by Taylor Lee
****
Leaving the bar and heading for her squad car, Tanya convinced herself that she wasn’t exactly lying when she told her sisters that she had an emergency. She’d implied that something had come up in the Acedo murder. She knew that she damned well better start focusing on the murder because, in truth, something had come up. That something was Ryker Thompson. Determined to shut out Gunnar’s excited description of the overpowering agent taking down Manny Davis, she promised herself she wouldn’t focus on Gunnar’s clear implication that Ryker had attacked Manny in defense of her. That was bad enough. But her most pressing concern was that taking down Manny was just part of the arrogant agent’s plan. His overall strategy was to take over her investigation. And to her chagrin, he’d co-opted her father into his plans, making it impossible for her to bring her father into the strategy she was planning.
Shoving at her unease about misleading him, she left a message for her father that she was going to interview some of the girls who’d been with Violeta the night she was murdered. Again, this was not exactly a lie. She fully intended to meet up with the young girls, even though she’d gotten enough from them to convince her of at least the ninety-nine percent of what had happened that fateful night. Most important and something she didn’t tell her father was that she planned to talk to Manny Davis one more time. She needed to cross a few more t’s and dot a couple of i’s and then she knew she’d be ready to arrest him. But first, she had a more pressing task. One she realized she was looking forward to. She needed to talk to Bram.
****
Tanya sat on the bench in the shaded park in the center of the city square. Inhaling the fragrance of the myriad flowers surrounding her, she marveled at the lovely park. Remembering how hard the spineless mayor had fought to keep public dollars from going to the project, Tara and Hank Richardson, the editor of the Gazette, had mounted a public relations campaign and managed to get a bond issue on the ballot. With the crush of Tara’s crusading articles, the bond measure had passed. When the beautiful park was finished, the mayor and his insipid council had jumped on the bandwagon, claiming the victory. Borrowing from JFK, her father had ruefully remarked, “Ah yes, as we know, ‘defeat is an orphan, success has many fathers.’ ”
Glancing at her surroundings and remembering her sister’s campaign, Tanya took a moment to acknowledge that, for the most part, life in their unassuming town was often pleasant. It was oddly comforting knowing that just because her life was a steaming pile of shit didn’t mean that everyone else’s was. The children frolicking on the playground equipment under the watchful eyes of their attentive mothers proved the point. She’d been so wrapped up in the challenges she was facing, she was comforted by her sudden and infrequent acknowledgement that for a lot of people, life was predictable, even enjoyable.
The voice behind her confirmed that while life for others might be uneventful, hers was anything but. Bram’s expression was as cool as his voice was curt. “You wanted to talk to me, Tanya?”
Glancing at him, Tanya forced herself to smile. Patting the empty spot on the bench next to her, she said, “Yes, I did. But please, Bram, sit down. At least for a moment, let’s enjoy this beautiful afternoon. C’mon, how often do we have balmy weather in Sierra Vista in May?”
She was glad when Bram shrugged and sat down on the bench, keeping distance between them. His expression hardened and he said in the accusing tone he so often used, “I didn’t leave my office to come and enjoy the weather, Tanya. I have patients waiting to see me.” Tanya just nodded, not bothering to tell him she had a few important issues on her agenda as well, not the least of which was taking down a vicious murderer. As if she wasn’t aware of it, she knew that simple comparison of how they viewed each other’s lives was at the crux of their upset.
When she didn’t answer him, Bram’s expression hardened. “I told you, Tanya, that before we discuss how we are going to go forward, you must first apologize to me. I’m sure you agree that is the least that you should do.”
Tanya took a deep breath. She remembered her lengthy conversation with herself last night after she left her father’s office in tears. It had taken her several hours to come to grips with the way that Ryker had attacked her. Insisting, in front of her father, no less, that she needed to give Bram’s ring back to him. Wrestling with his extraordinarily inappropriate demand throughout the night, she’d finally concluded why should she? So that she could have a one-night stand with a sexy dude who’d do things to her that she’d never known anyone could? Make her feel passions that she’d never had and didn’t know were possible? And then what? Watch as he rode off into the sunset to his next conquest? In the early morning hours, she’d decided that Bram had a lot of things going for him. Things like stability and, heck yeah, money. He was a doctor after all, and wasn’t that was supposed to be every girl’s dream? To marry a rich doctor or a lawyer and live happily ever after? At least that was what she’d concluded—until she saw Bram.
