“Believe me, I’ll be careful, but I’m more concerned about my sister.”
“What happened to her?”
The concern in Cody’s eyes underscored how different he was from a man like Samuel, luring her to trust Cody with the truth. “As I suspected in the past, her husband has beaten her up. She finally admitted it to me. He isn’t gonna take it lightly that she’s left him.”
“Are you going to arrest him?”
“Her admitting it to me tonight is a step in the right direction, but with Elena I think I have a long way to go to get her to admit she needs help. Or press charges against him.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because we went through it as children. Elena has bought into the scenario that she’s the one who causes Samuel to go off. She’s the one in the wrong. Not him.”
He sat forward, anger slashing across his face. “I’ll help you bring him in—with pleasure.”
“I’m going to try to convince her tomorrow, but I won’t be surprised if she doesn’t agree.” She hated saying it out loud, could even partially understand where her sister was coming from. She could still remember the remnants of thinking she’d done something wrong like Elena. “I left home at eighteen and got help. Elena stayed until she married Samuel. For years she’s lived with that mind-set.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. As a cop I’ve had to deal with domestic situations involving abuse. Many didn’t turn out well.”
“Knowing Samuel, he won’t let her go graciously. I have someone she can talk to here in town, but I can’t be with her 24/7.”
“Do you know a place she can stay in Austin or San Antonio?’
“Maybe but I don’t think Elena will leave Durango.”
“Dad, I think I’ve got a good sketch of the man.” A tall, lanky teen came into the room from the hallway. He slowed his pace when he saw Liliana, and his eyes darkened, narrowed slightly. “I thought the police were here again. There’s a patrol car out in the parking lot.”
“I didn’t come with the patrol car, but I am a police detective here in Durango.”
“Kyle, this is Detective Rodriguez. We’ve been working on the murders together.”
Kyle stared at her for a few extra seconds then turned his attention to his dad and handed him a sketchpad. “What do you think?”
“You’ve got him. This is good. Thanks, son. We can use it to put out a search for him.”
“Really?”
“You bet.”
“What if he comes back?”
“There’s no element of surprise now. He won’t.”
“He might.”
“You’re safe.” Cody laid his hand on his gun at his side. “I think he was trying to scare me. That’s all.”
The furrow of Kyle’s brow announced he wasn’t buying his father’s explanation.
“It’s getting late. Don’t you have a test tomorrow?”
“I can’t go to school after this.” The creases deepened as Kyle clamped his jaws together so tight a tic twitched right below his cheek.
“That’s the best place for you.”
“And what are you gonna do?”
“I have a job to do. I’ll be doing it.”
“You can’t. You . . .” The teen’s fear vibrated off of him. He whirled around and rushed from the room.
“If you need to talk to him, go. In fact,” Liliana started to rise, “I can—”
His wave dismissed her words. “If I have learned one thing in these past few months, it’s to give Kyle time to cool off. Tonight he got scared. He lost his mother three months ago, and he saw how close he came to losing me. At least that’s what he thought. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.”
“You honestly don’t think the man will come back?”
“If he’s smart, and we both know sometimes they aren’t, he’ll be long gone by now. No, I don’t know one way or another because I don’t know why he came after me. Kyle doesn’t need to worry about it, though.”
“Are you doing enough for both of you?”
“Yep. I can’t have a patrol car sitting outside my apartment. I need someone I can leave Kyle with while I’m working and he’s not in school. At school he should be fine.”
“Is there anyone you can send him to?”
“No, and I refuse to send him back to Houston. I want him near in case I need to protect him. If something big is going down here, we both know it can have far-reaching arms. Besides the fact that Nate, Kyle’s stepfather, isn’t the type of person I want my son around, he wouldn’t know how to protect him. He’ll do more harm than good.”
“Let me see the sketch.” She half rose and leaned toward him. When she had the pad, she studied it. “He looks huge.”
“He is. To the point he would stand out. Six feet ten. Two hundred eighty pounds. Not flabby. Ever seen him around?”
“No, but he’s distinctive.”
“Yeah, not someone who would blend into a crowd.”
“Are we still going back out to Carlos’s ranch and follow those tire tracks tomorrow morning?”
He gestured toward his bandage. “This isn’t gonna stop me.”
She pushed to her feet. “Then I’d better head home and let you get your beauty sleep.”
“Yeah, me and this Wilson Combat are gonna cozy up.” He touched the handle of his gun.
“I’ll meet you at the police station at ten. I want to make sure Joanna gets to school and make a few calls on Elena’s behalf. Maybe have a word with Samuel even if she doesn’t press charges tomorrow.”
“Is that gonna work?”
“I’m hoping she got scared today. Her bruises and injuries can’t be explained away. It was a beating, and it looks like one.”
“Ten works for me, too. After I take Kyle to school, I’m going to see Al again.”
“You think the assault tonight is connected to him?”
“It’s a possibility, but I called him when I first got home to warn him about what happened. He offered for me to stay at his place. I think I’m gonna take him up on it. That way I won’t worry about Kyle when I’m trying to find my assailant.” Cody flicked his wrist toward the sketch now lying on the coffee table in front of him.
