“This is one thing I miss, living at seven thousand feet,” Kelly said. “Having the flowers blooming this early in the season. Spring comes later than I’d like for us.”
Sam remembered her own childhood in Texas, where one of the pleasures was always having plenty of grassy spots and filled flowerbeds in which to hunt for Easter eggs. The image reminded her that the holiday was sneaking up—she needed to plan something special for Ana this year.
“Samantha?” came a voice from the front porch. “I’m Sally.”
“I remember, from your summers at the insurance agency,” Sam said. They exchanged a quick hug.
“Hector’s inside and he spotted you from the front windows.” Sally was about forty-five, more heavyset than her mother or sister, with dark hair cut in a pixie. She wore gray slacks, a bright yellow pullover top, and a worried expression.
“If possible, let’s keep the conversation light,” Sally said. “Hector won’t tell you this, but he began having chest pains when he heard that Danny was arrested. At work, they called an ambulance and he spent last night in the hospital. It wasn’t a heart attack, thank the Lord, but the doctor wants me to keep an eye on him. He’s supposed to stay home and take it easy the rest of the week.”
“Oh, no,” Kelly said.
“Have you told Pauline and your mother?” Sam asked.
“Not yet. They have enough to worry about.” Sally turned to put her hand on the doorknob. “If it should get worse, of course I will tell them.” She pushed the door open and led the way.
They walked inside a 1990s version of Faustina’s 1970s home. Interesting how Sally’s taste mirrored her mother’s in so many ways.
Hector stood near the living room window, hands behind his back, staring out toward the street. He was the fifty-year-old version of Danny. He turned and greeted them cordially, although his eyes revealed the toll this ordeal was taking. “Faustina says you’re going to help our son. She has a lot of faith in you.” By his tone, it wasn’t clear whether he felt the same. Sam got the idea he was reserving judgment.
“I was just making some iced tea to take out back. The sun is so nice today, we try to enjoy the spring days before summer drives us back indoors again.”
“That sounds lovely,” Kelly said. “I can help you carry things out.”
They settled into chairs around a glass-topped outdoor dining table.
“Have you had the chance to speak to Danny yet?” Sam asked after complimenting Sally on the cookies.
Sally shook her head. “Pauline went to visit him this morning and we got a long report. She says he’s doing all right and he doesn’t want us to worry.”
“I was all set to pack the car,” Hector said, “but she talked me out of us going now. Said there wouldn’t be any point.”
“You were in the hospital yesterday,” Sally said, laying a gentle hand on his arm. “There’s no way you’re making a road trip now.”
“Sally’s right. Danny will be limited on visitors and how much time each can spend. Your support would be better during the trial.” Sam caught herself. “Of course we’re hoping there won’t be a trial. If we can find evidence to exonerate your son, we will, and we hope that will lead the sheriff to the real killer. We all want to see Danny freed.”
“I just don’t understand this,” Sally said. “We met Lila. She was beautiful and charming. Who would want to hurt her? Not our Danny, that’s for sure.”
It was the same way Lila’s own parents described her. Finding someone angry enough to murder her was going to be a challenge, Sam knew.
“Danny says she was becoming somewhat … overbearing. Pressing him to get married right away. He told me that was why he moved to Taos. Maybe it was to give himself some time and space to think about the commitment?” Sam suggested.
“If anything, I always thought she would move along before he did,” Hector said. “She was a few years older than him and always seemed kind of … above us. Or she thought she was.”
“Because she was beautiful?” Kelly asked. “Pretty girls can be full of themselves.”
“It was that, sure. I don’t know exactly. Her dad’s a cop, not exactly some millionaire. Sally’s a hair stylist, I work for the postal service sorting mail at night. It’s not like any of us are, you know, bigwigs.”
Miguel Contreras is a cop? Sam digested the news for a moment. No wonder he’d made a beeline for Evan Richards’ office when he got to Taos. She had to wonder how his opinion would skew the sheriff’s view of both the victim and of Danny? She set those thoughts aside for later. Right now she was out to find evidence.
She set her glass down and leaned forward. “When Danny moved to Taos, he didn’t bring a lot of personal belongings with him. I wonder … did he leave some of his things behind, here at your house?”
“Oh sure. You know how it is with kids these days. It can take years for them to completely move away from home.”
Kelly and Sam exchanged a look and both laughed. “This one,” Sam said, “still had things at home when she came back nearly ten years later.”
Sally gave a knowing nod. “Oh! Speaking of things left behind. Danny never has changed his address for some billing and banking, so I keep his mail and send him a packet once a week or so.”
“I’d be happy to take it to him, if you’d like,” Sam offered.
“Yes, thanks. But what I was thinking of was something …” She got up and went back into the house. When she returned, she held out a white envelope to Sam. “His bank statement. I have to admit, I opened it. When I heard about his arrest I wanted to see if he had some money in his account to cover his expenses. I was worried about the price of this lawyer.”
Sam took the envelope hesitantly. “I don’t—”
“You can look. He had several thousand dollars in there at the beginning of the month. And now—nothing! He took out all but a few dollars.”
Sam pulled out the single sheet statement. Sure enough, the balance was now $10.48, down from nearly ten thousand.
