She lowered herself over the edge and two minutes later she was standing below the cave. Leaving the rope dangling down the cliff, she hurried to find her horse she’d hidden behind the boulders. She hoped she wasn’t gone so long that another truckload of guns arrived, but she’d gotten the feeling from what the men had said that was the last shipment they’d delivered. In the saddle, she spurred her horse into a run, hugging the area near the rocks until she had no choice but to cross the flat, arid land toward Carlos’s ranch. There she knew she had cell reception.
Thoughts of the location of Carlos’s ranch sparked an idea. Was his place a front for the shipments of guns? It was the most direct route to the cliffs and the caves and easily accessed from the highway. Had Carlos been involved? Carlos never said anything to Miguel or Señor Flores about seeing lights or trucks crossing the ranch. Could he have been paid to turn a blind eye to the comings and goings of trucks at odd hours of the day? Or had he been more involved? She couldn’t see him not knowing they had used his place as a way to cut across the rough terrain to the canyons.
About a third of the way to the ranch, Liliana tried her cell. No bars still. She rode as fast as she could but kept checking the phone for any reception. Halfway across the wide-open expanse one bar appeared. Slowing her horse, she punched in Chief Winters’s number. He wouldn’t be involved. She’d known the man half her life and his integrity had been proven countless times. Bottom line, she had no choice but to trust him.
It rang two times, then nothing. She looked at her cell. She’d lost the one bar. Spurring her mare, she rode hard for a minute then slowed and tried to call again.
Chief Winters picked up on the first ring. “What’s happening?”
“We found a ring of gun smugglers using the canyons behind Carlos Salazar’s ranch. They’re in the process of making a last shipment before shutting down the operation. I think they’re using a cavern system that goes under the Rio Grande. They just delivered ten crates of guns to a cave on the west side of the box canyon where we found some of Carlos’s lost cattle.”
“We’re coming. Meet me at the ranch to show us the way.”
She knew the wisdom in those words, but she hated leaving Cody by himself in the cavern. Not that he couldn’t take care of himself, but he was outnumbered and outgunned.
As the women left Jackie’s den at Grace House, Elena remained seated. “I’m not like these others. My husband loves me.”
Jackie closed the Bible she’d read during the afternoon session and put it on the table next to her. “Why do you think your husband loves you?”
“Well, that’s obvious. He married me.”
“There are a lot of reasons to marry and love is certainly one of them, but it isn’t always why two people marry.”
“That might have been true hundreds of years ago or even today in other countries, but not here in America.”
Jackie pinned her with an assessing look. “Why else do you think your husband loves you?”
Although she was only thirty-two, a hot flash suffused her body. Elena held up her left wrist, the diamonds in the bracelet glittering in the light pouring into the room through the window behind her. “He’s always giving me gifts. He gave this to me last week for no reason.”
“Nothing happened to cause him to do that?”
Remembering what had occurred before Samuel left for work that morning, Elena shifted, the action sending pain from her cracked rib knifing through her. She held her breath, trying not to cause her chest to rise and fall. It didn’t work. She fumbled next to her for her purse and grabbed the pain pills the doctor prescribed for her. After taking one, she met Jackie’s gaze.
“What do you mean?” Elena raised her chin, fighting the memories of the humiliating words that had spewed from her husband’s mouth with the children in the next room.
“Did he hit you?”
“No.”
“Did he belittle you, put you down in anyway?”
“He was trying to help me be a better wife. He works hard to give us a beautiful home. We don’t want for anything.” She ran her finger along the string of diamonds on the bracelet, recalling the feeling she’d initially had when he’d given it to her. Elation that he wasn’t angry with her anymore.
“So because he does that, you feel you shouldn’t have a say in your marriage?”
“He brings in the money.”
“Did you want to work?”
“I don’t need to.”
“That wasn’t my question. Did you want to work?”
Elena lowered her gaze. “A while ago I asked him if I could get a part-time job now that Sammy is almost four. Next fall he’ll be in an all-day program for his age group at school.”
“And he said no.”
It wasn’t a question, but Elena said, “Yes. But he’s right. He doesn’t want his wife working. I shouldn’t have told him I needed something more. I made it sound like I was ungrateful to him.”
Jackie scooted to the edge of her chair, strain from the movement etching pain into her features. “It’s been ten years, but I’m still constantly reminded of not pleasing my husband no matter what I did—to the point he ran me down with his car and sped away, leaving me to die. You know how it all started that day? I wanted to go to lunch with an old friend from high school. He didn’t want me to. In fact, he didn’t want me to be involved with others. I hardly saw my family and all my friends had fallen to the wayside because I kept saying no to their invitations to do something. I was so lonely and unhappy.” She patted both legs. “These may not work as well as they used to and still hurt me even ten years later, but I’m happy and I’m not alone anymore.”
After picking up her forearm crutches, she planted them in front of her and struggled to her feet. “Please think about what these women said today and come back. You’re welcome here anytime. Please mingle and talk to the others. I have a few calls I need to make before thinking of what to prepare for dinner. It’s my night to cook.”
