According to Maria, the man and woman were talking when they came into the house. Only after a few minutes did the rapid-fire Spanish and angry exchange happen. So had the man planned to kill the woman from the beginning? Was that why he’d chosen this place? How did he know about it? Did he live around here? In the Rancho subdivision?
A lot of people carried guns in the area. Had the man come prepared to shoot Jane Doe or was he used to carrying a weapon and pulled it because the woman made him mad? That murder seemed filled with a passion—of hatred.
A dull throbbing pounded behind Liliana eyes. Too many questions she couldn’t answer. The more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t get a handle on what was going on. She needed to talk to Maria again. Somehow. Walk the child through the exchange the two had before the man killed the woman.
She parked in front of the house. The yellow crime scene tape had been broken into two pieces, each dancing on the wind like a conductor leading an orchestra. Turning toward the housing subdivision a hundred yards away, she decided to get a list of people who lived in Rancho Estates. Check each one’s background. She didn’t think this murder had been planned, which meant it could have happened near where the killer lived.
Did Maria know more than she realized, especially if it was one of her neighbors?
Her eyes swept back toward the abandoned two-story house. Something flickered in the corner of her eye. She zeroed in on the living room window. Open. Nothing was there.
Creeping forward, she withdrew her gun. Maybe it wasn’t anything but the wind moving the branches of the bush in front of the house. Or maybe . . .
She eased up the porch steps and noticed the door ajar. Thinking back to what Pedro and Brady had described the day they’d found the body, Liliana composed herself with a calming breath. Every sense became alert. She heard the flap of the yellow tape behind her. The sound of a lawnmower in the distance. Cars passing on the road not far away. A door closing.
The back one.
She gave up being quiet. She jumped from the porch and raced around the side of the house as two boys ran into the high weeds between the subdivision and the abandoned house.
“Brady. Stop,” she shouted.
One boy, the one she recognized, slowed while the other disappeared into the brush.
Brady looked back at her then in the direction his buddy had gone. His body readied itself to spring into action.
“I know where you live. Don’t make me chase you down.” She fell into a jog and holstered her gun.
The boy stared at his feet, scuffing one into the dirt, stirring the dust. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Why were you in the house? It’s a crime scene.”
He kept his head down. “I don’t know.”
“Who was that with you? It’s not Pedro.”
“We haven’t played together since Saturday.”
“I thought you two were best friends.”
“Not anymore. His mom won’t let him leave the house. He hasn’t even gone to school this week.”
“He hasn’t? Is he sick?”
Brady lifted his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. “His kid sister hasn’t either.”
“Why were you in the house? ‘I don’t know’ isn’t an answer.”
“Promise you won’t take me in.”
“I can’t promise you that. But if I don’t get a straight answer, I’m going to have to escort you home and have a word with your parents. Why aren’t you in school?”
“Parent-teacher conference day.”
She’d forgotten. Rafael had mentioned something about that. “So you just decided to revisit the crime scene. I would have thought after what you saw here that you wouldn’t come near this place.”
Brady raised his head. “That’s why I did. Robbie called me a scaredy-cat. I had to prove I wasn’t.”
“Who’s Robbie?”
“My older brother. He’s watching me while Mom and Dad are at work.”
“Then he needs to do a better job of it. This house isn’t safe structurally. I want you to promise me you’ll stay away from here.”
“But I’m not an ole scaredy-cat.”
“I know. That day you were brave, and I’ll walk you home and tell your big brother just that.”
“He’ll still call me a baby.”
“If he does, let me know. I’ll set him straight.”
“You will?”
“Yeah. Let’s go this way.” Liliana skirted the tall weeds. “Do you ever see anyone hanging around here? Maybe someone from the neighborhood?”
“Besides Pedro and me?”
“Yes.”
“Just kids. Sometimes a parent looking for one of us.” Brady stopped at the stream. “But really we don’t come here often.”
“Why not?”
“Because of the stories about this house.”
“Really. What?”
“There was a murder here years ago. I think that’s why the people abandoned it last year. Ghosts. I’ve seen lights on at night. I can see this place from my bedroom window.”
Cody shook Al Garcia’s hand. “It’s good to see you.”
The former Texas Ranger limped toward his recliner and eased down. A grimace passed across his face. “Still stiff but the docs say that should get better. I think they’re humoring me.”
“Your shooting is one of the reasons I’m here in Durango. I wanted to get your take on it. I’m determined to find out who shot you. When someone attacks a Texas Ranger, they attack us all.”
One of Al’s eyebrows rose. “With all that’s happening right now, three murders in four days? My incident is old news compared to the recent crime spree.”
“Yeah, Durango has given me a right proper welcome.”
Al laughed. “One I’d want to forego.”
“Me, too. But someone didn’t give me that chance.”
“You think it’s one person who did all three murders?”
“Maybe, or three different people. We haven’t found anything definite to tie them together yet. But . . .” Something was just out of his reach. A thought that flittered in then out so quick Cody couldn’t grasp it.
