Slade's Secret Son (4 page)

“I assume you have a gun. Is it in your purse?”

“I didn’t bring it with me.”

Slade’s gaze hardened. “It looks like that sniper might not have missed his target, after all.”

“I can’t believe this,” Lisa muttered. “Who would want to kill me?”

A man came running out of the building they’d exited. “I saw the whole thing. Looked like that guy was trying to hit you.”

A couple of other people were also rushing toward them from other directions.

“I’m not sitting here on the ground with a crowd gathering around,” Lisa said, beginning to work herself to her feet.

Agreeing that her staying down would serve no purpose now and remaining immobile could even place her in danger, Slade gave her a hand, keeping her close and shielding her as much as possible with his body.

Reaching them, the man studied Lisa worriedly. “You look pretty shaken. Couldn’t believe the way the guy barreled down on you.” Abruptly he grinned. “I got part of the license plate.”

Keeping Lisa between himself and the car, Slade opened the passenger side door. “Get in and duck down,” he ordered. “Could be your sniper wasn’t the driver and he’s hidden somewhere to finish the job in case the driver missed.”

Lisa obeyed. She was scared and hurting and glad
Slade was there. He was bull-headed and too authoritative at times, but right now he made her feel safe.

“She hurt?” the man asked.

“She’s pretty shaken.”

“I called the police and an ambulance,” a woman said, joining them, a cell phone in her hand.

More people began to gather.

“Did any of you see the driver?” Slade asked.

“I think it was a man,” a slender man offered.

“Who could tell?” The pale-blond woman beside him gave him a wry look. “Whoever it was was wearing a hat pulled way down and sunglasses.”

“It was just an impression.” The slender man defended himself.

Further arguing between the two was cut short by the sound of approaching police and ambulance sirens.

Slade was getting more and more uneasy by the moment as the crowd grew. “Stay back,” he ordered those approaching. “This is a crime scene.”

“Yeah, he’s right.” The man who’d gotten part of the license plate spread his arms, forming a barrier, and eased people back.

Opening the car door, Slade looked in at Lisa crouched low in the seat. “How do you feel? Do you need the paramedics to take a look at you?”

“No. I’m just shaken, but I’m fine,” she assured him.

“Good. The less exposure, the better.” Closing the door, he continued to rake the crowd with his gaze, looking for anyone who might pose a threat to Lisa.

“What happened here?” one of the two patrolmen who had just arrived demanded, approaching Slade.

“Someone tired to run my fiancée down,” he replied. His attention shifted to the paramedics who were coming on the run. “She doesn’t need medical attention.” Returning
his gaze to the policeman, he added, “I think it would be best if I get her someplace sheltered.”

The second of the two patrolmen eyed Slade skeptically. “You say you think someone purposely tried to run her down? Who?”

“That I don’t know.”

The skepticism on the patrolman’s face increased. “Why, then?”

“We’re not clear on that point, either.”

“Then what makes you think this wasn’t just some drunk driving erratically?”

“Not too long ago someone shot her and nearly killed her. I think he was trying to finish the job today.”

The policeman’s expression became less skeptical and more interested. “You say someone shot her?”

Lisa had rolled down the window a crack to listen. “Contact Detective Overson,” she called. “He’s working on the case.”

“I want to get her away from here as quickly as possible,” Slade said with command.

The patrolman nodded. “If your suspicions are true, we’ll need some paint scrapings from your car and some photos of the scene. I’ll have Jack take you home. You want me to have the car towed somewhere afterward? Looks like the front fender might interfere with driving it.”

Lisa gave him the name of her garage. Then with Slade hovering over her like a protective shield, she moved from her car to the police car. Once there, the patrolman contacted Detective Overson.

“He’s on his way,” the dispatcher informed them after a couple of minutes.

