“That’s the way I felt when my brother started driving a year ago. He had three wrecks in the first six months. Mama had me take him out each weekend until I was satisfied he could drive capably. He couldn’t get the car until then. He wasn’t too happy with me that I wouldn’t say okay for three months.”
“After dealing with Kyle, I can imagine. One good thing about Durango is that there are a lot fewer people on the roads for Kyle to hit.”
She laughed. “The glass is always half full. I like that.”
Cody snatched up his cowboy hat and set it on his head. “I’m heading to my office.”
“I want to speak to Pedro and Maria again. They should be home from school by now.”
“Do you think Mr. Martinez will let you speak to them?”
“That’s why I’m going now before he gets home from work. If he’s there, he probably will, but that doesn’t mean they’ll tell me anything.”
“I hope he’s thought about it and changed his mind. I hope the kids aren’t in any danger and the parents take enough precautions to keep them safe.”
“At least the chief managed to keep their names out of the paper.”
“Yeah, but the neighbors in Rancho Estates know about it.” Cody tipped his hat. “I’ll be gone most of tomorrow hand delivering the evidence to the state lab in San Antonio and in my usual charming way encouraging them to work on it in a timely fashion.”
“Maybe you could hang out with them for a few hours while they run the tests.”
He winked. “In our dreams. But I’ll stress there have been three murders in four days with a chance it could be the same person.”
“Do you believe that?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“Yeah, but we just need to find the connection.”
“You’ve got my cell number if you need to talk tomorrow.”
The Texas Ranger sauntered toward the back door, stopping to speak for a few minutes with Officer Hudson, who was first on the scene that morning at Carlos’s ranch. When Liliana glanced down at her watch, she hopped up. After going by the Martinez’s house, she had to pick up her brother and mother then get to her niece’s birthday party. Elena didn’t like it when they were late.
“Joanna didn’t think you were coming,” Elena said as she opened the refrigerator and removed a tray of vegetables. “Make yourself useful and grab the lemonade and tea.” Bumping her hip into the door, she closed it and started for the dining room.
Liliana clasped her older sister’s arm and stopped her. “Slow down. Joanna is outside playing with her cousins. It’s not time to eat yet.”
Elena tugged herself free. “I like to get things set up ahead of time, so if there’s anything that goes wrong at the last minute, I can take care of it.”
“We’re family. We don’t care.”
“I want this to be perfect for Joanna.”
Liliana took the vegetable tray from her sister. “Stop. Take a deep breath. What’s going on here? Joanna won’t care. Does this involve Samuel?”
Stepping closer, Elena leaned toward Liliana, gripping her upper arms with trembling fingers. “My husband has nothing to do with this.”
Liliana unclasped her sister’s hand and held it up between them. “Then why are you shaking?”
“Too much caffeine. I’m going to have to cut back on the coffee.”
“I’ve got a suggestion. Go be with your daughter. I’ll see to the food being put out for the buffet. I’ll have it all ready in fifteen minutes.”
“No. No. I can’t let you do that. This is my job. Not yours.”
“A sister can help a sister.”
“Stop it,” Elena screamed. “This is my house. I have to keep it up.” She shook, opening and closing her hands while she looked around as though searching for something that had eluded her.
Liliana grabbed her. “Calm down, Elena,” in the most composed voice she could muster while inside she raged. Her heart raced. Her throat went dry.
6
I’m fine. I’m fine.” Tears shone in Elena’s eyes and rolled down her face.
Liliana gathered her big sister into her embrace. “Tell me what’s going on. Please, Elena.”
“It’s just that this party has thrown me behind. I have so much to do. I didn’t get the laundry done like I should have. The garden needs to be weeded. I still haven’t cleaned the bedrooms. Joanna made a mess in here, and it took longer to clean up. I . . .” Her sobs increased as she clutched Liliana.
Anger insinuated itself into her heart. This was Samuel’s doing. Her sister was afraid to do anything wrong. She knew the signs. She had lived with them as a child.
When Elena stopped crying, she finally pulled away, wiping her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I got your shirt wet.”
Liliana brushed her fingers over the wet spot. “I’m not worried about that. But I am worried about you.”
Her sister peered out the large window in the kitchen nook. “I need to finish putting out the food.” She scrubbed her hands down her face. Her gaze latched onto something out in the backyard, then she grabbed the vegetable tray and scurried toward the dining room.
Liliana followed the direction Elena was looking and saw Samuel standing with the other men, her two uncles and several cousins, talking and laughing. Rafael, who was eleven years younger than Liliana and never really exposed to their father’s abuse, was in the middle of the male group while Mama and the females in the Rodriguez family sat in a circle, no doubt gossiping. The dozen children played on the swing set and trampoline.
While inside, Elena was falling apart.
Elena came back into the kitchen and went to the refrigerator for some more food. Liliana picked up the two pitchers with lemonade and tea and headed into the other room.
Ten minutes later with all the dishes on the table, Liliana stepped back and surveyed the feast. “What army are you feeding?”