“Danny was always very careful with his money,” Hector said. “Saved every week from his pay, saved all his graduation and birthday money, and he was careful with his spending.”
“I can see that,” Sam said, scanning the deposits and expenses. Knowing what Beau paid, it appeared Danny had kept out enough for gas and food and banked the rest. “Have you called the bank to find out more about the transaction?”
Sally shook her head. “It just came yesterday.”
“Do you mind if I take a picture of this?” Kelly asked. “We could show it to Danny when we get back home.”
“Please. Go ahead.”
“Meanwhile, I’d like to look in his bedroom or wherever his things are, the stuff he left behind. Maybe there’s something more about his relationship with Lila, something we don’t know already.”
Sally led the way to a back bedroom decorated in blue and red, furnished simply with a single bed, student desk, chest of drawers, and bookshelf. School mementos and baseball trophies sat on the shelves. Sam saw the same pattern of neatness in the way Danny kept this room and the casita at their place.
“Take your time,” Sally told them. “I can’t think what would be here that might help—it’s all his old childhood and high school junk—but maybe you’ll know what you need.” She walked down the hall, leaving the door open.
Kelly was perusing her phone, stretching the photo of the bank statement to enlarge it. “Mom, did you notice the date on that big withdrawal? It was the day before Lila died.”
Sam paused with a desk drawer half open. She hadn’t paid attention to that.
“Did he say anything about needing money for something? Maybe he was buying a new truck or something. Maybe he hoped to pay Lila off, get her to go away.”
“No, he didn’t mention anything at all.”
“It’s a mobile banking transaction. We’d need access to the account to see the details.”
“Or we just ask him about it when
we get home.”
“Oh, that’s what I meant. Mom, you’re watching too many cop shows where they hack into people’s accounts with just a couple of clicks and instantly know everything about them.”
“Ha. Ha.” Sam turned her attention back to the desk. If only this were that easy.
Kelly rifled through the books on the lower shelves, and took photos of the items. Maybe something she collected would stir Danny’s memory of an event, and that might lead to the name of whoever else was out there—out to get Lila.
Sally wandered back in. “I haven’t looked through his papers and things. Are you coming up with anything that might help?”
Sam shook her head. “Danny told me Lila was saying untrue things, spreading rumors on social media. Did he tell you about that?”
“A little. After they had dated for a couple of months, I could tell he was getting tired of the relationship. I don’t know if tired is the right word … maybe it was more like, I don’t know. He realized she wasn’t the girl for him. That’s when he said she was saying things about him being a liar and breaking promises.” She straightened the bedspread absentmindedly. “I told him what Mama always used to say to me: ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’ I suggested he just ignore what Lila was saying. It’s no fun to bully someone who doesn’t respond, and she would just go away.”
“Sounds like he was trying to do that,” Kelly said. She had opened the closet and was staring at an upper shelf. “Moving to Taos was a good idea to get off her radar.”
“I thought so too. His dad and I were thrilled when Mama encouraged him to come, and then when he found a job right away. By the way, Sam, he really does love working for your husband. I think it’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him, ranching.”
Sam closed the last of the desk drawers, emptyhanded. “I’d like to chat with his friends while we’re in town. Would you know how to put us in touch with them?”
Sally rolled her eyes. “Kids came and went from here all the time, during his high school years, but that’s been a while. I got first names, at the most. And you know how kids are now—all the contact information is on their phones. I doubt he wrote down anything. Other than Sergio Sandoval. Serg was his best friend since first grade, and we know the Sandoval family well. I’ll give you his mother’s number.”
She left the room. Kelly was busy patting down the pockets of jackets and shirts in the closet when Sally came back with a slip of paper in her hand.
“Here’s Darlene Sandoval’s phone number. And I wrote down our daughter Patsy’s number and address too. Good luck catching her—she’s in law school and the schedule is crazy. But she’ll know most of Danny’s friends. She and Lila even got so close that Lila was moving into the new apartment with Patsy.”
Sam’s breath caught. Now that was an interesting tidbit. How had no one thought to mention it already?
Chapter 27
The apartment building was typical of student housing everywhere—a nothing-special tan building, a big parking lot, no real amenities. It was a place to sleep and study. Sally had told them Patsy drove a yellow VW beetle, so when Kelly spotted a young woman about to get into that very car, she pulled up alongside. The UTSA Law sweatshirt was another giveaway.
“Patsy?” Sam called as she got out of the rental.
Patsy Flores looked up with a smile full of beautifully white teeth. Her liquid brown eyes went along with wavy long, dark hair. She wore jeans with the blue and orange school logo sweatshirt. She tossed a heavy-looking backpack into the passenger side of the little car.
“You must be Sam,” she said. “Mom texted me.”
“Have you got a minute?”
“A minute—that’s about right. I’m graduating law school in May and it’s brutal. Every spare second, I’m studying.” She leaned on the open door of the car.
“I was hoping to chat briefly about Danny and Lila, how they were getting along and all that. We’re trying to help find Lila’s killer.”
Patsy shook her head woefully. “It can’t be Danny—I’m sure of that. He may be flaky and noncommittal in relationships, but he’s never been violent.”
