“Where is this place?” Paige asked.
“A few miles down the access road to the west,” Rosa said, talking directly to Miguel in an obvious move to ignore Paige. “You’ll have trouble finding it in the dark. Even in the daylight it looks plain. But you can watch for a light in Whitehorse’s trailer, which will be set back on a driveway behind the trading post. If he’s there, the light might be on.”
“Thanks, Rosa.” Miguel reached in his pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill, dropping it on Rosa’s tray.
“Yeah, thanks for helping us, Rosa.” Paige barely disguised her sarcasm.
Grabbing Paige’s arm again, this time more gently, Miguel pulled her toward the casino’s exit.
“You two do not have to fight over me, you know.” As usual, Paige could hear the smile in Miguel’s voice without even looking.
“Don’t even start. Besides, you don’t have time for either of us right now.” Paige broke free of Miguel’s grip for the second time that night and pushed through the door on her own, Miguel trailing behind. “We need to find Whitehorse’s place and this trading post. I think the whole situation is starting to look clearer.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The door to Room 14 creaked as Paige opened it. Two long hours searching along the frontage roads of Interstate 40 had been in vain. The few roadside stands she and Miguel had seen were boarded up and dark and none matched the description Rosa had given them. Finally, low on gas and worried about pushing too far into the night, Miguel had suggested they turn back to Gallup and begin the search again in the morning when it would be light and easier to see. Reluctantly, Paige agreed.
The Tierra Inn was nothing exciting, but it wasn’t horrible, either. Set off to the south of the interstate, the rumbling of eighteen-wheelers promised to be a continuous soundtrack during the night. But the rooms were clean, even quaint, with old Route 66 posters on the walls and ceramic mugs by the coffeemaker, rather than standard Styrofoam motel cups. Even more to Paige’s relief, two rooms were available, though Miguel had suggested they share a room to save expenses. Paige had been on the brink of lecturing him when a quick look at his face made it clear he was teasing. “Worth a try,” he had murmured on their way out of the office.
Paige set her overnight bag on a carved wooden chair and opened it, pulling out the clothes and toothbrush she’d grabbed before leaving Agua Encantada. She paused to think. Had it only been that morning that she’d gone to Tres Palomas to hear Abuela at the church, then to the Coyote Cantina, then to the spa, then up to Gallup and the casino, then all along the interstate, searching for a trading post and now to the Tierra Inn? It seemed unbelievable she’d done all this in one day.
Changing into pajamas, she tried once more to reach Jake. Again she only got voice mail. There were no new messages since the last one she’d left. Doesn’t he even care enough to check his phone?
She went to answer a knock on the door. “Paige?” When she opened the door, Miguel began to chastise her. “Do not open this door without making sure you know who it is first,” Miguel said, one hand behind his back, the other holding out a mug that matched one of the two in her room.
“I knew it was you. I recognized your voice,” she said, though she knew he was right; she should have been more careful.
Miguel’s eyes traveled down to take in the bright yellow and white flannel print.
“Don’t say a word,” Paige warned, watching him fight back half a dozen smart aleck remarks. “I love my rubber ducky pajamas. And is that…?” She took the mug, passed it under her nose and smiled. “Hot chocolate? How did you manage that? I only have coffee in this room.”
“I have my ways.”
“Meaning you sweet-talked the young girl at the inn’s front counter into giving it to you.”
“Something like that.” Miguel grinned. “Are you going to ask me in or am I going back to my room?” As added incentive, he pulled a bag out from behind his back.
“Food?” Paige’s eyes lit up. The day’s events had been so intense, she’d forgotten they hadn’t eaten.
“Burritos,” Miguel confirmed. “Nothing fancy, just what I grabbed at a café half a mile down the road.”
“Chips?” Paige asked, as if his answer was the password to stepping inside. She almost felt guilty for letting him stand on the front step this long, holding a hot chocolate in one hand and a dinner offering in the other. With only granola bars in her bag, she wasn’t about to pass up the meal.
