Capitol Offense (Texas Heroines in Peril) (6 page)

"Didn't his wife die in an auto accident?
Brakes failed on Mount Bonnel Road? That might be worth looking in
to, too."

Lacy was stunned. She had never considered
the possibility of Ruth Chambers having been murdered.

"Oh, no! Jim wouldn't have done that."

"In my job we must consider every
possibility."

"I could never believe that. I know Jim
Chambers would never hurt anyone. She shook her head. "Oh, I don't
know why I'm doing this to him. I'm sorry I ever called you. I
don't know what to think, so how can I expect you to?"

"Ma'am, because of Mr. Chambers' friends in
high places, we may not be able to very calmly and hush hush
like investigate these charges, either. Our department has a public
image to uphold. We don't go around making innuendos and
accusations against well liked public officials. I'll have to talk
this over with our agent in charge."

He reached into his pocket, withdrawing a
business card. A phone number, nothing else, was centered on the
white rectangle.

"Here." He handed it to her. "Call me at
this number, from a phone booth, at six o'clock tomorrow
evening."

A phone booth? Surely her phones couldn't be
bugged! She took the card and agreed to call at the appointed time.
"You leave now. We'll follow in about ten minutes."

Lacy smiled and stood up. As she left the
cubicle, she smiled at the other agent, the one who had not been
close enough to listen.

***

The following day was so routine and
Schneiderburg so far removed from the serenity of the spring day
that Lacy forgot about calling the agent named Bryson. That is,
until she was nearly home. She looked at her watch. It was five
forty-five. She pulled the car into a drive in grocery a
couple of blocks from her house. There was no pay phone. She turned
back toward town, knowing that finding a pay phone would be no easy
task. She thought her luck might be better in one of the older
hotels.

In downtown, she drove into the parking
garage of one of the Austin's oldest hotels and parked. Just off
the hotel's lobby, she found a row of phones. No privacy, but it
wasn't likely, in this age of cell phones, that anyone would be
using one of the other phones.

She was glad it actually worked. She dialed
Bryson, then looked at her watch. Six-o-five.

Bryson answered promptly, his voice a harsh
whisper as he told her he couldn't talk at that time but he would
meet her later that evening.

She agreed, and they decided to meet on the
last row of a theater by the university. He made her promise to
make certain no one was following her.

***

A girlish giggle cut through the silence
inside Lacy's car that night as she drove to the movie and her
meeting with Bryson. The giggle was hers; she hadn't been able to
stifle it. Here she was dressed in bland khaki pants and shirt,
dressing so that no one would notice her. She cautiously checked
her rear view mirror, making certain no one was following. All
the cloak and dagger trappings of a prime suspense thriller were
there  except there were no bad guys, no suspense, and no
thrill. She laughed at how foolish she seemed, even to herself. She
almost hadn't come, but she felt it was only fair to Bryson to tell
him herself that she had been totally misdirected in her
accusations toward Jim.

At the show, she spotted Bryson immediately.
He sat alone in the middle of the theatre's back row. There weren't
more than twenty- five people in the theater, and most of them sat
closer to the front. She and Bryson would be quite alone, she
thought. No one could possibly overhear them. Besides, the small
audience was already worked up to a state of hilarity over the
comedy on the towering screen.

She quietly sat down next to Bryson.

"Do you think you'll be able to understand
me over all this noise?" he asked.

She had not had any difficulty understanding
the question. "No problem."

"Good. Now, Miss Blair, I'll have to be one
hundred percent frank with you and explain that our department
cannot investigate your charges. Do you have any idea what kind of
a tornado we'd stir up in this state if we went around accusing its
number two citizen of these actions? The FBI cannot be put in the
position of impugning a political figure. It would be too easy for
a political foe to try to manipulate the system."

