Deadly Sweet Dreams

by Connie Shelton

“So Chad Smith is rushing right into our hands?”

  “I doubt he sees it that way. Chad probably figures if he can somehow get rid of Danny before he tells what he knows, he’s home free.” She shrugged and waved one arm, even though he couldn’t see her over the phone. “Who knows what goes on in the mind of a rich young kid these days. They think they’re bulletproof and above the law.”

  “He can’t get into the jail.”

  Sam felt her patience wearing thin. “Right. So Danny’s safe. But you want to catch Lila’s killer, don’t you? It might be smart to set up a trap for Chad Smith.”

  “I’ll get out a BOLO on the stolen car, and I need to talk to Danny …” Evan seemed to be thinking out loud rather than talking to Sam.

  But it was just the information she needed. She ran back out to her car and beat a quick path to the sheriff’s office. Dixie waved hello but was busy on a call and didn’t try to stop Sam from pushing through to the squad room. A briefing was in session, with Evan facing four deputies.

  “… north of Santa Fe. We’ve got a little over an hour to get ourselves in place.”

  Chapter 46

  Evan gave out assignments and the deputies dispersed. When he turned toward his office, he spotted Sam standing in the hallway.

  “Sam, I can’t—”

  “I know. I’m not asking to ride along with the deputies, but could I go with you to the meeting with Danny and his attorney? I’m worried about him, Evan.”

  “You can’t say anything to our suspect, Sam.” He walked past her, his long legs striding toward the back door. Although he easily outpaced her, Sam scrambled to keep up.

  Outside at his cruiser, he gave her a look of impatience but he didn’t stop her from getting into the passenger seat. The ride to the courthouse and detention facility was a short seven minutes, during which he cautioned her again about saying anything to influence what Danny Flores might say. This was an interrogation by the sheriff, with the obligatory presence of the suspect’s attorney.

  “We just need to find out what this Chad Smith told Flores during their phone call.”

  Sam nodded and kept her mouth shut. She already knew some of it. Evan could ferret out the rest on his own.

  They were just about to enter the building when Evan’s radio squawked. The voice of Deputy Wilson came fuzzily through. The stolen Lexus had just passed the rest stop at the Overlook, headed toward Taos.

  “Drop in behind and follow. If he doesn’t head straight for the jail complex, pull him over on the stolen vehicle charge.”

  “Roger that.”

  “Come on,” Evan said to Sam. “Let’s get inside.”

  Delia Sanchez was waiting, and the three were shown to a private room rather than the main visitors’ hall. A very nervous Danny was escorted in, wearing the usual handcuffs. Evan signaled the guard to remove them, and the four took seats at a metal table.

  The sheriff took charge. “Danny—first, thank you. We’re checking out the new lead you’ve provided in your case.” He held up one hand. “It doesn’t mean that lead will pan out or that we’ll make an arrest. I’m just informing you. We’re here right now because I need your formal statement attesting to the facts you stated to Ms. Sweet here. You may run each statement past your attorney first, if you wish.”

  “It’s not much,” Danny said hesitantly.

  Sam sneaked a discreet peek at her watch while Danny talked. They had maybe twenty minutes before Chad could possibly be here. But Danny’s story was short. He quietly confirmed everything he’d said earlier. Evan took it all down.

  The sheriff was rechecking a few points when his radio came to life again. It was Rico’s voice this time.

  “Suspect has just pulled into the parking lot. I’m leaving my vehicle.”

  “On my way,” Evan said, standing. “Ms. Sanchez, please verify that what I’ve written here agrees with your client’s statement, have him sign and date it.”

  He was halfway out the door. Sam glanced at both Danny and the attorney, gave them a thumbs-up and followed on Evan’s heels. He didn’t seem to notice she was dogging his steps, but she wasn’t going to wait quietly in the interrogation room. They reached the lobby and saw Rico standing at the open glass entry doors. Chad Smith stood one step down, speaking earnestly with the deputy.

  “But I’m a very close friend, and I’m just in town for a few hours,” he pleaded.

