Blue Steele - Box Set - Captures 1-6 Read Online Free PDF Page B

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