Elbows on the arms of the chair, Elena buried her face in her hands. That discussion about her getting a part-time job led to the latest trip to the hospital. He’d made it clear that under no circumstances could she work outside of their home. She’d dared to question his decision. She shouldn’t—
Her cell buzzed in her pocket. Without looking to see who was calling, she answered it. When she heard her husband’s deep baritone voice tell her he missed her, she sank back against the cushion.
“Elena, love. Are you there? Don’t hang up, please.”
The word please, so rarely used by Samuel, melted her anger. She cradled the phone to her ear and took in shallow breaths to keep the pain to a dull ache. Why did she even want to work, when he gave her everything she could need? “I’m here.”
“It’s so good to hear your voice. I miss you. Please come home, baby.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
The lack of irritation in his voice gave her a seed of hope. “You hurt me bad.”
“I didn’t mean it. I’d had a frustrating day at work. A big loan was defaulted. I lost control. I won’t do that again.”
“How do I know you mean what you say?”
“Trust me, baby. You know I love you. Go outside and take a look.”
“I’m not at Liliana’s.”
“I know you aren’t and I’m not there. I’m at home. Waiting and hoping you’ll return to me.” How did he know where she was? Then she remembered the people he knew being the president of the largest bank in the area. He had extensive connections and resources.
“I don’t know. It hurts to breathe deeply.”
“Go outside. I’ll do anything to make it up to you. I’ll even let you volunteer outside the home. That’ll give you something to do. I’m at home waiting, love.” Samuel disconnected.
Elena kept her cell at her ear for a long moment, not knowing what to do. Then her curiosity wormed its way into her thoughts. It wouldn’t hurt for her to
go out on the front porch and take a look. She’d leave the door open. She’d be safe.
The tunnel angled downward. Crouching, Cody made his way deeper into the system of caverns beneath the rocky cliffs overlooking the box canyon. The smugglers’ voices still drifted to him. They seemed to be waiting for someone or something. More guns?
He came to a fork in the passageway and chose the one on his left. Still using as little light as he could to see the area in front of him, he continued on the path that slanted down at a ten- to twenty-degree angle.
Once, he clicked off his flashlight and glanced around. Pitch black. Not a ray of light coming from any direction. If it weren’t for the voices he could still hear, raised in an argument, the sensation of being totally cut off from humans could easily swamp him. Liliana had indicated she didn’t like small spaces. He didn’t like the dark.
Turning the light back on, he proceeded cautiously. The distance between the ceiling and floor began to shrink again. Moving far enough away from the ledge he’d perched on to view the men below, he decided to shine the flashlight in full brilliance to check out the tunnel before he went any further.
Its glow illuminated hundreds of bats hanging everywhere. First one, then another, and another squeaked and flew past him. In seconds, the whole ceiling moved and bats filled the air as they zoomed toward the tunnel entrance, their wings flapping, their sounds giving his presence away.
As Liliana neared Carlos’s barn and house, smoke mushroomed up into the sky as though a nuclear bomb had gone off. She increased her speed and minutes later charged around the barn into the yard. The crackling of the fire vied with the pounding of her horse’s hooves on the hard ground. The scent of smoke saturated the air with a suffocating smell.
She dismounted and called 9-1-1. Her mare pulled on the reins she held, her eyes wide as it stared at the fire across the yard. After reporting the fire, she put her horse in the trailer in the barn. The wind blew the smoke and flames away from the barn so her mare was all right.
But until others came, she turned on the hose and doused the barn and the area surrounding it. The house was gone. All the fire department would be able to do was contain the flames from spreading and becoming a wildfire.
Within minutes, two patrol cars and Chief Winters’s four-wheel drive Ford 150 sped down the road from the highway. In the distance, Liliana heard the sirens of the fire trucks not far behind the police.
Chief Winters strode to her. “Do you know how this happened?”
“No, but I suspect it was the truckload of men who delivered the guns. They left here not too long ago.”
“Why burn the house?”
“They couldn’t find what they were looking for yesterday?”
“The murder cases just get more difficult each day. This is the second fire in a week. Is Victor Ruiz’s death connected to Carlos Salazar’s?”
“We don’t know. All three murders could be, somehow.”
“We’ll leave as soon as the fire department arrives. I’ve called the Texas Rangers in San Antonio. They’re sending a chopper.”
“We can’t wait too long. They were moving the guns. May have already.” Liliana relived the darkness of the cave, its isolation, the fact it was filled with men who smuggled guns across the border. And Cody was there alone, waiting for their return. What if the smugglers discovered him?
Kyle came into Al Garcia’s living room and planted himself in front of the lounge chair where the man sat. “Where’s Dad? I called the police station and tried his cell again. No one is telling me anything.”
Garcia glanced up and put his book down in his lap. “When I worked this area, I often went out of cell reception. It happens. I’m sure he’s working the murder cases with Detective Rodriguez and will call when he can. It’s only four.”
“You’re hiding something from me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know. I seem to be an afterthought to my dad. Someone tried to kill him last night and now I can’t get hold of him.”
