Trouble With the Law (26 page)

“Where do you want me to put them?  I shouldn’t be lifting, I’m hurt, but—“

“I’ll get the damned boxes,” Lou Ellen said scraping her chair back to stand.  Cutting him a look, she breezed past him.

“I was going to say I’m sure Dave wouldn’t mind bringing them in
,” Trace said with a frustrated breath.  “She’s always flying off the handle.”

“She’s trying to help you, Trace,”
his mother replied with a glance at Ronnie, who was sitting at the table tapping her pen.  “We’re all trying to help.”

With all the help people were trying to give him, they were going to help him right back into prison.  Someone was going to find out they were here
, and that they were digging into those records.  “Mama don’t tell anyone else we’re here.  You shouldn’t even be here.”

“Neither should you.”

Truer words had never been spoken.  But he was.  And so were they.  He might as well just accept it and stay out of their way.  If he could find something to occupy the women sitting in the living room talking like they were holding a quilting bee, he’d be golden.  Maybe he could.  “I’m going to take the women out to the other house and get them to clean it and fix it up so they can sleep out there tonight.”

“But they’ll be out there alone,” Ronnie said
with concern.

Since when did the Shark Lady care about anyone other than herself?  It was amazing to him, but Ronnie Winters seemed to be getting attached to the women they had rescued. 
Well, he was getting them out of the big house. It was full enough, and he wanted to make sure she had her own room tonight, so he didn’t find her in bed with him again.   Those women would be fine out at the cabin by themselves.

“They’ll be fine out there for a few days.  I’m going to call the lady in charge at the safe house again, and beg her to come sooner than the end of the week.
  Or maybe she can meet me halfway to Dallas, so I can hand them off.”  Once he handed them off, maybe Trace would just keep going. Not come back here.  After Dave captured Ray Brown tomorrow night, depending on what he said, Trace might very well decide do that.

The sun was almost down when Trace left the
women at the cabin in the woods and walked into the big house.  He could hear conversation coming from the dining room, and almost took the stairs instead of walking into the dining room. 

Dave
had left with Caleb and Jamie an hour or so ago, without a word to him.  He’d also taken their captives with him.  Trace had seen them cleaning and reloading their weapons at the van, but before he could break away to go talk to them they were gone. He had no idea when they would be back. 

Maybe Ronnie knew, he thought
, as he walked to the dining room door. 

“What’s going on?” Trace asked, and all three women looked up at him.  Conner Lucas poked his head up over the dining room table.  He was evidently digging through boxes there.

“You wouldn’t believe the things we’re finding,” Ronnie said excitedly.  The small smile she wore widened when she looked at him.  “How’re the women doing?” she asked.

“Snug as bugs in a rug out there,” Trace replied.  “What did you find?” he asked walking in
to the room to sit in the chair at the head of the table.

“Unexplained cash withdrawals
, large withdrawals, from the campaign account that coincide with dates fundraiser parties were held at Leland’s mansion.  Your mother is compiling a guest list from memory, so we can see who all was there.”

Trace laughed.  “What’s that supposed to prove?”

“I think Leland made the pay offs at those events.  It makes sense.  All the players were in one place at one time, and nobody would question why they were together.  Those parties provided the perfect place for them to conspire.”

“Come on, Ronnie.  How do you think you’re going to prove that money went anywhere other than Leland’s pocket?  I’ll bet you he has receipts to prove that money went toward campaign expenses, even though we know better.”

Her face fell a little.  “He does have receipts, but it would be easy enough to prove he didn’t spend ten thousand dollars on flowers.  Your mother said that was ridiculous.”

They were looking for a needle in a haystack.  He had a feeling Ronnie knew that and was grasping at the straws that made up that haystack.  “Red, I don’t have the time for this.  Proving that could take years.”

“Not if Dave helps investigate.  I gave him names of some businesses that Leland had receipts from, and he’s going to do a little research.  Checking the receipts against their records to see if they match.  It’s only been four years, and they have to keep records for seven years.  They’ll have the receipts.”

So that’s where Dave had gone.  On a wild goose chase for Ronnie. 
But it was already night, so those businesses would probably be closed already.  And he took the men they captured with him. Maybe he was scouting for tomorrow night.  That thought made him feel a little better, but with Dave gone, protecting these women and the women out at the other cabin was all on him.  He should have at least left one of his guys here.

“Again, proving anything substantial could take years
,” Trace said.  “How long is Dave going to be gone?”  That was the question Trace wanted answered.

Ronnie huffed out a breath.  “
I have no idea when Dave will be back.  He has a lot to do,” she replied vaguely, as if it didn’t matter. 

Dave had a lot to do, because she had him off chasing his tail, while he should be here helping him protect them, and getting ready for tomorrow night.  Even though Trace wasn’t going with him, he would like to be in on the planning.  He needed to call Dave and get some answers, and he needed to make sure he had the weapons here in good order just in case.

“We have to start somewhere, and this is as good a place as any,” she said, then had the audacity to add, “You need to have some faith, Trace.”

“Sorry, fresh out.  Lost that three years ago
,” he replied darkly.

“I know
.  And that is my fault.  I’m going to restore your faith in the system.  Just give me a little time.”

“I’m fresh out of that too,” he replied with a shake of his head.

Ronnie threw her pen down on the table and met his eyes intently.  “I’m not going to beat my head on the wall here, Rooks.  Give me two weeks.  Make me a promise that you won’t take off.”

I’ll help you disappear
. 

Dave’s words came back to him.  He knew the man could make disappearing a helluva lot easier for him.
  He would probably give him the documents he needed for his new identity.  But Dave had asked him to give Ronnie the chance to help him too.  His help might not be as forthcoming unless Trace at least gave her a chance.  A couple of weeks rest to recover from his injury would probably be a good idea anyway.  Being on the run when he wasn’t in top form physically would slow him down.  The two weeks she asked for would give him time to heal.  And plan.

