, they would have killed you long ago.”

“Thanks for that positive thought,” she teased.

“C’mon,” Seth said, taking her hand.

Savannah laced her fingers with his. It felt right. It felt natural.

But it was only temporary.

Like most of the shops in Jasper, things were quiet at Olive’s on Thursdays. Seth knew it was because the tourists from the nearby ski resorts were getting in the last runs of their vacations. So when he dropped Savannah at Olive’s shop he wasn’t surprised when Junior and Olive invited Savannah upstairs. She agreed to go up to the living quarters for some tea. He wondered if Savannah had only agreed because she knew Cody was coming by and she didn’t want to risk letting Olive or Junior overhear the truth. He knew she regarded both of them as friends. At least Junior seemed thrilled that she was going upstairs. Though he claimed it simply
gave him a break from doing the year-end figures for his mother, Seth sensed that Junior was smitten with Savannah. He didn’t like the way that made him feel, though he did like the fact that Savannah seemed to treat Junior more like a big brother than Seth’s potential romantic rival.

“I haven’t even said anything and you’re already frowning,” Cody commented as he entered the shop.

“I wasn’t frowning about you, and keep your voice down. Savannah is upstairs with the Baumgartners.”

Cody smiled knowingly. “And you don’t like Savannah giving attention to anyone but you?”

Seth’s only response was a threatening glare.

Cody lifted his arms in mock surrender. “Look, I’m not blind. She’s beautiful but she’s a protected witness, Seth. You’ve gotta control whatever you’re feeling. We don’t even have a trial date and I can’t promise you she’ll be able to stay—”

“—in Jasper until then,” Seth finished, irritably. “She’s already given me this lecture.”

Cody appeared relieved. “Good. I wouldn’t want to see the two of you get involved and you be hurt.”

“Too late,” Seth admitted.

Cody looked at him in disbelief. “You seduced her the very first night you were supposed to be protecting her?”

“No, we just kissed.”

“Well,” Cody sighed, his annoyance clear.
“Promise me no more mouth-to-mouth incidents. I put my butt in a sling to convince my superiors that you were in complete control of the situation. Speaking of which, why is she working?”

“Because that wasn’t open to discussion,” Seth mimicked.

Cody whistled softly. “She can be a major pain,” he commented. “She doesn’t seem to want to follow the rules.”

“Maybe she doesn’t like your rules,” Seth said.

“They’re for her own protection,” Cody answered, defensively.

“They’re stifling to a woman like Savannah,” Seth explained. “She would wither away stuck in that cabin with nothing to do.”

“That
was
precisely what she was supposed to do,” Cody countered. “I’ve got to keep her alive to testify.”

“No,
I
have to do that. Savannah is my responsibility now.”

“Not if you can’t be objective and at the top of your game,” Cody argued. “I need you to be one hundred percent on this thing.”

“I’m at 110 percent now. Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her.”

“Make sure that’s the only thing you take from her.”

“I’m getting tired of this discussion,” Seth said pointedly. “Didn’t you want to tell me some things about the evidence?”

Cody nodded as they both leaned against the counter near the register, their heads together. “Harvey Whitlock’s prints came back as one Harve Beagle, a minor-leager in the Rossi family.”

Seth muffled a curse.

“It gets better,” Cody insisted. “The guy who found Fowler’s body, Ken Updyke, is also a grunt in the Rossi family.”

“Damn,” Seth whispered softly. “Rossi sent two hitmen here to kill her?”

“Our guy on the inside says no,” Cody explained. “But he isn’t privileged to everything.”

“If Updyke and Whitlock were hitmen, how come they didn’t hit Savannah? Why kill her dates?”

“Maybe they were two wimps who couldn’t kill a woman. Or maybe they wanted to get her arrested for murder to eliminate her effectiveness as a witness when the Rossi racketeering trial starts.”

“Any idea when that is?” Seth asked.

“Nope. That’s Peter’s department. He’s the DOJ head of the investigation.”

“He’s had six years,” Seth said with disgust.

“These things take time,” Cody insisted. “Oh, by the way, I think I know what the 9-1-2 on Fowler’s hand meant.”

“What?”

“It was probably meant as a warning to Savannah.”

“What kind of warning is 9-1-2?” Seth queried.

“It’s the area code for Savannah, Georgia. I guess they just wanted to make their presence known.”

