Smooth-Talking Texan Read online

  He was quiet for a moment, letting his words hang in the air. Benny had turned his gaze back to his hands again, his jaw set. Quinn went on, “What happens to them after you bring them to the old man’s house? Where do they go from there? Do you take them on or does somebody else do that? They just turning them loose in San Antonio or Austin? Or do they take them on, to work camps? Do you know about those? Have you seen them?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Benny said sullenly, glancing up at Quinn.

  “No, you probably don’t. They wouldn’t show them to you. They wouldn’t want you to know what happens to some of those guys you bring in. They wouldn’t want you to see the prisons where they stick them. That’s what they are, Benny. These people are looking for freedom, and what they get is stuck in a shack with no running water and a big locked fence all around the place to make sure they don’t get out at night. Concertina wire all along the top. They come in trucks in the morning to load them up and take them to their jobs. Working in some field all day in the hot sun. Or maybe stuck in a cramped, airless little factory turning out clothes. Then when it gets dark, they load them back up and take ’em out to the camp again, where they get a meal you’d turn your nose up at. Then they can go to sleep on a little cotton mattress on the floor—if the insects and rats let them, of course.”

  “Sheriff Sutton!” Lisa snapped. “What is the purpose of all this?”

  Quinn glanced at her and back to Benny. “I just thought Benny might like to know what happens to some illegals after they get brought into the country. It’s real damn easy to take advantage of people who are scared to go to the law, who don’t speak the language, who don’t want to be caught and sent back home.”

  “It’s very sad,” Lisa agreed in a clipped voice, “but it has nothing to do with my client.”

  “Is that right, Benny?” Quinn drawled. “You got nothing to do with illegal aliens?”

  “No!” Benny snapped. “I told you. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I think you do. But there’s more to it than that. It’s not just a question of smuggling in illegals. This man in the pictures…” Quinn tapped the photos again, his eyes boring into Benny’s. “He died of cocaine poisoning. There was a condom full of it in his colon, and it ruptured, started leaking. He wasn’t only an illegal, he was a mule. He was smuggling in drugs.”

  Chapter 8

  Benny’s eyes widened, and he pulled back in his chair. “You’re lying!”

  “No, I’m not,” Quinn replied quietly. “You’ve gotten yourself involved in smuggling drugs.”

  “No!” Benny shook his head. “I don’t know anything about that. I’m not smuggling nothing!”

  “How would you know if the people you’re driving are carrying the drugs inside them?” Quinn pointed out reasonably.

  “I’m not driving them! I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Benny said stubbornly. “And I don’t know that guy.” He shoved the pictures back across the table toward Quinn. “Leave me alone.”

  “Sheriff, my client has answered all your questions,” Lisa said firmly. “Unless you intend to charge Mr. Hernandez, it’s time that you released him.”

  Quinn looked at her. “No. I don’t plan to charge him with anything…yet.” He stood up, shoving back his chair, and his voice was charged with irritation. “Okay, Benny, you’re a real smart guy. You’ve got your lawyer. You’re going to stonewall it all the way to prison. You’re going to go down for your buddies. What do you care about these people dying? What do you care about the drugs they’re bringing in? You’re a tough guy.”

  He walked over and opened the door to the interview room, jerking his head toward the open doorway. “Go on. Get out.”

  Benny stood, jamming his hands in his pockets, and walked out the door, his head down. Lisa followed him, not looking at Quinn. She caught up with Benny as he pushed through the front door of the courthouse and started down the steps.

  “Benny, wait!”

  He stopped and turned. His face was pale, and his eyes big and dark in it. He looked very young and almost on the brink of tears.

  “I didn’t know that guy, Ms. Mendoza. I swear I’ve never seen him before in my life! You have to believe me.”

  “I do.”

  “He doesn’t.” He glanced toward the building.

  “The sheriff was fishing, Benny,” Lisa said confidently. “Trying to rattle you into saying something.”

  “But I couldn’t! I didn’t know him. I didn’t,” he repeated, as if it were a mantra. His face twisted. “God, I’ve never seen anything like that.”

