by Ted Clifton
“It’s fine Tony. I got to see Michael last night for a little while, and that’s something that needed to happen to get us talking again—so I should thank you.”
“Your son really is a sharp attorney, Ray. He’s one of the stars at the firm. Not sure what went wrong with you and him, but it’s good that you’re trying to fix it. My story involves family, too. As you know, my wife and I have some unusual history back in Houston, and most of her family history isn’t exactly normal. Some of what I’m going to tell you, you’ll know, other parts you won’t—but it’s the truth as best I know it.”
“I told you before that Marino was blackmailing me to stay out of the affairs in the sheriff’s department because he claimed he had information to prove that my wife was involved in her fiancé’s murder. And that the Police Chief Nelson, who’d been in the police department in Houston, would back him up. First, my wife had nothing to do with whatever happened to her fiancé. He was a childhood friend of hers and she agreed to the fake engagement so he could get his family off of his back about him getting married. He was gay and he lived in Houston in order to be away from his family in Boston, who didn’t know. He was very active sexually and was a heavy drug user—she suspected both cocaine and heroin. He was worth millions, even independent of his parents’ money, because of an inheritance from his grandfather. But he was also a good businessman and was making lots of money in Houston.”
“Should have just told Marino to fuck off, but I didn’t. I was worried about my job and the effect it would have on my wife, so I ignored the fiasco going on in Ruidoso. I even misled the governor, told him it was under control when obviously it wasn’t.”
“But then something strange happened. My wife’s half-sister, Lisa Collins, called and said she was going to be in Santa Fe and wanted to meet Kate. They had talked a little over the years, but they’d never met. Kate lived with her father in Boston after her mother ran off. The mother ended up in Miami and remarried and had another child, but Kate never saw her after she left.”
“Kate meets her sister at a restaurant on the Plaza. Her sister tells her she’s looking for her ex-husband, who had taken some sentimental items that had been given to her by her grandmother, and she wants Kate to help. She says her ex is working as a sheriff’s deputy in Ruidoso. Kate asks her the ex-husband’s name, and she tells her it’s Martin Marino. Well, you can imagine—Kate almost fainted. How was it possible? The person who is messing with our lives is the ex-husband of her half-sister from Miami, whom she’d never met before? Kate told me she felt like there was some big evil cloud that had followed her most of her life—she got upset right there in front of Lisa. Of course Lisa didn’t know what was going on.”
“So Kate tells Lisa the whole story—about the fiancé, about Marino blackmailing me—everything. Lisa was livid, just uncontrollably angry. They had to leave the restaurant because Lisa was so out of control. They found a bar down the street and continued the conversation. Lisa says she wants to go and see Marino—she says she can stop him from causing all of this harm. She’s adamant that she’s going to Ruidoso. At first Kate was against the idea and felt it would only lead to more trouble—but she couldn’t talk Lisa out of the plan. Kate decided she would support her sister. Maybe she could talk some sense into the ex-husband. At that point, Kate called me and said she and her sister were going to Albuquerque to just look around and do some shopping. She said they might even spend the night. I remember thinking that it was really unlike her, but maybe she just needed some private time with her sister.”
“Kate said that they headed out, then stopped in Albuquerque. They were planning on driving to Ruidoso that day, but they stopped so Lisa could call Marino. Kate didn’t hear the conversation, but when Lisa got back in the car she told Kate that she’d talked to Marino and he’d agreed to meet with her. He said since it was going to be so late he’d meet her in front of a bar in downtown Ruidoso called Tito’s, and they set a time.”
“At that point they headed out for Ruidoso. Kate has told me that Lisa didn’t say much as they drove—she seemed quiet and calm. Once they reached Ruidoso and drove down Main Street, it was easy to find Tito’s Bar. There weren’t a lot of people out. The bar seemed to be the only place open. Kate parked down the street some. They sat there for about fifteen minutes before a sheriff’s patrol car pulled into the parking spot in front of the bar. Lisa got out and told Kate she’d be back in just a minute. Kate said she was worried that Lisa might get hurt.”
