Agent Cowboy

The irritating roar came three more times before the endless waiting was over. Between the blasts of climate-controlling activity, she heard the intruders rummaging through every filing cabinet, desk and supply cabinet in the entire suite that made up the financial consulting and investment firm of Raymond Jarvis. Tears stung her eyes. Ray was dead. She pushed the horror away and focused on figuring out what these awful people could be looking for. It didn’t make sense. They didn’t keep money here. No negotiable stocks or bonds. She simply had no idea. The whole thing was crazy. Unless…it simply was the disk in her pocket.

Had Ray done business with the wrong kind of people? She couldn’t believe that. She had access to his accounts and files. If there was anything under-handed going on it was definitely well hidden. She might not have any prior experience but she knew the signs to look for. Ray was clean, she was certain of it.

She thought of the disk he’d given her and his insistence that she take it home with her.

Had he suspected something like this might happen?

The grill on the return duct suddenly opened.

Kelly’s heart stuttered to a stop. Her breath evaporated in her lungs.

The filter poked inward and a pair of gloved hands felt along the surrounding walls. She pressed her face against her arms and held her breath.

“There’s nothing here.”

She didn’t dare lift her head until she heard footsteps retreating in the corridor. The grill door stood open, the filter bent and sticking haphazardly to one side, affording her scarcely any protection from view. But the inside of the duct was dark and so were her clothes. It wasn’t likely anyone would see her unless they stuck their head in and shined a light directly on her.

Keeping her face shielded with her arms, she listened as the men, four she decided, set the office to rights. Two of them didn’t like it, but one had ordered that they were to leave things as they found them. She heard the killer’s voice once or twice more. It made her want to run like hell, but she couldn’t move…could scarcely afford to draw a breath.

What felt like an eternity later, the intruders left by the front entrance.

For a very long time Kelly huddled there in the silence, afraid to move.

Then she started to cry.

The tears came in long, choking sobs.

When she’d regained control of her emotions, she eased out of the long, dusty tunnel. She sat on the corridor floor for a while before she tried to stand. Still emotional, Kelly felt her way along the corridor. Since the lights were still out and she didn’t trust instinct to keep her from banging into something. When she reached her desk, careful to access it from the front, she snatched up the telephone and punched in 9-1-1.

Dear God.

How could this have happened?

Who were those men?

She hadn’t seen their faces and couldn’t identify them.

The killer’s voice echoed inside her head. She did know his voice. But that’s all she knew about him.

But he knew her.

He’d come here to kill her.

Thought he had.

What would he do when he learned she was still alive?

“9-1-1, what’s the nature of your emergency?”

Kelly hung up the phone without saying a word.

Chapter Two

Chicago, Illinois

Saturday, 2:00 p.m.

Victoria smiled as she viewed the lovely thank-you cards embossed with hers and Lucas’s name.

Lucas Camp and Victoria Colby-Camp

It didn’t seem possible, but her dream of sharing her life with Lucas had finally come true. She fingered the raised lettering, her heart warming at the memory of her wedding day.

The chapel had been filled to overflowing. Her loyal staff from the agency as well as numerous members of Lucas’s unit of specialists had attended. Dear friends from the community here in Chicago as well as in Washington, D.C., had come to witness the moment so long in the making.

Leberman had failed. He’d tried for years to destroy her. Had been successful in murdering her husband and stealing her son. But Victoria had not given up. With Lucas’s strong, loving support, she had fought Leberman and won. Her chest constricted when she thought of all that her son had endured at the evil bastard’s hand. He’d abused Jim endlessly, brainwashed him and turned him into a killing machine. But, in the end, Leberman’s plan had failed. For as soon as Jim realized the truth, something long-buried inside him had pushed to the surface, ultimately saving Victoria’s life as well as his own. He had not been able to complete the mission for which he had been trained for most of his life: killing his own mother. That was behind them now. They had to look to the future.

Victoria had her son back, she was now married to the man she loved, and Errol Leberman was rotting in hell. Life was just as it should be.