“Well, they were pretty stupid. Apparently Savannah has no idea that is the area code. I asked her about the number and she thought Fowler had simply noted the time she had arrived for their date. He wasn’t too thrilled that she was a few minutes late.”

“Well, I’m still checking on the contract the Rossi family put out on her. I’ll let you know what I find out. And oh, by the way, your killer likes trophies? Well, I think you’re looking for a Glock 9mm. Apparently Harve never left home without it and it wasn’t on your inventory.”

“Great. If the killer somehow lost the Glock in the vent, then there’s a possibility Cal found it.”

“Cal the teenage criminal?” Cody asked.

“He was caught in the ventilation system after we had finished with the crime scene. At the time we didn’t know the ventilation system was such an easy way in and out of the Mountainview. When I sent J.D. back, he learned that a bellman had caught Cal. So, I guess I’d better go track the kid down and see if he has the gun.” Seth rubbed his eyes, hoping for Ruthie’s sake that Cal hadn’t already used the weapon in a felony. If so, there was nothing within his power to help the boy. He’d be on the fast bus to the reformatory, then on to an adult prison when he was of age.

Cody left, and Seth grumbled, “Dammit!”

“What?” Savannah asked as she came up behind him. “Did Cody bring bad news?”

He turned in her direction and Savannah was again amazed that just seeing his handsome face was enough to make her knees buckle.

He explained about Harvey Whitlock being Harve Beagle and Ken Updyke being his partner in the Rossi crime family. Savannah felt fear knot her stomach.

“But Cody can’t find anything to indicate they were doing it on the orders of Rossi. Some agency has an operative undercover on the inside of Rossi’s organization and he doesn’t know anything about two lightweights like Whitlock and Updyke being sent by Rossi.”

“Is that good or bad?”

He reached out and stroked the hollow of her cheek with the back of his hand. He had a fierce need to comfort her and he would have preferred pulling her into an embrace but didn’t dare risk a repeat performance in front of gossip-mongering Olive or smitten Junior.

“Good. Especially since someone killed Whitlock. In my opinion, this is about making you look like a killer to destroy your credibility on the stand. Updyke probably killed Whitlock when you weren’t arrested after the first murder.”

“Sounds like the kind of friend I wouldn’t want
to have,” Savannah said honestly. “What about the trophies?” she asked.

“My guess is we’ll eventually find them someplace you have access to. Well, all except for one.”

“Whitlock’s?”

Seth nodded. “We have to go see Cal Nestor right away. Can you leave?”

She nodded. “It’s pretty slow, but I’m sure Olive won’t mind. I mean, she’s sitting up there with Junior, going over her books. She’ll probably love an excuse to come down and man the shop. But what’s the urgency?”

He told her about the gun. “My guess is Cal cut school today and is either off shooting it someplace, or he’s trying to find a convenience store to rob.”

“Then you’re right, I suppose we had better hurry. Let me just run up and tell Olive I’m leaving.”

While she was gone, Seth called the school and verified that Cal was on their absentee list. His second call was to the Cowboy Café, where he knew Ruthie would be working her usual double shift.

“Hello, handsome, what do you want sent to your office?”

“I’m calling about Cal,” he said.

There was a brief, pained silence before she asked, “What did he do this time?”

“Hopefully nothing,” Seth tried assuring her. “But I need to find him and he isn’t in school.”

“He isn’t?”

“No. Where does he normally go when he skips school?”

“He likes to go to Clancy. He takes his horse and goes to the wildlife area there.”

“Thanks, Ruthie.”

“Thank you,” she said in earnest. “I guess I’ll have to come over and cook you a meal to show my gratitude.”

“That’s not necessary. I’m just doing my job.”

In a sultry voice, Ruthie asked, “Seth Landry, are you telling me you don’t want me to come over to quench all your…
appetites?
”

“Now’s not a good time,” he said, not wanting to hurt her. “I’ll let you know how things work out with Cal.”

“Thanks,” Ruthie said with little enthusiasm, then she hung up.

Savannah was back quickly and they headed out to his Bronco. “Can you ride?” he asked.

“A horse?”

“No, a skateboard,” he joked. “This is Montana, of course I meant a horse.”

She playfully offered him her tongue. “I can probably ride better than you can. My father put me on a horse when I was four.”

“I was just a matter of months old, so I think I have you beat.”

“Really,” she fairly purred. “Care to make a wager on that?”

