Free Lingerie and Lariats (Rough & Ready#7) by Cheyenne McCray

through the window, still shouting at her.
    “Did he harm you in any way?” Officer Martin asked Renee.
    “Not here.” She shook her head. “He just wouldn’t let go of my arm.”
    “What happened to your cheek?” Officer Martin gestured to Renee’s face.
    She reached up and touched the sensitive skin and winced. She hesitated for only a moment. “Jerry hit me last night.”
    Officer Martin wore a serious expression. “Please explain what happened last night and today.”
    Renee took a deep breath then told the officer about Jerry hitting her and forcing her to sleep on the floor.
    Then she explained about Jerry being her financial advisor and he’d had permission to sign on her accounts. She explained how much money was missing so she closed out the accounts and put the funds into a new one.
    She also told Officer Martin that Jerry had taken her belongings including her credit cards and driver’s license, and had her clothing, and that one of the two cell phones taken from his pockets was hers. At the last moment she added that Jerry had threatened to kill her.
    Officer Martin’s expression was grim. When the officer finished taking Renee’s statement, she was told that her belongings would be returned to her after they took Jerry in. She would be contacted.
    And then Renee was free to go. Officer Martin asked Renee if she had anywhere to go without her belongings. Renee said a friend was coming and that she did have some cash and her passport.
    As the officers drove away, Jerry glared at her through the rear window as he mouthed threats.
    She shuddered and thanked God that the teller had been smart enough to call the cops and that Zane was on his way.

Chapter 8
    Dan frowned as he stood in his office and looked at the text message from Renee.
    Don’t ever call or text me again. I don’t want anything to do with you, especially after the way you got in Jerry’s and my business last night. I don’t want you ruining things between Jerry and me.
    The message didn’t sound like Renee and something told him that she hadn’t sent it. He’d bet his prize bull that Jerry Nelson had been the one to write and send the message.
    He sat in front of his computer monitor and pulled up Nelson’s record. Over a hundred unpaid parking tickets, but that was the only thing on his otherwise clean record. Still, Dan couldn’t help the feeling that something was wrong with the man. Real wrong.
    For a long moment he stared at the screen. On instinct, he pulled up the Internet browser and did a search for the Philadelphia Police District that Nelson lived in. Dan found it and dialed the number.
    When the operator answered, Dan explained who he was and the information he was interested in. He was transferred to an officer who looked up the parking tickets. All one hundred plus tickets were for the same address.
    The officer whistled through his teeth and told Dan that it was the address of a suspected drug dealer with ties to the Mexican drug cartel in the West. However the suspected dealer had no arrests or convictions. He always seemed to be one step of law enforcement.
    After he thanked the officer for the information, Dan disconnected the call, hair prickling at the nape of his neck. Nelson possibly had ties with a drug dealer in Philly, and through him, Nelson might have ties to the cartel.
    Fire went through Dan’s gut. He had to reach Renee. He looked up the number for the bed and breakfast that Nelson and Renee had stayed in. When he reached Angie, she told him that the pair had checked out early that morning.
    Dan thanked her and slammed down his desk phone.
    Where the hell could Renee and Nelson be? All that he knew was that he had to find her. And one way or another he would prove that Nelson was involved in something illegal and would make sure that the man spent some serious time behind bars.
    The phone rang. Dan answered, “Sheriff Cooper here.”
    “Sheriff, this is Zane Cameron.”
    “I’m glad you