The ceremony had been every bit as beautiful as she had dreamed it would be. She and Lucas had pledged their lives to one another. Had publicly taken the vows that their hearts had taken long ago. They’d been in love with each other for years. And somehow, as the ceremony had concluded with the minister pronouncing them husband and wife, Victoria had known that James, her first true love, had been watching. She felt his love even now, and his blessing. He would want her to be happy. He would want their son to be safe and happy.

Her son grew stronger each day. The road to recovery after such a thorough brainwashing and such horrendous abuse would be long and arduous, but James Colby, Jr., was a strong man. Plus, he had a woman who loved him at his side. Tasha North, the undercover agent who had gotten close to him before his true identity was known, had fallen deeply in love with him. Victoria suspected that the next wedding she attended would be her son’s. But he had a ways to go yet. The nightmares were still an ever present part of his life and he still suffered memory lapses.

Time was all he needed.

Victoria pushed away from her desk and strolled toward the kitchen of her new home. She and Lucas had decided that a new home was in order. Her son had asked her to keep the lake house, though she wasn’t quite sure why he felt the need to go there from time to time. Whatever it took to make him happy was all that mattered. She’d sold her small home in the gated community where she’d lived since her first husband’s death. That home had been a place of slow healing, of coming to terms with the cruel fate she’d been dealt. She wanted her life with Lucas to begin in a new place where memories would be made, not relived.

The lovely home, only thirty minutes from her office, was not only large and sunny, it was also in the midst of a quiet neighborhood where security gates and guards weren’t necessary. She no longer felt the need for such extreme measures. The devil she had feared so long was no more.

The only thing that wasn’t as it should be just now was work. She’d returned to the office for a few weeks, but Lucas wasn’t quite ready to share her so completely. He’d promised to take another month off after their wedding if she would. How could she turn down an offer like that? Lucas Camp taking a month off from work in addition to the time he’d already taken for their wedding? That might not happen again in this lifetime. In truth, she could use some more time with her son. They’d lost a great deal of that precious commodity, she wanted to make up for every minute and then some. She had a competent staff who could take care of things a while longer.

She found Lucas in the kitchen preparing an afternoon snack tray of fruit and cheese. The wine was already breathing on the counter. Another smile tugged the corners of her mouth upward. Who would have guessed that he would be so domesticated? It just didn’t get better than this.

“Surely you haven’t finished all those thank-you cards already?” Lucas teased as she joined him at the kitchen’s generous island. He’d tried to talk her into allowing her secretary, Mildred, to help her with the work of responding to all the gifts they had received, but Victoria refused. She wanted to attend to each one personally, even if getting around to it had been a long time coming.

“I’m making headway,” she allowed, determined not to let him know just how slowly the process was going.

“Ian called,” Lucas told her.

She’d heard the phone ring but had assumed it was for Lucas. “Really?” Anticipation percolated through her. She did so miss her work. “Is everything all right at the office?” It was Saturday, the office was closed. Or it was supposed to be, unless a case had gone awry. A twinge of anxiety quickly followed the path the anticipation had taken.

A muscle in Lucas’s jaw flexed once, twice, before he answered. Not good. “Everything’s fine. It’s just that a new client contacted Ian when he couldn’t reach either you or Mildred.”

Their home had a new telephone number, one the few clients she gave her personal number to wouldn’t have, and Mildred was spending the holiday weekend with her niece, Angel. With no children of her own, Mildred thought of Angel as a daughter…thought of her child as a grandchild.

Putting her reflections aside, Victoria asked, “Did Ian mention a name?” She knew Lucas was being purposely evasive. At this rate he’d never be ready for her to return to work permanently. It was more than simply his desire to be with her. He wanted to protect her, she’d suffered a great deal. But, he also fully understood how she felt. She would not allow her agency to suffer.

“Senator William Lester from Texas.”

