what I’m hoping you can help us with, Kenderly.”
“Why were you there?” She looked up quickly, accusing him of something without a word.
He flattened his lips shut and shook his head. He couldn’t tell her that he was undercover tonight after an anonymous tip let them know there’d be trouble. He should have gotten the women extracted earlier instead of waiting for the cover of darkness. They’d been hoping to turn one of the families against the other. Instead, both had been hit.
“Let’s start with how you knew Isabella Tenoreno.”
“She came once a week into the shop where I have a chair. Wednesday she said she was having a party today and asked if I could come. I do hair and makeup for private events. This was a little different since she invited me to attend. I ended up doing her friend Trinity’s hair, too.”
Trinity Rosco, the wife of the rival crime family. Garrison noticed how stiff Kenderly had become. She was a terrible liar. So there was more to her story than she was letting on. “What happened after that?”
“I was gathering my things and cleaning my brushes in the bathroom. I heard something break, and Trinity screamed. At least I think it was her. The man, he already had the gun out and told them both to get to their knees.”
“What language?”
“English.”
“Why didn’t he see you?”
“I saw the gun first thing, so I didn’t open the door all the way. I should have. I should have done something. Maybe they’d still be alive.” She covered her face with her hands again, crying this time.
“Don’t doubt for a minute that you’d be dead now.”
“I... I thought it might be a...a joke. You know? The gun didn’t look real at first. But then he...he shot them. He just...shot them.”
She jumped up and stood at the window. He let her. What could he say? Two women had been brutally murdered. There was nothing that would take the image away from her. He was just lucky she wasn’t falling apart. She could be a hysterical mess.
“Then he found you?” he prompted.
“There were noises coming from the sitting room. I thought about calling out, but I didn’t. I must have moved backward, hit something or made a noise. He found me and was pulling me over their bodies when you came into the bedroom.”
“So you’re a hairstylist?”
She nodded, rubbing under her eyes, smearing the mascara that had run from her tears. Personally, he didn’t care for a lot of makeup on a woman, but he did appreciate her long multicolored hair and bare legs.
“I know my aunt used to talk to her hairdresser all the time,” he prodded. “Did Isabella happen to mention what this special occasion was about?”
“Isabella was never at my work alone. Her bodyguard was never more than five feet away and could always hear what we were saying. This time she locked them out of the bedroom, while she changed her clothes.”
“She didn’t mention...anything?”
“I’m not sure I know what you’re getting at. Isabella had lots of money. Why wouldn’t her husband’s enemies just kidnap her?”
“That’s one of the things I’m trying to find out, Kenderly.”
Was there something too innocent in her wide eyes? Something she was holding back? Or was he too paranoid, after losing not one, but two women to an assassin? Naw, she was holding something back. She’d said “husband’s enemies,” and that meant she knew. She just didn’t trust him yet.
“Is that horrible man going to try and kill me again?”
If we’re lucky he’ll be after us both. It was easy to think that. As a Texas Ranger he wanted the guy to find him.
It would be harder to involve an innocent woman. He’d held Kenderly’s hair away from her face as she lost her cookies in the driveway. He couldn’t afford to have a personal attachment.
Yeah, the sensitive guy inside him winced at the thought of using her as bait. The investigative ranger didn’t have a choice. If his captain ordered it, he’d have to act.
One of the most gorgeous male specimens Kenderly had ever encountered had choked while laughing at her. She wished she knew what he and his captain were talking about outside. The captain seemed to have brought news Garrison didn’t really want to hear.
She’d been introduced while the murder weapon was locked away in the captain’s trunk. Now she was eating toast at the kitchen window and watching the men talk.
Captain Oaks was calm, watching her from where he stood in the backyard. His hands were behind his back, as stoic and sturdy as his name. But her rescuer waved his hands, disagreeing or in disbelief. She could make out the words no and no way. Just a few minutes before he’d said “hell, no” loud enough to be heard in the next county.
Garrison adamantly refused whatever his new assignment required. The only movements that were relaxed at all were reaching down to pet Clementine or take her ball and throw it again. Such a normal action that he performed without thinking.
He hadn’t broken a sweat saving her life today. Confident. Cocky. Extremely good-looking. A little arrogant. And sweet, sweet Thelma, he rode a motorcycle like it was nobody’s business.
Her fingers tangled in the mess that was now her hair.
The long extensions were so matted that she couldn’t unclip them from her head. The wind had done permanent damage, and it would take hours of combing to make them wearable again. She headed to the bathroom to see if she could get them loose. Bear followed and sat in the doorway, then slid to his belly.
“I suppose you’re used to the door staying open,” she said gently to him, stroking the old boy on the head. She looked in the mirror and almost screamed. “I look like a middle-aged drug addict.”
The slate liner was smudged under her eyes and halfway down her cheeks. She had no way to repair the damage, other than removing all the makeup. She had nothing except her cell. Her makeup case, purse, keys and car had all been left at the Tenoreno estate.
How was she going to get to work? Or work without her supplies, for that matter? Everything was in that bathroom or her Beetle. Her ID, debit card, checkbook...how would she even eat until they could be replaced?
But she couldn’t feel sorry for herself. Isabella and Trinity had lost much more than supplies or money.
Much more.
The men hadn’t opened the jewelry case yet. It had also been locked in the captain’s trunk almost immediately. Neither of them asked what was inside. They’d just assumed it was important. Probably because she’d asked to go back for it.
She took a deep breath and tried to slow her racing heart. Turning
