Royal Trouble (39 page)

It was stupid, childish, but it was all they had.  Maybe if they bugged the crap out of the woman, she would call them back and let them know what the hell was going on.  They didn't know where Susan was, if she was in her office in Dallas, or still in Amarillo.  Sitting on her doorstep would require a six-hour drive to Dallas, not knowing if she was even there. 

This was as close as they could get.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Bide your time took on new meaning when related to waiting for the guard to bring her supper.  Her little ruse with the guard earlier hadn't worked.  He had left her in the room, blocked the door and called a doctor to come and see her.  The older gray-haired man who examined her an hour later had proclaimed it to be indigestion, and gave her antacids.

Leigh Ann knew it wasn't indigestion, but anticipation, this time that had her stomach in knots.  When she finally heard a key scrape at the door, before the knob turned and it opened, she held her breath to keep from giving away her position behind the curtain by the door.  Peeking, Leigh Ann saw the shorter man who was her night guard was in his shirt sleeves, but the ever present gun was tucked in the holster under his arm. 

He wouldn't shoot her, would he?  God, she hadn't even considered that.  Surely not, she hadn't done anything.  But her heart rate kicked up a few notches anyway, as he opened the door wider and paused there to look around.

"Miss Baker?" he said loudly.  Like she hoped, he thought she was in the bathroom.  Leaving the door open, he walked to the small round table and put the bag down then walked toward the bathroom.  She had locked the door and turned on the water in the shower.  When he lifted his hand to knock, she knew it was now or never. 

Blood pounded in her ears as she slipped from behind the curtain, and quietly crept out of the door then looked up and down the corridor for more agents.  She saw another guy in a black suit down at the end of the concrete corridor, leaning against the wall and talking on his phone.  She had taken off the slippers and stuffed them into her pocket, so she could run, so that is exactly what she did.  Without looking back to see if anyone saw her, she rounded the corner, and kept running.

Cars zoomed up and down the road in front of the hotel, but she didn't stop running.  She turned left and ran down the sidewalk, scanning the area for somewhere to hide, or a phone.  In this getup, everyone would notice her, and it would make finding her entirely too easy, but it was all she had to wear when she fled.  Maybe that's why they had chosen such an obnoxious outfit to give her to replace clothes.

Across the street, she saw a convenience store right next to a laundry mat.  After a second of waiting for a break in the traffic,  Leigh Ann darted across the double highway and waited on the median.  Once the other side was clear, she ran for the laundry mat.  If she was lucky, someone had left their laundry unattended in there, and maybe dropped a quarter or two.

Leigh Ann didn't breath a sigh of relief, until she sprinted through the door of the laundry mat, and found it empty.  She scanned the row of dryers, until her eyes snagged on two machines at the end spinning.  Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself.

Guilt shot through her at the thought of stealing, but necessity overruled it as she walked to the last machine and opened the door.  Watching the door, she punched at the clothes to keep them from spilling out all over the floor at her feet.  They settled at the bottom of the barrel, and she rifled through them, until she found a pair of jean shorts and a white t-shirt.  Both were a little big for her and damp, but a lot better than what she had on for sure.  At least she wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb wearing them.  She would be able to blend in and not be noticed.

She also found a baseball cap at the back of the dryer, and grabbed it, before shutting the door again and pushing the button to restart it.  A glance at the quarter slot of the machine sent her heart racing again.  Three quarters were sitting in the slots like someone left them there to keep the dryer going when it stopped.  She poked her finger under them and pulled them out, then looked around for somewhere to change.  On the other side of the room, at the end of the row of washers she saw a door that looked to be a broom closet.

Jogging over there, she tried the knob and relief poured through her when it opened.  She stepped inside and closed it behind her then changed in the dark.  The overwhelming smell of pine cleaner made her dizzy, so she hurried.  She still tasted the stuff, when she opened the door again, and glanced around to make sure the coast was clear.  Fear shot through her when she saw the owner of the clothes in the dryer had returned.  She eased the door closed again and refrained from taking the deep breath she wanted to take.