“And salsa,” Miguel said, watching Paige wince. “Mild salsa,” he added.
Paige stood back to let him in, taking both the mug of hot chocolate and bag of burritos at the same time. Miguel closed the door and sat at a small table in the corner of the room. Paige placed the bag on the table, pulled out the burritos, chips and salsa and sat down across from him.
“So the trading post – that we can’t find – sells jewelry, according to your pal Rosa,” Paige said. “I’m guessing that’s where Sylvia got her pin, the one with the three silver doves. But I don’t understand how Whitehorse got Ana’s designs.” She dipped a chip tentatively into the salsa and tested it out. “Unless he’s been stealing them. Which is a disappointing theory, since I sort of like the old character.”
“He hasn’t been….”
“Then again, maybe he got desperate,” Paige continued, talking over Miguel to keep her momentum going. “You said he has a gambling problem. People with gambling problems do things they might not do otherwise.” She wrapped her hands around the burrito and paused, as if she might find the answer by contemplating the generously stuffed tortilla. Shrugging her shoulders, she gave in and took a bite.
“He hasn’t been stealing them,” Miguel said.
“Miguel, don’t be too upset. Sometimes people resort to desperate measures when they’re in trouble. It sounds like that’s what happened to Whitehorse.”
“Yes and no,” Miguel said, pushing his food aside. “Yes, he got into trouble. But, no, he hasn’t….”
“Actually, that makes sense, then.” Paige stood up and paced, stabbing a chip in the air like a teacher pointing at a blackboard. She stopped and turned to Miguel, eyes wide. “That must be who broke into the spa that night last week.”
“What are you talking about?” Miguel said, frowning as Paige sat back down.
“You wondered how I knew about breaking into the back of the spa? The first night I was at Agua Encantada, I’m sure I saw a figure lurking around the spa building. And I heard someone inside, too.”
“Paige…did you tell anyone?”
“I told Ana, but she said nothing inside the spa had been disturbed,” Paige said. “Of course, the wind was fierce that night, which could have caused the moving shadows and the sounds. And a window had come unlatched behind the building.”
“Which you just happened to know because you climbed the fence?”
“Uh, yeah,” Paige admitted.
“Do you find trouble everywhere you travel?”
“You could say that.” Paige dipped another chip in salsa, this time with more confidence. “But what were you trying to tell me a minute ago?”
Miguel stalled, and Paige wondered what was so hard for him to spit out.
“Whitehorse wasn’t stealing the jewelry,” Miguel said, finally. “He got it from me.”
“You were stealing it? Your own sister’s jewelry?” Paige practically choked on the bite of burrito she’d just taken.
“No, of course I wasn’t stealing it!” Miguel said. “Do you really think I would do that?”
Paige looked at him, expressionless. “Miguel, I met you a little over a week ago. I can’t be sure what you might or might not do. But you just told me Whitehorse got the jewelry from you, so what am I supposed to think?”
“I thought I was helping sell it,” Miguel said. “Whitehorse said he knew some wealthy customers in Santa Fe who wanted the jewelry and were willing to pay more than Ana usually asked for it. So I gave him some
pieces to show them. I wanted to surprise her with a great sale. He was supposed to bring me the money the next day.”
“But he didn’t, did he?” Paige said. “And that’s why there was all that tension between you two in the Coyote that day I met Whitehorse. And on the llama trek, too. So…you’re the one who broke into the spa that night? To get the jewelry?”
“Yes and no.” This time Miguel got up to pace. “I did go into the spa that night, which was stupid of me. I was going to take a few more pieces, thinking Whitehorse might give me the money for all of it. But when I got inside I changed my mind. I did not take anything. I left everything exactly as I found it.”
“That’s why Ana said nothing was disturbed during the break-in,” Paige said.
“Paige, it was not a ‘break-in,’ you know,” Miguel pointed out. “Stop calling it that. I do have keys to all the buildings on the property.”
