Silent Shadows

by Natalie Walters

  “It’s got me baffled.” Charlie tapped his thumb against the table. “Maybe the injuries were old?”

  “There are cameras and guards everywhere. Doesn’t make sense why Officer Jenkins would bring the injuries up if they weren’t relevant. Does he think Javier was beat up before the stabbing?”

  “That’s what I understood when he first called, but today I’m getting the silent treatment.”

  Colton frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I tried calling Jenkins this morning because I’ve got the same questions you do. I want to tell Pecca she’s got nothing to worry about as much as you do, but Jenkins wasn’t as helpful today as he was before. Said the warden is investigating Javier’s death and wouldn’t offer any more information.”

  “I’d like to assume that’s standard procedure, but my gut is telling me it seems awful convenient to get tongue-tied.”

  “I agree.” Charlie rubbed the back of his neck. “Have you heard anything back from your uncle Jack yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  Charlie’s shoulders dropped. “I was hoping you’d have better luck.”

  “I didn’t say I don’t have luck.” Colton straightened in his chair. “I said I haven’t heard anything yet.”

  “There’s a difference?”

  “With Uncle Jack, yes. He doesn’t speak unless he has something to say.”

  Colton pulled out his phone and dialed.

  “I was wondering when I was gonna get your call.” The raspy twang of his uncle’s voice had an immediate effect, and instantly Colton was homesick.

  “Hey, Uncle Jack. How are you?”

  “Can’t complain. You?”

  “Therapy’s going well.” Colton slid a sideways glance to Charlie, who raised his eyebrows. “Uncle Jack, I’m sitting here with Deputy Charlie Lynch. I’m going to put you on speaker.” He pressed a button and set the phone between them. “I was wondering if you’ve had any luck getting information on Javier Torres.”

  “I’m guessing you’ve heard what happened.”

  “Sir, I was working with Officer Peter Jenkins at Buckner.” Charlie leaned closer to the phone. “He informed me about the fight but has gone radio silent as of late. As upsetting as Javier’s death is, I’m hoping that with a little more information I can ease the mind of a friend.”

  “I’m not sure that what I’ve got is going to do that, son.”

  Colton shifted in his seat, feeling pinpricks of dread coiling inside his stomach. Charlie’s strained features said he was feeling the same. Was Colton’s promise to Pecca premature? Was she still in danger? He held his breath.

  “Go ahead, sir,” Charlie said.

  “I took a drive south and met up with a buddy. Knows a couple of the guards inside Buckner. Warden’s a fine fellow, but he’s feeling the pressure of budget restraints and overpopulation. Having an inmate killed inside his house will garner attention. One killed the way Javier was has brought the spotlight of God down on him.”

  A smile tipped Colton’s lips before he schooled himself. He wasn’t pleased with the situation but always enjoyed his uncle’s Southern slang. “Last thing we heard from Jenkins was that they were interviewing the inmates involved. Have you heard anything about why Javier was beaten and killed?”

  “Wasn’t privileged with that information, sorry. But I do have something else you might be interested in. Seems Javier didn’t get very many visitors. No family. No friends. Just a few ladies from the church prison ministry. I’m told he was an exemplary inmate with no history of disorderly conduct. Usually kept to himself.”

  And yet he was beaten and then stabbed to death hours before being transferred to a minimum security prison. Colton pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a feeling this was going somewhere, just not fast enough. “Except?”

  Uncle Jack chuckled. “Always had ants in your britches, didn’t you?” Colton shook his head. Charlie smirked. “Except, the week before Javier was killed, a pretty young lady paid him a visit.”

  Colton and Charlie exchanged a look. “Who?”

  “Well, here’s the kicker. Woman signed in as Marissa Dominguez. Prison protocol is to take a photocopy of the ID for verification. After Javier was killed, they double-checked the visitor log and ran Ms. Dominguez back through the system to discover she doesn’t exist and her ID was a fake.”

  “They didn’t run the ID number when she checked in?” Charlie said.

