Shotgun Justice

The soft denim molded to a fantastic specimen of a man that she missed as soon as he was around the corner.

Time to get on with her day and just move forward. Last night, her thoughts had taken her into dreams that had been mixed with murder and lovemaking and decaying bodies and excellent bodies. She was exhausted from sleeping. That was a fact.

How was this supposed to work? Did she really think she could just calmly take care of business? As if being chased by a serial killer/assassin wasn’t enough, she had to be partnered with a man totally oblivious to her attraction.

“I’m in so much trouble.”

Shotgun Justice

Angi Morgan

ANGI MORGAN writes Mills & Boon Intrigue novels “where honor and danger collide with love.” She combines actual Texas settings with characters who are in realistic and dangerous situations. Angi and her husband live in north Texas, with only the four-legged “kids” left in the house to interrupt her writing. They recently began volunteering for a local Labrador retriever foster program. Visit her website, www.angimorgan.com, or hang out with her on Facebook.

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There is never a book without my pals Jan and Robin. Thanks for the crazy cabin inspiration, Nicki, JoAnna and Lizbeth. Ruth … thanks for the idea for my “pal” Snake Eyes. And a special shout-out to Julie for helping me at the beginning and end of this book.

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Copyright

Prologue

“My twin brother is the one wanted for murder. You have no right to lock me up, Dan.” Avery Travis was experiencing insane fury. She’d been disappointed, been angry, had even been fighting mad, but this was worse. Her head just might explode.

Jesse Ryder had absolutely no right to suggest she be thrown in jail for her own safety. When she got out she might...she might just... Well, she knew how to hurt him.

“Dan, you know Garrison needs help to get him out of this mess and clear his name.” She could help him. Just as soon as she sweet-talked her way out of this holding cell.

“What I know is that you’re upset and have a reason to be.” The older sheriff of Dallam County locked the cell and gestured for her to back up to the bars—just like he did to every common prisoner.

“Okay, you win, Dan. I’ll give you my word as a deputy that I won’t take off to Austin.” She crossed her fingers. “You know you can’t spare me right now. Who’s going to answer to keep the reckless juveniles in line?”

“I’m not arguing about you being the best deputy I have. I’m only doing what that Texas Ranger friend of yours suggested.”

She walked to the cell doors for him to remove the handcuffs, her fingers definitely uncrossed. “You didn’t have to cuff me.”

“Now, darlin’, you know that’s not true.” Dan drew another circle in the air and Avery turned around. “If I hadn’t surprised you, then you wouldn’t be here.”

He removed the cuffs and she rubbed her wrists, glad to be free. Well, almost free. She looked at the three walls of the small county jail. “You can’t be serious about keeping me here. How long?”

“Until the Rangers have everything under control. It shouldn’t take long. They’re very capable men who know what they’re doing.”

Right. Men.

“He didn’t do it, you know.” She stated the fact without having spoken to her brother. He hadn’t called her or their mom during all the confusion, but she knew it was true. She knew that he’d been framed. And she knew that she could find out the person responsible—if she was allowed to help. But the Texas Rangers were on top of it and didn’t need her.

“I haven’t met him, but I’ve never thought he murdered those two women. He’s your brother.” Dan turned to leave. “But that makes no never mind. If he were here, I’d have to take him in. Since I don’t believe it and a criminal family is involved, I tend to agree with your friend—I mean Lieutenant Ryder. You need to stay safe and won’t be if you go traipsing off to Austin trying to help your brother from this predicament.”

“I promise to stay out of trouble,” she said with crossed fingers.

“I tend not to believe you, Avery. Don’t get me wrong. You’re a blasted good deputy and can take over this office in a New York minute. But staying out of trouble when your brother’s being hunted for murder?” Dan shook his head and pursed his lips, rubbing the graying whiskers on his chin. “No, missy, I just don’t believe you’ll stay in Dalhart voluntarily. So this is the best solution.”

“I can’t believe you are seriously going to keep me locked up.” She threw her hands in the air and walked over to the very visible toilet. “Are you really going to make me stay here while my fellow deputies watch me tinkle on a video screen?”

“Avery, we’ll make it work and find a way to keep your privacy. But I guarantee you one thing... I like you being alive more than I’m worried about any of that.” Dan waved his hand in the air toward the toilet area. “I’ll have someone bring your standing order from the Dairy Barn for dinner. You can have the bag you packed as soon as Julie goes through it for weapons.”

“What weapons?”

“Anything sharp or heavy you can use to hurt Bo and Derek.” He laughed over his shoulder as he walked away. Probably because he used her movie-reference nicknames for his two perfect-ten deputies.

