Guardian of Justice (9 page)

She held up a hand to silence him. The emotion of all of this was getting to her. “I’ll be right back with the file. Let’s focus on that.” She raced upstairs to her room, where she’d hidden it.

Kira took a deep breath, collapsed against the closet door and closed her eyes. “God, please help Dallas and me to find Mickey and figure out what he wants, and soon. And if you have a chance, help Dallas see through his pain to let others in, especially someone who could love him the way he needs to be. I see how hard he’s trying to make me believe he’s a tough, cynical cop, but all I see is the compassionate man who would walk on broken glass to protect others. And if that someone isn’t supposed to be me, would you take my rose-colored glasses off?”

Dallas had finished cleaning the kitchen in a matter of minutes, leaving him too much time to wonder what was taking Kira so long. He studied the framed collage of snapshots of her and her brothers. What was it she said about the other brother who wouldn’t be showing up?Though some of the photos were from when they were young, he didn’t see a fourth boy in any of them. Had one of them died? Or was it a brother from her birth family?

The Matthews’ looked like a happy family, despite the fact that their father was a cop and they had an adopted sister. Other than the different skin color, one would never guess they weren’t full siblings. Finger “bunny ears” and goofy smiles hadn’t missed this family. While most brothers picked on sisters, the Matthews boys seemed protective of Kira, more than if she had been their natural sister.

He wondered if she planned on having a family. While she’d ended up in a happy home, she’d also mentioned running away from foster homes and having a mysterious brother that she apparently hadn’t forgotten. Dallas’s focus landed on a picture of Ted and Kira when she was very young. She had the biggest smile and a tight grip on her dad’s neck.

“I see you found Mom’s wall of memories,” Kira said from behind him. She had an oversize manila envelope in her arms and motioned toward the sofa.

“It’s a cool idea. I think I’ll look for those frames for my mom’s birthday. She’d love it, too.” He didn’t want to tell Kim how much it revealed about her family.

Dallas followed her to the table, where she was spreading out the contents of the envelope. Photos and phone messages spilled across the surface. “All this is from that night?” he said, as he pulled out a chair for Kira, then scooted one close to her for himself.

“Nope, their mom has been through this several times before. Which is why I’m going to proceed with a permanent placement for Betsy and Cody as soon as things settle down. Their mother’s had several chances and can’t stay clean for more than a few months. We didn’t realize it until we entered her name in the state registry. We immediately heard from Denver County Child Services, and they sent several more documents to help our cause.”

Dallas looked at the photos of the night they’d taken the children from their Antelope Springs home, and even older pictures, when Betsy was in an infant carrier. “Don’t get me wrong, they seem like okay kids, but surely you can’t devote yourself this much to every child you work with. Why do these two mean so much to you?”

She was silent for a while. “Because…” She faltered, “Wow, I haven’t consciously thought about it since that night, but remember when Cody told you he could take care of his sister?”

Kira looked into his eyes and waited.

Dallas tried to remember, but couldn’t. “I’m sorry, I don’t recall that. What happened?”

“You were carrying Betsy to the car for me. She was upset, and Cody took her from you and said he’d take care of her.” Kira’s voice was so soft, her gaze so distant, that Dallas had no doubt she was reliving every moment of that night. “Ever since then, I knew I had to keep them together at all costs. They remind me of my brother, who was taken away from me.”

Dallas set the pictures on the pile and turned to face Kira, resting his elbow on the back of their chair.

“When my parents died, my stepdad’s family took my brother, because he was a blood relative and they felt obligated.”

Dallas nodded, fearing he knew the rest.

“They didn’t want me because I’m not their family. Ted—Dad, I mean—was the officer who met with the social worker after the accident, and who had come to tell us we had to go into foster care. He watched them turn me away.” Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Oh man, that’s cruel.” Dallas extended his arm and touched her shoulder. Immediately she snuggled against him, and he rested his cheek against her head.

“Dad promised he’d find a good home for me, and he did, but it took a long time to get through all of the paperwork and find all the loopholes. Cody and Betsy need each other. I can’t let anything happen to them.”

“I understand.” Dallas loosened his arms and looked at her, thinking how blessed the two children were to have Kira in their corner.

A few minutes later, Dallas felt his phone vibrate, but he ignored it. He could call whoever it was back. Seconds later the doorbell rang, and Kira jumped.

