by Lynne Hinton
He started to sit up but then seemed to think better of it. He winced as he raised his head off the pillow.
“Whoa there, Detective,” Dorisanne said, stepping near him. “I think you may have quite the headache for a while. He hit you pretty hard.”
Eve watched as the two looked at each other. She stepped back, giving Dorisanne a bit more room and the two of them a little more privacy.
“You had me really worried,” Dorisanne said. She had leaned down and was stroking Daniel’s cheek.
“Aw, you should know the best place for me to get hit is the side of the head.”
She laughed. “I think you used to tell me that.”
He reached up and touched Dorisanne on the arm. There was a smile spread across his face. “You okay?”
She nodded. “I am now,” she responded.
“I guess we owe all of this to your big sister over there,” he noted, turning his attention in Eve’s direction.
“I think we owe it to Mr. Marcus Winners.” She moved closer. “How come you didn’t say anything when I told you that name? How come you didn’t let on that you knew it was a clue?”
He shrugged gingerly. “I wasn’t sure about it,” he answered. “It’s been a long time since I heard that name being used.”
Dorisanne squeezed his hand. “I didn’t know who might find the book,” she noted. “But I thought if it was you, you’d know to call.”
“Who was the guy?” he asked, recalling that a man had answered the phone and given the address that had helped them find Dorisanne.
“It was Jason, the former bartender over at the Rio,” Eve blurted, answering the question for her sister.
Both Dorisanne and Daniel glanced over at her.
“How did you know that?” Dorisanne asked.
Eve smiled. “I recognized his voice.” She stuffed her hands into her pockets. “I didn’t know it at the time,” she explained. “I thought it sounded familiar, but I wasn’t completely sure. But afterward, I thought about it, and I remembered that I had talked to him before. I knew it was Jason. He said to tell you hello, by the way. I called him back and told him you were all right.”
Daniel shook his head. “She thinks she’s a nun.”
Dorisanne made a face. “I know. Crazy, right? She’s always been good at this kind of thing.”
“What?” Eve asked. “What kind of thing?”
“Solving mysteries, remembering familiar voices, knowing things,” she answered. “You were always more like him and I was always more like Mom.”
This way her sister had of telling family history surprised Eve. She had never heard her sister make a positive comparison between her and the Captain. The thought of such a thing made her feel proud.
“Speaking of,” Daniel piped in. “Did you call him?”
Dorisanne waited for her sister to answer. She seemed to notice that Eve was waiting for her to answer. “Well, don’t look at me. I haven’t talked to him. I thought you were making that call.”
Eve shook her head. “Yes, I called him. He’s very relieved that you weren’t hurt any worse than you were,” she said to Daniel. “He said he owes you a very big thank-you for saving his daughter.”
Dorisanne didn’t respond.
“You talk to Rob?” Daniel asked.
She backed away just a step from the bed, slid her hands up and down her shoulders. “He left for Los Angeles this morning. He’s supposed to call me when he’s safe.”
“You didn’t call him to tell him the guys have been arrested, that the metro police rounded them all up?” Eve asked.
Dorisanne had a sheepish look on her face. “I left the phone at the house in Pahrump. I don’t know how to call him.”
Eve looked at Daniel, who was staring at Dorisanne. Neither of them said anything further.
“Don’t you think he might be worried about you?” Eve asked, breaking the awkward silence.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I told Pauline what happened. He’ll call her when he can’t reach me, and she can tell him that we’re fine.” She kept a close watch on Daniel.
“Did she hear the news about Steve?” Eve asked, wondering if Dorisanne’s neighbor had been informed about her boyfriend’s murder.
Dorisanne nodded.
“How did she take it?”
“She’s pretty upset about it, but she’s also a little . . . I don’t know . . . relieved, I think.”
Eve nodded. “She seemed pretty scared of him.”
“She was,” Dorisanne agreed. She was still looking at Daniel, who kept his eyes closed.
