“You can wait in the sheriff’s office,” Levi ordered the medic, and he turned to Alexa once the guy had scurried in that direction. “What exactly have you been doing to find the Moonlight Strangler?”
It took her a moment to gather her thoughts and switch gears. “Everything I could. Contacting criminal informants I used to work with, following up on any lead I could find. But what I didn’t do was compromise my WITSEC identity or any other identities for that matter. Someone else, an insider maybe, is responsible for that.” She aimed a glare right at Lockwood.
If the marshal was concerned about that glare, he didn’t show it. He seemed to smirk. “Alexa is mistaken when it comes to me. She thinks I once worked the same money laundering operation as Marcos Culver.”
“Did you?” Levi came out and asked.
Oh, Lockwood didn’t like that. His eyes narrowed. “Of course not.” If looks could have killed, Lockwood would have already put her six feet under. “There’s not an ounce of proof to connect me to Marcos and those assorted felonies he committed.”
Not proof, exactly, but she’d heard it from a CI that Lockwood had indeed been part of the same illegal operation. A part that Marcos might not even know about since Lockwood could have been using an alias to launder money from the sale of illegal weapons. Now, Lockwood might be concerned that his own criminal activities could be brought to light during Marcos’s trial. And Alexa would be the one to do that if she could link the information she had about Marcos to Lockwood.
If it was true, it would give Lockwood a motive to kill her, but that was still a big if.
“What kind of proof do you have that Alexa is responsible for her identity being compromised?” Levi asked.
She didn’t miss the flicker of surprise that went through Lockwood’s eyes. “Do you care what kind?”
Levi tapped his badge. “Yeah.”
More surprise, followed by some irritation. The marshal obviously wasn’t used to having this authority challenged. “The proof isn’t something I can share with a small-town cop. Too sensitive. Lives are at stake.”
“Yes, including mine,” Alexa verified. “Someone killed a woman tonight. A friend of mine, Tasha McKenna.”
Lockwood stared at her before looking at Levi. “Is that true? Is a woman really dead?”
“Maybe,” Levi answered before she could say anything. “There was an attack and we’re looking for her now.”
“Dead,” Lockwood repeated under his breath. This wasn’t only surprise, but rather what appeared to be shock. “Who killed her?”
“I don’t have names,” Alexa snapped. But Lockwood might know exactly who those men were. “Whoever they are, they also tried to kill Levi and me. What do you know about that?”
Lockwood scowled. “You accusing me of something?”
“Are you guilty of something?” she fired back.
The scowl stayed in place for several more seconds before he chuckled. “Now that’s rich coming from the woman who’d do pretty much anything to make things work for her. That includes making up a story about somebody trying to kill you and your friend if you thought it would get you out of being arrested.”
Levi stepped closer to the marshal. “Someone tried to kill Alexa. I witnessed it, got caught in the crossfire. Since that crossfire happened in this jurisdiction, I will investigate it. That means keeping Alexa in protective custody until I figure out what’s going on.”
That started a staring match between the two lawmen. One that Mack joined in on when he took up position by Levi’s side.
Lockwood finally looked away. “Was a woman really killed?” he asked. “Or is this more of your fairy tale?”
“Someone’s out looking for her body now,” Levi volunteered.
Lockwood cursed. “You shouldn’t have brought anyone else in on this, Deputy.”
Maybe Lockwood was genuinely concerned about the possible security breach in WITSEC files. Or maybe he didn’t want anyone to know that he was a dirty marshal and trying to cover his tracks by committing a murder or two.
“You don’t seem overly concerned that Alexa and the baby could have been hurt or worse,” Levi tossed out there.
“Oh, I’m concerned, all right. Concerned that you’re believing whatever lies Alexa has been telling you. This is an issue for the marshals,” Lockwood argued.
Levi shrugged. “Again, it’s our jurisdiction. If and when we have a body, we’ll let you know and share what we learn with you and the Texas Rangers.”
“The Rangers? Why the heck would you bring them in on this?”
“We sometimes ask them to assist when we’re looking at multiple suspects.” Levi’s attention stayed nailed to Lockwood. “In the meantime, unless you show me conclusive proof that Alexa had something to do with all of this, she’s staying here.”
No profanity from Lockwood this time. He stared at Levi, then chuckled. Not in a funny, ha-ha kind of way, either. It was laced with sarcasm. “Hell must have just frozen over if you actually care what happens to Alexa.”
Care? That was probably too much of a stretch for Levi, considering how he felt about her.
“Excuse us a minute,” Levi said, taking her by the arm and leading her into the hall.
“You’re not going anywhere with her,” Lockwood ordered, but he was talking to himself because Levi had gone somewhere. He ducked inside an interrogation room with her.
“Do you have any real proof that Lockwood’s dirty?” Levi demanded. And yes, he sounded exactly like a cop with that question.
“I heard it from a criminal informant.” She didn’t have to wait long for Levi to groan, and she knew why. CIs often were not reliable. “Do you believe in gut feelings? Because it’s my gut feeling that Lockwood could somehow be connected to Marcos Culver.”
Levi pulled in a long, frustrated breath and leaned against the doorjamb. Alexa could no longer see Lockwood, but Levi glanced in the marshal’s direction, probably trying to decide whose story he believed.
“You’re wasting my time, Deputy,” Lockwood called out. “Just hand over Alexa and you can take the kid.”
She hoped that Levi heard the menacing tone in Lockwood’s demand. Alexa also hoped his tone wasn’t her imagination brought on by fear and a major adrenaline crash. But she didn’t think it was the latter.
“If Lockwood once worked the same operation as Marcos, then why has it taken him five months to hire someone to kill you?” Levi asked.
Alexa had given this plenty of thought. “I’m not sure. Maybe he recently figured out I could connect him to Marcos. Maybe it took Lockwood this long to find me. I’ve been living in Austin, but I haven’t been staying at the house the marshals rented for me. I’ve been checking in daily by phone with the marshals as I’m required to do, but I’ve been moving around a lot.”
Levi stayed quiet a moment. “And Lockwood didn’t mind not having face-to-face contact with you?”
“Oh, he minded. He was always pressing to see me. Always threatening to undo the deal I made with the FBI if I didn’t meet with him. I finally got fed up and called another marshal and met with him instead. Lockwood wasn’t happy, and later that day someone trashed the house where I was supposed to be living.”
Of course, all of that was still circumstantial. All of it including her own gut feeling. Especially since there’d been a rash of vandalism in the neighborhood where the rental house was located.
“Deputy, I’m waiting!” Lockwood shouted.