Bill? Victoria frowned. She hadn’t spoken to him in years. Not since his daughter had gone missing. They’d feared kidnapping, but no ransom had come. The FBI couldn’t garner any leads so Bill had come to the Colby Agency. It hadn’t taken Victoria’s top-notch staff long to determine that the somewhat rebellious girl had run away with dreams of becoming an actress before bothering with college. She’d come home willingly and had since turned into a fine young lady, graduating from her father’s alma mater at the top of her class. She’d simply been young and gullible and hoped to spread her wings a little more than her strict father had allowed. She’d lived and learned. Luckily. Considering the young people who went missing every day and turned up dead, it could have ended very differently. Victoria knew firsthand.

“What’s going on with the senator?” Victoria prodded since Lucas didn’t appear compelled to fill her in.

His hands stilled in their work of arranging grapes on the tray. “We don’t know.” His solemn gaze met hers. “He won’t talk to anyone but you.”

Renewed anticipation soared through Victoria. “Well, I suppose I’d better get to the office then.”

“He and Ian are on their way here.”

Victoria took Lucas’s hand in hers. “Thank you. I know you don’t want to allow work to intrude right now. I appreciate your patience.”

Lucas pulled her into his arms and her heart fluttered at the strength he emanated. “I knew what I was getting into when I married you, Victoria.” He smiled, the intensity of it made her quiver with pleasure. “Your loyalty to your staff and clients is part of what I love about you. I just want to be sure it’s safe for you to dive fully back into work.”

She tensed ever so slightly, hoping he wouldn’t notice, but, of course, he did. “Lucas, I’m aware that you still feel there are unanswered questions. I appreciate the concern, but Leberman is dead, what difference does it make how he gleaned his information about us?”

“It may not make any,” Lucas conceded. “But I have to be certain. There is no margin for error when dealing with a man like Leberman.”

She nodded. “I don’t disagree with that assessment and I’ve consented to this additional leave. However,” she dreaded his reaction to the next part, “eventually I’ll be returning to work unless you have overwhelming evidence that persuades me to do otherwise.”

“Understood,” he relented, almost too easily. Did he know something already? Had he discovered some new evidence that had prompted him to insist on this additional leave? He would tell her in his own time. “Now, let’s take the wine and the tray into the parlor and await our guests.”

Within moments of their settling, the doorbell rang. Lucas greeted Ian and the senator and escorted them to the parlor. Victoria banished thoughts of Leberman and his evil legacy back to some rarely visited recess of her mind.

“Victoria, I apologize for the intrusion,” Ian said, clearly torn between doing the right thing for the agency and following the strict orders Lucas had issued.

“It’s perfectly fine, Ian.”

“Victoria.” The senator embraced her briefly. “It’s wonderful to see you.”

“You’re looking well, Bill,” she returned. “How’s that lovely daughter of yours?”

“Getting married in June,” he beamed. “Her fiancé is in politics as well.”

“That’s wonderful,” Victoria enthused. “I’m sure you’re very proud.”

“Have a seat, Senator,” Lucas suggested, “and I’ll do the honors.” He gestured to the refreshments he’d prepared.

When they were seated, Lucas served the wine. Ian, as she had known he would, declined since, for all intents and purposes, he was on duty.

Victoria savored her wine as Lucas and Bill conversed about the current political climate in Texas as well as Washington. She could simply sit and watch her husband for hours on end. She did so love this man. But there was a time for that and it wasn’t now.

“So, Senator, tell me what brings you northward.” Lucas broached the matter at hand first. But then that was Lucas. He did things his way, in his own time and always one step ahead of even his sharpest peer.

The senator looked from Lucas to Victoria and back.

“You may speak freely,” she said before he could say what she felt certain he was thinking. “Don’t doubt the loyalties of either of these men.”

Bill nodded. “Of course.” He fingered the stem of his glass a moment before beginning. “I’m sure you’re aware that most states have their drug issues, those that border other countries in particular.”

She nodded. She was very much aware of the drug situation in Texas, especially along the border of Mexico where traffickers used the wide-open space to their advantage. It was nearly impossible to cover all those miles with any real efficiency.

The senator cleared his throat and continued. “I have reason to believe that the Texas drug cartel extends very high in the political hierarchy of the state.”

