Lingerie and Lariats (Rough & Ready#7) Page 7

  Dan was certain he did know but didn’t say so to Renee.

  She went on, telling him about Jerry’s breakfast meeting with two men and described them when Dan asked her to. She gave a description that matched the ones for two suspected drug dealers who were rumored to have ties to the cartel. He kept that suspicion to himself.

  When she said she thought their names might be Luis and Juan, that sealed it for Dan. The description and the names matched the men Dan suspected.

  Renee explained how she had been in the restroom when two women came in, talking about the men and that was how she had learned their names.

  “Jerry is planning on getting some kind of revenge on someone,” she said. “That’s what one of the women said. I think her name was Mercedes, by the way. The other woman was Carla.” She took a deep breath as Dan made mental notes. “Mercedes said that Luis might be taking care of a problem and if he did it would be a good payday.”

  Did Nelson order a hit on someone? “What else did they say?”

  “Not much.” She frowned. “Maybe he’s trying to destroy someone financially. I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s threatened to do that to people in the past. Oh,” she added. “The woman also said that Luis’s contact from the east was going to make a buy. They didn’t say what kind.”

  A hit and a buy. Nelson was obviously working on a drug deal. Dan kept his thoughts to himself. “What else happened?”

  “I decided I needed to get out of there and get to the bank before he did,” she said. “Over seventy-five thousand dollars was missing from the accounts out of close to half a million,” she said.

  Dan frowned “That’s a chunk of change to be missing.”

  “Yes, but at least the rest was there,” she said. “It could have been much worse.” She explained how she had closed out the accounts and had opened a new one and put all of the funds in there.

  Smart girl, Dan thought. “I take it Nelson found you at the bank after you made the transactions.”

  “Yes,” she said. “Jerry told me he had made some kind of buy that he had to pay for and was going to make me put the accounts the way they were. He threatened to kill me then created a big scene and that’s when the teller called the police. When they showed up he was argumentative and he refused to let go of me.” She rubbed one of her arms. “So the police arrested him. He was still yelling threats at me even as the police took him.”

  “Nelson threatened to kill you?” Fury made Dan’s skin hot.

  Renee nodded. “No one heard him say it. But then in front of the officers he did threaten to make me sorry.”

  Dan ground his teeth. The only one who was going to be sorry was Nelson.

  Their sandwiches were served and they dug into their meals. Renee seemed exceptionally hungry. Every time Dan looked at the bruise on her face and thought about how Nelson had treated her, his blood boiled even more.

  “It won’t be long until he’s back on the street,” Dan said. “Nelson will probably be looking for you, so I think you’d better stay somewhere safe. You can stay with me.” Dan held up his hand when he saw that she looked like she was going to argue. “Unless you have a problem with that. And don’t say it’s because you don’t want to inconvenience me, because you’re not going to. I’ll feel a lot better if I can keep an eye on you.”

  She looked at him then gave a nod. “Thank you.”

  He glanced at his watch. “If you’re finished with lunch, I’ll take you out to my place. If you don’t mind being alone when I’m at work, I think you’ll be safe out there.

  She smiled. “I’m sure I’ll be perfectly fine.”

  He met her gaze. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Renee.”

  “I know,” she said quietly. “I couldn’t feel safer than I do with you.” She paused. “Just one more thing.”

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “I want to go to the jail and have a talk with Jerry.”

  Chapter 9

  Jerry Nelson scowled as he looked through the bars of his cell in the Nogales Police Department. Thanks to that little bitch, Renee, he’d been locked up for hours and there was no telling how long he’d be here. Who knew how much time he’d get for resisting arrest and disturbing the peace. Not to mention assault—the bitch had whined and said that he’d hit her. He’d barely touched her.

  This whole mess was her fault. All of it.

  When he got his hands on her again he’d make sure she paid.

  Unless he got out and got the money now, she’d fucked up the deal he’d been working on with Juan. Jerry had made a connection with Luis through Philly contacts. Once he’d arrived in Nogales, Luis had introduced Jerry to Juan.

  Jerry had been setting up a buy for his man in Philly, but Juan had offered Jerry a side deal that could have made him a shitload of money. All he’d needed was Renee’s cash to pay for the load.

  And then she’d fucked up everything.

  He couldn’t forget the sheriff. Once he got out of this hellhole, Jerry had something special planned for that dick. He had planned to hire Luis to do it, but never got the chance. He’d had to leave when he’d realized Renee was gone.

  Locks clanked and then a police officer approached Jerry. “You’ve got a visitor, Nelson. Ten minutes.”

  Jerry frowned. Who would be visiting him? No one knew he was here.

  The officer stepped aside and Jerry saw that it was Renee.

  Satisfaction almost made him smile when he saw her bruised face. Fucking bitch deserved it. He held back words that he wanted to cut her with and instead he smiled at her. “You come to bail me out?”

  “No.” The bitch’s voice was firm and she sounded in control, which pissed him off even more. “I’ve come to make a deal with you.”

  Jerry studied her, not sure what kind of game she might be playing. “What deal?”