“Lisa walked down the street to the patrol car. Kate could see that, as Lisa approached the car, the window rolled down. There was some kind of exchange between Lisa and the person in the car. It looked like Lisa was very angry. Just as Kate was thinking that maybe she should go down there and make sure everything was all right, there were gunshots—not real loud, but no question it was gunshots. Kate could see Lisa standing outside the patrol car holding a small pistol—she got out and ran toward Lisa, who seemed to be in shock. Kate looked into the car and saw that the person in the car had been shot several times, all in the head. She grabbed Lisa and took her back to their car. Lisa was in some kind of trance and hadn’t said anything. Kate waited for a minute, expecting that at any moment someone would come out of the bar or something—but nothing happened. She decided to leave. She drove Lisa back to Albuquerque, checked into a motel, and put Lisa to bed.”
“Jesus, Tony. You’re telling me that Marino’s ex-wife shot him and your wife was an accessory.”
“Yes, Ray. It’s a mess. When Lisa finally snapped out of her daze, she told Kate that when she asked Marino about getting her things he took he just laughed and said he’d thrown away all that junk a long time ago. For some reason having him throw her useless treasures away was more than she could stand, and she killed him in a fit of anger.”
“Where did she get the gun? She couldn’t have brought it on the plane from Miami, could she?” Ray, always the investigator, was already looking to fill in all the gaps in the story.
“No. When she got to Albuquerque, she went to a gun shop by the airport and bought the gun. There’s a waiting period in New Mexico, but she offered the shop owner five hundred dollars and he gave her the gun right there and then. I know this sets it up as a premeditated murder. She can claim she shot him on impulse, but she must have planned on something or why buy the gun? She told Kate she bought the gun to scare Marino—she didn’t plan on shooting him.”
“Where’s Lisa now?”
“She’s in Miami. She knows I’m talking to you. She may fight extradition, I don’t know. She and Kate have talked some, but her father is advising her. I think he’s already hired some top dollar lawyers who’ll fight tooth and nail to keep her in Florida.”
“What about your wife?”
“She’s scared, just like me. I think a case can be made that I committed a crime, too, by moving my wife out of state knowing that she was an accessory to murder. Now you can see why I wasn’t coming back to New Mexico. I can assure you she didn’t know her sister was going to kill Marino, but as soon as she drove her back to Albuquerque any claim of innocence was over. I don’t believe Kate was thinking of anything other than getting her sister someplace safe, but I understand the legal consequences.”
“This probably isn’t relevant right now, but I can’t help being curious. Does your wife know why her sister married Marino in the first place?”
“Lisa told her she was taking drugs and that Marino was her supplier. And she was rebelling against her very strict father, so one night while she was under the influence of drugs she married the creep. They’d gotten a license on some previous drug binge, so with the license in hand and the waiting period over, they found a justice of the peace and entered marital bliss with the blessing of the state of Florida. Lisa said she immediately regretted it, but once her father started screaming at her and saying it was the dumbest thing she had ever done she instinctively started to defend her decision. A very stupid mistake by a spoiled
girl. When Marino left she was glad to be rid of him. She’d learned to hate the man in the few short months they were married.”
“There’s more Ray. Once Kate thought Lisa was emotionally stable enough, she bought her a ticket and sent her back to Miami. By then she knew she was involved in helping Lisa escape out of state, and that she could be charged as an accessory to Marino’s murder. Kate called me from the airport and told me what had happened. I couldn’t believe it—our world just turned upside down. I immediately put in place a plan to resign and leave for Boston. With her connections in Boston, and her family’s money, that was our best chance of fighting extradition back to New Mexico. I told Kate to wait for me in Albuquerque. I packed a bag for her and drove to the airport. When I got there, I couldn’t believe how upset Kate was. Everything had been going so great for us, and now it had all blown up—again.”
