Her Good Name

by Josi S. Kilpack

  Eduardo kept talking. “We need to wait for tomorrow night to load, like we planned.”

  “We don’t have that long,” Chressaidia said, whipping around. “You’ve got the truck. Let’s load it now. We can keep it on the street until we get to the warehouse and pick up the formula.” The morning paper had talked about Frederico, mentioning his ties to a militant group in South America and giving a detailed description of his wife, whom the police were still looking for. Having that kind of attention changed everything.

  “You’re overreacting,” Eduardo said with an uncharacteristic dominance in his voice.

  Chressaidia came and stopped directly in front of him. “Do not question me,” she said. “Too much has changed. They’ve found Frederico. Someone went to my PO Box. We need to get out of here.”

  “I’ve spent weeks working out these details. Changing them now is not an option. We need to stick to the original plan, and we can’t show up to receive the formula with boxes of gun parts already in the truck.”

  “Maybe you should ask Frederico about whether plans sometimes have to change.”

  Eduardo made no reaction.

  “We’re moving the product,” she said in slow, calculated words. After holding his eyes for a few more moments, she turned away and went back to clearing out the hotel room. “Do not get in my way, Eduardo.”

  Chapter 82

  Idaho Falls, Idaho

  Livvy finished explaining and braced herself for an “I told you so” from her older sister. Chrissy was silent on the other end of the phone.

  “Livvy,” she finally said. “I am so glad you thought to go to the house. I’m only sorry I’m not there.”

  Livvy felt herself relax a little bit more. “I’ve got most of our stuff packed—well, not the furniture, I’m not sure what to do about that since I can’t move it myself—but I’ve got our clothes and things. I have a call in to my real estate agent, to see if I can cancel the sale, but there’s no furniture or food there anyway. Can we stay here, at your house, in the meantime?”

  “Of course,” Chrissy said. “As long as you need to.”

  Livvy let out a breath and threw the last garbage sack of clothes into the backseat of the car. The whole time she’d been packing she’d feared Doug would come home, wondering why she wasn’t at work. She had no idea what she’d say to him, how she’d explain. But the fear motivated her to move faster, believing that because she was finally doing the right thing, it would turn out okay.

  “Thank you, Chriss,” she said quietly. They both paused. “Now, what are you doing in California?”

  “Oh, it’s been such a mess,” she said and went on to explain a story that sounded almost unreal, it was so intense. “I’m trying to get things figured out. It’s really weird to have someone living this whole other life in my name.”

  “Oh, hey,” Livvy said, remembering the strange phone call she’d had a few days ago. “Maybe that’s why that guy called me.”

  “What guy?”

  “The one who called and asked me about the baby.”

  Chrissy was quiet for a moment. “What baby?”

  Chapter 83

  Imperial Beach, California

  Eduardo was in the driver’s seat of what used to be a moving van but that had been repainted white, though the paint was now dinged and scratched after years of use. The vinyl seats were cracked and the ride was bumpy, but it seemed like a luxury vehicle compared to the old trucks the army was using to move their war forward. It would be an added bonus to present the soldiers with this truck in addition to the guns.

  Chressaidia had been thinking a lot about the reunion, about the honor she would receive for accomplishing this task. Even the death of Frederico could not mar the tribute they would show her when she arrived at the camp. She was so anxious to get there, so anxious to shed the life of Chressaidia Salazar and take her place among the generals—the men—and now a woman—who would change the world.

  Eduardo pulled up to the number pad at the storage unit’s gate and typed in the entry code, then sat back against the driver’s seat as the big metal gate rolled open. “It’s not safe to leave this on the street,” he said. “We need to find somewhere else to store the truck and somewhere to put the guns while we load the formula.”

  “We will find somewhere,” Chressaidia said. “We only need to keep it there for thirty-six hours.”

  Eduardo nodded and took the first right down a paved aisle wide enough for a large van, like theirs, and lined with storage bays. He took the next left, then another right. “What do you have left to do before we go?”

  “I have two more dealers to meet with,” she said. “I’m meeting them tonight. Then I only need to dispose of the documents.”

  The truck rolled to a stop, and Chressaidia opened the passenger door, fingering the small, gold key in her pocket. She reached the bay and lifted her hand to grab the lock. Her whole body froze as she looked at the empty latch. For a moment she couldn’t compute what she was seeing. Was she at the wrong unit? Had she made a mistake? She looked up and confirmed the numbers as heat rushed through her. In the next instant she looked at the ground and saw the cut lock lying on the asphalt. Her heart was thumping as she pulled up the storage door and rushed inside.

  Eduardo swore behind her. She turned on him, her eyes full of rage as she counted the boxes and came up half a dozen short. “What have you done to me?”

  Eduardo’s eyes went wide. “Me? I’ve done nothing.”

  “You are the only person who knows about this place. You are the only one left who can betray me.”

  “I’m the only one left who can make this work,” Eduardo returned with anger and offense. “I did not—would not—do this. What good would a portion of gun parts be to me? And if I’d wanted to steal them, I’d have done it a long time ago.”

  Chapter 84

  San Diego, California

  Long?”

