She lifted her gaze, her big, brown eyes glistening with tears. “Promise.”
“Yes, sweetheart.” Liliana offered her hand again.
The child averted her head. “I wet my pants. Mama is gonna be mad.”
“She’ll be happy you’re all right. I’ll have her bring a change of clothing.”
“Is the mouse gone?”
“Yes.”
The child peered at Liliana for a long moment then fit her fist into Liliana’s palm. She helped the little girl rise then climb out of the hole she’d buried herself in—a hole that probably saved Maria’s life. Liliana stooped in front of her, still clasping one hand.
“Did the mouse bother you?” Liliana couldn’t see any bite marks, but the child wore jeans, wet down the legs, and a long sleeve shirt.
“Scared me, but I stayed real still.”
“He didn’t bite you?”
Several tears coursed down her face. “No.”
“You’re safe now. I won’t let anyone—”
Maria glanced toward the door, her eyes growing round and huge again. The child threw her arms around Liliana, hugging her so tightly she nearly cut off her breath. “Don’t let him get me.”
Grasping the girl with one hand and groping for her weapon with the other, Liliana swiveled on the balls of her feet toward the door. Ranger Jackson stood a few feet inside the entrance into the room. Her tensed muscles relaxed. “He’s one of the good guys, Maria. He’s a Texas Ranger helping me. You’re still safe.”
Slowly the little girl released her tight grip on Liliana and raised her head to look at her. Tears continued to spill from the child’s eyes. “He’s wearing a tan cowboy hat.”
“Yes. A lot of people wear them.”
“Bad man did.” Maria backed away until she bumped into the couch.
“But Ranger Jackson isn’t the bad man. He’s here to help.” Liliana said in her calm, controlled voice she used on Elena’s children when they were frightened of something.
“A Texas Ranger? Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“My brother’s always talking about being one when he grows up. Him and his best friend. They play war a lot.”
The ranger closed the distance between them in a slow gait. “Your brother did a good job today reporting the crime downstairs.” He squatted a few feet from Maria, a smile crinkling the corners of his gray eyes. “But you did, too.”
“I did?” Maria stared at the silver star he wore.
“Yes, you protected yourself by hiding. Some wouldn’t think to do that.”
“That woman . . .” Maria chewed on her lower lip, tears welling into her eyes again. “I couldn’t do . . .” Her voice broke as she cried.
Liliana gathered the child against her, wishing she could take away the images that probably would haunt her dreams for a long time. “But you can help us now.” She brushed some spiderwebs from the girl’s long brown hair.
Sniffling, Maria leaned back. “How?”
“You can tell us what you saw.”
“No, no. I don’t remember anything. I can’t.” She pulled away and started for the door.
When Liliana saw the Texas Ranger reach out to clasp the child before she darted away, she quickly shook her head. “I’ll take care of this.”
He dropped his arm to the side and rose.
Liliana was on her feet and racing after the girl before she ran downstairs and saw the woman’s body. In the hallway, a few steps behind Maria, Liliana called out, “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
The child slowed and then halted, her gaze fixed on the stairs that led to the ground floor. Suddenly she began backing away. “I can’t go downstairs. I can’t.”
Before Maria collided with Liliana, she settled her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. I’ll carry you and find another way out of the house.” She didn’t know for sure, but she hoped there was a back door in the kitchen.
The child turned toward her and wound her arms around Liliana’s neck. As she lifted Maria and stood, she sensed Ranger Jackson coming up behind them.
“Do you need any help?” he asked in his Texan drawl.
Pressing Maria against her, Liliana locked gazes with the ranger. “I’ve got this.”
“There’s a back door. I’ll show you.”
She smiled. “Thanks.” Maria was small for her age, probably no more than fifty pounds, but Liliana had been so busy lately with family and her job that she hadn’t worked out with her weights as she should have.
By the time Liliana reached the bottom of the stairs, Ranger Jackson appeared in the doorway down a short hallway and signaled that she follow him. Half a minute later, she and Maria exited the house through the kitchen.
Bright sunlight beamed down on her, but a cool breeze made the day feel perfect. The sound of birds chirping in the trees surrounding the vacant house mocked the tragedy that had occurred inside.
As Liliana started for the front of the place, Maria clung to her and buried her face even more against Liliana. She hurried her steps while the ranger slowed his until she caught up to him.
“We can take my car to the station.”
She opened her mouth to tell him she would take hers then remembered her partner had come with her. “Fine.”
When she rounded the side of the house, everyone shifted to watch her stride toward the SUV with Maria safe in her arms. A few spectators, a hundred yards away, cheered. Her partner broke free from the cluster of officers waiting for the go-ahead to process the crime scene and bridged the short distance to her.
Ranger Jackson had the back door open to his SUV. She tried to set Maria on the leather seat, but the child wouldn’t let go of Liliana.
“It’s okay, Maria. I’m going to get into the car, too. I just need to talk to my partner for a moment.”
A minute passed before the child unlocked her arms and slid them away from Liliana. “Promise?”
“Yes. I’ll be right here where you can see me.” She settled the child on the seat then turned toward Brock.