“I had to really convince Kate to leave—she didn’t want to go without me. She said she should just give herself up. I talked her out of that. Eventually she agreed that she should go to Boston. Then she gave me the gun. She’d found it in the car—apparently Lisa had accidently dropped it, or maybe meant to leave it there. Kate said she found a hand towel in the trunk of the car and had wrapped the gun in that. She handed me the towel. I opened it and it was amazing—it was tiny, like a little toy, but it had killed a man. I wrapped it back up and put it in my pocket and we bought tickets for Kate. The first flight out of Albuquerque was going to Denver, so we got a one-way ticket—once she was in Denver she’d buy another ticket to get to Boston. I waited with her until it was time for her to board. She was crying most of the time.”
He paused to gather himself.
“After Kate left, I found the pay lockers in the terminal and put the gun in one of them and paid for the maximum amount of time. Before I left New Mexico, I found a place near the airport where I could rent lockers by the month. I put the gun there. Here’s the key.”
“Will Kate testify about what she saw that night?”
“I don’t know. Kate’s very upset right now and having trouble deciding what is right. I think her first instinct was to protect her sister, but after some thought I think she’s begun to wonder why her sister put her in that position in the first place. I can’t answer your question at this point.”
“The gun will tie back to Lisa and prove to be the murder weapon, but that might not be enough to convict her without corroborating evidence, especially a witness.”
“I understand. I’d like to be in a position to tell you what we will or won’t do, but I don’t know. I called you out of a sense of obligation to both my wife and the law. Believe me, this hasn’t been an easy decision. I thought that if we continued to hide the truth it would get worse for everyone. I believe that Lisa can make a case that it wasn’t premeditated, but an impulse, a fit of rage. The gun is a problem, but good lawyers can get around that. What do you think the governor will do?”
“Well, as you know he can be very volatile, so he could just go berserk, call out the National Guard, and threaten to start a war with Massachusetts—or he could avoid getting involved at all. He knows Marino was an evil man causing all kinds of mayhem for the good citizens of Ruidoso, so having him dead is probably not a bad thing in the eyes of the governor. He’s going to be sympathetic to your wife protecting her sister. Probably the person he’ll be most angry with is you. The governor values loyalty over everything else and I think he’ll feel that you’ve been disloyal. But according to our legal system disloyalty isn’t a criminal offense. My guess is that the governor is sorry you left, because he liked you and you were doing a good job, but now he’s moved on to other matters—seems to be some shenanigans going on in San Juan County that have him upset.”
Tony chuckled, which was good to hear. Ray thought he looked very tired.
“I know it’s bizarre but I’m going to miss the governor.”
“Tony, as you know I’m going to turn over all the information I have to the appropriate authorities. At this point I’m not real sure who that is, but there’s no question that the legal wheels are going to start turning. At any time, if something isn’t going right or you feel like you need someone to help, you give me a call. I can’t stop what’s going to happen, but I want to help you if I can.”
“Ray, you’ve always been a good friend. I’m sorry that there have been times I wasn’t as candid as I should have been. I really appreciate your friendship.” They stood and hugged, and Tony left.
Ray sat back down and ordered his second breakfast of the morning.
Justice For All
The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they do turn. Ray got back from his trip to Boston, retrieved the gun, went home, and slept for fourteen hours. He then called the head of the state police, an old buddy, and gave him the information and the gun. The police could sort out whose jurisdiction everything belonged in—Ray was tired of thinking about all of the people who had screwed up their lives because of lust or greed. He just wanted to spend time with his favorite person, Sue, and his best dog—actually, his only dog—Happy.
Ray and Sue sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and looking through information about San Francisco.
“What sort of life do you want to have?” he asked.
“What kind of stupid question is that?”
“Sue, it’s not a stupid question. Do you want to travel, do you want to have lots of company, do you want to paint, do you want to write a book, or do you want to sleep till noon—it’s not a stupid question at all.”
