Lingerie and Lariats (Rough & Ready#7) (8 page)

The whole time, Jerry screamed obscenities at Renee. “I’m going to make you regret this, you little bitch,” he shouted. “You’d better fix it before I come back or you’ll be more than sorry. Just like I told you.”

The officers read Jerry his Miranda rights as they forced him into the back of the patrol car and then shut the door behind him. He glared at Renee through the window, still shouting at her.

“Did he harm you in any way?” Officer Martin asked Renee.

“Not here.” She shook her head. “He just wouldn’t let go of my arm.”

“What happened to your cheek?” Officer Martin gestured to Renee’s face.

She reached up and touched the sensitive skin and winced. She hesitated for only a moment. “Jerry hit me last night.”

Officer Martin wore a serious expression. “Please explain what happened last night and today.”

Renee took a deep breath then told the officer about Jerry hitting her and forcing her to sleep on the floor.

Then she explained about Jerry being her financial advisor and he’d had permission to sign on her accounts. She explained how much money was missing so she closed out the accounts and put the funds into a new one.

She also told Officer Martin that Jerry had taken her belongings including her credit cards and driver’s license, and had her clothing, and that one of the two cell phones taken from his pockets was hers. At the last moment she added that Jerry had threatened to kill her.

Officer Martin’s expression was grim. When the officer finished taking Renee’s statement, she was told that her belongings would be returned to her after they took Jerry in. She would be contacted.

And then Renee was free to go. Officer Martin asked Renee if she had anywhere to go without her belongings. Renee said a friend was coming and that she did have some cash and her passport.

As the officers drove away, Jerry glared at her through the rear window as he mouthed threats.

She shuddered and thanked God that the teller had been smart enough to call the cops and that Zane was on his way.

Chapter 8

Dan frowned as he stood in his office and looked at the text message from Renee.

Don’t ever call or text me again. I don’t want anything to do with you, especially after the way you got in Jerry’s and my business last night. I don’t want you ruining things between Jerry and me.

The message didn’t sound like Renee and something told him that she hadn’t sent it. He’d bet his prize bull that Jerry Nelson had been the one to write and send the message.

He sat in front of his computer monitor and pulled up Nelson’s record. Over a hundred unpaid parking tickets, but that was the only thing on his otherwise clean record. Still, Dan couldn’t help the feeling that something was wrong with the man. Real wrong.

For a long moment he stared at the screen. On instinct, he pulled up the Internet browser and did a search for the Philadelphia Police District that Nelson lived in. Dan found it and dialed the number.

When the operator answered, Dan explained who he was and the information he was interested in. He was transferred to an officer who looked up the parking tickets. All one hundred plus tickets were for the same address.

The officer whistled through his teeth and told Dan that it was the address of a suspected drug dealer with ties to the Mexican drug cartel in the West. However the suspected dealer had no arrests or convictions. He always seemed to be one step of law enforcement.

After he thanked the officer for the information, Dan disconnected the call, hair prickling at the nape of his neck. Nelson possibly had ties with a drug dealer in Philly, and through him, Nelson might have ties to the cartel.

Fire went through Dan’s gut. He had to reach Renee. He looked up the number for the bed and breakfast that Nelson and Renee had stayed in. When he reached Angie, she told him that the pair had checked out early that morning.

Dan thanked her and slammed down his desk phone.

Where the hell could Renee and Nelson be? All that he knew was that he had to find her. And one way or another he would prove that Nelson was involved in something illegal and would make sure that the man spent some serious time behind bars.

The phone rang. Dan answered, “Sheriff Cooper here.”

“Sheriff, this is Zane Cameron.”

“I’m glad you called,” Dan said. “I’m looking for Renee. It’s important.”

“That’s why I called you,” Zane said. “I think something’s wrong. She called me from a bank in Nogales—sounded like she’s in trouble. I’m on my way to pick her up. Got a flat tire outside of Patagonia and have no way to call her to let her know I’m going to be late.”

More prickles went down Dan’s spine. “I’m in my office in Nogales now. Where is she?”

