Page 2 of Lone Star Hostage

“What a cocky piece of shit,” Presley muttered, looking at Ruby. “And the demands?”

“That came in the form of a phone call about five minutes after the blouse and letter arrived,” Ruby explained.

Judging from the timing, that would have been shortly before Ruby had contacted him and asked him to come to her office right away.

“Jesep Wessington wants me to rescue the hostage?” he came out and asked. “Why me and not the cops?”

“Because the kidnappers demanded you do it,” Ruby said.

Well, shit on a stick. That was another gut punch.

Presley shook his head. “I don’t know anyone in the Wessington family, so why me?”

“Not just you,” Ruby muttered, and she gave a voice command to play the recorded call.

Seconds later, the mechanically altered voice poured through the room. It sounded like something straight out of a cheesy cartoon.

“Presley Nolan and former Lieutenant Billie Cooper will deliver the ransom of the diamonds known as the Marbury collection at a time and location to be specified in the next communication.”

“Billie,” Presley grumbled.

Now, that was a name he had no trouble recognizing. Once, she’d been his boss at San Antonio PD, but now she worked for Ruby’s main competition, Strike Force.

“Hell,” he added.

Ruby studied him. “Billie should be here any moment. Do you have a problem working with her?”

“No,” he was quick to say.

Did he?

Maybe he did.

Though he damn sure shouldn’t. This was the job, and personal crap had to be shoved aside.

But thankfully, Presley didn’t voice all the waffling that was now going on in his head about Billie Cooper. They’d certainlyworked together before, on a few high-profile cases, but that wasn’t what was front and center right now.

It was the last time he’d seen her.

The incident.

Something he’d been trying damn hard to forget.

Now, he was not only going to have to face that incident, but he would also need to figure out why the hell the kidnappers had requested the two of them. That meant going through all those old cases.

And their personal lives.

Going through everything because requesting them could be key to identifying the kidnappers.

Well, maybe.

It was also possible the request was a smokescreen to throw them off a scent. Often situations like this involved family members.

“Where’s Mrs. Wessington’s husband?” Presley asked. “I’m guessing he knows about this?”

“He knows.” That response came from Martinez. “He’s opted to stay at his estate on the west side of San Antonio and wait for further instructions.”

Presley stared at him. “Is he a suspect?”

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