Detective Overson arrived fairly quickly, made a quick appraisal of the scene, then came to stand by the window
of the patrol car to speak to Lisa. “Maybe you were the target the first time, but most likely not,” he said. “The feds are certain the sniper was a pro. This was definitely amateurish…” He paused then added, “If it even was an attempt on your life. Could have simply been a drunk driver.”

“She’s nearly been killed twice and you want to write them both off as being in the wrong place at the wrong time?” Slade demanded.

“I don’t intend to write either of them off. I was just mentioning the possibility.” Overson was an older man with graying hair, dark circles under his eyes and the look of someone who felt he carried the burden of the world on his shoulders. “Damn, if she was the original target this puts us back at square one.” His gaze focused on Lisa. “So who wants you dead?”

She shook her head. “I have no idea.”

“What cases are you working on?”

Lisa shifted uneasily. “If I open my files to you, then I might as well close shop. People come to me because I’m supposed to be a
private
investigator.”

The detective frowned impatiently. “We’re talking about your life.”

“I know. But my clients aren’t going to talk openly to you. Besides, I checked their backgrounds before I accepted their cases. None of them has a criminal record. If I thought I knew which one it was or even had a suspicion, I’d tell you. But I don’t. Let me go through my files and I’ll get back to you.”

Overson didn’t look pleased.

“This isn’t a game,” Slade growled at her. “Turn your files over and let me take you someplace safe until this nut is caught.”

“And what if he or she is never caught?” She looked to the detective. “How much time do you have to devote to my case?”

“I’ve got a pretty heavy caseload,” Overson admitted. “But I’ll give it priority.”

“For about a day or two,” she returned. “You’ll interview my clients, ruin my chances of ever getting another one, and probably come up with nothing. I’m a trained police officer. I was on the Lubbock force before I came here. The minute I even think I’ve got a whiff of a suspect, I’ll contact you.”

“I don’t like it. I could get a court order. If someone is after you, you’re hindering my investigation.”

“And I’ll tell the judge that you don’t even honestly believe someone is after me…that you’re invading my privacy and the privacy of my clients on a fishing expedition when you don’t even think there is a fish to be caught.”

He didn’t refute her words. After a long moment he said, “We’ll collect what evidence we can here just in case someone is after you. As for the shooting incident, everything points to it being a mob hit. Truth is, we turned that investigation over to the federal task force. They wanted it and, like I said, we’re overworked as it is. But I’ll take another look at the evidence.”

Slade wanted to insist that Lisa turn her files over to the police, but he knew from the look in her eyes that she was determined to investigate this herself. He also couldn’t fault her reasoning. The police would take a look, but if they couldn’t come up with a suspect right away, her case would go on the back burner.

The detective started to walk away, hesitated, then returned. “In case I’m wrong and you’re right, you take care of yourself. Watch your back.”

“I’ll be doing that,” Slade assured him.

Overson nodded and walked away.

Lisa sat quietly. She had her own plans for how to handle this situation, but this was not the time or place to confront Slade.

“So who wants to kill you?” Slade asked as they were being driven away from the scene.

Lisa gave him a wry look. “Don’t you think I would have told Detective Overson if I knew.”

“As I recall, you were always a stickler for detail. Even if you had a suspicion, you’d wait until you had proof before you would name anyone. That was a dangerous game then and it’s a doubly dangerous game now.”

“I have never liked putting innocent people on the hot seat.”

“So you do have someone in mind?” he persisted, studying her narrowly.

She breathed a frustrated sigh. “No. I honestly have no clue. I assume it has something to do with one of my cases, but none of them, on the surface, seems that volatile.”

“No unhappy clients?”

“Not really.”

“Did you uncover some information for a client that might make someone else angry?”

“Could be. There was a divorce case where I found some hidden assets, but that was several months ago.”

Another thought struck Slade. “Or maybe it’s someone you helped send to jail while you were on the force in Texas.”

Lisa’s jaw tensed. “Well, whoever it is, they’re going to be sorry when I catch up with them.”