She’d packed too fast to think about a heavy object that could be used to hit anyone over the head. She’d had no idea that she’d need anything sturdier than extra undies, socks and a toothbrush. Carrying her service weapon would have been enough for what she’d intended.

Well, then again, it wouldn’t take much to get the jump on the two young men. She’d put both of them on the training mat right after she arrived. At least she could do that six months ago. After the first training workout, they wouldn’t come with her again. They were afraid to hurt her. Big laugh. She predicted their moves as soon as they faced her because they thought of her as a woman. She’d practiced with Jesse her entire life.

Jesse. The man behind all her problems.

None of that mattered at the moment unless it would help her get free of this place. This was all Jesse’s fault. She plopped down on the thin mattress and right back up. They’d forgotten to take her cell out of her back pocket. She tapped a number still on speed dial and waited.

“Hey, Avery. Been a long time. Like your new job?”

Oh, that voice. She’d missed it. Even being embarrassed beyond anything she could have imagined, she’d still missed him. “Jesse Ryder, if anything happens to my brother because you won’t let me help...”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Avery. You know me better than that. I’m doing everything I can. We all are.”

She recognized his sincerity. He believed the best of the best were on the case. And she hadn’t been good enough to be a part of the best. “I need you to make a call to my boss and get me out of here.”

“Where’s ‘here,’ babe?”

Oh man, there had been a time when she yearned for him to use that endearment. Now was not it. “Exactly where you suggested Dan hold me until my brother’s problem is over.”

Laughter. Lots of laughter. And then a little more laughter. “Are you serious? I made a tiny suggestion and he put you behind bars? How did anybody get the drop on you?”

“Your sweet-talking won’t work this time. I’m going to stay angry forever. Especially now. I am not one of those girls who hangs on your every word. So you make that call and get me out of here.”

She’d been exactly one of those girls. From the time she could run, she’d followed her brother and his best friend everywhere. She’d pined for Jesse and gone unnoticed when they were teens. And for just a short period of three months last year, she’d been the happiest girl on the planet.

“There’s nothing to be done, Avery. I’ll be a pal and call in a couple of days to update you. Even that’s against the rules and you know it.”

“I wouldn’t call you a pal at this particular moment.”

He cleared his throat. She could tell he was about to mention that horrible night when they’d almost made love. That sounded pathetic and she wasn’t even saying it out loud. If he apologized for walking out on her...

“I haven’t had a chance to explain—”

“I don’t want to hear it. It’s done. Over. I’ve moved on. Moved to the far northwest of Texas, in fact.”

Living in Austin after the guys had been promoted had become impossible. Everywhere she’d gone there had been a memory of one of them. She might have been able to handle missing her brother—eventually.

But Jesse? She’d been head over heels in love with him her entire life. One day out of the blue last year, she’d caught him looking at her differently. Then it was three months of clandestine, sexy kisses. Three months of sensual foreplay. And one night they’d almost made love. Whatever she’d done wrong, it had scared Jesse into walking out.

“I grew up next door to you, too. Remember? It doesn’t sound like you’ve moved on. So when are you going to let me explain?”

She pressed the disconnect button. She was angry and needed to stay that way. Focusing on her job was the only thing keeping her sane in this little town. There wasn’t anything to really worry about. Right? Seriously, this was her brother. Of course she was worried. It was the first time they hadn’t been together for a crisis.

Dan might have turned the key in the lock, but Jesse was responsible. She could focus her anger on that man. He deserved it for putting the idea into Dan’s head.

“Oh yeah. The next time I see Jesse Ryder...I’m definitely going to kill him.”

Chapter One

Late April, the South Texas Desert

“Please, please. I beg you. I...I have money. Lots of money. I can pay you more than Tenoreno.”

Rosco had awakened from the drug and would soon become annoying. The drive was almost over. The first part of his assignment almost complete.

“Sorry, man. It’s nothing personal. Just a job,” he answered, trying to prevent the inevitable. He still had to make a decision on how to kill this man.

Gun. Knife. Swizzle stick. He chuckled at the idea. Of course, he could do the job with anything. He was that good. The swizzle stick he chewed on, however, would retain his DNA and he’d never be that stupid.

The perfect set of gloves sat on the seat next to him along with the rest of his tools. Some killers went so far as to shave their bodies so as not to drop a single hair. For him, the diving suit worked just as well. He’d changed a few minutes ago before continuing down Texas 349 to find just the right abandoned spot.

There were no witnesses on this stretch of deserted road. No cameras. No recording devices of any type. Rarely a car or driver that would think twice about seeing his ordinary vehicle. He’d deliberately left the burner phone at the Kerrville hotel. An automatic text message would be sent to indicate he was hundreds of miles away on Interstate 10. Not that anyone would call, but it was there in any case. No one in the nearby town would notice a plain blue rental car that looked black on this moonless night.

