Lone Star Justice (3 page)

"Don't look. I'll clean it up in a minute." He led her to the couch and eased her down next to her daughter. Then he settled onto the coffee table, facing them. "What's going on, Maddie? Who would do such a thing, and why?"

She shuddered. A clumsily made dummy lay on the porch, dressed in Brandy's clothes, a knife through the chest anchoring a crudely printed piece of paper.
She's next
was written in what looked like blood. More of the red substance was smeared on the dummy and across the porch.

Maddie gagged and pressed her hand against her mouth, trying desperately to hold on to what was left of her self-control. "I don't know." Her voice cracked, and she tried again. "I don't know anyone who would do something like that." Maddie put an arm around Brandy, pulling her close. Her daughter was still in shock, her face pale and streaked with tears.

Matt started toward the kitchen, then turned back to ask, "Where do you keep your cleaning supplies? I want to clean that blood, or whatever it is, off the porch."

"No, don't do that. Not until the police have seen it."

He frowned, and then nodded. "I guess you're right. It's probably best to have them take a look, although it's most likely nothing more than a sick prank. But then I'm cleaning it up before either of you have to look at it again."

Maddie might believe it was nothing more than a prank if she hadn't discovered Anne's body the night before. Now she was wary, and scared. That was a very definite threat on her porch, and this time it was directed toward her daughter. "Thanks, Matt." With Brandy snuggled close to her side, she picked up the phone to call Detective Thacker.

Matt headed into the kitchen, returning a moment later with a bottle of bleach and a scrub brush. He set them on the coffee table and headed for the door.

When she hung up, he said, "I guess I'll go home. I was just getting ready to fix breakfast when I heard Brandy scream. Call me when the police are finished and I'll come back to clean the porch."

Maddie gave him a grateful, though somewhat wobbly, smile. He tried his best to take care of her and Brandy. He'd hinted more than once that he'd like to take their relationship to a physical level, but she'd kept him at arm's length. "Be careful not to step on anything."

He gave her a sardonic look and shook his head. "Too late. Call me if you need me."

***

Detective Thacker was at the house in minutes with a forensics team. They dusted for fingerprints inside and out, checked every window and door for signs of forced entry, and tested the alarm system. "Damn, this guy's a ghost. Other than the set of footprints on the porch, we have nothing. We have no idea how he got in. Must be a pro to get past that system you have."

That didn't do anything to make her feel better. Some guy just waltzed into her house without setting off the alarm, stole clothes from her daughter's closet and sheets from the bathroom, and proceeded to build a dummy on her porch. And no one had a clue how.

"John, what should I do now? I'm worried about Brandy. Do you think she's in danger?"

He thought for a moment, then stood and slipped his notebook into his pocket. "I don't know. If someone intended to harm her, they could have done so while they were in the house. I don't think they would have called attention to their plans like this. Most likely he's trying to scare you."

He headed for the door, stopping with his hand on the knob. He turned around, his expression serious. "But do me a favor. Make a list of all the people who have been vocal about any recent judgments you've handed down. Watch the people you work with, see if anyone acts out of character. Then drop by the station tonight and give me the list. In the meantime, I'll check on Lucas' whereabouts."

"You think it might be someone at the courthouse? I can't believe that." The idea unnerved her. She'd worked with most of those people for several years.

"You never know. It might be this Lucas character, then again, it might not. Just don't let on that you're watching. Be extra cautious. Don't go out after dark alone. Don't let Brandy walk to school. Better yet, take a trip. Go visit some family until this nut is caught."

He opened the door and Matt almost fell inside. He quickly covered his surprise and said, "Hi. I was just about to knock. Is everything okay now?"

John glanced at Maddie, a question in his eyes.

"Matt, this is Detective Thacker. John, Matt is my neighbor. He came over earlier when he heard Brandy scream."

John looked Matt up and down, frowning as he eyed Matt's shoes. "So those were probably your footprints on the porch. Are those the shoes you were wearing earlier?"

Matt glanced at Maddie, swallowed, and nodded. She tried to smile reassuringly, but she had a feeling it came across as a sickening grimace instead. Now Matt had been dragged into this mess just for being a friend.

"I need to borrow them long enough to compare them to the casts we took. Then you can have them back." Detective Thacker held out his hand until Matt pulled his shoes off and handed them to him.

With a nod to Maddie, the detective left, closing the door behind him.

"They're taking this pretty seriously, aren't they?" Matt padded to the couch in his stocking feet and sat down, patting the cushion next to him.

Maddie ignored him and sat in the wing chair across the room, her brows drawing together as Brandy picked up Domino and retreated to her bedroom. She always made herself scarce when Matt came around. "Yes, they are. And so am I."

"So, what are you going to do?"

What was she going to do? React like a frightened rabbit jumping at shadows, or continue on as usual, refusing to show her fear? "I'm not going to do anything different than I normally do, except that I'll take Brandy to school and pick her up instead of letting her ride the bus."

"Let me take you both. That way I can keep an eye on you." When Maddie started to decline, he added, "I can watch your back, make sure no one tries to get to you between home and work."

"No, that's not necessary. We'll be fine. But thank you for the thought."

"Well, if you're sure. But if anything else happens, I'll be right next door. Call me and I'll come right over.

"Thanks, Matt. But seriously, we'll be fine. Nothing else is going to happen.

***

Sheriff Rand McCade tipped his hat to Gertrude Roberts as she emerged from the grocery store. The old woman nodded and said, "Sheriff. Nice morning, isn't it?"

