Persons Missing or Dead

by Cliff Black

  I felt my stomach heave. I took a deep breath and asked, “Any clue to who did it?”

  “No, but the M.O. fits the drug cartels along the border. The ‘why’ is easy. The letters cut from his hide spelled out Rosa and Ricardo.”

  About a week later, I was sitting in my study one night when the phone rang. Nat had moved back home, but she was at work. I had been reading a Model-A club magazine.

  When I answered, a lady asked, “Is this Mister Corbin?”

  “It is.”

  “This is Melanie’s mom, Teresa Martineau. I’m so grateful for what you did. How can I ever thank you?”

  “Thank Nat. She’s the one that made it all possible.”

  “I have thanked her. Now, I wanted to let you know how much it means to me.”

  “I’m sorry Melanie was abducted,” I said. “I’d been looking for your daughter for several weeks and didn’t have a clue she was right here in Durango–and playing on the same soccer team as Nat.”

  “What was that all about, anyway? Why were you looking for Melanie?”

  It hadn't occurred to me that she didn't know what was going on. “I was hired to find her.”

  There was a pause and then Teresa asked, “Does that have anything to do with her being kidnapped? Melanie says it’s all a blur in her mind. She remembers the cop pushing her into his car, and she vaguely remembers riding home in the back seat of a car with Natasha.”

  “The less she remembers the better. Does she know she’s adopted?”

  There was a long silence on the line. Finally, Teresa said, “She thinks I’m her mother, and that her father was killed in an airplane accident.”

  “You do know she’s Mary McLaughlin’s daughter.”

  After another hesitation she said, “Yes, I guess I do know that, although I've tried to forget it. I also know she’s Paul Kennedy’s daughter, but I hope and pray Melanie never learns any of it. She’s a very sweet and good girl. She doesn’t need the sins of her parents dumped on her head.”

  This story was getting weirder by the minute. I asked, “You mean you adopted her knowing she was your husband’s illegitimate child?”

  “I was unable to conceive. I wanted a baby. I thought it would please Paul. But in the end, I never told him who she was. I told him I had a daughter from a previous marriage, and I was going after her. When I came back from Mexico, I caught him with another woman.”

  I wondered if even Rosa knew the entire story. I said, “And still you kept the little girl. I’m surprised.”

  “You wouldn’t be if you knew her,” Teresa said. “She missed her grammy at first, but she was so sweet, so lovable. She has become my whole world. I had almost forgotten about her real parentage–until that horrible man found Rosa.”

  “How is Rosa?” I asked.

  “She’s doing better. Her memory is coming back, and her bones are mending. She’ll never be the same, but she’s tough. She’ll be okay. Why were you and this other–this beast–looking for us? Who hired you?”

  Again I was amazed she didn't know. I said, “Melanie's grandfather hired me. Didn’t you know Arthur McLaughlin has become a very rich man?”

  “That’s hard to believe.”

  “It may be, but Natasha checked him out. He’s quite wealthy.”

  Teresa said, “There’s wealthy and there’s wealthy. What precisely do you mean?”

  “Between him and his wife, about five hundred million.”

  I heard an intake of breath. “Oh, my. That’s an awful lot of money, Mister Corbin. Are you sure?”

  “Look up McLaughlin Enterprises on the Internet. It’s all paper profits, but presumably they could sell out or go public and have half a billion, before taxes.”

  “Money! Is that what this was all about? Will Melanie have to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder and peering into shadows because that pig headed man is rich?”

  “That’s one side of the equation,” I said. “On the other side, she could inherit enough to live in luxury for the rest of her life.”

  “I’ve been there, Mister Corbin. I’m much happier with what I can earn. I hope I’ve taught Melanie enough that she’d never accept the money–or if she did, she’d give it all to charity.”

  “She’s the exception if she will,” I said. “In spite of all the examples to the contrary, most people believe money will buy happiness. Incidentally, Mary’s mother wants to meet Melanie.”

  “I’ve been afraid this might happen. I suppose it’s inevitable. We could go to Mexico, but I’m tired of running. Let me think about it for a few days.”

  We were both silent for a space. I suppose I shouldn’t have done it, but I said, “I talked to Alfred Hill.”

  I heard another sharp intake of breath. “Alfredo? Alfredo in Colonia Juarez? You talked to him? How did you know? How did you find him?”

  “Long story. In a nutshell, Nat found him.”

  “How is Alfredo?”

  “He seems happy and content. He has a wife and a family and wouldn’t have it any other way, but he still remembers Virginia Teresa.”

  After a long silence, Teresa said, “I made a lot of stupid mistakes in my younger days. I had to learn most of life’s lessons the hard way. Maybe things would have worked out better if I’d been smart enough to hang on to Alfredo.”

  Another week later, Nat asked me, “Dad, what’s happened between you and that Shelly person? I don’t see you going out any more.”

  “Shelly didn’t like the Four Corners, she was afraid of you, and she didn’t like Oscar. That’s three strikes. Besides, I think she’s left the country. As you kids would put it, ‘We’re history.’”

  “Oh, yeah? Are you like okay with that? I hope you are. I didn’t like her much.”

  I hesitated and then said, “She was interesting, but probably too young.”

  “You know, Dad, Melanie and I have become even better friends since we don't have secrets to keep. We both think it would be a good idea for you to meet her mom. Teresa’s very pretty.”

  “She called me again today,” I said. “She wants to meet me for lunch Saturday. There's still a lot she doesn't understand.”

  “Nat's smile widened and she said, “I think you'll like her.”

  “I think I know too much of her history,” I said.

  Nat said, “She’s not the same person she was sixteen years ago.”