No one ever noticed. As he’d said many times—at least to himself—he was very good at his job.

He didn’t tire at becoming better, striving for more. He was a professional, after all. Thomas Rosco kicked his seat.

“Stop that. What do you hope to accomplish by annoying me?”

“I want you to see reason. Let me go.”

“Mr. Rosco, don’t you know who I am?”

“I haven’t seen your face. You could leave me here and I’d never be able to identify you.”

Pulling onto a dirt road leading under an old faded gate, the single windmill made him feel lonesome. That was ridiculous. He was completely at ease in this desolate country and never tired of his work. The fun was just about to begin.

“I’m hurt that you thought Tenoreno would hire anyone other than myself.”

“You...you...you’re Snake Eyes?”

“It seems an appropriate name.” He turned around to stare directly at his prey. “Don’t you think?”

He knew what the crime boss saw. Almost glowing eyes, slanted and the color of a reptile’s. The contacts added a dimension to his persona that made his victims quake. He laughed, the sound deliberately sinister. It normally put fear in his victims’ eyes.

Rosco wasn’t any different than the other men. A sad example of a tough guy. Tough men bled just like the rest. Their bodies rotted under the sun just like that of a man with a good soul.

The gloves slid over his hands, and then he helped Rosco stand from the car. No rough stuff was necessary.

The man was about to die. The fear rushed through Rosco’s veins. The poor fellow might get a burst of adrenaline. Might make a run for it. Whatever. It didn’t matter.

“You should make peace with your God, if you have one. Maybe ask forgiveness for all the men and women you’re responsible for killing.”

“Do you tell that to all the people you’re about to murder?”

“Let’s get moving.”

The answer was yes. It was his thing. He believed in a higher power and that he’d be punished accordingly. But he had a calling to be the best at his work as he could.

They walked into the field. The knee-high tobosa grass crackled under their feet as they shuffled through. Near the dried-out gully was the perfect place to leave a body. He doubted anyone would find Rosco for months. Not until the hunters returned for wild turkey or deer in the fall.

“No wailing? No more pleading?” he asked, curious.

“I know you get the job done. That’s why we employed your services so often. I... There is nothing I can say?” Rosco sank to his knees near some mesquite scrub. “Nothing you’ll accept in payment over what Tenoreno is paying you?”

“No. This is a waste. I wish I had time to play, but sometimes work comes first.”

With one stroke he pulled his knife and sliced left to right across the windpipe before him. Rosco’s eyes widened as he realized he couldn’t take a breath. The gurgling sound of him choking wasn’t unpleasant. It was satisfying to Snake Eyes that he’d completed the job. Rosco fell forward, hands secured behind him, twitching as his lifeblood soaked the parched earth.

Slicing easily through the plastic handcuffs, he gathered the remnants and shoved them inside the diver’s bag at his side.

Now the fun really began.

He flipped Rosco to his back, not bothering to wait for the body to grow cold. He methodically removed the lifeless eyes in Rosco’s face. He wouldn’t keep them. He wasn’t sentimental and didn’t need a souvenir, just a way to identify himself as the killer.

He’d studied serial killers, read up on them. If it had been possible, he could have shared his checklists of how to get away without a trace. But then...if everyone knew his methods, he wouldn’t be in such high demand.

Laughing, he withdrew the artificial snakelike eyes, using a cleaning solution and a polishing cloth to make them shine. Then he meticulously placed the stones in Rosco’s face, leaving him staring at the heavens.

The eyes would be anonymously shipped to his employer. Proof of the completion of his task. He popped them into the jewelry case he carried in his bag.

Many of his victims had never been found. Some never would. But those who were...the eyes were an eerie sight when his handiwork was discovered. As a calling card, they were unique and rarely reported to the press.

But they knew. He was precise and unique. He methodically went through his mental list. Then he opened the notebook and verified he’d performed everything on the list again. He would not get sloppy and make a mistake.

Or bored.

Admitting that he was bored was why he took on the next challenge. Keeping a captive alive long enough to extract information. A definite challenge that needed a new notebook of lists. He flipped the pocket spiral closed, satisfied that he’d covered everything.

Now it was time to discover the details of his next victim. How she lived her mundane life. What drove her to make a mistake. He had a short time to get to know Avery Travis. His new commission would be a test case. Careful planning would be the key to a successful kill.

Chapter Two

Two weeks later, Company F, Waco, Texas

“Thomas Rosco is dead. His throat was slit by the Snake Eyes Killer.”

Texas Ranger Lieutenant Jesse Ryder had to replay the words in his mind to verify that he’d heard the major correctly. There really wasn’t another interpretation of Thomas Rosco is dead. Everyone in the room quieted, probably replaying the same words.