“Maybe I’ll go downstairs to the cafeteria and get a cup of coffee,” Eve said, leaving the bedside and moving toward the door. She figured her sister and Daniel could use a little time alone.
“Don’t get lost,” Daniel commented, showing a slight grin.
“Morgue’s on the third floor,” Eve said, making her exit. “Cafeteria’s on the first.”
She glanced over at Dorisanne and winked, hoping her sister understood she had the time and space to talk.
FIFTY-FIVE
Eve watched him in the rearview mirror. He was resting in the back, able to stretch out a bit more than if he had taken the passenger’s seat beside her. Since his car had been crashed, stolen by the guy who had kidnapped Dorisanne and caused his concussion, he had to rent a car. He chose a brand-new Lincoln Town Car, and Eve felt like a limousine driver behind the wheel, teasing him that she should be wearing a little black cap and serving him beverages and snacks throughout the trip. It had brought a tiny bit of laughter from him. Once they started the drive home, he dropped his head down on the pillow and had been sound asleep for four hours. She had gotten them across the state line from Nevada to Arizona, and they were already heading east on Interstate 40. It was about lunchtime, and they were almost halfway to Madrid, having made very good time since traffic had been light and she was driving slightly above the speed limit. Eve preferred her Harley on the open road, but she found she was enjoying handling the rented long sedan almost as much. And the view was still the same: the wide blue sky, the barren hills and mesas. Eve had always loved a western road trip.
She watched the highway in front of her and thought about their departure earlier that day. She had assumed all the way up to the last minute that Dorisanne would be going with them. She had even told the Captain when she called him first thing that morning to expect them both at home in time for dinner that day. She thought this had pleased their father, and she dreaded seeing his reaction when she arrived home alone. She wanted answers from Daniel or from Dorisanne, but she had left Vegas without knowing if anything had been resolved between her sister and their father’s former partner.
She looked in the rearview mirror again; he was still asleep. Even though she was sad that her sister wasn’t going home with her, she was glad for a few things. All the loose ends were tied up, and there was not going to be any federal or local charges against Dorisanne. No report had been filed about what happened between Eve and the Pahrump officer. She never even heard anything about her little motorcycle theft or her fleeing from the police.
When it came time to leave, there were no charges made against either of the Divine sisters; however, the same thing couldn’t be said about Dorisanne’s husband. The FBI was still not completely forthcoming about whether or not he would be implicated in the credit card theft ring. Immunity was offered only to Dorisanne, not to Robbie, and because of the possible pending charges, he was not allowed to leave the state.
Eve blew out a breath and suddenly noticed Daniel stirring. She watched him as he moved around a bit and then finally sat up and opened his eyes. He yawned and stretched.
“You okay?” she asked.
He just nodded. He stretched out his arms again and then reached up and touched the big knot on his head. He winced and then leaned back.
“You tired of driving?” he asked. “I can drive some.”
Eve shook her head
. “No, I believe the doctor was very clear when he released you earlier than he wanted to: ‘You can go, but you cannot drive.’ Besides, I think those pain pills might make you a bit loopy.”
He closed his eyes without giving a response.
Eve waited, kept looking back at her passenger, and then couldn’t help herself. She had to ask the obvious question: “So, you okay?”
“You asked that already,” he answered. “It’s a headache, that’s all.”
She watched as he sat up a bit more. He leaned down and retrieved a drink from the cooler on the floor.
“I’m not talking about your head,” she replied. “I’m talking about your heart. I’m talking about Dorisanne and you.”
There was a long pause, no response, and then she saw him open the drink, take a swallow, and then turn his attention out the window.
“We talked a long time,” he finally noted. “All night, in fact.”
Eve nodded. She had seen her sister earlier at breakfast, her eyes swollen and red. There had not been much said, only that she wasn’t coming with them. And then, just like that, she was gone.
“It just doesn’t seem that it’s meant to be,” he said.
