The Lost Ones (32 page)

“Was my momma there?” Mara asked. “At that farm with the children?”

Lillie sat down, and Quinn hung back again, lightly closing the door, standing and watching Lillie take the lead. She pushed a Coca-Cola across to Mara, dressed in that XL orange jumpsuit and picking at her cuticles, nervous, but a little wild-eyed, too. She seemed to Quinn like someone just waking up from a dream, everything still a little fuzzy and out of focus.

“We found some evidence that she and Ramón had been there,” Lillie said. “A woman we arrested said they’d left a few hours before to go shopping.”

“That’s my momma,” Mara said, nibbling on a cuticle. “Loves to shop.”

“They hadn’t left much in the house,” Lillie said. “There wasn’t formula for the babies, and none of the children had been changed in some time. They had sores.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry, Mara?” Quinn asked. He had his arms crossed, leaning against the wall in shadow. “Wasn’t your fault.”

“My momma isn’t that bad,” Mara said. “She was doing the best she can. She has a thyroid disorder that she got from my mee-maw. Reason she got so big. Everything she’s done has been out of the love she has for the kids.”

Quinn looked to Lillie, Lillie not taking her eyes off the girl.

“Mara, she threatened you,” Lillie said. “You don’t need to protect her. We need you to make things right.”

“She’s scared,” Mara said. “Don’t you bet? Don’t you bet she’s scared out there with y’all chasing her? How come no kids got shot at that farm? Y’all can’t shoot guns around kids.”

“We’re chasing her because she killed a child,” Quinn said. “What are you trying to do?”

“What will happen to them?” Mara said. “If you catch them?”

“You said you’d help,” Quinn said. “I thought that was pretty stand-up.”

Lillie looked up to Quinn, telling him to back off, and then back to Mara. “What about Gabriela?” she said. “Don’t you care what happened to her?”

Mara was silent, slack-shouldered and chewing on a nail. She hadn’t touched her bottle of Coke. She slumped in her chair, looking deflated.

“Mara?” Lillie asked.

The room stood still and very quiet, only the steady tapping of the keyboard, Mary Alice at work, from down the hall. Quinn rolled his shoulders, still standing back, spotting an old calendar for the Bank of Jericho on the wall. A quail hunt with pointers, men with guns walking through the grass. His uncle’s shaky scrawl noting certain trial dates and events back from five years ago. The paper had curled yellow from sun and tobacco smoke.

“What happened that day, Mara?” Lillie asked. “I need you to explain.”

Mara didn’t speak for nearly a minute. Her large eyes finally lifted, looking at Quinn, not Lillie, and saying, “It’s not like you think.”

“What’s that?” Quinn asked.

“Momma’s not bad, you know. She was trying to help all those children. That’s what she was trying to do.”

“Go ahead,” Lillie said. “Tell us.”

DONNIE TOOK A RIGHT
into the Burger King parking lot and killed the engine. He leaned back into the driver’s seat and turned to Luz. He hadn’t slept in a long while and he was sick of Luz speaking in code, toying with him. The ashtray in his truck was overloaded with spent butts, Mountain Dew cans at his feet. He felt like he’d been on full tilt for days now. Luz kept on staring out the passenger window, not facing Donnie, not speaking or making a move.

“Luz? You owe me a story.”

“Really?” Luz said. “What about Alejandro?”

“What about him?”

“We saved you.”

“OK,” Donnie said, those burgers smelling pretty good. “I’ll give you that. But that’s where things get a little fuzzy.”

Luz shook her head and stared at the window. Donnie could see the smoke coming from the top of the burger joint. “Holy hell, I’m hungry. Can I get you something?”

“We can talk later.”

“Nope.” Donnie shook his head. “Right now. If you want me to make that call, you and me gonna have to have a come-to-Jesus.”

Luz turned to him and stared, unsure just what he was talking about. She studied his face, waiting.

“A come-to-Jesus?” Donnie asked. “If you’re gonna get me killed or in prison, I’d like to know what team I’m playing for.”