She was quiet for a long moment, considering his condescending question. Gazing at his frown that was perpetually there—at least when he was talking to her—she wasn’t surprised when she said, “No, I don’t.”
He glared at her. “You don’t what, Tanya? Surely you’re not saying that you don’t owe me an apology.” His voice rose, became more heated, almost shrill. “After everything you did last night, in front of your sisters and that obnoxious gym rat—”
Tanya put up her hand, stopping him in mid-rant. “Nope, even in the face of all of those bad things I supposedly did, I do not think I owe you an apology.” Taking courage from his astonished gasp, she added coolly, “In fact, if apologies are warranted, they are the ones you owe me.”
“Whatever would I apologize to you for, Tanya?”
She frowned at him, considering how to answer his aggrieved question and then let a soft smile curve her lips. “For a number of things, Bram. Most importantly, for not loving me as I deserve to be loved. And for not appreciating the pretty darn fabulous chick that I am.”
At his disbelieving start, she shrugged as she slipped off her ring and pressed it into his hand.
Tipping up her chin, she said saucily, “More’s the pity that you don’t have a clue what you’re missing. Sucks to be you, Bram. Better luck with the next woman you try to buy with this ring. You can only hope she isn’t as choosy as I am.”
Tanya didn’t look back as she strode to the parking lot. She didn’t have to. She was sure Bram’s expression was that of a wronged man. A man glaring at the woman who was too foolish to know what she was giving up. With a gleeful chuckle as she hopped into her car, Tanya breathed the first full breath that she’d taken in a long time. She knew what she was giving up, and the prospect made her positively giddy.
Chapter 23
Marcie, one more time. I want to go over what happened the night that Violeta was killed.”
Marcie’s annoyed response was quick, angry. “I don’t know what you want from me, Deputy Trouble. I’ve told you everything I know about that night. I don’t know what happened to Violeta. I left at ten o’clock and she was fine. She was having fun.”
“I understand that, and yes, you’ve been very helpful. Particularly when your parents confirmed that you came home that evening at ten o’clock as you’d told me. But I have a few more questions. The first being exactly which guys were with you girls that evening.”
Marcie gave an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, we were with a bunch of guys. They kept coming and going. Sometimes there was just one or two, other times a bunch of them.”
“So you’ve said. To confirm, while the guys came and went, you and Violeta were the only girls that entire evening?”
“Yes! I already told you that.”
“Hmm, I guess I’m struggling to get my head around the fact that you and Violeta are teenagers, and the guys you were with are in their late twenties. I’m surprised older girls weren’t in on the parties you attended
.”
Marcie assumed a sly smirk and said with a dismissive shrug, “I know you think that just because Violeta and I are only fifteen that older guys wouldn’t go for us. You probably don’t understand how sophisticated we are. Besides, the boys our age are just that. Boys. We outgrew them a long time ago.”
Knowing that she had to keep the girl talking, Tanya shoved at her disgust. From conversations with their friends, Tanya had learned that up until a couple of months ago, both Violeta and Marcie ran with the football-cheerleader crowd. While it was clear that the group sampled the designer drugs circulating in that crowd and, of course, drank beer, it was equally clear that the hardcore drugs that Manny and the guys imbibed were not on the menu for the high school kids. While Marcie may have thought that it was their “sophistication” that attracted the older guys, Tanya knew with a sick feeling in her gut that it was the opposite. Young, inexperienced, likely virgins, the two girls were the definition of jailbait. The fact that Sledge’s crew had cavalierly taken them on spoke to their indifference to the laws that protected minors from abuse. Consent didn’t mean a damn thing when it came to adult men taking sexual advantage of teenage girls. A point that she was going to drive home when she arrested the whole damn bunch of them for contributing to the delinquency of minors. After she arrested Manny Davis for first-degree murder, a charge she was sure would stick given that it was aggravated by Violeta’s age. She admitted with a smothered groan that she just had to prove Manny did it first.