“How’s your son going to feel about that?”
“I don’t think he’ll be throwing any parties anytime soon.” Cody followed her to the door. “And I still have to tell him. Not something I’m looking forward to. I know the first thing he’s gonna say. He’ll want to return to Houston and Nate.”
“It’s frustrating when you want to do something to help someone, and they don’t want you to.”
“I’m finding out that’s often the role of a parent.” He opened the door for Liliana. “I feel like today has been forty-eight hours.”
She laughed. “I know what you mean. See you tomorrow.” It seemed a lifetime ago that they’d been standing in her kitchen and his mouth had brushed across hers.
She waved to Hudson then slid behind her steering wheel and started her car. Fifteen minutes later, numb, ready to fall into bed, Liliana drove down her quiet street to find her brother-in-law’s Lexus parked in her driveway.
9
Cody knocked on his son’s door. “Kyle, I need to talk to you.”
When the door swung open, his son immediately walked away from it and sat on his bed with his cell in his hand. “You’re working with a Sp—”
“Don’t, son. We’ve had this conversation. I’m working with Detective Rodriguez as well as the whole Durango Police force. A lot has happened in the past week. She’s very good at her job and an asset to the department.”
“You looked at her . . .” He snapped his mouth closed and leaned back against his headboard, texting.
“Put the cell down while we talk. We can’t ignore what happened tonight.”
Kyle flung his phone onto the navy blue bedcover. “Yeah, if I hadn’t come home when I did, you would have been killed,” he muttered, keeping his gaze averted.
&nb
sp; “Next time I tell you to leave, do it. I can’t be worried about you when trying to fight someone.”
“Oh, so it’s my fault.”
“I didn’t say that. Just follow my directions. I know what I’m doing.” At least as a cop. Not so much as a parent.
“Fine.” Kyle reached for his cell.
“Tomorrow I’m taking you to school and picking you up.”
“I can ride the bus.”
“I know, but I’ll feel better if I do. Humor your dad. After school, we’ll come back here and pack some clothing. We’re not staying here for a while.”
Kyle sat up straight. “We’re going home to Houston.”
“No, we’re gonna stay with Al, the ex-ranger who owns the small place where I’m keeping my horse while we’re here.”
“Al Garcia?” his son said so slowly he drew out each syllable. “I don’t know this Al Garcia. Someone else besides you can solve his case. If not, then why can’t I go back to Houston and stay with Nate? I’d be safe there.”
He’d been expecting Kyle to ask, but he still didn’t have an easy way to explain his reservations about the man who had been part of his son’s life for years. “No, I couldn’t work effectively to solve the murders and find the man who attacked me tonight if I had to worry about you in Houston.”
“Worry about me? I’m fine with Nate. He has a lot more guns than you do.”
“Protecting someone isn’t always with guns.”
“Betcha wouldn’t have minded one earlier.”
“I’ve only shot one person in my whole career. It isn’t something I take lightly, and I only use it when it’s the last resort. Until things settle down, your activities will be curtailed. No studying at the library or a friend’s at night. I’m sure if you want to study for a test Al won’t mind having your friends over.”
“I’m not the one the man was trying to kill. Besides, he could have been a plain old burglar looking for money for drugs.”
“That’s a possibility, but I’d rather err on the side of caution than have something happen to you.”
Kyle began texting. “So you dragged me to this—place— and when I start to make friends, you basically ground me. Perfect.” The derision in his voice matched the sneer on his face.
“Have you ever thought if I hadn’t come home first what could have happened to you?”
Kyle jerked his head up and glared at him. “You brought this into the house. Not me.”
Cody was too weary to argue with Kyle or try to make him see he could be in danger. “We’ll talk more tomorrow about it.” He strode toward the hall.
“Yeah, sure,” Kyle mumbled, the rest of his sentence too garbled to hear.
Probably for the best. He couldn’t send Kyle back to Houston and Nate. Besides, there was no guarantee if someone was after him that they wouldn’t go after his son. Houston wasn’t that far away. When he called Al before talking with Kyle, he knew his old mentor would watch out for his son while he was working. Al might have had to retire, but he was still capable of looking out for Kyle.
The loud pounding on Liliana’s front door followed by a stream of curse words from her brother-in-law quickened her pace to a jog before Samuel woke up the whole neighborhood. Mounting her steps to the porch, she drew her gun. The glare of the light emphasized the savage look on his face, fury sculpting his features with harsh lines.
“Move away from the door, Samuel,” Liliana said in the toughest voice she could muster. After the long day she’d had, this was not what she’d wanted to be doing, but she’d known he would try to see Elena. She’d just hoped it wouldn’t be tonight.
He ignored her and continued hammering at the wood as though determined to force his way into the house.
She closed in on him and raised the gun to his head, pressing the barrel against his right temple. “I said back away. You are not going to see Elena. Have I made myself clear?” Why didn’t Mama call me and tell me that he was here?
“What do you take me for? I know you won’t shoot me.”
“Don’t be so sure about that. I’ve had to stand by and watch you hurt my sister. Not anymore. She’s finally admitted you like beating her up. I’ve told you how much family means to me. I guess you forgot that. Now, slowly step away from the door.”