Slade started to inform her that hell would freeze over before he allowed her to actually go looking for her assailant. But, deciding he didn’t want an audience for what he knew would be a heated debate, he chose not to argue with her at that moment.

“What happened?” Helen demanded, rushing out of the house as the police car pulled into the driveway and Lisa and Slade climbed out.

“Whoever tried to kill her before, tried again,” Slade said. “This time he tried to run her down.” Just saying the words sent a fresh chill down his spine.

Helen paled. “I thought she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“That’s still a possibility.” Lisa tried to ease her mother’s mind. “This might just have been a drunken driver.”

Slade knew she playing down the danger for her mother’s sake. Hoping that her family could dissuade her from pursuing an investigation, he said, “You’ve nearly been killed twice. That’s one too many coincidences for me.”

Guessing his game, Lisa cast him a hostile glance.

Ignoring her anger, Slade again shielded her with his body as he ushered her into the house.

Ester met them just inside the door.

“Slade seems to think that whoever shot Lisa meant to and that he or she tried to kill her again,” Helen informed her sister, then quickly turned her full attention to her daughter. “Did he hurt you?”

“Slade got me out of the way. I’m fine. Just a little shaken,” Lisa assured her. “My car’s damaged, though.”

“Cars can be fixed.”

“Pack,” Slade ordered. “All of you. You’re going to
my mother’s ranch. You’ll be safe there. I’ll have my brother, Jess, set up a guarded perimeter.”

“We can’t impose,” Helen protested.

“It won’t be an imposition. You’re going to be family.” In the next instant he corrected himself. “You are family.”

The thought of her mother, aunt or Andy getting injured in the crossfire, shook Lisa to the core. “Slade’s right. You need to be someplace safe until I can find out who’s trying to kill me.”

Slade’s expression became stern. “You’re staying at the ranch, too. I’ll find out who’s trying to kill you.”

Lisa straightened into a stance of rigid resolve. “Wherever I am, I’ll be a target and anyone in my vicinity could get hurt. Besides, this is my battle. The only reason I came to you was to make certain Andy would be taken care of.”

Slade faced her with matching resolve. “And I can’t think of anything that would be more important for his sake than keeping his mother alive.”

Worry etched itself into Helen Gray’s face. “I would feel better if you stayed with us and let Slade and the police handle this.”

“I’m going to handle this on my own.” Lisa glared at Slade. “And I do mean ‘on my own.’ You’re my backup plan for Andy’s future.”

Slade scowled. “You don’t honestly think I’m going to leave you here on your own?”

“If you don’t let him stay with you, then I’m staying,” Ester interjected. “I may be old and not able to move as fast as I once did, but I’m spry for my age and my eyesight is good.”

Slade read the seriousness on Ester’s face. His gaze leveled on Lisa. “It’s your choice. Me or your aunt.”

Lisa knew it would be reckless to go out on her own. Still, she didn’t like the idea of putting Slade’s life in danger for her sake. But she knew her aunt. Ester meant what she said. That left Lisa with no choice. “Okay, you win.”

Slade maintained a cool facade. Inside he grinned. He’d caught the glint of accomplishment in Ester’s eyes. Lisa’s aunt was a lot like his great-grandmother, Morning Hawk. She knew just how to manipulate people into getting what she wanted. His inward grin vanished as he suddenly pictured Ester and Morning Hawk banded together. None of the rest of the family would stand a chance.

L
isa hugged Andy tightly. “You be a good boy,” she told him.

He nodded. “Goo-od.” A plea spread over his face. “Co-ome?”

“I have to stay here for a while.” She gave him another tight hug and nuzzled his neck.

“I’ll look after your mother, little guy,” Slade vowed.

Andy cocked his head in Slade’s direction and smiled. “Daa,” he said in a voice that left no doubt he considered Slade a friend.

The word wove through Slade like a tender touch. He’d accepted Andy into his heart the moment he’d seen him. That the boy had accepted him filled him with joy. “How about a goodbye hug?” he coaxed, holding out his arms.