“We’ve had our share of murders. Who hasn’t, if they live on the border these days? But three murders in four days in Durango is still unusual. This town has been lucky to avoid some of the violence. Others in the area haven’t.”
“Why?”
“I’d like to say because of my presence and a good police force, but you and I both know that doesn’t always make a difference. We’ve got good men stationed all up and down the border, and we are still having problems.”
“Something else going on here?”
Al shrugged. “People come and go. Durango has its share of transients, but overall the population is pretty stable. Now that you’ve been working with the Durango Police Department a week, how’s it going?”
“Fine. They have some capable officers.”
“Yeah, I hear you’ve partnered with Detective Rodriguez.”
“Well, not exactly, but her partner is on vacation and we’re working the murders together.”
“What do you think of Liliana?”
How should he answer that question? His first thought was she was distracting. But that wasn’t her problem but his. He found her attractive. But also so much more. “She is inquisitive, dedicated, and good at her job.”
“You’ve discovered all of that in a week?” Al laughed again. “I’d add demanding of others but even more of herself and easy on these old eyes. But to save you a whole lot of heartache, she’s a tough one who doesn’t let people into her personal life. I’ve seen a lot of men try and get nowhere.”
Cody shifted on the chair across from Al, the ex-ranger’s sharp gaze following his reactions with interest. “Tell me about what happened to you that day you were shot.”
“I’d left my office to go to the Durango Police Station to talk with the chief about some rumors that had surfaced.”
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“What rumors?”
“New person working this area.” Al leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together.
“Could that have been Victor Ruiz, our second murder victim? We found information that confirms he was smuggling people over the border here. His last one was for Crip for $5,000.”
“It’s a possibility. But I thought this ring was involved in smuggling guns, ammunition.”
“Tell me what happened when you got shot. I’ve read the report several times, but I’d still like to hear it in your own words.”
Al straightened, raking his hand through his full head of black hair with touches of silver at the temple. “I didn’t have a blowout, but about halfway to town my tire was completely flat. I got out to fix it. It happened as I finished changing my tire. A blue Dodge passed me on the road, the window went down, and a gun that I later found out was a .44 Magnum was aimed out of it. The next thing I know I’m shot and down. I think they would have come back except a couple of cars were coming. That’s what saved me. In one, the man’s wife was a nurse.”
“I read the Dodge was found abandoned a few miles down the road.”
“It had been stolen from El Paso. It had been wiped down. No fingerprints. Even the owner’s. Later I found out the tire I changed had a slow leak caused by a nail I could have picked up anywhere.”
“But you don’t think you did?”
Al shook his head, staring at a spot beyond Cody. “I think it was planned. Not a random shooting.”
“Why?”
“Because I had seen that blue Dodge earlier that day.”
“That wasn’t in your report.”
“I know. I’ve had the time to go over the events that led up to the shooting, and only recently have I remembered a couple of things that I didn’t right after I got shot.”
“Besides thinking the Dodge had been tracking you that day, what else?”
“Right before I headed to the station in Durango, I stopped to get some gas and went to get my usual morning coffee. When I came out and headed to my truck, a guy dressed in a black hoodie was running away from the pump area. I didn’t think too much about it because my car was in a row closer to the front and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.”
“Now you’re not so sure?”
“Now I’m wondering if that was when I got the nail in my front right tire. I even called the gas station to see if they had a surveillance tape from two months ago. They didn’t.”
“Anything else? Anything about the guy running away?”
“You’ll be the first to know if there is.”
Cody rose and extended his hand. “It was nice talking to you. Your case is important to me and the department. I won’t forget all you did for me my first year in Dallas.”
“You didn’t have to come all the way to Durango to thank me. A phone call would have been enough. I was surprised to hear you were taking this assignment.”
“Remember that manhunt we were involved in that first year? If it hadn’t been for you, I might not be here today. That fugitive had his gun aimed at my chest when you came along.”
“That was nothing. You’d have done that for me if our roles were reversed.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t change the fact that I owe you my life.” His friend planted his cane in front of him and struggled to stand, but Cody waved him down. “I can let myself out.”
Al sank back. “I’m still getting use to this weak leg.” He patted his right one. “My knee was shattered. I had it replaced but recovering has been slower than I wished. Take care of yourself. I thought these past few months of peace and quiet might stick around, but that doesn’t look like the case with these recent murders.”
As Cody left the small house on the outskirts of town, only fifteen minutes from the highway patrol station, he turned toward Carlos’s ranch. Lights in the field, strange things happening, and rumors of smuggling made him wonder if they were all connected. That end of town wasn’t far from the border.
“You and I kept missing each other yesterday. I heard you got the ballistics report back on the guns found in Ruiz’s freezer.” Parked next to Cody’s SUV on Sunday afternoon, Liliana came around her Chevy to mount the four planks of wood that comprised the step to Carlos’s porch.
