The Turbulence of Butterflies (Max Howard Series Book 6)

by Fischer G. Hayes

  At the front gate to the Pape Ranch, I stopped and we waited for Clete. I wasn’t about to pass up a brisket po-boy if I was paying for it. Molina stayed in his own vehicle while we waited for Clete to arrive with the food.

  I returned several of my earlier calls while I waited. One was from the real estate appraiser, Cotton Lehr, who had called me a few days ago.

  “Thanks for calling me back,” he said as soon as I identified myself.

  “I called you back because I wanted to ask you again who told you the Pape Ranch was for sale.”

  “I’m not going to violate client confidentiality, Mr. Howard. My business depends on my sterling reputation.”

  “Alright, Mr. Lehr, I’ll talk to you later. Oh, by the way, I am going to sell the ranch,” I said and closed the call.

  I ignored his call back. It occurred to me that the sale of the Pape Ranch could go sideways on me real fast considering all that had happened. I might need Lehr in the future. I’d check back with him later, I decided.

  . . .

  When I pulled up to the entrance to my ranch a deputy was parked in front of the gate. Evidently, Sheriff Molina wasn’t taking any chances that Tomás Martinez might decide to leave, while we waited on Clete at the Pape Ranch.

  That brisket po-boy wasn’t sitting well on my stomach. At Molina’s urging we had eaten them while we drove to my ranch. Well, actually he grabbed his po-boy as soon as Clete arrived and told me to follow him. It was a waste of good brisket to eat like that and I was aggravated with Molina for being in such a hurry.

  The Martinez family, all seven of them, were in the Meeting Center when we drove into the parking lot. I could see them in the window and the look on the parent’s faces. I could imagine the panic Tomás must have been feeling when two Sheriff’s vehicles parked alongside of me.

  “Let me go inside and talk to him. I’ll bring him out.”

  “No, you won’t. This is a murder investigation,” Molina shot back.

  “You have a warrant?”

  “I can get one.”

  “Fine. Get off my ranch until you get one,” I said and we were now a few inches from one another.

  Maybe this was it. I had been expecting that one day all the pent-up resentment he had towards me would explode into a physical showdown. So far all he had ever done was use his office to throw his weight around and I had spent some time in the county jail because of it. Unfortunately for Molina, I now had too many friends in high places for him to get away with what his predecessors had. Before Molina was appointed acting Sheriff, the Solms County Sheriff’s Department had put me in the hospital more than once and made me a rich man after I sued the County.

  It was obvious that Molina had more brains than the other Sheriffs and that was partially why I tried to work with him, even if I didn’t like the man. The other reason was I was getting too old for physical confrontations. They seldom ended well for me anymore. I could tell by the way his eyes shifted, he was weighing his options.

  “You have five minutes,” he said.

  “We’ll be out in a few minutes,” I said and walked into the Center.

  I could tell by the expression on Emily’s face she was expecting the worst; like Molina was going to storm the Center and arrest everyone.

  “What have you done, Señor Howard?” Tomás said before Emily could ask what was happening.

  “We found a body on the Pape Ranch. I thought it was you. The Sheriff wants to talk to you.”

  “I was in Mexico.”

  “Yeah, I know. I got your letter. What are you doing back here?”

  “I came for my pay. We are going to California.”

  “Good for you. They need all the illegal immigrants they can get. Emily, would you write a check for Tomás in the amount of one week’s pay. We’ll be back in a minute. Come on, we need to talk to the Sheriff,” I said and started for the door.

  “Will he arrest me?”

  “I don’t think so. You still have your green card, right?”

  “What will happen to my family?”

  “He doesn’t know they’re here, if you don’t tell him.”

  He nodded and we started outside. “I should also get two weeks’ pay plus the week you owe me for,” he said.

  “You’ve been talking to the wrong people, my friend. When you walk off the job without telling me, you get squat,” I replied back.

  “Dad,” Emily cautioned me in that voice of hers that never liked confrontation.

