Where will they go?” Holly asked as Crawford hustled her into her car.
The street was empty. Nearby houses were dark. From all appearances, no one had noticed their brief visit with the Gilroys. Even so, Crawford was scanning the area, alert to the motion of every leaf, the spatter of every raindrop.
“Grace’s sister recently remarried after years of widowhood. She lives with her new husband in a retirement community outside Austin.”
“They’re in for a long drive.”
“Five hours, give or take. Rain may slow them down. I hope Georgia sleeps most of the way.”
“I don’t know how you said good-bye to her without cracking.”
“I don’t know how I did, either.” He stared vacantly for a few seconds, then cleared his throat and indicated her ignition. “Get going. I need to be well away from here before Neal comes looking.”
“He’s called me.” Steering with her left hand, she used her right to pull her cell phone from the front pocket of her jeans and passed it over to him. “It had been vibrating, but I ignored it. I checked it while Grace was getting Georgia dressed, but I didn’t listen to the messages.”
“He’s left two,” he said. “And you have one text, but it’s from Marilyn.”
“Why would she be texting me?”
“Want me to read it?”
“Please.”
He pulled it up. “It says, ‘WTF is going on?’ Wording doesn’t sound like she’s trying to mend fences.”
“Call her for me, please.”
He used the phone to make the call, but it went through the Bluetooth speaker of the car. As soon as Marilyn answered, she blared, “Holly, thank God you called. I’ve been worried sick.”
“Why?”
“That detective called me. The tight-ass. Lester? Anyway, he was at your house and—”
“At my house? When was this?”
“One vodka and three cigarettes ago. He asked if I’d heard from you, and I told him no, that you were no longer my client, then he told me that you were missing and feared that you’d met with foul play. That’s how he put it. He mentioned the murder of a police officer. I’ve been going crazy here. Where are you? Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“You’re not being made to say that under duress, are you?”
“No. However, I can’t talk now. There’s uh, uh…a situation that I really need to attend to. I apologize for the scare and appreciate your concern. Truly.”
She was about to disconnect using the button on her steering wheel, when Marilyn said, “The uh, uh situation involves him, doesn’t it? And don’t you dare insult me by asking who. The shooting was only the first shock to your system, wasn’t it? Mr. tall, blond, and badass was another.”
During the course of their conversation, Holly had been keeping her eyes on the road. Now she flicked a gaze over to Crawford, who was sitting as still as a stone beside her, his eyes fixed on her, taking in every word.
“Your silence is screaming at me, Holly,” Marilyn continued. “And what I’m hearing is conflict of interest, circumspection versus lust, a moral and ethical dilemma in spades. All of which are right up my alley!” she chortled. “I can’t wait to tackle them.”
“I fired you, remember?”
“Yes, but now I get why. You were protecting him.”
“From you.”
“Right, but I can back off that.”
“Listen, Marilyn—”
“No, you listen. You’re an excellent judge, Holly. Dedicated and idealistic. You actually believe in what you’re doing. And that’s not just me trying to woo you back, I happen to mean it. You should be in that job.”
“After this week, I’m afraid Governor Hutchins will rethink his endorsement. Greg Sanders has suggested that I make a graceful exit to save face.”
“No way in hell. The governor’s blessing is a stroke we can always use, but I can get you elected without it. Hell, I might even do something totally revolutionary in politics and awe the voting public with the truth.
“Sometimes that’s actually the best approach. Hide in plain sight. I’ll be thinking about our strategy. In the meantime, tend to this ‘situation’ with the Texas Ranger. He’s a rude bastard, but he definitely has appeal. When you need me, I’ll be ready.”
After the disconnect, she couldn’t avoid Crawford’s grin. “You called me tall, blond, and badass?”
“I didn’t, Marilyn did.”
“Will you hire her back?”
“I don’t know. More importantly, did you hear the part about Neal being at my house?”
“Yeah.” His grin faded as he sighed. “I should have left you out of this, but I couldn’t rely on Grace to back me up. Joe could’ve browbeat her into claiming that I had relinquished Georgia to them without any stipulation that it was temporary.
“I needed you there, but I hate further involving you in what Joe correctly called a mess of my making. Although hell if I know what I did to piss off Otterman, a man I’d never even seen before he walked into the police station.”
