The nurse had sent him out while she adjusted the morphine drip that was easing Alicia into oblivion. He’d hated to bring her to the hospital, but couldn’t keep her pain-free any longer at the rented house a few miles outside of town. The brain tumor had moved quickly and relentlessly in the last few weeks. She’d become seized by nightmares and he couldn’t bear to hear her cries in the dark. He could travel around Mexico freely, thanks to a bodyguard provided by his friends in the Zetas. He wasn’t afraid of being detained or arrested if he took her anywhere. He’d just wanted her to have a peaceful death at home. But she was past caring now.
He stubbed out the cigarette in the sand around the desert plantings that decorated the walkway. He walked back into the building. The two-story hospital was clean and decent, but its operators weren’t wasting their money trying to make it beautiful. The mud-colored adobe exterior of the building blended into the arid landscape in a kind of comforting plainness.
He climbed the tiled stairs, rather than taking the balky elevator, mostly to stretch his legs after hours in a straight chair beside her bed. He walked into the room, saw that the nurse had finished stoking the drip and was tucking Alicia’s sheet and blanket around her thin shoulders. His lover’s eyes were closed and her body seemed at ease. Dan motioned to the nurse that he’d take over and she bowed and left.
He thought about his and Alicia’s life together, separated for long stretches by work but punctuated by rapturous reunions at the West Texas house. In the quarter-century since they’d met in the mountains of Peru, he’d never tired of her company. She’d had occasional affairs with men and women, but he believed what she told him – that he was the only man she’d ever loved.
He listened to her shallow breathing for an hour or so, losing track of time. He dozed off, waking only when the nurse came back, checked Alicia’s vital signs and said she was gone.
“Muchas gracias,” he said. After signing a required form to retrieve her body later, he left abruptly before the doctor could return to offer condolences.
He sat in his car for a moment before rummaging in his back pocket for his mobile phone. He’d made up his mind what to do after her death, the only thing left that made sense.
Within an hour, Riggins had changed the course of his life. He’d struck the deal he wanted and now he was headed through Marfa, perhaps for the last time. Again, his fake passport was good enough to get him across the border without questions, a blessing in his current state of mind. He’d decided that when he fled Texas four years ago he’d change vehicles often to avoid detection. Today, he drove a dusty white Honda Accord with a large trunk.
It was a clear day in the little town, just 85 degrees with low humidity. He stopped at a convenience store for bottled water, sipping it as he surveyed the quiet landscape and blue sky, treasuring its peace. On impulse, he parked the car on a side street and walked through the downtown area, savoring its understated charm one more time. He strolled into the courtyard of the Hotel Paisano, a restored cattleman’s hostelry, and went inside. He remembered one cold winter when the outdoor fountain at the entrance had been crowned with icicles. He knew the look of the sweeping lobby by heart, its cowhide chairs, buffalo heads and original green, gold and orange tile, but he needed to see it again. He admired the pictures and memorabilia from the filming of the 1955 movie, Giant. He left the hotel and walked to the restored Presidio County Courthouse. He looked at its pink and beige hues shining in the sun before heading back to his car. It was time to get on with the sad business that had brought him here.
He drove a few miles to the yellow stucco house where Alicia had lived for eighteen years. He’d had so many wonderful times there that he regarded it as home, though he’d never actually lived with her.
He spotted Tom Marr’s pickup in the back yard, so he drove there, parked and accepted Marr’s hug. He’d called his friend before leaving Ojinaga.
“Buddy, I’m so sorry,” Marr said. “Didn’t think it would happen so fast. Was Alicia in pain?”
“Kept her comfortable,” Riggins said. “Got painkillers from the doc in Ojinaga and later at the hospital. He said the tumor had grown so big before we found it that he couldn’t do anything. She knew I would have taken her anywhere for treatment, but she wouldn’t allow it. She was tired of running.”
“Glad you called right away,” Marr said. He pointed to the trunk of the Accord. “Is she in there?”
“Yeah. I’ll leave it closed until we dig the grave. It doesn’t have to be very deep. She would have wanted a green burial, so I didn’t bring a casket.”
When Alicia had begged him at the end to bury her body at her house on the property Marr had given him, he’d immediately thought of the leaning oak tree in the back yard. Marr had gone to the house when he called and staked out a gravesite under the lone tree. He’d also brought shovels, so they got to work.
They paused when they heard the sound of an approaching vehicle and put down their shovels to greet Rob Ryland. Riggins’s nephew parked his pickup in the driveway and got out, dressed in old jeans and carrying a shovel. He embraced Riggins, apologized profusely for being late and offered his sympathy in a faltering voice. Like most young people, he wasn’t comfortable with death, though Riggins remembered that he’d been stoic as a teenager at the funerals of his parents.
“I’m so sorry, Uncle Dan,” Rob said. “I was shocked when you called. I didn’t know Alicia was that close to the end. She was one of the most alive persons I’ve ever met.”
“Thanks, Rob,” Riggins said gruffly. “Let’s get this done. You and I will talk later.”