“I know you’re concerned about him, but he can take care of himself.”
“He isn’t invincible, and you don’t know how I feel.” Kyle spun on his heel and stormed from the room.
This man was a stranger to him. He couldn’t stay here. He wasn’t the one in danger anyway. He went to the bedroom “assigned” to him, grabbed his backpack, and stuffed it with some of his belongings and all the money he’d been saving for a car. Dad didn’t know about that and probably wouldn’t approve. But when he got his license, he wanted his own car. He wished he had it now. He could get into it and drive to Houston. Instead, he was stuck in Durango. But that didn’t mean he had to be stuck here with Al.
He crossed to the window, opened it and jumped to the ground. He didn’t need a babysitter. He wasn’t staying.
“What was that noise?”
The excited question sliced through the darkness, freezing Cody as the last bats flew by him. The slight breeze created by their wings brushed past his face. The rancid ammonia smell of their guano nauseated him.
“Bats . . . getting towards evening . . .”
Cody couldn’t hear what else was said as the men in the cavern below lowered their voices. Now that the bats were gone, he crept forward, still hoping that the tunnel that slanted downward would bring him to the lower chamber.
Halfway through a narrow passage he became stuck, not an inch of room on all four sides. A jagged rock hooked his shirt, gouging his flesh. The stone pressed against him like a tight- fitting coffin. His heartbeat sped up, his breathing ragged. He tried to wiggle forward. He couldn’t. Sweat drenched him. With his arms pinned against him, he pushed backwards. And went nowhere. Trapped.
Elena stepped out onto the porch, her gaze latched on to the gleaming metallic blue Lexus that matched the silver one Samuel had. A large red bow sat on top of the car. A box on the porch with the same kind of bow perched a few feet from her. Her name in bold letters on the present drew her forward.
This was the car she’d wanted for the past year, but Samuel didn’t think she needed a new one. Although her Chevy was five years old, it only had forty thousand miles on it. She picked up the present and opened it. Inside was a set of keys and a note from Samuel.
Her hand shook as she read his message. “I love you. Will you forgive me? Whether you do or not, this Lexus is yours.”
Tears smarted Elena’s eyes, the words I love you burning into her mind. He really was sorry this time. Elena descended the stairs to the sidewalk.
“Don’t, Elena.”
Gasping, she whirled around, her hand going to her chest. “You scared me.”
“Sorry. I thought that when I walk I make enough noise to alert anyone. Is that a gift from your husband?”
“Yes. See, I told you he loved me. Do you know how much one of these cars cost?”
“I’m sure a lot. But money doesn’t equate with love.”
Elena pulled the set of keys from the box and started toward the Lexus. “Tell my sister I have come to my senses.”
As Elena drove away from Grace House, she saw Jackie making a call on her cell phone. She’d already tried getting hold of Liliana. She wasn’t available, which would give Elena time to work everything out with Samuel. She could be home tonight sleeping in her own bed with a husband who realized he’d gone too far this time and was sorry for doing it.
Cody pushed all the air out of his lungs that he could and shoved himself forward. His shirt ripped, the rock scraping a deep groove into his back. But he kept moving inch by inch. His chest burned. The lack of air made him lightheaded.
Finally, freed from the stone prison, he inhaled deep gulps, filling his lungs with precious oxygen. The stench of the bats still lingering, he shone his flashlight down the tunnel and noted the continued narrowness. He had no choice. He had to go forward and prayed he would make it.
Close to five o’clock, Liliana led Chief Winters and two police officers through the pa
ssageway above the hidden entrance into the cavern while Officer Robertson stayed back to alert the Texas Rangers when they arrived. The state police were coordinating with the Mexican authorities to be ready to grab anyone on the other side of the border once they found the location where the tunnel that ran under the Rio Grande came out, if that were the case.
The third time through the narrow passage didn’t bother Liliana as much, but then her thoughts were with Cody. What if he had gotten caught? When she reached the section that afforded her a view of the large chamber below, she peered over the ledge, concerned that she didn’t hear any people talking. What if they were too late?
A few faint lights lit the cavernous room, but the crates were gone and nobody even stood guard down below. The smugglers were gone and there was no indication where Cody was. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead and upper lip. Had he been captured by them, and had they hightailed it out of here with Cody in tow?
“Where are they?” Chief Winters whispered next to Liliana.
She shook her head.
“Where’s Ranger Jackson? I thought he would be waiting for us.”
“If they left, he would follow them.”
“Or they caught him.”
“When I left he was checking to see where this tunnel led to. He hoped he could find a way down to the chamber where the guns were since we didn’t know how to open the cave entrance from below.”
“Then let’s follow the tunnel and see where it takes us.” Chief Winters went first with Liliana following him and the two officers coming up behind her.
When the chief reached a narrow part of the passageway, he stopped and checked it out. “I can’t get through there. We need to go back. I don’t see how Ranger Jackson came this way.”
Shattered Silence: Men of the Texas Rangers Series #2 Page 17
