But she continued to castigate herself.
“Cici, stop it. I’m serious. Look, we may not be able to check the hiking trails on the Dale Ball system or even get too near the Old Stone Dam. There’s a storm moving in. A hell of a storm. Flash flood warnings keep popping up on the radar. And…if those women are there, already in the water, there’s nothing we can do to revive them.”
Cici shuddered as she once again recalled the wall of water bearing down on her and Anton. If they’d been seconds slower…
After that experience and her current dreams, water no longer held any appeal.
They stood in silence, the burden of what awaited Sam settling over them.
With a sigh, Sam brushed a kiss over her lips, his gunmetal eyes flinty. “You’re heading to work, right?”
“Yes. I’m meeting with the Urlich family this morning, and then I have another meeting with my music director.”
“Do me a favor?” Sam asked. His hands squeezed her towel-covered waist.
“What?”
“It’s going to rain so I’d appreciate it if you’d drive your car. Lock the doors to your office area, and don’t go anywhere without letting me know. And please, Cee, no matter what, don’t go alone.”
“You’re scaring me,” Cici murmured.
He dipped his chin toward his chest, holding their eye contact. “Good.”
“Sam—”
“There’s a man in my city, abducting and raping women. Killing them after he abuses them in…” He ran his hands through his hair, eyes clouded. “You said it yourself—he hates women. And he’s figured out how to lure them into his vehicle.”
“Since I know about him and the cat and all of these details, I won’t be dumb enough to get in a car.” She laid her hand on his chest, feeling the rapid thrum of his heart. His worry was palpable. This fear for her safety might well take a nosedive into neurosis, which would end in a fight. But Cici was scared enough by what she’d experienced last night right now to agree.
He reached up and touched the earring she’d left in the night before. “Wear these, okay?”
She frowned a little, wondering why he cared so much about the earrings. “I like them.”
“I’m glad. You having them on makes me feel better,” he said. “Call me when you get to work.”
“Yes, I will.”
Sam clutched her tightly and whispered in her ear, “Be safe.”
Then he turned and was gone.
Cici frowned after him. Sam was normally even-keel. Always looking for the logical explanation. Something had happened.
Something that worried him.
Something he didn’t want to tell her.
Mrs. Sanchez huffed into Cici’s office as Cici completed a phone call. She glanced at the clock on her computer, surprised it was already past nine in the morning.
“Sorry I’m late,” Mrs. Sanchez said.
She carried a large latte and one of her homemade breakfast burritos wrapped in tinfoil. The woman could start a business with her burritos but she’d never been interested in the food industry, telling Cici that her grandfather owned a restaurant near the Plaza years before, and she’d spent way too much of her youth keeping the family business afloat.
“Thank you for this,” Cici said, opening the foil. Steam drifted out, along with the delicious aroma of bacon, cheese, and green chiles.
“Yes, of course. We need to get some meat on you, chica. You’re one strong wind away from homelessness.”
“I’m fine.” She wasn’t, but no way she was going to admit that. “Getting better.”
“Lisa Bonner’s granddaughter ran away!” Mrs. Sanchez said, cutting over Cici’s words.
Cici frowned. “Lisa?” Cici asked. “You mean my congregant, Lisa? Oh. Marietta or Lorena?”
“I couldn’t wait to tell you anymore,” Mrs. Sanchez said, her expression screwing up much like a child’s when they see a piñata. “It’s Marietta. The younger one if you can believe that.”
Cici frowned, her hunger evaporating. “She’s part of our youth group.”
A shy, quiet girl who’d told Cici once that she wanted to be a software engineer. She’d tucked her hot pink hair behind her ear and spoken of her dream to work for a video game company and the Youtubers she followed. Cici had nodded and smiled but found the whole social gaming world strange and a bit unsettling.
“No idea where she went?” Cici asked.
Mrs. Sanchez shook her head. “Not yet. She skipped out on her classes this morning, and her parents are beside themselves.”
Cici frowned. “I’ll call them.”
“I already did. Let them know the church is available to help,” Mrs. Sanchez waved a hand, like the help wasn’t as important as her news. Before Cici managed to comment on the other woman’s excitement, Mrs. Sanchez said, “After, I talked to Lisa. Anyway, Lisa said that Marietta was angry when her parents made her stop playing some computer game.”
Cici’s scowl deepened. “I knew Marietta liked gaming, but running away because of a fight? That doesn’t sound like her.”
“That’s what Lisa said.” Mrs. Sanchez motioned to the burrito in Cici’s hand. “Eat.”
Cici took a bite. The flavors were delicious—rich, salty bacon and fluffy egg mixed with the melted cheese followed by the sharp bite of green chile that nipped into Cici’s jaw. How people lived without the deliciousness of Hatch chiles coloring their food…unfathomable. But, then, she was a born-and-bred Santa Fean, just as her parents and grandparents and great-grandparents, and back many more generations.
Mrs. Sanchez nodded in satisfaction as Cici took another bite. “I’m going to bring you some chicharrones.”
Cici stopped chewing and stared at the other woman. “I can’t eat those. They’re pure pork fat.”