The big-boned woman whose saggy shorts she had lifted looked like she could take Leigh Ann out without trying.  She wasn't going to give the woman that chance.  Even if it meant getting high on pine cleaner, she was going to stay in this room until the woman was gone.  Then she would sneak out and find a telephone. 

The time spent in this closet would probably make the guys looking for her think she was long gone too, so it would serve a dual purpose.  If she could survive it without passing out.  Leaning against the wall, Leigh Ann slid down to sit and hug her knees, and wait.

"Have you heard from your sister, Roxanne?" Susan Whitmore asked abruptly when Rocky answered her phone.  She had put it on speaker, so Wes could hear too.

"No, I haven't.  Have
you
found her is the question?" Rocky replied just as gruffly with a glance at him.  Wes didn't doubt that the rough woman who took him down at the crash scene had met her match with Roxanne Baker.

"We had her, but she escaped."  There was a note of embarrassment in her voice.

"What do you mean
escaped
?" Wes shouted, stepping closer to Rocky.

"We had her in custody, but she slipped out of the room.  We can't find her now, and she's in danger.  If you hear from her, you need to call me right away."

"Calling you doesn't seem to be effective," Wes told her snidely.  "You don't return your calls."

"I was protecting my agents in the field, and our investigation.  It was necessary."

"Necessary or not, you let us worry that she was dead," Rocky told her with a snort.

"My investigation--" Susan started, but Rocky cut her off.

"Means nothing to us.  My sister's safety is what I'm concerned about."

"Then you need to call me if you hear from her, because someone is trying to kill her.  She's not safe, and we want to put her in protective custody again."

"Protective custody?  Is that what you call holding someone hostage these days?  Letting their family think they're dead?"  Wes was done with the woman's evasiveness.

"Who is trying to kill her?" Rocky fired her eyes narrowing.

"I'm not at liberty to say...but it should be resolved in the next few days, if she doesn't blow our investigation."

"Like I said, I don't care about your investigation, but if we find her, we'll keep her out of your way.  Call
me
right away if you resolve it." Rocky told her shortly.

"Should you find her, and choose not to contact me, you could be held for hampering a federal investigation," Susan threatened.

"Do your best lady, we are going to find my sister.  I think your time would be better spent worrying about bringing your
criminals
to justice.  We are just citizens protecting our own.  If those bastards show up to hurt my sister though, we'll be helping you bring them to justice."

"Don't take the law into your own hands, Roxanne.  You won't like the consequences," Susan warned.

"Damn the consequences," Rocky said, her jaw tightening.  "This is Texas, lady, and self-defense is allowed, as is carrying a gun.  They will find that out firsthand if they try to hurt my sister, I promise you."

Dead silence reigned on the other end of the line, then Rocky, evidently done talking, pushed the button to disconnect the call.  "My sister might be trying to call, so we need to keep the line open." 

Yep, Susan Whitmore had definitely met her match, Wes thought.  But now, all they could do was wait for Leigh Ann to call.  It was getting dark, she was out there all alone, and someone was trying to kill her. 

"We need to find her fast," Wes said.

Roxanne looked at him, appeared to consider something, then said, "If we find her, we're heading to Houston."

"What's in Houston?"

"My grandma, Nell.  She'll put us up until Susan Whitmore and the feds work things out.  I need to talk to Joel and Terri, and we need to be ready to roll when she calls."

The call didn't come for three hours, but they were more than ready when Roxanne answered the unknown number.  Wes had gassed up his truck, and had enough ammunition and guns in it to arm a regimen.  Rocky seemed to think they would need it. 

"Leigh Ann?" Her voice was tense, but edged with excitement. She gave Wes a nod, but she didn't put the call on speaker.  "Where are you?  Are you okay?"

She listened for a minute, then told Leigh Ann, "We're on our way.  Hide nearby and be looking for Wes's truck."  Rocky hung up the phone and put it in her pocket then told him, "Let's roll."

Wes followed Rocky's instructions to get to Leigh Ann's location, which he quickly realized was leading them to the west side of town.  A bad part of town.  His worry for Leigh Ann's safety ratcheted up ten notches.  Rocky's must have too, because she scooted to the edge of the seat to grip the dashboard with her hands.