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Looking at his profile, she was struck by how utterly fatigued he appeared. There were dark crescents under his eyes. The hollows beneath his cheekbones were more pronounced than usual.
She asked, “When did you sleep last?”
“I don’t remember.”
“You’re exhausted.”
“Joe’s no pushover, and I’ve fought him twice today. Then the episode with my old man. None of my run-ins with him are easy. But what really took it out of me was having to tell Georgia good-bye.”
“Which you’ve also done twice today.”
“Both times wrenching. Tonight was different, though. She sensed something was wrong. I goddamn hate that she’s worried. I couldn’t promise her when I would see her again, and the fact is…”
“The fact is?”
“If Otterman has his way, I never will.”
Suddenly, he sat up straight and opened his eyes, the darkened sockets making them look extraordinarily bright with resolve. Thumping his fist on his thigh in time to his words, he said, “I can’t let that happen. I may not regain custody of her, but I’ll go to hell and back before checking out on her.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Stay alive. Stay underground long enough to get Otterman before he gets me.”
“How do you intend to go about that?”
“That’s the tricky part. I’m working on it.”
“You could turn yourself in to Neal. Enlist his help.”
“No way. He’s bowed his back on Otterman.”
“Maybe he’s changed his mind.”
“I can’t chance it. I’d be hamstringing myself.”
“There’s nothing I can say that will change your mind?”
“Sorry, Holly, no.”
She pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned to face him. “Then you need to get out.”
Crawford watched Holly’s taillights disappear, then struck off walking swiftly, hoping to blend into the darkness and keep from being seen. First order of business was to find shelter from the rain. He covered a couple of blocks before coming upon a vacant house with a “For Sale” sign in the yard.
Crouching against the back wall of the open carport, he called Harry Longbow and woke him up.
“Sorry, man,” the other Ranger said around a yawn, “still haven’t turned up squat. Not a thread connecting Otterman to you, or to anyone close to you. But I had to get some shut-eye. I called to let you know that I was taking a break, but got your voice mail.”
“I had to leave my phone behind.”
“Aw, hell. That doesn’t sound good.”
“Pat Connor’s turned up dead, and Otterman issued me a threat.”
Harry grumbled, “There goes my nap.”
Crawford gave him the rundown. “I got Georgia out of town. That was top priority.”
“Where’re you and the judge now?”
‘She’s on her way home.”
“What about you?”
“If you don’t know, you can’t tell. It will occur to Neal to ask if you’ve heard from me. I’m surprised he hasn’t called you already. When he does, you can honestly tell him that you don’t know where I am or what my plans are.”
“I’ll bring Sessions up to speed, so he won’t be taken unawares.”
“Thanks.”
“Maybe you ought to let the prick take you into custody. Jail’s at least safe.”
“It’s also sorta confining.”
“There’s that.”
“How’s the major taking it that I’m implicated in a murder?”
“Says it’s about the deepest bullshit he’s ever had to wade through. He’s calling Neal Lester bad names, and he hasn’t even met him yet.”
Any other time, Crawford would have laughed. But the situation was no laughing matter. “I’m attributing Chet, Rodriguez, and now Connor to Otterman. A body count of three, just this week. I want this son of a bitch, Harry.”
“I’ll get right back on it.”
“No, finish your nap. Otterman is probably regrouping tonight, too. He had a busy day. The park video. The titty bar meeting.”
“The execution.”
“He didn’t shoot the video and he didn’t pop Connor. He doesn’t do his own dirty work. He’s got Frick and Frack.”
“Who’re they?”
“A pair of bodyguards. And then there are the Pat Connors.”
“Facilitators too dumb to say no to him?”
“Too scared, maybe. You know what this is feeling like? Organized crime shit.”
“I’m liking this asshole less and less,” Harry said.
“Me too.”
“Keep your head down.”
Crawford gave him the number of his burner phone, then used it to make another call and impatiently counted the rings until Smitty’s nasal twang instructed him to leave a message.
Crawford said only, “You know who this is. Call me back, or your shriveled pair are history.”
He clicked off, checked the time, then pulled up the collar of his windbreaker and plunged into the rain.