Eve hoped for more details. She kept looking at him and waiting, but he seemed to have nothing more to say on the subject of her sister.
She turned her attention back to the highway.
“You talk to your dad?” he asked, breaking the silence and changing the subject.
“It’s not allergies,” she told him, understanding that he was asking about the cough. “It’s an infection. I’ll take him to the clinic when I get back.”
“You figured out how to tell that Caleb guy about his great-grandfather?”
“I have,” she answered. “I want to check out the family of the woman he married first, just to see if they know anything, but yes, I think I know how to break the bad news.”
“Yeah, I guess you Divine sisters know how to do that pretty well.”
Eve did not respond. She simply watched him from the rearview mirror and continued in the direction of home.
FIFTY-SIX
“Are you Ms. Gallegos?” Eve asked. She was standing on the porch of a home just outside Madrid, off Highway 14 heading south toward Albuquerque. She had found the address in the county records. After hearing the Divines’ investigative report, Caleb Alford had asked to join her.
“I’d like to go and meet my other family,” he had told her when he got the news, and Eve agreed to take him.
“Elizabeth,” the older woman answered, standing behind the screen door separating the homeowner from her visitors. “Elizabeth Gallegos.”
“Hello, Ms. Gallegos, I’m Evangeline Divine. I live in Madrid. This is my friend, Caleb, who is trying to find some information about his great-grandfather. We’re here because we think he may have married someone in your family.”
The woman didn’t respond at first, and Eve waited, uncertain if Ms. Gallegos was going to let them in.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Gallegos,” Caleb said.
There was a pause as a car passed behind them on the road. Eve watched as the old woman eyed the passing vehicle.
“Tourists,” was all she said as she opened the door to let the two inside her home. “Drive up and down around here looking for turquoise like it’s lying around everywhere.”
Eve smiled at the woman. She knew not all of the locals were very happy about the popularity the little town and the road going through Madrid and Cerrillos known as the Turquoise Trail had attained.
Eve looked around as the door closed behind her. It was a small adobe home, typical of many of the residences in northern New Mexico. There were stacks of newspapers along one side of the room and the furniture was old and sparse. Ms. Gallegos picked up some magazines and brushed off a place on the sofa, then pointed to Eve and Caleb to sit.
“Don’t get much company out here,” the old woman noted, taking a seat across from the two of them.
“You live here a long time?” Eve asked.
“All my life,” she answered. “If I live another two months, I’ll be eighty-five.”
Eve smiled. “How wonderful.”
“Nah, it ain’t all wonderful,” Ms. Gallegos commented. “Some days I would be happy not to make it to nightfall.” She shifted in her seat. “Old knees, old hips . . . hard to get around.”
Eve nodded.
“You from around here?”
“I’m from Madrid. My parents are the Divines.”
The old woman smiled, showing more than a few missing teeth. “You’re one of Mary Divine’s daughters?” She leaned closer to Eve to get a better look. “You’re the oldest,” she surmised. “Well, I’ll be. I used to watch you barrel race at the rodeo.”
“That’s me,” Eve replied.
“I thought you became a missionary or something.” She sat back in her seat.
“A nun,” Eve answered. “I joined the Benedictine Order in Pecos.”
“That right?” the old woman responded. “I thought they made all the women leave,” she added. “Wasn’t that what the papers said? That the nuns had to leave?”
Eve never enjoyed talking about the politics of the abbey where she had been in community for almost twenty years. “We just had to move out of the main building. They separated us from the monks,” she noted.
The old woman laughed and slapped her knee. “Too risky even for the celibates, huh?”
Eve simply nodded in response. She turned to Caleb, who was not participating in the conversation.
“What are you two here about?” Ms. Gallegos asked. “You looking for some information about family?”
Eve answered for Caleb. “I’m doing some work for this gentleman, who has come to New Mexico looking for information regarding his great-grandfather.”