“You’re eating bacon in the breakfast burrito,” Mrs. Sanchez said with a slight sniff. “Plus, we need to get some meat back on those bones, Reverenda. Chicharrones, guacamole and tortillas.”
“It’s not like I’m going to tell you no,” Cici said. “I love your homemade guac and tortillas. And I’m sure I’ll love your chicharrones, too.”
Mrs. Sanchez patted Cici’s cheek and beamed. The woman loved to cook, sure, but more, she loved to get her way. Cici’s acquiescence made her light up faster than a flaming farolito at the Christmas Eve Canyon Road walk. For some reason, the older woman wasn’t as laser-focused on her fresh gossip this morning, which meant her concern for Cici was as deep as it was genuine.
“Tell me about Lisa. About Marietta.”
“Of course. Lisa called because she wanted to know if I could get Lionel to start looking before the twenty-four-hour time limit. I told her not to wait.”
“I’m glad you told her to call in Marietta’s running away immediately.” One of the benefits of knowing Sam was Cici better understood the policing process. An officer would go to the family’s home, get information about the teen and upload it into a database with a BOLO—be on the lookout—to surrounding agencies. Cici worried about the girl but at least her description and photo would be broadcast to most of the state.
Mrs. Sanchez sat back with a dissatisfied expression. “Lionel sits behind a desk, anyway. He wouldn’t be the one out there, hunting for an angry teenager.”
Cici only half-listened to Mrs. Sanchez talk about the current chief of police. She kept thinking about her last conversation with Marietta. The girl was bright and interested in her classes at one of the local STEM charter schools. She’d begun the process of filling out college applications.
“Did she apply to State?” Cici asked.
Maybe the university could be a connection—maybe Marietta met the man she’d seen in her Aci-driven vision. Cici grimaced. Marietta was a sweet, quiet girl. Meeting a rapist and murderer was not going to end well for her—or Marietta’s family. Still, all Cici could do at this point was grasp at dandelion fluff blowing in the wind and hope it turned into something more tangible—a lead. Or at
least the potential for one.
Cici couldn’t prove Marietta was in any way related to Patti’s murder—but the cold touch on the back of her neck and the iciness in the pit of her belly indicated her twin wanted her to think in that direction.
Cici closed her eyes. She didn’t want Marietta hurt. Or scared. Or involved with this horrible criminal in any way.
“I don’t know. I’d have to ask her parents,” Mrs. Sanchez said.
“Will you?” Cici asked. “When you get the prayer chain started.”
“I already did. That’s part of why I was late.”
Cici tried not to think about why Mrs. Sanchez contacted the prayer chain—because her reasons to call all the members weren’t all out of concern for Marietta and her family.
“Would she head down to Las Cruces to visit a friend or something? Will the family head out to search for her?”
Mrs. Sanchez shook her head. “Lisa said they were trying to put together volunteers. But they need to know where she went this morning to start looking. I’ll call Lisa now to ask. A direction would be good.”
Mrs. Sanchez pressed her lips together. “I’m worried about Marietta. Pobrecita.”
Yes, poor girl. And poor family.
“Has someone spoken to Lorena?”
“Lorena?”
“Yes. Has Marietta talked to her? Do you know?”
“No idea,” Mrs. Sanchez said.
“Can you get me her number so I can call her? I want to ask a few questions.”
She called Lorena, well aware Sam might not be happy with her decision. Still, until they knew for sure that Marietta had been abducted, there was no point in pursuing the runaway/missing semantics further.
“Lorena, this is Reverend Cici. How are you, sweetie?”
“I’m…I’m okay, I guess.”
“I heard Marietta ran away.”
Lorena sniffled. “From home, sure. She wanted to stay with me.” Lorena stuttered over the words.
“And now she’s missing?”
“Yeah. Since this morning.”
“Oh?”
“She got a text early. I heard her phone ping.”
“What time?”
“Um, maybe eight? I assumed it was Mom, and I knew she’d be mad. Marietta ditched classes to play some stupid game.”
“Any idea what it was?”
“Nope. I don’t waste my time on video games. I much prefer field hockey or ultimate frisbee.”
“But Marietta was into them?” Cici asked.
“That’s what’s weird. She wasn’t. I mean, she enjoyed them, but she wasn’t obsessed or anything. But she liked this one player. They chatted. She was so mad when Mom took away her laptop because she couldn’t keep up their relationship.”
“Do you know anything about the player she was talking to?”
“Um…why?” Lorena now sounded somewhere between concerned and annoyed. As a sister herself, Cici understood the need to protect her sibling. Unfortunately, Lorena might have made it possible for the guy on the game to have grabbed Marietta.
Cici refused to think what, exactly, that would mean for the teenager.
“We can’t help her if we don’t know what she was doing. And I need to tell you, I think her disappearance may have something to do with the video gamer she was talking to.”
At least that was the angle Sam felt had the most promise.
“You think—what? That he, like kidnapped her? No way, Rev. She went outside and decided to keep on strolling when I told her mom called.”
“Your mother called?”
“My phone. Yeah. After Marietta went outside to vape. I won’t let her do it inside. That stuff smells nasty.”
