Cody approached her, his eyes lit up. “Got a call from the highway patrol. Bart Collins was apprehended on a back road heading southeast. The officer is bringing him here. He should be here in an hour or so. Plus I talked with my ATF contact and they discovered that Roberto Cruz is the nephew of the head of one of the Chihuahua cartels.”
“So he’s more than he seems. Interesting. Do you think he’s really El Jefe?”
“That or the liaison for the cartel. Either way, we’re starting to put the people together.”
Taking a seat at her desk chair, Liliana glanced around at the mess. She hadn’t even had time to straighten up all the paperwork that was piling up. “What do you make of Maria’s comment about the man talking like the people on Love Gone to the Dogs?”
“Drunk. That would fit in with the crime being one of passion. People who drink do things they wouldn’t normally do.”
“That’s what I was thinking. But that doesn’t narrow down our suspect pool much.”
Liliana’s cell rang. She quickly pulled it out of her pocket, noticing it was her sister’s house number. “Hello.”
“Daddy is gonna hurt Mama.” Joanna sobbed. “Please come before—”
“Who are you talking to?” Samuel shouted in the background.
Then a slapping sound followed by the phone going dead flash-froze Liliana in place for a moment.
“What happened to you?” Rafael Rodriguez stood behind Kyle in the lunch line.
“I had a disagreement with a couple of guys.”
Manny joined them. “Do they look as bad as you?”
“Not quite. I had to spread the wealth around.”
Rafael frowned. “How many?”
“Four.”
Pursing his lips, Manny whistled. “Not exactly a fair fight.”
“Don’t think that’s their style.” Kyle grabbed a sandwich and chips and moved toward the cashier.
“Don’t tell me. Aaron Taylor and his pals.” Rafael pulled out his money to pay for his food.
Kyle nodded.
Manny chuckled. “So that’s how Aaron got that cut on his jaw. Good for you. That group needs to be stopped. They’re getting bolder, more vocal.”
“I totally agree.” Kyle headed out into the courtyard and found a table.
Rafael sat next to him, his fist striking his palm. “If you want to pay him back, let me know.”
“You’d do that for me?”
Manny and a couple of other guys took a seat at the table. “Yeah.”
“Thanks. But I’ve got an idea of another way to deal with them.” Kyle bit into his chicken sandwich. “Tell me how baseball practice is going. Did you get your groove back?”
Manny launched into a discussion about what affects a per-son’s batting.
As Kyle listened, he realized he’d missed playing the game. Next year he would have to go out for the team. He—his thoughts came to halt. He was planning what he would do as a junior at Durango High School.
Across the courtyard, Kyle noticed Aaron and two of his friends, one of them involved in the fight yesterday. Aaron strutted up to a table where two teenage boys sat. They looked like freshmen. One had dark hair and eyes and golden brown skin while the other was pale and blond. Aaron shoved the one of Hispanic descent until he almost fell off the bench. His companion began to rise when both of Aaron’s friends crowded him, forcing him to sit back down.
Kyle shot to his feet and rushed toward the confrontation. This had to stop. Now.
As he approached, Aaron glanced his way, his eyes becoming slits. Then he returned his attention to the teen cowering in front of him.
“You don’t belong here,” Kyle heard Aaron say when he came to a halt a few feet from the bully.
“Why not, Aaron? He has just as much right to be sitting here as you do.” Kyle moved in closer, positioning himself next to the dark-haired teen.
Aaron glared at him. “This is none of your business. You made that clear.”
Stepping forward, his chest thrust out, Kyle said, “Yes, it is.”
His two friends flanked Aaron, hands balled at their sides. “What are you gonna do about it?’
“Stop you.”
Aaron straightened his slouching posture. “You and who else?”
“Just me.” He didn’t care if he got beat up again. Enough is enough.
“And me.” Manny joined Kyle.
Rafael came up next to them. “Me, too.”