  “Guard swears he did, and the warden double-checked the surveillance camera and the computer log. Both show the guard followed procedure.”

  “So an unidentified woman—other than she’s pretty—visits Javier a week before he’s beaten and killed.” Something was missing. Colton played through the scenarios that had kept him up all night. “Why was Javier being transferred?”

  “I checked into that too, but apparently it’s above my buddy’s paygrade.”

  Charlie scratched his head, his forehead creasing as he tried to string the pieces together, but from the shake of his head, Colton knew the deputy was coming up empty.

  “The surveillance footage,” Colton said, a thought occurring to him. “Is there a clear image of the woman?”

  “Not a clear one,” his uncle answered. “It’s like she knew where the cameras were and avoided them.” That did not sit well with Colton. And from the grim expression hooding Charlie’s blue eyes, he didn’t like it either.

  “Sir, is there any way you can send us stills of the video footage?”

  “I can probably make that happen. You boys don’t plan on bringing trouble on yourself, do you?”

  “Doing our best to avoid it,” Colton said. Uncle Jack ran as straight as an arrow, but he never lied. If Colton’s parents found out he had spoken to his uncle, they’d ask how he was doing, so it was best to give Uncle Jack an answer he could pass along. “But something’s not sitting right about this whole situation, and an ornery old man once told me the most important part of the game is knowing who I’m playing against.”

  “That handsome, wizened man has proven he’s pretty smart.”

  Colton nodded. He loved his uncle and missed him. “Yes, sir, he is.”

  “Call me if you need anything else, and I’ll keep you posted if something new emerges. You boys stay safe.”

  “Yes, sir,” Colton and Charlie responded.

  A few moments after they disconnected the phone call, Colton’s cell phone chimed with an incoming email from his uncle. The man was efficient. Colton quickly clicked through the images and blew out a breath. He handed the phone to Charlie, who did the same. “My uncle was right. She knew where the cameras were.”

  Charlie leaned back. “Do you think it’s a coincidence that woman”—he pointed at the phone—“shows up to the prison with a fake ID, avoids the cameras, talks to Javier, and a week later he ends up dead?”

  “No.” Colton rubbed a hand over his chin. “You think she’s SSB?”

  “If she is, it doesn’t explain why they were coming after Pecca.” Charlie folded his arms over his chest. “If they could get to Javier in prison, why take a shot at her? Break into her house?”

  Charlie was voicing every concern running through Colton’s head. None of this was making sense. He picked up his phone and scrolled through the pictures again. The angle of the woman’s face in each of the shots kept the cameras from getting a good view.

  “It’s not the SSB.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Colton went through the pictures once more. “She knows where the cameras are. It’s not a guess—it’s a fact. Who would know the layout of the surveillance cameras inside the prison?”

  “Staff.” Charlie took the phone. “Maintenance, maybe?”

  “Those people would all have access badges though. This woman walked in pretending to be a visitor.” Colton shook his head. “Marissa Dominguez wasn’t a visitor. She went to see Javier for a reason.”

  “To have him killed?”

  “I don’t think so.
Why does someone talk to a person before they kill them?”

  “For pleasure?” Charlie said with a grim twist to his lips. “To torture them? Get them to beg for their life?”

  Colton’s pulse slowed like it did whenever the information he was analyzing started to make sense. Before that point, it was like he was listening to a foreign language and only able to pick up bits and pieces of what was being said. Then the time would come when a key piece of intel would give him access to the whole conversation.

  Was Marissa Dominguez the key?

  “We need to find out who she is.”

  “I agree.”

  “I have a friend—” they both said and then looked at each other.

  “What?” Colton asked.

  “I was going to tell you I have a friend, deputy, I mean Agent, Frost, who I can send the pictures to and see if he can tell us who our mystery woman is. What were you going to say?”

  “The same thing.”

  Charlie smirked. “You were going to say Agent Frost?”

  “No. I have someone else in mind. He’s been helping me and probably has better access than your agent friend.” Not to mention that hearing Ryan’s name had begun to trigger a little jealousy in him. It was stupid, because apparently he was seeing some reporter, but hearing Pecca and Maceo talk about him so admiringly struck a chord.