“Yeah. Nothing that will help us. I wanted one of those .44 Magnums to be the gun that wounded Al.”
“How did your meeting with Al go?”
“Al thinks there may be a gun smuggling ring in this area.”
“Yeah, he’s talked to the chief about it. But there hasn’t been anything concrete for us to go on yet.”
Cody reached for the door to unlock it, but it opened beneath his touch. “This doesn’t bode well.”
Liliana withdrew her gun and entered behind Cody. A few steps into the small house, he halted. She scanned the disarray before her. Every drawers’ contents littered the floor. Cushions were cut and the stuffing pulled out.
In the distance the revving of engines sounding like motorcycles blasted through the air. A window stood wide open, the curtains flapping in the breeze.
Cody picked his way through the chaos and looked out of the window. A trail of dust indicated where the intruders were going. “I think we interrupted someone.”
Liliana came to his side and peered out in the direction he pointed. “Let’s go after them. I know they have a good head start, but we might be able to figure out where they’re going. This is still a crime scene so why were they here?” She surveyed the large room. “From the looks of things, if they were looking for something, they probably found it. Carlos didn’t have anything to steal.”
“That we know of. Let’s go. I’ll drive.” Cody strode toward the door. “I know we won’t have much time. It’s getting dark, but maybe we can catch a break.”
In Cody’s SUV, Liliana put a call into the station to have a couple of officers come out and process the cabin again. “I’m hoping whoever trashed Carlos’s house wasn’t wearing gloves.”
“We can only wish. I’m thankful some criminals aren’t too smart.”
“Yeah, but those that are make our lives interesting.”
Departing the relatively smooth and flat yard, Cody slid a look at Liliana. “Hang on. There’s gonna be bumpy ground up ahead.”
Liliana gripped the strap on the passenger door. “This is the second time a crime scene has been disturbed today. Don’t people honor the yellow tape that says do not cross?”
“Since Ruiz’s house is lying in ruins, I’m guessing you’re talking about the abandoned one at Rancho Estates. What happened?”
“Brady’s older brother dared him to go back to the house. They both did. I read Brady’s brother the riot act when I brought Brady home. He ran off and left his little brother after all that happened at the house.”
“I’m hoping when this is over with, that the house is leveled.”
“Chief is working with the city to get in touch with the owners who live in San Antonio. I think something will be done. It’s a danger to any kid who thinks it is a place to play or to dare one another to visit. Brady is sure there are ghosts there. He’s seen lights at night.”
Cody passed through the makeshift barbwire gate that blended well with the rest of the fence. “Bums? People passing through?”
“Probably. Or kids like Señor Flores thought were in his field. I’ve told patrol about it. They’re going to keep an eye on the place until something can be done.”
Cody’s car bounced over a series of deep ruts. “They came this way, but I don’t see any dust now.” He slowed his vehicle and finally came to a stop. “I’m getting out to check the tracks.”
Liliana joined him in front of the SUV.
Cody squatted and examined the tire tracks. “Motorcycles. Two.”
Liliana walked forward and squinted into the setting sun. “I think they’re headed toward the series of canyons where we found the cattle. See?” She gestured toward some dust faintly
coloring the western horizon.
“We need to check that area out more thoroughly. Something’s going on out there.”
“It won’t be tonight. It’ll be dark in half an hour.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes. There’s nothing more we can do now. We should be able to follow the tracks tomorrow.”
Back in his SUV, Cody turned around and drove back toward Carlos’s house. Halfway there his cell phone rang. He answered.
Liliana stared out the side window, but she didn’t have to see his face to know it was tensed in a frown as he conversed with his son.
“Tonight? I don’t know with all that’s happened lately. You have a test tomorrow, and you’re just starting to study?”
The silence in the SUV that followed that statement hung in the air like thick, storm clouds.
“I expect you home by nine.” When he disconnected, he snapped his phone closed and stuffed it in his pocket.
“Your son?”
“At least he called to tell me he was going to study with some friends he’s met at school. A history test tomorrow.”
“That’s nice he’s getting to know some others.”
“He mentioned an Aaron Taylor. Do you know him?”
“I know Aaron’s oldest sister. She was a year behind me in school.”
“Does she live here?”
“No, she moved away a couple of years ago after she got married. The last time I saw her was at her wedding. Sad affair. Her family didn’t come.”
“Why not?” Cody parked his SUV next to Liliana’s car.
“Because she married a man with a Hispanic background and the Taylor family felt she married beneath her.”
Frowning, he angled toward her. “Does Aaron believe that?”
“I don’t know for sure, but his father is very vocal and controlling.”
“So Aaron is bad news?”
“I can’t answer that either. He’s never been in trouble with the law. Other than that, I don’t know.”
The earlier tension returned. “I’d hoped this wouldn’t happen when we moved here.”
Shattered Silence: Men of the Texas Rangers Series #2 Page 12