Turning back to Marcie, she was careful. She needed to confirm who had been at the party and who was there when she left. Posing the question, she was prepared for Marcie’s testy response.
“How many times do I have to tell you? Manny, Pete, Mac, and Greg were there when I left.”
“What about that new guy, Flint Burke? Was he there?”
“Don’t I wish!” Marcie lit up like a Christmas tree. “If he isn’t a G, I don’t know who is.”
Pressing, Tanya said, “I presume by that you mean he’s a GOAT: the Greatest Of All Times?”
Marcie looked surprised that Tanya knew teen-speak given that at twenty-six, she was clearly over-the-hill. She shrugged. “Yeah, you can say that again. But no, he wasn’t there.”
“Was he there other nights when you and Violeta went to the Perkins ranch?”
“No. Well, yeah, one night when we were just getting ready to start partying he came in. He wasn’t happy we were there. I heard him tell Pete to ‘get the jailbait out of here’ and take us home. Said he had enough shit going on his life to tangle with teenagers. Pete told me afterwards that he thought that hot guy had trouble with the police or something. He said he wouldn’t do drugs either.”
A dreamy look crossed her face as she blew out a sigh. “Both Violeta and I were sad. He was so G, really the OG of all times.”
Knowing that OG meant the Original Gangster, another appellation of high praise in teen talk, Tanya had to agree. The guy clearly turned heads. From her accomplished sisters to the teenyboppers, Ryker Thompson was a stud. But then if anyone knew that, she did.
“Marcie, did Violeta like one of the guys better that the others? Or did any of them like her better than, say, you?”
“No. We both liked them all. Although she and Manny seemed to be together the most.”
Tanya decided to go for the gold. “Did you have sex with any of them?”
Marcie startled. “Uh, no. I didn’t. I . . . I was kind of afraid. You know, it being just me and Violeta at that ranch and all. Plus, the guys were nice enough, but they were pretty old.”
“Hmm, how about Violeta? Did she have sex with any of them?”
Marcie flushed and looked down, avoiding Tanya’s question. After a moment, she said, “I’m not sure. But I don’t think so. Both Violeta and I were virgins.”
At that stunning admission, Tanya decided she had nothing to lose. “Marcie, honey, you know that Violeta was raped before she was killed.” When Marcie put her hands over her eyes as if to screen out the hideous images that had to have been tormenting her, Tanya pressed on. “She was also savagely beaten. Please, honey, help me. Who was Violeta with that night the most?”
Marcie hesitated, then looked up at Tanya and said tearfully, “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble . . . ” Holding her gaze, Tanya was gratified when Marcie whispered, “I heard Manny tell Pete that he was going to pop a cherry tonight if it was the last thing he did.”
Tanya kept her voice soft, non-threatening. “Hmm, what did Pete say to that?”
“He said . . . be careful, man. Crotch noobs can be tricky.”
Tanya frowned. “What did he mean by that?”
“I . . . I think that is what some guys call virgins. He—Pete—didn’t seem real happy.”
“What did you think when you heard Manny and Pete talking like that, Marcie?”
Twisting her hands in her lap, Marcie refused to look at her. Tanya maintained her silence, knowing that if she was ever going to break through the young woman’s hard shell, it was now. Her restraint paid off when Marcie finally met her gaze. Her dark brown eyes were thick with unshed tears and her lip was trembling. It was if her tough, aggrieved persona had shattered and she’d became the frightened teenager that she was under all her bravado.
“I . . . I got scared. I told Violeta we needed to go. I said that I had to be home or my dad wouldn’t let me have the car for a month. I begged her to come with me.”
“What did Violeta say to that?”
A tear rolled unbidden down her cheek. She gazed at Tanya pleadingly. “She told me to go. That she wasn’t coming. She said she was sure that Manny would get her home.”