  “My agent friend is a computer genius. Had his pick of government agencies, including the private sector, that were begging him to join their team. Sure, he works for the FBI now, but the guy hacked into a gaming conference when he was sixteen.”

  It sounded like Charlie was saying his friend was better than Kekoa. He eyed Charlie, who didn’t flinch. “First man wins.”

  Colton would’ve enjoyed the unspoken wager between him and Charlie under any other circumstances, but the heaviness of why they needed the information hung over him. Was Marissa Dominguez involved in Javier’s death? How did she know him? And what about her triggered a fear in him that Pecca’s life wasn’t out of danger yet?

  The noise level inside Walton Elementary School was piercing. Kids in costumes ran around on sugar highs as their parents chased after them. Pecca was manning the ring toss game with Lane but kept an eye out for the blue and white Warrior jersey Maceo was wearing. The problem was, nearly half the members of Maceo’s team were wearing their jerseys, making it nearly impossible for her to keep track of her son.

  Relax. She had nothing to be afraid of anymore. Javier was . . .

  She swallowed. Pecca still hadn’t fully processed everything. It didn’t feel real. She allowed herself to cry the night she learned the news. Javier’s death, no matter what he did, was horrible. And Pecca still hadn’t figured out how she would ever explain it to Maceo. One day he would ask about his father, and what would she say?

  “I did it!” The exclamation of a little girl dressed like a ladybug snapped Pecca out of the chaos of her life and back to the fall festival chaos.

  “Great job. Here’s your prize.” Lane handed the girl a chocolate bar and leaned over to Pecca. “How many more minutes do we have?”

  Pecca looked at her watch. “Three.”

  “Whew.” Lane blew out a breath that lifted her bangs. “Whoever said being pregnant after thirty was easy is a big, fat liar.”

  “Who says that?”

  “I don’t know, but they’re a liar. Big. And fat.” Lane rubbed her belly. “Like me.”

  A father and his son, Black Panther, were waiting for their turn. Pecca held up her finger and urged Lane to a folding chair. “Here, sit down and rest. I’ll take care of the last three minutes.”

  Black Panther, it turned out, was not very good at the ring toss and burst into tears when all his rings bounced, rolled, or ricocheted everywhere but at the target. His father tried to console him as Pecca hurried to gather the rings for a second try, but the boy’s wail only grew louder. She grabbed a handful of candy bars and handed them to Black Panther. “Here you go. You’re lucky player number one hundred, and you get all the candy!”

  Black Panther’s tantrum shut off like a spigot, and he gleefully walked away with his loot and his father walking behind him looking less pleased. Oh well. It was already eight o’clock, and the school principal was making the announcement that the fall festival would be shutting down. Thank goodness.

  Lane started to get up from the chair, but Pecca waved her back down. “I’ll clean up.”

  “I already agreed to watch Maceo tonight so you and Captain Handsome can canoodle. I can help you clean up.”

  Pecca smiled. She knew it was a silly smile, because Maceo told her it was, but she couldn’t help it. Every time she thought of Colton, it just . . . happened. Even after the tragic news about Javier, all Pecca wanted to do was be with Colton. And if they ended up canoodling, well, she wasn’t going to turn him away. His kisses curled her toes.

  “I might be changing my mind.”

  Lane tipped her chin toward the crew walking their way. Maceo and Noah were sluggish, their faces streaked with sweat. Charlie and Colton were deep in conversation that—from their expressions—looked serious.

  “Did you boys have fun?”

  “We got so much candy!” Maceo lifted his bag to answer her. “I only had a few pieces.”

  Pecca looked at Colton. His guilt-stricken expression said more than a few pieces of candy had been consumed.

  “Dad said I could eat three pieces if I got out of the jumping balloon.”

  Lane looked at Charlie, who made a face and shrugged. Pecca laughed.

  “I’m too tired to care,” Lane said, shaking her head.

  “Are you sure you still want to take Maceo home?”