Rosco was a crime boss, rumored to have been partnered with Paul Tenoreno—brought to justice earlier that year. The Rangers received the credit, but the man mainly responsible had been his best friend, Garrison Travis, and his witness, Kenderly Tyler, a beautician. They’d witnessed a double homicide orchestrated by Tenoreno. Her courage, along with detailed files left by the murder victims, provided the prosecution with an excellent case.

Then they’d turned Rosco to testify against his partner, but he’d been missing for the past week. Tenoreno had one play left...eliminating the witnesses. Rosco was just the first. He’d be after Garrison and Kenderly next.

Major Josh Parker stood at his office door to make the announcement. If he expected a response, there wasn’t one. It looked as though the other rangers in the room were just as dumbfounded.

Tenoreno had hired an assassin who left no trace of evidence. He was a virtual ghost. Law-enforcement agencies across the country hadn’t collected more than a page of notes on the man. Or woman, whatever the case may be, since they had no DNA to prove either.

So far, Snake Eyes was known for killing bad guys. The bodies found had all been those of people wanted for other crimes. If there had been more evidence, maybe someone would look harder.

“Property owners came across the body off of Texas 349 south of Sheffield,” the major finally continued. “The medical examiner estimates he’s been dead six days. Pure luck on our part that the owners were dropping off a hunting blind.”

“His death blows a huge chunk of the case against Tenoreno.” Bryce Johnson hadn’t realized what he’d said until the sputters grew in number around the room. “Okay, okay. Huge chunks. Got it. Ha-ha. We all know that it has to be Tenoreno pulling the strings from his jail cell to order something like this.”

Bryce was the resident expert on Texas organized crime. He knew better than any of them how much the state’s prosecutor was depending on the rival crime family’s testimony.

“Tenoreno’s been in solitary. No visitors. No communication other than his lawyer.” The major might have been waiting on answers or ideas, but none came forth. “No apparent connection to Rosco’s murder. No one believes that to be true.”

“How was he killed?” someone behind him asked.

“What does that do for Garrison’s detail?” It was no secret that Jesse was more concerned about his best friend’s safety than putting Tenoreno away. One couldn’t happen without the other, but Jesse knew what his priority would be.

“Who’s taking the lead on the investigation?” Bryce asked.

The major gestured for the two of them to come to his office. Jesse followed Bryce, ready to work with him, ready to get some real action instead of tracking criminal activity through the internet.

“The murder of Thomas Rosco will be handled by the local PD with the aid of Company A. Headquarters is ready to roll if they think there’s a problem. They’ve got it covered and don’t need our help. Before you begin objecting, the two of you are needed other places.”

Jesse was ready to object anyway, but his commanding officer turned his back as he walked around his desk. He sat and propped his feet on the corner, taking his thinking position.

“Prosecutors have asked for your help, Bryce,” he continued. “They have a lead that needs your knowledge and expertise. Vivian has the information. Hand over anything you’re working on to her and we’ll get it taken care of.”

Bryce didn’t hesitate. He was out the door and gathering his things after a hurried “Yes, sir.” Jesse’s nerves began twitching. Whatever was about to come, he didn’t get the feeling that Major Parker felt comfortable, either.

“What’s happened? Did they discover the location of Garrison’s detail?”

“No, nothing like that. But while Tenoreno was at the pretrial, he plainly stated that no one close to Garrison would be safe. It’s a threat most criminals make. That’s nothing new. But we have intel that someone accepted a contract on Garrison’s sister.”

“Avery’s a deputy in the Panhandle. Has she been made aware of the situation? Have you alerted Sheriff Myers?”

“Headquarters believes this could be another nail in Tenoreno’s coffin if we can capture the assassin and get him to turn state’s evidence.”

“That would mean they’re using Avery as bait. Did anyone tell her?”

“It’s been handled. Her participation, on the other hand... Well, Jesse, the attorneys think it would be better coming from you when you arrive in Dalhart.”

“Then they should think about that again, sir. I’m the last person Avery wants to see. The title’s mine with Garrison a close second.”

He actually missed Avery. They’d grown up together, gone to the same schools, same concentration of studies. He’d made the Rangers and she hadn’t. She quit everything, packed up, left and hadn’t spoken to him since. Of course, the real reason for not talking to him was a little more involved.

“Our information is credible, Jesse. The hit is happening soon, so you don’t have much time.” Major Parker wasn’t pondering any longer. He had both feet on the floor and leaned forward on his desk. “It’s already been decided, Lieutenant. Already in motion. This isn’t a debate.”

“I had her thrown in jail to protect her the last time this happened, sir. She’s not going to listen to me. And I doubt I can get her near the county lockup again.”