“Why did he ask a nun to help him find his kin?”
Eve hesitated. Caleb didn’t answer.
The older woman asked another question before either of them could reply: “Wait, your daddy does that kind of work, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, he’s a private investigator.”
“And he’s got you helping him?”
“Yes,” she answered.
“Hmm . . . seems kinda strange, but okay.”
“It turns out,” Eve said, getting back to the purpose of her visit, “that in searching the records for my client’s great-grandfather, he was reported to have married someone in your family.” She stopped for a second, letting the older woman catch up. “A Katherine Gallegos.”
“Katherine Alford,” she replied, surprising Eve.
“My great-aunt Katherine married a miner. His last name was Alford.” She sat forward a bit. “Didn’t last long, but, wait a minute, where are my manners? Would the two of you like a cup of coffee?” She started to get up.
“No, no, that’s fine,” Eve replied, waving away the offer.
“So you do have a family member who has the last name Alford?” Finally, Caleb spoke up.
“Sure,” Elizabeth Gallegos replied. “It was Katherine’s first marriage. She married again, had four sons. They mostly moved over to Albuquerque and down south.” She looked at Caleb. “What did you say your name is again?”
He cleared his throat. “Caleb,” he responded. “My name is Caleb.”
She paused. “You’re kin to Caleb Alford?”
“He was my great-grandfather,” he answered.
Ms. Gallegos studied the man. “Well, I wouldn’t go around these parts making that claim,” she responded. “He married Katherine, took all of her money, and disappeared. Your great-granddaddy’s name is mud to most of the folks in the Gallegos family. How is it that you found me, anyway?”
Caleb turned to Eve, who took that to mean he needed her to answer their host’s questions.
“In the records at the courthouse,” Eve answered. “Caleb here thinks that his great-grandfather may have married your great-aunt Katherine while he was still marrie
d to a woman from the East Coast,” she explained.
Ms. Gallegos appeared to consider this bit of news. And then she just shook her head. “I ain’t never heard that story,” she responded. “But that don’t mean I don’t believe it. We got more than a few skeletons in our closets, and a scoundrel like Caleb probably had lots more than any one of us ever heard about. The way he did Katherine, wouldn’t surprise me a bit that he had several wives.”
Caleb looked down at his hands that were folded in his lap.
“Wait, East Coast?” Ms. Gallegos asked. “You say your family is from the East Coast?”
Caleb nodded. “North Carolina,” he answered.
Ms. Gallegos leaned forward, trying to pull herself up. It took two tries, but she soon was standing. She was shaking her head. “Caleb was from Texas,” she said. “Lubbock, I think.” She stood at her chair for a minute and then started walking out of the room. “Some of the men went looking for him when he disappeared. They went to Texas. Hold on, I got a picture of him,” she added. “I’ll get it.”
“Oh?” Eve started to get up as well and follow the woman. “Can I help you?”
The woman waved her hand in front of her face as she moved out of the room. “Nah, Sister, just sit back down and I’ll get it for you. It’s hanging in the hallway with the pictures of the others who used to work the family mines. That Caleb could have made a fortune when he married into the Gallegos clan. Got greedy, though, and couldn’t wait.”
Eve leaned back in her seat on the sofa. She looked over at Caleb, wondering how he was doing hearing all this news about his great-grandfather, knowing that he was not only a polygamist but also a thief. They waited without speaking until Ms. Gallegos returned.
“Here it is,” the old woman announced as she walked back into the room. She blew dust off the old frame and handed the picture to Eve.
“Caleb Alford and Katherine Gallegos at a summer picnic. This was taken just after they got married. I remember my grandmother telling me about it.”
Eve took the photo and held it so that Caleb could see it as well. It was old, black-and-white, and looked like the pictures she had seen around the area all of her life. Ranchers, miners, the homesteaders from the late 1800s, this photograph of a New Mexican family reminded her of the pictures from her own grandmother’s photo album.