Sworn to Protect (9 page)

Chapter 14

The Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their suffering.

Isaiah 49:13

Danika always spent the last two hours of her ten-hour shifts informing the agent taking over her watch of any leads, then driving back to the station to complete paperwork. Friday afternoon was no exception. As she labored over the report citing the half-dozen illegals discovered this morning, her thoughts repeated her conversation with Barbara earlier in the day. Her dear sister-in-law shared the agony of a runaway daughter and a husband who had intense emotional problems. Counseling would help them all and possibly save their marriage.

But Nadine’s whereabouts scared Danika the most. A pretty teen who had chosen drugs to help her cope with life and disappeared so cleverly that the police hadn’t been able to find her was nothing short of a tragedy.

Conscious of someone standing over her, she turned her attention to Chief Patrol Agent Edwardo Jimenez.

“I’d like to see you in my office before you leave, Morales,” he said.

“Yes, sir.” For sure this was about Jacob, and she dreaded it.

After she finished her daily report, Danika made her way to Jimenez’s office. She could count on one hand how many times she’d been in his office, and none of them were ever good. He had an impressive reputation, starting with his record in the Marines as a crack shot.

She steadied herself. The last time she sat in this office was when he told her about agents finding Toby’s body out in a field close to checkpoint 281. She stood in Chief Jimenez’s doorway.

“Come on in and shut the door.” He had one hand on an open file. “I have a few questions.”

She eased into a chair. How she hated for Jacob to be involved in any more trouble. “What is this about?”

“Your husband.”

Startled, Danika held her breath. If Toby’s killer had been found, wouldn’t that have come from the police? “What about him?”

“Two years ago you stated you were unaware of his activist involvement until the morning of his death.”

“Yes, sir.” The question made no sense. She’d been through this with him before.

“Exactly what happened the morning of your husband’s death?”

A trickle of apprehension dripped into her veins. “I don’t understand. It’s all in my file.”

“I’d like for you to tell me again.”

Did he have any idea how it hurt to recall that day? And for what purpose? A hammering against her temples blurred her vision. “Why?”

He sat back in his chair and studied her face. She despised the emotionless look he gave her, as though she’d done something wrong. “We have strong reason to believe a rogue agent is at this station.”

“Surely you don’t suspect me?” Anger added to the pounding in her head.

“I don’t, but I need this information again.”

“Who else are you talking to?”

“I have a list. Every agent in this sector is under investigation. Someone is releasing sensor locations.”

Danika considered refusing. After all, she had her rights, and the past was documented in her records. But if she cooperated, then he’d have no reason to suspect her. The drug cartels would pay well to have that information.

Okay, she’d dredge up every painful memory. “On the morning of his . . . death, I was running late in getting our toddler to day care. Halfway there, I realized I’d forgotten the diaper bag. I went back to the house, opened the garage door, and saw Toby arranging cases of water in the trunk of his car. When I got out to retrieve the diaper bag, I saw he also had small first aid kits and nonperishable food stacked near the car. I asked him what was going on. Honestly, I thought he might be involved in a summer school project at the high school. He taught there, you know. But he finally told me he planned to deliver the stuff to a safe house for illegals.”

She paused as the betrayal against all she believed in washed over her again. She could remember the scene as if it had happened yesterday . . . the white T-shirt he wore with their church’s softball team logo on it . . . the way his baseball cap sat on the left side of his head . . . the stifling heat in the garage . . .

“Give yourself a moment,” Jimenez said. “I’ll wait.”

She nodded and let the flood of memories rush past her heart.

“I don’t believe this. You can’t help the illegals,” she said. “What are you thinking? I put my life on the line every day to enforce our borders, and you’re bringing water and supplies to the illegals? How many of those people are guides and drug smugglers?”

He sighed and pushed his cap back on his head. “Honey, I didn’t want you to find out this way. I’ve been trying to figure out how to talk to you about what I’m doing. I don’t see it quite the same way you do.”

“What you’re doing? As in, you’ve done this before?” Her chest felt as though someone had clamped a weight on her.

“I’ve helped many people over the past year. It’s not a decision I made lightly. It took lots of prayer.” Toby reached out to hold her, but she stepped back. “God tells us to have compassion on the poor. All they want is a chance to provide for their families.”

“There are legal channels to allow them to enter the U.S.”

“Danika, you know as well as I do that many of the immigrants we’re dealing with here will never qualify for a visa. And even if they do, it takes years. The Mexican government is killing its own people.”

“God also tells us to obey the law. And it’s my job to enforce it.”

The diaper bag.
She’d come for the diaper bag. Brushing past this man she was no longer sure she knew, let alone shared a life with, she opened the door to the kitchen and snatched the familiar pink and green bag with
Tiana
embroidered on it. The news was worse than if she’d learned Toby had been unfaithful. In a sense, he had been. He’d betrayed her and the Border Patrol.

Danika slammed the door behind her. “When God gave you the green light to break the law, did He also say it was okay to deceive your wife?”

“Danika, let’s talk about this.”

His patronizing attitude was further fuel on the fire. She opened the car door and glanced back at Tiana, for once grateful her precious baby was deaf and couldn’t hear the angry words passing between her parents. “There’s nothing to talk about! You’ve gone against everything I believe in!”

“Don’t you think I’ve thought about that? Let me explain.”

“No! It’s too late for that. I’ve watched agents get shot down while chasing drug dealers. I can’t believe my own husband has been helping them. Chew on this, Toby: You make a choice. It’s either Tiana and me . . . or your little crusade.”

She backed the car out of the driveway, leaving him standing in front of his open trunk.

“That was the last time I saw Toby alive.” She swallowed her tears. She was a professional, not a weepy widow. “That’s it.”

“And you had no idea of his views on immigration until then.”