“Our family is an army.” Elena finished lining up the bowls and plates with the salads first, then the meat and vegetables. The last was the dessert, a large cake with Joanna’s name on it. “Do you think Tío Ricardo will mind we aren’t having any Mexican food? He complained last time.” She straightened one platter that was crooked, sighed, and moved toward the back door.
“Tío Ricardo always complains. He would if you made Mexican food. He would say he was tired of eating it all the time. His wife has her hands full with that one. Never satisfied.”
Her fingers around the doorknob, Elena looked at Liliana. “I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I’m overtired. That’s all. Nothing else is going on. Understand, Liliana?”
“Perfectly,” she replied while her nails dug into her palms.
Elena opened the door and went outside to round up everyone for dinner.
“Why the frown, niña?” her mother asked Liliana when she approached her in the kitchen.
“Elena is working too hard. She’s exhausted, stressed,” Liliana whispered in Spanish.
“Tsk. Tsk. You know Samuel has asked us nicely to speak in English. He’s still trying to learn Spanish. We must honor his request when we are at his house.”
Exactly, but then Liliana wondered how much Samuel really knew. He had been living here for eight years and “learning” the language. As President of Durango City Bank she would have thought he would be fluent by now. “Madre, perdóname. I forgot.”
“You don’t think I know what you are doing. I’m going into the dining room and celebrating my oldest granddaughter’s birthday. I hope you will behave yourself.”
“I always do, Mama.”
Her mother snorted, adjusting her black shawl about her shoulders. Dressed in black since the day Liliana’s father died four years ago, Mama ambled into the other room while the back door opened.
Liliana was left alone in the kitchen with Samuel.
His gaze pierced through her. “Is something wrong? You seem upset.”
As if the man cared. “Three murders in the last few day
s takes its toll on the police.”
“Yes, I can imagine. I wanted to speak with you and see what’s going on with the investigation.”
“I can’t talk about it. Besides, the investigation has just begun.”
His eyes hardened like the rocky faces of the mountains in the Big Bend National Park. “But I thought you would have it solved by now. I heard Chief Winters talk about how good you are. He told the mayor that you and the new Texas Ranger for this area would have it solved in no time.”
“While I’m flattered Chief Winters feels that way, it’s not that simple. I’ll tell you one thing, though, I’ll make sure my family is protected no matter what or should I say who hurts them. La familia is important. You do understand familia is Spanish for family?”
He squinted, his gaze running down the length of her then back up to her face. Cold. Calculating. “I think I got that.”
“Bueno.” Liliana started to skirt around Samuel in the kitchen.
At the same time she moved, he did, too. Into her path. A large man, over six feet three inches, with muscular arms, Samuel blocked her exit. “I can ban you from this house. I demand respect in my own home.”
Demand? She bit the inside of her mouth to stop from retaliating and forged a smile on her face from a deep well of willpower. “I never said anything about not respecting you. You are my sister’s husband and her protector. A man who harms his own family is worse than a rabid dog. You know what we do to vicious dogs? I trust you feel the same way I do about family. Is that not so?”
The rigid lines of his jaw spoke of his suppressed anger. “Yes,” he muttered between clenched teeth. “One day you’ll go too far.”
Stepping back, she tilted her head and let her gaze roam down his length. “I was just thinking that. Funny how we know each other so well.” She made a wide circle around Samuel and forced herself to walk from the kitchen in a leisurely pace while inside fury shook throughout every part of her.
The next day while Cody was heading for San Antonio, Liliana knocked on Señor Flores’s sister’s door. When Señora Gloria appeared, she smiled.
“Child, what are you doing here? I never see you except at church with your mama.”
Liliana returned the grin. “My mama knows half the women in Durango.”
“That’s because she has never met a stranger. So to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”
“I need to speak with your brother. Miguel told me he is staying with you since he got out of the hospital last month.”
The remnants of her smile disappeared completely. “Ah, Alfredo is not doing too well. His heart attack has left him relying on family, and he isn’t happy about that.” Señora Gloria waved her hand toward the hallway to her left. “May I inquire why you need to speak with him?”
“As I’m sure you’ve heard, Carlos Salazar was murdered at the ranch your brother owns.”
“Yes, but Alfredo wouldn’t know anything. He hasn’t even been to the property since his stroke two months ago.”
“This is really just routine. Since he’s the owner of the ranch where there was a murder, I have a few questions and then I’ll be on my way.”
“He tires easily. If he doesn’t hear you, it’s because he usually refuses to wear his hearing aid anymore. You may have to shout.” The gray-headed woman swung the door to her brother’s bedroom open then stepped to the side. “If you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“Gracias.” Liliana entered the cheerful room with light flooding it from the large window overlooking the backyard.
The man sitting in the chair staring out that window at a birdbath and feeder was a shell of his former self. Once he had been strong and muscular, tanned a golden bronze. Now skin hung off his thin arms and his pasty face was surrounded by half the black hair he had a few months back.
“Señor Flores, I need to have a word with you.” Liliana’s voice rose to a near shout.
“Why are you screaming?”
“Señora Gloria told me you aren’t wearing your hearing aid.”
“She’s been harping on me to wear it so I am. I am fifty-five and falling apart. I know you. You’re Pablo Rodriguez’s daughter.”
