Jailhouse Glock (5 page)

Her mother had done the best she could after their father had died when Maddy was not yet in her teens. He'd stopped to help a stranded motorist and was killed by a drunken driver who later confessed he thought he'd hit a deer. The man's license had been revoked two months before the accident for a second DUI, and he didn't even have the collision insurance required for all Texas drivers.

With only the minimal life insurance they'd used to bury him,
the family had received no other compensation, and Sylvia Garcia had
been forced to work two jobs just to make ends meet. At the tender age of fifteen, Maddy had grown up quickly, giving up a lot of high school activities to care for her younger siblings. It pained her that now she was the one needing their help.

Just then the front door pushed open and Kate and Deena rushed in, running directly to Maddy and encircling her in a group hug.

“Oh my God! How could anyone think you killed someone?” Deena asked, unable to stop the tears making a path down her
cheeks. She and Maddy had always been best friends growing up and were still close. “What's gonna happen to you now?”

Maddy pulled away from her sisters when she noticed that Tessa had returned and had flopped down ungracefully on the edge of the desk.

She turned to the others. “Can any of you see her?”

“See who?” Kate asked before slapping her head. “Don't tell me Tessa's here. I thought she went off into the light after we found out who killed her.”

Tessa laughed.
Kate
has always been the smartass and the most like me of any of you. That's why I adore her.
She put her finger to her forehead and saluted the youngest Garcia sister.
Tell her the light gave me a migraine, and I'm back.

“She showed up right before Bernardi was killed,” Maddy explained. “Somehow, she knew I was about to get into trouble, and she came back to help.”

“So she's like our guardian angel now?” Deena asked, moving behind her older sister. Tessa had always intimidated her, and even dead, she apparently had the same effect.

Something like that
, Tessa said, now filing her nail.
God knows
Deena needs looking after with that limp dick of a husband she
lives with.

“She said yes, she's our new guardian angel. And she's been sent back to help me,” Maddy said before giggling. “That and the fact that she's up to her old flirty ways up there and managed to piss off the Gatekeeper's wife.” She pointed to the ceiling.

“Ha! I would've thought she was giving old Lucifer a run for his
money. Showing him what hot really meant, or at the very least, planning
a fund-raiser to pay for air conditioning down there,” Kate said, a mischievous glint lighting her eyes.

Kate had better watch out. With that mouth of hers, the good people of Vineyard will start calling her a mini me if she's not careful.
Although Tessa tried to sound stern, the sparkle in her eyes told an entirely different story. It was as if she were proud that her baby sister was perfecting that sarcastic wit and following in her footsteps.

They all turned when the door to Colt's office opened and he walked out, his face etched with worry.

“Did you find a lawyer?” he asked Lainey.

“I have the name of a well-known attorney from Dallas with a good track record in murder trials, but I had to leave a message with his answering service. They said he won't be back in the office until Monday, and they'd give him the message.”

Colt focused his attention back on Maddy. “Not much going on down at the courthouse today, but I just talked to Judge Reynolds. He's scheduled your arraignment hearing for this afternoon.”

“What if we don't hear from the Dallas lawyer by then?” Maddy asked, the fear slipping back into her voice.

“Already taken care of. I called Charlie Prescott and asked him to appear with you so we can get you released on bail.”

That SOB. He tried to screw me over
, Tessa shouted.

Maddy rephrased Tessa's comment. “Do you trust him after what he almost did to Tessa?”

“No, but we're kinda in a bind here. No one's going to come
downtown today and represent you, knowing they'll be fired as soon as a better lawyer comes along.” He paused. “Charlie's walked the straight and narrow ever since he tried to work a double deal and get Lainey to sell the vineyard after Tessa died. Besides, he owes me for not locking his fat ass up in jail over that.” He looked around the room. “Is Tessa here now?”

Maddy nodded and pointed to the edge of the desk.

“Tell her not to interfere with this investigation.” He turned to the other Garcia sisters. “That goes for all of you as well. Whoever
killed the prisoner wasn't just some local hothead who thought Ber
nardi might have gotten too friendly with his woman last night. If what I suspect is true, this was a well-planned, perfectly executed hit, and there aren't too many people in the area capable of pulling off something like that. You ladies are liable to screw up any chance this department has of clearing Maddy. Or worse, get yourselves killed if you go running around town asking too many questions like you did when Tessa died.” He turned to his wife. “Need I remind you, Lainey, that you nearly burned up with the grapevines because you got too close?”