  “Doesn’t matter. Visitation is on certain days and only by appointment,” Rico told him. His fingers were hooked casually in his belt loops, but the grip of his service pistol was mere inches away.

  “Stay here,” Evan said to Sam.

  Chad continued, “Seriously? There’s no way I could get a special appointment? I’m from out of state.” His eyes were darting around, looking for some way past Rico.

  Evan walked out the door, not looking toward Smith, just another cop going about his way. Until he reached the same step where Chad stood. “Hey, Chad,” he said in a casual tone.

  Instinctively, Chad turned to face the friendly greeting.

  Evan was already reaching for his handcuffs. “You’ll need to come with me, sir.”

  “What! You can’t—”

  “You’re wanted for questioning in the death of Lila Contreras.”

  “No way! Listen, I’m not even from around here. I’m from Texas.”

  The fatal statement. Rico didn’t much like Texans. He stepped down and reached for the suspect’s left arm.

  Chad spun in a circle. With Rico on one side, Evan on the other, and two more cars full of deputies screeching to a stop at the bottom of the steps, he was surrounded. He slipped his right arm away from Evan and whipped out a knife.

  Sam felt her eyes go wide as the switchblade flicked out, narrowly missing Evan’s arm. She was out the door, ready to start slugging and kicking if need be.

  “Back off!” Chad shouted. “You can’t do this to me.”

  Evan made a show of backing away, giving Rico the perfect diversion to grab Chad’s left wrist and twist it sharply behind his back. With one step sideways, he threw the suspect off balance and Chad went to his knees, hard, on the concrete. Evan stepped in and placed his foot on Chad’s right wrist. His fingers opened and the knife fell to the ground. Sam dashed over and kicked it beyond the suspect’s reach.

  “Thanks—great job.” Evan said it quietly, but Sam caught the words.

  The rest of the deputies closed in and Chad was cuffed in a flash.

  “Chad Smith, you are under arrest for grand theft auto, for assault on a law officer, and for the murder of Lila Contreras.”

  Smith’s eyes went wild at the mention of Lila’s name. His hair was flying out at crazy angles and spittle formed at the corners of his mouth.

  “That bitch! I had every right! No way was she gonna ruin my life! She didn’t know who she was dealing with.” He twisted in the grip of Rico and Wilson. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with. My father’s an important man. There’s no way you’re getting away with this!”

  His stare landed on Sam. “You—you couldn’t accept my warning, could you? You had to keep digging.”

  Sam went blank for a moment. Then it hit her—the man in the shadows along the Riverwalk. She and Kelly had decided the scary guy was one of Miguel’s cop buddies. Evidently not.

  Chad ranted on. “You’ll pay for this! All of you will p—” He tripped over Rico’s outstretched foot and his shouts echoed off the building as the officers hauled him inside.

  Chapter 47

  Chad Smith was right about one thing: his father wasn’t sitting still for his entitled son being arrested. To give the man credit, he did try. But, ultimately, the only charge that got dropped was that of the stolen auto. Even that cost him. When word got out that one of his burly mechanics had been lured by Chad into threatening Sam and her daughter, the service department revenues dipped sharply. And the wealthy customer, who learned his newly purchased luxury car had been taken across state lines and driv
en by a killer, backed out of the purchase and took his business to another dealership. It seemed the bigger the fuss Addison Smith made on his son’s behalf, the more notoriety it brought to the business, and the more customers he lost. Texans, in general, are a law-and-order bunch.

  The elder Smith eventually backed down when it became clear it wasn’t merely Danny Flores’s word against his son’s. Chad’s own shouted “I had every right” confession had been overheard by many. But even that wasn’t the final nail in the coffin.

  The knife Chad had pulled on Evan was bagged and tested and, yes, Lila’s DNA was on it. The tip of the knife matched with the horrible cuts on her forehead. Chad had not been able to resist taunting the dead woman with her own words—Sweet Dreams.