  “It was gruesome. More cop tricks.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Benny still looked queasy.

  “Do you need a ride home?”

  “Nah. I think I’ll walk.”

  Lisa nodded. Benny looked as though he could use some time alone. Besides, she had a few things she wanted to say to the sheriff.

  She watched Benny walk down the steps, then she turned and marched back into the courthouse and through the hall to the sheriff’s office. She walked straight into Quinn’s private office and closed the door behind her. He stood up as she entered and came around the desk toward her.

  “Hey, darlin’.”

  “Don’t you ‘hey, darlin” me,” Lisa retorted. “You knew about this last night, didn’t you? And you didn’t say a word to me!”

  “Yeah, I knew.” He stopped, looking a little wary.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to haul Benny in here this morning? What kind of game are you playing with me? Is romancing the defense attorney one of your ploys for getting information?”

  “No!” Quinn’s brows rushed together. “How can you say that? I’m not playing any kind of game with you. Damn it, Lisa, I was trying to keep our personal and business lives separate. I wouldn’t have called up any other lawyer and said, ‘Hey, listen, I’m bringing in your client for questioning tomorrow, so get prepared for it.’ I couldn’t very well tell you. I can’t play favorites, Lisa.”

  “I’m not asking you to play favorites!” Lisa crossed her arms and turned away, walking over to the window to look out. She knew Quinn was right. He had treated her as he would have treated any other attorney, as far as bringing Benny in for questioning went. What she was feeling, she realized, was hurt because he hadn’t treated her specially because of his affection for her. She was reacting like a girlfriend, not a lawyer.

  “I’m sorry,” she said stiffly, continuing to look out the window instead of at him. “You’re right. You were acting professionally. I was not.”

  “You weren’t unprofessional.”

  “No.” Lisa turned back to face him squarely. “I was. I wanted you to give me special treatment.”

  “It’s only natural—”

  “Yes, it probably is. But that’s exactly the reason why it’s a bad idea to mix our professional and personal lives.” Lisa was swamped with a wave of sadness. “I should never have done this.”

  “Wait. What are you talking about? You should never have done what?”

  “Gotten involved with you. It’s all wrong. I’ve let my personal feelings get all mixed up with my job. It’s not fair to my client. It’s not fair to you.”

  “Honey, it’s not that bad.” Quinn went to her, reached out to pull her into his arms comfortingly.

  “No.” Lisa twisted away. “You wouldn’t be putting your arms around some other attorney because he felt bad.”

  Quinn chuckled. “No. I’ve never been attracted to those guys, frankly.”

  “I’m serious. It’s unfair. It makes all our dealings about my client questionable. Are you going easy on me? Am I favoring you?” She looked back at Quinn, and it felt as if a knife were being twisted in her chest. “It’s not feasible. I can’t go on seeing you.”

  “What?” Quinn looked stunned. “Because of this one thing?”

  “It’s not just this one thing. Benny is obviously a suspect in y
our case. I don’t know how far you intend to go with it. For all I know, it could end up in a trial. I cannot allow the case to be tainted because I was dating the sheriff!”

  “No. Lisa, come on. We can deal with it. We can work something out. You’re not used to separating your work from your feelings. It took you by surprise. But with a little practice—”

  “I don’t want to have to separate my work from my feelings,” Lisa retorted. “I am very involved with what I do. I bring my emotions to it. How can I effectively defend my client when I—when I care for you? You are the enemy at that moment, and I have trouble seeing you as that.”

  “You are not going to shortchange Benny because you like me,” Quinn said. “You’re too good a lawyer for that.”

  “It works the other way, too, you know. Today, in that room, when I looked at you, and your eyes were so hard and flat—it scared me. It was as if you were another person. I didn’t like that. I don’t want to feel that way.” She shook her head. “I was wrong to go out with you. I—we—I have to stop seeing you.”

  There was a moment of shocked silence. Then Quinn said softly, “Lisa, no, there’s got to be some other way.”