Cici swallowed back her opinion on vaping—teenagers were starting to die from the smoke and they needed to understand the hazards related to the nicotine.
“So she’s talking to someone outside—I could hear her from my window.”
“Any idea who?”
“A cat,” Lorena said.
“A cat?”
The hairs on Cici’s neck rose. Their killer clearly understood a female’s weakness to animals.
“Yeah. Then I heard some car pull up and a guy thanking Marietta for finding his cat.”
Like luring a small child to a car with candy.
“She went to the car?” Cici asked.
“I don’t know.” Lorena sniffled. “Mom called, all mad at me because I’d let Marietta stay at my place. She kept saying stupid sh.…er stuff like it wasn’t safe and the player Marietta was talking to was probably some really old dude looking to hit her up for sex.”
Cici agreed with Lorena and Marietta’s mom. The more she heard, the more she thought the guy was using the video game to try and get Marietta to give him personal information—details that would allow him to find her.
And hurt her.
“What was the gamer’s username?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can’t you log into her account and check?” Cici asked.
“I don’t have her password.”
“Didn’t your computer save it?”
“You sound like my mom,” Lorena grumbled. “No. I checked. Marietta’s all good with computers, Rev. She’d know better than to make it easy for me to give details to Mom.”
Cici sighed. “Fine. Your sister was outside with the man and the cat and your mom called. What happened then?”
“I got up and opened the door, told Marietta mom was on the phone for her.”
“Did you see the car the guy was in?”
“Yeah. It was an SUV. I don’t think it was new because it was shaped like a square. The bumper was silver.”
“Anything else you can tell me?”
“No.” Lorena broke down in sobs.
“What happened next?”
“The guy drove off. He waved and sped off. Marietta called after him. I heard her say he’d left his cat.”
That seemed odd. Especially if he’d stopped to collect the cat. A deep shiver slithered up her spine. Not just odd—sinister.
“So I tossed Marietta my phone. And Mom was yelling at her, so I went in to take a shower.”
“And then?”
“When I came out, Marietta had bounced.”
“What about your phone?”
“It was on the kitchen table,” Lorena said.
“And the cat?”
“I never saw the cat.”
32
Cici
I want to make my own discoveries…penetrate the evil which attracts me. ― Anaïs Nin
* * *
Cici couldn’t shake the worry Marietta was the next victim—and that the killer had escalated the number of victims significantly. She contacted Sam, but the thunderstorm that had threatened earlier moved in and must have destroyed the reception because her text never went through. Dark clouds had settled over the city during the night, and for the next hour or two, rain lashed the windows with a thick, heavy drumming sound. Cici felt as if she were inside a thick barrel, waiting for the water to cleave through the cracks and pour down on her.
Cici’s time with the Urlichs went well—as well as any meeting with a grieving family could go. Jay decided to play in the nursery area, and Mrs. Sanchez took him down there, seemingly contrite for the unkind thoughts she’d had about Cooper. At least, Cici hoped that’s what the older woman felt.
With Jay occupied with some blocks, Cici walked Cooper and Patti’s mother through the typical service and asked for their input to make Patti’s final public interaction as personal and heartfelt as possible.
“Thank you,” Patti’s mother said, clasping Cici’s hand as they prepared to leave. “Knowing you cared about Patti, knowing you’ll speak from your heart, that means so much to Cooper and Carl and me.”
Cici drew the woman in for a hug, trying to ignore the sting of tears in her own eyes. Cici waved them goodbye after giving Jay a lollipop she was sure he didn’t need or even want. Still, the abili
ty to do something soothed Cici’s raw nerves a bit.
Funerals and memorials weighed on her, reminding her about the fragility of life—of the loss of her mother and sister. And all the while, she couldn’t help but worry about Sam, out on the north side of town.
She readied her notes for her music director, who showed up after lunch. They hashed out the songs and hymns for the next three months of the liturgical calendar. Mrs. Sanchez took notes, but she remained subdued. Cici wasn’t sure if the dark clouds bothered her or the lack of word from Marietta.
And with thoughts of the teen, Cici circled back to Sam’s look that morning. The fear he’d planted spread through her system until the answer smacked her between the eyes: the murderer must know Sam was looking for him.
And Sam feared retribution. That the man would come after her.
Cici wanted to shrug off her unease, but instead, she called Sam again and left a message, “One of the girls in my congregation went missing this morning. She and her parents fought over her video game usage—not unlike Kelli. Her parents are worried.”
He called her back a couple of hours later. “Got your message. We’re still looking up here. The rain’s hindered the search. Tell me more about the girl you mentioned in your message.”
She explained the situation to Sam. Through the phone, she heard his pen tap the paper in a speedy rat-tat-tat that spoke of his growing anxiety.
“I’ll put out an Amber Alert, escalate the level of concern.”
“Do you think the alert is necessary?”
“I think it would be stupid not to take the step, especially knowing what we know. Now,” Sam said. “I’m not saying Marietta’s disappearance is related. I’m not willing to take the chance in case it is.”
“Thanks,” Cici said with a sigh of relief. “I wasn’t sure what to do. But I can tell you that this behavior doesn’t sound like Marietta.”
A Revelation of Death Page 14