Andy glanced toward his mother as if still feeling a need for her guidance, then abruptly deciding he needed none, he held his arms out to Slade.

“I’ll protect you and your mother with my life,” he vowed gruffly, lifting the boy into his arms.

Andy gave him a lopsided grin then wrapped his arms around Slade’s neck and hugged him tightly.

A sharp jab of pain pierced Lisa. She was happy for Andy that he’d found his way into Slade’s heart, but at the same time she was hurt that she had never been allowed in.
Warts
she cursed silently. She’d promised herself that she would not feel any more pain where this man was concerned.
And I won’t
. Determinedly she shoved the unwanted emotion from her mind.

Ester opened the front door. “The taxi driver is going to get impatient.”

Helen gave Lisa a hug. “You take care of yourself.” In a fretful voice, she added, “I wish you were coming with us.”

Ester had passed through the door and was on the porch. Looking back, she nodded in agreement. “Maybe you should come along and let the police handle this.”

“They have no clues and I can’t even point them in the right direction,” Lisa replied. “Trust me. This is the only way.”

Both women looked uncomfortable taking her at her word, but they gave up their protests.

“Stay inside,” Slade ordered Lisa, picking up Andy’s suitcase and carrying it and the boy outside.

“If I am being watched, I want whoever is after me to know that I’m not going with my family,” she said, refusing to obey and stepping out onto the porch to wave goodbye.

Slade picked up his pace, calling out to the driver to come get the rest of the luggage. Reaching the vehicle, he handed Andy over to Helen, then hurried back to Lisa. “Okay. Anyone watching has had a good look. No sense
in giving them any more of a shot.” Slipping an arm around her waist, he nearly lifted her off her feet as he guided her back inside.

Having him so near caused her to feel incredibly secure. Anger that he had that effect on her swept through her. Under normal circumstances he would never have come back into her life. The moment they were inside, she freed herself from his hold and hurried to a window to wave a last goodbye to her family.

Slade caught her by the wrist and pulled her out of view. “You’ve got to stop making yourself an easy target.”

Again freeing herself from his hold, a sudden thought occurred to her. “I’ve been an easy target many times since the first shooting. And Detective Overson was right about today’s attempt being amateurish.” She shook her head in frustration. “None of this makes any sense.”

“Well, I’m not buying the ‘being in the wrong place at the wrong time’ theory,” Slade said. “At least, not until we’ve checked out every possibility.”

“That brings me to the next thing on my agenda.” Lisa faced him with firm authority. “You’re off this case. I only agreed to let you stay because of my aunt. She can be stubborn. But now that she’s gone, I want you to go, as well.”

“Sorry, but you’re stuck with me.”

Looking at him standing like an immovable mountain in front of her, Lisa could only think of how large a target he would be. “If someone is after me, you could get hurt in the crossfire. That wouldn’t serve the purpose for which I brought you into this in the first place.”

“If I leave and you get yourself killed, I’d never be able to look our son in the eye again.” His voice took on an even harsher note. “I’d never be able to look myself
in the eye again.” Turning on his heels, he headed up the stairs. “Pack a bag. When we leave here, we’re not coming back. We’ll stay on the move. Whoever is after you might think it’s time to step up their attempts on your life. No sense in making you easy prey.” The set of his jaw told her that arguing would be useless.

She was throwing things into a suitcase when he came into her room. Her eyes rounded in surprise. He was wearing his gun housed in its leather shoulder holster and his badge was pinned on his shirt. “Where’d those come from?”

“Force of habit. I’m so used to traveling on business, I just shoved them in my satchel without thinking about it. Good thing I did.”

Lisa couldn’t argue with that. Finishing her packing, she went to her closet, took down a locked box, opened it, took out her gun and shoved it into her purse. “All right, let’s go.”