  She stayed about a foot away from his cell door. “Not only did you assault me, but you stole over seventy-five thousand dollars from me. I can go after you for that, which will put you in a cell for a long time.”

  He narrowed his gaze. “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t even try to lie to me, Jerry.” She didn’t look away from him. “I went over the transactions with the banker and I saw all of the withdrawals. That money is nowhere to be found.”

  “I didn’t do anything with your money,” he said as he tried to think of some way to convince her.

  “Don’t compound it with lies.” She studied him. “Here’s the deal. I won’t come after you for the seventy-five thousand and I’ll drop the assault charges if you just leave me alone.”

  His belly felt like it was filled with hot coal. “I need to pay for an investment. An investment for you. I need access to the funds to take care of it.”

  She shook her head. “You will get no more money from me. What you will get is a lawsuit if you don’t leave me alone. Do you understand?”

  He glared at her, wanting to reach through the bars and choke the life from her. He said nothing.

  “That’s my final offer,” she said. “Take it or leave it.”

  When he still said nothing, she turned and walked away.

  Chapter 10

  Renee leaned back in the seat of Dan’s SUV, feeling exhausted and drained. “What a day,” she murmured.

  Dan reached across the console and squeezed her hand. “Are you all right?”

  She met his gaze and smiled as he held her hand. “Yes. Thank you for everything.” It had been a long day and she was ready to drop. “Thank you for getting my clothes, my cell phone, and the rest of my belongings from Jerry.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to press charges?” Dan frowned. “Nelson physically harmed you. Not to mention the seventy-five thousand he stole. That’s a hell of a lot of money.”

  “I just want him to go away.” She sighed. “If I never hear from him again, that will be repayment enough.”

  Dan released her hand to put both his hands on
the steering wheel. “Do you mind if I ask how you ended up with Nelson?”

  “I don’t mind.” She thought back to the first time she met Jerry. “He was charming and thoughtful, and came across like he had it all together. Flowers, cards, calls… I needed it then and I fell for it all.”

  Dan glanced at her. “Sounds like he caught you at a vulnerable time.”

  She pulled at the bottom of her T-shirt as she spoke. “My mother had passed away and then my stepfather died, and I was alone. I didn’t know what to do with the inheritance or the business that was left to me. Jerry helped me organize my finances, sell the business, and assisted me in making other decisions. I relied on him.”

  She was quiet for a moment. “Things started to change about two months after I met him, when most of my finances were settled. He started to get angry at little things, or if something didn’t go his way, or if I didn’t fall in line. And then he would be just fine and I’d excuse his actions by telling myself he must be under a lot of stress.”

  Dan let her talk without interruption and it made it easier to let it all out.

  “It got to where I was afraid of his temper. My life would be miserable.” She looked out the window, away from Dan. “Jerry kept his life mysterious. I couldn’t ask questions of him—he just said business wasn’t something he liked to talk about when the day was done. He rarely went into the office but he was on the phone a lot and took frequent short trips. He took me a couple of times but I always stayed in the hotel while he left to conduct business. Often our plans would be interrupted in the middle of dinner and his mood would change ranging from mild irritation to almost rage. And it just got worse from there.”

  She brought her fingers up to her bruised face and winced when she touched the sensitive skin. “It was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Almost. He’d been showing the signs of a split personality, and now I realize any kindness he’d shown had been fake. He’d been using me to get to my money, I’m certain of that.”

  She returned her gaze to Dan. “How could I be so stupid?”

  “You weren’t stupid,” he said. “It happens to vulnerable women. You’re kind, sweet, trusting, and you were vulnerable.”

  “I thought I’d found the right companion who would put me first.” She shook her head. She felt an ache behind her eyes. “More and more over the past few weeks I’ve felt trapped and I haven’t known what to do. I thought the trip out here might give us a chance to renew our relationship and start fresh. But I finally realized there was never any true relationship to save. More proof of that is the fact that he embezzled money from me.” She reached up and touched the side of her face. “I’d already decided to leave him before he hit me.”

  Dan’s gaze narrowed. “I’d like to teach that sonofabitch a lesson.

  “He’s not worth it,” she said quietly

  “From your descriptions,” Dan said, “I believe that the two men Nelson met with at the café are suspected drug dealers.”

  Renee’s eyes widened. “Drugs? You think Jerry bought and sold drugs?”

  “For all we know Nelson could be a user, too.” Dan gave her a grim look before he turned his attention to the road. “I did a little research on those parking tickets. They were all for the same location in Philly, where a suspected big-time drug dealer, a guy named Stewart, lives. I talked to someone at the Philadelphia P.D to get more background.”

  Renee’s eyes were wider than ever. She felt incapable of speech.

  Dan glanced at her again. “They know more about Stewart than they do about Nelson. They think that he’s Nelson’s boss and is real bad news. Nelson was outside the main circle but believed to be involved with the group. It was still early in the investigation when Nelson left for Arizona. It was suspected he was doing some of his own deals and got caught up in this group. Real bad guys.”

  “Jerry?” Renee asked with incredulity. “You think Jerry is working with some big time drug dealer?”

