Death Stalks The Law: Lizzie Crenshaw Mystery, #3

By Teresa Watson

Debra Cosgrove, has come back to town, and Lizzie's life begins to fall apart. It seems people who are close to Lizzie are keeping secrets, and Aunt Debra knows what those secrets are. Adding to the confusion is an old college boyfriend of Lizzie's who seems to have ulterior motives. When an explosion seriously injures an FBI agent as well as Lizzie, all bets are off. Secrets are exposed, and Lizzie has to try to pick up the pieces while trying to keep Aunt Debra from killing someone she loves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Teresa Watson
• Release date: Nov 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781502231741

Book preview

Chapter One

Don’t you think this is a little too close to home? the first man told his friend. What if someone sees us?

They’ll think we are just tying up loose ends on the Coogan case.

If they knew why we are really meeting, it could get you in some serious trouble.

The second man looked around the small Mexican café. You let me worry about that.

Considering what happened the last time you met someone, this could be hazardous to my health.

My meeting with Coogan had nothing to do with him being killed. Would you stop being so paranoid?

Has the subject had any more contact with our fugitive?

The second man shook his head. Not since that phone call two months ago.

I still say she knows about you. Maybe she has the house bugged.

There’s no way, unless she has a contact inside the DOJ, the FBI, or both.

Tread lightly, the first man warned. When all this comes out, I wouldn’t give a plug nickel for your life. She’ll be gunning for you. He looked at his watch. Thank you for lunch, but I need to go. Do you have that information for me?

The second man handed him a white envelope. It’s all in there.

Do you think our fugitive is going to come back here?

She’ll show up, probably when we least expect it. And she’ll bring trouble when she does come.

When that happens, you’ll have a lot of explaining to do.

I’ll deal with it when the time comes, don’t worry. Everyone in that town wants her caught as much as we do.

They aren’t going to be happy to learn you’ve been using them. All I can say is good luck.

After paying the bill, the two men walked outside, shook hands, and drove off in opposite directions. Unbeknownst to them, two people had noticed their meeting. One was a blabbermouth; the other one was the subject of their meeting.

Debra Cosgrove slipped out of her booth and quickly walked outside. She got into her rental car, and followed the first man. Her mission was to get that envelope from him, preferably without too much trouble. She hoped he would be cooperative, but after observing him for the past two months, she doubted it.

She’d do whatever necessary to protect herself, even if that meant killing whoever got in her way.

Chapter Two

What do you mean she’s depressed?

Physically, she’s fine, Dr. Rachel Quinn said, but you have been spending a lot of time at work, and she’s feeling neglected.

I looked down at Babe, the bloodhound I had taken in after my estranged grandfather, Amos Gardner, was killed. Dogs don’t get depressed.

Oh yes, they do, Dr. Quinn replied. She’s used to being around people all the time. Think about it: for the past two months, you’ve been spending every waking moment at the newspaper. You only go home to eat and sleep. Amos and Babe were inseparable.

I stroked the top of Babe’s head. I am so sorry, girl, I said. So what do I do about it? I can’t take her to the office with me.

Get her a companion.

You mean hire someone to spend time with her?

Dr. Quinn laughed. No, I mean get another dog.

You’re kidding, right? You just pointed out I don’t have time for Babe, and you want me to get another dog?

Don’t you know someone who has a dog that wouldn’t mind keeping Babe during the day?

I thought about it for a moment. Off the top of my head, no. But I’ll ask around.

Dr. Quinn wrote something in Babe’s chart and stood up. I’ll ask some of my patients. We’ll figure something out. She led us down the hallway toward the waiting area. Isn’t that guy Dale hired to help you due to arrive soon?

I sighed. He’s been due to arrive for the last two months. I hope he gets here soon. I’m not sure how much more of these long days and nights I can take.

Any idea who it is?

No clue. The last letter I had from Dale only said that the guy had been delayed.

Well, I hope he shows up soon, for both your sakes. Dr. Quinn knelt in front of Babe. Goodbye, girl. Take care of your mistress.

Babe gave her a look that said it was a lost cause. I thanked Dr. Quinn and left.

Because I had Babe with me, I was driving Amos’ old truck, the pistachio green nightmare on wheels. After my previous attempt to rid myself of that hideous color had failed, I resigned myself to the fact that I might be stuck with it forever.

I drove Babe back home. When we went inside, I opened the back door, and she went straight to her usual spot under the tree. I watched her for a minute. She didn’t look depressed, but then again, she didn’t have a lot of facial expressions, so I never knew if she was happy or not.

I checked the answering machine that sat on the table by the couch. There were three messages. The first one was from my mother. Alice called me and said you brought Babe into Dr. Quinn’s office. I do hope it’s nothing serious. Don’t forget, you and T.J. are having dinner with me tomorrow night. He’s such a nice young man. Has he proposed yet? Oh dear, there’s the oven timer. I have to go. Love you!

Her message brought back visions of my worst nightmare. Remember what I said about wedding dresses and big butt bows? I shuddered and went on to the next message. Hey, babe, T.J. said. I’m afraid I can’t make dinner tomorrow night. I have a meeting in Dallas, and I won’t be home until late. Give my apologies to your mother. Miss you. Love you!

I was disappointed. T.J. had cancelled our lunch plans yesterday because of a meeting, and I had been looking forward to spending some quality time with him tomorrow night. It wasn’t the first time he had cancelled on me in the last few weeks. He told me it was all work related. Maybe I needed to talk to Owen about all these meetings he was making T.J. go to, and strongly suggest he go to some of them himself.

The third message made my skin crawl. Hello, dear niece, Debra Cosgrove said. I’m sure you were hoping I had forgotten about our previous conversation. I’ve been busy taking care of some business transactions. I was pretty sure that involved illegal things I didn’t want to know about, but I knew I shouldn’t speculate. But I’m through now, so I will be coming to see you soon. Remember what I said, though. Someone near and dear to you is a traitor. Tell that sheriff I can’t wait to see him.

I felt very sick to my stomach.

It was going to be one of those weeks.

Chapter Three

I was under orders from Sheriff Owen Greene to tell him whenever Debra contacted me. I made sure Babe had enough food and water, and spent a few minutes playing with her. I grabbed my purse and my laptop bag, put them in my mother’s midnight blue Chevy Cobalt and drove over to his office. There was no one sitting at the receptionist’s desk, so I walked back to see if I could find him.

I need that new patrol car, and I need it now, Owen said to someone on the phone. He scowled at me, but