Victoria lifted a skeptical brow. “How high?” Uneasiness crept over her. Whenever one politician accused another there was always a question of motivation. Bill Lester was a fine man, but he was only human.

“The governor’s office.”

After sipping her wine she set her glass aside. “If I recall,” she said cautiously, not wanting to put him on the defensive, “this is the same governor with whom you have openly exchanged heated words in the past?” She’d put it as delicately as she could. The truth was, Senator William Lester and Governor George Vann had been at each other’s throats for years. The two men openly despised each other and the whole world knew it.

“One and the same,” he admitted. “But this is different. I’m trying to keep my suspicions to myself until I’m certain.”

“You think the governor is enabling the cartel in some way?” Lucas tossed out. “Turning a blind eye here and there perhaps?”

“That and possibly more,” Bill explained. “Now it appears the FBI may even be involved.”

“In what way?” Ian wanted to know. He was a former U.S. marshal himself, and his wife had been an FBI agent for many years, so his reservations were understandable.

Bill loosened his tie. “Raymond Jarvis operated a small financial consulting and investment firm in Houston. I’ve known him for years. Considered him a friend. He came to me about two months ago and expressed concern regarding one of his new clients. Though neither of us could be sure if this client was connected to the cartel, we both worried that it was a major possibility. Ray was running scared. He felt certain this client was using him to launder drug money. He wanted me to help him.” The senator looked pointedly at Victoria. “Considering my history with the governor, whatever goes down where he is concerned needs to come from some other source. Otherwise, he’ll insist that I had a hand in making him look bad. I can’t risk the truth being overlooked because I was involved in bringing his wrongdoing to light. I suggested that Ray contact the FBI and go from there.”

“Did he take your advice?” Victoria had a feeling the man had, which accounted for the senator’s suspicions where the Bureau was concerned.

“About one month ago Ray told me that he was working with an agent. He seemed relieved so I left it at that. He said he’d keep me posted.” He rubbed his forehead and released a heavy sigh. “Last evening someone entered Ray’s office and killed him, his assistant and the FBI agent who’d been working with him.”

Victoria and Ian exchanged a look.

“Do the police have any leads?” Lucas inquired.

The senator shook his head. “Not yet. Nothing appears to have been touched. We have no way of being certain if anything was taken since the two people who worked at the office, Ray and his assistant, were both murdered.”

“And the agent,” Ian asked next, “had he left any reports or evidence he’d gathered regarding Raymond Jarvis’s claim? Perhaps he had discussed the case with a fellow agent.”

“That’s the really strange part. There is no indication whatsoever that the agent had ever even met with Ray before. The only thing connecting him is his presence at the scene and an envelope with Ray’s company logo on it. The envelope contained twenty-five thousand dollars in cash. The homicide detectives discovered it in the agent’s jacket pocket. You can imagine the conclusion those in charge of the investigation have drawn.”

“Convenient,” Lucas commented.

“My thinking exactly,” Bill agreed.

“What do you need from the Colby Agency?” Victoria ventured, cutting to the chase.

“I’m sure the authorities will do what they can. The Bureau is coordinating their investigation with the locals. But, considering this turn of events with the Bureau, I’m not sure I can count on the normal channels of law enforcement. I owe it to Ray to find out what happened. To do that I need the best.” His gaze settled on Victoria’s. “Your agency is the best. I want you to find out what went wrong. Why Ray and his assistant are dead and why an FBI agent with an outstanding record is not only dead but suspected of having taken a bribe.”

“Trent Tucker comes to mind,” Victoria said to Ian. “He grew up in Texas. Used to be a bounty hunter there. I’m certain he would be the best man for the job.”

“I’ll call him at home and brief him on the situation,” Ian added. He turned to the senator. “We’re going to need access to any resources at your disposal. Copies of the detectives’ reports. Forensics assessments.”

“I can get anything you need,” the senator told him. “Tell Mr. Tucker I’ll provide a copy of whatever the police have on the case.”

After settling on the final arrangements, Victoria and Lucas saw their visitors to the door.