After she allowed the shaken young woman to leave, Tanya made a quick decision. The fire ants crawling up her neck confirmed that she’d made an important breakthrough. Marcie had all but confirmed that Manny Davis was the man who was with Violeta Acedo the night she was murdered. Now she just needed proof. Clicking on her phone, she called the Bitter n’ Twisted.
“Hi, Dante. This is Tanya Trouble. A question. Any chance that those asshole tormentors of mine are there? I’m sure I don’t have to tell you who I mean.”
“Uh, no, Deputy, you don’t have to be more specific than that. And yes, in answer to your question, there’s a whole table of them, and they’ve been drinking solidly for the last three hours. Now, I’m not complaining. Even though they drink the cheapest shit I sell, the quantity they swill down makes for a nice take at the till.”
Tanya laughed. “And I’m sure that ‘take’ doesn’t include tips, Dante.”
“Nah, you can bet your sweet ass on that, sugar cakes. Those assholes act like it’s my privilege to serve them, not the other way around. But I shouldn’t label them all as scum. That righteous Burke fellow always slips me a twenty at the bar when he’s done for the night. You know the one I’m talking about, Tanya.” He added with what was a surefire grin creeping into his voice, “The guy who apparently went after Manny Davis last night for dissing none other than little ole you!”
Choosing not to respond to his damning assertion, Tanya asked, “So Manny Davis is there too? I understood from Gunnar that he wasn’t supposed to be walking straight for a few days.”
“I heard the same thing. But yeah, Manny is here sucking down his usual shit. An amount that would have a less practiced drinker flat on his ass. He does seem to be avoiding Burke though. Sitting as far away from him as he can get.”
After she hung up, Tanya headed for her squad. Now that she’d confirmed that the bad boys were all at the bar, she headed for the Perkins ranch. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but in her gut she knew if the elusive evidence she was seeking was anywhere, it was at the ranch.
****
“Sorry, Dad. Tanya left a while ago. Seems she’s intent on solving the Acedo girl’s murder. She said she needed to interview some of Violeta’s friends.”
Titus nodded. “That’s too bad, Tatiana. I’m sorry I missed her. She
told me that she was meeting you and Tara for happy hour. I thought I would join you.”
Tara glanced at her sister, then pinned a skeptical gaze on Titus. “Uh, Dad, don’t take this the wrong way. It’s not as if we don’t like your company, but I can’t remember when you last joined us for a happy hour. What’s up?”
Titus smiled at his oldest daughter. “I can see why you are a good reporter, Tara. Or should I say interrogator. You go to the heart of the issue.”
Clearly not letting him off the hook, Tara persisted. “C’mon, Dad, fess up. Yesterday, you called both Tatiana and me suggesting that Tanya might need some sister time. Given the scene we saw last night, you weren’t kidding. If ever Tanya needs girly time, it’s now.”
“What happened last night?”
Tara quirked an ironic brow and said with a smile, “We’ll answer your questions, Dad, but know that I for one have a few questions for you regarding our little sister. The primary one being what the heck is wrong with the strongest, most brazen of the Trouble sisters that she left us last night after crying in our arms for nearly an hour?”
“Hmm, perhaps I can add some facts to that interesting equation, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear what prompted Tanya’s tears last night.”
Tatiana sighed. “You have to know that she has been on edge, Dad. And distant. As if she has a lot on her mind. Tara and I assumed it was that awful murder of the young Acedo girl. However, last night it was clear that her concerns were personal, not work-related.”
“Go on.”
Tara answered him. “Well to start with, we barely see her and Bram together, but he was here last night. The fireworks happened when that righteous guy we all call Captain America joined our table. It was obvious that something is going on between that hottie and Tanya. She literally froze when Gunnar invited him to join us. Unfortunately, Bram started his usual critical stuff. I know you are aware he is constantly on Tanya for what she eats, implying that she is unhealthy and overweight. That Burke guy really nailed him. Said something like, ‘since you seem to like giving advice, here’s mine for you: don’t mess with perfection.’ Needless to say, Bram didn’t take it well.”