He leaned in and put his hand on her knee, smelling the sweetness of her soap and the shampoo in her black hair, and said as softly as he could, “I’m walking inside to get me a Whopper and fries with a chocolate milk shake. When I come out, tell me your deal in all this. You want something?”

Donnie kissed her cheek. She raised her eyes at him and nodded. He smiled back and snatched the keys from the ignition.

“Just in case you ain’t in the talkin’ mood,” Donnie said. He grinned and walked inside.

When he came back, Luz’s eyes were closed, using a jeans jacket for a pillow. She turned, waking, as she watched him unwrap that Whopper and squeeze out some ketchup for the fries. He hadn’t said a word and started to eat as Luz said, “Have you ever heard of a place called Cherán?”

Donnie’s mouth was full. He shook his head and listened.

“WHAT WAS SHE TRYING TO DO?”
Lillie asked. “What happened to that child?”

“It’s not like you think,” Mara said.

Quinn moved from the wall and sat down at the table, not looking at Lillie, knowing he’d only find a dirty look. He bowed his head and looked down at his hands, not speaking, trying to let some silence work on the girl.

“I don’t want him here,” Mara said. “He hates me. I can see it on him.”

“He’s the sheriff,” Lillie said. “He doesn’t hate you.”

“Well, I don’t like him.”

“I can leave,” Quinn said.

“What you say to me goes to him,” Lillie said. “You want to tell me what’s going on with you? Did your momma send you another message? Is that what’s wrong?”

Mara dropped her head into her hands. Quinn figured it was some act of contemplation.

“What will you do to my momma?”

“We won’t do anything,” Lillie said. “It’s up to the courts.”

“Will they kill her?”

“Nope,” Lillie said. “She’ll go to jail. The way she kept those children and those animals was a sickness. You don’t take anger out on a toddler, Mara.”

“I told you she had the thyroid. She couldn’t go nowhere without people laughing at her.”

“Doesn’t excuse what she did,” Quinn said. “She killed that little girl.”

“That’s a lie,” Mara said as her face grew red, grinding her hands into her temples. “That’s a damn lie.”

“How do you figure?” Lillie asked in a calm, easy voice. “What happened?”

“Please don’t kill her,” Mara said. “I heard y’all shot six men. If she’d been there, you would have shot her, too.”

“Does she carry a gun?” Quinn asked.

“Quinn,” Lillie said.

Quinn stood up and turned for the door. He was tired of the cramped room, tired of Lillie getting on his ass, and of whatever Mara was planning. He said, “I’m tired of this shit.”

“I killed that baby,” Mara said. “Jesus, Lord help me. Jesus, Lord help me.”

Quinn stopped and turned.

“I don’t believe you,” Lillie said. “Did your mother threaten you again? This won’t help her. It just makes things harder for you.”

“I killed Gabriela.”

“No, you didn’t,” Lillie said. “Your mother has a sickness.”

“We tried to sauce her,” Mara said, wiping her face. “She was crying and crying. I poured Tabasco down her throat. Screaming. I never thought no kid could sound like that. I shook her real good. But she wouldn’t be quiet. I couldn’t stand it. Holy Lord. You don’t know how it makes you crazy. Quit hunting my momma. Leave her alone. I killed that baby. I threw her. She hit a table. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it.”

Lillie dropped her head. Quinn watched Mara cry for a long moment.

“You sure this is what you want?” Lillie asked. “Is this your confession?”

Quinn tilted his head and scratched his neck. He looked to Lillie. Lillie let out a long breath and looked up at the ceiling. Mara stared at them both and nodded.

“Deputy Virgil, you want to call up her attorney and get the D.A. down here from Oxford?”

Quinn walked out of the room, and Lillie followed. He closed the door. Mara was crying as she did the first night they found her.

“Jesus Christ,” Lillie said. “You believe it?”

“I hate to say it,” Quinn said, “but I sure do.”

DONNIE SWALLOWED.
“Thought you said you were from Saragosa, Texas?”