  “It’s no problem.” Charlie helped Lane out of the chair. “They’re probably minutes away from a sugar coma. Come on, mama.” Charlie guided Lane forward, rubbing her shoulders. “Thanks, Pecca.”

  Pecca hugged Maceo and made him promise to behave before waving to the others. “Night.”

  Colton began collecting the colored rings. “Did I ever tell you I have a thing for cowgirls?”

  “Cowgirl?” Pecca looked down at her plaid shirt tied at the waist, jeans, boots, and straw sticking out everywhere. “I’m supposed to be a scarecrow.”

  He tugged on her belt loop, pulling her close enough that his minty breath was warm against her cheek. “You don’t scare me.”

  Desire welled up inside, and Pecca dropped her eyes to his lips. He smiled and then backed away. “Wha—”

  “Later.” He winked, and her heart swooped at his flirtation.

  For the next several minutes, they worked side by side to shut down the booth—their fingers brushing, “accidentally” bumping into one another, sneaking looks that spoke of a fervency to finish their job and get to their date.

  Canoodling was most definitely going to happen.

  “I just need to turn this in to Kristen.” Pecca lifted a box of supplies. “Would you grab us some waters from the snack bar?”

  “Sure.”

  She spun on her heel to hurry and drop off the box. After handing off the supplies to Kristen, Pecca walked past the jumping balloon, which was still occupied by a handful of kids unwilling to get out despite their parents’ pleas. Pecca spotted David looking frazzled. Part of her still felt bad. She’d been seeing him less at the Mansion and hoped he was doing okay. If he hadn’t already found someone else, maybe she could figure out who the single moms were in Walton and set him up.

  “You ready?”

  Colton was waiting for her at the doors, and just the sight of him sent her heart pounding. She smiled. “Definitely.”

  The cool air felt refreshing when Pecca stepped outside the gym, and the decibel level dropped so suddenly it was like her ears had lost their hearing. “Nothing like a bunch of crazy kids to make you appreciate peace and quiet.”

  Colton walked around her so that she was on his left side, a move she figured out was to put her on the side with his good arm. “I’m pretty
sure mortar rounds are quieter than a bunch of kids fired up on sugar.”

  Moonlight peeked through the branches, lighting up the school playground as they crossed through. Since they had found out about Javier, Colton hadn’t mentioned anything more about his time in the Army. “How are your sessions going with Chaplain Kelly?”

  “I wish they were going better.”

  “What do you mean?” She looked him over. Something was definitely different about him. “I see a difference. You’re less . . . rigid.”

  “Rigid?”

  “Not in a bad way.” She bumped into him playfully and he captured her hand in his, interlacing their fingers. Her breath caught. “It’s like you’ve relaxed.”

  Colton gave her hand a little tug to bring her next to him. “I’ve been thinking about his question. About what I imagine happening after here.”

  Pecca bit the inside of her cheek. He was leaving in just a few weeks and she didn’t want him to, but she couldn’t ask him to stay. Home for Heroes wasn’t a permanent treatment facility. Arrangements would be made in Colton’s hometown for his continued treatment. She always hated the days her patients left, but watching Colton leave was going to be a whole new and painful experience.

  As though he were reading her thoughts, Colton pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. “Odd as it sounds, I think it’s because I feel at home here.”

  Her heart quickened. “In Walton?”

  Colton tipped his head to the side. “I was thinking Home for Heroes, actually, and what we talked about the other day. The feeling of being back on a team. Chaplain Kelly is trying to find a place like it near where I live, but it’s not looking good.” His arm twitched. “Not sure how it’ll feel to leave.”

  Pecca sighed, feeling the sadness return as they continued to walk the pathway leading them away from the school and toward Home for Heroes. A nighttime melody of bugs and bullfrogs from the river sang a chorus. It would’ve been super romantic if not for the reality she and Colton faced in the not-so-distant future.

  Had this been a mistake? She sighed, imagining Claudia shaking her head in an “I told you so” fashion. Why had she allowed herself to fall for Colton when she knew he was going to leave?