A Bad Day for Sunshine--A Novel

by Darynda Jones

  She let a grin that spelled out the word evil spread across her face. “Have a good day.”

  “Yep. You, too. And remember,” she said as Lynelle walked out, “it’s never too late to seek help!”

  Lynelle ignored her. It was bound to happen eventually.

  She hurried out and tried to beat the tardy bell with Cruz. They failed, but only by a couple of seconds. Mrs. Ontiveros was just taking roll. Auri hurried to her seat and slid into it, then gave a quick wave to Chastity. Cruz strolled in like he owned the place, like he hadn’t a care in the world.

  “Nice to see you could make it,” she said to them. “But that’s strike one for the semester. Don’t let it become a habit.”

  Auri shook her head, swearing to never be late again as long as she drew breath on this earth. Cruz nodded an acknowledgment, and she sat in awe. She’d had no idea coolness like that actually existed. She’d thought it was only in books and superhero movies.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Mrs. Ontiveros said to Cruz when she’d finished the roll.

  He didn’t say yes, but he didn’t say no, either.

  “Could you read your latest to the class?”

  “Yeah!” Chastity practically yelled, her enthusiasm contagious, because two other girls agreed with her.

  “Please,” one of them said.

  His latest? How did Mrs. O. even know there was a latest? Cruz wouldn’t let Auri even peek at his work the night before, but his English teacher had front-row seats to his latest?

  He shook his head. “That’s okay.”

  She didn’t push it with him, but she did ask, “Then would you mind if I read it? I sent it into the contest, barely making the midnight deadline, but it’s just so beautiful, Cruz. I would love for the class to hear it.”

  He seemed to be growing tenser by the moment. “I guess. But I wrote it really fast. It’s stupid.”

  The teacher grinned knowingly. “I don’t think you could write anything stupid if you tried.” She took a sheet of paper off her desk and stood in front of the classroom. “Okay, class. I want you to really think about the words here. What is the author saying? What is he feeling? Who is he talking about?”

  Cruz’s head whipped up when she asked the last question, but she didn’t notice. She cleared her throat and began.

  MELICACENT: A Love Story

  She was something other

  The girl

  Something not entirely human

  A song perhaps

  Created to be sung, not touched

  Heard, not looked upon

  But listened to as a series of notes that twist your spine

  That crack your skull and bleed your feet

  That hum with every breath you steal from her world

  The only constant keeping her in check

  Keeping her from shredding the flesh from your bones

  Is the rhythm she dances to

  The pulsing beat of your heart

  A heart she would gladly stop

  Should you dare look away

  And then she would laugh

  And set the galaxy on fire

  Mrs. Ontiveros filled her lungs and then folded the paper and looked at the class. Auri would have as well, but she was too busy being hypnotized by his words.

  After a long silence, the class erupted in applause. Most of the class, anyway. The boys that could reach him pushed and slapped him on the back, because that was what boys did. But the girls seemed just as impressed as Auri.

  Lynelle, however, only had eyes for her. She sat with her arms crossed over her chest, her dark hair styled to red-carpet perfection, and her gray eyes set to stun as she stared at Auri.

  But Auri couldn’t seem to find the strength to care. She watched Cruz, his head bowed, clearly unused to receiving such praise, and realized her heart was so very, very much in danger for the first time in its life.

  * * *

  Sun planned her day all the way to the station, so for about three minutes, after she dropped off Auri at school. As the county sheriff, she needed to get out to the search site and make sure things ran smoothly, but she also needed to interview Forest St. Aubin, Sybil’s dad, about his daughter.

  She needed to know his whereabouts when she went missing and his list of possible enemies. If she absolutely had to, she could let Agent Fields handle the interview alone, especially since their strongest lead was Jimmy Ravinder.

  The fact that both kids went missing on the same day at the same time pushed her tolerance for coincidence way over the line, despite what Auri said about her being the girl he’d been seen with. It was simply a lead she couldn’t dismiss.