Dallas pulled his phone off his belt. “Wait…” He looked at the phone, punching buttons. “My cell just rang.” They both stood, and Dallas checked to see who was calling. “It’s your brother, uh, Kent? Is he the narc?”

“Yeah,” she said, glancing toward the foyer as she heard keys jangling against the door. “It must be Mom and Dad home already. Why is my brother—?”

Before Dallas could get past Kira, the door, swung open to reveal Kent standing there, a phone to his ear. “Hey, I was just calling you.” He looked at Kira, then Dallas, and grinned sheepishly.

Dallas closed his phone and clipped it back to his belt. “Yeah, I recognized the number. What’s up?”

“Where are Mom and Dad? Do they know you have company?” Kent asked with a suspicious look in his eyes.

Kira put her hand on her hip. “Don’t even start with me, Kent. Why are you here? And why are you calling Dallas?”

“I figured you’d miss Mutt and Jeff grilling Dallas.” Her shaggy-haired brother laughed. “I need you both to come with me. Mickey’s in Denver.”

“They have him in custody?” Kira felt the mood brighten.

Kent shook his head. “Well, sort of. He’s dead.”

TWELVE

Kira stacked all the papers into the file and put it back in the envelope. Before they left town, she ran up to her room and put it away. She might be a skeptic, but until she saw for herself, she wasn’t going to believe that Mickey Zelanski was no longer a threat.

When she returned to the foyer, Kent was waiting for her. Dallas was nowhere in sight. “You really like him, don’t you?” her brother asked.

“Shh!” Kira said, covering his mouth with her hand. “Where is he?”

Kent brushed her hand away. “He went out to his car. He offered to drive.” Her brother was staring at her. “Man, you have it bad!”

“I do not!” she insisted, looking for her purse. “Did you call Dad?”

“He didn’t answer, so I left him a message.” Kent lifted her purse from behind the coat rack. “Here, is this what you’re looking for?”

She groaned. “How do you do that?”

He shrugged. “I’ve been married for ten years, so I know how women think.”

“Renee might argue with you about that,” Kira said with a laugh.

“I beg to differ. Care to test me?”

She thought a minute about how to stump him. “Fine, go ahead.”

He smiled. “You sure you want to go there, sis?”

“Sure. I’m in a good mood,” Kira declared.

“Okay, but remember who asked for it.” He touched his fingers to his forehead and closed his eyes. “You’re thinking ‘I like Dallas, and I don’t care if my brothers don’t.’”

She tried to hide her shock. “Not even close.”

Kent laughed out loud. “Close enough, though. For the record, you’ve got good taste this time.”

“Why, because he’s a cop?”

“It definitely gives us something to talk about with this guy. Better than that astrophysicist. And it’s clear Mutt and Jeff must approve, or they wouldn’t razz Dallas. You know, it’s a brother’s duty to chase off the riffraff. But I think Dallas could be good for you.”

“I don’t think I asked for your approval,” she said as she headed out the door. “And I don’t need Mutt and Jeff’s help chasing guys off, either. Too bad you weren’t this concerned for the people involved with Mickey.”

Kent let out a groan. “Oh come on, I know you don’t want to face reality, Kira, but Zelanski’s only one of several dozen drug dealers that we’re watching.”

“Well, someone wasn’t watching very closely. Those kids aren’t easily missed.”

“We didn’t know that kids were connected in any way. You know me better than that. Whether you like it or not, Kira, sometimes the bad guys stay one step out of our reach.”

She stopped, then turned to face him. “I’m sorry,” she said as she hugged him. “It’s just that I think you leap tall buildings in a single bound. So it’s not easy finding out you’re human. Not to mention it’s been a lousy week.” She held on tight before letting him go. “And as far as the other subject, cool it. Even if I am interested, he’s not.”

Kent closed and locked the door behind them. He chuckled. “We’ll have to fix that.”

“Oh no, you don’t. If I want your help, I’ll ask for it,” she insisted. She’d been through a lot of emotional upheaval lately, and Dallas had been there for her. Despite telling her brothers that he wasn’t interested in a relationship, she had a gut feeling that he was changing his mind about the matter. In the meantime, she was content getting to know more about him before they dated. She wanted a forever friend. A permanent relationship. That couldn’t be found in a few weeks. Or could it? She had a lot to pray about tonight.