“You think he moved to New Mexico to get out of the relationship?”
“Well, of course. That would be his way of handling it, rather than sitting down and properly breaking it off.”
“He told me he tried talking it out with her. He says she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Patsy nibbled at her lower lip for a moment, squinting her eyes. “I don’t know about that. Lila always seemed reasonable. I mean, I wouldn’t take on a roommate who didn’t have her act together.”
“And Lila did? Have her act together?” Kelly wasn’t hiding her skepticism very well.
“Eh, most of the time. I mean, she was fun and knew how to party—don’t we all? Well, okay, maybe not me so much, not right now, since I’m busting my fanny to finish school. Lila had a job, but didn’t seem career oriented. She always had money to buy little gifts for friends, to go out, to get new clothes. Maybe she got some extra support from her parents or something. All I know is she gave me two month’s rent in advance for my second bedroom here. And, hey, every little bit helps. I’m just saying, she was a nice person. It was horrible what happened to her.”
“Could we take a look at her room sometime? I know—”
“Yeah, sure. I’ve gotta run now … but we’ll catch up.” She slid down into her seat as she said it.
“Real quick,” said Kelly, stepping forward to block the car door from closing. “Could we get the numbers of a friend or two of Danny’s? We only have a couple days here in town and need to make the most of it.”
“Um, sure.” Patsy reached into a side pocket of her backpack and pulled out her phone. With a couple of quick swipes she brought up contacts. “Here’s Sergio. He’ll be an important one to talk to.”
She held up the phone screen and let Kelly add the number to her own phone.
“And here’s Devon Miller’s number. She and her brother are nearly always with whatever group is going out. She’s sweet and would probably tell you whatever you need to know.”
The moment Kelly had finished taking the numbers, Patsy pled lateness and pulled her door shut as she stuck her key in the ignition. With a flash of a stiff smile and a tiny wave, she backed out.
“Marginally helpful, but I guess it was worth the trip to get the phone numbers,” Sam said.
The sun was beginning to dip in the sky, and their early awakening had begun to tell. Kelly drove and Sam used her phone to call the new contacts.
Sergio Sandoval answered on the first ring. “Yo.”
Sam explained who she was and gave the rehearsed version of why they were in town, hoping to help Danny.
“Yeah, bummer. It sucks that Lila died, but it sucks worse that Danny’s in trouble.”
“We’re hoping that by talking with some of their friends we can figure out what went wrong. We need some evidence that would show Danny didn’t commit this crime.”
“I know, man, I wish I knew what to tell you. He was kind of reaching a limit with her, you know. It’s why he moved away.”
“Right. That’s what he’s told me,” Sam said. “We just ran into Patsy and she said a bunch of the friends get together regularly. Could we maybe meet up, have you introduce us to some of the others?”
There was some shuffling at the other end and the sound of a car starting. “Look, I’m on my way to work now, but yeah … Anybody who’s available usually shows up at Thrashed around ten or eleven. I’ll be there tonight after I get off work.”
Sam wasn’t about to admit she was usually dead to the world by eleven. The ranching life didn’t include many late nights. “Sounds great, Sergio. Thanks.”
“Oh my god, nightclubbing after eleven,” Kelly said. “I haven’t done that since I moved back to Taos.”
“Yeah, we live a pretty sheltered life, don’t we?” Sam said, setting Kelly’s
phone on the console.
“Well, I’ll never make it, especially since I’ve been up since before three a.m. Texas time, unless I get a nap first.”
Their hotel at the Riverwalk was ten minutes away and the room’s blackout drapes helped create the perfect little nap haven. Later, over dinner—salads in the hotel restaurant—they talked about what they’d learned so far.
“Patsy didn’t exactly seem to take her brother’s side in this whole thing, did she?” Kelly said.
“Yeah, and I’m not sure she’d be a good witness. She’s almost too truthful about Danny’s shortcomings.”
“Not to mention, she seemed to believe Lila’s version of things over her own brother’s.”
“Still, I think we can learn something useful and we need to stay in contact with her. I want the chance to go through Lila’s belongings that she left behind at Patsy’s apartment.” Sam set down her fork and stifled a yawn.
“You sure you’re up for this, Mom? I could go to the club by myself.”
“No way. Sorry to pull mom rank on you at your age, but I’m not sitting back in a hotel room and sending you off to some nightclub in a strange city.” Sam gave a wry grin. “I wouldn’t rest anyway.”
“It’s not like we need to stay very long. We’ll see how it goes, hopefully chum up with the friends and learn something.”
Kelly grabbed the check and handed over her credit card. While she was waiting for her receipt, she looked up the address of the club Sergio had mentioned.
It was slightly after ten o’clock when the perky GPS voice directed them to the parking lot on a street just off the college campus.
“I think I’m glad we handled the wooden boxes before we left the hotel,” Sam said, eyeing the façade of the cinderblock building that had a violent looking mural painted on the wall that faced the parking area.
Kelly was also giving it a hard stare. “Yeah, I wonder what kind of place this is. At least I’m not getting any warning sirens in my head yet.”
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