Capitol Offense (Texas Heroines in Peril) Read Online Free Page B

be
used during the current biennium, and the biennium was nearly over.
She had been under the impression that a fairly large site had been
purchased. Perhaps she bad better go see the building on Sheridan
Highway.
    As Lacy slid into the front seat of her car
she saw a body crouched on the floor. She gasped, her heart
drumming wildly, her hand groping for the door handle. She started
to scream, then recognized the intruder as the Hispanic girl who
had cleaned off the counter.
    The young girl pressed her index finger to
her lips. "Please, no one must know I talk to you. I be finished
after lunch in about one hour. I must talk to you. Meet me on the
other side of the bridge back where the trees are. Don't let anyone
see you. I go now." She poked her head barely above the seat,
looked in every direction, opened the door and briskly walked
around the corner toward the rear of the cafe.
    Lacy was left shaken. What did the girl want
to tell her? Could it have something to do with the day care
center?
    She drove down Sheridan Highway. The three
miles over which she drove revealed exactly two dwellings. One was
an abandoned shack with a sagging front porch and glassless
windows; the other was a small farm house. The third structure on
the little-traveled road was the old church Lacy sought. It had
once been a church, Lacy guessed by the steeple and wide front
steps and doorway. It was typical of many rural Southern churches:
a large white frame box. Fresh paint proclaimed it to be "PROPERTY
OF THE STATE OF TEXAS." A padlock secured the door.
    There was nothing more to see.
    As she drove through town again to reach the
bridge, Lacy periodically checked her rear-view mirror to be
certain no one was following her. When she was certain, she turned
her car into a densely wooded field close to the bridge. She drove
the car downward toward a ravine which emptied into the river. The
gentle slope hid her car from the road. She looked around again and
saw no one. She looked at her watch. Fifteen more minutes. She was
nervous and scared and did not know why. What was there for her to
fear?
    There had been fear in the girl's face.
    Even the forest of trees couldn't protect
Lacy from the sweltering heat. She was hot and sticky and scared.
She wished she had not come. Her cold office with its cold floors
and metal desk would be a welcome retreat now.
    Before long, she heard a sudden noise. It
sounded as if twigs were cracking beneath someone's steps.
Queasiness filled her stomach, then she saw it was the Hispanic
girl.
    Although her walk was nearly brisk enough
for a run, the young girl examined the path she trod closely and
chose her steps carefully. Lacy judged her to be around sixteen. In
addition to the café's shirt, she wore jeans and athletic shoes. A
sensible choice for one who had to work on her feet all day. It
bothered Lacy that such a young girl had to work all day.
    "I thought maybe you would not come," she
told Lacy.
    As she had done before, the girl looked in
each direction. Lacy suggested they sit in her car. As they walked
to the car, the girl said she had taken a chance on the red compact
being Lacy's because of the parking sticker from the Capitol.
    They got in the car.
    "I won't take long. First, you must never
say you have talked to me," the girl said. "It could be very
dangerous for me. The Anglos don't like us. That is why I have to
talk to you. The lady with the hair of yellow, my boss, she doesn't
know I speak English. She say many things I think she would not
like me to hear. There was to be a nursery school for our children
when their mamas are working in the fields. This we wanted very
much. But we will never have it. Mr. Chamber and the people of the
town fixed it so."
    Lacy attempted a protest at hearing her boss
slandered, but the young girl cut in sharply.
    "It is so. I heard my boss talking with the
town's realtor. They used the money for the school to build the new
shopping center, Hacienda Square. On paper they