"Of course I understand only too well.
That's why I couldn't do it myself and asked you fellows in
on---"

He interrupted. "There is the fact the
federal government matched funds totaling two-and-a-half million.
That makes it a federal case. The problem is Jim Chambers has
friends in very high places. It would be virtually impossible to
investigate him without him becoming aware of it."

Lacy nodded. "I perfectly agree with you,
Mr. Bryson. I now feel that I was playing at my own urge to be a
crusader against evil. I'm sure I must have been wrong. It can't be
Jim. Schneiderburg and the Hispanic girl seem now like a dream, far
removed. I can't believe I was actually there." Then her brows
furrowed and she shook her head. "But I was there, wasn't I?" she
asked in a whisper.

"Yes, miss, you were. And I, for one, think
there's some substance to your story. I've just given you the
official evaluation I was told to give you. My boss said the
accusations could very well be a devious scheme thought up by one
of Chambers' campaign opponents in the gubernatorial race, hoping
that an FBI investigation of Chambers' activities might be leaked
to the press.

Now that I've given you the department's
official recommendation, I'd like to give you my personal one." His
voice softened. "As I said, I think there's substance to your
story. Although we have nothing concrete to build on, I think I
have a few leads. I'll work on the case, quietly, on my own time if
you'll agree to help me."

"Let me think this out," Lacy whispered. She
stared blankly at the screen for a minute. Finally, she spoke. "Mr.
Bryson, Jim Chambers has asked me to marry him. It's probably the
most desirable proposal any girl could hope for, but for me it's
posed a horrible dilemma.

"Miss Blair, I can't pretend I hadn't heard
of your romance with Chambers. That's one reason I need your help.
By being his fiancée, you could get closer to Chambers than
anybody. Do you think for love of God and country and all that you
could tell Chambers you'd marry him and set a far off wedding
date?"

Her stomach flipped. "I don't know...He's so
well known, he'd have to announce it, and everybody in the state
would know, and then what if,..you know, if I changed my mind..."
She kept thinking about Mike Talamino, the only man she'd ever
wanted to marry.

"What does it matter what other people
think? It's your life."

"I suppose you're right.
Jim
would
trust
me more if I said I'd marry him."

"Then you'll do it?"

"I don't know." She sat quietly watching the
film but not really watching it. When it was over, she turned to
him. "I'll do it."

"Still got my card?"

She nodded.

"Good. You can reach me anytime day or
night. I want you to contact me between four and seven each
evening. But don't call from work, home, or your cell. Make certain
no one's watching you. It's a good idea to rotate pay phones. If
you were to use the same one each day it would be noticed."

She rose and left. Alone. And she had never
felt more alone.

***

The following day Lacy was typing a letter
when Jim stuck his head into her office.

"I just got in from Dallas. Thought I'd peek
in on you."

"Nice to have you back, Jim." She flashed
him a bright smile and waved her arm toward a nearby chair,
beckoning him to sit there.

"It's good to be back." He sat down. "What
are you doing?"

"Oh, just answering questions for a student
doing a research paper on the committee system in the Senate. After
a few days of this tedium I'll be willing to write a
fifteen-thousand word speech."

"Maybe you won't have to write anything much
longer. You know the wife of the lieutenant governor can just
concentrate on being beautiful. Beauty shops every day, buying
clothes whenever she wants, and lots of traveling. Have you given
any more thought to the idea?"

"Yes, Jim." She hesitated, then smiled, and
reached out for his hand—all the while her stomach knotted. "I'd
like to marry you."

"This is the happiest moment of my life." He
pulled her toward him. "Come sit on my lap."

Lacy quietly obliged. She sat sideways and
gently settled her head on his shoulders. He wrapped both arms
around her and held her tightly against him, then he sought her
lips with his own.

Afterward, he spoke. "I can't explain it,
but I didn't expect you'd have me. I mean, you've just never seemed
any too eager about . . . about us."

"Oh, Silly, you're supposed to pursue. My
mother told me never to chase a guy. It's a fact that what you
don't have always looks better than what you have; hence, your
desire for me. I didn't think I stood a chance with you when you
could have any woman you want."

