Winning Texas (30 page)

The six-piece, German-sounding band began playing
“
Cotton-Eyed Joe,
”
a legendary country tune Annie often heard in Texas-themed bars. Always, when it was played, the native Texans would rush to the dance floor to perform a line dance. The young people in their dirndls and lederhosen enthusiastically joined the partygoers dancing to the rollicking tune. Annie and her companions watched from around the edges and she tapped her toes to the music. Wurzbach told them he planned to deliver his pitch about German Texas as soon as the band finished the number.

“
We sold about seven hundred tickets and ended up with a full house,
”
he said with pride.
“
It
’
s the first in a series of big parties to introduce the German-Texas movement.
”

“
Where did you find the young dancers?
”
Annie asked.

“
They
’
ve been going to a German dancing school in Fredericksburg,
”
Wurzbach smiled.
“
That
’
s the kind of cultural activity we
’
d like to encourage.
”

Annie enjoyed chatting with him, Jake and Travis until Wurzbach excused himself, saying he needed to touch base with supporters before his speech.

The band finished its number and people began drifting away from the stone dance floor section of the patio. Some headed to the bar for another drink and others sat down. One of the musicians grabbed the microphone.

“
We
’
re playing one last song, so don
’
t leave yet, folks. It
’
s
‘
Waltz across Texas
’
, so everyone needs to get their sweetheart to the dance floor for a slow one,
”
he said.

“
Annie, would you dance with me?
”
Jake said with a little bow.
“
You don
’
t mind if we take advantage of the waltz, do you, Travis?
”

“
Break a leg,
”
Travis said, sounding sour.

Jake led her out on the floor. He put his arms around her waist, pulled her close and they swayed together wordlessly as the song began. Feeling his strong body pressed against hers after they
’
d been apart for so long made her almost too dizzy to dance, so she focused on the music. She
’
d never really listened to the lyrics of the classic song and the band
’
s version was soulful.

“
When we dance together, my world
’
s in disguise. It
’
s a fairyland tale that
’
s come true. And when you look at me with those stars in your eyes, I could waltz across Texas with you.
”

The band lingered over the chorus:
“
Waltz across Texas with you in my arms, waltz across Texas with you. Like a storybook ending, I
’
m lost in your charms. And I could waltz across Texas with you.
”

Jake softly sang the words into her ear, kissed her neck and they moved together as if they were making love
–
again. Annie wished the song would never end.

But end it did with a bang, a strange popping noise. She heard the screams of fear and panic. She looked at Jake and saw her shock mirrored in his eyes. They pulled apart abruptly and stared in horror. The sound had been a gunshot, perhaps coming through the tall trees beyond the brightly lit outdoors area. Sam Wurzbach had fallen on the patio with a spreading red blur on the lower left side of his white shirt.

CHAPTER 32

Annie and Jake rushed to where Sam was stretched out on the patio. His eyes were closed and his body appeared motionless. But a barely discernible groan reassured them that for the moment, he was breathing. In one quick motion, Jake jerked a white tablecloth off a nearby table set for dinner, sending glasses and tableware crashing. He pressed the wad of starched linen tightly against the wound, which resembled a red ink blot spreading across Sam
’
s chest.

“
Hang on, Sam,
”
Jake said in a steady, crooning voice.
“
Keep breathing, man.
”

Partygoers stampeded across the patio, heading through the restaurant where patrons inside were already clogging the front entrance. It hadn
’
t taken long for panic to set in. Some people on the patio had dived under a group of tables, bracing themselves against further violence. But Annie heard no more gunshots, just the jumbled noise of humans reacting to fear. A large woman in a sparkly white evening gown tried to run, but slammed into a tray of champagne glasses, scattering them across the floor. She teetered against the wobbling tray, trying to regain her balance. An elderly man grabbed her hand before she fell and they hurried through the restaurant with others in the departing crowd.

Annie watched as a small knot of helpers gathered around Jake and Sam. She was relieved to see an older man with wire-rimmed glasses open what looked like a doctor
’
s bag. A gray-haired woman, possibly his wife, was on the phone in what sounded like a 911 call. It had all happened so fast that Annie had trouble thinking straight. She
’
d been in crisis situations twice before, a knife attack and a horrendous shootout on a freeway, and they
’
d left their psychological mark
–
nightmares, flashbacks and a stupefied slowness to act. She realized that she was frozen and wondered if she was having a post-traumatic stress reaction. She mentally shook herself, trying to summon the will to press forward. She grabbed her mobile and located the number of the
Times
’
night desk. She looked around for Travis and spotted him crawling out from under a table, notebook in hand. She was relieved to see that he was all right.

