Sworn to Protect (27 page)

Chapter 51

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:32

Danika realized two things this morning: today she would be released from the hospital and see Sandra, hopefully resolving the tragic mysteries plaguing her life. Both made opening her eyes in a hospital bed a little easier. No more IVs. No more lab-coated technicians drawing blood—and reminding her of Rita’s killer—and no more open-ended gowns. After today, the turmoil would end.

She’d miss Alex’s visits to the hospital, but she wanted to continue seeing him. In him, she saw a strength and an enduring faith that moved her to be a better person, to be more considerate of others, and to try harder. Soon, tonight even, she’d be able to see her sweet Tiana and talk to her via Alex’s computer.

A pair of policemen would be posted inside her home 24-7 until the authorities arrested the shooter. What she honestly wanted to do was get back to work. The doctor said two more weeks before he’d consider it. Two long weeks of boring TV and reading months-old magazines. Maybe she could do paperwork at the station. . . .

A knock on her door alerted her to Chief Jimenez’s noon visit. He’d been to see her every day since the accident, which had boosted his popularity rating with her. The flowers helped too.

“Come on in. Is my escort ready? I’m so anxious to talk to Sandra and get this mess cleared up.”

One look at Jimenez, and her enthusiasm plummeted. His forehead held the rutted lines of worry.

“What’s wrong?” A hundred scenarios rolled across her mind, and none were optimistic.

“There won’t be an escort to the jail.”

“Why? Did Sandra change her mind?”

He grabbed the back of a chair and pulled it to her bedside. He sat down, his shoulders carrying the weight of what she knew she didn’t want to hear.

She’d shaken hands with disappointment before, and she could do so again. “Has something happened to Jacob?”

“No.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “Bad news, Danika. Sandra Rodriguez is dead.”

Danika’s ears hammered pain. She must have misunderstood. “Sandra’s gone? Was . . . was she killed?”

Jimenez’s eyes narrowed. “Someone got to her inside the jail. A guard found her body in her cell.”

Danika covered her mouth, the news too shocking, the grief overwhelming. Sandra was her friend, her sister.
“We are like sisters in our hearts.”
“Wasn’t she under special protection?”

Jimenez frowned. “I asked the same thing. Looks like you and I weren’t the only ones who believed she was critical to the case.”

Had it been such a short time ago when they stood in the kitchen and laughed over Sandra’s concerns about Danika not needing her? But later on, Danika realized Sandra’s fears that night were about Alex revealing her illegal status. The animosity for her deceit had mixed with pity and compassion for all she’d done for Tiana and Danika.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Toby had been killed. Jacob’s family terrorized. Nadine gone. Someone had tried to kill her.
Now Sandra . . .
Who would be next, Tiana? Was there any way to protect her from an evil being who seemed to know Danika’s every move?

* * *

Jacob wondered why his life continued to be miserable when he’d made his peace with God. How could anything get worse? Yesterday he believed he and Barbara had a fighting chance of putting their marriage and family back together. They had cried and prayed together. Then in the wee hours of the morning, someone had blown up the SUV inside the garage, nearly destroying what he wanted to preserve.

He glanced around the small cell. Reality had numbed him. Who could have set his home on fire and planted his watch? Why had Nadine’s fingerprints been on it? He remembered missing the watch at work and assuming it was on the kitchen counter of his small apartment.

Today he stood before a judge and pleaded not guilty. A snot-nosed public defender fresh out of law school had been assigned as his lawyer. While the kid took notes, Jacob saw he couldn’t spell
arson
. How about spelling
life
?

The light in the day came when he discovered Barbara sitting in the back of the courtroom. She rushed to him when the officer escorted him out.

“I know you didn’t do this.” She sobbed. “I love you, and we’ll find out who is doing these terrible things to our family.”

Jacob blinked away the tears. If he hadn’t been handcuffed, he’d have taken her into his arms. “Pray for me, Barbara. Pray for us and our children. I love you.” As he was led away, he swung back around to find her watching him. “Tell Kaitlyn, Amber, and Jake I love them with all my heart.”

The look in her eyes had kept him from shattering today. Father Cornell had come by the jail later in the afternoon. Together they talked, and he offered to find a lawyer who could represent him better than a kid who mispronounced law terms instead of practicing them.

* * *

Danika’s house did not seem like her own. Oh, the furniture rested in its proper place, and the pictures on the wall were ones she’d selected, and the photos of Tiana smiled back at her. But the quiet had a voice—a voice of loss.

One of the police officers carried her bag of belongings to the kitchen and set it on the table. She followed him. Sandra’s presence was everywhere. She’d loved roosters, and they were on the counter, the windowsill, on top of the refrigerator, and even on salt and pepper shakers by the stove. Danika wanted to hurl them all through the window. Instead, she determined to move them as soon as she had the strength. She opened the door to her garage and remembered her car had been totaled.