Two hours later, Kira, Dallas and her brother had finally made it through Denver traffic and police red tape and were staring at a sheet covering the suspected body of Mickey Zelanski, wondering who had killed him, and why.

“Let us know if this is the man you saw, Kira.”

Her heart beat faster as the coroner started to pull back the sheet. She closed her eyes, remembering the face of the man trying to break into the cruiser. Surely it wouldn’t be the same one. She felt a strong arm embrace her.

“Kira, it’s okay. Your brother and I are here with you. Just take a quick look and it’ll be over,” Dallas said in a deep, comforting tone.

It was hard to breathe as she opened her eyes. She inhaled quickly, then instinctively held her breath, shock hitting her in the stomach. She nodded. “That’s him.”

Kent discussed the specifics with the local homicide detective as Kira tried not to embarrass herself by losing her dinner.

“You don’t have to stay in here,” Dallas told her, passing his palm to her back to help her out of the morgue.

“Any personal belongings on him?” she heard her brother ask as she rushed out the door, with Dallas on her heels, determined to keep up with her. Kira inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the nonpungent oxygen. She paced the hallway, willing her brother to hurry.

“Nothing on his person,” she heard the investigator say. “Death seems to be—”

Kira plugged her ears. Her stomach couldn’t take much more tonight. She dragged in another deep breath.

Dallas patted her shoulder as she made another lap past him. “You need a soda or something?”

“No, thanks,” she muttered, ignoring his attempt to comfort her. She didn’t dare stop pacing, for fear she might collapse into his arms and never let go. Kira wanted tonight over with. She wanted to be alone. She wanted privacy so she could fall apart. She wanted to let go and cry. “I’m fine, if you need to go back in there,” she said to Dallas, hoping he would take the hint. She didn’t need a witness to her continued struggle.

“I can hear okay from here.” He stayed next to the door, but kept an eye out for her. She felt like a child. She couldn’t deny that it was nice to have his attention, even if it was getting old being the damsel in distress.

As she watched Dallas strain to keep up on the investigation, she wondered what he was like when he wasn’t in police officer mode. What had brought him from Phoenix to rural Colorado? Antelope Springs wasn’t exactly the center of the universe, but she’d grown up in the area, and called it home.

She glanced at Dallas, hoping he wasn’t a mind reader. Feeling horribly guilty that her thoughts were nowhere near the case involving the dead man in the next room, she looked down the hall, in the opposite direction of Officer Dallas Brooks.

Suddenly, she realized she hadn’t found out much about Dallas. What she did know was important, but she hadn’t gotten to know him nearly well enough to explain these feelings. He might be heroic, but when the crisis was over, would he be content to spend his nights off watching a movie and eating popcorn? Joining a couples’ Bible study? Did he believe in God on the surface, or was it a deep, lasting faith? She knew from her own family that faith had to come from within, as the duties of the job often kept police officers from attending church services. God, I don’t understand what all of this is about. Is it over now? Does that mean I won’t see Dallas again? Why did you bring him into my life?

Kira collapsed on the sofa in the waiting room. She heard the door open again, and watched Dallas go back into the examination room.

Dallas waited until Kira had stopped pacing and sat down in the waiting area before he returned to the morgue, where the investigator, medical examiner and Kent were discussing Mickey’s death. Dallas asked to see what evidence they’d bagged from the crime scene.

The police investigator held up a clear bag. “His wallet was cleaned out and dumped at the end of the alley.” Kent held it up to the light and examined it while the next piece of evidence was handed to Dallas. “We found this in the very bottom corner of the bill slot. Whoever cleaned him out was thorough. His driver’s license and the wallet were several hundred feet away from each other. We’re still trying to figure out why they left it behind.”

Kent studied the scrap of paper through the plastic. He pulled out his cell phone and took a close-up photo of the numbers scribbled on the corner. “Whoever killed him wanted the body identified,” he said without emotion. “It’s my guess they’re sending a message to their other dealers.” He drew out the word dealersas if he’d thought of a new angle on the investigation. “Give us a few days before you release this to the press. I have a hunch I’d like to follow. And be sure to let me know what you find on the prints from the wallet.”

“Sure thing,” the investigator responded.

Kent signed some paperwork and they joined Kira.

“Do you know any of Zelanski’s contacts?” Dallas asked Kent as they walked back to the car.

