Blue Steele - Box Set - Captures 1-6 (4 page)

Diego then looked over at me and mouthed two words. “It’s bad.”

I later learned that they were all photos of Rachel. In the earliest of the pictures, Rachel couldn’t have been more than five. In the latest, she looked as she did now. But there were other photos of the years in between, and in each photo, she was nude.

Debra Walker beckoned for Bobbi to join them, and Diego went through the photos again.

Bobbi viewed the evidence of her daughter’s molestation, as tears fell from her eyes.

“Oh God, oh Vinnie you miserable prick, not my baby too, not my baby,”

Rachel looked at the floor as she spoke.

“I wasn’t molested; Vincent loved me, he always loved me, not Lucinda, and that slut Sarah was nothing to him. He loved me, me! He only stayed with Lucinda all those years because it made it possible for us to be together, and... and I loved him too.”

“If you loved him, then why did you kill him?” Diego said.

Bobbi turned away from the obscene photos and settled back onto the sofa.

“What... what did you say?”

“Your daughter killed Vincent Kane and Sarah Miller, and, I’m sorry to tell you this ma’am, but, she also killed her sister, if I had to guess, I’d say it was because Lucinda found these photos and threatened to have Vincent arrested, and then she killed Kane and Sarah Miller out of jealousy.”

Bobbi turned her head and stared at Rachel as if she were looking at a deformed stranger, and then, she fell back against the couch in a near faint.

Debra Walker, went to her and took her pulse.

“Will someone please get her a glass of water?”

I walked toward the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator, as I walked past her; I stared at Rachel Reed. I was virtually certain that she was a murderer three times over, but those big blue eyes and perfectly dimpled cheeks still made her look angelic.

As Bobbi took the water from me, she reached for her purse, and then took out a pill bottle.

“My medicine,” She said, “Let me take my medicine and then we’ll talk.”

After she had swallowed the pills, she placed a hand lovingly against Rachel’s cheek.

“I love you baby, and everything is going to be okay.”

Rachel sent her a weak smile, as she nodded her head.

Afterward, Bobbi stared at Ramirez.

“I confess. I killed my daughter, Vincent, and that Sarah girl. I killed them all and my Rachel had nothing to do with it.”

Diego sighed. “Mrs. Reed, I appreciate the fact that you want to protect your daughter, but it’s not possible for you to have killed Vincent Kane and to have also planted the murder weapon at Dr. Weidman’s home. We checked ma’am, and you just wouldn’t have had enough time, plus, you didn’t even have a vehicle, your daughter drops you off at night and picks you up in the morning, which gave her plenty of time in between to commit the crimes.”

“The bakery delivers to the hospital cafeteria every night, and the driver always talks a while with the girl on the night shift. While he was inside, I stole his van and committed the murders.”

“We talked to the driver; in fact, he confirms that you were smoking out at the loading dock during the time you were away from the cameras.”

“He’s lying. I did it. I used his delivery van, caught every light green and made it back before I was missed.”

Detective Andrews shook his head. “No ma’am, I’m afraid not,” He then stared down at Rachel. “Miss Reed, please come with us to the station; I think we need to talk.”

Bobbi Reed slumped back on the couch. “Are you people deaf? I said that I confess to everything. I killed my daughter, I killed Vinnie and I killed Sarah Miller.”

“Sorry ma’am, but I just ain’t buyin’ it. I think you’d do anything to protect your daughter.”

Bobbi smiled a lazy smile. “It’s a death bed confession; you have to believe it.”

“I know about your health problems, and I’m sorry about that, but you’re still a ways from passing on.”

“Detective, did you know that I’ve worked at the same hospital for over twenty years?”

“No ma’am,”

“Well, it’s true, and I could have worked on any shift I wanted, so why do you think I choose to switch to the night shift three weeks ago?”

“Yes, why would you do that?” Diego said, as he moved closer to her.

We all waited to hear the answer, but Bobbi seemed to be slipping off to sleep; then, with a jerk, she came back.

“I worked the night shift... because it’s much easier then... to steal from the pharmacy, and I never had any intention of dying while suffering.” She looked over at Rachel. “I love you so much baby, put... put all this behind you and have a good life.” And then, her eyes rolled back and her head lolled over.

