Fatal Divide (28 page)

By the time Wells was through with his calls, Dylan and everyone else in the room were in shock. Hector murdered? Wanda in danger? Where had Thurston been, and what had he told Wells? Their curiosity was soon satisfied.

“Thurston was jumped, by a kid he says looks just like you, Dylan, on his way into the hospital earlier. He was cuffed, driven in his own vehicle quite a distance from Sells, and overheard a conversation that solves all but a couple of the puzzles we have left.

“You were right, Dylan, Herman Alvarez was murdered by a cartel enforcer, who is undoubtedly beyond our reach now. Evidently, the people who had Thurston were the same ones who kidnapped the Lopez couple. One of them, a cousin of Jimmy’s, according to what Thurston heard, was sent to finish the job on Hector, and possibly put something into one of his IVs.”

“That must have been the cousin Jimmy mentioned in his phone call,” Dylan said.

“I wouldn’t doubt it. Thurston believes the kid is low-level and has been taking it on himself to make some poor choices, among them kidnapping him. He was apparently coshed and driven back to the hospital, then left in the parking lot where the deputies found him. He’ll be okay.

“I’m having a tox screen run on Hector, just to confirm. The only thing left to do is to find your look-alike, Dylan. He and the crew he’s running with are facing charges of kidnapping, and probably murder. If Hector didn’t die of some poison, it was because of his injuries at their hands. If you folks will excuse me, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Dylan was reeling with lack of sleep and leftover adrenaline. He walked outside with the others, but drew Alex aside for a private word.

“Baby, we never got a chance to talk. I’ve got to work tomorrow, but can I see you tomorrow afternoon?”

“Sure, Dylan. We do need to talk,” she said.

It was the first time he’d heard her voice in hours. She’d been so quiet, during the long evening. Was it Hector’s death that had her so subdued, or something else? If he weren’t about to drop, he’d try to talk with her tonight, but he was going to be lucky to get home without running his pickup... wait, he didn’t have his pickup.

“Uh, baby? I’m sorry to ask, but Thurston brought me here in his car. Can I get a ride home?”

She smiled. After days of nothing but pinched worry on her face, it was like a rainbow after a thunderstorm. His whole body relaxed. His Lexi smiling was one of the most beautiful things in his world.

“Sure,” she said.

SIXTY-TWO

Alex couldn’t remember a time she had done the driving when they were together. It felt awkward, and that annoyed her. She was a competent driver. Heaven knew she did enough of it. The silence was awkward as well, as if they had nothing to say to each other until tomorrow, when everything could change.

“Do you have enough on the Alvarez story for the paper on Wednesday?” Dylan asked. That was a good subject; nothing about their personal lives.

“More than enough,” she answered. “I don’t know where to draw the line, actually. I don’t think I should say anything specific about what happened yesterday or today. Maybe just ‘the investigation is ongoing.’ They’re never going to find the killer, are they?”

“Alvarez’ killer? No, it isn’t likely. They’ll have to note it as an unknown
Los Reyes
cartel member and close the case. They may get to the bottom of Hector’s murder, especially if they find fingerprints on the IV bag.”

“That’s good, but poor Wanda! This is going to change her life. I wish I knew what to do for her.”

“I can think of one thing. Whoever searched her house left it in a mess. Maybe we could go and straighten up some.”

“Shouldn’t we leave it as evidence?”

“We should, if we think it’s a break and enter. But remember, we found a search warrant on the table. I think the sheriffs left it that way.”

“That stinks! Don’t they have to put things back where they found them?”

“No, unfortunately, they don’t. Do you want to do that while we talk tomorrow?”

“Sure.” She actually wanted to look into Dylan’s eyes when she asked some of the hard questions tomorrow, but he was right. It wouldn’t do to let Wanda come home to that mess, after all she’d been through already.

“Dylan?”

“Yeah, baby. What is it?”

“Are you going to be involved in any investigation on the reservation? Are you still in danger?”

“No, baby. But you may be, if you go sniffing around the investigation. You think you can leave it alone? For me, it’s out of my jurisdiction, and out of my league. But I can see how it would be a big story for you. If you do stay involved, please be careful. Don’t go anywhere on the rez alone, okay?”

“I won’t. It is a big story. The one I want to tell is how the O’odham lands got divided up and left them with no say in it. And how that led to the cartels recruiting so many of the young men. That’s a tragic story.”

“Like your interest in unidentified remains. You realize those stories are connected, right?”

“Of course.”

“Do you realize how much danger it could put you in if the cartels got wind of what you were doing?”

“I think so. Don’t you think that’s why Joe took me, and why Antonio tried to kill me?”

“I do, and you’re smart to pick it up. I wish you’d back off, at least until you’re not so accessible.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, you’re talking about moving to Phoenix, aren’t you?”

“Um, that gets into something I wanted to discuss with you tomorrow. Can we hold off on that?”

They were at his house anyway. She pulled across the driveway, since there was no room behind or beside his pickup and the old car she assumed was Ange’s.

“Yeah, I’m beat. Let’s wait.” Dylan leaned over to kiss her. Alex wouldn’t object if he put his arms around her and kissed her like he meant it, but it was just a peck and then his lips were gone before she had a chance to savor it. He got out of the car, and then leaned back in.

“See you over there at four-thirty?”

“That’ll work.”

And then he was gone, leaving her alone with her thoughts to make the short drive home. She’d rather go anywhere else.

SIXTY-THREE

Monday Morning, 7:30 a.m.