Danika turned to the officers, a man in his late forties and a woman in her midthirties. “Would you like some coffee?”

“That sounds wonderful,” the woman said. “My name is Angie, and if you’ll just tell me where things are, I’ll be glad to take over.”

Danika pointed to what Angie needed, then walked into the living room. Coming home had worn her out. Or was it the stress? If only Tiana would come running from her room and beg Danika to play a game. If only the smell of coffee came from Sandra’s handiwork.

She was ready to quit. Leave McAllen. Change her and Tiana’s name and start life all over again. She paused for a moment and let the thought of running sink in. She had a child to think about, a child who deserved to grow up without fear.

“Mrs. Morales, do you drink your coffee with sugar and cream?” The voice came from the other officer. She couldn’t remember his name—
oh yes, Walt.
“Just black, thank you.”

He delivered hers, and the pair took their cups and stood by her exterior doors, one at the front and one at the back. Danika had been reduced to being a prisoner in her home. What had happened to dignity and the ability to grieve in privacy?

“Officers, could I have a word with you, please?”

“Can you speak to us from there? Our shifts have rolled into place.” Walt spoke with authority, reminding her of Jimenez. But she’d started to like the chief.

“I’d like for you to leave my home. I can’t live like this.”

“Pardon me, ma’am, but from what we’ve been told, you might not live if we don’t stay to protect you.”

She trembled, but she must stand her ground. The pain in her abdomen was a reality, but so were her capabilities. “I really would like for you to go. I’ll call the police station and explain to them I don’t need protection.”

“Mrs. Morales,” Angie began, “think about your health. You’ve just been released from the hospital, and there is substantial evidence that someone wants you killed.”

From deep inside, Danika drew up the courage needed to dismiss the officers. “Angie, I’m a crack shot. My life is in danger every minute I’m riding the line for the Border Patrol. I don’t need protection. I need to be alone.”

Chapter 52

Excel in all that you do; bring no stain upon your honor.

Sirach 33:22 (RSV)

One more time, Danika examined the series of events plaguing her life and those she loved. For the past three hours, she’d sat in her living room and rethought every event that had vexed her. Evening shadows had crept across the room like the predators who wanted her dead. She snapped on the light. The notion of being in the dark affected her physically and emotionally, and she dare not enter that abyss. The notebook she’d started in the hospital remained at her fingertips, as though the answers were a mere thought away. She repeated the conversation with Barbara about Jacob and Nadine’s involvement in the fire, and it settled uneasily in the pit of her stomach. She needed to check on things herself—talk to Jacob and search deeper for Nadine.

Whoever was after all of them had grown bolder, and with boldness came a chance of error. They had to be stopped, and she had to be ready to accept the truth. Sandra had evidently known whom to blame, but she’d refused to give the information to anyone but Danika, and now she was gone. Obviously the killer feared her confession. Who had connections with both households besides Sandra?

She considered Jacob and Toby’s common friends, some of whom were Border Patrol agents. No one seemed to fit. Jacob didn’t care for Toby’s teacher friends, and the two men had never accompanied each other to church functions.

Danika’s heart hammered against her chest as realization nearly choked her. There was one person connected to both her and Jacob.

Lucy.

Barbara’s best friend. Sandra’s employer and a woman Sandra despised. But Danika had never learned why Sandra disliked her, and Lucy knew Sandra had been arrested. The possibilities floating through her mind ranged from Lucy’s having discovered Sandra’s illegal entry to Lucy’s having masterminded the plot to destroy the Morales family. But the question was still why. Without motivation, Danika had nothing but a frail supposition.

But what if Lucy was behind all of this? She had access to Jacob’s house, and Barbara shared personal and family matters with her.

Had Toby suspected Lucy?
A chill crept over her. If he had, wouldn’t he have said something to Danika or Jacob—unless he didn’t have proof?

She struggled to stand.
Water.
Danika needed water to quench the dryness in her throat. She walked slowly into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and selected a bottle. Her suspicions were unwarranted. If Toby suspected Lucy, he wouldn’t have kept the information to himself. He cared too much for those who were being abused.

What if he had discovered the truth just before he was killed? What if
that
was the reason he’d been killed? Danika drank deeply of the cold water. Had her thoughts run crazy under the influence of her medication? Still, she wondered if she’d stumbled onto the truth. For a moment she pondered where Toby could have noted what he’d been doing in aiding the illegals. He neither kept a journal nor had a confidant.