Kyle scanned the crowd assembling. Several of the guys stepping forward from a tall, thin teenager with red hair to a short black student added, “Me, too.”
Aaron’s gaze swept around the group forming to defend the freshman. One of Aaron’s friends backed away a couple of feet.
“Bullying won’t be tolerated here any longer.” Kyle got in Aaron’s face. “Do I make myself clear?”
Aaron opened his mouth, but no words came out. Snapping his jaw closed, he whirled and hurried away. One friend followed. The other kept backing away from Aaron and the crowd.
When they were gone, Kyle stuck out his hand to the teen sitting at the table. “I’m Kyle Jackson. If anyone bothers you again, let me know. I meant what I said. Bullying has no place at Durango High School”
At first, a splattering of clapping sounded in the quiet of the courtyard, but before long many joined in. A cheer erupted through the crowd.
Liliana screeched to a halt out in front of Elena’s house, jumped from her car, and raced up to the porch, Cody right behind her. Her heart pounded so hard against her chest that she couldn’t suck in a decent breath. Key ring clutched in her hand, she frantically searched for her sister’s house key. When she found it, she inserted it and opened the front door, then pushed inside.
The sight of Cody withdrawing his weapon jolted her for a second, reinforcing in her mind that she was possibly entering a crime scene. The silence taunted her.
Where is Elena? Joanna?
Motioning to Cody to check the living room, she crept toward the hallway that led to the kitchen. Then she heard it.
A sob. Muted but growing louder as she neared the entrance.
Breath captured in her throat, she swung into the kitchen, her gaze sweeping across the floor. Empty—except for drops of blood on the tiles. Fear bombarded her from all sides. Where were Elena and her children? What did Samuel do?
Another cry sounded from the walk-in pantry.
Liliana hurried to the door and wrenched it open before she lost her nerve. Afraid of what she would find.
Elena lay curled in a fetal position on the floor in the dark, Joanna draped over her mother. Whimpers like a lost, wounded cat’s filled the air with sorrows of heartbreak. Liliana flipped on the light switch, then knelt beside her niece and sister.
“Elena? Joanna?”
Her niece lifted her head to reveal an angry red handprint on the side of her face. Tears rolled down her cheeks as though bathing the welt rising on her skin. “He was hurting Mama.”
Liliana peeled Joanna from Elena and hugged her. “I’m here, baby.” Please, Lord, let my sister be alive.
“I had to do it.”
“Do what?”
“I had to do it.”
“The house is clear,” Cody said behind her.
Liliana hadn’t even heard him approaching, all her senses trained on her niece. Joanna’s wide gaze took in Cody then fixed on Liliana. “Everything is okay. I’ll take care of your mama.”
Liliana scooted closer to her sister while Cody moved into the pantry. She wanted to hand Joanna to him so she could see to Elena, but Joanna clung to Liliana. Reaching out, she felt for a pulse at the side of her sister’s neck.
When Elena’s life force beat faintly beneath Liliana’s fingertips, she sagged back against the wall taking her niece with her. She looked into Cody’s worried gaze. “Call an ambulance and the police.”
Even before the words were out of her mouth, Cody had his cell in hand and backed away to notify the necessary peopl
e.
“Joanna, look at me.”
Her niece, her face buried in the crook of Liliana’s arm, tightened her hold on Liliana even more. “He was hurting her. I had to.”
“Baby, had to what?”
“Hurt Daddy.” Joanna pointed toward the bottom shelf behind her.
Liliana inspected the area and saw the hilt of a knife sticking out from under it. Her earlier fear multiplied tenfold.
When Serena answered the door to her apartment, Kyle stared at her for a long moment before saying, “Ready to go to the gym?”
“What happened?”
“Why do you think anything happened?”
“You have a silly grin on your face.”
“I’m glad to see you.”
Serena’s expression transformed from a concerned look to one of joy. “I’m glad to see you, too.”
“Now that we have that established, it’s time for your workout. We have less than a week to get you ready for your big race.” Kyle stood to the side so Serena could roll her wheelchair out the front door.
