Deadly Sweet Dreams

by Connie Shelton

  “One last question, and then we’ll let you get to bed,” Sam said, remembering one other piece of the puzzle. “Is there anyone in your group who seems to have come into a lot of money in the last few days?”

  “Money—wow, no.” She carefully watched Sergio’s face but his immediate chuckle made her believe him.

  Chapter 34

  “What was I thinking, booking us on a seven a.m. flight out?” Kelly said, stuffing clothes into her airline duffle bag.

  “You were thinking you can’t wait to be home, and this way we’ll be there by noon. And neither of us was quite planning such a late night tonight, although I’m still not sleepy.”

  Sam had emptied the closet and neatly folded most of her things. In the morning she would simply need to grab her toiletry bag and make sure the case evidence—diary and photos—were safely in her backpack purse.

  “I’m still thinking about what Sergio said and it’s making sense,” she told Kelly. “If Lila’s father, the cop, had ways of tracking Danny through his and Lila’s phone and text messages or maybe even his spending, it would have made it easy for Lila to know exactly where he went.”

  It made sense and might be a clue worth considering, but they were both exhausted now, so they crawled into their beds and turned out the lights.

  They had a little sleep, an early awakening, and a mood of discouragement during the flight. They retrieved Sam’s car from the airport parking lot and hit the road northbound.

  “I feel like we have the answer somewhere,” Sam said, once they had cleared the Albuquerque traffic and were on the open road. “We talked to so many people. What are we missing in the clues?”

  “Could we be on the wrong track in thinking the killer is one of Lila’s romantic conquests? What if it’s a woman?”

  “We can’t rule out anyone, but strangulation … that takes a lot of strength and being able to overpower the victim. It’s not typically a woman’s method—at least not according to things Beau told me over the years.”

  “So we concentrate on the male suspects but keep ourselves open to the idea it could be anyone.”

  “I think so.”

  Kelly was paging through the diary while Sam drove. “So, which of the men that we know about could have done it—Mom, what if it’s none of them? What if a random stranger got into Lila’s hotel room and killed her?”

  “That’s more rare than you think. Of course, every investigation starts out with the possibility that the killer could be anyone in the world, but motive, means and opportunity rule out many and narrow it down from anyone. Unfortunately, our Danny fits all three criteria, while most of those we just talked to are, at the very least, lacking opportunity. Strangling can’t very well happen long-distance.”

  “But any of them could have made the trip. We’re covering the distance in less than half a day. By driving the whole way …” Kelly tapped a query into her phone. “It’s a little over ten hours for a person following the speed limit. It’s doable for any of them.”

  “You’re not exactly narrowing the field,” Sam said with a chuckle. “But we’ll figure it out. We know it’s not Richard Potter, and we’re confident it’s not Danny. Once I’m home again I’ll comb through the diary for clues and see if I can narrow it down some more.”

  When she pulled into the driveway at the Victorian, the front door flew open and Scott and Ana came rushing out, all smiles and shrieks. Even Eliza stepped out and jumped up to the porch railing.

  Sam came inside long enough to pull out the little gift she’d brought—a book with the pictorial history of the Alamo. “Your daddy will tell you all about this place in your history lesson,” she said.

  “How did you ladies enjoy seeing the Alamo close up?” Scott asked.

  “Well … didn’t actually get there. Things stayed fairly busy. For now, I’ll leave you three to catch up and I’d better go find out what Beau is up to.”

  Whether he’d somehow managed to obtain bail for Danny, that was the bigger question.

  The ranch looked peaceful under the midday sun. The two horses grazed in the far pasture, while the dozen or so head of cattle meandered toward the small pond near the northern fence. Beau’s truck sat beside the barn, where he was unloading bales of hay. He turned and smiled when he saw her vehicle.

  “Hey, darlin’—missed you.” He dropped the bale hooks and came over to help Sam with her bag. “Nice trip?”

  “It was. Fun to spend time with Kelly, but I’m not sure if we found much to help Danny’s case. I still have some materials to go through.” She held the door open while he carried the bag inside. “How about you? Are you managing okay?”

  “Yeah, pretty well. I guess you figured out Danny isn’t here. The judge didn’t grant bail. I can get along for a while without a hand, but if we don’t get him out soon, I’ll need to look at hiring someone else.”

  Sam met his eyes, her face sad. “I’ve got questions for him—do you suppose he’ll be allowed a visitor?”

  “I’ll make a call, see if I can get you in,” he promised.

  * * *

  The new county courthouse and jail facility was pristine and secure. Sam presented her ID and the front reception officer checked to be sure she was on the preapproved list. Beau had told her she would be allowed a thirty-minute visit, Danny’s sole visitor for the week. Apparently, her clothing also passed inspection, and she was allowed into the visitation room.

  Danny looked smaller and less confident in these surroundings, not the straight-shouldered young man astride a horse or tossing hay bales as if they were nothing.

  “Hey,” Sam said.

  “Hey.”

  She asked if he was being treated all right and whether he needed anything she might be allowed to bring. He shook his head and gave a crooked smile. “A release order would be nice.”