Rand grinned and replied exactly as he did every Monday morning, "Yes, ma'am, it sure is." He took her grocery bags and carried them to the car. When he'd put them in the trunk of her twenty-year-old Buick, he tipped his hat again and continued on his way.

He knew most of the residents of Greendale, Texas, population three-thousand and sixty, by name. Three thousand and sixty-one, now that Misty Johnson's baby had arrived.

Some days he wished the city council would vote to establish a police force for the city proper, but they always insisted things were just fine as they were. He had fifteen deputies who worked rotating shifts, cruising the back roads and highways, through the small towns, always on the lookout for trouble. So far it had been enough. At least his county was small, population-wise. Strangers stood out, and he knew who the troublemakers were. If something happened, he usually had a pretty good idea who was responsible.

Doc Myers waved as Rand strolled past the clinic and he waved back. Melanie Bickers pushed a stroller down the sidewalk in front of Green's Dry Goods, and Mr. Gilley swept the curb along the brick street in front of his print shop. Everything was as it should be.

Rand had almost completed his round of the town square when he noticed something out of place. Fresh paint on the side of the pharmacy. A can of spray paint lay across the alley, the same color as the ugly words on the side of the building.

He approached the wall and touched the first letter. A smear of red coated his finger when he pulled it back. Whoever had done this hadn't finished long ago.

Rand crept toward the end of the alley and placed his back to the wall as he leaned cautiously around the corner. A few yards away, Andy Briggs hurried down the street. Rand stepped around the corner and eased up behind him. Before Andy knew Rand was there, he was up against the pharmacy's brick wall, one arm twisted behind his back.

"Hey! What the hell…"

"Shut up, Andy. You're under arrest."

"What for? I wasn't doin' nuthin' but walkin' down the street, mindin' my own bizness."

Rand snapped the handcuffs around Andy's wrist, then pulled his other arm behind him and locked it in place. "Yeah? What about this red paint on your trigger finger? I don't suppose you know anything about the vandalism to the pharmacy?"

"Not me, Sheriff. I don't know nuthin'."

"Uh-huh. And I'm the tooth fairy. Let's go."

He frog-marched Andy across the square to the squad car and pushed him into the back seat. He almost resented the couple of hours of paperwork that would result from Andy's mischief, but it was just another part of his job.

He'd made a promise, to himself and to the people of the county, that as long as he was Sheriff there wouldn't be a repeat of the day fourteen years ago when Greendale had been paralyzed by the murder of his parents.

During his five years in office, he'd kept that promise. Troublemakers didn't stay long. They quickly learned it was in their best interest to move on. If strangers came through town, Rand kept a close eye on their activities until they went on their way. If they stepped out of line, he helped them across the county line. Or to the jail.

As long as nothing happened to disturb the peace in Greendale or the surrounding county, he was content.

That wasn't completely true. He'd been restless for the last few months, pining for something he couldn't have, regretting the past he couldn't change. He'd finally started dating, if only to force himself to forget the woman he'd loved with all his heart and who'd left him when he needed her the most. It didn't seem to be working. If anything, he thought more about Maddie Cooper now than he had in years.

In the beginning, he'd buried himself in school work, pushed himself to be the best at the Academy, busted his butt as a deputy--all so he could keep his thoughts off of Maddie. Then he'd run for Sheriff and won, and he'd had plenty to keep him busy getting things set up just the way he wanted them. But now he had things running a little too smoothly, leaving him with too much time to think. Lately, he'd been going through cold case files to take his mind off Maddie. Nothing seemed to work.

When he arrived at the station, he turned Andy over to the booking officer and stalked down the hall to his office and closed the door behind him. Why was he thinking about Maddie again? She'd left him, plain and simple. And she'd done it at the worst point in his life, when he'd just suffered a devastating loss and needed her by his side. Yeah, he'd refused to speak to her for a few days, but who could blame him? He was in shock, under sedation, and angry at the world.

If she'd just waited, he would have married her that summer and he wouldn't have spent the last fourteen years alone. God, he was so tired of being alone.

***

Maddie's hands shook so hard she had trouble keeping her car in its own lane. She'd held herself together for three days, always looking over her shoulder, wondering if someone was watching her. She'd wandered the house at night, listening for any noise, watching for anything out of place. She'd watched her coworkers with unwarranted suspicion. But she'd held herself together--until Brandy found her backpack in her locker, with a bloody knife in it and another threatening note, along with the picture that had been cut from the portrait.

The guy had not only been in their house while they'd slept, he'd also been at Brandy's school. Her daughter wasn't safe anywhere.

Maddie wasn't afraid for herself. She'd had worse threats than a prankster who liked to play with knives. But she couldn't get the picture of Anne out of her mind. Or the fact that Anne's tongue had been cut out. She couldn't, wouldn't, risk her daughter's life just to show some jerk she wasn't afraid of him. John's words had come back again and again.
Go visit some family until this nut is caught.

But Maddie had no family left. She'd lost her mother and younger brother when she was just sixteen. Her aunt had died a few years back, and her father…well, he was gone, too. And good riddance.

Matt kept insisting he could take care of them, keep them safe.
"Come on, Maddie. You know me, you trust me. Who would be better to watch over you and Brandy?"

As soon as Matt had spoken those words, she'd realized there was only one person she could trust to keep her daughter safe.

Rand. He'd loved her once. He probably hated her now, and he would hate her even more when he learned what she'd done.

But she knew he would love his daughter.

Maddie took a leave of absence from her job--the job she loved, the job she'd worked so hard to get. She didn't want to run away, but she had to get Brandy out of Montgomery, at least for a while. Until the person trying to scare them got tired of the game and went looking for someone else to mess with. Until they found the scum who'd killed Anne