LITMIR.BIZ

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found damage on the back bumper. Black paint was left behind from contact with another vehicle.”

      Matt muttered harshly. “Damn. Damn. I figured Lucita was right about the whole thing. She’s pretty levelheaded. So you haven’t said anything to her about this yet?”

      “Not yet.” He paused as the memory of Lucita’s face swam to the forefront of his mind. On the ride to the Sandbur, she’d been mostly quiet, her pretty features set in grim determination. He’d sensed there were all sorts of dark fears swimming around in her head and he’d desperately wanted to reassure her, to promise her that she had nothing to fear. But he couldn’t make anyone those sorts of promises and he’d been left feeling frustrated and helpless. “Uh—last night I got the impression that your sister was a woman with a strong constitution, but this sort of news would shake anyone. I thought it might be better if this news came from you, Matt.”

      “Well, you’re right about one thing—this shakes the hell out of me, Ripp. And it’ll do worse to Lucita. I don’t want her to know.”

      Ripp was so stunned he pulled the receiver away from his ear and stared at it as though he wasn’t sure he’d heard his friend correctly.

      “Matt! She has to know that someone was trying to harm her. The sheriff’s department has to investigate this matter. In fact, Lijah is already on his way over here to gather evidence to send to the crime lab.”

      “Investigate all you need, Ripp. But why worry Lucita any more than she already is?” Matt countered. “There’s not much we can do about it. Not unless you catch whoever it is. And I can’t see that happening. Not unless he shows his face.”

      “Thanks for the vote of confidence, ole buddy,” Ripp said tersely. “Guess you think all the sheriff’s department does around here is sleep or pick up kids for throwing soda cans on the sidewalk.”

      “Hell, Ripp. You know that isn’t what I mean!” Frustration was threaded through Matt’s voice. “It’s just that—this is my sister. And I can’t see how paint on a bumper can tell you anything! If you ask me, it’s got to be her ex. He always drove black, expensive sports cars. But if the Corpus police can’t find him, I hardly think the Goliad County Sheriff’s Department can!”

      If anyone else had said these things to Ripp, he would be seeing red. But Matt was his friend. Probably his best friend. And he understood the man was frustrated and even frightened for his sister’s safety.

      Ripp looked over at Lucita’s little red coupe. The front of the car was nothing more than crumpled fiberglass. He figured the only reasons she was still alive were the grace of God and the car’s air bag. Just the thought of someone out there plotting to do harm to such a lovely slip of a woman burned Ripp with anger.

      “So you believe it was her ex-husband who tried to run her down last night?” Ripp asked. “Why? What motive would he have for harming Lucita?”

      “Who the hell knows? Derek Campbell is crazy. That’s enough to worry me,” Matt blurted hotly, then added more calmly, “I’m sorry if I sound unappreciative, Ripp. I know you’ll do your best to get to the bottom of this. In the meantime I’ll talk with Lucita. I’m sure she won’t go along with the idea, but I’m going to try to talk her into letting the family hire a bodyguard for her. Or at least, in letting one of the wranglers drive her to and from work.”

      Ripp realized that trying to find the maniac who tried to run Lucita down would be like searching for one fire ant on an acre of pasture. Pretty nigh impossible. But he was a man who liked to beat the odds.

      “That might not be a bad idea. In the meantime I’ll ask around. Maybe somebody else was on the highway last night around the time of the incident. But that’s unlikely. At that time of the evening, hardly anyone travels that stretch of highway.” He reached for a pen. “You say Lucita’s ex’s name is Derek Campbell?”

      “Right.” Matt went on to give him the exact spelling before asking, “What are you going to do?”

      “Search for any information I can gather about the man,” he answered. The sound of an approaching vehicle had Ripp looking around just in time to see Lijah pulling into the salvage yard. “I gotta go, Matt. When you talk to Lucita you can also let her know that I’m dropping the reckless driving charges so she’ll only have to deal with the speeding ticket.”

      “Well, I guess that’s something positive, at least.”

      Remorse twisted Ripp’s lips. Last night the man in him had simply wanted to take Lucita’s statement as one hundred percent accurate, especially when she’d looked at him with those big brown eyes. But he was Sheriff Travers’s chief deputy and he’d been forced to follow the rules.

      “I’ll let you know if I make any headway, Matt. And if Lucita encounters anything strange on the highway or receives any sort of threat, call me. Day or night. Hear?”

      “God forbid, but if something else happens, you’ll be the first to hear it, Ripp.”

      A week later, Lucita was in her classroom at St. Francis High School, cramming the last of her geometry papers to be graded into a nylon tote bag. The bell announcing the end of the last class had rung more than thirty minutes ago and she’d finally gotten her desk straightened and everything packed that she needed to take home.

      The past week had been a trying one, with sporadic headaches and a slew of extracurricular activities after classes. Somehow she’d made it through without missing a day of work, but now she was totally exhausted. The only thing keeping her upright was the fact that it was Friday and she could hopefully catch up on sleep over the weekend.

      Pausing at the open door of the principal’s office, she waved a hand at the woman sitting behind the wide desk. “Have a good weekend, Maud.”

      The blond-haired principal gave her a weary smile. “You, too, Luci. And be sure and take care of that head.”

      Lucita absently touched a hand to the spot that her cousin Nicci had stitched together. The gash was healing, but still terribly sore.

      Her family had all been very upset about her accident. Matt had even been threatening to hire a private investigator and a bodyguard to watch over her. But she’d stood her ground. She didn’t want anyone following her around as if she was some sort of celebrity or politician who needed to be guarded from the public. And she certainly didn’t want a P.I. snooping into her privacy. She wanted to live like a normal person. Besides, she’d told them, it had probably been an angry student who’d simply been trying to scare her before the incident snowballed into an accident. Lucita wasn’t sure she’d convinced any of them. After all, she wasn’t entirely convinced, herself.

      From what Matt had told her, Ripp had sent paint chips from her car’s bumper to a crime lab in San Antonio. He was also searching for Derek’s whereabouts. But since she and Matt hadn’t heard from the deputy since then, it was evident he’d not found a substantial lead. Which wasn’t surprising. For the past three years Derek had slipped off the radar. But Lucita wasn’t going to dwell on her ex. He’d already ruined too much of her life. And why would he want to harm her now? He’d already gotten what he wanted—her money. He was a thief. Not a stalker.

      Smiling at the principal, she said, “Don’t worry. A couple of days of rest and I’ll be like new.”

      With a final wave, Lucita moved on down the wide corridor leading to the front exit of the building. At this time of the day the halls of the Catholic high school were eerily quiet. Normally, Lucita loved being around groups of energetic teenagers. From the first day she’d entered the fourth-grade classroom where Mrs. Baldwin made learning an exciting venture for the whole class, Lucita had set her heart on being just like the feisty teacher. And that decision hadn’t wavered as she’d grown into adulthood.

      Even marrying Derek at twenty-two and giving birth to Marti three years later hadn’t deterred her determination to get a degree in mathematics and her Texas teaching certificate. For the past twelve years she’d been teaching in a private school in Corpus

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