  “What?”

  “It’s just one case. If you feel that there’s too much conflict of interest, then you can resign as his attorney. Turn the case over to someone else.”

  “Oh, I see,” Lisa flared, anger sparking in her and wiping out the pain in her chest. “I’m supposed to give up my job now? Anytime I have a client whose interests come into conflict with your job, I should just drop my client?”

  “That’s not what I said,” Quinn replied, irritated. “I’m talking about one case. You aren’t willing to step aside on one case? I thought there was something special between us. You aren’t willing to give up one client for what we have?”

  “Let me ask you this,” Lisa retorted. “Are you willing to jettison this case? Are you willing to give up your job for me?”

  “It’s not the same. Lisa, be reasonable.”

  “No, you be reasonable,” Lisa shot back heatedly. “This was all a mistake. Goodbye, Quinn.”

  “Lisa!” He started toward her, but she hurried out the door, leaving him behind her.

  She had been a fool, Lisa told herself harshly. She had known it was a mistake to get involved with Quinn, but she had been too attracted to him to listen to reason. The last thing she had needed was a relationship, especially with the sheriff of the county.

  Ahead of her she saw the Moonstone Café, and, on impulse, she turned into it. She could get something to eat and take a few minutes to calm down. Surprisingly, there were only three cars parked in front, so it was also possible that Elizabeth Morgan might be free to sit down and talk. Lisa had liked her, and the thought of talking to a fellow transplant from Dallas was appealing.

  She parked and walked up to the front door, then stopped when she saw the Closed sign on the door. Below it, a square sign listing the hours for the restaurant confirmed that it was closed on Mondays. Lisa sighed, disappointed, and turned back toward her car.

  Before she reached it, the front door of the café opened behind her, and someone called, “Lisa!”

  She turned to see Elizabeth standing in the doorway, dressed in slacks and a blue T-shirt, her dark, curling hair piled up in a casual knot atop her head.

  “You want some dinner? Come on in.”

  Lisa turned and walked back to her. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to put you out. I didn’t realize you were closed on Mondays.”

  “Yeah, it’s my day off. I have some friends that usually come over and we have supper and talk. Why don’t you join us?”

  “Oh, no, I couldn’t…”

  “Sure. It’s no problem. It’s just us girls. Eve and Meredith would love to meet you.” When Lisa hesitated, she went on in the tone of one offering a temptation, “I made lasagna….”

  “Mmm.” Lisa smiled. “That settles it. I can’t resist.”

  She followed Elizabeth into the café. It looked a little strange, empty like this. Two women were seated at a table that lay close to the bar and to the kitchen, and they turned toward Elizabeth and Lisa as they approached.

  “Ladies, I’d like to introduce you to Lisa Mendoza,” Elizabeth told the women. “Lisa, this is Meredith Kramer, and the redhead over there is Eve Gallagher.”

  The two women greeted her in a friendly way, and Elizabeth motioned her toward the fourth seat. “What would you like to drink? I’m having beer. Meredith’s got hard lemonade. And I have soft drinks and such.”

  “Hard lemonade sounds nice.”

  “Coming right up.’

  Elizabeth moved off toward the small bar, and Lisa sat down in the chair that she had indicated. She smiled at the other two women, who were looking at her with frank interest.

  “Hi. I’m sorry to intrude.”

  “Heavens, no,” Meredith said in a soft voice, smiling. “It’s just a girls’ night out. It’s nice to have more ‘girls.”’

  “True,” Eve put in. “Besides, we’ve been dying to meet you.”

  “Eve…” Meredith said in an admonishing tone.

  “What?” Eve gave her friend an overly innocent look. “It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

  “You might at least let the poor woman catch her breath before you start an inquisition.”

  “Inquisition!” Eve’s look of outrage was as comical as her expression of innocence had been. “Well, I like that! Show a little friendly interest in a newcomer, and you call it an inquisition.” She swiveled toward Lisa, saying, “But now that Meredith mentions it, we want to hear all about you. And don’t leave out the part about the sheriff.”

