The Texas Ranger's Family

Was he staring at a killer? If he was close enough to look into her eyes, he might be able to get a feel for what was going on in her psyche.

His gaze followed her to a silver Toyota parked on the roadside. The clergyman helped her in before walking to the car ahead of hers. Little by little everyone drove away from the cemetery, leaving the workers to finish their jobs.

Kit would give her a half hour before he phoned to set up a time to meet, preferably before the day was out. He needed to know her background. Was she a home-grown Texan? How long had she known the man she’d married? What about her parents or siblings? The police report didn’t have many details about her background and a dozen questions filled his mind.

Tonight he planned to drive to Marble Falls to watch his younger brother, Brandon, compete in the steer wrestling event at the Charley Taylor Rodeo Arena. Brandon was headed for a world championship competition in Las Vegas this coming December and Kit was excited for him. Until he’d made the decision to go into law enforcement, Kit had competed big-time in the same sport. But when he’d made up his mind to follow in his father’s footsteps, he’d given up the rodeo and ended up losing his girlfriend Janie at the same time. She knew that the Saunders brothers had suffered over the loss of their Texas Ranger father in a shootout when they were fifteen and seventeen. Fearing the same thing would happen to Kit, she’d broken it off with him, not wanting any part of a career that could end his life right in the middle of it, leaving a grieving wife and children.

Five years ago Janie had fallen in love with Brandon’s hazer, Scott Turner, and they’d married. As of today they had one child. He was happy for her. Any residual pain from their breakup had disappeared a long time ago. When all was said and done, he was content enough with his bachelor existence. His mother and brother needed support and he could be there for them.

Kit would be thirty-one next month. He liked being single and free of emotional baggage. Out of his three best friends in the Rangers, two of them, Cy and Vic, were now married and incredibly happy. That left him and Luckey, who’d been married for a short time before his wife had decided she hated what he did for a living. Their divorce had pretty well scarred him.

Kit was thankful he’d avoided that problem before vows had been said. Janie had done both of them a huge favor. From time to time since then he’d gone out with various women, but no one female after Janie had made a lasting impression.

He made his way back to his truck and started up the engine, driving out of the cemetery to the main road and heading for his town house at Chimney Corners in Northwest Austin. Oddly enough Mrs. Harris lived in the same part of the city; no great distance from his condo. That would cut down his driving time. He’d grab a bite to eat and then make the call. If he could interview her soon, he’d leave for Marble Falls and pick up his mom en route to the arena. It would be good to spend some time with family.

* * *

NATALIE PULLED HER Toyota Corolla into the driveway and pressed the remote. She was still getting used to entering the garage devoid of Rod’s white Sentra. The police had impounded it when they’d investigated the crime scene at the hotel a week ago.

But the second the garage door lifted, she realized someone had been there since she’d left for the graveside service. The lawn mower and equipment for the yard had been moved around. Items from the shelf, including a Christmas tree stand, had been thrown on the cement floor, preventing her from driving in. What on earth?

Frightened that a burglar had broken into her house, she backed out to the street and parked along the curb a few houses away to call Detective Carr. He’d been the one who’d come to see her following Rod’s shooting in the hotel where he’d been living temporarily. The detective had told her to call him if she needed anything.

Her hand shook as she waited for him to answer. “Mrs. Harris?”

“Yes. I’m so glad you’re there. I just got home from the service to find my garage in disarray. I think someone has broken into my house. He could still be inside.”

“Where are you?”

“In my car, parked down the street.”

“What make and color?”

“A silver Corolla.”

“Stay right there. Officers will be at your home within minutes.”

“Thank y-you,” she stammered and hung up. There’d been too many shocks already and now this...

She sat there trembling as she stared at her house, watching to see if someone would come out. Before long, two police cars arrived. Three officers got out and started casing the place, and the fourth walked toward her car. She rolled down the window.

“Mrs. Harris?”

“Yes. Thank you for coming.”

“If I could have a key to your home, we’ll check inside.”

She pulled her keys out of the ignition and gave him the one that would unlock the front door. “There’s a crawlspace under the house. You have to get to it through the laundry room. Someone could be hiding in there.”

“We’ll check. Stay right where you are.”

Natalie nodded and waited. There were several cars parked on each side of the street. Any one of them could be the intruder’s. After several minutes the same officer came back outside.

“Whoever ransacked your house is gone.” He handed back her key. “Please pull into your driveway, but stay in the car until you hear from Detective Carr. He’ll follow up and give you instructions.”

“Okay. Thanks for coming so quickly.”

* * *

NO SOONER DID she watch the police drive away than her phone rang. She clicked it on. “Detective Carr?”

“Mrs. Harris?”

The deep, attractive male voice didn’t sound like anyone she knew. “Yes?”

“This is Miles Saunders with the Texas Rangers.” Natalie’s heart skipped a beat. Why was a Texas Ranger phoning her? She thought they only worked on big federal cases. “Detective Carr contacted me. I hear you’ve been burglarized while you were attending your husband’s graveside service.”

“Yes.”

“I’m about six minutes away. Leave your car in the driveway and go into the house through your garage. I’ll park on the next street over and walk through a few neighbors’ yards to knock on your back door. Use a hand towel to open it. Don’t touch anything. A forensics team will arrive right away to go through everything. They’ll come to your front door.”

“A-all right.”

She heard the click as he disconnected, still unable to believe what was happening. She knew there were unscrupulous people who read through the obituaries and chose to break into people’s homes on the day of a funeral.

Taking a deep breath, she started her car and pulled into her driveway. She got out and entered the house through the garage as instructed, passing through the small laundry room into the kitchen. Cupboards were open and foodstuffs were on the floor.

Natalie had only been gone two hours, but it looked as though a wrecking ball had been at work. As she walked through her two-bedroom rambler, she saw that drawers and closets had been ransacked. Her bedding had been thrown on the floor and her mattress lay halfway off the box spring. Numerous items lay strewed on the floor of both bathrooms. She checked the nursery and found it in shambles. Some intruder had gone through every room, causing total upheaval.

She was wild with anger. Last evening after returning from her work at the pharmacy, she’d thoroughly cleaned the rambler in case someone dropped by after the graveside service. The house would be neat, clean and filled with flowers.

She’d inherited this house from her deceased mother, and she and Rod had made it into their home. But their marriage had started to fall apart soon after Amy was born, and now he was dead and her family home was a disaster.

Half a dozen floral arrangements had arrived during the week, but several of them had been knocked over. Water had spilled on the carpet. The fireplace screen had been knocked over. Cushions were piled on the floor in the living room and den. The drawers of her computer desk had been pulled out, the contents dumped on the floor. Several framed prints had been taken off the walls and the backings torn. Whoever had gone through her house had been desperately looking for something.

While she waited for the Ranger, she reached again for her cell and placed a call to Jillian.

Her good friend lived just across the street and had been looking after Amy since Natalie had gone back to work. The little girl was good company for Jillian’s eighteen-month-old daughter, Susie, and the arrangement allowed Jillian to earn a little extra money while her husband, Bart, served another tour of duty overseas with the marines.

“Jillian? You’re not going to believe this,” Natalie said when her friend answered. “I just got home from the service and found that my house has been broken into”

“You’re kidding!”

“I wish I were. Life has been a nightmare since I got that call from the police about Rod. Can you keep Amy a little longer? I have to wait for some Ranger to come over.”

“What? Why?”

“I have no idea. And a forensics team. As soon as they’re gone, I’ll be over to get her.”