"But you're the only one." He kissed her
again.

Lacy still hoped his kisses could arouse
her, but they didn't. Not like Mike's always had. As she sat there
on Jim Chambers' lap, she couldn't keep from thinking of Mike.
She'd always known he was THE one for her. So why had she allowed
him to get away?

She hoped Jim wasn't aware of her
insincerity.

He seemed satisfied.

"Is today okay with you for a wedding?"

"Silly. We hardly know each other."

"How long have you been with me now? Two
years?"

"I mean
really
know each other,
Jim."

"I suppose you're right."

"What would you say to a three-month
courtship?"

"Sounds too long to me." He seized he hand.
"But I'd wait three more years if I had to. You know, nothing is
going to dissuade me from having you even if you prove to talk with
your mouth full of food or snore in your sleep."

She grimaced. "How utterly romantic."

"See why I need a good speechwriter? What do
you say to having an immediate press conference announcing the good
news?" He beamed like a small boy who had just won a Little League
championship.

"I've given some thought to the
announcement, Jim, and I feel that perhaps we should keep them
guessing a while longer. I'd like to keep on working, and it might
be little difficult for me with the staff if they thought I had an
inside track (so to speak) with you. And since you've already been
married, there's no need for a large wedding."

"I agree with you there. I think a quiet one
is in order, and it just may be better to issue a brief
announcement a couple of weeks before the ceremony. Maybe that way
we can avoid some of the fanfare."

"Hopefully so."

"I suppose the first thing to do is pick a
date. We'd better get together with J.B. and check my calendar.
We'll need to pick a time when I can get away for two solid weeks
with you. That I'm going to insist on."

He kissed her again.

She hated the feel of his lips on hers. His
kisses did not affect her anything like Mike's had from Day One.
There she was thinking about Mike Talamino again.

Jim drew away.

They stood up, then embraced. "I love you,"
he said throatily.

For Lacy, the words were hard to say. At
last, she crossed her fingers behind his back and said, "I love
you, too, Jim."

Her words sobered him. "I've been waiting
for that for so long." He dropped his arms, then took her hand,
gazing into her eyes. "How about lunch later?"

"Fine."

***

On her way home that day she had to check
with the FBI agent. After making certain no one was following her,
she found a gas station which had a pay phone in front. She got the
card bearing his phone number out of her billfold, and checked her
watch. It was five-fifty.

Bryson answered on the second ring.

"Mr. Bryson, this is Lacy Blair."

"Yes, I've been expecting your call. Have
you found out anything yet?"

"No."

"Well, I didn't expect anything this soon.
Tell me, are you a betrothed lady now?"

"Yes, since this morning. We're not going to
announce it for a while, though. Only Richard McNally knows."

A short silence ensued. Lacy wanted to ask
if he'd found anything, but she feared he might not be able to
disclose his findings to her.

As if he knew what she were thinking, he
said, "I haven't found anything definite yet, but I think we're on
the right track. I found the two-and-a-half million in the
appropriations for the current biennium. Also, I found records for
the purchase of land on Sheridan Highway. Half an acre for $1.8
million."

"That's gotta be that old church! No way it
cost even a hundred thousand!"

"There's also a notice on the comptroller's
website saying the records were being audited and wouldn't be
available for several weeks."

"That sounds awfully suspicious."

"Yep. I've also been looking into Ruth
Chambers' death. Something fishy there. The investigating police
officer of the accident was killed by sniper fire a couple of weeks
after her death. It's nothing concrete, but I'll keep plodding
along until I get something. Remember, call me at this number any
time, day or night."

"Will do. By the way, I won't be calling you
over the weekend. The McNallys and I are going to spend the weekend
with Jim at his lake house."

She dreaded being that close to Jim. How
could she keep him from wanted to sleep with her?

Chapter 8