  “It’s okay, Sweetheart. Pay him for one week.”

  “We need to talk, when you’re done,” she said.

  “This shouldn’t take long.”

  Tomás and I walked outside. Molina and his Deputy got out their vehicles and met us halfway. There was a landscaped area beneath some oak and mesquite trees and stone slab benches for the conferees and guests at the Center to use while they gazed out across the pasture. I steered everyone to the shade.

  “Mr. Martinez, I need to ask you a few questions. Do you have a valid driver’s license?”

  “Yes, sir. Mr. Howard requires it.”

  “Let me see it, please. And do you have a Green Card?”

  Tomás handed Molina the cards. Molina looked them over and handed them back. He took out his cell phone and found a picture he was looking for from the crime scene.

  “Do you recognize this belt buckle?”

  Tomás examined the photo and shook his head, no.

  “Show him yours, Tomás.”

  I got a second look at his belt buckle and the only similarity that I could see was that they were both big and made of brass. They were typical of the ones you could buy at most feed stores that also sold cowboy clothing and boots.

  Molina gave me a look that said I was an idiot.

  “Where were you when Howard found Rebecca Haas?” Molina asked him.

  Tomás looked at me for an explanation. I had hired him after the Haas murder trial and he didn’t know her from Eve. “She used to live where you did. She died of a snake bite.”

  Molina gave me a frown for my efforts.

  “I was visiting my family in Mexico. I returned this morning?”

  I nodded that this was true.

  “When did you leave?”

  He scratched his head, thinking.

  “Maybe a week ago.”

  “A man was found not far from your house. I need you to tell me if you recognize what’s left of him,” Molina said and showed him an image on his phone.

  “Madre de Dios!” he said and shook his head, no.

  Tomás looked at me again. It was obvious the news of the man’s death scared him more than horrified him. Had he known the man?

  “You know, you might want to check with the crew that has been remodeling the Pape ranch house. Make sure they’re all accounted for,” I said to Molina to distract him.

  “Can you get me their names?”

  “They don’t work for me directly. The man that’s doing the remodeling is Hector Guerrero,” I said and gave him the number I had for him from my cell phone. “He should be able to give you the names of his crew this past week.”

  “I’ll check with him. Mr. Martinez, I may need to talk to you again. Don’t leave Solms County. Give Deputy Lehmann a number where we can reach you. Howard, walk with me.”

  We headed down the path to the parking lot.

  “I want to see you in my office tomorrow morning at nine. I want a full update on what you’re doing at the Pape Ranch. There’s been nothing but trouble on that ranch since you got involved with it.”

  I nodded that I understood. He was right and I couldn’t argue that fact with him.

  “You need to have your political backer, Constance Pickering, in the meeting with us. She represented Fran Pape before I became involved with the ranch and now owns twenty-five percent of a company doing some field work on the ranch. And, let’s not forget the Governor’s Office. The State of Texas has a vested interest in the property.”

  “Fo
rget it. This is just between you and me.”

  “And my attorney,” I added.

  “No attorney.”

  “No meeting, then.”

  “Lehmann,” Molina called out.

  Deputy Lehmann walked over.

  “Yes sir?”

  “Take Howard into custody and bring him in for questioning as a material witness. Read him his rights.”

  If I were Tomás Martinez, I’d leave for California as soon as the Sheriff left the ranch and I didn’t want that. He knew something and I wanted to talk to him, which I couldn’t do if I was in jail. Molina was just throwing his weight around again. He and I both knew it.

  “Quit being such a hardass, Molina. You know I’ll be out in twenty-four hours and you’ll end up with egg on your face again. I’ll tell you everything you need to know, right here.”

  “Let’s hear it. Then I’ll decide.”

  “Just you and me.”

  Molina looked at me for a moment. “I have this, Deputy,” he said.

  Lehmann nodded and walked to his cruiser. Tomás sat down on one of the benches. He was watching us and probably thinking we were talking about him.