Monday’s workday was what Dylan would have called a snafu, if anyone had asked him. The moment he arrived, he was called into his supervisor’s office, where the man reamed him a new one for calling in on Saturday and dumping his shift for a personal day. After that, he demanded an explanation for why the sheriff called and complained that Dylan was still meddling in the case.

However, the moment he opened his mouth to explain, his supervisor went on a rant about why the murder hadn’t been solved yet, and why the sheriff was blocking the park service out of the investigation. It was a good half-hour before Dylan got his say.

Reciting the whole convoluted story and the series of events on Saturday and Sunday, complete with interruptions and answering questions, took another couple of hours. Dylan endured another tirade when he concluded with the opinion that the murder on ORPI lands was never going to be solved.

That Lt. Wells agreed with him was no comfort to his supervisor. After more questioning and tying down details, the meeting finally seemed to be over, but Dylan’s supervisor had one more bombshell.

“This had better be the last of this personal involvement you seem to have with any of the crap that goes down around here. I’m putting a reprimand in your file because you disobeyed a direct order to stay away from this case. One more, and you’re done.”

“But, sir, when I agreed to help my aunt, I had no idea I’d run smack into matters of the investigation. Please reconsider.”

“You should have known. I’d hate to lose you, Chaves. You have a knack for investigation, and you’re a good ranger. But, you’re a trouble magnet. I can’t have you taking time off every time your girlfriend looks like she might be in trouble, and I definitely can’t afford to get crossways with local law enforcement.  My decision stands.”

“Very well, sir. It won’t happen again.” Dylan left feeling both unfairly targeted and resentful. None of the trouble that had found him was his fault, and this was a far cry from the offer of support the same supervisor had given him when Alex was missing. How was he supposed to know what to do if the rules changed with his supervisor’s every whim? Or, more likely, with every phone call the man received.

Even though the rest of the day was uneventful, Dylan was still seething when his shift ended. What would happen once he had his brothers in his own custody? Would one of them getting sick, requiring him to stay home for the day to take him to the doctor, constitute the final straw that got him fired? He definitely needed some help, and he hoped Alex would be the one to provide it. That was his frame of mind when he met her at Wanda’s house that afternoon.

“Dylan, what’s wrong? You look like a thundercloud!” Her greeting added pique to his already sour mood.

“Hi, Alex, I’m glad to see you too. Here, let me help drive away the workday blues for you. A hug and a kiss will do wonders for you.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth parted, driving Dylan’s bad attitude to the back of his mind and making him want to kiss her for real. She reacted to his words, though, and now had her hands on her hips, a frown on her face.

“What’s gotten into you? If you’re going to bite my head off for asking what’s wrong, I’m going home.”

“No Lexi, sorry. Let’s start over, please. I’ve just got some bad work stuff on my mind. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
Even though some of it was her fault.

No, that wasn’t fair. She hadn’t asked to be kidnapped, and she hadn’t asked him to drop everything to find her. He had to get a grip on his thoughts and emotions, before he ended up driving her away.

Dylan stepped closer and put his arms around her. He waited for her to tilt her head back for the kiss, but she stood stiff and rigid in his arms. Okay, this was going to take more fence-mending than he’d realized.

“I got called on the carpet this morning. I’ve received a verbal warning before, and now I’ve got a written one. One more, and they’ll be able to fire me. I’m worried about how to support the boys, that’s all.”

She relaxed a bit and leaned back in his arms to look at him. “I’m sorry, Dylan. I didn’t know. What are you going to do?”

“Not sure yet.” He kissed her briefly, and then allowed her to step back. She hadn’t completely forgiven him, it seemed, but at least they were having a civil conversation. “Where do you think we should start on this mess?”

“Let’s walk through, see what needs to be done, and then divvy up the work. We can talk afterward.”

It wasn’t what Dylan had envisioned. He’d been looking forward to working with her side-by-side; but he couldn’t afford to antagonize her any further. “Okay.”

In the end, Alex took the bedroom and kitchen, while Dylan straightened up the living room and office, which also seemed to be the spare bedroom. They each took one bathroom. Except for washing sheets and towels, and remaking the beds, it was all done within an hour.

Most of the damage was superficial and just needed some straightening, although it looked like a tornado hit the place. When they were done, they met in the living room and both glanced around.

“It looks normal, now,” she said. “Of course, I’ve never been back in the bedrooms before, so I hope everything’s in the right place.”

“I’ll let Wanda know what happened, and that we’ve cleaned it up the best we can, before she sees it.”

“Are you going to pick her up from Sells and bring her home? I guess her car’s gone, right?”

“It is for now. Wells is going to try to find that compound. I wish we’d thought to have Jimmy drive her car back to town. If it was there, I mean. I didn’t look around much, to tell the truth.”

They fell silent, neither wanting to disturb their fragile state of cooperation. They were sitting side-by-side on Wanda’s sofa, but not touching. After a few minutes, it was intolerable for Dylan. He inched closer to Alex and put his arm around her, gratified to feel her sink into his side.

They sat that way for a few moments, until Dylan tipped Alex’s face toward his and claimed her lips. When she responded by parting her lips, he groaned and let his hand slip around to hold the back of her head, his fingers entwined in her hair. Her eyes were open, searching his, as he deepened the kiss. Slowly they drifted shut and she relaxed, surrendering to the growing passion of his kiss.

Before long, Dylan’s urgency had nudged her onto her back, her arms clutching him. Dylan pressed against her, his lips drifting from her mouth to her neck and nuzzling ever downward.

“Dylan,” she gasped, when he moved his hand under her shirt to slip the bra down for access to her heated skin.

His brain was buzzing. He’d never wanted her more. He didn’t answer, only mouthed the nipple, freed from her bra, through her thin t-shirt.