  Detective Long looked up from his desk and made eye contact with the officer standing in the doorway of his office. “What?”

  “I found something on that Salazar woman.”

  Long lifted his eyebrows, waiting to hear it.

  “She was arrested on our warrant in Idaho Falls a week ago. She’s been living in Idaho for almost five years.”

  “A week ago?” Long asked.

  “Right,” the desk officer said, coming into Long’s office. “A few days after that, there was also a request for the Salazar fraud report that had been filed here. The request was from a public defender in Idaho Falls, and a fraud report was filed in Idaho as well—also by Salazar. I called and left a message for the attorney but talked to the receptionist. The Salazar they have been dealing with is appearing in court next week, and they’re developing a case of mistaken identity. The receptionist is faxing me some information, including some statements showing local purchases made in Idaho on the day Salazar was arrested here and fingerprints they took when they booked her for the failure to appear.”

  “So basically, there are two of them and the Idaho woman is probably the right one.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Which means we have no idea who we’re looking for.”

  “Pretty much.”

  Chapter 85

  Chrissy and Micah walked side by side down the gleaming hallway of the San Diego hospital. Livvy had gone online to try to identify the hospital that had called her. They all hoped she’d found the right one.

  “So, what do we do?” Micah asked, moving toward Chrissy so as to avoid a piece of equipment in the hallway.

  “I don’t know,” she said. The nursing station came into view, and she shared a look with Micah as they approached the desk. They had to come. The idea of a baby being part of this upped the stakes to a whole different level and the hospital was the only lead they had.

  “Can I help you?” a woman asked. Her sleek black hair was pulled into a twist and caught the fluorescent lighting overhead. Even when Chrissy straightened her h
air it was never that straight, that shiny.

  “Yes, I’m looking for some information,” Chrissy said. “I’m looking for a woman who had a baby here sometime in the last month or so.”

  The woman’s face lost some of its softness as Chrissy continued. “I’m just wondering if there were some nurses I could talk to? Maybe someone who worked when she was here and can give me some information?”

  “We can’t give out any information about a patient.”

  Duh, of course they wouldn’t. “Well, see, she used my name,” Chrissy tried to explain. “And she’s in all kinds of trouble. I’m really worried about this baby. Isn’t there someone I can talk to about it? Someone who could, you know, follow-up on the baby, make sure it’s okay?”

  “That’s not what we do,” the woman said.

  “What do you mean that’s not what you do? You take care of mothers and babies, and this baby is in trouble.”

  “Um,” Micah broke in, using a calm and reasonable tone. “We’re just trying to get some help for this child. Is there a social worker, or someone like that we can talk to? Really, we’re not trying to pull anything.”

  The woman looked between the two of them. “I guess I could send a note to our social service director.” She pulled out a notepad. “What’s your name?”

  “Chrissy Salazar. Chressaidia Josefina Salazar.”

  The woman’s head whipped up, and another nurse at the station looked over at her. They shared a look and the other nurse picked up the phone. Chrissy took a step backward, but Micah grabbed her arm to keep her from going any further.

  “You’ve done nothing wrong,” Micah whispered, his breath making the hair around her ear move. “Let’s play this out.”

  Two minutes later the sound of heavy footsteps caused Chrissy and Micah to turn and see two blue-clad security guards coming toward them. Her heart leapt in her chest, and only Micah’s hand on her arm gave her any reason not to bolt.

  Chapter 86

  Imperial Beach, California

  Teri turned the key in the outside lock of The Box Stop and tested the doorknob to make sure it was secure. It was two o’clock and since she was working alone—again—she locked up the store while she took her lunch break. She turned away from the building and headed for the burger joint on the corner, curious as to the smell of gasoline in the air. But there were often weird smells and weirder people in this part of town. Probably some teenage kids were huffing around the side of the building. It was of no concern to her; she had bigger problems to think about. Like what to do about her job.

  If they didn’t hire another person to help her run the desk, she was going to quit. Between the ten-hour shifts she’d been pulling all week and the scary Mexican chick who had threatened her yesterday, she’d had about enough. She pulled a crumpled pack of smokes from her pocket—the generic kind because they were cheaper—and paused to light up real fast. She was holding the lighter to the end of her cigarette when all of a sudden an arm circled around her neck, pulling her toward the back of the building.

  “What the—” Another hand reached up and covered her mouth. Panic shot through her arms, legs, and spine. She started screaming and kicking, but the arms that held her were strong, and despite her clawing and fighting, she couldn’t gain any advantage. Within moments she was behind the building, shielded from the street.

  Someone stood in front of her. A woman. She bent down and picked up Teri’s lighter that had fallen to the ground. Teri stopped fighting and took sucking breaths through her nostrils. She stared at the woman. It was that scary Mexican chick from yesterday. What is going on?

  The woman flicked the wheel on the lighter, igniting the flame, and started walking toward Teri, holding the lighter in front.

  Teri pulled back as the lighter came within inches of her face, close enough to singe her hair. The man holding her from behind tightened his grip and pushed her forward, toward the flame. Smelling burnt hair and feeling her mascara melt with the intense heat of the little flame, Teri started screaming again behind the hand held over her mouth. She curled her body back against her captor, but he pushed her forward. It was the middle of the day, wasn’t anyone around? Would anyone help her?

