Lone Star Standoff

“Me, too,” Camy said and hurried into the house and down the hall toward the kitchen.

When everyone was inside, Aubrey shut the door and locked it. Her son remained next to Sean. “Sammy, I need to talk to him. Grandma is fixing breakfast.”

He stuck out his bottom lip. “I already had cereal.”

“That was to tide you over until Grandma got up to fix our big breakfast we have on Saturday as a family.” Her mother also did it Sunday before church. She drew in a deep breath. “It smells like pancakes, probably chocolate chip.”

Sammy took off for the kitchen.

“He has two speeds, fast or slow. Usually with no in between.” Aubrey gestured toward her office. “We can talk in here.”

Inside the room, she closed the door. “I appreciate your quick response on this. Anything I can do to help, I will. Let’s look at the traffic cam footage. Maybe it’ll jog my memory.”

“I hope so.” He made his way to the couch and sat. After he took out his laptop, she joined him on the love seat. Sitting next to him, only inches away, caused her heart to beat faster. A faint musky scent wafted to her as she tried to focus on the video.

“I’m starting when you left the courthouse, and we’ll follow your trip as best as we can, since Port Bliss only has traffic cams in the downtown area and a few roads in and out of town.”

The sight of a white sedan a couple of cars behind her while she drove from the clothing store to Sweet Haven nagged at her mind. When she drove into the parking lot on the side of the ice-cream parlor, the white car passed on by, not even slowing down. For the next twenty minutes, she kept expecting to see it, but she didn’t.

“I thought for a moment the person in the white sedan might be following me, but it kept going.”

“Why did you think that?”

“Because...” Her voice faded as she searched her mind, trying to remember why it had bothered her. Other cars had been behind her. Why that one?

Because the white car had been in the parking lot at the clothing store and pulled out into traffic when she left the shop—it was the only vehicle that started following her from there.

THREE (#u147ff596-4ee7-50be-a9e0-8158f05c4107)

Sean rewound the video footage, paused it and zoomed in on the white vehicle, trying to make out the license plate. The last three numbers were 249, but he couldn’t make out the first part of it. “Is there something that makes you suspicious of that car?”

Aubrey sat back on the couch. “When I saw it on the screen, it provoked a memory. I don’t remember seeing it when it was behind me. It was at least six cars back and hidden from my view in the rearview mirror. But when I left the parking lot at the clothing store, that white car pulled into it. The person must have turned around fast to be behind me when I went to Sweet Haven.”

“Did you see the driver?”

“I glanced for maybe a second or two in that direction. The glass was tinted too dark to make out the driver.”

“White is the most common color for a vehicle. What makes you think the one in the parking lot is the same car on this footage?”

“The driver’s-side back fender has a dent in it.” Aubrey leaned forward and tapped the computer screen. “There.”

Sean focused onto the area she indicated. “It’s a Chevy Malibu. So the driver must have turned around in the clothing store parking lot as you said and quickly pulled back out into the traffic. I’ll follow up on this and see who owns the car.”

She smiled. “I’m glad you could tell what make it was, because all I saw was a white car.”

He chuckled. “It’s a man thing.” He punched the key to forward the video. “He didn’t park near the Sweet Haven Parlor.”

“But he could have driven around to the street behind Sweet Haven and parked there, then made his way to where my car was. The lot was almost full. I parked at the back in the last space.”

“There are a lot of ice-cream lovers in Port Bliss.” Sean closed his laptop and turned slightly toward her—only inches separated them. A blush tinted her cheeks pink. The dark brown—almost black—in her eyes transfixed him for a long moment.

Finally she slid her gaze away. “Sweet Haven also has sandwiches for the lunchtime crowd.”

Until that moment, he hadn’t realized he was holding his breath. He inhaled deeply and rose. “I’ll keep you updated on what I find.”

“What about the police officer outside? How long is he staying?”

“If you go somewhere, an officer will follow you while another one will remain at your house.”

“What do I say to Sammy, who’ll ask me a ton of questions about the officer being around?”

“That you’re an important part of a case.”

“What case?”

“A secret one? Kids love secrets.”

“Do you have children?”

“No. I’m not married.” He had been once, but that ended the day he walked in on his wife with another man. He’d wanted to try to work it out, but she didn’t. They had gotten married too young, not even a full year after high school, where they had dated for their junior and senior years. She changed a lot, but so did he. He hadn’t realized how much until that moment of finding her with a man in their house.

“Once I tell Sammy it’s a secret, I’ll never have any peace. He’ll want to know every detail.”

He towered over Aubrey, still sitting on the couch. “Then simply tell him...” Sean couldn’t think of anything to say. “I have two nephews and one niece but haven’t seen them as much as I used to when I lived in Amarillo. You’ll figure something out.”

“I’m glad you have so much confidence in me.” Her gaze latched onto his.

And he couldn’t look away. There was something about her that had kept him up a good part of last night viewing the courthouse surveillance tapes and the traffic cams all around the places she went yesterday. Then early this morning, he got up and called the owner of Sweet Haven Parlor about their video footage. The man agreed to meet Sean at his store. He was there before the owner arrived. It gave him an opportunity to look around the building and parking lot next to it.

Breaking eye contact, he stepped back, and in response to her last comment, he said, “Your reputation as a judge is excellent. Tough but fair.”

“Some think those two words are opposites.” She stood and smiled. “But thank you. Coming from a law enforcement officer, your words mean a lot to me.”

The temperature in the room seemed to rise. He moved back another couple of feet and bumped into the chair across from the couch, then tipped his hat. “I’ll keep you informed. ’Bye.” He started for the office door.

“You forgot something.”

His laptop. Heat burned his cheeks from embarrassment. He slowly rotated toward her and grabbed his computer. “Thanks.”

When he left the house, he headed to the police officer sitting in his car in the driveway. “Officer Carter, call me if there’s anything odd going on.” He handed the younger man his business card. “And have the officer who replaces you do the same.”

“Yes, sir. It’s been quiet. The only things that have happened are Judge Madison’s kids coming out here and you arriving.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way.” Sean strode to his SUV and climbed into the driver’s seat.

He drove to the police station, not far from the courthouse, to see the police chief, who usually worked Saturday mornings. Sean found him in his office and shook hands with him.

“Officer Carter says everything is quiet at the judge’s house. What can I do for you?” Chief Juan Perez asked.