  “I’ve got just a half hour, and a lot of questions.” She briefly wondered whether she should have contacted Delia Sanchez before coming down here.

  But the attorney would have surely set the schedule and monitored every question and answer. Sam wanted to get to the heart of it now. She briefly filled him in on her visits with his friends and family, including his parents’ well wishes and the fact that Patsy had been cooperative in sharing information.

  “First off, I need to ask about that big withdrawal from your bank account. You knew about that?”

  He nodded.

  “When did you learn about it?”

  “The day it happened. My bank sends me text alerts to be sure everything is okay. Unfortunately, I didn’t check my messages until later in the evening, so the money had been gone from the account for several hours.”

  “It was an online transaction, right? Danny, I have to ask—who do you think took the money?”

  “My first thought was—Lila. Unless some hacker from Ukraine or someplace targeted my account. Nobody in my family is very sharp with stuff like that.”

  “Did she know your password?”

  “I’ve thought about that. I never gave it to her, but she was pretty good at figuring things out. She could have guessed it.”

  “Why would she take the money?”

  He ran both hands through his hair, leaving tufts sticking out on top. “Guessing—I would think maybe as leverage to get me back to San Antonio and to go ahead with the wedding. She kept talking about that, once she found me here. About how we had all these wedding plans—which I knew nothing about.”

  Sam could see he was getting agitated so she changed focus.

  “I found some photos among her things,” she said, pulling the pictures from the envelope she’d carried in.

  He glanced at the group photos of his friends, a smile curving his mouth.

  “What about this one?” Sam handed over the one of Lila and Richard Potter. “Do you know who he is?”

  Danny shook his head, looking puzzled.

  “His name is Richard Potter. Lila’s mother identified him and said he and Lila were pr
etty serious right before she moved to San Antonio.”

  He shrugged. “Don’t know anything about that.”

  Okay. Sam believed him. “Could there have been any other men in her life around the same time? I found a diary and she refers to people sometimes by just an initial or a nickname. Did you pick up any hints about there being someone else?”

  “She talked like I was the moon and the stars to her. Never a hint of fooling around.”

  A five-minute warning came over the speaker system, advising visitors that time was almost up. Sam gathered up the photos and ended the visit by passing along the greetings and well-wishes from Sergio, Abby, and Patsy.

  “Is my mom doing okay?” Danny asked. “I’ve only talked to her once. She says they’ll come for my trial.”

  Sally had apparently not mentioned his father’s health scare. “She told me the same thing. But hang in there. We’re still looking. And the minute we find evidence that could get you released, I’m all over it.”

  He wasn’t allowed to reach across the table to touch her hand, but he did a prayer gesture and thanked Sam over and over. The sadness in his eyes, when the guard came to take him away, just about cut through her heart.

  Outside in her SUV, Sam placed a call to Delia Sanchez. On the theory that it was better to beg forgiveness than ask permission, she told the attorney about her visit to Danny. Delia quizzed her about what he’d said, seemed satisfied but grumpy at Sam’s answers. When Sam mentioned the bank withdrawal, Delia spoke up.

  “Yeah, well, the sheriff has also discovered it. The money disappeared the day before Lila died, and in their minds, it’s an even greater motive for Danny to have killed her.”

  “Crap. Sorry, I—”

  “I know. I’m going to make the argument that if Danny didn’t attempt to get the money back, he didn’t have a strong motive to kill her. But I have no idea if that’s going to fly.”

  Sam ended the call feeling more down than ever. Then a plan began to form.

  Chapter 35

  Sam drove to the copy shop on Paseo del Pueblo Sur and carried all her hard-won evidence inside. She hated to let go of what she had gathered, but all of this was needed for Danny’s case. At the self-serve copier, she laid the diary open and photocopied all the pages. Then she set the photos on the glass and made copies of them too.

  Purchasing a large brown envelope, she tucked the originals into it and enclosed a note. She had debated with herself during this whole process—to whom should she give the evidence? And while she would have trusted Beau in a nano-second to fairly apply everything he knew to solving the case, she still felt she didn’t know Evan very well. What if he, as had been known to happen in other places, buried or ‘lost’ this evidence in his zeal to close the case and strike a Win on his record?

  She didn’t dare take that chance.

  She sealed the envelope and drove to Delia Sanchez’s office, where she asked the receptionist to deliver it directly to the attorney herself.

  With that weight off her shoulders, Sam decided to run by Sweet’s Sweets and see how things were going. Despite her having been less active in the business these past couple of years, the bakery was still her baby.

  She parked out front this time and paused on the sidewalk to admire the window displays. She and Becky had planned how it would look for the upcoming Easter week, and she was pleased to see how well her decorator had implemented the designs and how the staff had set up the cute eggs, chicks, and bunnies in appealing poses. The window on the opposite side of the front door went with the religious theme, a cake in the shape of the historic San Francisco de Asis church, sprays of lilies spread over the flooring, and an elaborate cross of white. Since real chocolate couldn’t withstand the temperatures in the window, everything on display was created from foam and paper. But the royal icing was real and any of the pieces could be made to a customer’s specifications.

  Jen greeted her at the door with a mug of coffee and a creampuff. “You look in need of a pick-me-up,” she said with a warm smile.