“So when did you give him the first set of jewelry you mentioned?”
“A few weeks ago. Why?”
“Because I think I know what Whitehorse is doing. He’s having your sister’s jewelry duplicated, to sell at his trading post. A few weeks wouldn’t be enough time for him to have reproductions made.” Paige sipped her hot chocolate and thought it through. “Sylvia only paid eighteen dollars for her pin, which was a copy of one of Ana’s designs that sells for seventy, eighty dollars, right?”
“That sounds right,” Miguel said. “Whitehorse is supposed to be paying me close to six hundred dollars for the eight designs I gave him.”
“He’s probably getting them manufactured overseas, then, cheap labor,” Paige said. “That takes time. Months, at least. So he must have gotten them from someone else. Who else has access to Ana’s jewelry?”
“Lots of people. Agua Encantada is not exactly a high security area. And her jewelry is in the gift shop and Luz’s store.”
“And some under the counter at the spa,” Paige added. “She checked her back stock when I asked her if anything was missing.”
“Yes. So anyone could have taken it,” Miguel said, stuffing the remnants of their dinner into the bag it came in. “But I know Marisol would not do that, or Luz. No one else works in the lobby or office, and the display case is locked when they are away.”
“What about the massage therapist? She told me she works in Luz’s shop in the mornings.”
“Lena? Maybe,” Miguel answered. “I do not know much about her. She only came to Tres Palomas a few months ago.”
“And she only works a couple hours each morning?” Paige asked. “Aside from now and then in the spa?”
“Yes, only long enough for Luz to serve breakfast to the resort guests.” Miguel frowned, realizing what Paige was already thinking.
“I think we have Whitehorse’s other jewelry source,” Paige said. She finished her hot chocolate, stood up, held out the mug to Miguel and yawned. It felt like she’d packed three days into one.
“I can take a hint,” Miguel said, moving to the door. “Besides, all those ducks are making me a little crazy. I will see you in the morning, early, so we can find the trading post before it opens.”
Paige closed and locked the door. She laughed when she heard Miguel quack softly as he walked away. Turning off the lights, she slipped into bed, but a thought nagged at her. Someone was going through a lot of hassle just to supply a trading post with knock-offs of Ana’s jewelry designs. There had to be more to the story. As Paige drifted off to sleep, she had a feeling the next day would hold some answers.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The morning air was still crisp when Miguel knocked on Paige’s door the next day. When she didn’t answer, he knocked again, a little harder this time. Still no answer. Just as he started to worry, he heard her voice calling him from a distance. Turning, he watched her half-jogging, half-limping toward him from across the parking lot.
“You run?” Miguel asked, his expression a cross between curious and amused.
“Not really,” Paige managed, gulping for air as she approached. “In fact, not at all,” she admitted as she bent down and placed both hands on her knees.
Miguel crossed his arms and laughed as he waited for her to catch her breath.
“How far do you think you ran?”
“Maybe a quarter of a mile.” Paige huffed and puffed.
“Each way?” Miguel pushed on, delighted. He knew her answer.
“No, I’d say that was round trip. And…maybe not that far.”
“I am not sure I would call that running,” Miguel said. “At least I would not suggest you sign up for any marathons in the near future.”
“I woke up early.” Paige straightened and stretched one arm over her head, then the other. “I figured it would help me think.” She placed her hands on her waist and twisted from side to side, her voice becoming louder and softer as she switched directions.
“Well, did it?”
“Actually, yes,” Paige said, sounding surprised herself. “I kept thinking last night that we were missing something and now I’m sure of it. I’ll get changed and tell you on the way to Whitehorse’s trading post.”
“But you’re already dressed.”
“This is what I wore yesterday. I brought a change of clothes. Meet me at your truck. And let’s find some food on our way.”
“Food?” Miguel called after her. “You are hungry after that burrito last night?”
“I worked up an appetite running,” Paige said as she disappeared into her room.