Picking up her suitcase, Slade carried it downstairs along with his. At the front door he stopped. “You wait here. After I’ve loaded the luggage into your mother’s car and gotten the engine started, I’ll come back for you.”

She frowned. “I’m not letting you act as a human shield. You get the engine started and I’ll come out.”

“I don’t like it.”

“I’ll move fast.” Seeing the resistance on his face, she added, “Otherwise, I’m going out that door right now and help you load everything into the car.”

“Stubborn as a mule,” Slade mumbled under his breath. Then with a final scowl of disapproval, he strode outside.

Lisa watched from the door. When he started the engine,
she came out of the house and, moving swiftly, climbed into the car.

“Slide down in your seat,” he ordered.

Obeying, Lisa had to admit she was glad he was along for the ride. In the next instant she was angry with herself for feeling that way. She would never forgive herself if he was hurt because of her. When she’d gone to him seeking security for her son, she’d never planned on any of this. Studying his taut profile, she wondered how much he was regretting ever inviting her into his life.
A whole lot
, she surmised.

From her house, they drove to her office. Slade parked in the back and insisted on her staying in the car until he unlocked the office door.

Not wanting to give him an opportunity to come back to escort her inside, as soon as she saw it was open, she left the car and hurried inside. Once in the office, they kept the blinds closed so that anyone on the outside would not have a view of them and began reviewing her cases for suspects.

“Since the first attack was only three weeks ago, my guess is that whoever is doing this is involved in one of my more recent investigations. But just to be on the safe side, I think I should consider anything in the past six months,” she said, opening a file drawer and sorting through it.

Recalling the other possibility he’d thought of, Slade picked up the phone and punched in a number. “I’ll have Boyd check your record back in Texas to see if any felon who might hold a grudge against you has been recently released.”

Lisa nodded and continued to pull files and toss them onto her desk in stacks according to the type of investigation.

“Looks like you’ve been busy,” Slade noted as he hung up.

“My aunt knows a lot of people and she was very vocal about promoting me as honest and reliable. The sons of a couple of her friends are members of law firms here and they gave me a chance to prove myself. When I did, they also began to recommend me.” She frowned at the stacks of cases. “Mostly, I’ve worked on simple stuff, nonviolent situations.”

She opened two file drawers, each labeled with the name of a law firm. “This is the work I’ve done this year for them.” Her gaze scanned the tabs. “It mostly involved serving subpoenas, divorce papers, et cetera. Nearly everyone in here was a one-time contact.”

“Yes, but it was a contact that could change a life,” Slade noted.

“True,” she conceded. “But you’d think they’d go after the lawyer before they’d go after me. Most of them wouldn’t even know who I was. I didn’t identify myself. I simply made certain I had the right person and handed them the paper.”

“I’d say we could discount those, then. At least for now.”

Lisa started to agree, then stopped herself. “Except for two. In those cases I was more involved than just serving subpoenas.” She pulled a folder from the top drawer. “In this case it’d be the person who was being testified against, a Mr. Randal Grady, who could be holding a grudge. He’d killed a child while driving drunk. The boy was crossing the street when Grady ran him down…didn’t even put his brakes on. But Grady had money, got himself a top-notch lawyer and got off with a couple of months probation and a fine. The boy’s parents
decided to sue him in civil court, not for the money but because they felt justice hadn’t been done.

“Rowanda Gleat was Grady’s girlfriend. During his criminal trial, she testified that he’d been drunk that night and he’d been driving the car that struck the boy. She’d also said that the next morning when he realized what he’d done, he was stricken with grief but hadn’t gone to the police because he was afraid of the consequences. One of the law firms I work for was handling the case for the parents. When I interviewed Rowanda, there was something about her manner that didn’t sit right with me. She reminded me of the cat who’d eaten the canary. At first I attributed that to the huge diamond on her finger. It was, she told me, from Grady. According to her, they were going to get married as soon as the second trial was over. I couldn’t stop myself from telling her that I didn’t think he was such great husband material. She told me that he’d stay in line for her. There was just something about the way she said it…she was so positive. No one can be that positive about a man like that. I was sure there was something she wasn’t telling me. It was just a gut instinct, but a strong one.”