“Something’s bothering you, Ray. Just spit it out.”
“Okay. I’ve been thinking that what I’d like to do is enter Big Jack’s annual fishing tournament—you know I’m the reigning champion. I’d like to fish for a few weeks to get back into the right mind set and see if I could win again.”
“You don’t want to go to San Francisco do you?”
“I don’t want to make you unhappy.”
“You’re so full of shit, Ray. Just say it: you don’t want to go to San Francisco.”
“Okay, I don’t.”
“Me either.”
“What! What do you mean, ‘me either’? It was your idea.”
“Ray, I just thought you needed something else—something else for you to think about and plan. I’m perfectly happy at home. You’re the one who’s been grumping around, not me.”
Ray wasn’t completely sure why, but the whole conversation suddenly seemed funny to him and he started to laugh. Soon Sue was laughing. Happy stood up and began wagging his tail. It was a family breakdown of joy.
The phone rang. Sue pulled herself together and answered. She listened and then handed the phone to Ray.
“It’s the governor’s chief of staff.”
“Ray Pacheco.”
Ray listened, said ‘okay’ to something, and hung up.
“Governor wants to see me tomorrow morning. He wants a verbal report and some advice on what to do. Want to come along?”
“Sure.”
Ray made arrangements with Tyee to watch Happy—Tyee and Big Jack both had keys to the cabin in case anything happened. Sue called and made a reservation at La Fonda. They packed, then got in the Jeep and headed out. Ray immediately felt happy—because this time Sue was with him.
The drive to Santa Fe was uneventful, although it seemed like with every trip he made the roads became more crowded. The movement of cars between Santa Fe and Albuquerque was creating big city traffic problems out in the sticks. They made their way to the Plaza and used valet parking for Ray’s beat up old Jeep. The attendant actually made a slight face when he got in, but Ray just chuckled. The Jeep was absolutely theft proof—nobody would want it.
Sue had reserved a suite, which turned out to be very attractive. The Spanish architecture of the building, with the old Mexico and New Mexico themed rooms, was a treat to the eye, with bright colors everywhere. They freshened up a bit, before going downstairs to the bar for a margarita. The b
ar had the same vivid colors, and there was background music that seemed to float in the air. They decided to sit at the bar rather than take a table, and were astonished at the size of the margaritas they were served. Ray was mostly a beer drinker, so he was going to have to be careful with this baby.
Sue had a sip and declared the drink to be perfection. After one and a half of these massive concoctions, they realized that it was a good thing they were staying at the hotel. Neither Ray nor Sue was feeling any pain. It had been a long time since Ray had really relaxed, and he was starting to feel like he wanted to sing.
Sue leaned over. “No singing Ray. I’ve seen that look in your eye before, and it was followed by singing—not here.” She giggled.
“I like it when you giggle.”
“I like it when you like it when I giggle.” This conversation was at its end. It was either dinner or the room. They felt a little unsteady and decided to head to the room—they could eat in the morning.
Ray was up early and feeling great. He’d expected to have a headache, but it was just the opposite: he felt alert and ready to get the day started. He showered and dressed, then gave Sue a little nudge and a kiss to see if she was going to have breakfast. She woke up reluctantly, but soon was smiling. She was definitely interested in breakfast and said she would join him downstairs.
Once seated in the main eating area Ray had coffee and orange juice and began reading the Albuquerque newspaper. Most of the problems in the world seemed to be a lot like the problems that were reported every other day. He did notice an article about Lisa Collins—she had agreed to extradition and was currently in the Bernalillo County jail. He was sure there was a lot more to that story. He skipped everything else and concentrated on the sports page. He wasn’t a sports nut, but it was safer than the other news. The stories generally didn’t involve mayhem.
Sue joined Ray. She was looking great, and he felt a sense of pride in his beautiful wife. They ordered way too much food, but it was absolutely delicious. Having had no dinner meant they now had healthy—or at least robust—appetites.