“Two weeks
.  That’s it,” he agreed flatly.  “If you don’t have something by then, I’m out.”  That would give him two weeks to say goodbye to his mother too.  Make him leaving permanently a little easier for her.  And him too.

The next night, Trace lay awake at midnight staring at the ceiling, seriously considering getting dressed to hike through the woods, so he could steal a horse from the adjacent property.  If he wanted to leave that’s what he’d have to do, because Dave hadn’t left the keys to the other two vans parked in the front yard.  Trace had tried to call him fifteen times today, but the man wasn’t answering his phone.

Something must’ve gone wrong, because he was supposed to pick up Ray Brown tonight, and surely he would have called Trace, or at least answered his calls, if he had been successful.  Or maybe the man had double-crossed him.  Maybe he’d turned over Ray Brown to the authorities, and given them his location too.  Ronnie vouched for the man, but Trace didn’t know him from Adam.  He didn’t trust either one of them fully.

The man had answered Ronnie’s call that she had made to him from his mother’s cell phone earlier.  That pissed him off, because it told him Dave was just avoiding him.  Ronnie had been able to tell Trace that Dave didn’t have any luck so far with the businesses he visited today, but she couldn’t tell him where the man was right now, or what he was doing.  That is what Trace was concerned with, not that Leland hadn’t spent twenty grand to cater one of his fancy parties.

The door knob rattled, and Trace jerked
in the bed.  He shoved his hand under his pillow for the pistol he had there then aimed it at the center of the door.  The door opened and Ronnie stood there backlit by the bright light in the hallway.  She gasped and fell to her knees on the floor.  Trace’s heart pounded as he lowered the weapon to his chest.

“That’s a good way to get your ass shot, Red,” he growled as the thumbed the safety back on and put the gun back under the pillow.

“I was just coming to bring you your cell phone.  You left it in the dining room earlier.  I went back in there to get a file and saw Dave called a few minutes ago.”

Fuck
.  Trace threw the covers back and got up.  He walked over and helped her up, then took his cell phone from her hand.  Sure enough, Dave had called him.  He quickly redialed the man’s number.  When Dave answered, Trace’s heart kicked into overdrive.  “What’s going on?  Why the hell didn’t you answer my calls?”

Dave laughed and Trace was about to blast him when he said, “I’ve kind of been up to my eyeballs in alligators, man.  Things are breaking loose, but I had one more thing I wanted to follow up on before I talked to you.”

“What?”

“Leland’s campaign manager has been
questioned by the feds.  I wanted to talk to him too, but I couldn’t find him.  I did find out that both he and Leland heard about Conner Lucas pulling those files.  They’re nervous.  I think Conner needs to be careful.  Maybe stay at the lodge until this is over.  He definitely shouldn’t do any other obvious digging.”

Talmedge Bartlett had been
questioned?  Excitement built inside of him, because as far as Trace knew the trail of evidence the feds had stopped at Ray Brown.  That’s why after six months at the ranch, they still hadn’t done a takedown.  Trace wondered what they had gotten out of him.  Probably nothing.  That man was as slick as Leland.

“I agree both he and Ronnie need to be careful.  It’s probably too late to worry about that though, if Leland and Talmedge already know they were doing it.”

“I don’t think they know Ronnie is involved yet, but it won’t be long before they figure it out.  Anyway, I still have men trying to track Bartlett down, but he went on a convenient vacation.  I’ll let you know if I find him.”

“
What about Ray Brown?” Trace asked.

“We’re on our way to meet with Mr. Brown right now.  His friends are very anxious to see him.  They’re handcuffed in the front seat and one of them is driving.  I think he won’t be as happy to see them
once he sees who is traveling with them.  I’ll call you back in a couple of hours to let you know what happens.”

Relief washed through Trace.  “Thanks, man.”

“Don’t thank me yet.  We’re a long way from finished tonight.”

They talked a minute more, then Trace disconnected the phone and breathed a sigh of relief.  He heard the door click shut and looked up.  Ronnie was leaning against the door looking at him strangely.

“What?” he asked and set his phone down on the dresser.

“You,” she replied simply then pushed away from the door to stand.

“What about me?”

“You need to get with the program.  Everyone in this house is trying to help you, and I’m tired of busting my ass to help someone who has one foot out the front door.”

“I didn’t ask for your help, Ronnie.  In fact, I don’t need it. As soon Dave captures Ray Brown I’m probably leaving.  It sounds like you’ve got Leland on the ropes, and Dave can help you finish the job.  You’ll be fine.  My Mama will be fine.  The state of Texas will be fine, once that happens.”  Trace didn’t think he couldn’t be any blunter about his plans than that.  He would be fine too, even though he wouldn’t be around.

“Coward.  Don’t you care if people continue to believe you’re the scum of the earth like your daddy?” she challenged.

“Honey, I quit caring what people thought of me when the good people of Texas sent me to jail for three years.”

“The good people of Texas didn’t send you to jail.  I did.  Your daddy did.  You should want at least the satisfaction of seeing him put in prison where he belongs.”

“I lived for that day, plotted my revenge for the last three years, but I’ve come to the conclusion that taking care of myself first is more important.  He’ll get his, and I’ll have to watch it vicariously from wherever I end up.  If I stay here, I’m going to jail again, and I’m not going to be his cellmate.”

“You promised me two weeks
,” she reminded.  “I can clear your name, Trace.  You deserve to have your name cleared.  You didn’t do a damned thing wrong four years ago, and I’ll prove it.”  Ronnie took a step forward and put her hand on his chest.  “You didn’t do a thing wrong out at that ranch either, and I’m going to prove that too.”