For the next several minutes, she dug through his personal items in the bottom of her closet for a clue or a lead. Greeting cards and photographs brought tears to her eyes, but nothing indicated his work with illegals.

Toby’s Bible . . .
There were slips of paper and church bulletins tucked inside. Would he have referenced anything about his possible killer?

She picked up his Bible and eased onto her bed. A prayer for truth left her trembling, as though whatever she learned would shatter her frail belief in Toby’s integrity. One by one she opened the paper inserts in his Bible. A piece of paper had been slipped into the book of John, where Toby had underlined verse thirty-two of the eighth chapter. “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” She opened the folded paper and read:

I find this hard to believe, but I’ve stumbled onto something that disturbs me greatly. Cira slipped and said the name “Lucy” the other day when I was taking her to Alex for her prenatal appointment. The longer I think and pray about it, the more I realize Lucy—Barbara’s best friend—could be the one who is taking advantage of desperate young women who will do anything to get across the border. I’m going to follow her. Find out the truth.

Danika gasped. It was Lucy. Tears flowed and she did nothing to stop them. Dear Toby had searched out the truth, and it appeared that it may have killed him. The happenings over the past several weeks all made sense, and she held in her hands enough suspicion to have Lucy brought in for questioning and her business investigated.

She closed the Bible and walked into the kitchen for more water. All the while her thoughts raced. She snatched up the landline and pressed in Alex’s number in hopes he was available. A horrible car crash had detained him at work.

The phone rang once, twice, three times . . .

“Hey, are you all right? Ed text-messaged me about Sandra.” His voice grounded her to the truth.

“I’m in shock and grieving. I loved Sandra, and like a child, I wanted to believe there had been a mistake about her legal documentation.”

“When I stop by tonight, we’ll talk. You loved her, and she played an important part in your life and Tiana’s.”

Danika appreciated him not mentioning the lies, but instead the good things. “I have an idea who could be behind this.” Her breathless voice caused her to swallow and begin again. “Barbara’s best friend is Sandra’s boss.” Thinking about Sandra in the past tense cut deep. “Or rather, the woman
was
Sandra’s boss. She has access to and knowledge of both households because of the cleaning service.”

“What makes you think she’s our mastermind? Doesn’t she own the largest maid and nanny service in McAllen? And didn’t you tell me that Jacob helped her get started?”

“Yes, he did. But Sandra disliked Lucy. I never knew why. Until a few minutes ago, I assumed it was because of her lack of documentation. Now my mind is spinning with what could be the answer to all of this.”

“Are you thinking she’s the one fronting the money for the women?”

“I’m fairly certain of it. I found a piece of paper in Toby’s Bible in which he states his suspicions about Lucy. He was going to follow her and find out the truth.”

“Is it dated?”

“Oh, how I wish it was. I’m thinking she could have easily gone through Jacob’s backpack for sensor information since she has a key to Jacob and Barbara’s house.”

“Yours too?”

“No. Only Sandra had an extra key. Besides I have nothing here anyone could use.”

“But if Barbara and Lucy are good friends—”

“Barbara talks to her about everything, and Lucy has always been close to Nadine.” She swallowed the emotion threatening to surface again. “I’m thinking she could have ordered Toby’s death—and possibly Sandra’s—or she knows who did.”

“Have you called Ed or the police?”

“Not yet. I wanted to make sure my conclusions made sense to you, and my suspicions weren’t an overreaction to all of this medication.” She closed her eyes, fighting fatigue.

“I don’t think it’s far-fetched at all.”

“Some investigators—and understand that’s not my job description—want to know what motivates a perp, while others try to find the person by following a criminal pattern. But for me, it’s both. I know why people cross the border, and I also know how to follow the signs to track them down. The paths they take are fairly predictable.” She paused. “Yet this is different. Too many variables. But the more I think about it, Lucy Pinion seems like someone the authorities would want to question.”

“If she’s fronting money for undocumented immigrants, then I see the tie-in even to me.” Alex’s tone softened, as though his mind churned with each word. “Lucy’s reputation is impeccable. She gives money to charitable events at the medical center and offers jobs to those who are legally cleared to work. I’ve met her—sociable, caring, a respectable member of our community.”

Danika hesitated. The final conclusion of over two years of wondering who could be behind Toby’s death and the turmoil surrounding her family caused her to shiver. “She advertises as bonded and licensed. When Jacob first hired her, he went through every letter of her paperwork.” Was her heart going to burst from her chest? “If she’s behind all of this, why is she after Jacob and me?”

“Danika, the key is Toby.” Alex’s words were sobering.

She rubbed her arms. “You’re right. If Toby followed her to learn the truth and he’s dead, then Jacob and I are involved by who we are.”