  “Thanks.” Sam bit into the creampuff and moaned. “Julio did something different with these. Amaretto in the filling? Or is it Frangelico? Anyway, I have to go pay my compliments to the baker.”

  Movement outside the window caught her attention, and she turned to see Sheriff Richards’ cruiser pull up next door. Evan got out and sent a look toward Sam’s car. Did she imagine a smug look on his face? But no—he spotted her inside the bakery and walked over.

  “Tell Beau that congrats are in order,” Evan said, opening the door and leaning in. “Looks like I’ve got my first murder case wrapped up.”

  “Evan, with all due respect …” which was none at this moment, “… there are other viable suspects, and I don’t think you’ve taken a close enough look at any of them.”

  “Sam, you need to remember you’re not in the middle of department business any more.”

  When had things turned into a contest between them?

  “In the middle or not, a friend is under arrest for something he didn’t do. Have you actually looked into the character of the victim?”

  “You’re going to tell me about the gaslighting, that she treated him so badly it was okay for him to kill her?” He stepped inside now and drew himself up tall.

  Sam was glad no customers happened to be there. She could feel Jen shrinking away and hoping to become invisible.

  “Of course not. Killing someone is not okay. But neither is ignoring evidence that doesn’t point directly at your suspect.”

  “What evidence?”

  Oops. Sam wasn’t about to get into explaining what she’d found. “You need to talk to Danny’s attorney. Danny Flores did his best to get away from this girl who was making his life miserable, and I think she used her father’s connections as a San Antonio police officer to track Danny here. She tried extortion, and when that didn’t work, she stole money directly from his account.”

  Evan got a smirk on his face. “You’re making my case for me, Sam.”

  “You didn’t let me finish. I believe there’s evidence that she tried the same things with other men—other suspects. Evan, be open-minded about this. Check with Delia Sanchez and check with those who know Miguel Contreras in the SAPD. At least consider the possibility that another man came into the picture. That’s all I’m asking.”

  He puffed out his chest and stared her straight in the eye. “You need to mind your own business and stop butting in, unless you want to be facing obstruction of justice charges.” Then he walked out the door.

  Sam felt her mouth drop open. Really, Evan? You were a good cop with a sterling reputation when you came here. What’s going on?

  “Plus—what obstruction? I’m finding better clues than you’ve got!” She shouted at his retreating back.

  Jen’s eyes were wide.

  “Sorry. I should not have let him get to me like that,” Sam said. She picked up her coffee mug and brought it shakily to her mouth. Set it down again. Took a long breath and shook her hands to dissipate the tension.

  Just when she was deciding whether to follow Evan and try to talk logically or to just blow off the argument, her cell phone rang.

  Chapter 36

  It was Patsy Flores, and she sounded as rushed as ever. “I’ve got about five minutes before I need to leave for class, but I found something I think you should know about. It could help Danny’s defense.”

  Sam watched Evan get into his cruiser and drive away. She walked out to her car. “Tell me.”

  “I found two cell phones. They were in a kitchen drawer, toward the back. They must be Lila’s—no one else has been around, and they sure aren’t mine. They’re cheap things, the kind you can buy at Walmart or someplace and then add minutes with a phone card.”

  What the cop shows on TV called a burner.

  “Do they contain anything?” She sat in the driver’s seat, out of the chilly breeze.

  Patsy put Sam on speaker and she could hear busy little
sounds in the background. “Let me see … this one’s got a charge—it lights up.”

  “Can you look at the contacts list?”

  “There’s no password, apparently. Yeah, here’s a button … Hm. One person on the contacts list.”

  “Who is it?” Sam caught herself holding her breath.

  “It says S. Just an initial. Let me look at the recent calls.” Patsy paused a second. “None. She must have erased them.”

  “What about the other phone?” Sam was thinking hard to figure out the purpose for two of these throwaways. She knew Lila had another phone with her when she’d come to Taos; presumably that was her main one.

  “Okay, this one comes on too, but it’s got very little battery left. Contacts—same. One person, shown as R.”

  Richard Potter? But who the heck was S?

  “Oops, that one died,” Patsy said. “When I get back later, I’ll see if I have a charger that will fit it.”

  “Thanks. Now, the working one—no recent calls, but are there text messages?” It had been Lila’s preferred means of contact with Danny, after all.

  “Oh yeah, lots of texts.”

  Sam grabbed paper and pen from her bag. “Read them to me.”

  Patsy hedged. “I gotta be quick. Need to leave here in one minute.”

  “Read fast.”

  “Okay. Most recent one … um, well, that’s unrepeatable. Basically this S person telling Lila to get lost.”

  Sam assured Patsy she was familiar with the F-word and its many uses.

  “Yeah, that’s what it says. Anyway, before that Lila says: I’m keeping it. Need $20K for expenses.”

  “And before that?”

  “Hm. Several back and forth with ‘yes you did’ and ‘no I didn’t’ types of things. Wait … oh boy. Lila’s telling S that she’s pregnant. She attached a picture of the test stick with the little plus-sign on it.”

  “What are the dates on these messages?”