  “Okay, so you know the Pape Ranch was set up in a trust and eventually left to me. I won’t go in to detail about how your benefactor, Constance Pickering, played a role in all of that, except to say that’s it has all been sorted out and the ranch legally belongs to me. I started working on the ecological reclamation of the ranchland for the tax relief it would provide until the Legislature pulled the rug out from under me and did away with that particular tax break. I’ve invested a lot of money in the reclamation and no way to get it out of the ranch now except to sell the ranch. There isn’t any future in cattle ranching or wild game hunting anymore over the aquifer that serves San Antonio. So, when my crew discovered an old Spanish cistern on the ranch, I decided to explore the possibility of developing it into a tourist attraction to help pay for the taxes on the ranch so I wouldn’t have to sell it. The cistern sits over a large cavern that could also be developed as a tourist attraction. I was thinking about maybe establishing a Texas Caverns Highway Trail to other cavern sites though the Hill Country. It’s all preliminary now and nothing has been firmed up. I need to investigate the cavern and look at the economics of it all. And, in case you didn’t know, the Governor is very interested in the Tourism idea. That’s it in a nutshell.”

  “So why are you suing the County again?”

  “I’m contesting the tax assessor’s change in land use classification, that’s all.”

  “I’ve heard you found Spanish treasure.”

  “That’s exactly why I don’t talk about this and I’m trying to keep that nonsense under wraps. Rumors and talk of gold only creates problems for me. We’ve already had trespassers and damage to the site.”

  “Did you find any gold?”

  “No.

  “What’s with the gold crucifix Rebecca Haas had around her neck?”

  “Rebecca Haas was a goldsmith. She crafted antique forgeries that I understand were pretty good. That was how she kept the Pape Ranch going. Fran Pape sure didn’t know anything about cattle ranching. It helped Rebecca’s sales when a buyer believed she found the crucifix there on the ranch. She had a cheek guard off a conquistador’s helmet to bolster her claim of a Spanish burial site on the ranch, but the site has never been found. I suspect a part of the Old Spanish Trail that headed north from San Antonio went through the ranch and the cheek guard was just a relic from one of the travelers. But, who knows? It could have been a fake also.”

  “You make it all sound plausible, Howard, but that doesn’t change the fact that something is going on out there. Another snake bite victim not far from where Rebecca Haas died is more than just a coincidence. Too many people have died out there, even before these latest deaths.”

  “The Rangers wouldn’t be out for a snake bite victim. What’s going on?”

  “I can’t speak to that, but I’m gonna believe you for now.”

  I was thinking I had bought myself some time, but that didn’t resolve the problem. Molina was right. Something was going on out there and I didn’t want Shane and Hannah out there by themselves any longer.

  “I think I’m going hire some security for the ranch. I’ll let you know.”

  “You do that,” he said and walked to his vehicle. As soon as I could see him at the gate to the ranch, I motioned for Tomás to join me inside the center. I took Tomás by the arm as soon as we entered and we went to Emily’s office to talk in private.

  “You have that phone I gave you?”

  Tomás held it up. I took it out of his hand and removed the battery.

  “Why are you doing that?”

  “Don’t turn this phone back on until you’re out of Texas. They can ping you to check on your whereabouts. On second thought, I’ll just keep it.”

  Tomás was visibly upset at that.

  “Tell me what happened? Why’d you leave without telling me?”

  He looked away and began to speak.

  “The ghost that wanders came to the ranch.”

  “Come on, Tomás. Talk sense. What ghost?”

  “There are things that do not make sense, Señor Howard, but I still believe them. She walks South Texas in search of an ancient Indian treasure and on her back she carries a straw burden basket with the souls of her children.”

  I figured the best thing to do was humor the man if I wanted him to open up. Who was I to argue with what he believed in? Especially, ghosts and spirits.

  “Okay, what did she want with you?”

  “Nada. She was looking for you, Señor Howard.”