“He pulled women out of her business and not only got them medical care but also encouraged them to run. I never considered Sandra’s former creditor—whoever helped her across the border—to still be involved in her life today.”

The pieces were beginning to fit. “Toby’s interference cut into her profits.”

Alex continued. “It would make the puzzle pieces fit. And it explains why Sandra is dead—why she refused to talk to anyone but you.”

“Why would Lucy be out for revenge against me and Jacob when Toby’s no longer in the picture?”

“I don’t know.”

She rubbed her weary eyes. “If Lucy is the key, then all the questions rolling around in my head have answers—except why now. Whom do we call first, Chief Jimenez or the police?”

“I’ll call Ed and let him make the next move. But Barbara is in a scary position. If we’re right, she could be in danger.”

“Like Nadine.” Her precious niece may very well be dead too.

“Yes, honey.”

“I’ll call Barbara.” Danika stood and began to pace until the pain in her abdomen reminded her of why she was at home.

“Take a breath. The end is near, and it could be today. Thank goodness you have the police there to protect you.”

She’d been very foolish. “I sent them home.”

“Danika, have you lost your mind?” His tone alarmed her. “I’m calling Ed and having him send someone to guard you now.”

“Lucy doesn’t know I’m here because Barbara thinks I’m out of town.”

“Lucy didn’t get to where she’s at because she’s stupid. She wasn’t supposed to find out about Sandra either.”

He was right, and she’d been the stupid one. Anyone could have watched her leave the hospital or arrive home. “I know better, Alex. I’m sorry. I have my assigned weapon in my bedroom.”

“Go get it, and keep it on you.”

Danika disconnected the call. She heard the doorbell but refused to answer it. Again, it sounded like a pipe organ ringing through the house. She crept to the dining room window and with her finger lifted a slat of the blinds. Her breath caught in her throat. Nadine stood on the porch, her small frame looking so much like her mother’s.

Danika’s heart pounded painfully against her chest. How many times had she feared her niece was dead or caught up in drugs and a gang? Relief and anger wove confusion. In one breath she wanted to shake Nadine, and in the next kiss her. Yet there she stood looking every bit like the sweet little girl who used to crawl on Danika’s lap for a story, the sweet little girl who wanted Danika to take her to a movie, to help her convince Barbara that she was old enough to wear mascara.

She had to answer the door. Nadine would not have come to her if she didn’t need help. Talking to her would dispel all of the doubts plaguing Danika about the teen’s involvement in Jacob’s blackmail. Barbara would have her daughter back, and maybe she’d gather information about Lucy.

Danika didn’t need to weigh her decision about opening the door any longer. She’d deal with the police, Jimenez, and Alex later. With a prayer of thanks for Nadine’s safety, she unbolted the door and opened it just enough to talk. Nadine looked healthy but definitely thinner, and she’d always been tiny.

“Nadine, I don’t know what to say. We’ve all been so worried about you.”

The girl’s lips quivered, and she held her hands in front of her. “I’m sorry. I’ve been hiding, afraid to contact my parents because of all the trouble I’d caused.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “The longer I stayed away, the harder it was to go home. And then I read about how Daddy lost his job, and then how he tried to kill Mom, Kaitlyn, Jake, and Amber.”

Compassion swept over Danika. Caution nudged her, but she shoved it away, blaming it on the medication. The teen had come to her for help, and Danika could not deny it. “Your mother and I believe he’s innocent of the explosion and fire. Come in. Let’s talk about this.”

“I was hoping you’d help me. I knew I could depend on you. Can I ask my friend in too? He’s the one who convinced me to come here.”

Danika glanced at a pickup parked a little farther down the street. All she could see was the outline of the truck bed. She couldn’t tell the make or read the license plates in the dark. But Nadine had come to her for help.

“Please, Aunt Danika. I want to make this all right with my family.”

How could she refuse? If Nadine did know what was going on, Danika could learn the truth. “I guess so. I’m not supposed to be letting anyone in the house.”

“Why?”

“It’s not important. Sure, invite him in.”

Nadine motioned to someone in the truck.

A man exited the truck and walked up the driveway. In the shadows, she didn’t recognize him, and Danika didn’t want to turn on the porch light. Nadine introduced them and called him Joe. Danika shoved aside her apprehensions, but she didn’t forget them. This could be an opportunity to help her niece reunite with her family.

Once in the living room, Nadine glanced about. “Where’s Tiana?”

“Out of town visiting with a friend of mine.”

“Sandra too?”

“She’s gone too.” Danika nearly choked on the lie, but she needed to be careful. She studied the man Nadine had introduced as Joe. His eyes held a wild glint in them, and not that of a man who lusted after a young woman. He looked familiar. . . .