Bad Karma (27 page)

“
Thanks. Don’t stress your arm.”

“
I’m supposed to do a set of exercises three times a day, minimum.”

“
You go ahead and squeeze your little ball, but do not stretch out your arm until your stitches heal.”

He frowned at her. “Man, you’re tough.”

“
Be good, Javi.” She kissed him on the cheek.

“
You’re leaving me?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I really don’t want to be here when your mom comes home. I can get Sky to follow me back to drop off your truck.”

“
Keep it. I’m not allowed to drive it yet. Besides, you look really good in it.” He walked her outside and kissed her thoroughly before she climbed back inside his truck and drove away.

As Cassie backed out of the driveway, Selena Rios sat in her car, glaring while she waited to enter her own driveway.

Damn! It seems like everything I do just pisses that woman off.

~*~

Zach had taken Sky to the hospital before her shift that afternoon. He’d been hard at work under the house. It was built high on concrete pilings. He’d installed motion-sensitive security lights in all possible areas of access.

As he folded the aluminum ladder, a Sheriff’s Department vehicle pulled in beside his Jeep with his sister, Darla, at the wheel.

Zach leaned the ladder against one of the concrete pilings supporting his house and emerged into the sunlight.

Rafael Solis got out on the passenger side as Darla slammed her door and stomped over to stand looking up at Zach, her mirrored sunglasses reflecting his face.

He gave her a grin. “Happy to see you, too. What’s going on, sis?”

She made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat. “I’m helping myself to some tea. Want some?”

He grinned as she sprinted up his stairs. “Yeah, I guess. Make yourself right at home.”

Zach clasped hands with Rafael, noting that he, too, looked annoyed. “What’s up, Rafael.”

Rafael shook his head. “Let’s talk upstairs.”

“
Sounds serious.” Zach led the way up to his deck just as Darla brought out a pitcher of tea and three glasses of ice.

“
Sit down, baby brother. It’s truth time.”

Zach sank onto a deck chair and grabbed a glass of tea. His chest felt so tight he wasn’t certain that he could swallow as he raised the glass to his lips.

~*~

Javier saw his mother pull into the driveway just after Cassie had gone. He felt a storm cloud gather in his gut, preparing him for the ensuing battle. As was his nature, he thought he should meet it head on.

Selena looked totally ticked. She emerged on the driver’s side and slammed the door. “Why didn’t you call me? I didn’t know the doctor had released you.”

“
Good afternoon, Mama. I already had a ride.”

“
You know what I mean.” She had groceries with her. He reached for the bags with his good arm.

“
Thank you,
Mijo
.”

He followed her inside and set the bags on the kitchen counter.

She opened the nearest bag, setting the contents out on the countertop. “So, I see you have that little Cassie girl driving around town in your truck.”

Javier drew a breath and ground his back teeth together. “Yes, I do.”

She shoved the milk inside the refrigerator. “And your Aunt Luz called to tell me that your cousin, Nadia told her that this Cassie girl has your credit card and she’s buying nasty underwear.”

A wide grin spread across Javi’s face. “I was hoping she wouldn’t wear any.”

“
Javier! You shouldn’t be associating with a girl like that.”

His chest grew tight. “Mama, you know absolutely nothing about her. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Selena made a hissing noise, sucking in air between her teeth. “It’s just sex! She’s young and pretty and you’re making a fool of yourself over her. She’s not a nice girl.”

“
Trust me. Cassie is the nicest girl I’ve ever known.”

Selena made a scoffing noise. “Javier, I know that you are a man of the world. You’ve been with many women. What can you possibly see in this...this..?”

Javier could feel himself losing it. He gritted his teeth and headed for the door, then turned back to his mother. “Forever. That’s what I see in Cassie.”

Outside, he used his cell phone to call his cousin Jorge. “
Primo
, come pick me up before I kill someone.”

~*~

Darla stuck her sunglasses on top of her head, nesting them atop her cap of dark auburn curls. “Your girlfriend brought a big mess with her when she came down here.”

Zach leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Did you find out who’s stalking her?”

“
We have a suspect,” Rafael said. “The accident Skyler was involved in seems to have been the trigger for the attacks on her person.”

Zach nodded. “That’s what Sky said. She was injured in the accident, but the other woman and her child were killed.”

Rafael’s steady gaze was unsettling to Zach’s already queasy stomach. He hoped their dark expressions didn’t mean that Sky was a fugitive or that there was a warrant out for her.

Darla set her glass down. “We think this latest arson attempt on her sister’s life was a case of mistaken identity. The two of them look close enough alike from a distance and Cassie was driving Skyler’s car.”