Zane gave Dan the name of the bank and Dan said he’d be there within ten minutes. “You head on home and I’ll take care of it,” he said.

“I can still make it out there,” Zane said, “if you’d like me to take her back to the ranch.”

“I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.” Dan disconnected the call with Zane, rushed through the office, and headed outside to where his SUV was parked. In moments he was in it and headed toward the bank.

Renee was standing in the parking lot. She looked pale and she was rubbing her arms with her hands as if she was cold, even though it was close to a hundred degrees out. She didn’t notice him until he pulled into the parking lot.

He parked and jumped out of the SUV. Renee ran toward him and he took her into his arms and held her close.

“Are you all right, honey?” he asked her and then realized she was sobbing against his chest.

“I’m fine.” She drew away, her cinnamon eyes brimming with tears. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be crying on your shoulder.”

“Hey.” He cupped her chin and noticed the side of her face was bruised. “You can cry on my shoulder any time, okay?”

“I’m glad to see you,” she said. “How did you know I’m here?”

“Zane called,” Dan said. “He got a flat tire on the way here. I told him I’d come to get you instead and for him to head on home.”

“Thank you.” She bit her lower lip then said, “I need you to know I didn’t send that text message.”

“I know you didn’t.” He pushed hair out of her eyes with his fingers and he saw more of the bruise. “I never for a moment believed it was you.”

She smiled. “Thank you for believing in me.”

He let his expression go grim. “How did your face get bruised? That wasn’t there when I saw you yesterday.”

She looked away. “It’s nothing.”

“Nelson hit you,” Dan stated.

She hesitated then nodded. “Jerry was angry because he’d caught you and me together.

Anger boiled inside Dan and he clenched his jaw.
That sonofabitch.
“Where is he now?”

Renee had a look of relief on her features. “He was just arrested.”

Surprised at that bit of news, Dan said, “I’ll have you start at the beginning, but first I’m going to call in to the Nogales PD that Nelson hit you.” He could hear the fury in his own voice.

Renee put her hand on his arm. “I already told them. They’re adding that to his list of charges.” She still looked pale but she was sweating beneath the summer sun.

Dan gestured to the other side of the street. “We’ll go to that café for a late lunch and you can tell me everything.”

“I am hungry.” She kept pace with him as they walked across the parking lot. “I haven’t had anything to eat today.”

They crossed the street and Dan held the small café’s door open for her. They found a table in a corner and Dan sat so that he was facing the door.

After they had ordered sandwiches, Dan folded his arms on the table and focused on Renee. “Why don’t you take it from the top?”

She let out her breath and pushed hair from her face. “Last night when Jerry found us and took me outside I realized that I couldn’t leave him. Not yet.”

Dan frowned. “Why not?”

“Because as my financial advisor he had control of my money.” She clenched her fist on the tabletop. “If I had left him I’m sure he would have gone straight to the bank and cleared out my accounts this morning.”

Dan gave a nod. “When did he hit you?”

“Almost as soon as we got to our room at the bed and breakfast.” She looked embarrassed. “He made me sleep on the floor.”

The fury inside Dan increased and he gritted his teeth. “Then what happened?”

Renee told him about the trip to Nogales and Jerry’s explanation that he’d bought a load of Mexican furniture and accessories. “I had a strange feeling that he wasn’t telling the truth, but I don’t know why he would lie.”

Dan was certain he did know but didn’t say so to Renee.

She went on, telling him about Jerry’s breakfast meeting with two men and described them when Dan asked her to. She gave a description that matched the ones for two suspected drug dealers who were rumored to have ties to the cartel. He kept that suspicion to himself.

When she said she thought their names might be Luis and Juan, that sealed it for Dan. The description and the names matched the men Dan suspected.

Renee explained how she had been in the restroom when two women came in, talking about the men and that was how she had learned their names.

“Jerry is planning on getting some kind of revenge on someone,” she said. “That’s what one of the women said. I think her name was Mercedes, by the way. The other woman was Carla.” She took a deep breath as Dan made mental notes. “Mercedes said that Luis might be taking care of a problem and if he did it would be a good payday.”