“Sí.”
“I miss him. We used to drink together.”
She tensed, trying to keep her expression even, but the mention of her father sparked a fear she’d had as a little girl. She’d worked hard to bury that fear and never to feel that helpless and scared again.
“Sit.” After she took the hardback chair across from him, he continued. “Why are you here?”
“Do you know about what happened at your ranch yesterday?”
A scowl aged his face by five years. “Sí. What are you doing about it?”
“Investigating it. Do you know anyone who would want to kill Carlos Salazar?”
“I hardly knew the man. Miguel is the one who suggested Carlos work the ranch since I can’t anytime soon. I get winded walking out to get the mail.”
“Has anything unusual happened at your ranch since you acquired it?”
He scratched his chin. “Come to think about it, right before my heart gave out on me, one evening when the sun was going down behind the mountains, I saw lights in my pasture near the house. Kids like to ride across the fields back there on motorcycles or dune buggies. Went out the next morning and two cows were gone. The fence was down and you know it didn’t appear the cattle did it. I saw tire tracks in my field but at the downed fence there were a lot of cattle tracks—more than two would make. I told Miguel to keep the kids off my land.”
“That’s strange. Did you ever find your cattle?”
“They were about five hundred yards away, eating, just two happy cows, oblivious they weren’t where they should be.”
“How many cattle do you have?”
“Forty.”
“Forty? I didn’t see that many at the ranch.”
Señor Flores straightened in his chair, one hand gripping its arm. “Two months ago when I had my heart attack I had forty head. I’d planned to buy about ten more. That’s about all my land will support. Besides, I didn’t want too much work.”
“I’ll count the next time I go out there, but I don’t think there are forty.”
“Miguel hasn’t told me there’s a problem.” He put his hand on his chest as it rose and fell. “Talk to Miguel. He was stepping in for me with Carlos. He didn’t want to worry me about anything.” He took another deep inhalation, his eyes sliding closed.
“Did Carlos ever see the lights?”
“Don’t—know. I didn’t—ask. He didn’t tell me.” Resting his head on the back cushion, he gulped in a deep breath. “As much as I like a pretty lady visiting—I’m tired.”
“Gracias. I won’t bother you anymore.”
“No bother. I used to do so much more. Forty years working as a ranch hand and foreman, you would think I could talk more than ten minutes.”
“Rest. You’ll be back working on that ranch in no time.”
“Tell that pretty mama hello for me,” Señor Flores said, without opening his eyes.
Liliana left after telling Señora Gloria adios and strolled toward her car on the street. She intended to ask Miguel about the cattle. What has happened to ten cows? Why didn’t he say anything to Señor Flores? Was Miguel protecting him or was something else going on? She couldn’t shake the feeling Miguel was keeping something from them.
As she rounded the front of her Chevy, she noticed her back tire was flat. Great! Tossing her purse on the front seat, she started toward the trunk. Until she spied why the tire was flat. It was slashed, along with the other back one.
An alarm clanged against her skull. She pressed herself against her car and scoured the area for a sign of anything unusual. Nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, no one was outside in the yard. Deserted.
Keeping an eye on her surroundings, she called headquarters.
Later that afternoon, after she had her two tires replaced, she went
to the construction site to see Miguel. When he wasn’t there, because he was picking up supplies for his employer in San Antonio, she headed for the second crime scene. Chief Winters had supervised the removal of the debris yesterday at Victor Ruiz’s house since she had been at Carlos’s ranch processing that crime scene.
Before the charred ruins of Ruiz’s house, Liliana took several steps closer, the burnt smell still clinging to the air. From what little they could tell, the perpetrator jimmied the back door and entered that way. He probably caught Ruiz off guard, maybe sitting in his lounge chair where he was found tied to it with barbwire. The autopsy report confirmed he had been tortured. What information did the killer want? Did it tie to Carlos’s murder the next day or the woman’s the day before? She could understand Victor Ruiz being murdered. He’d led a violent life, and as the police were discovering, with a long list of people he had crossed. Digging into Carlos’s life might produce some answers, or maybe when and if they discovered who Jane Doe was, her identity would point them in the right direction.
Liliana stared toward the field behind Ruiz’s home across the rubble that had been a one-story house. Was that the way the perpetrator had approached or had he come from the front and around to the back door where he wouldn’t be seen when he broke in? Did he park nearby or walk a distance?
Ducking under the yellow tape, she entered the ruins. Chief Winters said nothing else had been found in the debris carted off yesterday. Ruiz paid cash for this house. Didn’t have a job in Durango. What was he living on? His ill-gotten spoils from Brownsville or had he set up here? Doing what? Drugs? Smuggling people into the country? Or something entirely different?
Across the living room she saw the remains of the chimney, one of the few things still standing. How many times would a person use that here in this part of Texas? Not many. She slowly made her way toward it, checking the floor. There had been carpet that had burned in the fire with only a few pieces left. Those were removed yesterday—leaving only the concrete slab the house was built on.
Shattered Silence: Men of the Texas Rangers Series #2 Page 9