“Colt?”

He whirled around to face Danny Landers, who had just walked up and looked like he was about to cry.

“I think you'd better have a look at this.”

Colt snatched the faxed report from his deputy's hand and quickly read it without changing his facial expression.

Maddy tried to get Danny's attention to see if she could get some hint about the report, but the young officer kept his eyes riveted to the floor.

Oh, boy! This isn't going to be good
, she thought. Danny was the prankster of the group and always had a devilish look in his eyes. He was like a younger brother to her, and if he couldn't even make eye contact with her now, whatever was in that report had to be really bad.

Even Tessa sat speechless, waiting to find out what the document held. That, in itself, was not a good sign. She tended to joke about everything.

Finally, Colt looked up, and his face showed the concern. He headed straight to Maddy's desk. “Where did you get twenty-five grand last week?”

“What? I haven't seen that much money all at one time in—well, forever.” Her heart felt like it had stopped beating. Why would Colt ask a question like that?

He laid the report in front of her. “Then how do you explain this?”

She reached for it, praying it didn't really say what she suspected from Colt's questions. But today was not going to be her day for having prayers answered. Glancing at her bank statement, she let her
eyes linger on the twenty-five thousand dollar deposit made two
days ago. She tried to say something—to deny it—but nothing came out. All she could do was stare at the horrified look on her sisters' faces as they stood by helplessly.

In a matter of a few minutes, her situation had gone from bad to catastrophic. Right in front of her was proof that someone was trying to frame her. This would make make everyone question her story about why she allowed a killer to walk into the station and murder a prisoner in cold blood on her watch.

And worse—now they had motive.

six

“This is worse than
I thought,” Colt said, reaching for the report that could be the smoking gun to send his sister-in-law to jail. “If
someone has gone to all this trouble to deposit money in your bank account via wire transfer, Maddy, we're not talking small time here.
This is beginning to smell like organized crime.” He turned to Danny
Landers. “Run over to Vineyard National Bank and get a look at the security tapes for the day before Thanksgiving. Call me the minute you know something.”

Landers patted Maddy's back and attempted a smile before he charged off with the bank information in hand.

Colt turned to the three sisters who had yet to say a word. “You three need to let me do my job and figure this all out. I mean it.” He zeroed in on Maddy. “And I will figure it out. I promise.” Narrowing
his eyes, he shot a warning look in his wife's direction. “If I find out any
of you questioned even one person about this or stuck your nose in my investigation in any way, I swear I'll lock you all up.” He swiveled around and charged back into his office, mumbling under his breath.

Maddy glanced first at Lainey, then at Deena and Kate before settling on Tessa, whose eyes were now lit up with mischief.

Yeah! Like that's gonna happen!

For some reason, hearing her sister say what she'd been thinking gave her a twinge of hope, and for the first time since she'd arrived at the station, Maddy smiled.

“Okay, we have to get going on this,” Lainey said, looking up at the clock on the wall over Landers's empty desk. She stole a glance over her shoulder to make sure Colt wasn't watching before leaning
in and lowering her voice. “Let's meet up in an hour to figure out how
we're going to do it.”

“We can use my place,” Deena said, huddling closer. “Mike's run
ning around town catching up on business this morning, so we'll have
the whole house to ourselves.”

Well I'll be damned. My sisters have all grown balls. I couldn't be prouder at this moment
.
Tessa's gaze moved from one sibling to another.

“One o'clock at my house,” Deena said. “I'll have a pitcher of margaritas ready and waiting.”

_____

He rolled off her body and took several slow deep breaths.
Damn!
The woman was a workout, but worth every ounce of energy he expended.

“Do you want to go again?”

He turned to her, unbelieving. There was no way he could go another round—at least not without drugs. “Darling, as much as I'd love to show you again why I keep you around, that isn't going to be physically possible for a while.” He reached over and kissed her neck. “Give me a few hours, and then we'll talk.”

She nuzzled closer, spooning his body with hers, and he cringed. This was the part he hated. If he had his way, she'd go to one of the
guest rooms until he summoned her back for more play time. He never
could understand why women felt the need to touch after sex. He was about to suggest that they'd both get more sleep if they were in separate beds when he felt her hand inching its way around his back to his abdomen.

