Texas Gun Smoke

“It could.” He brought the call to a quick end and grabbed Jaclyn’s arm so that she couldn’t walk away. “That was a bit of interesting information, Jaclyn McGregor.”

“Let go of me,” she ordered, but the look on her face and the depths of her eyes told him all he needed to know.

“Why did you lie about your last name?”

“I’m a chronic fibber. I’m a procrastinator, too. And I hog the covers. Now just drop me off at the bus station and forget you ever met me. Better yet, drop me off at the highway and I’ll thumb my way back to town.”

“Now that’s smart.”

She stiffened. “What do you want from me, Bart?”

“The truth.”

“So you can regale the family tonight with tales of the daring rescue of the mystery woman who’d been run off the road by a lunatic? Why don’t you just go out and get a life of your own?”

“I think you’re in trouble. I might be able to help.”

“Well, you can’t. So let it go.”

“Have you found Margo Kite?”

Her eyes shadowed and she trembled. “What do you know about Margo?”

“Only that you filed a missing-persons claim. Is that why you’re in Texas—to search for Margo Kite?”

Jaclyn paled. Her composure was wavering fast. “Maybe.”

“There was no boyfriend last night, was there?”

She turned away.

“Tell me about your friend’s disappearance, Jaclyn. I have lots of connections. I might be able to help. If not, you haven’t lost anything but a few minutes of your time.”

“You really don’t want to get involved in this, Bart Collingsworth. You don’t want to get involved with me.”

He let go of her arm. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

She didn’t answer, but when he took her right hand in his, she let him lead her back to the porch and to the swing that creaked in the slight breeze. “Tell me one good reason I should trust you, Bart Collingsworth.”

“Because from the looks of things, you don’t have anyone else to go to for help. And I’m offering.”

“You’re making a mistake, cowboy. A monumental mistake.”

Chapter Four

Jaclyn was quaking on the inside though trying desperately to keep up her facade of confidence. It was foolish to trust a man she barely knew when she’d never been able to trust anyone before, but he made a valid point, and right now it was the only one that mattered. She was desperate to find Margo, and he had the resources to help her do it.

Birds were chirping in the trees near the house, accompanied by the occasional mournful mooing of cows in the pasture beyond the pond. Jaclyn gathered her thoughts, then took a deep breath and blurted out the fact that haunted her every waking hour. “I did file a missing-persons report on my friend Margo two weeks ago. No one has seen or heard from her in over three weeks, and I know she’s in some kind of trouble—or in danger.”

Bart’s eyes narrowed. “Has she disappeared like this before?”

“No. We kept in touch almost daily by e-mail, and she called at least once a week. And she always responded immediately if I asked her something or left a message for her to call me back.”

“That seems a bit excessive for two grown women.”

“This from a man whose mother brings him flowers?” The wisecrack popped out before she thought. Sarcasm was a defense mechanism she’d taken up early on and couldn’t seem to break. “Look, I’ve had some hard times lately. Margo’s the kind of friend you can count on. So when she didn’t answer my SOS e-mails or phone messages to see what was up, I panicked and caught a ride to New Orleans with a coworker.”

“Had she said anything to make you think she could be in trouble?”

“Just the opposite. My last e-mail message from her was on September twenty-ninth. She wrote that things were going well and that she’d have big news for me soon.”

“That’s all she said.”

“Yes, but I took it to mean she had a promising job offer. She hasn’t worked since she was laid off from her job as a bartender at one of the restaurants in the French Quarter in August.”

“Maybe she didn’t get the job and hates to admit it.”

“I considered that, but it’s not like Margo not to stay in touch no matter what’s going on. When I got to her apartment, I knew it was more. She didn’t just move out. She’s either on the run because she’s afraid or she’s been abducted or…” Or worse, but Jaclyn wasn’t ready to deal with that possibility yet.

“That’s a pretty extreme assumption.”

“You wouldn’t think that if you’d seen her apartment. It looked as if she’d stepped outside and never come back in. There was a full pot of coffee, and her computer was still on. So was the ceiling fan in her bedroom and there was a load of wet towels in the washing machine. Even her car was still there and parked in her regular parking spot.”

“But no Margo?”

“Right.” The fear multiplied with every word of explanation. It was just so clear that Margo had not left of her own free will.

“Did you check with the landlady or the neighbors?”

“That was the first thing I did. The landlady hadn’t seen her since she gave notice on September thirtieth that she would be moving out on October fifteenth.”

“You didn’t mention she was moving.”

“I didn’t know it. I was guessing it was due to her getting the job and part of the surprise.”

“What did the neighbors say?”

“There was only one. Margo lives in one of those narrow three-story buildings with apartments over a ground-level shop, so there aren’t many tenants. The man who shares the third level with her told me he hadn’t seen or heard her in at least two weeks. The elderly woman who has an apartment next to the landlady’s on the second floor is visiting her son in San Diego and has been away since the middle of September.”

“I’d have to agree with you that this doesn’t quite add up. Did you explain everything to the police?”

“I tried. They took the information down, but all they would focus on was that she was a legal adult who’d given notice to the manager of the apartment complex that she was moving out. They asked if there was blood in the apartment. When I said no, it seemed they lost interest.”

“What about friends? A boyfriend?”

“She didn’t have close girlfriends, but there is most definitely a man—a married state senator. She was convinced he was going to leave his wife and marry her.”

“I take it you don’t think he was.”