“I hate to take your money.”

“I’ll be taking yours and I won’t feel the least bit guilty about it.”

“Okay. Just remember, this was your idea.”

“Fine…say, a hundred dollars?”

“You’re on.”

S
AVANNAH’S FIRST
reaction to the Lucky 7 Ranch was a sense of awe. A huge clapboard home almost rivaled the beautiful peaks off in the distance. She saw miles and miles of fencing, and a corral off to the left side.

“This is like the western version of the Kennedy Compound, right?”

Seth chuckled. “It’s a little large, but we needed all the space growing up. My father built this house with his own two hands.”

“You’re kidding,” Savannah said as she climbed the stairs to the large double doors.

“Nope. Jasper is actually named for my great-great-grandfather. Jasper Landry claimed over two million acres when he arrived before Montana even thought about being a state.”

“Wow.”

“The land has been divided between family members, but the only two Landry spreads left are the Lucky 7 and Cade’s ranch.”

“Cade’s married to the pretty redhead who had the premature baby boy, right?” Savannah asked.

“Jackson, and he’s doing fine. Her name is Barbara. You should get to know her. She’s another East Coast girl. Came here all the way from Charleston.”

“My ears are burning!” he heard the unmistakable sound of Barbara’s voice from the direction of the kitchen.

He led Savannah to the back of the house and found his sister-in-law, Callie, having milk with Cade’s wife Barbara. “Is this a convention of the Landry mothers and mothers-to-be?” he asked as he bent and kissed them both on the cheek.

“That’s Prather-Landry,” Barbara retorted with a smile.

“Whatever,” Seth said. “Barbara, I think you’ve met—”

“You’re from Olive’s Attic,” Barbara interrupted. “I spend a fortune on vintage jewelry there. You’ve helped me a couple of times, right?”

Savannah nodded. “Yes. I’m Savannah and I’m here to take Seth’s money.”

Callie and Barbara smiled instantly.

“She’s mistaken,” he promised his relatives. “She bet me a hundred bucks that she was a better rider than I am.”

“Maybe she is,” Barbara opined, then to Savannah she said, “You go, girl. There’s nothing better than seeing a Landry put in his place by a woman.”

“Have you always hated men?” Seth teased with a smile.

“Yep. Except for Cade.”

Seth chuckled, knowing full well that Barbara was just pulling his chain. Though she still commuted back to Charleston for business, it had evolved from the half-week schedule when she and Cade were first married to maybe twice a month. Seth knew Cade secretly wished she would stop her traveling. He missed Jackson when she took him to Charleston almost as much as he missed his wife. It was so bad that they had gone back to Cade flying her to and from Charleston in his Piper. For a while, Barbara had insisted on taking commercial flights so that Cade could get his work done.

Seth smiled. In many ways, Savannah was like Barbara. Both women definitely had minds of their own. That both earned his respect and infuriated him. At least it did with Savannah.

“Callie?” Seth asked. “Can Savannah borrow your parka? It’s pretty bitter out there. Oh, and some gloves. She doesn’t own any gloves.”

Callie hoisted her very pregnant body out of the chair and said, “Sure. It isn’t like I could zip the thing over this stomach. Whenever we go out, I about freeze. Unless I use one of Sam’s coats, then I just have to roll the sleeves up about a foot.”

Callie came back with the parka and a pair of well-insulated riding gloves. Savannah removed her
coat and placed it on the back of a chair. Seth held the parka for her, carefully guiding her arms into the slightly bulky garment. It fit, sort of. It was a little big in the body, but at least he knew it would keep her warm during their ride to the wildlife preserve.

“How many pairs of socks do you have on?” Barbara asked.

“One,” Savannah answered.

Barbara laughed. “You must be from a normal climate, too.”

Savannah returned the smile. It was so natural that Seth felt a jolt through his whole system.

“I’ll run up and get you another pair,” Callie said.

“No stairs,” Seth warned. “I’ll go.”

“Minimal stairs,” Callie returned. “And I don’t want you to go through my underwear drawer.”

Seth rolled his eyes. “I have seen women’s underwear before.”

That earned him humorous looks from Barbara and Callie, but he got a different response from Savannah. A slight blush stained her cheeks, which was unfortunate given their present company.

“She’s blushing,” Barbara announced as she stood. “Geez, Seth, did you seduce her before or after you had her spend a night in your jail?”