A few feet away, she peered back at him. “You still haven’t answered me. What happened at school? You’re different.”
“That’s because I did something about Aaron and his buddies today.”
She stopped and maneuvered her wheelchair around. “I don’t see any more injuries.”
“I think I’m insulted. Why would you think there would be more injuries?”
“Aaron and his friends,” she held up four fingers, “on one side and you on the other doesn’t make for even odds.” Her other hand indicated the number one.
“It was a peaceful resolution, at least today. I’ll tell you all about lunch if you’ll work extra hard today on your exercises. A deal?”
Her laughter made him smile even more. He liked hearing that. He liked her. Durango might not be such a bad place after all.
Cody followed the trail of blood drops from the back door of the house while Liliana calmed Joanna down. The path led across the stone tiles around the pool to the cabana. The door was ajar. Gun in hand, he nudged it open wider. Samuel sat in a chair pressing a red drenched cloth against his upper arm. His face pale, he swiveled around and glared at Cody.
“My wife tried to kill me.”
15
Mama’s gonna be okay?” Joanna yanked away from Liliana and plastered herself against her mother.
Liliana tried to pull her niece away from Elena. “Help is on the way. Why don’t ya let me take a look at her?”
“No, no. Must protect her.”
The frantic ring to Joanna’s voice frightened Liliana. She gently pried one of her niece’s hands from Elena then moved in closer so she could assess the injuries better.
But Joanna wailed, fighting to get back to her mother. “Gotta help. Gotta help.”
Liliana’s heart broke into hundreds of pieces—at least it felt that way as she again wedged herself between her niece and her sister. She folded her arms around Joanna and inched her away from Elena. “Baby, I need to help your mama. Okay?”
Joanna clung to Liliana so tightly it cut off her next breath. “Mama can’t die.”
As sirens in the distance sounded, Liliana managed to loosen her niece’s hold enough so she could drag air into her lungs. “See help is coming. Let’s get out of here so they’ll be able to help your mama.” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Elena shifting slightly on the floor. That was when she saw the blood oozing from the gash on the side of Elena’s temple. Some had pooled on the tiles beneath her sister.
Joanna turned and glimpsed her mother moving. She jerked away from Liliana and nearly fell on her mother if Liliana hadn’t stopped her. “Mama!”
“Baby, give her room. We need to stay back some.” Her words didn’t seem to register with her niece.
Joanna struggled to get closer to Elena. The child’s strength grew each second until it took all of Liliana’s might to keep the little girl from hurting her own mother unintentionally.
“Mama! Mama!”
Elena’s eyes fluttered open. For seconds, no recognition dawned in her gaze.
“Mama!” One last wrench from Joanna, and she flung herself against her mother.
Elena blinked, locked looks with Liliana and whispered, “I’m okay.” She tried to lift her arm to touch her daughter, but it slumped back to the floor.
The sirens came closer, the ambulance probably at the end of the long block. Again Liliana tried to drag her niece off Elena, but the child clamped her small hands around her mama and wouldn’t let go. Tears flowed down her sister’s and niece’s cheeks.
“I’m sorry. Sorry, Mama.”
“Shh. I’m okay,” Elena murmured, then her eyes fluttered closed.
“Did you hear me? My wife tried to kill me. Look what she did.” Samuel lifted his hand briefly from the wound, a slice into his upper arm, then pressed the cloth back down to stem the flow of blood.
“I heard you just fine.” After a survey of the cabana, Cody holstered his gun.
“Get me help before I bleed to death.”
“You aren’t going to do that. Help is on the way.”
The blare of sirens grew closer. As much as Cody wanted to check on Liliana, Elena, and Joanna, he wouldn’t go anywhere until backup arrived. He didn’t trust this man to stay put even though he looked pale. Samuel had lost some blood but not enough to kill him.
“I want to press charges against my wife. She can’t get away with this.”