  And there was other evidence from the crime scene—DNA on the victim’s clothing and fingerprints on surfaces in the hotel room—proving Chad Smith had been there. All it took was a suspect to match them to. And although the young man would never admit to any part in the crime, there were gas station receipts showing he had been in Taos on the day Lila was murdered and a security camera in the hotel parking area showed his car briefly in the lot.

  They had enough to put him away forever, and he had been stupid enough to provide nearly all the incriminating evidence. Evan told Sam and Beau all this over dinner at the Richards’ home, a lovely roast and all the trimmings prepared by Riki, in the English tradition.

  Sam was happy to accept Evan’s muted apology for having jumped to conclusions about Danny. They were alone on the back porch of the couple’s little house while Riki put the finishing touches on dessert.

  “Danny’s the one you should say that to,” she gently reminded. “We’ll all be at Easter dinner at Kelly’s.”

  “I need to cultivate more of Beau’s coolheaded manner.”

  “He does have a way with that. I’ve never seen him shrink down in the face of danger, but he always kept all the facts in mind.” She patted his arm. “You’ll get there.”

  Sam walked around the back garden for a few minutes, admiring Riki’s daffodils and breathing the rich scent of the hyacinths in bloom. There were still a lot of unanswered questions in her mind, but she wasn’t sure she would be up for what would probably be a weeks-long trial to learn those answers.

  Chapter 48

  Easter morning sunrise was always special, Sam reflected as she watched the light on the clouds from the back deck at the ranch. Whether this came from her small town upbringing and the religious connotations, or if it was just because spring is a magical time. Chilly air, pastel clouds, the first beams of sunlight warming the earth, where tiny sprigs of the new alfalfa crop were beginning to appear.

  From the barn she could hear male voices as Beau and Danny tended the chores that would be there every day, no matter the season or the day of the week. She sat on one of the wooden Adirondack chairs, bundled in her fuzzy robe, cupping a mug of coffee, and soaking up the scenery until the fields were fully bright and it was time to go inside and get dressed.

  Danny had been fairly quiet since his release, and she knew it was best to give him space. He needed to process all that had happened, and had only been home a week. His parents had come and were staying at Faustina’s. Sam and Beau had left them to their family time on Good Friday, and last night Pauline insisted on including the Cardwells at the Flores family dinner.

  Heartwarming—seeing Danny and his parents. Heartbreaking—his father’s obvious decline in health and the knowledge that it could have all gone so much worse. Sam felt her nose prickle and tears pooled in her eyes.

  But the worst had not happened, not to this family. For the Contrerases, this must be the saddest holiday of their lives. Tears overflowed and tracked their path down Sam’s cheeks. Happy endings didn’t always come for everyone.

  She wanted to talk with Danny, really talk. There would be a time for that.

  Right now, her coffee was gone and she had a cake to decorate.

  The fondant-covered cake waited on the kitchen counter while Sam put on clothes and her baker’s jacket. She’d brought home enough tools to finish the job here rather than going down to Sweet’s Sweets.

  This one was a giant egg standing upright, with a jaggedly open top. Soon there would be a tiny chick peeking out. She piped decorative pink and yellow swirls over the blue shell, adding a sprinkle of colored sugar here and there. The Easter egg motif had been Ana’s idea; the chick on top was Sam’s own surprise. Piped green grass covered the base, and she added green-tinted coconut for texture and egg-shaped candies hiding in the grass. A few elaborate tulips and daffodils completed the garden ambiance.

  Beau’s boots stomped on the front porch and he walked in a minute later, with the smell of crisp morning air on his clothing.

  “Cinnamon rolls will be out of the oven in five minutes,” she told him. “Tell Danny. I made plenty.”

  The light breakfast was meant to hold them over until noon when everyone was invited to Kelly and Scott’s home for a big dinner. Danny’s family had begged off, saying Hector wasn’t up to it. Danny would join them again at his grandmother’s this evening.

  Sam had prepared two large salads—ambrosia and coleslaw—and would make the deviled eggs at their house. Little Ana first had to scour the yard searching for them.

