Winning Texas (26 page)

“
Feels so good to be out of the office
–
even if I
’
m taking along my boss,
”
he joked.

“
Just think of me as a very old reporting partner,
”
she smiled.
“
I
’
ll be really rusty, so you
’
ll have to make allowances.
”

“
I doubt that
’
s going to be a problem,
”
he said.
“
But are you sure you want to interview Jake Satterfield? We could switch, you know?
”

Annie was stung. First Greg, now Travis, was trying to spare her tender feelings. Was her entire life an open book
–
a messy, predictable romance novel?

“
Sorry, Annie,
”
he said.
“
I didn
’
t mean to pry, but I know that you and Jake had a falling out when you were covering the secessionists.
”

“
Actually our falling out came after, when we were a couple,
”
she said in what she hoped was a light tone.
“
We
’
d talked about getting married, but it didn
’
t work out.
”

“
Well, he
’
s an idiot,
”
he said with an emphasis that surprised Annie. She knew he liked her, but she hadn
’
t considered that his feelings might be stronger. Was the road trip with him a mistake? She dismissed that thought because his relationship with Lila Jo seemed happy.

“
That
’
s kind of you, Travis, but don
’
t worry about me,
”
she said.
“
Jake
’
s scheduler said he
’
d be free all afternoon and I expect it
’
ll take that long. What about Sam Wurzbach?
”

“
He
’
s eager to meet with anyone who wants to talk about the concerns of the German-Texas community, as he put it,
”
Travis said.

“
I
’
m sure you
’
re one step ahead of me, but I
’
d like to know more about how he and Kyle Krause became friends in high school and what drew them together more recently. I believe they were on the wrestling team together, but they seem so fundamentally different.
”

“
Yeah. Not much on the surface would seem to link the topless king of Houston with the bakery mogul of the Hill Country,
”
he said.

“
Hope Wurzbach
’
s more talkative than Krause,
”
Annie said.
“
I guess if he
’
s a politician, he has to be.
”

As Travis drove farther west, she felt her tension sloughing off. The flat land began to slope gently, and pretty farms and pastures replaced the picked-clean blandness of new subdivisions. Rural Texas was so appealing. It was a shame that burgeoning cities were subsuming more of it each year. Was that really progress?

Travis, as usual, wanted to talk about the fate of the newspaper industry.

“
Think the
Times
will still exist a decade from now?
”

“
I think the
Times
website has a decent chance of lasting,
”
she said.
“
Not so sure about the daily paper.
”

“
Never thought I
’
d hear you say that,
”
Travis said.
“
Thought you
’
d be the last true believer in the future of the print product, as they call the newspaper these days.
”

She shook her head with a frown.
“
Five years ago, I would have been,
”
she said.
“
I don
’
t know any more. But you can always work for the website.
”

They rode a little longer in companionable silence before Travis said,
“
I never really asked, but what do you think about the concept of secession?
”

“
It
’
s hard to separate my beliefs from bad reporting experiences, but I
’
m basically against it,
”
Annie said, a little surprised by the conversational turn.
“
If things don
’
t go their way, too many people in this country want to take their marbles and go home. Seems like we
’
re becoming a nation of spoiled children.
”

She paused a moment.
“
You
’
re a native Texan. What do you think?
”

“
I think the Nation of Texas folks that you wrote about seem selfish. They want to keep all the good stuff in Texas, like oil, just for themselves,
”
he said.
“
It seems kind of unpatriotic.
”

“
There are more secessionists in Texas than any other state in the country,
”
she said.
“
But Texas isn
’
t alone. Separatist movements are flourishing in other states, like Alaska.
”

“
Yeah, Alaska
’
s always struck me as a little wacky,
”
he said.

“
Texas is way up there on the wacky scale,
”
she smiled.
“
But the drive for secession stems partly from its history. Texas was a republic for ten years between winning its independence from Mexico and entering the United States.
”

“
So that
’
s why the secessionists are always talking about creating a new republic?
”

“
I think people who are unhappy with the present always look to the past,
”
Annie said.
“
But nothing much was accomplished while Texas was a republic. It was too big to govern effectively in the 1840s and almost got into another war with Mexico.
”

“
I hope Sam Wurzbach isn
’
t just another secessionist,
”
Travis said.
“
It sounds like a different thing. Preserving the German heritage in Texas seems sensible
–
seceding from the United States just seems crazy.
”

“
Yeah,
”
Annie said.
“
But I
’
m skeptical about the German-Texas movement, too. What do they really want? We have to find out.
”

CHAPTER 28

“
Hungry? There
’
s a good little barbecue place up the road that might be quicker than trying to eat in downtown Austin,
”
Travis said.

