The Wolf Code

Chapter 20

Senora drove down the highway, slowing down and watching the shoulder of the road for the almost unnoticeable dirt road that would lead her straight to Ty’s house.  When she found it, she smiled, though her stomach was in knots. 

Was she really doing this?

She pushed her uncertainty away and let go of her doubts.  What she was doing was sharing information with a colleague and asking for a safe place to stay for the night.  He could say no, and if he did, she would just drive to the airport and stay in a hotel onsite.  Even if he said yes, there was no guarantee that anything would happen, and being open to it wasn’t the same as scheming.

Liar, she thought, but she didn’t care.  She wanted to see him, and she wasn’t going to turn around now.  She couldn’t.  The trees on either side of the road were so close that the leaves brushed the car every now and then, and there was nowhere to execute a turn.  She was stuck going forward no matter what.

The rental car bounced and shimmied over rough road, and she made a mental note to always rent a truck from now on if she ever found her way back to Texas for a case.  A car just didn’t cut it.

When the village came into view, her heart started racing.  She was really doing this.  It had been just a few hours since she’d seen him, but it felt like forever.  As she parked next to his cabin and released her seatbelt, the weight of her exhaustion and the fight from the night before hit her.  These days in Texas had changed her, and she knew things now that she had never imagined were true.  She wasn’t going home the same person she was before. 

She shouldn’t have been surprised when Ty walked out of his house to greet her, clad in jeans and boots, his chest bare and his expression one of concern.

“Is everything alright?” he said.

“I have to show you something,” she said as she got out of the car.

“That sounds promising,” he teased, then tilted his head in the direction of the front door.  “Come on inside.”

She followed him in and set the journal on the table along with the file from Robin’s office.  Ty gathered up the papers he’d had spread across one side of the table, but not before she saw Hannah’s name on one of them.

She reached out and snagged it before he could get to it, then regretted it.

“I’m sorry; I thought it was related to the case and- I’m sorry, that was none of my business.”

“It’s fine,” Ty said.  “I’m not ashamed, I just don’t like to brag.”

“I’m glad that you’re taking care of her.  I was worried about her.  It’s not bragging to share information with a colleague.”

“We’re colleagues now?” he asked with one eyebrow raised.  “I hope that’s not a demotion.”

Senora couldn’t help but laugh.  She knew what he was getting at, but she was enjoying the chase and she needed to talk to him about Addie and Robin before she got too distracted.

“So, what exactly did you do for her?”

“I’m paying for round the clock healthcare for her father in their home, and I paid off their mortgage.”

“I thought their house was in foreclosure.”

He shrugged.

“A small-town bank has small town values.  Hannah was paying what she could on it every month, and the bank manager was letting it go.  When I talked to him, it sounded like he was hoping the father had life insurance that would eventually catch Hannah’s payments up and pay the house since it was in Mister Wise’s name.”

“That’s a little morbid.”

“It makes sense, though.  Now, he doesn’t have to worry about it.”

“Does Hannah know yet?”

“She knows about moving her father back into their house.  She started crying when I told her, and she wanted to go get him so she could get him out of that place, and I didn’t think she could handle any more good news.  I figure when she gets the deed in the mail and it’s paid in full, she’ll figure it out.”

They stood there in silence, and Ty’s smile widened.

“You’re not going to ask me where I got the money from?”

“It’s none of my business,” Senora said, though she was curious. 

“Fair enough,” he said, then nodded toward the journal.  “What’s that?”

“It’s Addie’s journal.  We were right about Robin; she wasn’t a bad guy.  We can’t ask her, but it looks like she took her life because she knew what the Sheriff was up to and she knew that she was in danger if he found out what she knew.  Once she found out that Addie had been violently murdered, I’m not surprised she thought taking her own life was the only way out.”

“We could have protected her.”

“She had no way of knowing that.  Once you realize you can’t trust everyone with a badge, you start to wonder if you can trust anyone with a badge.  I wish she would have given us a chance, but I can understand her fear that anyone could be in on it.  We still don’t know how many people were involved.”

“I know you’re right, I just hate that she couldn’t tell us the truth.”

“Well, between her records and Addie’s journal, the truth is here.  I’ll be recommending that this case get moved to Federal Court in Dallas, and hopefully, both of these will be admissible in court.”

“You’d better hold onto those so they don’t disappear.”

“I plan on making a copy for you and for the lead investigator, as well as one for the Prosecutor and an extra just in case.  I’ll hang onto the originals just in case.”

“Are they going to let you do that?”

“It’s my case, and now that I know the Gate Keeper is involved, this is just a small piece of a huge puzzle I’ve been trying to put together for a few years.  I’ll need this when I catch up with the Gate Keeper, and because of that, I’ll get to pull rank and keep all the originals.”