“Pharmacy?” I said. “Oh God, what she swallowed, that wasn’t medicine; it was poison!”

Andrews cursed and then called for an ambulance, as Dr. Walker worked on reviving her.

An hour later, Bobbi Reed was pronounced dead.

***

T
wo weeks later, Gary and I were having Sunday brunch at a little bistro in Dallas.

“So, Rachel Reed just walks away, huh?”

Gary nodded. “The D.A. says that Bobbi Reed’s confession is good enough for her, and besides, she’s in a tight race. If they tried Rachel and she walked, it could tank the D.A.’s bid for reelection.”

“Rachel Reed murdered those people, not Bobbi,” I said.

“Rachel’s lawyer, Sam Coulton, he had his investigators do a reenactment of Vinnie’s murder, and yes, if every light were green and Bobbi Reed drove like an absolute madwoman, she would have had just enough time to commit the murders and plant the gun at the doctor’s.”

“Where is Rachel now?”

“Off to live with relatives of her late father, at least until she turns eighteen,”

“That girl, as innocent as she appears, is a murderer.”

“I agree, but, the law says different,” Gary said, and then he leaned across the table and kissed me. “No more shop talk, besides, I want to ask you a question.”

“Ask away,”

“I’m going out to the ranch next weekend; would you like to come along?”

“Absolutely, I can’t wait to see it.”

“We’d ah, we’d be staying all weekend, overnight, you know?”

I grinned. “I look forward to it.”

Gary smiled back and took my hand.

“Blue Steele, what a tough name for such a sweet woman,”

“The people I catch don’t think I’m sweet.”

“I don’t know; I think you may have captured me.”

“Really? Well then, what’s the bounty?”

Gary sighed. “The slightly used heart of a lonely man,”

I gave his hand a squeeze.

“I’ll take it.”

I
leaned back in the passenger seat of the pick-up truck as we headed toward hell, I mean home.

I glanced over at Gary and shook my head, a boyfriend, I had an actual boyfriend and unlike the last few, I liked this one. Now don’t get me wrong, I liked all my boyfriends, at first.

But sooner or later, usually sooner, one of us, all right,
I
, would get bored, or feel penned in, or just become afraid of being tied down to someone forever. So far, I’ve felt none of that with Gary.

A defense lawyer? How did I wind up dating a defense lawyer?
I asked myself. And then Gary turned his head and smiled that sexy smile at me and I knew how I wound up dating him.

The man was a hunk.

“Blue?”

I snapped out of my woolgathering. “Huh?”

“You’re not nervous, are you?”

“About you meeting my family? No, but like I said earlier—”

“I know, you said that your mother has no filter on her mouth, that whatever she thinks, she says.”

“Well, it’s true, and my sister is—”

“Overly friendly and highly competitive,”

“No, my sister is a spoiled brat who can’t stand it when I have something she doesn’t, including men. I could give you the names of at least three boyfriends she’s stolen away from me over the years.”

“Well don’t worry; no matter how many times I sleep with her, I’ll always come back to you.”

“What?”

“Blue, it was a joke, calm down,”

I pointed to the shoulder.

“Pull over, please?”

Gary drove his pick-up over to the side of the road and shut off the engine, and then he turned in his seat and looked at me expectantly.

“Blue?”

“I don’t want to lose you Gary. I know we’ve only been dating for a few weeks, but, my family, all kidding aside, they can be difficult, and I don’t want them to scare you off.”

“Blue, baby, I can handle your mom and your sister, believe me. I’m only tagging along because I couldn’t stand the thought of being without you for three days.”

I kissed him. “It’s no wonder you win most of your cases; you always know the right thing to say.”

Gary stared at me with a question on his lips, but then stayed silent.

“What? What were you going to say?”

“I have a confession to make.”

“Yes?”

“I went on the internet last night and researched your dad. It’s just that you never talk about him and now that we’re going to see your family, I thought that—”

“It’s okay.” I said, cutting him off. “I find it difficult to talk about him; it always brings back bad memories.”

“I can understand that, I mean the not knowing, it must be hard.”

