Trail of Lies Read Online Free PDF Page A

slacks and a white, long-sleeve shirt with a black tie, he looked the part of a Texas Ranger down to his brown boots, his white cowboy hat and silver star he wore over his heart. Confident. Controlled. Capable—in any situation.
    She wished she had those traits, especially right now. Then she would know who to trust, what to do. How to get out of the mess her husband had put her and Kaitlyn in.
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    Frustration churned Daniel’s gut. Everywhere he’d gone he’d run into dead ends. But he knew that Axle’s widow wasn’t telling him everything. Behind the exhaustion, he glimpsed fear. Of what? He intended to find out. Somehow he felt it was connected to her husband’s murder and possibly Captain Pike’s. It wasn’t just the break-in that had scared her.
    Daniel could still remember the text message he’d received, along with all the Texas Rangers in Company D, from Captain Pike three months ago. His last one. Convene at my house, ASAP. Major case about to explode. When they’d arrived, they found him dead from a gunshot wound and another man critically injured. That man still hadn’t woken up or been identified. If only one of the Rangers had gotten there before someone had killed their captain.
    Daniel pulled into the parking lot of the Texas Ranger’s station in San Antonio. On the way here from Melora’s house, he’d had Ranger Oliver Drew run the partial license plate numbers against white Honda Accords in Texas. He hoped the list wasn’t too long. He needed a break. Afterclimbing from his truck, he strode toward the building, the temperature warmer than usual for the end of November, a hint of rain in the air.
    Inside he found Oliver right away, sitting at his desk. “Did you get anything?”
    â€œA list of seven vehicles in the San Antonio area—more for the whole state of Texas.”
    â€œSeven. That’s not bad. First check them and see if there are any that have been reported stolen. Maybe the suspect was dumb enough to use his own car.”
    Oliver chuckled. “You’re dreaming, but I’ll take care of this list for you. Captain wants to see you.”
    Daniel looked toward Captain Benjamin Fritz’s office. As a lieutenant, Daniel often ran things by his captain. Pushing open Ben’s door, he stuck his head in. “You wanted to see me?”
    â€œYep, come in. I need you and Anderson to go back to the Alamo Planning Committee meeting. I don’t like what’s been happening. A lot of important dignitaries will be attending the celebration. Stress that, with the threatening letter the committee received in October and the phone call Hank Zarvy got a few weeks ago about the event, we want them to think about having a smaller, more intimate event for the 175th anniversary of the Battle of the Alamo. We think it would be better and far safer. I know the threats have been vague. Nothing but warnings that if we don’t cancel the celebration, something bad will happen. But we haven’t been able to trace anything.”
    â€œOkay. I’ll check when the next meeting is and get on the agenda.” Daniel immediately thought of the last meeting he’d gone to. Melora was on the committee. Maybe he could talk to her afterward. In a different environment after she had time to think about the break-in, she might be more forthcoming with her information.
    â€œHow did it go with Mrs. Hudson?”
    â€œShe’s not saying much.” He went on to give Ben a detailed report of the break-in and his interview with Melora and Juanita.
    â€œGet Gisella to help you with digging into Axle Hudson’s background and dealings. We need to know everything about him.”
    â€œEspecially if he’s a member of the Lions of Texas. You can certainly say he was a powerful person with lots of connections.” One of the first breaks in their captain’s murder case was the few details about the group