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“If he sees anybody coming...” he interrupted, concerned.
“Miss Whatley had a call from the chief early this morning, while Mr. Grant was sleeping peacefully. He told her exactly what the man had done, calmed her down, and instructed her in what to do next. So Mr. Grant is sound asleep, thanks to a couple of pills that Miss Whatley ground up and doctored his coffee with. And the chief took two newspaper reporters with him.”
“Oh, joyful day,” Cody said. He sighed. “If this were a musical comedy, I’d get up and burst into song.”
Lassiter glared at him. “I’ve heard you humming. Please don’t.”
Cody glared back. “I know people say I’m tone deaf. All lies. I even have perfect pitch.”
“So do I, and if you burst into song, I’ll demonstrate just how well I can pitch.”
“Don’t you dare, or I’ll phone Abby and have her come over to protect me,” he replied, with a smug smile.
“It’s like that, is it?” Lassiter chuckled. “Story of my life. Too late on the scene. Ah, well, I love my job. I suppose any woman who wanted to marry me would draw the line at the work I usually do.”
“Which is?” Cody asked, because he was curious.
“I help my dad go after bail jumpers. The kind that usually have guns, and shoot back,” he added, black eyes twinkling. “Dad used to be a Texas Ranger, before a perp shot him to pieces and almost cost him the ability to work. My mom was almost his stepsister, but their parents both died before they could get married. Dad took care of Mom for a long time, until he finally gave in to what he felt for her.” He shook his head. “You’d think they were newlyweds,” he sighed. “They go out driving and when they get back, the windows are all fogged up.”
“You don’t hear so much about good marriages these days,” Cody said quietly. “I come from a badly broken home. So does Abby.”
“Not me,” Lassiter said with a smile. “My sister and I had the best childhoods imaginable. Great parents. Dad and I argue once in a while, but only because he worries about me.”
“It must be nice to have a son,” Cody remarked, and the thought caught fire in his mind. He and Abby could have a child...
The phone rang just as he was thinking about names.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CODYPICKEDUPthe phone. “Banks,” he said.
There was a long sigh. “Sheriff, this is Nita Whatley,” she said. “I thought you’d like to know that our Lake Luna police chief, Dan Brady, just picked up Bobby Grant personally and carried him off to jail.” Her soft voice was hard with anger. “I have Miss Violet Henry’s phone number and I’m going to call and talk to her. I’m so sorry about her sister, Candy. She was taken in, just as I was, by a money-hungry killer. I guess we’re both lucky to still be alive.” She paused. “Sheriff, what about Horace?” she added quickly. “Bobby said something to me that didn’t really make sense. He said that Horace wasn’t going to interfere with my life any longer, that he was going to take care of things. I really hope that he was only making a vague threat.”
“We can’t take that chance, Miss Whatley,” Cody said. “Don’t you worry. Your brother is in very good hands. We’ll keep him safe.”
“But you still have him in jail,” she said heavily. “I know because I tried to call him and your deputy said I couldn’t talk to him.”
“On my instructions,” Cody said. “We had plans for Mr. Grant and we didn’t want to risk having the jailer say anything to you that he shouldn’t.”
“Oh. So that Bobby wouldn’t overhear it. I see.”
He hesitated, but he didn’t really have a good reason for keeping the information from her. She was his sister, after all.
“There’s something else, Miss Whatley. A few nights ago, your brother was taken to the hospital with a seizure,” he said gently.
“A seizure!” she exclaimed. “But he’s not epileptic. There’s nobody in our whole family who ever had epilepsy!”
“We know. They ran a drug panel. There was an exotic substance introduced into a soft drink he was given at bedtime.”
“Well, is he all right? Will he recover?!”
“Yes, to both. We got to him in plenty of time. We have an investigator working the case.”
“Why wasn’t I called at once?” she asked.
“Because I was up to my neck in wrecks, mainly. But I also wanted to be certain of the cause. There was no sense upsetting you at the time. He was perfectly all right, in no danger. But I’m sorry, just the same,” he added, wincing. “It was a real oversight on my part.”
“It’s all right,” she replied. “I guess I’m getting used to shocks, they don’t affect me as much. But he’s fine, you’re sure?”
