LITMIR.BIZ

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      Josette ran a gentle hand over Barnes’s silky fur. “You know, if men were more like cats, we’d never have wars,” she murmured. “All you guys do is eat and sleep and sleep some more. And you don’t drive trucks and wear muddy boots and cowboy hats.”

      Barnes opened one green eye and meowed up at her.

      She turned her attention back to the television set. “Too bad these writers never saw the inside of a courtroom,” she murmured as a defendant in the series grabbed a bailiff’s gun and started shooting jurors. “If a defendant ever tried to disarm our bailiff in superior court, he’d have his fingers bitten off on the way!”

      Chapter Four

      Before he got on his plane back to San Antonio, Marc stopped by Bib Webb’s second home in Austin. The Webbs lived there except during holidays and weekends, when they were at Bib’s San Antonio home.

      Silvia beamed when the butler showed Marc to the living room, where they were sharing cocktails with three other couples. Blond, beautiful and vivacious, she was a woman most men would covet. Marc liked her, but he found her a bit too aggressive and ruthless for his own taste. She was an asset to Bib, of course, who wasn’t at all pushy or aggressive by nature.

      “Marc, I didn’t know you were in town!” she exclaimed.

      “I’m doing some investigative work for Simon Hart,” he drawled with a grin. “You look prettier than ever,” he added, brushing his hard mouth against her blemishless cheek.

      “And you always look like a male model, darling,” she purred. “What sort of investigative work?” she added coquettishly, hanging onto his arm with her free hand while she sipped a martini held in the other.

      “A murder.”

      She paused with her eyes on her glass. “Anyone we know? I hope not!”

      “Dale Jennings.”

      There was a tiny tremor in the liquid of the crystal glass she was holding. She looked disconcerted. Probably, Brannon thought, her memories of Jennings were as uncomfortable as his own.

      She gazed up at him, then quickly composed herself. “Dale Jennings!” She put a hand on her low-cut bodice. “Jennings. That terrible man…! Bib!” she called to her husband, drawing his attention. “Someone has killed that Jennings man in prison!” she exclaimed, turning all eyes toward her.

      “Not in prison, Silvia,” Marc said easily.

      Her perfect eyebrows arched. “Excuse me?”

      “He broke out. Or, someone broke him out,” he replied carelessly as Silvia let go of his arm and moved to sit on the arm of the chair Bib was occupying.

      “He killed Henry,” Bib recalled with cold eyes. “I’m not sorry he’s dead!”

      “How did he get out of prison?” Silvia persisted.

      “I have no idea.” Marc refused the offer of a drink and was introduced to the people Bib was entertaining. He didn’t know them, but he recognized the names. They were very wealthy people from Austin.

      “Can you spend the night?” Bib asked Marc.

      Marc shook his head. “I have to be in San Antonio tomorrow morning. I’m going to be working the Jennings case along with the detectives in San Antonio. Simon’s sending a liaison investigator from his office out to help.”

      “Why?” Silvia asked suddenly, wide-eyed. “Jennings was a nobody! Why should the Texas Rangers and the attorney general be involved?”

      “He wasn’t a nobody,” Bib reminded her quietly. “He killed Henry. And Henry Garner was a very prominent man.” He studied Marc. “There’s something else about this, isn’t there?”

      Brannon nodded. “There may be some mob involvement. Specifically, Jake Marsh.”

      “Marsh.” Bib ground his teeth together. “Well, that tears it. If he’s implicated, it will really make headlines all over again, right?” he asked his friend with a grimace of distaste.

      “It’s already doing that,” Marc agreed, reading the undisguised worry in his friend’s handsome face. Beside him, Silvia looked as if she’d been frozen in place. He knew she hated bad publicity. “Don’t worry, Bib. It’ll be a nine-day wonder. Nothing more,” he assured his friend.

      “I hope so,” Bib said heavily. His eyes lowered and he toyed with a tiny piece of thread on a jacket button. “It brings back so many terrible memories.”

      “Oh, that’s all behind us now,” Silvia said at once, and smiled, but not with her eyes. She got to her feet abruptly, and a little clumsily. “Marc, you have a good trip back to San Antonio. And, you will let us know how it goes?”

      “Certainly.” He was curious about why Silvia seemed so eager to get rid of him. “Bib, how about walking me out?”

      “I’ll come, too,” Silvia said at once, apologizing to their guests.

      That was one of many things about Silvia that Marc didn’t like: She hung onto Bib like ivy. The man couldn’t get out of her sight. It had been like that since she was sixteen and seduced Bib into marriage, so that she could escape the unbearable poverty of her childhood. She never talked about it. Her father had fallen down a well and died just after the unexpected accidental death of her younger brother. Neither death had seemed to bother her much, although Marc was apparently the only one who’d noticed that, despite Silvia’s tragic past, she was curiously impervious to grief.

      “You haven’t told us all of it,” Bib said when they were out on the porch. His pale blue eyes narrowed. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

      Marc stuck his hands deep into his pockets. “The investigator Simon’s sending out to coordinate efforts with the Bexar County District Attorney,” he began reluctantly. “You might remember her. Josette Langley.”

      Silvia’s face flushed. “That bitch!”

      Bib looked weary. “Sil, it was a long time ago…”

      “That woman accused you of being the murderer! Do you think I could ever forget? She’ll stir up trouble, she’ll make false accusations, she’ll go to the media…!” Her voice rose, becoming shrill.

      “Calm down,” Bib said quietly, looking her straight in the eyes. He put a gentle hand on her nape and smoothed it up and down. “Calm down. Take deep breaths. Come on, Sil.”

      She did what Bib told her to. She still looked glassy-eyed, but she was quiet. Bib reached into a crystal bowl on the side table next to the open front door and produced a mint in a fancy wrapper. He placed it in her hands and waited while she unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. Candy calmed her in these odd outbursts. Once he’d thought she might be diabetic, but bloodwork disproved that theory. She refused to see a psychologist, despite his best efforts. She was violent in these rages, dangerously so. Once, she’d killed a favorite dog in one of them. In a way, Bib was glad they couldn’t have children. She was too unpredictable.

      Bib turned back to Marc, who was scowling worriedly. “Miss Langley was talking to Henry, before he was killed. She was a quiet woman, not the sort to enjoy a party. I couldn’t understand why she was dating Dale in the first place. He did work for Henry, against my advice. He was in close with Jake Marsh in San Antonio. I had problems with a campaign worker who was in Marsh’s pocket during the lieutenant governor’s race. I’m sure Marsh put Dale up to what he did,” he added bitterly.

      “That was never proven,” Silvia said sweetly. “I always thought the man was working on his own. I’m sure he had no real connection to Marsh.”

      “Then why was his body found near Marsh’s nightclub?” Marc wondered aloud.

      “Those sort of people can get killed anywhere,” Silvia said carelessly. “I wouldn’t waste state money on

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