“Process the crime scene. I’m taking Maria to the police station to interview her once her parents arrive. She may have seen the guy who did this. She was hiding in a couch upstairs and terrified when I found her.”
“We’ll get on it. Let you know later what, if anything, we find. Is the Texas Ranger taking over the case?”
Liliana glanced at the man in question. He had stopped to talk with Officer Vega. Ranger Jackson looked up and snagged her gaze. Although the brim of his cowboy hat shaded his eyes, she could feel their scorch like the sun in the middle of a Texan summer. “Probably. We need to ID the woman. Is she from around here? She looks Hispanic, but from what I saw of her face, I’ve never seen her in the area.”
“Durango has about thirty thousand, so I’m sure there are a few you don’t know.”
“Not that many in the Hispanic community. I’ve lived here all my life and know most of the locals.”
“It’s possible she’s in this country illegally. Maybe she angered the coyote who brought her over the border. Most of the time they’re interested in one thing—money. But you and I know occasionally one will have something else on his mind before he lets his merchandise go. Maybe she wasn’t cooperative.” Her partner fished into his pocket for his Latex gloves.
“I think she might have been pregnant.”
“It won’t be the first time someone wants to come here and have her child so the kid will be a citizen.”
Liliana glanced toward the backseat to check on Maria, who sat with her shoulders slumped and her chin touching her chest. “If we can’t ID our Jane Doe through our normal channels, I’ll have ICE contact the Mexican authorities about her.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement would have better connections in Mexico to run down her identity, if she was Mexican.
“If she’s an illegal alien, they may know something we don’t about a smuggling ring currently working
in this part of the state. I’ve heard rumblings since we shut down the last one.”
It was an ongoing problem the Durango Police dealt with— like other communities along the border. “I’ll see you when you get back to the station. I’m going to have Maria’s parents bring Pedro down to the station while everything is fresh in his mind. He might have seen something important and not realize it. I’ll have Brady Roberts come down with his parents, too.”
Ranger Jackson disengaged himself from talking with Officer Vega and sauntered toward them. “Ready to go?” He paused next to Liliana.
“Yes, I’m sitting in back with Maria.”
“I figured as much. I don’t mind being a chauffeur.” He tipped his hat, opened the door for Liliana, and then rounded the front of his SUV to slide in behind the steering wheel.
After Liliana climbed into the vehicle, she helped the child fasten her seatbelt. For a few minutes she put her arm around the little girl as she sniffled, keeping her head down.
“Okay, Maria?”
The child nodded, wiping her hand under her nose.
“I’m going to make some calls before we get to the police station, but if you need me, let me know.” Liliana pulled out her cell phone and called the police chief, then Maria’s parents. “Mrs. Martinez, this is Detective Liliana Rodriguez. I found Maria and she’s all right.”
“Praise God. Can you bring her home?”
“We need to talk with Maria and Pedro. I’m taking Maria down to the police station and would like for you or your husband to come down with Pedro and bring a change of clothing for Maria.”
“Why?” Mrs. Martinez’s voice rose.
“I found Maria upstairs in the abandoned house, hiding. She wet herself.”
“Oh, my poor baby. Sí, sí, we both will be down there.”
Maria tugged on Liliana’s arm. “Can I talk with Mama?”
Liliana nodded. “She wants to speak with you.”
The second Maria took the cell she burst into tears. “Mama, I’m scared,” she said between sobs.
Liliana’s heart twisted at the sound of anguish in the child’s voice. She was so young to see this kind of cruelty in the world. Where was the Lord when this little girl was frightened that the killer would find her? Where was He when that woman was facing that man with the gun? There were days this job made her question her childhood faith. As a kid, she’d clung to it when her father had gone on his rampages. That had been the beginning of her doubts, and the past eight years on the police force had only increased them.
3
Forty minutes later, after Detective Rodriguez interviewed Brady Roberts and Mrs. Martinez and got nothing useful, Cody stood in front of the mirror that afforded him a view into the interrogation room. Detective Liliana Rodriguez was questioning the little girl found at the crime scene. Her clothes changed, Maria sat in a chair so close to her mother’s that she was plastered against Mrs. Martinez’s side while Mr. Martinez was outside with Pedro.
Liliana, seated across from Maria, waited until the child, sucking in her tears, calmed down. Quiet reigned for a few seconds before the Durango detective cleared her throat and looked up from her notepad. “Thank you for coming down here, Mrs. Martinez. I just have a few questions for Maria, then Pedro. After that, you can take them home. It shouldn’t take too long.” The corners of her mouth tilted upward while a serious look remained in her dark brown eyes. “I imagine Maria is exhausted after the day she’s had.”
“How could this happen in our neighborhood? We only live a few houses from that field. My children play there all the time. I have forbidden them to go into the abandoned house. She shouldn’t have been in there. You gave me such a fright.”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to win. I . . .” Maria’s voice faded under her mother’s stern expression directed at her.
“We will talk about that at home.”
The child dropped her head and stared at her lap.
“Maria, can you tell me what you did from when you entered the house until I found you?”