  “Someone got my mail,” the Mexican woman said in that deep monotone voice Teri remembered from yesterday. “And you are going to tell me who.” She moved the lighter down to the sleeve of Teri’s T-shirt and held it there until the fabric began to singe. Searing heat enveloped her arm, and Teri screamed again and struggled as her flesh burned.

  Suddenly the woman hit her arm where the heat had been growing, putting out the flame, and sending a whole new level of pain through Teri. She thought she might pass out. Her eyes moved to the woman’s face again, and she nodded quickly. She’d tell her everything she wanted to know.

  “If you scream,” the woman said as Teri felt the hand on her mouth relax, “we’ll have to start over.”

  Teri shook her head. Once free, her breaths were hesitant and she had to hold herself back from crying. Her arm still felt as if it were on fire and in addition to the burning hair, the smell of cooked skin now filled the air as well. She was going to throw up.

  “Who was it?” the woman asked.

  “A woman,” Teri choked.

  “What was her name?”

  “She had ID and everything.”

  “ID?”

  “Yes, a driver’s license. Her name matched the box.”

  “Salazar?” the woman asked abruptly.

  Teri nodded. “Yes, she said it was her box. I swear, I didn’t know. I—”

  “Tell me everything.”

  Teri swallowed and proceeded to give her an exact account of every detail; even down to the red-and-black car she’d arrived in.

  “What time was this?”

  “In the morning, around eleven. Right before you came in.”

  “Has she come back?”

  Teri nodded. “Yes, today, but I didn’t give her anything. She brought a man with her, this time. She called him Michael or Mike or—”

  “Micah,” the woman said quickly, her eyebrows going up with surprise.

  “Yes,” Teri said, gaining confidence. She was giving this woman what she wanted. That was good. She’d be okay. “Maybe she’ll come back tomorrow. If she does, I could keep her here till you come.”

  The woman nodded. Teri felt her first ray of hope. The woman wasn’t a monster; she could be reasonable. Teri would get away. She’d go home and call the police.

  “You could do that,” the woman said as if she were considering it, then her eyes moved to the man behind Teri. She nodded and Teri let out a breath as the grip around her neck relaxed. But in the next instant something cold and wet poured over her head.

  “What—?” She tried to figure out what was happening as she looked at the liquid dripping off her fingers. And then she smelled gasoline again. The last thing she saw was the woman flicking her lighter to life one last time.

  Chapter 87

  Idaho Falls, Idaho

  The phone rang, making Livvy jump. She stared at it. Was it Doug? Had he figured out where she was? The kids were playing outside, and she was cleaning up the kitchen, trying to take confidence in what she’d done, but missing Doug like crazy, even though she felt sick about it. On the second ring she went to the phone. The caller ID read “Unknown number,” and Livvy bit her lip, wrestling over whether she should answer or not. After six rings—and still no decision—the phone stopped, and she let out a breath. She didn’t have to worry about it now. She was two steps away from the phone when it started ringing again.

  It’s not my house, she said to herself. There was no reason to answer and if Chrissy needed to talk to her, she’d call Livvy’s cell. It stopped ringing again, but she stayed there, staring at it. What if it was Doug trying to call? What if he could explain himself? The idea both repulsed her and gave her hope. Maybe she had misunderstood, maybe she was overreacting.

  The phone rang again, and sh
e jumped.

  Rosa’s voice startled her even further. “Mom, aren’t you going to answer the phone?”

  “Oh, sorry,” Livvy said, and she picked it up on the third ring.

  “Chressaidia Salazar?” a crisp-sounding voice with a hint of a Latin accent asked before Livvy even said hello.

  It wasn’t Doug. Relief and disappointment flooded through Livvy. “No, she’s not here.”

  “Where is she?” the woman on the line asked.

  “Who is this?”

  “This is Maria Vasquez from City Bank. Someone tried to use her debit card out of state, and I’m calling to verify it. There have been problems with her account lately.”

  “Oh,” Livvy said, wishing she knew more about the situation. “Yeah, well, where was the charge made?”

  “I’m afraid I cannot give out that information. Perhaps you could tell me where she went and I can see if that’s the same location.”

  “She’s in California. I don’t know where exactly, but it’s all part of the account problems you mentioned, I think. She won’t be home for a few days. Could I have her call you?”

  There was silence on the other end of the line. “And she’s traveling with someone?” the woman asked. “We have another signature on a charge and wondered if she was with a companion. We can put him on the record and then let the charges go through. We believe his name is Micah Heet.”

  They can do that, over the phone? Livvy thought. “Um, who do you represent again?” The line clicked. “Hello?” she said as the line went dead. “Hello?”

  Chapter 88

  San Diego, California

  Chrissy explained her situation to the security guard, who had kept Micah out in the hall. When the security guard left the room, she fell forward onto the table, letting her hair hang over her face and fantasizing that when she flipped it back up, she’d be on a beach somewhere, sipping fancy drinks with fresh fruit in them and watching the waves roll in and out.