“No, sir. I assumed they were the same as mine.”

“And you still expect me to believe that your husband could have been so involved in immigration activism without your knowing anything about it?”

Danika stiffened. “It’s the truth. Look at my record, sir. It’s impeccable. I’ve applied for a supervisor position because I want to help other agents work the border. Give me one incident indicating I’m not dedicated to the policies of the Border Patrol.”

Jimenez slowly nodded. “All right, Agent Morales. You made your point. Thanks for repeating your story and not blowing up.”

“One Morales with a temper problem is enough.” She said it before thinking.

“Are you insinuating Jacob and Toby worked together?”

Her eyes widened. “Absolutely not. Jacob felt just as betrayed as I did after we found out what Toby was doing behind our backs.”

“Something is not right about your husband’s death—”

“
Murder.
Tell it like it is. It’s never been solved, and no one knows why his body was dumped a mile from the road.”

He folded his hands over her file. “I’ll let you know if I have any more questions.”

Maybe she’d answer them, and maybe she wouldn’t.

* * *

Alex walked out of Rita’s room. He’d discharge her in the morning, which meant she’d soon be on her way back to Mexico. After much persuasion, the young woman agreed to talk to the Border Patrol about who had raped and beaten her. With the name Rita had given him, hopefully charges could be filed. Unless the assailant had already been processed and sent back home.

Glancing at the 6:10 reading on his watch, Alex took a chance that Ed would still be at the McAllen station. He stepped into his office and closed the door.

Ed answered on the second ring. “Recognized your number.” His voice spoke of weariness.

“Long day?”

“Not until about forty-five minutes ago.” Ed blew out a sigh, and Alex heard his chair squeak.

“I won’t take up much of your time. The young woman brought into the hospital last week?”

“Abuse?”

“Yes. I’m discharging her in the morning. She had internal injuries and resulting surgery, but she’s well enough to be transported back across the border.”

“I remember Agent Morales brought her in. But another agent took over once I realized her name was at the top of the list as a suspected rogue.”

“Danika?” Shock rippled through Alex. “Surely you don’t suspect her.”

“Not really, but it’s possible.”

Irritation replaced Alex’s surprise. He’d been wrong about a woman before, but his heart told him Danika Morales was trustworthy. “I barely know her, but from all outward appearances, she seems dedicated to the Border Patrol and the agents.”

“I think so too. Just contact me if anything unusual occurs.”

Toby had never indicated that Danika agreed with his immigration views. “The girl asked to speak to Agent Morales.”

Ed cleared his throat. “I’ll have Morales pick her up in the morning. Let me know if you see or hear anything unusual about the agent, who she talks to and the like.”

“I suppose.”

“By the way, did your patient ever talk about who abused her?”

“She said it was the guide.”

Ed swore. “Goes right with my day.”

Alex sympathized with the burden of a heavy workload. “Has he already been released?”

“Worse. He’s underage. First offense.”

This time Alex wanted to swear. Instead, he swallowed his curses and dug for more information. “Nothing you can do?”

“I’ll add the charges to his data and hope he’s picked up again.”

Furious by the news, Alex snapped his pencil in two. “I’m heading out of here in a few minutes. Want to meet for dinner?”

“Are you sure you want me for company?”

“I asked, didn’t I?”

“The wife and kids are out of town visiting her mother. I’d planned to go home to the dog and TV, but I’d take a steak.”

Whose mood would be worse? “Our favorite spot?”

“I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

Alex dropped his cell into his jean pocket. Whatever was bothering Ed must have been a doozy. Normally he left work problems at the station, and even in their accountability times, Ed kept his emotions intact. Tonight Alex would encourage him to talk. The man carried twenty extra pounds in the middle—with all his stress, not a good recipe for health.

He lingered for a moment on the prospect of seeing Danika in the morning. He’d spend all night thinking up something clever to say, then forget it the moment she strolled into the hospital. Ah, those women in uniform.

* * *

Danika’s patience had stretched to the snapping point. She had nearly given up trying to figure out what had happened to put Tiana in such a foul mood. Her daughter’s behavior reminded Danika of what the preschool teachers had reported last spring—uncontrollable anger. Tiana had refused dinner and thrown toys, and now she balked at her bath.

“What’s wrong?” Danika signed.

“Why do Harper and Asher have a daddy and I don’t?” Tiana wore her disappointment on her face and in her fingers.

“We saw them at the grocery with their dad,” Sandra said, standing in the bathroom doorway. “She’s been like this ever since.” She patted Danika on the shoulder and left mother and daughter alone.

This was not the day to discuss Tiana’s lack of a father, but Danika had no choice. Her daughter had never asked about Toby before, and Danika had thought that when the day ever came, she would somehow find the appropriate words. Now she wasn’t so sure.

“Your daddy is in heaven with Jesus.”

“Why?”

The question Danika had been pondering for the past two years. She turned the faucet to warm and added more water while she formed her words. “I don’t know. I wish I did. Sometimes Mommy gets sad and misses Daddy too. But when I feel this way, I start to remember all the wonderful things about him that made me happy. Then I feel better.”

Tiana stuck out her lower lip and began to sign. “Doesn’t Jesus know I need my daddy?”

Danika reached into the warm bathwater and gathered up the little girl and pulled her into her arms. Wrapped in a towel, Tiana sat in her lap while Danika signed. “Jesus knows you miss your daddy, but he won’t be back. He can’t come back to us after going to live in heaven. We can only do what Daddy would want for us to do, and that is to be happy.”

Tiana began to sob. “Can we go there?”

Danika kissed her forehead. “That’s for Jesus to decide. Until then we do the best we can to make sure Daddy is proud of us. But it’s okay for us to cry when we miss Daddy because we only cry for those we love.”