  The search had to take precedence that morning. Once she made contact with the state police field coordinator of the SAR team and made sure everyone was where they needed to be with safety the top priority, she would think about going back to town and sitting in on the interview with Mr. St. Aubin.

  She parked her cruiser and walked into the station. When she saw Quincy’s face, however, she stopped and looked herself over. If she forgot her pants again, she was going to be livid.

  She patted her legs. Nope. Pants were a go. She’d even showered and French braided her hair, but apparently, it hadn’t been enough.

  Quincy eyed her, then handed her a cup of coffee without saying a word. Good decision.

  “Okay, guys, the SAR team is already on-site. Let’s get out there. And be safe.”

  Price walked up before she could head out. “Hey, boss. Mr. Hughes didn’t see anything suspicious.”

  “That’s too bad. Who’s Mr. Hughes?”

  “The guy in the surveillance video? The one buying the energy drink at the Quick-Mart?”

  “Right. The receipt found at the scene. Do you think he was targeted? Specifically set up?”

  “We can’t rule it out, but I really think this guy just took the opportunity to throw us off his trail. To keep us busy with a wild-goose chase.”

  Sun agreed.

  He handed her a report of what he’d found, which was basically nothing wrapped in another layer of nothing. “According to the clerk, Mr. Hughes goes in every day about the same time and buys the same energy drink.”

  She perused the report quickly, then grabbed a photocopy off her desk and handed it to him. “You gave him a ticket. Do you remember him?”

  Surprised, he scanned the photocopy. “Seventy in a fifty-five.” He looked at the photo of Mr. Hughes again and thought back. “Wait, I do remember him. He’d just gotten off work. Said he was in a hurry to get home because his wife was making his favorite. Lasagna.”

  “I can hardly blame him, then,” she said with a grin.

  “Right?”

  “Did he seem sketchy in any way when you asked him about the receipt? Evasive?”

  “Not at all,” Price said. “He seemed genuinely surprised. Said he always throws his receipts away in the same trash can.”

  “Okay, good job on this.”

  Price gave her a curt nod, clearly unused to compliments.

  “So, why the new look?” Quincy asked.

  She looked herself over again. “What new look?”

  He gestured to indicate her overall appearance. “Hell in a handbasket.”

  “Gee, thanks. I didn’t sleep well.”

  “Yeah? Anybody I know?”

  “Quincy, not everything is about sex. I slept in the cruiser.”

  He stopped and gaped at her.

  “I went back out to the search area.”

  His expression morphed into one of extreme concern. “What the fuck, Sunny?”

  “I didn’t actually search. I didn’t even get out of the cruiser. That blizzard was brutal.”

  “Worst we’ve had in twelve years, according to the hot meteorologist on channel seven. If you didn’t search—”

  “I went out there to wait. Levi’s truck was still there, so I waited to see if they came off the mountain.”

  “Of course Levi Ravinder would be involv
ed. Did he? Come?” He waited just long enough to make sure his not-so-subtle innuendo was understood, then added, “Off the mountain?”

  “Funny. And yes, but they didn’t find Jimmy. He went back out there in the middle of that melee.”

  “He’s got spunk. That’s for damned sure.”

  “Spunk? That’s what you call it when someone risks his life to save his nephew?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t like the guy, okay? Never have.”

  Levi had always been a sore spot for him. “Why?”

  “He’s not good enough for you,” he said matter-of-factly while checking his phone.

  Anita walked into the office before Sun could question him further. “There’s someone here who’d like to talk to you, Sheriff.”

  “About what? I really need to get out there.”

  “She said you’re friends and that it’ll only take a minute. A Melody Hill? She seems pretty desperate.”

  “Most of her friends are,” Quincy said.

  Sun smiled. “You’re my friend.”

  “Most,” he said with a wink. “Not all.”

  She just happened to look past Quincy to the lobby. A man was sitting there covered in bandages. “Is that Mr. Madrid?” she asked, shocked.