“I should have told you, especially now, in fact, I’m only going home because it’s his birthday; it’s become a tradition. My mother insists that we gather around his birthday.”

“It makes sense to me, as a way to honor him, and you know what?”

“What?”

Gary took my hand. “This year you don’t have to face it alone.”

“Thank you,”

“For what?”

“Just thank you,”

“Well, you’re welcome,” Gary said, and then he pulled back onto the road.

***

M
y daddy, the original Blue Steele, was a Texas Ranger, as was his daddy, and his daddy, and his daddy.

When I was seventeen, he went missing while investigating a serial killer.

Daddy was convinced that one man had been killing across the country for over five decades without being detected, because the means he used to kill, as well as the victims he chose, were so varied, that the experts attributed the deaths to multiple persons.

To this day, no one knows what became of my father, and his theory of a “Herd Thinner” as it came to be called, was greatly discounted by experts. My father had many friends, Texas Ranger Deke Thomas, was among them, and they had all searched for clues to my father’s whereabouts and for proof that the man he chased wasn’t just a figment of his imagination.

Now, over ten years later, daddy is listed as missing, presumed dead, and the man he sought, his “Herd Thinner”, if he existed, would likely be well into his eighties, or dead.

***

G
ary turned off the highway and headed down the gravel road that led to my family home.

We were in Landsville, Texas. Landsville was a small town just outside of Garland, where my father had been stationed with the Texas Rangers’ Company B Headquarters.

The town was mostly farm and ranch land with a small downtown area that now boasted its own McDonald’s, and the movie theater had recently begun opening seven days a week. It was a great town to grow up in, and despite the angst of family tension, I was glad to be home.

Gary drove past the barn and parked in front of the garage. Before he could even turn off the engine, my mama and sister came out to greet us.

My sister Jenny and I had both gotten our long, dark hair from our mama, only now, mama’s was a luminescent white that hung about her smiling face like a snowy mane. Her blues eyes sent me a twinkle and then immediately began assessing Gary. My sister was also staring at Gary, while smiling a predatory grin. My sister is two years older than I am, but other than her blue eyes, we look like twins. When she had given Gary the once over, she turned her gaze on me and smiled.

“Welcome home Blue, and who’s the hunk?” Jenny said.

I ignored her and gave my mama a hug. Although coming home was always stressful, I loved my mama to death and suddenly realized how much I had missed her.

“Hey mama, how you been?”

She smiled at me as she caressed my cheek. “I’ve been good, girl, but look at how skinny you are. Well I’ll fix that; I’ll put five pounds on you before you leave.” And then she looked at Gary. “This must be Gary; he’s a little old for you, ain’t he? How old are you mister?”

Gary didn’t even blink. “I’m forty.”

“Forty? Well hell, that’s pushin’ the envelope, but you are a sexy devil, I’ll give you that.”

“Are you flirting with me ma’am?”

“Am I... ? Mama said, and then she laughed. “No son, I’m too old for that nonsense. Hell, if I want a man I just tell him so.”

Gary smiled. “A plainspoken woman, I like that.”

“How do you feel about my daughter?”

“I like her a great deal.”

“In the sack or out of it?”

“Both,” Gary said, without the trace of a blush, although I could feel my cheeks redden.

“Well, you treat her good out of the sack and she’ll treat you good in it; we Steele women know how to treat a man.”

Jenny sidled up against Gary then.

“All us Steele women know how to treat a man right. Hi, I’m Jenny.”

“It’s nice to meet both of you ladies, but why don’t we go inside? I don’t know about Blue, but I could use a drink of water.”

“Or something stronger,” I mumbled.

Just as we reached the top of the stairs, a car came to a sliding halt beside Gary’s truck; it was the sheriff’s car, behind it, followed a patrol car.

Sheriff Matt Walker had been sheriff for as long as I could remember, although he was only in his early fifties. He had taken the job over from his father, Joe Walker, who had died from cancer. Joe Walker had been a legend in these parts, and even had a street in town named after him.

Matt Walker was a tall, thin man with a no-nonsense face and short blond hair, turning gray. After exiting his cruiser, he came over to us, with one of the deputies following behind, while the other one, a boy I grew up with named Billy Joe Tently, looked about the property.