He did as she instructed, but red mottled his face, his arms stiff at his sides. “You’ll regret this. I didn’t do anything wrong and you have no right keeping me from Elena and my kids. I can cause you problems. I have connections and money.”
“And by the time I get through with you in the rumor mill, your reputation will be destroyed. I’ll do anything to protect my family. This time, don’t forget it. I feel in a charitable mood, and I’m gonna let you walk away unharmed. But not next time.”
His upper lip curled. “You think you’re tough with that gun in your hand. You won’t always have that.” His dagger-pointed gaze slashed through her. “I will get my family back. They are important to me.”
As he stormed away, muttering words that burned her ears, she kept her weapon trained on him, chills rushing up her arm and over her whole body. She waited until he pulled away from the house before holstering her gun and unlocking her front door.
Inside, she faced her sister and mother, standing together with arms around each other, their faces a reflection of the terror she’d seen in other battered women.
“I’m so sorry. I’d better go home. He’s very angry.”
Elena’s voice quavered so much Liliana had a hard time understanding her at first. Then when her sister’s words sunk in, Liliana had to squash her own anger quickly. Elena didn’t need that on top of everything else. Why didn’t her sister understand she wasn’t at fault for Samuel’s behavior? But frustration tangled with her ire, making it impossible to say anything to Elena.
Liliana checked the locks on the door, allowing time to compose herself. “Because he’s mad is the reason you can’t go home.”
“He called me on my cell, but I didn’t answer it.” She stuck her hand in the pocket of her slacks and pulled out her phone. “Listen. He didn’t mean it.”
When Samuel’s deep baritone voice filled her hallway with words of apology, Liliana’s frustration won out over anger. She grasped her sister’s cell and turned it off. “I don’t want to hear his lies. Don’t you understand, Elena, he is not going to change? Being sorry tonight doesn’t really mean anything tomorrow.”
“When he gets this mad, there’s no telling what he’ll do. If I go back now, he’ll calm down, and it’ll be okay.”
“Promise me you won’t do anything right now. I have someone I want you to talk to. I’ll take you to see her first thing tomorrow after we take Joanna to school. Mama, can you stay tonight and watch Sammy in the morning?”
As though she was shell-shocked, her mother didn’t say anything for a long moment, then finally murmured, “Yes.”
“He won’t come back here. If he does, next time call me or the station. A patrol car can be here in minutes. I’ll let the chief know what’s going on.” She clasped both her sister’s and mother’s hands. “We have to stick together. Together we are strong, a force to be reckoned with.”
“If you say so.” Elena hung her head, her shoulders drooping.
“I say so. It’s my turn to protect you.”
“Who is this woman?” Elena asked the next morning when Liliana parked in the driveway of a home on the other side of town.
“Jackie Simpson lives here. She’s opened her home up to women who’ve been living in abusive situations and need a place to go when they finally leave their husbands. She’s a counselor who years ago went through a verbally abusive marriage that turned into a physically abusive one.”
Elena stopped on the walkway to the front porch. “I can’t talk to a stranger about my personal problems. I’m regretting even saying anything to you. You must think I’m crazy for even considering going back to Samuel. But he is a good father. He provides well for us. I don’t wa
nt for a thing. The kids don’t.”
“Except your well-being, their well-being. Humor me and talk with her. I have to go to work. Spend the day with Jackie and the women who are staying here.”
“Are you kicking me out?”
“No. But I want you to see why you shouldn’t go back to Samuel. Nothing I can say will make a difference to you. Maybe Jackie will change your mind because I know I can’t make you do what I think is best for you. You have to want to do it.”
“Fine. I’ll stay today, but that’s all. Just to please you.”
Liliana rang the bell and a minute later the click of the lock being turned sounded. The door opened and an older woman in her early fifties leaning on two forearm crutches moved back to allow them into the house.
“Glad to see you, Liliana. You’re right on time. We finished breakfast and we’re going to have our group session before some of the ladies leave for work.” Jackie smiled at Elena. “You must be Elena. Welcome to Grace House.”
“Grace House?” Elena asked.
“That’s what I’ve called my home ever since I started taking in women who needed my help. The Lord showed me grace, and I’ve extended it to others. Ten years ago someone found me half-dead after my husband ran me down with his car and because of that Good Samaritan’s quick thinking I’m alive today. Come on in and meet the others.”
Jackie trudged toward a short hallway that led to a den where a group of six women ranging from twenty-something to Jackie’s age were seated. One young lady held a baby to her chest.
Every time she visited, Liliana’s heart cracked a little more seeing these women and learning what they had gone through. But because of Jackie, there was a place for some of them to go. Before, they’d felt they had no other options but staying in an abusive situation.
Inside the doorway, Liliana shifted toward Elena. “You have my cell number. Call if you need me. For part of the time, I may be out of cell range. If you try and I don’t answer, call the station if you need help. Promise me you’ll stay until I come get you later this afternoon. We’ll go pick up Joanna together.”
“Yes.” Elena bent close to Liliana’s ear. “But it doesn’t mean I like this.”
Shattered Silence: Men of the Texas Rangers Series #2 Page 15