The Texas Ranger's Nanny (Lone Star Lawmen 2)

“Okay. Pack up and leave. TJ’s coordinating everything with the highway patrol. They’ll be covering you the second you head south of Luckenbach. There’ll be more reinforcements farther along. Our van will be right on your tail. The boss is elated you found the missing link. This case is huge.”

“We both knew it was. Talk to you in a minute.”

Vic hung up and gathered his things. He put the recording device in his pocket. The next thing to do was pack all the jewelry, including the belt, into his suitcase. He laid the tan leather jacket over everything to protect the valuable items Clint had lent him before shutting the case. The last thing to do was leave the room key on the table. Then he was out of there and down to the truck in no time.

Someone had broken into it, but they wouldn’t have found anything. Evidence of the break-in had to be all over the place, but he didn’t have time to dust for fingerprints now. He put the small suitcase in the toolbox of the truck before getting behind the wheel.

It would take three hours to drive to Eagle Pass. If Jori had been a plant to find out Vic’s next plan, Ruban would know it by now and would have passed the information on to Fisher. As he took off, he phoned Kit.

“Someone broke into the truck.”

“That figures. We’ll get prints later. In about three minutes, pull into the Tesoro gas station on the town loop. It’ll be on the right. Go to the men’s room. It’s inside. An undercover cop wearing a Longhorn baseball cap will be coming out and pass you off a weapon.”

“Copy that.”

“You’re wearing your vest, right?”

“Yes.”

“Just checking.”

He clicked Off and kept driving until he saw the station. Once he got out, he filled the tank, then went inside to use the bathroom. Twenty seconds later he saw the cop and started for the door, catching the gun to him before going inside. The Glock felt good in his hand. When he got back to the truck, he checked the clip to make certain it was loaded and put it under the seat.

Once he was on the road again, he phoned Kit. “Mission accomplished.”

“That’s a relief. I didn’t like it that you went to the casino last night without your weapon.”

“I couldn’t take a chance.”

“I know.”

“I’m armed now. See anything suspicious yet?”

“No, but we’ll be notified the second something doesn’t look right.”

Vic continued to drive south and chatted with Kit. An hour had passed. “Now that we know who’s behind this, we can make another visit to Leroy at the jail. When we tell him we know everything, we can offer him one more plea deal if he’ll spill the details. I want to know why he didn’t kill my son.”

“My thoughts exactly. Uh-oh—wait up. Something’s coming through to the guys over the police band. Good grief.”

“What’s happened?”

“A few minutes ago an African-American male in a Toyota outside the casino near Luckenbach was found slumped in the driver’s seat with a bullet to the brain. Some gamblers saw the body and reported it. No ID yet.”

“That was Jori.”

“Informant or not, he’s dead now.”

“I liked him. This is a filthy business. When we arrest Ruban, then we’ve got Fisher and Waters.”

“Hold on, Vic. I need to talk to TJ. I’ll call you right back.”

Vic hung up and kept driving, knowing that at some point between here and Eagle Pass, Fisher’s cronies were waiting for him. Another half hour went by without any action. Kit checked in now and then.

There was only an hour and a half to go until Vic reached Eagle Pass. He’d just decided they were planning to ambush him there when he noted a helicopter in the distance. It was probably an AirMed chopper. But it didn’t deviate from its course and was headed in Vic’s direction.

“Kit?”

“Yeah. I see it, too. Get off the road and run like hell for the grove of trees on the right. We’re going to do the same thing.”