Annie had lulled herself to sleep in the passenger seat. She sat up straight and stretched her arms. Food would probably blast away her late-morning lassitude.

“
Good idea.
”

Minutes later, he pulled into a rustic log building that Annie had noticed on previous trips. It wasn
’
t quite noon, but already cars half-filled the parking lot of Stumpy
’
s, a modest caf
é
on the outskirts of Austin. That boded well for the quality of the barbecue inside.

“
There are picnic tables in back and a nice view of the creek,
”
Travis said.
“
It would be fun to sit outside, if I can land a table in the shade.
”

They walked inside a rectangular dining room with old-fashioned knotty pine paneling and long communal tables. Two older women served customers behind a short cafeteria line and a muscled young man with dreadlocks tamed by a hairnet chopped beef brisket on a butcher-block slab behind them. The steaming meat looked dark and crusty on the outside, the way Annie liked it, and smelled smoky and peppery. The menu was short: brisket sandwiches and plates with baked beans, slaw and a few other sides. The restaurant also made its own pecan pie and served it in thick slices with ice cream, but she
’
d be good and skip it.

Annie and Travis got sandwiches and iced tea, paid at the cash register and walked their trays through the back door to the grassy picnic area. They selected a shaded picnic table with a good creek view, put their trays down and settled in, facing each other.

The back door opened again. Annie looked up and almost choked on her iced tea. She recognized Rob Ryland, a former
Times
reporter she had worked with four years ago with disastrous consequences. Dressed in dark jeans and a black T-shirt, he looked a little older, but still had the hazel eyes, longish brown hair and the deceptively wholesome looks of a young Paul McCartney. They
’
d worked together reporting on Tom Marr
’
s gubernatorial campaign with its links to the Nation of Texas. She
’
d been Rob
’
s mentor and they
’
d spent weeks working side-by-side on the big story. Then she found out the young reporter was the nephew of secessionist leader Dan Riggins and secretly had spied on her and jeopardized the newspaper
’
s investigation. She had confronted Rob and he left the paper, but later threatened to kidnap her from a hospital
’
s parking garage. A Texas Ranger had arrested him on the spot. He
’
d been lucky to get off with probation and a pledge to stay away from secessionist activities.

Darker memories surfaced as Rob stood at the restaurant
’
s door with his tray. She remembered the night he
’
d brought her home from a bar and taken advantage of her weakened state. She
’
d been mourning the death of her best friend by drinking heavily with other
Times
staffers. Rob had spent the night, ostensibly to make sure she was all right, and had forced himself on her. She
’
d blamed herself afterwards, but his insistence that he
’
d done nothing wrong had shaken her. She
’
d kicked him out the next morning and they avoided each other until they were both assigned to the secessionist story. He
’
d worked with her cooperatively, until she found out about his betrayal.

She composed herself and spoke to Travis.
“
I just saw Rob Ryland, Dan Riggins
’
s nephew who used to work at the
Times.
”

“
That scumbag who spied on your investigation and tried to kidnap you?
”
Travis asked.
“
What
’
s he doing here?
”

“
I heard he was living in Austin,
”
Annie said.
“
Not sure what he
’
s up to. I think we should follow him.
”

Travis
’
s eyes shone. He loved intrigue of any kind.
“
Let
’
s do it.
”

Annie described Rob, and Travis took his half-eaten lunch inside to look for him. Annie finished her lunch quickly and walked around to Travis
’
s car in the graveled parking lot at the side of the building. She waited until she saw Travis coming out behind Rob. Rob got into his pickup and she and Travis followed him. They drove a few miles into Austin and turned into a parking lot just after Rob. The building was one Annie was familiar with: the headquarters of an alternative paper called the
Austin Comet
.

Unfortunately, Rob had caught them and strode to Travis
’
s car, where he tapped on the passenger side window. Busted! They got out.