“Your gut instincts were always good,” Slade noted.

Except where you were concerned, she corrected mentally. She’d been so sure he would learn to care for her. Jerking her mind back to the business at hand, she continued. “I decided to see if I could come up with something to rattle her cage. And I did. Grady had another girlfriend he was treating a whole lot better than Rowanda. I decided to stir up the waters by telling Rowanda about her. The woman blew up. At first she refused to believe me, then when I produced pictures, she swore under her breath—she could have made a sailor blush.
She ended by saying Grady would be sorry, then she threw me out.

“That night she showed up at the new girlfriend’s apartment while Grady was there. I was outside in the stairwell across from the apartment door waiting for the brawl I was certain would take place, but it didn’t. Grady just looked her in the eye, said, ‘Hock the diamond and get out of town or you’re dead,’ then closed the door in her face.

“Rowanda had turned ashen when he’d threatened her. I thought she might faint. But when he slammed the door in her face, her cheeks were suddenly flaming red. As soon as she got back to her car, I got a call from her on my cell phone. She said that she had information that would burn Grady.” Lisa smiled dryly. “He should never have underestimated a woman’s scorn.”

“So what did she know?”

“She testified that Grady had told her how exhilarating it had been to run down the boy. Her words were, ‘He got a real high out of it.’ She’d also insisted the attorneys ask her why she hadn’t testified to that in the first trial. That gave her the opportunity to tell the world that he’d threatened to kill her. Of course, she made it sound as if he’d done that before the first trial and not just a couple of weeks earlier. It was an interesting courtroom scene. She rose from her chair, pointed a finger at him and said, ‘If I’m found dead, I want everyone here to know who was responsible.’ His attorneys tried to make it look as if she was merely trying to get even with him for dumping her, but she flashed around that huge diamond ring to show how he’d tried to buy her silence with both money and threats. And the jury preferred her story to his.”

“So you think he might be seeking revenge?”

“It’s possible. He had a mean temper and the court awarded the parents a tremendous settlement.”

“What about the other case?”

Lisa set aside Rowanda’s file and pulled a file from the second drawer. “This was a civil action against a plastic surgeon who was a real butcher. One of the witnesses the client wanted subpoenaed was Rachel Miller. She’d been one of the doctor’s clients and had ended up with scars and a mishapened nose. She was very self-conscious about her looks and didn’t want to appear in public. After I tracked her down, she chose to testify instead of spending time in jail for contempt, but she wasn’t happy about the exposure.”

Slade turned his attention to one of the stacks of folders on her desk. “And what about these?”

“Two are divorce investigations. I finished one over four months ago and the other three months ago, but the party being investigated might have recently discovered I’d been on their tail.”

“And the third?”

“A groom who wants a background check before he ties the knot. He thinks there’s something in his fiancée’s past she isn’t telling him. I was working on that one when I was shot, but hadn’t turned up anything.”

“And this second stack?”

“They’re all background checks on applicants for a CEO position with R.H.T.P. Inc.”

“R.H.T.P.?”

“Resolutions for High Tech Problems. It’s a computer software and hardware company.”

“Might as well start with Rowanda. If Grady is our man, he’s sure to be after her, too. And if he hasn’t caught up with her, she should be warned she could be in danger.”

“I don’t know where she is. In spite of her bravado, she was scared of him. She left town right after the trial.”

“Then we’ll pay a visit to Mr. Grady.” Slade tossed all the files she’d pulled into a box and motioned toward the door.

Outside it was dark. Lisa glanced at her watch. “It’s late. I suggest we go by his home.” She began paging through the file. “I have his address. That’s where I tracked Rowanda down the first time.”