God!
The woman was insatiable.

He knew that despite his lack of interest at the moment, she'd work magic with those hands of hers, and before too much longer, they'd be having wild monkey sex again. As awesome as that sounded, right now he needed sleep.

Turning over, he pulled her closer, virtually stopping her fingers from finding their mark. “Did I tell you what a fantastic job you did last night, lover?” he asked, thinking if he could get her talking, he might be able to be on his way to that much needed rest.

When they'd finally made it back home last night, both were on a high and giddy about what they'd just done, and after the cocaine and the Johnnie Walker Red, they'd partied all night long. He wondered why she wasn't as strung out as he was.

“Why don't you show me how much you appreciate me?” she purred.

Okay, that little ploy obviously hadn't worked
.

He ran his hands through her long red hair, thinking it was those curls that had first attracted him to her a few months ago. He usually went for brunettes, but something about her had caught his attention immediately. He grinned to himself, thinking that
something
probably was the double D's threatening to spill out of the black silk halter top she'd worn the night he'd spotted her from across the bar.

“You know that diamond bracelet you fell in love with when we were shopping at the Galleria last week?”

Her eyes lit up and she nodded.

“Well, I guess you've earned it.”

When she squealed with delight, he mentally high-fived himself for distracting her. The woman loved jewelry and would do just about anything to get it. The clever part was that he'd already planned on buying it for her anyway. The demand for drugs had escalated the past few months, and he had quite a nice stash of extra cash on hand. Now he could use it as the perfect opportunity to get her mind off more sex.

Before he could suggest they swallow a downer and catch a little shuteye, his cell phone began to vibrate on the nightstand.

Reaching for it, he saw his mother's picture pop up on caller ID, and he slid out of bed. “Got to take this, doll,” he said over his shoulder as he padded naked into the bathroom. He locked the door behind him and answered. “Hey, Mom, what's going on?”

He'd taken her to the Regency Hotel yesterday for a Thanksgiving buffet and hadn't been able to get away quickly enough. He loved his mother, but nothing he did ever pleased her. She spent nearly every waking minute crying these days.

Before she even said a word, he heard her sniffle, and a ball of fire erupted in his abdomen.

“I can't sleep anymore,” she sobbed. “Everywhere I look I see Junior calling out to me for help.”

He swallowed hard. “Mama, I told you, Junior probably hightailed it to Mexico because the cops were about to arrest him again. Remember?”

“Why didn't he tell me goodbye before he left? Why doesn't he
call
to tell me he's okay? I'm really worried something is terribly wrong
this time.”

“I don't know why he doesn't call, Mama. You know how he disappears for days without calling and then just shows up like nothing's wrong. That's the way he is.”

“He's got to know how worried I am. I love him more than anything else in this world, and now I'm all alone.”

No matter how many times he told himself she didn't mean it, it still hurt to hear her say that, as if he meant nothing to her. If only
once she would look at him like he was worth something. She had two
sons, dammit! And although he knew exactly why Junior had disappeared, he wasn't about to tell his mother. It would kill her, and she would never speak to him again.

The truth was he'd spent his entire life getting his older brother out of trouble of some form or another. He'd overlooked the many thousands of dollars of his product that had ended up his brother's nose or injected into his veins, but his latest screwup had been too bad to look the other way. He drew the line when it came to fucking with his business. He'd worked too hard to get where he was today.

He closed his eyes, remembering his brother's lifeless eyes three weeks ago. Instead of remorse, he only felt anger that Junior was still causing him trouble, even from his watery grave.

After comforting his mother for a few more minutes, he managed to calm her down before hanging up. But he knew in his heart that no matter what he said or did, no matter how much money he spent trying to make her feel better, his mother would never get over the fact that her oldest son was no longer around. She'd never feel even half the love for him despite the fact that he was the one paying all her bills and caring for her.

He opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out the plastic bag hidden inside a hollowed out can of deodorant. After spreading the white powder on the counter, he snorted first one line, then another.
Then he allowed his gaze to linger on the man in the mirror. How could
someone with his kind of power and money be so helpless when it came to fixing the situation with his own mother?

