Texas Outlaw (Rory Yates #2) - James Patterson Page 0,35
can explain why in court if you need me to. But to analyze the blood any further, I need to know what I’m looking for,” he says.
“That’s the problem,” I say. “I don’t know. I need you to work some magic here, Freddy.”
He says there’s enough blood left for one more test. “I’ll see what I can do,” he says. “But don’t hold your breath.”
When I hang up, I tell Ariana the news.
“I told you it wasn’t Jessica Aaron,” she says.
“On that note,” I say, “hang on a sec.”
I leave her on the sidewalk next to my truck and I head back into the newspaper building.
“Where are you going?” she asks.
“I’m going to ask Tom if his offer to stay in their studio still stands.”
Chapter 38
I’M NOT SAD to say good-bye to my little motel room. Norma, the woman who runs the place, comes out to see me off.
“I’m going to miss sitting in the lobby and listening to you play that guitar,” she says as I carry my guitar case out of the room and set it in the passenger side of the truck next to my duffel bag.
“If you don’t mind my asking,” I say, “how do you stay in business?” Since I came to town, I’ve been her only customer.
She pops a cigarette into her mouth and lights it, then mumbles through her closed lips, “McCormack.”
“McCormack?”
She says that when Carson McCormack’s business associates are in town, he usually rents out every room. That income keeps her afloat during the lean weeks.
“Ask around,” she says. “I bet he subsidizes just about every business in this town in one way or another. Rio Lobo would crumble and blow away without him.”
“A regular Robin Hood,” I say.
“Or a necessary evil,” she says, taking another drag. Then she nods toward the road and says, “Speak of the devil.”
McCormack’s Escalade rolls down Main Street, preceded by one of his trucks and followed by another—McCormack coming back from his business trip. The cluster of vehicles drives the same tight pattern, at speeds way over the limit, as they did on their way out of town.
On my way to Tom and Jessica Aaron’s place, I call Ariana on Bluetooth.
“Guess who just got back into town?” I say.
“I saw the convoy from the parking lot here at the station,” she says.
“We’re on for tomorrow,” I say. “Let’s go ask a few questions of Rio Lobo’s most famous father and son.”
When I pull up in front of Tom and Jessica’s, I find Jessica in the garden, where she proudly shows me her flowers and vegetables, and even an orchard with pear, peach, and fig trees, as well as an enormous pecan tree.
“No wonder your pecan pie is so good,” I say.
“I heard your girlfriend’s song again today,” Jessica says. “Any chance we’ll get to meet her while you’re staying with us?”
“I wish,” I say. “She’s pretty busy right now.”
She leads me around the side of the garage. The walkway to the stairs is overgrown with bushes laden with ripe berries.
“I need to get out here and pick these berries and prune the bushes back,” she says as we squeeze past the overgrowth. “When Tom called, I changed the sheets, but otherwise we haven’t been up here in months.”
The apartment itself isn’t much—just a bed, a couch, a kitchenette area, and a bathroom. The vintage, rustic decorations, with the same touch as the house, make it feel homier than the motel room felt. A window air-conditioning unit exhales cool air into the room.
“There’s no TV,” she says.
“I’ve got a book,” I say.
Jessica points to a cabinet that contains a small metal safe and tells me the combination.
“If you want to keep your gun in there, you can,” she says, and I get the impression she wants me to.
I don’t expect full bed-and-board service, but an hour later Tom knocks on my door with a dinner invitation. The chili con carne is delicious and so, of course, is the pecan pie we have for dessert. My earlier suspicion of Jessica tampering with the EpiPen hasn’t completely left my mind, but as we talk, my feelings of unease ebb. I tell myself to welcome their hospitality but keep my eyes open.
After dinner, Tom shows me his garage.
“The garden is Jessica’s pet project,” Tom says. “The garage is mine.”
In one bay is the 1965 Mustang I saw days earlier. In the other, he pulls off the tarp to reveal a 1960 Land Cruiser J40.