Free Calder Storm by Janet Dailey Page A

Rutledge’s son, Boone, with one of the technicians working there, but we can’t find any tie to Rutledge himself. The few people in the area who were willing to talk to us about it all pointed fingers at Boone as the one giving the orders. In my opinion, Rutledge got to all of them and turned his dead son into a scapegoat. As much as I hate to admit, Jessy,” he said with a wry grimace, “when it comes to the trouble you had at the Cee Bar, we’ve come to a dead end.”
    â€œWhat about his other activities?” A thoughtful frown creased her forehead.
    â€œIt isn’t much better. You can fill her in, Doug.” Walters leaned back in his chair to let his associate take over.
    â€œWe can document hundreds of incidents where his tactics have been heavy-handed, and all of it right on the borderline of being illegal. When we dug deeper into his past business activities, I thought we had found something. Remember when all those savings-and-loan scandals erupted in Texas a few years back? Well, Rutledge was implicated in a number of them, but the Feds hit a stone wall when it came to proving it, which is why he was never indicted. It was a cold trail, but we followed it anyway. Unfortunately, it soon became obvious that those who might have been able to implicate Rutledge were all dead. Some died in prison and others of natural causes.”
    â€œI know Chase isn’t going to like hearing this, Jessy, but we’ve pretty well run out of leads to follow,” Walter concluded.
    â€œYou’re right. He won’t like it.” Jessy agreed. “He’s convinced Rutledge represents a potential threat to the family. Like Quint, Chase was hoping you would find something that we could hold over his head.”
    â€œSo far we’ve struck out. But we’ll keep digging if that’s what you want.”
    â€œIt’s what Chase wants,” she replied, leaving little doubt that while she ran the Triple C operation, Chase Calder still ruled it.
    â€œAny particular avenue you want us to pursue?” Walters asked, then turned toward Trey. “You haven’t said much during this, Trey. Have you got any thoughts?”
    Conscious of being the cynosure of all eyes at the table, Trey had to scramble for an answer. Personally, he didn’t share his grandfather’s concern about Rutledge. But that wasn’t the Calder line.
    â€œI’d concentrate on the anthrax angle,” he said. “If Rutledge has paid somebody to keep his mouth shut, then that person came into some cash, a new job, college tuition for his kids, or an operation for the wife. Something changed hands somewhere.”
    â€œYou’re right. We looked for the obvious cash trails, but there are always others.” Walters glanced at the other investigator, a gleam of new possibilities in his look.
    A discussion followed, going over the options. But with little of substance that could be added, the meeting began to break up.
    Trey made his exit at the first opportunity, a fact Jessy was quick to note. She stayed to the last, shaking hands with both men as they left.
    Seconds after the door closed behind them, Laredo slipped into the room. His eyes made a quick skim of the room, verifying she was alone, then made a thorough examination of her expression. He cocked his head to one side. “How’d it go?”
    â€œAfter five months, basically they have nothing.” Jessy scratched her name across the credit card chit and slipped a copy of it in her pocket before turning to him. “Somehow Rutledge has succeeded in shifting all the blame to Boone. Convenient, isn’t it?”
    â€œVery.” Seeing the frustration in her face, he decided a change of subject was in order. “I noticed Trey left early.”
    Jessy pulled in a quick, cleansing breath and nodded. “He said he had to get to the fairgrounds. Why, I don’t know. The team race isn’t until