“My mother and father were from Mexico,” Luz said. “Nuevo Laredo. They moved to Texas before I was born, and as I’ve told you, my father was a narco in El Paso. My mother and I lived away from him so we’d be safe. When I would visit my father, there was a woman who cared for me. She was from Cherán. She became my second mother.”

“OK,” Donnie said. “Sure you don’t at least want some fries?”

“I am not a narco,” she said. “I am not like my father.”

“Sure, baby.”

“You speak more than you listen.”

“You know, my daddy always says the same thing,” Donnie said.

“They killed her and her husband,” Luz said. “The narcos who work for Tony shot them and burned their bodies. They were found by the spring in Cherán to send a message to all the informers and people fighting them there. The entire town had been destroyed. All of it had been so beautiful, up in the mountains with thick forests. The narcos came and stole the land, logged everything.”

“Was it their land got logged?” Donnie asked.

“My friends had tried to protect what was left,” Luz said, shaking her head. “The townspeople stood guard in the woods, checking every truck that would try to enter or leave. The loggers worked for the narcos. Los Zetas. They killed my friends. You see? I have done things in the last two years that make me hate myself and grow sick of everything I touch.”

“What the hell are you thinking?” Donnie said. “We’re all gonna get killed. For what? Some fucking trees?”

“I do this out of respect for my friends, for everything they tried to accomplish. That boy with me is their son. Luis and Javier had family in Cherán. Vincente, too, which is why Alejandro killed him. If we can get these guns to the village… You see? This is something. This is something for us.”

“And y’all had planned on double-crossing these bastards the whole time?” Donnie shook his head. He drank some milk shake. “Just how long till Tony the Tiger shits a golden turd and comes looking for Alejandro? And his guns?”

“Soon.”

“Terrific.” Donnie wadded up the burger wrapper and tossed it into the bag. “You know, this is some shit to spring on a man without something to drink. How about I find a liquor store, and we head back to that motel?”

“And then what?” Luz said. “They will know Alejandro is dead. They will come for us. They know who got him the guns and believe you told the police. They will blame all of us.”

“Son of a bitch.” Donnie grinned and pulled out into traffic. “Wait until I tell my daddy what I’ve gotten myself into. He’ll never believe it.”

42

BOTH MEN WORE NAVY SUITS, REDDISH TIES, AND SCUFFED-UP DRESS
shoes. Dinah took a lot of care to address Quinn as Sheriff Colson and the men as Special Agents Willis and Caruthers. Willis was black and Caruthers was white. They both smiled in a good-natured way as Quinn shook their hands and asked them to take a seat. They didn’t want coffee. Yes, it was their first time in Tibbehah County. No, they weren’t from Mississippi but liked being assigned to the Oxford office. Dinah seemed pleased with the way things were going, waved to Lillie when she passed by the open door, and took a seat with the other agents. They’d all driven down from Oxford that morning.

“I guess y’all want to know all about Donnie Varner,” Quinn said.

Willis was light-skinned and a little thick in the neck. He grinned at Quinn and nodded. “Yeah, I guess we would.”

Caruthers nodded, too. He was short and bulky and wore a crew cut. He had asked for a paper cup to spit some Skoal while they talked. Quinn figured him for Army at one time, but probably long ago. Both men were in their late forties.

“I don’t know how he got those guns,” Quinn said. “He’s always been pretty smart and resourceful. You make the right friends, and things like that can be done. I guess y’all know that.”

“You know how he fell in with the Mexicans?” Caruthers asked.

“I was talking with Agent Brand about that the other day.” Quinn smiled to Dinah, hoping she’d appreciate his professionalism. “We were buddies a long time back. I hadn’t seen him for years until he got home this last time. That’s when I saw him with this woman Laura Zuniga, the one who goes by Luz.”

Dinah nodded, knees together, hands in her lap. She looked uneasy, restless. Quinn wished he could have told her to relax, that he had no intention of leaning over and kissing her in front of her people.

“Forty-six of those M4s we recovered were traced back to his Guard unit,” Willis said. “Got any idea where he got the rest?”