“I went inside and decided to hide upstairs if Pedro came to the house. At first I was gonna hide in a closet.” Maria peered up at Liliana. “But I thought he might find me there, so I looked for the best place. I was gonna hide in the cabinet until I sat on the couch. It sank in the middle. I lifted up the cushion and saw the hole. I knew then I would win. He’d never find me even if he came to the house.”
“How long were you waiting?”
Maria shrugged. “Don’t know. I was checking for Pedro through a hole in the floor. I noticed the sun was starting to come into the window when that . . .” she gulped and looked toward her mother, “he came into the house with that—lady.”
“Did you see the bad man?”
Maria nodded.
Liliana leaned forward. “Do you know him?”
“No,” the child mumbled and hung her head again.
“What does he looks like?”
Maria didn’t say anything. Cody studied the Durango detective. Her composed expression suggested she wasn’t in any hurry. He knew from experience that with a child it was difficult to press for information. You could press an adult but with most children you lose them. He liked how Liliana Rodriguez handled herself.
“Baby, you need to answer the police lady.”
“I can’t.”
Before Maria’s mother responded to her, Liliana said in an even voice, not a trace of anxiety on her face, “What do you mean by ‘I can’t’?”
“I can’t remember.” Sobs tore from the child.
Her mother hugged Maria against her. “She’s too upset right now.”
“I understand.” The detective gave Mrs. Martinez a reassuring smile. “I just have one more question for the time being.”
Maria’s mother rubbed the girl’s back, mumbling soothing words to her daughter. “Maria, the nice lady has one other thing to ask you. If you don’t know the answer, it’s okay, baby.”
Finally, the child lifted her head, swiping the tears away and peering at Liliana. The girl’s bottom lip trembled. Her eyes still held unreleased tears.
“You have been a big help. I know this isn’t easy for you. Just a little bit more, then you can go home. Did they speak Spanish, English, or both?”
Maria thought for a long moment. “Spanish.”
“Do you remember what they said?”
The child stared straight into the mirror behind Liliana. Cody felt as though the girl could see him standing in the viewing room watching them. He stuck his hands into his pockets and shifted from one foot to the other.
“They were talking very fast. Sometimes too low. I couldn’t catch everything, but she said to him something about an evil eye. The lady laughed and the man got real mad.”
“Anything else?”
Maria shook her head slowly.
Liliana grinned. “That was great. You have been a big help. If you think of anything else, please tell your mother. She can let me know. Okay?”
The child nodded, then buried her face against her mother’s chest.
Liliana rose, withdrawing a card from her pocket. “Thank you. If you or Maria remember anything, you can call me anytime.”
Mrs. Martinez scooted her chair back and stood, holding her daughter against her. “Are you going to talk to Pedro now?”
“Yes, then you all can leave. If I have any more questions, I’ll contact you.” She walked the woman and girl to the door and opened it for them.
Cody exited the viewing room and met Liliana in the hallway. She hung back while Mrs. Martinez and Maria headed into the main area where Pedro and his father were waiting.
“I wasn’t expecting a full description of the killer, but it would have been nice if we knew more than we do.”
For the first time, Cody glimpsed disappointment in Liliana’s expression. Not once had she exhibited it to the mother or daughter. “She may remember more later. She has been traumatized. A lot of people forget details until
they’ve had a chance to distance themselves from the situation.”
“True. That’s why I’ll pay them a visit in a few days as a follow-up. I’m not sure how helpful a tan cowboy hat or an evil eye will be.”
“A gang tattoo?”
“Maybe or just a tattoo.”
“It could be a look the woman saw right before she was going to be killed.”
“But the woman laughed after she said it, according to Maria.”
“A nervous laugh?”
“It could be nothing. Whatever it was, though, her comment made the man mad.” Liliana strolled toward the main room. “I’m hoping Brock finds something at the crime scene because right now we don’t have much except that the pair spoke rapid Spanish.”
“A lot of people in this area speak Spanish fluently. Including me.”
“I know. It doesn’t narrow down the search field by much. Maybe Maria’s brother will have something to help with the investigation.” Liliana came to a halt at the end of the hallway. Beyond her was the large room where there were several desks, all empty at the moment. The chief’s secretary/dispatcher was at the counter facing the front door. Liliana glanced at the Martinez family sitting in a group of chairs along the opposite wall.
“I’d like to be the one to do Pedro’s interview. I remember Maria talking about how her brother would like to be a Texas Ranger one day. I can use that to our advantage. If he knows anything, he should be willing to talk to me—want to talk to me.”
“Fine,” she said, then crossed the room to the Martinez family.
He was the new kid on the block and still had to prove himself to the others. One of the aspects of his job was to establish a good relationship with the local police. It made his job a lot easier. Al had told him a little about the different officers and the two detectives. But his friend had forgotten to mention how attractive Detective Rodriguez was.
Pedro and his father accompanied the pretty detective, her long, dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail that swung slightly as she walked toward him. Dressed in black slacks, white shirt, and comfortable-looking shoes, she appeared professional and capable. When she passed him in the hallway, he caught a whiff of lilacs. According to Al, she was a very capable investigator.
Shattered Silence: Men of the Texas Rangers Series #2 Page 3