After the three men dug a little longer, the plot was ready. Riggins opened the trunk and motioned to Marr. Alicia body’s was draped in a cotton shroud and a burial sling, but her soft white hair and her closed eyes were visible. He and Marr each took an end of the sling and carried it to the grave, placing it gently in the arid caliche soil.
“Do you want to say anything?” Riggins asked Marr and Rob. “You know I’m not a religious man, but could you each say a few words? Alicia didn’t like most people, but she always felt good about the two of you.”
“Dear Lord, please hold close the body and spirit of your daughter Alicia,” Marr said. “Forgive her many sins and transgressions. Please give comfort to your son Dan and sustain him in his journeys. And bring my Betsy home. Amen.”
“Amen,” Riggins said. He didn’t even mind when Marr mentioned her sins, though he couldn’t bring himself to regard her as sinful. As a skilled assassin, she’d always performed repugnant tasks that needed doing.
“Dear God, please bless Alicia for her bravery and commitment to Texas,” Rob said. “Let her rest peacefully on the plot of land she held so dear. Give her a place in heaven alongside the heroes of the Alamo.”
“Amen,” Riggins said again. Rob had become his surrogate son in the absence of his twin boys, now grown and gone. He’d been thinking about them in the last couple of days. Would he ever see their faces again? He’d even miss his two brothers in San Antonio, who’d taken over his parents’ grocery chain and lived the dullest of lives.
He and Rob and Marr all fell silent for a few minutes. The bare-bones funeral had been sobering, especially the sight of Alicia’s frail body. They soaked in the stillness, broken only by a bird’s solitary song and a car honking in the distance.
After they covered the grave, they went inside the house and washed up. Marr brought out the picnic basket that Maria, his housekeeper, had packed for them. It contained steak sandwiches, fruit salad and cookies. She’d also thoughtfully included a bottle of good red wine.
They toasted Alicia solemnly, clinking the hand-blown, blue wine goblets they found in the cupboard. Alicia had collected unique glassware and pottery during the nearly two decade
s she’d run a crafts business in San Antonio.
“You said something on the phone about changing your life, Dan,” Marr said as they ate. “What’s that all about?”
“I couldn’t imagine staying in Mexico without Alicia,” Riggins said. “I hate that place and I hate my life running from the law. I called some of my old contacts in the CIA and worked a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“They’ll clear up my fugitive status and wipe out all of my legal problems. In exchange, I’ll go anywhere they want and work undercover – for as long as I’m physically able,” Riggins said. “I’ll do whatever I can for them.”
Marr whistled. “That’s quite a deal. But it’s kind of a life sentence in some ways. You sure you want to do that? Where are you going?”
“I’ll be leaving for Venezuela in a few days,” Riggins said. “Not sure how long I’ll be there, but as you know, that country’s a big mess. Got to get rid of my stuff in Ojinaga first and tie up loose ends,” Riggins said.
“What about this house?” Marr said.
“Save it for Betsy. Alicia would want her to have it. She didn’t have anyone left she cared about in Peru.”
“When my Betsy comes back, the little house will be hers. I know she’ll treasure it,” Marr said, his face somber.
“One more thing,” Riggins said. “I’m leaving a package for you. The note will explain everything. Just tell the authorities you found it on your doorstep. Don’t tell anyone you saw me – or that Alicia is buried here. Who knows what people would do to her grave?”
His chin trembled and he covered it with his hands for a moment. He gave Marr a wobbly smile.
“You got it, buddy,” Marr said. “What about the Nation of Texas? They’ll miss your leadership. Are you really giving up on Texas secession?”
“Of course not,” Riggins said. “That’s one reason I invited Rob today. We’ll leave you now and go somewhere to talk about what needs to happen.”
He hugged Marr again. After a moment, so did Rob. His nephew walked a few feet ahead, giving the two older men time to say goodbye, a lifetime of memories between them.
“Goodbye, Tom. Don’t forget my Alicia. Come by and visit her when you can.”
“I’ll take care of her, Dan. You take care of yourself.”
Marr looked over at Rob.
“You know I’m not going to get involved in the Nation of Texas again. But good luck, son, and don’t get yourself killed.”
CHAPTER 42
Annie sat in her living room with her cats. As usual, Marbles attached himself to her right side on the sofa, as close as he could get without climbing into her lap, while Benjy lounged on the Queen Anne chair across from her. The silky red upholstery probably felt soft and cool, she thought. She didn’t care how much black hair the cats left on her sofa and chairs – their silent presence comforted her.
She drank her light beer with its three orange slices slowly, because the single glass would be all she’d have tonight. She’d been fairly successful kicking her nightly wine habit in favor of one beer. It tasted refreshing after the heat of the day.
Today was the first full day of work since Barry McKnight and Agamemnon had announced their plan to shut down the newspaper and shore up the website. Across the country, journalism pundits were still obsessing over the terrible decision to do away with the only daily paper in the nation’s fourth largest city. Television news was all over it, with TV reporters doing live shots in front of the building and in the newsroom about the latest nail in the industry’s coffin. It was all so depressing.