  She expected Beau to go back outside and shout Danny’s invitation to breakfast, but he pulled out his phone and sent a text instead. Woo—modern guy.

  * * *

  The Victorian looked resplendent, with the flowering plums in their full glory and the front beds filled with spring blossoms. Scott and a couple of helpers had spent the past week repainting the trim. Without the need for a parking area, as had been the case when the chocolate factory was here, Kelly had seeded the front dirt area with grass, and the lawn was just now starting to provide a carpet of green on the gentle slope leading to the house.

  This place is meant to be lived in, Sam thought as they drove up. It’s much better this way than as a business.

  Danny and Beau carried the salad bowls inside, while Sam managed the cake. Before they were halfway to the door, another car pulled in. Evan and Riki got out.

  Sam had been slightly nervous about the guest list—it would be the first time Evan and Danny were in a social situation since Danny’s release. Would there be tension between the sheriff and the man he’d wrongly arrested? The hustle-bustle of the arrival, balancing the large bowls, greeting Scott at the door, and deciding where to set all the food helped cushion any awkward moments.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Sam saw Evan approach Danny, hand extended, apparently doing his part to make amends. She felt the pressure ease.

  “Where’s Ana? I halfway expected to be jumped when she saw the cake.”

  “She had a social engagement,” Kelly said, looking up from the open oven door. The scent of baked ham filled the kitchen. “Hannah invited her to go to church with them. I don’t think she realized she would have to sit quietly for a long stretch. It’ll be interesting to see how Myra handled two four-year-olds for the duration.”

  Sam chuckled, imagining. For the girls, the whole experience was most likely about wearing pretty dresses and whispering about how many Easter eggs they’d found this morning.

  “Want me to set the table?” she asked. “Then I can come back in here and do the deviled eggs.”

  “All done,” Kelly said, stretching a kink out of her back. “I wanted time to socialize with my guests, so I set the table last night and fixed the eggs right after Ana left with the Millers.”

  “Great plan. In that case, I’m going to peek out there and see how the guys are doing.” See how Danny’s coping.

  She swapped places with Riki, who was on her way into the kitchen with her contribution to the dinner, glazed carrots. Sam found the men in clusters in the living room, where Scott had already taken care of their beverage requests. Scott was chatting in the foyer with new arrivals Zoë and Darryl, while Beau, Danny, Rico and Evan seemed
to be holding a more serious conversation near the fireplace.

  Sam gave Zoë’s shoulder a quick squeeze then walked over to join the men. Apparently, the topic was centered around the loose ends from Danny’s case and Chad Smith’s arrest and indictment.

  “Some great news,” Evan was saying when Sam approached. “It looks like you’ll get back the money that was taken from your account.”

  Danny’s face lit up. “What … how?”

  “I’ve been in touch with investigators from the bank. They tracked the money transfer to Lila’s account, and once we established that it wasn’t authorized, they assured me they would reverse the transfer. It should be back in your account in a day or two.”

  “Wow—I really appreciate that. I had anticipated a battle.”

  Evan shook his head. “Nope. You’re good. Unfortunately, the others were not so lucky. We’re still piecing it together—and this stays here in this group, you understand. It looks like both Richard Potter and Chad Smith gave Miss Contreras cash. She used some of it to pay down her credit card debt just enough to stay out of trouble, but there was plenty left, which she blew on another spending spree in Dallas last month. From talking with her girlfriends, it looks like she was known for those.”

  No one wanted to say it was lucky Lila died before she could also spend Danny’s life savings; that would be cruel. But Sam felt the vibe pass through the group.

  “So, she had no actual plans to marry me? All that talk about planning a wedding, and the big fuss over my grandmother’s ring?” Danny was clearly still trying to wrap his head around the extent of his girlfriend’s deception.

  “Nope,” Rico said. “I tracked some of her spending. She had her eye on a big diamond she’d seen on a trip to Dallas. The jeweler remembered her clearly because she bragged that she was getting engaged to some oilman and wanted to get ideas for the ring he would buy her.”