Free No Escape by Mary Burton Page A

get the sense she’ll be sharpening her knives this afternoon.’
    Smiling, Brody kept his gaze ahead. ‘I’ll be sure to keep a lookout for a crazed blonde who favors rhinestones. She is still blond, isn’t she?’
    ‘She’s still blond but doesn’t favor the rhinestones much anymore.’
    ‘Good to know.’ He wove through town and was soon pulling onto I-35 headed south and wondering how he’d managed to start this Sunday morning talking about his ex-mother-in-law.
    She pursed her lips. ‘I mentioned Smith to Mom.’
    ‘You discuss your cases with your mother a lot?’
    ‘No, never. But he unsettled me yesterday. I shouldn’t be, but I am. I wanted to understand the root of the emotions, and I thought Mom could help.’
    Brody frowned. ‘Did she?’
    ‘ No.’
    After a brief silence, he said, ‘I spent the better part of the night trying to figure out your exchange with Smith.’
    She twisted in her seat toward him. ‘It all could have been a game. We don’t know if Smith was telling us the truth about the bodies.’
    He tipped his head. ‘Care to take a bet on whether Smith was lying or telling the truth?’
    She frowned, stared at him a beat and then shifted her gaze back to the road. ‘No.’
    ‘Smart.’
    They arrived at the crime scene at ten minutes after eight. A dozen DPS marked cars, lights flashing, and several black Ranger Broncos stood parked at the end of a long, winding, dirt road. Last night’s rain had cleared but had left the ground soggy and muddy. From her pack, Jo pulled out rubber boots and slipped them on over her flat shoes.
    Brody didn’t comment but she caught his sideways glance. In school he’d teased her about always being prepared. ‘You should have been a Boy Scout,’ he’d said.
    Her boots squished into sucking mud and a small, very nasty part of her hoped Brody was now ankle deep in mud. Closing the car door, she hefted her backpack on her shoulder and moved around the side of the car to meet Rangers Jim Beck and Rick Santos.
    Jim Beck was tall, muscular, with dark hair. Santos was as tall but his build leaner. Like Brody, both men wore the customary khakis, sport jacket, tie and cowboy boots with their white Stetsons.
    Her smile was genuine as she extended her hand to both Jim and Santos. ‘Not such a great way to start a day.’
    Jim shrugged and sipped from a black travel mug. ‘If Smith was telling the truth, it will be worth it.’
    Santos yawned, covering his mouth with the back of his hand. ‘More sleep would have been mighty welcome. But I reckon it’s not so bad.’
    Brody stood by Jo, extending his hand to the Rangers. The three had never been assigned to the same office until a couple of weeks ago, but a Ranger’s jurisdiction often crossed county lines into another territory. They’d all worked together on several cases, most recently an Austin kidnapping that ended with the suspect’s arrest in Houston.
    ‘There is no record of Smith owning this land. However, the registered “owner” is a corporation, which after some digging offered the name Tate Jones. We drill down a little deeper, I bet we find a link to Smith. But it explains why this property never popped up on our radar during the investigation.’
    Beck frowned. ‘I wonder what other corporations he’s set up and used as a front to buy property.’
    Brody stared at the wide-open land around them. ‘I hate to think.’ He shifted his attention back to the Rangers. ‘According to Smith, the bodies would be near what’s left of that barn. Are the guys here with the ground-penetrating radar?’
    A truck rolled down the long road, kicking up mud. The vehicle parked behind Brody’s car and two men in jumpsuits emerged.
    ‘Speak of the devil,’ Jim said. ‘Shouldn’t be long before they’re set up and ready to go.’
    A wind blew across the flat, scrubby land, and Jo burrowed deeper into her jacket. She’d intended to make a thermos of coffee but had not expected Brody to be in