  “Law enforcement in Philly believes this Stewart guy is connected with the Mexican cartel. I believe that Nelson was out here to connect with them for the Philly dealer. It’s all speculation but that’s what it appears to be.”

  Stunned, Renee felt like she was collapsing as her body went limp. Jerry using, buying, and selling drugs? Possibly involved with the Mexican cartel?

  Flashes of Jerry went through her mind as she spoke. “Sometimes he’d stumble into my home at night and tell me he was drunk when he could have been high. He’d tell me he’d had a few too many drinks. I’d notice his pupils were dilated and he acted odd, but not quite like he was drunk.”

  She paused before continuing. “He said he was a financial advisor and went to meet with clients. He never looked like he was dressed for it though and didn’t have an office. He said with fewer and wealthier clients than in the past, he didn’t need an office. He went to see them.

  She continued, “There were times when he’d be free and generous with his cash and other times we went out on my money.” She looked at Dan. “There were signs, I just hadn’t read them right or I was blind to them.”

  “It’s hard to see the signs in people we care about,” Dan said. “It’s easy to be blind to their faults.”

  “That’s true,” she said.

  He looked grim as he glanced at her again. “I want to beat that sonofabitch for hitting you.”

  She shrugged. “Like I said, he’s not worth it.”

  Dan changed the subject, seeming to know that she didn’t want to talk about Jerry any longer.

  “You came over with the Camerons to my family’s ranch back when we were kids,” Dan said as the SUV kicked up dust on the dirt road they were now on.

  “Yes.” She looked out at the grasslands. “I remember that.” She glanced at him. “You had a border collie named Sass.”

  “Sure did.” Dan gave her a grin. “She was one hell of a ranch dog and a boy’s best friend.”

  The SUV’s tires thrummed when he drove it over a cattle guard as they went through a set of iron gates with scrollwork. Dan pulled the vehicle up to a two-story home and parked beside a big white truck. Set back behind and to the right of the home was a barn and corrals that held horses and cattle.

  There appeared to be a riding ring, too. It all felt familiar, but it had been so long that she really didn’t know what might have changed since she was a little girl. The trees certainly seemed bigger than they had before. Considering how long it had been, that wasn’t a real surprise.

  As he helped her out of her side of the SUV, she asked him, “How do you manage a ranch and handle all of the duties of a county sheriff?”

  “I don’t.” He gave her a quick grin. “I have fifty head of cattle and two part-time ranch hands who take care of business when I’m not here. The rest of the land I lease to other ranchers.” He glanced at the outbuildings and corrals. “After my parents passed away,” he said, “I thought about selling the place, but even though I’m in law enforcement, ranching is still in my blood. I keep it up and running and plan to get back to ranching when I retire from law enforcement.”

  He continued, “When I was a kid I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to be a policeman or a rancher. Guess I have the best of both worlds.”

  She smiled. “I think you do.”

  He gave a nod in the direction of the house. “Let’s get your things inside.”

  She had already stuffed everything she needed to back into her purse and she slung the strap over her shoulder. Dan took her suitcase and carried it toward his house. The two-story house was white with dark green shutters and trim. It had a covered wraparound porch as well as an uncovered wraparound balcony on the second floor.

  Sycamore trees shaded the house and there were mesquite trees and native oaks at either side of the home.

  She looked over her shoulder and saw that the sky had darkened considerably to the south.

  “Looks like we’ve got a chance of finding ourselves in the middle of a monsoon storm,” Dan sa
id as he followed her gaze.

  “I’ve missed Arizona’s monsoon season.” Renee walked up the stairs beside Dan. “There’s something electrifying about the storms.”

  He gave her a teasing look. “’Other than the thunder and lightning?”

  She smiled. “I can still remember the charged feeling in the air and the fresh, rain-washed sky when the storm was over. And the wonderful smell of rain after the storm. I loved it.”

  Dan opened the front door to his home, which was even larger inside than it appeared to be on the outside. They entered a big living room with a huge entertainment center at one end containing a large TV and a stereo system. The overstuffed leather chairs and couches looked comfortable enough to take a nap on. She hadn’t realized just how tired she was until she looked at those couches.

  He headed toward a staircase. “The room you’ll be in is upstairs.”

  She followed him across the wood floor and her belly flipped as she thought about being alone with Dan in his home. Her thoughts strayed to what it would be like to be in his arms, his large, muscular, naked body pressed to hers…

  Stop it. She bit the inside of her lip, bringing herself back to the here and now. It was too soon to even consider going to bed with another man. She followed him, two of the steps creaking, the banister polished and smooth beneath her palm.

  When they were upstairs, Dan paused in front of a door that he opened and held open for her. “This is what my mama called the quilt room.”

  “This one is beautiful.” Renee ran her hand over the quilt on the bed. “So colorful.” She looked at quilted wall hangings and curtains with a quilted valance that matched the design of the quilt on the bed. “I love this room.”

  He set her suitcase on the floor. “Feel free to use the drawers and the closet for your things.”

  “I probably won’t be here that long,” she said. “But thank you.”

  He hitched his shoulder up against the doorframe as he studied her. “What are your plans now that things have changed?”