Thirty minutes later, the two sat across from each other, picking at overcooked scrambled eggs and burnt toast.
“This isn’t the New Mexico food I’ve grown to love during this trip, that’s for sure,” Paige said. “I wouldn’t mind a plate of Luz’s huevos rancheros about now.” She speared a dried out orange slice from the side of the plate and then put it down. “What happened to that burrito place from last night?”
“Not open for breakfast. You wanted food? Truck stop is what you got.”
“Fine,” Paige said, setting her fork down. “I’m not hungry anyway. Finish your so-called omelet and let’s get out of here. I want to find that trading post, see if Abuela’s there and then get back to Tres Palomas.”
“What was it you were thinking about earlier, while you were running?”
“Just something that was bothering me last night after we talked. You think this is about Whitehorse copying Ana’s jewelry and selling the copies as authentic, right?”
“It is not a bad theory, Paige,” Miguel said, finishing his omelet and pushing the plate away. “A lot of money is made by passing fake Native American artwork off as authentic.”
“No question about that,” Paige agreed. “I did some research after Sylvia showed up wearing the pin with Ana’s three silver doves design. The annual dollar revenue from sales of Native American art is estimated to be close to a billion dollars. That includes fakes, which are illegal. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 established that. It’s a truth-in-advertising law.”
“Ana is talented and deserves the income for her work, as well as recognition,” Miguel said.
“Of course she does,” Paige said. “It must hurt to know your own sister is being exploited.”
Miguel sighed. “I was an idiot to trust Whitehorse with those pieces. He was never planning to sell them to wealthy customers in Santa Fe.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Miguel,” Paige said. She reached across the table to touch his hand, then hesitated and pulled back. “You were trying to help Ana. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I just find it hard to believe Whitehorse used me like that,” Miguel continued. “I have known him since I was a child.”
“Maybe he didn’t do it on purpose,” Paige said, leaning back against the ragged vinyl of the booth.
“How do you accidentally take someone’s artwork and have it show up mass-produced?” Miguel leaned forward. “He came to me with the suggestion that he could help Ana by ge
tting more for her jewelry than she was getting at the resort or at Luz’s shop.”
“Maybe his gambling problem has gotten worse. Maybe he’s being threatened. He was desperate for money to pay off a debt.”
“With eight pieces of jewelry?”
“Mass-produced, that could turn into a lot more. Think about the billion dollars of yearly sales,” Paige continued. “There’s plenty of motivation there, especially if you have debts hanging over your head. And you said he tried to get more samples from you. Plus, it’s possible Lena supplied him with more. I wonder if the store’s books balance, or if any inventory is missing.”
“Marisol does the books for both the resort and the store,” Miguel said, pulling money out of his wallet and leaving it on the table to pay the bill. “I’ll call her. My cell phone is in the truck. I want to see how Ana is doing, anyway.”
“I’ll leave a tip and meet you outside.” Paige added to what Miguel had left on the table and dug her own cell phone out of her pocket. Not for the first time that morning, she tried Jake’s number, to no avail. Why am I even bothering at this point? Surely he would have returned my calls by now?
Paige crossed the truck stop parking lot and found Miguel pacing next to his truck. One glance at him told her something was wrong.
“What is it? Is Ana OK?”
“Ana is fine, better after resting yesterday and getting some sleep. Luz had the doctor come out to the resort to check on her. She wasn’t hurt physically, just scared.”
“That’s a relief,” Paige said.
“I also asked about the books for the store,” Miguel added. “Marisol said everything has always balanced. Whatever jewelry left the store was purchased and paid for.” Although what Miguel said sounded like good news, he still looked troubled.
“What else, Miguel?” Paige said. “I can tell that’s not all.”
“The police came out to question Ana and to write a report. They searched the spa building, with Ana’s help, so she could identify anything missing. All her jewelry is gone.”
“What?” Paige leaned back against the truck. “What about her sketchpad with all her designs?”
Paige MacKenzie Mysteries Box Set Page 53