Annie had gone to the first planning meeting today with top editors discussing how to staff the website-only operation, which would be phased in soon. What really upset her was seeing the faces of the reporters who’d have to fight each other for the small number of jobs that soon would be posted. She’d refused to think much about her own dwindling prospects. But she felt heartsick for so many others, including Travis and his excitement just a few days ago about marriage and fatherhood. He was quietly going about his business, not saying much but looking anxious.
She needed to stop thinking about the whole newspaper catastrophe because she was waiting for Tom Marr. He’d called her at work to say he was on his way to Houston and wanted to stop by briefly. She had no idea what he wanted, but she looked forward to seeing him. After the debacles in her love life lately, she wanted to be around someone whose constancy she was beginning to trust.
The doorbell rang before she’d finished her beer. She opened the door and there he stood, in his usual jeans, scuffed cowboy boots and white shirt.
“Hi, Tom,” she said and he stepped inside. She looked into his blue eyes and suddenly he was holding her tightly and kissing her, their first real kiss. He’d kissed her on the cheek and the head, like a fond friend, but his kiss on the lips felt warm and sensual. He smelled of sunshine and Ivory soap mixed with a fresh breeze. After the disturbing collapse of her reunion with Jake and the disastrous ending with Matt, being with Tom felt new and fresh. After a minute, she broke away, but held his hand and steered him into the living room.
“You look great,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Can’t stay long, because I’m meeting with a detective about Betsy,” he said. “But I’ve been thinking about kissing you ever since I saw you last.”
“Well, we better talk about whatever brought you here,” she said. “Can I get you a beer?”
“No, but I’ll sit down for a few minutes while I explain.”
“First of all, what’s the news on Betsy?”
He shook his head. “She’s somewhere in the Houston area with her boyfriend. Maria persuaded her to talk to me on the phone briefly and she said she’s fine, she’s happy and she’s working. But she says she’d disappear if I pressure her right now.”
“Well, that’s progress, I guess,” Annie said.
“I feel like my hands are tied,” Marr said. “But I’m getting together with the detective who’s been working behind the scenes for me.”
“I understand,” Annie said. “You don’t want to lose her for good.”
“Betsy knows that if she needs emergency help, you’re here,” he said. “She has your address, phone numbers and knows where you work, of course.”
“Tom, you know I’ve always loved Betsy. I’d be glad to help any way I can.”
He leaned toward her and kissed her again, lightly this time, but she felt its incipient promise. He reached into his pocket.
“I’ve got a copy of a letter here from Dan Riggins. He attached this note to a package he left on my doorstep. I’ll let you read it first.”
He handed her a copy of a handwritten note. She went through it quickly.
“Attention Texas Ranger Mark Ingram: I offer this package as possible evidence in an ongoing investigation. It’s a rifle I found in Alicia Perez’s car. When authorities fingerprint and test it, I expect they will conclude it’s the weapon that killed State Senator Sam Wurzbach. Ms. Perez is dead of a brain tumor. She assassinated Wurzbach to protect the interests of the now-defunct Nation of Texas. No one was involved in his death besides the two of us. I have left Texas for good and won’t return to the United States. If you check, you’ll find that the charges pending against me in Texas have been dropped at the behest of the federal government. I’m returning to the work that I did before I retired. I leave this weapon with you in the hope that the senator’s family can find closure. Goodbye, Dan Riggins.”
“How strange,” Annie said. She was quiet for a moment, thinking about Wurzbach, Riggins and Alicia Perez. Marr put his arms around her, but she wanted to talk. There was so much she neede
d to understand.
“Can you explain this?” Annie said. “Has Riggins been in touch with you?”
“Yes. I can’t lie to you,” Marr said. “We’ve talked over the past couple of months and I knew Alicia was sick. She died two days ago in Mexico and I helped bury her in a secret place. I said goodbye to Dan and I know he won’t be back. If I get in trouble for seeing him without turning him in, so be it.”
“Why did Alicia kill Sam Wurzbach?”
“Here’s what Dan told me. Alicia heard him talking about Sam Wurzbach and how Sam’s German-Texas campaign could ruin the plans of the Nation of Texas. She got fired up, sneaked away from their home in Ojinaga and crossed the border into West Texas. She drove to Austin, where she stalked Wurzbach and plotted how to kill him. She saw her chance on the evening of the big German-Texas fundraiser. Dan said she was angry and wanted to take action before she died from the brain tumor. I’m sure Dan also wanted to harm Wurzbach, but I think she jumped the gun, so to speak, by killing him at the party.”
“How terrible,” Annie said. “Do you believe him?”
“In his note, he shares responsibility for Sam’s death with Alicia. But he’s definitely telling the story he wants the Texas Rangers to believe,” Marr said. “I don’t believe the Nation of Texas is dead. He’s probably saying that to protect people active in the organization.”
“Where’s Riggins?”
“It’s impossible to know for sure. But I have a pretty good idea. He spent his whole career with the CIA, as you know. After Alicia died, he called high-level folks there and offered to go anywhere if they’d make his legal problems disappear. They agreed and I’m betting he’s on his way to South America.”
“I can’t believe the government would just forget about the killings he ordered here in Texas,” Annie said. “How can the CIA wipe the slate clean?”
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