  “Oh yeah,” he said, chuckling. “I think the chicken is winning.”

  “Rooster. And I have to agree. What does he need? Besides an ambulance?”

  Anita looked at the exit longingly, then faced her duties like a champion. “He wants to file a complaint against Mrs. Sorenson. Says she’s harassing him about her rooster, because, and I quote, he didn’t take the god-danged thing, end of story.”

  Sun tried to feel sorry for the guy. She failed. But she did feel sorry for the rooster. “Poor Puff Daddy. Caught in the middle of all this.”

  “I think he’s the only sane one,” Anita said. “Do you want me to send the woman back?”

  “Yes, thanks, Anita.”

  Quincy grabbed his jacket. “Want me to wait?”

  “No. Will you meet up with the field coordinator? Make sure we’re good to go?”

  “You got it.”

  Anita showed in Melody Hill, a sweet girl who was a year ahead of Sun in high school. She’d grown into her curves, her attire much more attractive than what she’d worn in school, but Sun figured that was due to her mother’s constant reproach of her. The fact that the poor girl had been on a diet every day of her life couldn’t have helped her self-esteem.

  “Melody,” Sun said, surprised to see her. She rose to shake her hand, then gestured toward the chair.

  “Sunshine. I can’t believe you’re the sheriff. I totally voted for you.”

  Sun offered her a grateful smile. “Thank you. What’s up?”

  “Oh, right, I’m so sorry, but I didn’t know what to do. Who to tell.”

  That sounded serious. “Who to tell what?”

  “Okay, first I want immunity.”

  Sun smothered a grin. “If you’ve killed someone, I’m afraid I can’t grant that.”

  Melody burst out laughing, but it was one part humor and two parts nerves. Then she sobered and said, “No, really. I don’t want to be prosecuted for lying to a U.S. Marshal.”

  Ah. Deleon had said a woman lied to him when he was doing his interviews. Two, actually, but Sun was about 110 percent positive one was Darlene Tapia. She’d know for sure once the intrepid Royce Womack reported back to her.

  “All right. I promise not to prosecute you for lying to a U.S. Marshal. Tell me what’s going on.”

  She breathed in deeply through her nose, gathering her courage. “Well, someone told the marshals that I had seen that boy who escaped from jail.”

  “And had you?”

  “Well, I think so, but I may have lied to the marshal.”

  Sun’s adrenaline redlined. So, they were right. The fugitive really was in the area. She took out a notebook to take some notes, but it was really just for show. Sometimes when people were confessing to a crime, they didn’t want anyone looking directly at them. It was a psychological thing. “Okay. Can you tell me why you lied?”

  “Well, I’m not positive I did. He may have not been the same boy.”

  “Gotcha. Why did you possibly lie?”

  “Because, if it’s the same guy, he saved my daughter’s life.”

  Sun looked up. “How?”

  Melody closed her eyes and pressed a tissue to her mouth. “I was part of the cleanup crew at the lake a couple of days ago. Everyone was heading out for the day, but I wanted to check a few more areas. Sure enough, someone had tossed trash behind Soda Rock.”

  “Always,” Sun said, shaking her head.

  “Exactly. Anyway, I went to get more trash bags out of the car, and even though I’d threatened their lives, my kids got on the lake.”

  Alarm paralyzed Sun’s lungs. It simply didn’t get quite cold enough to create a thick enough barrier between air and water to hold people. Too many sunny days in New Mexico, even in winter.

  “My baby—” Melody’s voice cracked, and it took her a moment to recover. “My baby fell through, Sunshine. My baby girl.”

  The mere thought pressed against Sun’s chest and stole her breath.

  “And he saved her. The boy.”

  “The man the marshals are looking for? He saved her?”

  “I don’t know. It all happened so fast, and he took off as soon as he handed her to me.”

  “He pulled her out of the water?”

  “Pulled her out? No, Sunshine. He jumped in after her. He was on the cliffs, and he jumped in after her. He could’ve broken both his legs, but he didn’t care.”

