“If I can make it happen, he’ll be a new hire starting today,” Quinn said. “A new hire shouldn’t necessarily be suspicious, right? In a company that size, employees change every once in a while.”
Carly looked at Linc. “It could work. At least we’d have a plan.”
It was a plan. But his instincts were screaming it wasn’t a good one. Unfortunately at the moment, he didn’t have a better idea.
“All right. I just hope to Christ the guy you send actually knows how to drive an eighteen-wheeler.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Horns blew and brake lights went in front of them as Linc’s sexy black Mercedes S550 coupe wove through the Dallas traffic.
“Where are we going?” Carly asked, noticing the route back to the Tex/Am building wasn’t the direction they were heading.
“You lost your gun. We’re getting you a new one.”
She started to tell him she couldn’t afford a new pistol, but the look he sliced her way kept the words from spilling out. With everything that had been going on, she missed the comfort of having a weapon, but guns didn’t come cheap.
“I feel like I should start keeping a list of the money I owe you,” she said.
“You don’t owe me anything.” Wrapped around the expensive wood-grained steering wheel, his big hands made handling the powerful car in this heavy traffic look easy. “Joe paid your debt a long time ago.”
Carly leaned back in the deep black leather seat. She missed Joe every day. It was a wound that wouldn’t heal. Even though she’d rarely come back to Iron Springs, she had talked to him at least twice a week, nothing important on either side, just the kind of call that warmed you on the inside and made you feel loved.
“Tell me something about him,” she said, “something about you and Joe.”
Linc flicked her a sideways glance. “He kept me from going back to prison.”
“What?”
“That’s right. I’d served my time, but Howler was always trying to find a way to send me back to jail. I probably should have moved somewhere else but Beau still lived in Pleasant Hill. So did Del, Rick, and Johnnie. And I had a job with your grandfather I really liked.”
“What happened?”
“One night Beau and a couple of his friends got drunk. I had an early run so Beau knew I wouldn’t be drinking. He called me, asked me to pick him and the other guys up and drive them home. Unfortunately Howler was working that night. He was in the middle of a traffic stop when I drove past. The sheriff spotted Beau’s fancy red Mustang convertible, realized I was behind the wheel, and followed us. Pulled me over just outside of town.”
“How did my grandfather get involved?”
“Joe had a police scanner. He heard the call come in over the radio, heard an arrest was being made, and my name was mentioned. Joe showed up at the jail. I told him I hadn’t been drinking—I was just making sure the guys got home safe. Joe told Howler he would have his badge if he tried to press charges.”
Carly thought of her grandfather and felt another soft pang. He’d been the only constant in her life and now he was gone.
“Joe knew the sheriff would let me go,” Linc said. “Your grandfather was one of the few people who knew Howler’s son was with me and Beau the night we got arrested.”
Carly smiled, not surprised that Joe would stand up for someone he believed was being treated unfairly. “Okay, so I guess you can buy me a gun.”
Linc laughed.
With no waiting period in Texas, Carly walked out of Drury’s Gun Shop two hours later with a sweet little Glock 19 that fit her hand perfectly. There was a gun range behind the store, which she used to get comfortable firing the weapon. She’d never gotten her concealed carrypermit, but she could keep the gun with her in her vehicle, at home, or at work, and she planned to do just that.
They grabbed a bite to eat, then went to Macy’s to buy Zach some new clothes and a pair of sneakers she hoped would fit him.
After their shopping spree, Linc drove back to his office. He spent half an hour on the phone with his attorney, instructing the man to make arrangements for Carly to get temporary custody of Zach.
She felt sick about the little boy having to go into protective services, but she couldn’t hide him from the police, and it would only be a few days. At least he’d know he had someone waiting for him, someone who wouldn’t let him down.
While Linc held a brief staff meeting, Carly spent time on the phone with Rowena, going over office procedures. It was late afternoon when they left the Tex/Am building and climbed aboard the chopper for the short flight home.
Home. The thought shocked her. Dear God, she was beginning to think of Linc’s house as home and she couldn’t let that happen. She needed to move back to her own house as soon as possible, but with Archer still on the loose and the danger from El Jefe, it just wasn’t safe.
