Deadline in Dallas

Lesley Rowan was a rising star investigative reporter at Dallas's top rated news television station, WDLL. Smart, fearless, photogenic, she had trained under the best the industry had to offer, including the late Manny Zammorra, the incorruptible editor of the Brownsville Daily Leader. It was her connection to Zammorra that sparked the station's news director, Mac Withers, to send Lesley to the South Texas city to cover the funeral and the federal investigation that was sure to follow in his drug cartel-style execution.

Lesley watched the slow procession of mourners file past the coffin, down back to the vestibule and outside into the blinding sunlight of mid-morning, She reached for her small clutch bag, ready to follow the crowd, when she discovered the envelope. She waited until she was inside the station's satellite truck before tearing it open.

"Don't waste your time in Brownsville. The man behind the killing is not here. The killers are safe across the border. You need to look in Dallas. The money is there. Matamoros is a decoy. If you look for oil you will find drugs. That is what this is all about. I will be at the city park near the main bridge over the Rio Grande at ten p.m. I'll find you. Come alone."

It was the, "I'll find you," that sent a cold chill of fear down Lesley's spine.