Wes needed to call his mother and let her know what was going on, so he did.  Like Wes had been, Trey was relieved to hear Leigh Ann was okay.  Knowing that made him better able to focus on the task at had, finding and protecting Leigh Ann from whoever was after her.  "Did you call Ethan and tell him where you were going?"

Rocky looked at him, and he could tell she hadn't even thought about it.  "I'm still getting used to reporting to someone," she told him with a laugh.

"Yeah, it takes a little practice."  Wes remembered those days, when he had someone who he reported in to.  Even though Laura hadn't really given a damn where he was as long as that wasn't with her, he had felt obligated to let her know what he was doing.

Wes listened to Rocky make the call, but kept his focus on the interstate, until she halted the conversation to point to an exit.  "Make a right at the light," she told him.

Wes just barely made the exit, then tapped the brakes at the red light, before swerving to make the turn, narrowly missing the curb. 

"Watch out, we don't need to wreck," Roxanne said gripping the dash tighter.

"Sorry," he told her.  "I just want to get there."

"Me too, but Leigh Ann needs us to get there alive," she replied with a snort.  "Bye, baby.  I love you too," she told Ethan then put her phone back in her pocket.

I love you
.  That was something he hoped he had the opportunity to tell Leigh Ann soon.  With Roxanne with them though, he wondered when he would have the chance.  Them being at her relative's house would make finding an opportunity difficult too.  "So tell me about your grandma.  Where does she live in Houston?"

"Grandma Nell is my daddy's mother, and she has a small farm on outskirts of Houston, she's not in the city."

That was a good thing, they would be secluded.  "Is she older?  How does she take care of the place?"

"She's a tough old bird, but she has a couple of hired hands that help her.  A couple of neighbors pitch in too."

"Sounds like her granddaughter."  Wes chuckled.

"I'd be proud to be like Grandma Nell when I get old.  She's outlived three husbands, and does just fine by herself.  I told my daddy I'd watch out for her if anything happened to him, so I feel kind of guilty I haven't been out to see her lately."

"Well, this will be a good trip for two reasons then."  It would be good for Leigh Ann and Roxanne, but not for Wes.  Trey was with his mother, and he felt guilty.

"Yeah, it will be good to see her."

"You think your mother will show up out there?" Wes asked, hoping not.

Rocky threw her head back laughing, before glancing at him. "Not likely, unless she wants lead in her butt.  Grandma Nell
hates
my mama."

"Does she know you're getting married?"

"Not yet, but I'm going to tell her while we're there.  I've wanted to bring Ethan out here to meet her, but haven't had the chance.  We definitely need to do that soon, or she'll be pissed."

"Think she'll like him?"  Wes wondered if the family matriarch would like him as well.  Because he definitely planned on having a relationship with her other granddaughter, regardless of how Grandma Nell felt about him.  If Leigh Ann would forgive him for being an ass to her.

"She will love him, he's her kind of man.  Tough and funny, handsome."

Wes applied those characteristics to himself, and they didn't fit.  He was more reasonable than tough, more stoic than humorous, and there were a helluva lot better looking men than him in the world, that was for damn sure.  Exactly why he thought Leigh Ann, former Miss Texas, was out of his league.  Her grandma would probably think the same thing.  But he had one thing going for him, he loved her granddaughter and would take care of her.

"She's hiding in an alley behind a convenience store in the next block.  Slow down a little, so we can find the street where we need to turn," Rocky told him and leaned closer to the windshield.  "There!" she said with excitement. 

Wes jerked the wheel, almost turning the corner on two wheels.  His heart sped up, as he pulled behind the seedy looking store with bars on the windows.  Wes hit the brake to slow down, so they could find the alley in the darkness.  Rocky grabbed her shotgun from behind the seat and was out of the truck, before it stopped, running toward the alley.  Wes just held tight and kept the truck running in case they needed to make a fast getaway, but he held his breath until he saw Rocky reappear from the alley with Leigh Ann in tow.