  “The sheriff?” Lisa could feel the blush rising in her cheeks.

  “Eve, behave.” Meredith, too, turned toward Lisa. “Don’t pay any attention to her. If I didn’t know her mother, I would say she wasn’t raised right. But since I do know Mrs. Gallagher, I know it’s that Eve didn’t listen.”

  Eve chuckled. “I’m sorry, Lisa. I shouldn’t put you on the spot. We’ll get to know you first…then we’ll pepper you with questions about Quinn.”

  “You know Sheriff Sutton?” Lisa could not keep from asking.

  She also could not keep from thinking that the odds were that Eve Gallagher was someone Quinn had probably dated. She was a slender, attractive woman with short red hair and bright green eyes. She had a wide smile, and there was a twinkle in her eyes that hinted at mischief. She was dressed in jeans and a tailored blue blouse, with battered cowboy boots on her feet. With her looks and personality, Lisa could well imagine Quinn being attracted to her. From her own experience she knew full well exactly how appealing Quinn was, so it would not be at all unlikely, given the size of population in Angel Eye, that the two of them would at least have gone out, if not more.

  “Oh, sure,” Eve agreed readily. “I went to school with him. He was three years ahead of me, though, so he never paid me much attention.” She added with a smile, “We never dated, though, if that’s what you’re wondering. Two redheads—can’t see that working.”

  She leaned forward with an engaging grin. “Tell you what, we’ll tell you everything we know about Quinn if you’ll tell us what you know.”

  “Ignore her,” Elizabeth said, returning with Lisa’s drink. She put it down on the table in front of Lisa and sat down.

  “Well, I like that.” Eve made a face.

  “Have you lived here all your life?” Lisa asked in some amazement. “Both of you?”

  Eve let out a whoop of laughter. “Yeah. Hard to believe, isn’t it?”

  “I’m sorry,” Lisa said quickly, embarrassed. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

  “Sure, you did. And it’s understandable,” Eve replied. “My whole life all I ever wanted was to get away from Angel Eye. I left after high school, swearing never to return.” She shrugged, giving a wry grin. “But here I am, back again.”

  “You could hardly have done anything else,
” Meredith told her. “Your mother needed your help.”

  Lisa turned toward the other woman. Meredith looked the polar opposite of her friend. She was dressed in a skirt, jacket and blouse, all in tones of beige and still crisp in appearance even though it was the end of the day. Her smooth shoulder-length bob was dark blond, parted on one side, and her eyes were a quiet gray.

  “That’s true,” Elizabeth agreed.

  “My father has Alzheimer’s,” Eve explained to Lisa. “It got too much for Mom to handle all by herself—she needed someone to take over the business. Gallagher Realty.” She gestured toward her booted feet. I was out showing some land today. I don’t usually dress like such a cowgirl.”

  “I’m sorry about your father,” Lisa offered inadequately.

  “It happens, unfortunately. Mom’s the one who has really had it tough.” She turned the subject back to Lisa’s original question. “So I had to come back here. But Meredith, now, likes it in Angel Eye. She chose to stay here.”

  “It’s home,” Meredith said simply. She grinned at her friend. “Not everyone has a roaming spirit.”

  “And Elizabeth,” Eve went on merrily, “actually moved here of her own free will.”

  Elizabeth smiled. “I like small towns. My stress level went down about seventy per cent.”

  “Well, we were certainly all thrilled that you moved here,” Meredith assured her.

  “That’s true,” Eve agreed readily. “You definitely raised the quality of dining in Angel Eye.”

  “That doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Meredith added. “Before the Moonstone, there wasn’t much here but the Dairy Queen and Rosie’s Tacos on Fourth Street.”

  “It was a dining wasteland,” Elizabeth agreed. “That’s one reason why I chose it.”

  “What about you, Lisa?” Eve asked. “What brought you to Angel Eye?”

  “Well, actually I live in Hammond. But I came here because of a grant I got in law school.” She explained the grant and its conditions and her surprise at landing in a little town.