“Thanks again, Victoria,” Bill said solemnly. “I knew I could count on the Colby Agency for top-notch work and discretion.”

Once Ian and the senator had gone, Lucas closed and locked the door behind them. He leaned against it then and allowed the weight of his gaze to rest upon Victoria.

“You promised me this additional time,” he reminded.

“I did,” she acquiesced.

“Fair enough.”

Though she knew Lucas was only concerned for her welfare, the gravity of his last comment had felt very much like a warning. And yet she sensed it was not. He only wanted the best for her. Lucas Camp would go to any lengths to protect her.

Dread trickled through her. He had to know something to be playing out this scenario so doggedly. And whatever it was, it could not be good.

Galveston, Texas

Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

KELLY HUDDLED in the shower stall beneath the hot spray of water and still it did nothing to make her feel warm again. She kept seeing the blood soak through the white silk of Ann’s blouse. Kept seeing the third eye someone had given Ray. And the man who’d been in his office—she shuddered—the whole back of his head had been blown off.

Stuff like that happened on television…to other people. Not to quiet, insignificant folks like her…like Ann and Ray. It was crazy. Didn’t make sense.

Even after nearly twenty-four hours, she couldn’t bring herself to turn on the television. It was as if seeing it on the news would make it more real.

She’d lain in that air duct for long minutes, maybe hours, before she’d crawled out. She’d turned on the desk lamp in Ray’s office and seen more than she wanted to with that meager glow. Eventually she’d sat down next to Ann and held her cold hand. She didn’t know how long she’d sat there, until she’d realized she had to go. Had to hide before they came back and found her. Before the police found her. Her hang-up on the 9-1-1 operator would eventually culminate in the police’s arrival.

If anyone discovered that she was still alive, the killer would come for her.

She’d watched enough movies and read enough suspense novels to know how that went. She was a witness. She had evidence. She thought of the disk. Whoever the bad guys were they would want her dead.

She had only one option. She had to learn who the bad guys were and then take the evidence to the police. But she couldn’t do anything until she was sure who the enemy was. She refused to trust even the police with her life until she knew the situation a little better.

That might make her a fool, but at least she was a living one.

Once she’d worked up the nerve and to keep up the necessary pretense, she’d taken Ann’s car, the keys had been clutched in her icy fingers. Her purse had been in her car. Kelly had driven straight to Galveston and hidden out in Ann’s home. She’d never been in any trouble, not even a traffic ticket—at least not until that morning. She’d forgotten to put her driver’s license in her purse yesterday morning. She’d taken them out to verify a check the night before and then stuffed them into her jeans pocket. Stupidly she’d forgotten about it and had driven to work without her license. The one time in her life she’d been driving without them and she’d been pulled over. Not only did she get a ticket, but there was a hefty fine attached.

Just her luck.

Anyway, there were no prints on file, no nothing. She had no record whatsoever. She and Ann were about the same size. They had the same blond hair, just different eye colors. Ann’s was more brown than hazel. Kelly’s was definitely hazel. If the police thought Ann was her for just a few days maybe it would buy Kelly enough time to figure out what the hell was going on.

The water started to cool so she forced herself to get up and out of the shower. When she’d towel dried, she wrapped herself in Ann’s robe and forced herself to consider eating. She hadn’t eaten in more than twenty-four hours. She would need her strength if she was going to conduct this investigation. There was no one she could call upon for help. She didn’t have any real friends to speak of, other than Ann. She shuddered. An only child, her parents had passed away shortly after she’d graduated high school. First her mother to cancer, then her father to grief. He hadn’t lived a year after her mother had died. He’d loved her too much to live without her.

Kelly made a disgusted sound. If only men like that existed anymore. Her father had been the bravest, truest man she’d ever known. A cowboy through and through. But Kelly hadn’t been able to bear living on the ranch without them. She’d leased the place and moved to the big city to finish her education and start a new life.

She might never find herself a cowboy to love her the way her father had loved her mother, but she would have the career she’d always dreamed of. Even that possibility looked dim now.