Don't Mess With Texas Read Online Free Page A

pissed!”
    A second police car, siren blasting, whipped into the parking lot next door.
    “Dying’s not on my agenda,” Dallas said. “Justice is.”
    “Damn it, Dallas. If you want to go after DeLuna, get back on the police force.”
    Dallas set his coffee down. “Yeah, well, cops and I don’t get along anymore.”
    Tony pulled out his badge and slammed it down on the table in front of Dallas. “What do you think I am?”
    “You’re a pain in my ass, but you’re family.” Dallas wished he could say he didn’t miss the job. He did—part of it. But the political bullshit that came with the job… well, they could shove it up their asses. Working cheating-spouses and missing-poodles cases was better than goingback to a system that let three of their own get tossed to the wolves. And after all, he and his business partners could turn down the wacky cases. Hell, they did turn down most of them, but they had agreed that the small cases could lead to bigger cases. Plus, it kept some cash flow coming in and gave them something to do besides play spider solitaire.
    Dallas’s attention went back to Tony. “Besides, you’re Miller PD, not Glencoe.”
    “Then come to work at Miller PD. I could get you on.”
    “Not interested.”
    “You’re as stubborn as our old man, you know that?”
    “Funny, that’s what your wife said about you yesterday.”
    Dallas waited for Tony’s reaction. He wasn’t disappointed. Tony nearly came out of his seat. “You saw LeAnn? When? Is she okay?”
    Dallas had dreaded mentioning his sister-in-law, but Tony would be pissed if he found out Dallas had seen LeAnn and hadn’t said anything.
    “She had some car trouble about a block from the office. She looked fine.”
    “Why didn’t she call me?”
    “Like I said, she was about a block from the office. Turned out to be a loose battery cable. I fixed it and she went on her merry way.”
    “
You
should’ve called me. I’d have done it. Maybe she would have finally talked to me. Did you know she won’t return my calls?”
    Yeah, Dallas knew. It was practically all Tony talked about when he wasn’t chewing Dallas out about his newfound profession. But if he’d called Tony, LeAnn wouldhave been pissed. Not that his loyalties went to LeAnn, but… “Weren’t you the one who preached to me about finding closure with Serena? About just breaking ties?”
    Tony’s expression hardened. “That was you and Serena. LeAnn and I are different.”
    Dallas started to argue, but the pain in his brother’s eyes had Dallas pulling back. Tony and LeAnn’s situation was different. Heartrendingly different. Dallas wasn’t sure that meant they had a chance in hell at reconciling, but what did he know?
    Tony leaned in. “Did she ask about me?”
    “Yeah, I think she did.” She hadn’t. But Dallas had told her that Tony had been in a piss-poor mood, that he probably missed her. Another police car whipped into the lot next door. “I wonder what’s up,” Dallas said more to change the subject than because he was interested in the drama.
    “Don’t know, don’t care.” Tony’s frustration about LeAnn sounded in his voice. “If it’s a homicide they’ll call me. What did LeAnn—” Tony’s cell rang. He snatched his phone from his belt loop and looked at the number. “Shit. It’s a homicide.”
    Nothing like a little murder to help digest a hamburger. Dallas walked with Tony to the grocery store parking lot. They were met by Juan Bata, a patrol cop a few years younger than Tony. Dallas and Tony had grown up with Juan in the neighborhood a few miles north of town.
    “You’re fast,” Juan said.
    “I was next door at the restaurant,” Tony answered. “What we got?”
    “A no-brainer,” Juan said. “Ex-wife.”
    He waved at a woman sitting on the asphalt in themiddle of a parking spot. She had her arms wrapped around her calves, and her head down on her knees. Her curly blond hair spilled over her legs.
    “And dead