Samuel’s gravelly words aroused Cody’s ire. “The person responsible won’t.”
Liliana’s brother-in-law rolled to the side and reached toward his pocket.
“Don’t move.”
The man glanced up at him, contempt in his expression. “Why can’t I? I haven’t done anything wrong. I need to make a call. My cell’s in my pocket.”
“Best make it to your lawyer then.”
“My lawyer! I’m the one hurt!”
“Doesn’t mean much to me right now other than it will require a ride to the hospital to get your arm patched up before heading to the police station.”
Samuel’s eyes rounded then narrowed. “You can’t believe a word that woman says.”
“Who?”
“My wife.”
“She didn’t say a word. It’s your daughter.”
“She’s lying, too.” Samuel continued to reach toward his pocket.
“Slow and easy.”
“You don’t know who you’re speaking to. I have the mayor on speed dial.”
The wail of the sirens came to a stop.
“You might, but that doesn’t concern me one bit. You can make your call from the hospital.”
The past couple of weeks dragged Liliana into a dark abyss. Memories of her childhood swamped her, bringing to the foreground the mind-numbing exhaustion she tried to keep at bay. She couldn’t give into it—too many people depended on her to be the strong one.
Liliana’s mama scurried into the ER waiting room, a second time in a week. Will Elena do what she needs to stay safe now? Liliana would do all she could to make sure she did, and she’d use Joanna and Sammy as a means to convince her sister to press charges against her husband. This time she had photos to show Elena if she wavered. No matter what she wouldn’t let Elena go back to that house as long as Samuel was around.
Lord, I can’t do it without you. You can make anything possible. Please help Elena and her children.
While Joanna slept on the couch from emotional exhaustion, Liliana rose and went into her mother’s open arms. “Mama, next time he’ll kill her.”
“I did this. I did this.” Her mother burst into sobs.
Liliana held her, rubbing her back. “Shh. Samuel did this. We’ll make this right. I’ll need your help.”
Her mama pulled back, wet tracks down her cheeks. “Anything. I’ve got Sammy at my next door neighbor’s. Good thing he was at my house when all this happened. I wish Joanna hadn’t been there.”
“Joanna saved Elena’s life.”
“Where is Samuel? The police station?”
“Here.”
“Not with Elena?” Fear marked each word from her mama.
“No,” Liliana glanced down at her niece to make sure she was still sleeping, “Joanna knifed her dad when he went after Elena. I’m not sure how she managed to drag her mama into the pantry, but she did.”
“Samuel didn’t come after them?”
“No, Mama. Which surprised me.”
Her mother crossed herself. “The Lord was looking out for them.”
“Now we’ve got to help her.”
“Sí. Sí. We will pray for Elena, then you go make sure he can’t touch her again.” A quiet fierceness entered her mama’s voice and bearing—something Liliana had never seen or heard before.
Her mama sat, took hold of Liliana’s hands, and bowed her head, murmuring over and over, “Please, dear heavenly Father, take care of my baby. Protect her from the evil that has befallen her.”
Listening to her mother’s prayer, Liliana thought back to the first time she’d met Samuel. Smooth talking. Full of flattery. Flashy smile. At odd times from the beginning, she’d noticed a calculating glint possessed his eyes whenever he looked at Elena.
Joanna stirred and lifted her head. Her gaze latched onto her grandmother, and she launched herself from the couch into the older woman’s arms. “I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.” She buried her face into the crook of Grandmama’s arm.
“Shh, baby. Everything will be all right. I’ll make sure it is.” Her mother snagged Liliana’s attention, her eyes sparking with ferocity. “You are safe now.”
Liliana stroked her niece’s back, the trembling beneath her palm fueling her anger. “Your mama will be okay, Joanna. The doctor is fixing her up.” Physically her sister would recover, but emotionally the scars ran deep—slashed open as a child and left to fester as an adult.
Shattered Silence: Men of the Texas Rangers Series #2 Page 26