  I felt my knees go a little weak on me. My first thought was that Angelina was back.

  “Did she say what he wanted?”

  He nodded. “The mask of death. I told her you were on the ranch and I would go find you. She told me, no, that I should leave the ranch, instead. She would find you.”

  “Why didn’t you come get me?”

  Tomás shook his head, no.

  “I was afraid. She leaves dead men wherever she travels on her journey.”

  “So, you just left for the border?”

  He nodded, yes. “She looked at me with eyes that had no soul, Señor Howard. But it was her animal. The way it looked at me, I knew it would kill me if I didn’t do as she asked. I walked to my truck and left. Comprende?

  “I suppose. You should have told me, though.”

  “I cannot believe you have not heard the story of Magali. It was told to me before I ever crossed the Border. The woman had been condemned to death by the Mayan god Itzamná. After he killed her children and her, Itzamná cursed her soul to walk on foot from the Rio Grande to the Texas Hill Country for the rest of eternity in search of an object for him. When she reaches the place where Itzamná’s servant, the Mayan feathered serpent god, Kukulcán, killed her, and she has not found the mask, her journey begins over again at the Border. The only way to escape the curse is to find the death mask.”

  My whole body now felt weak and I braced myself on Emily’s desk. This was beginning to sound like a bad dream. I knew the name Magali. I had found her body along a road behind my ranch after Angelina had wandered onto the ranch. She was Angelina’s mother.

  “Before I came here looking for work, in the shallows of the Rio Grande near where I crossed, Itzamná took three of Magali’s children from her as they played in the water. She had been fetching drinking water at the time with her youngest daughter and they escaped the wrath of Itzamná that day. She left immediately to find her husband in north Texas and to hide her youngest child from the angry Itzamná when her truck broke down and a lesser god, the serpent god, Kukulcán, found her. He’d hidden himself well and she never saw the rattlesnake coiled in the caliche soil waiting for her,” Tomás said. “It is an often told story at the Border, for those that make the journey north. It is said that the staff she carries is really the serpent god that can change from her w
alking staff to a large rattlesnake on her command.”

  Tomás looked around and sat down in a nearby chair. “You want some water?” I asked. He shook his head, no.

  “It is sad. She cannot die. She walks the earth as a woman and is subject to all the evil that a woman walking alone must endure. Her animal companions keep some of the men who want to do her harm away, but still bad things happen to her. And she kills many. They say the pain stays with her until she reaches her destination and the journey begins again at the Border. Once her journey starts, she has no memory of the pain and suffering from the previous journey. She only knows she must find the death mask.”

  “I was also told she doesn’t remember anything from journey before, except she does remember her children. She can never forget them. Itzamná made sure of that. It was part of his curse, her misery; and the burden she carries is there for his amusement. The Maya gods can be cruel, Señor Howard. I do not believe in them,” he said and made the sign of the cross. “One must be careful, though. It would be foolish to ignore somethings because we do not believe they are possible. No?”

  I suddenly had a feeling in my gut; a bad one. And, it wasn’t the brisket po-boy. I remembered the power that Angelina had over everyone on the ranch.

  “If I had not left, I think I would be dead now, just like the man you found,” he added.

  “What kind of animal did you see?” I asked to confirm what I already knew.

  “It was a jaguar. Muy negro.”

  “Okay, Tomás, you were right to leave. It’s okay. Go get your family and get on the road. Don’t stop until you’re out of Texas.”

  I took some money out of my wallet and gave it to him for gas money. I patted the man on the back as we walked out of Emily’s office. There was no hard feeling on my part. Who was to say I wouldn’t have left just as quickly. If I’d had a shotgun at my side, maybe it would have been a different story.

  . . .

  I heard Clete honk the horn on his truck as he drove by the Center on his way to his house. I told Emily that I’d be right back to let her have her pound of flesh. I could tell she was anxious to share her feelings with me. She was a woman who liked to share and didn’t always care if I didn’t.