Hugh Heller, the paper
’
s best rewrite man, answered her call to the newsroom. Luckily for her, he was on Saturday night duty, covering the police shift. In his usual unflappable, low-key way, he asked questions and she could hear him tapping out notes on his office computer. She described to him, as succinctly as she could, the shooting of Wurzbach and the events leading up to it.

“
It felt like a sniper shooting from the woods behind the restaurant, but I haven
’
t gotten that confirmed,
”
she said.

“
Is he dead?
”
Hugh asked.

“
No, but it looks like a serious chest wound.
”

He asked her some background questions about Wurzbach and the German-Texas movement, which she was able to respond to quickly. She was so glad he had the presence of mind she lacked. But she knew she was recovering
–
her voice sounded stronger and her instincts were beginning to kick in.

“
Travis and I are both here for at least a while, so we
’
ll be calling you back with details as we get them,
”
she said.

“
You know our formal deadline
’
s passed, but I can get a bulletin in and file online right now,
”
Hugh said.
“
Let me go, but call back in fifteen minutes.
”

She hung up, hearing the sound of an ambulance siren coming closer, rounding a bend in the road beside the restaurant. The vehicle screamed to a stop in the parking lot and doors slammed. Four emergency technicians hurried through the restaurant carrying equipment and brushed aside the knot of helpers around Wurzbach. They gently lifted him onto a stretcher as Jake conferred with them in a low voice. A sobbing woman had joined Jake from inside the restaurant and his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Annie hadn
’
t met her during the earlier part of the evening, but assumed that the dark-haired, fortyish woman was Wurzbach
’
s wife. She almost tripped on the hem of her evening dress, but Jake helped to steady her. It looked like she was preparing to accompany her husband
’
s stretcher in the emergency vehicle.

“
Marie, I
’
ll meet you at the San Antonio medical center,
”
he assured her as she left the restaurant. He glanced in Annie
’
s direction and stopped to hug her.

“
I
’
ll be back as soon as I can,
”
he said.
“
You and Travis need to stick around and talk to Mark Ingram. He
’
s on his way and he
’
ll need your help.
”

“
Of course,
”
she said.
“
I
’
m glad he
’
s the Ranger taking the call.
”

In her opinion, shared by many local law enforcement officials, Texas Ranger Mark Ingram was the state
’
s top criminal investigator. She knew him well, having worked with him while both were investigating the secessionists four years ago. They
’
d been together in an East Houston apartment when Alicia Perez had stabbed him and tried to kill her. Surviving that violent encounter had cemented their relationship.

The Texas Rangers, now a part of the Texas Department of Public Safety, had formed the famous squad in frontier days before Texas became a state. Among their accomplishments, they
’
d captured and killed the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, stopping the couple
’
s murderous rampage across Texas. The modern-day Rangers generally handled the state
’
s most serious criminal cases.

Annie stationed herself with Travis inside the restaurant with staff and party stragglers, waiting for Ingram
’
s arrival. Local and state police were swarming the scene and had roped off the patio to safeguard evidence. She could hear them out there, talking to each other on walkie-talkies and searching for clues.

Travis took charge of calling in news updates to Hugh, for which Annie was grateful. She still felt a bit numb. But she was doing her share, talking to people about what they
’
d seen and heard, and giving her notes to Travis, who organized the story.

Finally Mark Ingram arrived, dressed in Saturday night casual clothes, his short red hair neatly brushed. He was a stocky man with tortoise-shell glasses and his freckles stood out in his suntanned face. He smiled when he spotted her.

“
Annie, I
’
m surprised to see you, but I shouldn
’
t be. You have a habit of showing up whenever things are happening,
”
he said. He shook hands with Travis, who also knew him.

“
I
’
m just glad you were on duty tonight,
”
she said.
“
Travis and I were doing interviews in Austin and got invited to Sam
’
s party.
”

She filled him in on what they
’
d seen before he broke away to interview other partygoers trying to leave.

“
I
’
ll talk to you two later after I corral some of these people. Just hang on for a while.
”

Annie drank coffee and she and Travis continued their reporting. Ingram brought one person at a time to interview at a table in a corner of the restaurant. Police had also talked with people separately, trying to collect as many impressions as they could while witnesses were still at the scene.

The front door opened again. Jake had come back. Annie could tell from his somber face that the news was bad. He still had blood spatters on his white shirt and his eyes were bloodshot.

“
Sam
’
s gone,
”
he told them quietly.
“
Died a few minutes after we got to the hospital. Marie was holding his hand, but I
’
m not sure he was aware of it. He
’
d lost a lot of blood.
”

“
Oh, Jake,
”
Annie said.
“
I
’
m so sorry. I know he was a great friend. Wish I
’
d gotten a chance to know him better. He seemed like a good person.
”