Author's Note: To my lovely readers! This is a long awaited update and I thank you all for your patience! I hope that this chapter was worth the wait. Please keep hanging in with me, college makes it tricky as to when I will update. But I will update! Here is chapter 15, enjoy!
He'd opened a can of worms. Tex sat back and flipped through the file he'd dug up at the town courthouse. Delanie Willard was Sheriff's only daughter and according to his contacts she had a clean record. Until she disappeared. They'd found a body. But it had been nearly impossible to distinguish. Mysteriously the coroner's office where the remains were being held had burned down.
There had been nothing left for Sheriff to bury. There were no personal effects, no husband, no record other than the apartment she'd lived in. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. The Tycoon had a few friends within various police forces. They owed him some favors.
"Sergeant Geary." The voice was stern.
"Dale, good to hear from you."
"Tex? Is that you, you old badger!"
"Yep, it's Tex. Listen I'm needing some help."
"Just name it." The officer became serious all at once.
"Delanie Willard, what can you tell me?"
"Hold on. Let me go check something." Footsteps echoed over the line. "Alright. We can talk now."
"What do you know about her?"
"Dirty Cop."
"You're sure?"
"I didn't say that. It's just what most believe. Her records were the cleanest I've ever seen. Then out of nowhere she's linked to drugs and black-market deals."
"So, it was out of character for her?"
"Definitely. I knew Detective Willard. She was a good policewoman."
"Did she have any aliases? Any records she might have covered?" Tex fiddled with the file he'd found.
"She went by the last name, Willard but her file is under Crawley. Most of her records are sealed to the public."
"Are there any records that you have that no one else has seen?"
"Well…" The officer paused. "She left some things in my safe keeping. Tex. She was an undercover cop. There's sensitive information that I can't just let anyone have."
"Active case?"
"Yeah. Why do you need information on her?"
"There was a shooting."
"Shooting." His voice dropped low. "Tex., I need details and location. If this is related to Detective Willard."
"A teenage boy was shot."
"Name."
"Lightning McQueen."
"Lightning Storm you mean? Tex. Who shot him?"
"We have two snipers. I helped the local sheriff catch them. But it was strange. It seemed like they wanted to be caught."
"I need a location. I'm bringing some extra man power."
"Radiator Springs."
"Keep on the downlow. Delanie had two sons. Lightning and Tommy Storm. Don't let them out of your sight."
"Why are they after the kids?"
"They probably think that Lightning has something they want."
"Alright. So keep them out of sight?"
"Yes. I'll be bringing in the Feds as well. Better safe than sorry."
"Good. Talk to you later Tex."
"Thank you. Dale."
"You're welcome."
The dial tone shook Tex from his daze. Those snipers were sent ahead to scout out. They wanted to see what the town's manpower involved. And they'd pinpointed the weaknesses. Like a lion stalking its prey. They were sitting ducks, waiting for the final call to dinner. He gripped the file.
"What did you get yourself involved with?" He glanced at the picture he'd pulled out. The face of a lovely young woman stared up at him. She was dressed in her uniform from police academy. He sighed.
"Find anything out." Doc spoke as he slowly strolled into the record room where Tex was secluded. Strip walked in behind the town doctor.
"What do you recall about Delanie Willard? I mean Crawley."
"Smart young woman." Doc went to a filing cabinet. "She wasn't a dirty cop. Despite what the news said. Sheriff drilled it into her that being a dirty cop was as bad as being a murderer."
"They were close?"
"The closest. At least that's what Sheriff thought." He opened a filing cabinet with a key. "This has been sitting here for a long time." The town judge pulled out a dusty looking box and looked at Tex in the eyes. "She sent this to me for safekeeping several years back. Never have opened it. Her letter said not to unless someone was put in danger."
"Think the town shooting is what she meant by that?" Strip spoke up at last.
"Could be." Doc dusted off the top of the lockbox in his hand. "I have the key in my office." He turned and walked off. Tex and Strip stared after him. "You coming or not?"
Tex shook his head in exasperation and followed the judge. It seemed that Radiator Springs was full of eccentric characters. They settled into Doc's office, the box was placed on the table. After a few minutes of fiddling in a desk drawer, a key was pulled out of hiding. Doc slipped it into the lock. Click. The box lid sprang open.
Settled inside was various items, one being a thick file. Doc pulled it out and spread the contents on his desk. Two birth certificates, several legal documents, a journal and many pictures of two young boys. Tex blinked in surprise. He recognized the boys in the pictures.
"Is that Lightning and Mater?" He shot an incredulous look at Doc.
"It sure looks like them." Doc picked up a picture of Delanie holding an infant, with a redheaded child standing by her side. There was a man in the background.
"That looks like Lynda's brother. Jacob." Strip frowned.
Doc sat the picture down and went through the other photos. They were various pictures of the boys growing up. They were all marked on the back with dates. The last ones were marked with the boy's ages. Lightning – eleven, Tommy – four. The three of them were sitting in front of an ice cream shop, laughing as someone snapped the picture. Tex riffled through the box searching for anything that might shed a little more light on the situation. Strip picked up the leather-bound journal and flipped through it, his eyes raking over the dates. What could have caused her disappearance?
"Find anything Doc?"
"Birth certificates, but something's off."
"What?" Strip's head shot up to look at Doc.
"See here," Doc offered the certificate as evidence. "Jacob Storm is listed as the father, Delanie is listed as the mother. But this looks like a forgery. How that happened I can't say…" His lips formed a thin line.
"What about the date of Mater's birth?" Strip's mind was racing. "Lynda's brother died the year that Lightning was born." Strip grabbed the two birth certificates. "Jacob isn't listed as the father of Mater. And there's seven years between them."
"So… how did she end up with both boys?" Tex glanced between his fellow investigators.
"It seems that Mater really is her son. What's the father's name?" Doc looked at the document again. "David Evers. Tex you have anyway of finding out who that is?"
"I can give it a shot." He pulled out his phone and stepped out of the room.
"So, who is Lightning's real mother?" Strip flipped through the journal again. "Here!" He pulled out a folded document and handed it to Doc.
"This looks authentic." Doc compared it to Lightning's other birth certificate. "He's your nephew alright. Jacob Storm is listed as the father, but Delanie isn't the mother."
"Who is then?"
"Lydia Wheeler."
"Wait a second?" Strip did a double take. That sounded like the last name of Lightning's driver, Mack. "I think I might know who his mother is…well who she's related to." Strip leaned back in his chair. The more he found out…the more he needed to know