“I had to do it, Junior,” he said aloud before wiping a small amount of white residue from his nose and walking back into the bedroom.

He couldn't think about his mother or his brother now. The drugs had made him horny as hell again.

Sliding the sheet back, he climbed in beside the woman who was watching him with a confused look on her face. “Spread your legs, sweetheart. I'm going to make you sing.”

_____

Maddy stopped to pick up chips and salsa from Taco Loco on the way to her sister's. Deena would have tons of sweet stuff left over from the Thanksgiving meal the day before, but they needed salty treats to go with her sister's famous margarita swirls. She arrived a few minutes late, and everyone was already there—everyone, that is, except Tessa. She wondered if her younger sister had flaked out once again and returned to wherever ghosts go when they're not scaring people.

Deena met her at the front door with a bear hug. “Yum. These can
be our first course before we get to the leftover desserts from yesterday. Good thing I made guacamole.” She pulled her sister in
side the
house. “Come on. Lainey and Kate have already started
working on
a list of things we need to do.”

Now that's scary all by itself. The two smartest Garcia girls match
ing wits. Bet they've already solved the murder.

Maddy smiled at Tessa, who was now leading the way into the kitchen. God help her, but somehow, knowing she had come from somewhere up above gave her a warm feeling, as if the big Man up there had sent His own personal help.

Okay, so far she hadn't been very helpful, but Maddy still held out hope. Before Tessa died, she'd been a prominent figure in Vineyard's high-society club. She knew things about some of the locals that even Maddy and the police department weren't privy to.

Both Kate and Lainey jumped up to greet her when she walked in.

“We're going to find the SOB who's trying to frame you, sis. Promise,” Kate said. “But first, we need carbs.” She grabbed the chips out of Maddy's hand. “This should do it. Chips from Taco Loco are the best.”

“Here.” Deena handed Maddy a frozen margarita swirl. “You need to drink up, kiddo. You're already two behind the rest of us.”

Maddy took a sip and smacked her lips. The frozen lime concoction was made exactly the way she liked it with just the right amount of tequila and triple sec. The sangria wine swirled into it made it taste more like a high-calorie dessert than an alcoholic beverage. She took another big drink and immediately got brain freeze. “Whoa! I'd forgotten that you can't drink these fast.”

“Sit here,” Kate said, sliding a chair next to hers. “Lainey and I listed all the people who might want to see something bad happen to you.”

Maddy was about to take another long swallow and stopped halfway to her mouth. “Do you really think someone has a personal vendetta against me or that I was just the perfect patsy?” She reached for the list and tsked when she saw the first entry. “Why would Darrell Livingston want to hurt me?”

“Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you humiliated him at church a few weeks back when he asked you out on a date in front of the entire congregation,” Lainey said. “You don't remember how pissed off he was when you turned him down flat?”

“You can't be serious, Lainey. Half the women at church have
turned him down.”

Definitely patsy
,
Tessa said.
If someone hated you enough to ruin your life, it would have been easier to just kill Jessie when they had the opportunity.

The reminder about how close her daughter had come to being hurt—or worse—caused Maddy to close her eyes and suck in a big gulp of air before responding. “You're probably right, Tessa. As a rookie cop they must've known I'd be vulnerable.”

“She's here, again?” Deena asked, moving a little closer to Maddy. “And what's she right about this time?”

“She thinks if someone really wanted to hurt me, they would have
…
”
She swallowed hard trying to repeat what Tessa has said. “Done something to Jessie,” she finally blurted, unable to make herself say the word killed.

“Good thinking, sis. Death becomes you,” Kate said with a glint in her eye.

Tessa threw back her head and laughed out loud.
Christ, that girl has a mouth on her.

“Okay, so let's start with that assumption and go from there,” Lainey said. “If they weren't looking to hurt you, Maddy, their goal must've been to kill Gino Bernardi or the other guy in the cell next to him. What do we know about either of them?”

Maddy turned to Tessa who shrugged. She'd get no help there.

I know just about everyone in the county, especially the men, and I've never heard his name before. He must be new to Vineyard.

Kate pulled out her iPad and Googled him. When nothing came
up, she looked confused. “Everybody has at least one or two hits when
you Google their name. Let me try this again.” After the second attempt produced the same results, she shook her head. “And now we have our first mystery. Why does a man like Bernardi not have a history?”