  The lowest cliff looking over the lake was thirty feet. The tallest almost eighty-five. The thought of him jumping from any of them onto solid ice made Sun’s legs hurt.

  “The ice broke with his fall, and he swam under the surface until he found her. All the while, I was screaming and my boys were screaming. I ran out onto the ice, too, but it started to break. That was when I saw them surface out of the hole she fell through. Oh, my god, Sunshine, she would have died. I know in my heart that if he had not been sent to save her, she would have died.”

  Sun sat stunned, not sure what to think. It was one thing to be a violent criminal who preyed on those he saw as weaker. But for this guy to jump into a frozen lake to save a little girl?

  “So, there you have it.” She raised her chin. “Do what you have to do. I won’t be telling the marshals anything, but I thought you should know, since it’s your town.”

  “Thank you, Melody. But why wasn’t I told about the incident? I’ve read all the reports up to date.”

  “I took her to the hospital in Santa Fe. They must not have reported it to you.”

  “All that matters is that your little girl is okay. I have one of those, too. They’re pretty great.”

  She laughed through a light sob. “They are, aren’t they?”

  Sun saw Melody out and got ready to head to the search site when she got a text from Royce, the other, older love of her life.

  “No news yet. Will call soon.”

  “Sheriff?” Anita said from across the room.

  Sun walked over to her as she pulled on her jacket. “What’s up?”

  “The mayor would like you to call her with an update.”

  “Oh, okay, can you take down a message for when she calls back?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She made sure her badge was securely fastened to her belt, then said, “Okay, it’s three sentences.”

  Anita nodded, pen at the ready.

  “Bite. My. Ass.”

  The poor girl actually wrote down all three words before looking at her questioningly.

  “I know it’s a bit cryptic, but she’ll figure it out.”

  Anita’s eyes had rounded, but she nodded without hesitation. “Yes, ma’am.”

  16

  Two elderly sisters reported a man in the house

  across the street watching
them for hours at a time.

  Deputies ID’d the man as a cardboard cutout of Captain America.

  The sisters grew distraught when they found out he wasn’t

  real and were transported to the Del Sol Urgent Care Center for observation.

  —DEL SOL POLICE BLOTTER

  A helicopter flew over the search area as Sun stepped out of her cruiser and went to find the incident commander. She heard dogs barking in the distance, the ground pounders already hard at work.

  The snow wasn’t much deeper than it had been. Small blessings. Though the chill was still razor sharp, apparently a hot meteorologist had promised sun and lots of it. Hopefully, it would warm up as the day wore on.

  “Commander,” she said as she stepped up to a very tall and very busy state officer holding a clipboard. Commander William Ledbetter stood as tall as his position would imply.

  He glanced down and took her hand. “Good to see you, Sheriff.”

  “Thank you for getting this going so quickly.”

  He surveyed the surroundings. “Yesterday would have been better. Wish we’d known earlier in the day.”

  “How much time do I get to keep you before you have to pack up?”

  He dropped his gaze as though afraid to give her the bad news. “I can’t imagine we’ll find this kid alive, Sun. Two nights exposed to these conditions? If he weren’t disabled, maybe, but…”

  “I know,” she said, turning her face away. “But he’s smart, Will.”

  “I’m giving it two days, and then we’ll have to pack it in.”

  She nodded but decided to press her luck with every ounce of strength she had. She knew how much these things cost. Budget was always a concern in New Mexico, and when weighing the cost against the odds, the cost usually won.

  “I’ll tell you what. You give me four and I’ll give you a home-cooked meal.”

  “You cook?”

  “Hell no. But my mom is a savant.”

  The soft laugh was promising. Sun held her breath as he thought about it. “Three. It’s the best I can do, but you have to keep a woman named Wanda away from me.”

  Sun chuckled. “Deal. Thanks, Will.”

  “My team doesn’t need to worry about that escaped convict, does it?”

  “Not even a little. I’m going to head back to town, but I’ll join the search in a couple of hours.”