me, I can hear the clock ticking.”
“Good, because Hank Zarvy is breathing down my neck, asking for a detailed plan regarding the opening ceremony.”
“He’ll get it.”
“When you’re good and ready to give it? Because if that’s the case—”
“You know I don’t work that way, Ben. Especially not when it comes to this case. Hank Zarvy is an annoyance I’m willing to deal with if it means solving Greg’s murder.” He glanced at Susannah, saw that she’d finished talking to her boss and was watching him, not even pretending that she wasn’t listening to the conversation.
That was fine. There was plenty she needed to know.
“The Lions of Texas are behind all of this. We know that. What we need to find out is what they have planned for March 6. If we don’t, more people could die.”
“We’re going to stop them, Ben, and we’re going to find out which one of them pulled the trigger on Greg. We need justice. For Greg and for Corinna.”
“No one realizes that more than I do. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t tell Corinna that we’ll find her father’s killer.” Ben and Corinna were as close as any couple Levi had ever known, their love for each other a palpable thing. They weren’t the only ones who’d found love in the months since Greg died, and Levi was sure that if his old boss could look down from Heaven and see what had happened to the men and women of Company D, he’d smile.
“We’ll get his killer. I won’t rest until we do.”
“None of us will. Keep me updated on what’s going on at the Alamo.”
“I will.”
“And, prepare yourself. Zarvy wants to meet with you and the head of Alamo security. Breakfast tomorrow at his place. Eight o’clock.”
“We don’t have time for meetings or hand-holding.”
“We don’t have time to bury our heads in the sand and pretend the Lions of Texas aren’t a widespread and growing drug-smuggling organization. Thanks to Gisella and Brock Martin, we’ve found one of their drug entry points on the border and thrown a handful of their low-level operatives in jail, but we have a long way to go before we bring them down.”
“A long way to go and not much time to accomplish it.”
“Does that mean you’re going to be at the meeting tomorrow?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Not really.”
“Then I’ll be there.” He disconnected, met Susannah’s eyes. “We’re scheduled to meet with Hank Zarvy tomorrow morning. You know him?”
“He’s part of the Alamo Planning Committee, so we’ve met once or twice.”
“He wants a briefing on our security plans.”
“No problem. Maybe you can brief me on what’s going on while we wait for Chad to show up.”
“Chad?”
“Morran. He’s my boss. He’s called in a few other Park Rangers to help search the compound. They’ll be here shortly.”
“We can start the search now. If someone is on the compound, I’d like to have a chat with him. Do you have an extra flashlight?”
“Sure, but searching the compound isn’t going to distract me.” She met his eyes, her emerald gaze wary and filled with questions.
“From?”
“Let’s not play games, Levi. Something is going on. Something bigger than a 175th anniversary celebration and a few threatening notes.”
“My office has been investigating an organization called the Lions of Texas. We believe they’re behind the threats.”
“The Lions of Texas. Never heard of them.”
“Not many people have. They’re secretive. No one knows who their top members are, but we do know they’re working to open the Mexican border.”
“Toward what goal?”
“They’re heavily involved in drug trafficking. An open border will make that easier. My captain was investigating them before he was murdered. Now, we’re finishing the job he started.”
“Gregory Pike was your captain?”
“I guess you’ve heard of him?”
“I saw the story in the news a few months ago. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“So am I.” Greg had been a great man, a fantastic captain, a wonderful father. Now, he was gone, and there was nothing Levi wouldn’t do to find his murderer.
“Come on. We’d better get started on our search.” He pushed his sorrow aside, pushed his anger away, refused the guilt that always seemed to be just a memory away. If he’d been just a few minutes earlier, would Greg still be alive? It was a question he’d asked a dozen times a day in the weeks following the murder, but there was no answer. No way to go back and relive the moments after he’d received the text summoning him to Pike’s house.
“Do you really think whoever came in would hang around and wait to be found?” Susannah pushed her Stetson down onto her head as they stepped into the compound again.
“I don’t know what the motivation was for entering the Alamo after it closed, so I can’t say if the person would hang around. Has this kind of thing happened before?”
She hesitated just long enough to make him wonder. “Six months ago, I was scheduled to open the compound. When I got here, the Houston gate was already unlocked. Someone had stolen the keys and used them to gain access to the compound after business hours. That time, we found out who was responsible.”
“He’s in jail?”
“He’s dead. Killed during a police standoff a month later.”
“Was he a Ranger here?”
“No.”
“Then he knew a Ranger.” How else would he have gotten the keys?
“He knew me.” Her tone was stiff, her expression unreadable. Whatever she was thinking and feeling was hidden behind a mask of indifference.
Which meant it was a subject she cared deeply about.
Or felt deeply about.
“I’m sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I was.”
“He was a boyfriend?”
“He thought he was.”
Her words sparked a memory. A news story that had broken a few weeks after Greg’s