Did Nelson order a hit on someone? “What else did they say?”

“Not much.” She frowned. “Maybe he’s trying to destroy someone financially. I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s threatened to do that to people in the past. Oh,” she added. “The woman also said that Luis’s contact from the east was going to make a buy. They didn’t say what kind.”

A hit and a buy. Nelson was obviously working on a drug deal. Dan kept his thoughts to himself. “What else happened?”

“I decided I needed to get out of there and get to the bank before he did,” she said. “Over seventy-five thousand dollars was missing from the accounts out of close to half a million,” she said.

Dan frowned “That’s a chunk of change to be missing.”

“Yes, but at least the rest was there,” she said. “It could have been much worse.” She explained how she had closed out the accounts and had opened a new one and put all of the funds in there.

Smart girl
, Dan thought. “I take it Nelson found you at the bank after you made the transactions.”

“Yes,” she said. “Jerry told me he had made some kind of buy that he had to pay for and was going to make me put the accounts the way they were. He threatened to kill me then created a big scene and that’s when the teller called the police. When they showed up he was argumentative and he refused to let go of me.” She rubbed one of her arms. “So the police arrested him. He was still yelling threats at me even as the police took him.”

“Nelson threatened to kill you?” Fury made Dan’s skin hot.

Renee nodded. “No one heard him say it. But then in front of the officers he did threaten to make me sorry.”

Dan ground his teeth. The only one who was going to be sorry was Nelson.

Their sandwiches were served and they dug into their meals. Renee seemed exceptionally hungry. Every time Dan looked at the bruise on her face and thought about how Nelson had treated her, his blood boiled even more.

“It won’t be long until he’s back on the street,” Dan said. “Nelson will probably be looking for you, so I think you’d better stay somewhere safe. You can stay with me.” Dan held up his hand when he saw that she looked like she was going to argue. “Unless you have a problem with that. And don’t say it’s because you don’t want to inconvenience me, because you’re not going to. I’ll feel a lot better if I can keep an eye on you.”

She looked at him then gave a nod. “Thank you.”

He glanced at his watch. “If you’re finished with lunch, I’ll take you out to my place. If you don’t mind being alone when I’m at work, I think you’ll be safe out there.

She smiled. “I’m sure I’ll be perfectly fine.”

He met her gaze. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Renee.”

“I know,” she said quietly. “I couldn’t feel safer than I do with you.” She paused. “Just one more thing.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“I want to go to the jail and have a talk with Jerry.”

Chapter 9

Jerry Nelson scowled as he looked through the bars of his cell in the Nogales Police Department. Thanks to that little bitch, Renee, he’d been locked up for hours and there was no telling how long he’d be here. Who knew how much time he’d get for resisting arrest and disturbing the peace. Not to mention assault—the bitch had whined and said that he’d hit her. He’d barely touched her.

This whole mess was
her
fault. All of it.

When he got his hands on her again he’d make sure she paid.

Unless he got out and got the money now, she’d fucked up the deal he’d been working on with Juan. Jerry had made a connection with Luis through Philly contacts. Once he’d arrived in Nogales, Luis had introduced Jerry to Juan.

Jerry had been setting up a buy for his man in Philly, but Juan had offered Jerry a side deal that could have made him a shitload of money. All he’d needed was Renee’s cash to pay for the load.

And then she’d fucked up everything.

He couldn’t forget the sheriff. Once he got out of this hellhole, Jerry had something special planned for that dick. He had planned to hire Luis to do it, but never got the chance. He’d had to leave when he’d realized Renee was gone.

Locks clanked and then a police officer approached Jerry. “You’ve got a visitor, Nelson. Ten minutes.”

Jerry frowned. Who would be visiting him? No one knew he was here.

The officer stepped aside and Jerry saw that it was Renee.

Satisfaction almost made him smile when he saw her bruised face. Fucking bitch deserved it. He held back words that he wanted to cut her with and instead he smiled at her. “You come to bail me out?”