“Say, I’m starved. You two mind if we stop for a bite to eat?” he said instead of answering.

“No-o-o, thank you,” Kira said, in as polite a tone as she could muster. “But you can get something if you want.”

They pulled through a fast-food restaurant to get Kent supper on their way back to Fossil Creek.

“So anyway, we were working on Zelanski’s dealers,” Kent finally replied. “We were getting close, and then Zelanski disappeared off the radar. We’d catch a clue, follow the lead, and then he’d vanish again.”

A few minutes later, Dallas merged onto the interstate. “Sounds like Zelanski made your informant.” He tapped the steering wheel with his fingers as the Denver traffic came to a standstill.

“That’s what we thought,” Kent continued. “It had been quiet for a few weeks, then last weekend he was back in business…same cell number, but we couldn’t ever find him. We’re working with the Drug Enforcement Administration on the case.”

“That was after we uncovered his supply, right?” Dallas asked. “Maybe he wasn’t calling anyone because the meth hadn’t arrived.”

“Well,” Kent said hesitantly, “we have another hunch about that, too, and this homicide fits right in with that suspicion. The newer shipments of meth coming through the region are higher quality, which is putting a real crimp in the market. The dealers are getting complaints from their users about the diluted stuff. They want the high grade meth.”

“This wasn’t a meth kitchen, right?” Kira looked to Dallas. “I mean, I didn’t see any of the usual signs of a meth kitchen.”

Kent interrupted. “New restrictions have put a crimp in the production of meth. This case we’ve been building brings the purest stuff in from labs along the Mexican border. They use Mexican nationals to bring the drugs into the United States. We’re right on the interstate, so it’s a direct route, and the nationals easily blend in with the population in the area.”

Kira was beginning to follow their thinking. “But that doesn’t explain why Mickey was after me. I don’t have anything that would matter to him.”

Kent picked up on another idea. “That’s true, but you know where Betsy and Cody are, and who knows how much they know? Looks like we need to visit with Mickey’s girlfriend and the children, see how this news hits them.”

“It’s also possible that Mickey was calling his mules to warn everyone that he’d be late on his delivery. He’s on the run, trying to keep his supplier happy while he pulls together the cash…” Dallas was thinking out loud. “He’s getting panicked that he can’t get the dope to his runners, to get the cash. He doesn’t want to tell anyone that the DEA has his merchandise.”

“I think there’s more to it than that. We had him connected to Raul Sorento drug kingpin of the Rockies. A few weeks ago, someone intercepted Raul’s shipment as it left Nevada. I suspect you found the shipment. Mickey’s edgy and Sorento’s been a little cranky ever since. He’s got his thugs running all over the place, trying to find his supply. This is the second death we can connect to him this week.”

“Let’s go talk to Cody as soon as we get to town,” Dallas insisted.

“Wait a minute,” Kira exclaimed. “It’s almost ten, Dallas. By the time we get to the ranch it will be midnight. We can’t barge in there now.” She let out a loud yawn. “I can go get Cody and Betsy in the morning. Now that Mickey’s gone, they need to be back in their own school.”

Dallas turned his head momentarily, since she was in the back seat. “Did Cody ever tell you what started the fight between him and Mickey?”

“No.”

“So where is he, exactly?”

“On our aunt and uncle’s ranch on the Colorado-Nebraska,” Kira announced. “Too far away to head out there now.”

Kent vouched for the fact that they weren’t going to see Cody tonight. “I can’t imagine anyone who doesn’t know the way finding the place, especially at night,” he stated. “We know where it is, and I’vegotten lost going out there.”

“Tomorrow then, we need to talk to all of them.”

“I know, I know. I’ll get them back here.”

Traffic on the interstate was slow moving, with frequent long stops due to overnight road construction. Even as midnight approached, there wasn’t a break in the line of cars. Kira found herself dozing off, waking occasionally to hear Dallas and Kent in nonstop conversation. But despite her efforts, she couldn’t stay awake.

She slept until Dallas pulled to a stop in front of her parents’ house. Her brother helped her out of the car, and she realized what a disaster her evening with Dallas had been.

“Kira,” Dallas said, leaning across the seat. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” she murmured, feeling more than a little disappointed about the way the evening had turned out, even though it wasn’t ever intended to be a date. “Sorry we missed dessert.”