“
The woman who died in the accident had a TRO against her husband. It seems they were estranged. She’d filed for a divorce.”

“
What’s a TRO?” Zach asked.

“
Temporary restraining order,” Darla supplied. “It’s a judge’s order to keep someone at a distance. It’s just a piece of paper and won’t stop a determined assailant, but it can give the law some additional teeth if someone violates one.”

Zach frowned, acknowledging his fear. “You mean to tell me that the woman who was killed in the accident had a stalker?”

Darla nodded. “You got it. There were a lot of domestic disturbance calls at her home. She’d moved three times with her son in the months before they died.”

Zach stood up, angrily clenching his fists. “Well, pick him up. Arrest the son of a bitch! Take him off the streets.”

Rafael spread his hands. “The police in Austin and Springhill tried to do that. This man is a ghost. He knows how to disappear.”

Zach ran his fingers through his hair. This was getting worse by the moment. “Are you telling me that he’s here and you can’t find him? Sky’s just a sitting duck?”

Darla went to his side. “Take it easy, Zach. We’ve just started searching for him.”

Rafael’s deep voice echoed Zach’s thoughts. “This is a much smaller area than he’s had to work in before, but with the summer crowds pouring in to the island, it’ll be easier for him to blend in here.”

Zach shook his head. “He could be anyone, a fisherman or boater. He’s hiding in plain sight.

Darla took a folded paper out of her pocket. “We know his name and we know what he looks like from his driver’s license.” She held the paper out to Zach.

He unfolded it, staring at an innocuous face. Luther Franks, age forty-three, was a nondescript-looking man with close-cropped, receding brown hair and brown eyes behind wire rim glasses.

Zach’s pulses kicked like a mule. “How are you going to keep them safe until he’s caught?”

Rafael stood and joined him by the railing of the deck. “I can increase patrols and we’re going to post this photo to all the hotels and motels in the area. Also the places where he might have purchased enough charcoal lighter fluid to have started a fire of this magnitude. Don’t worry, Zach. Someone will have seen him.”

Darla stood on tiptoe to place a kiss on his cheek. “You know that Rafael is great at his job.” She followed Rafael to the stairs then turned around. “Do you want to borrow one of my guns?”

“
You’re the marksman,” Zach said. “Not me.”

She laughed. “That’s right. You’re the lover, not the fighter.”

~*~

So that’s the little sister. She’s taller and slimmer, but I didn’t know. I saw her get out of the Audi and run upstairs.

Luther Franks watched the girl climb out of the red truck and enter The Net. Through the plate glass windows he could see her hug the woman who had been his waitress.

He was glad she wasn’t killed. It would be a sin to kill the innocent.

It had been a sin for Skyler Danforth to kill his innocent wife and son. She had to be punished.

And the fireman, he’d survived his injuries according to the newspaper. Luther was truly remorseful over that. He hadn’t meant for it to happen. It was a message to him.

He’s been haphazard. He had to make sure of his target. It had to be up close and personal. He had to be looking into her eyes when he took her life.

Next time, he’d be more careful. Next time, he’d make sure he killed the right woman...Next time...

~*~

Dinner at the Rios house was more than a little strained.

Alicia went on for some time about her science project. She didn’t seem to notice the complete silence from the other members of the household.

Javier’s mother had cut up his meat for him since his right arm was in a sling. He ate, thinking that it was time for him to make a break. He’d done it before and he could do it again.

Javier’s parents remained silent, as did his teen-aged sister Leticia, who rarely stopped talking for any reason.

Javier rose and picked up his empty plate. “I need to let you all know that I’ll be moving out in a couple of days.”

“
Javier!” Selena pressed both hands to her breast. “There is absolutely no reason for you to move out.”

His father gave him a questioning look.
“
Por
que
?”

Javier put his hand on his father’s shoulder.
“Por que es el tiempo, Papa.”

His father patted his hand and nodded his head.

Selena threw her napkin down and stood up, pointing an accusing finger at Javier. “It’s that girl! She put you up to this!”

He gave Selena a long, solemn look and shook his head. “You’ve been so unfair to Cassie, Mama. She has no idea that I signed a lease on an apartment this afternoon.”

“
You expect me to believe that?” Selena threw herself back into her chair as though weak from her youngest son’s proposed departure. She pressed her hand over her heart as though she was suffering pain in that very spot.

Javier tried to control his temper. He’d been through years of his mother’s dramas. “I told you that I care deeply for her, and yet you continually attack her character and say vicious things about her. It hurts me to see you act this way.”