The Texas Ranger Read Free

they confiscate all his bullets and make me leave my stun gun here in Austin.”
    He chuckled. Despite her tragic life, she was strong and independent and dryly funny. He’d hired her two years ago when nobody else would, largely thanks to Brannon, and he was glad. She had a degree in criminal justice. Her choice of jobs was to be an investigator in a district attorney’s office. Fatehad landed her here, working on the Prosecutor Assistance and Special Investigation Unit for Simon. She could be loaned out to a requesting district attorney, along with other investigative personnel and even prosecutors, providing resources for criminal investigation.
    It was a harrowing job from time to time, but she loved it. She had access to the respected Texas Crime Information Center. It boasted a statewide database on wanted persons and provided real-time on-line information to law enforcement agencies. Josette counted it as one of her biggest blessings during investigations, particularly those involving cybercrime.
    â€œIt’s nothing definite yet,” Simon added. “They’re still at the scene. The murder may not even be connected with Marsh, although I hope to God it is. But I thought I’d prepare you, just in case you have to go out there.”
    â€œOkay. Thanks, Simon.”
    â€œWe’re family. Sort of.” He frowned. “Was it your third cousin who was related to my stepgrand-mother…?”
    â€œDon’t,” she groaned. “It would take a genealogist to figure it out, it’s so distant.”
    â€œWhatever. They can’t accuse me of nepotism for hiring you, but we’re distant cousins anyway. Family,” he added, with a warm smile. “Sort of. Like the staff.”
    â€œI’m glad you think of them like that, because ‘Cousin’ Phil wants you to know that he likes his job and he’s sorry he messed up your e-mail,” she told him, tongue-in-cheek. “And he hopes you won’t take away his job with the Internet Bureau.”
    His light eyes flashed. “You can tell Cousin Phil to kiss my…!”
    â€œDon’t you say it,” she warned, “or I’ll call Tira and tell on you.”
    He ground his teeth together. “Oh, all right.” He frowned. “That reminds me. What do you want in here, anyway?”
    â€œA raise,” she began, counting on one hand. “A computer that doesn’t crash every time I load a program. A new scanner, because mine’s sluggish. A new filing cabinet, mine’s full. And how about one of those cute little robotic dogs? I could teach it to fetch files…”
    â€œSit down!”
    She sat, but she was still grinning. She crossed her legs in the chair across the desk and went over the question she’d been faxed from a rural district attorney, who’d asked for a legal opinion. For Simon’s sake, she acted unconcerned that fate might fling her in the path of Marc Brannon for a third time.
    Â 
    But when Josette left Simon’s office, she was almost shaking. It had to be an easily solvable murder,she told herself firmly. She couldn’t be thrown into Brannon’s company again not when she was just beginning to get over him. She went through the rest of the day in a daze. There was a nagging apprehension in the back of her mind, as if she knew somehow that the murder in San Antonio was going to affect her life.
    Her grandmother, Erin O’Brien, had been Irish, a special woman with an uncanny ability to know things before they happened. The elderly lady would cook extra food and get the guest rooms ready on days when the Langley family dropped in on “surprise” visits. She could anticipate tragedies, like the sudden death of her brother. When Josette’s father had stopped by her small home to tell her the bad news, she was wearing a black dress and her Sunday hat, waiting to be driven to the funeral home. It was useless to try