Sonoran Sun

by Sharon Canipe

  Lin carefully explained her own thinking taking care not to go too far with her personal conclusions. “I think that when a person dies, the body no longer can heal itself so these wounds occurred near the time of Doug’s death…”

  “…and a person in handcuffs can’t hang themselves…” Susan quickly jumped in to finish the thought. “If Doug didn’t commit suicide then how did he die?” Susan’s eyes were suddenly alive with questioning.

  “It seems to me that you would be well within your rights to try to get someone to investigate Doug’s death further. As his wife, you could do that. After all many death benefits won’t pay if a person commits suicide.” Lin opined.

  “That’s certainly true. Doug’s insurance company has already contacted me,” Susan lamented. “But how do I go about getting such an investigation. I don’t know where to start.”

  This struck Lin immediately. This young mother with no family nearby and few friends in her community needed someone to help her—to support her in seeking justice for herself and her dead husband. Lin had never been able to walk away from someone who needed such assistance, and this time was no different. “I’d suggest you get a lawyer to help you. Someone who knows the regulations and can help you to channel your request properly.”

  “I don’t know any lawyers,” Susan Davison seemed lost.

  Just then Lin remembered that she was still waiting to hear from Rich Lafferty. She didn’t know Rich, but if he were anything like his friend David Cameron, he would be willing to help Susan; Lin felt sure. “There is a lawyer here in Tucson whom I will be talking with sometime soon on another matter. I don’t know him, but a friend of mine recommended him to us, and I feel sure he is reliable and dependable. If you would like, I can give you his number and when he calls me I could mention your concerns and tell him to expect a call from you.”

  “Thank you. I really would like to talk to someone who could help. You’ve been a great help to me. I need information, but with the baby to care for and not much money to pay sitters, I’m pretty limited in how easily I can get away from home. I appreciate your offering to speak to this attorney about me. I really need some help here.

  Lin was moved by the young woman’s situation. No one should have to face such circumstances alone. “I’ll be glad to speak to him, and if I learn anything more that might help you, I’ll be sure to get in touch.”

  “You’ve already helped. At least now I feel like I can do something about all this,” Susan rose to leave. “Please stay in touch and I will call you if I learn anything more also.”

  “You bet,” Lin said. “I’ll do the same.” She gave Susan Davison a friendly hug and walked out with her into the stifling afternoon heat. As she parted company with Susan and headed toward her car, she scanned the skies for evidence of an impending afternoon shower but saw nothing encouraging. The car was like an oven when she opened the door. The steering wheel actually felt as if it would burn her hands. She wished she had one of those reflective shades she’d seen in the windshields of many parked cars. She and Neal should have bought one when they first arrived. She left the door open, lowered all the windows and turned on the AC with the fan on high to drive out some of the hot air before she headed home. While she was waiting her cell rang. It was Rich Lafferty returning her call.

  She began the conversation by introducing herself and explaining that she got his name from David Cameron.

  “I was calling to see if David had shared with you any of the information he got regarding this case. I don’t want to violate any issues of confidentiality, but those of us closest to the matter were wondering about any information that might’ve been released regarding the murder weapon in either of these cases.

  “I’m sorry Ms. Hanna,” Lafferty replied politely. “David did leave all the reports he had with me. I haven’t had time to review all of them as yet and I understand I may not even need to at this point; however, in any case, I could only share the information I have with Dr. Dawkins should he wish me to do so. He is, or would be, my client, not yourself.”

  Lin had figured as much but at the moment she was happy to know that he did have some information about the investigation and presumably that might include more information about the murder weapon. “ I do understand, Mr. Lafferty. I will share this information with Dr. Dawkins and I feel certain he will be in touch with you if he is concerned. I also need to let you know that I have given your name to Susan Davison. Her husband was Doug Davison, the young man who was found dead in his cell at the jail—the one authorities think did both these killings. She has concerns about the information in the ME report on her husband’s death.”

  “I see. Well, tell her to call and I ‘ll be glad to review the report and help her with any questions if I see there is a need,” Lafferty responded, “Now if you’ll excuse me I have a client waiting.” Rich Lafferty ended the call.

  By this time the car was beginning to feel somewhat more comfortable so Lin closed the door and windows and started back to the casita. It was approaching mid-afternoon and she was feeling much better about the cases than she had yesterday. Of course, now there were even more questions—especially about the death of Doug Davison—but she felt certain that Susan would pursue this and she planned to help her in any way that she could—at least as long as she remained here in Tucson. This thought brought to mind her serious need to discuss things with Neal and try to heal the distance she now felt between them. She also had to convince Chris Dawkins that he did want to talk to Rich Lafferty. That might be tough given the fact that he was already practically heading out of town. I have to try anyway, Lin thought. I owe it to Susan Davison to make sure her husband doesn’t get blamed for things he didn’t do.

  ***

  As she approached the casita where she and Neal were staying, Lin noted that Chris Dawkins’s car was parked at his place a couple of doors down. That meant that he and Marla were likely both back and Neal would be back also. She felt a bit nervous as she pulled into the driveway. She still wasn’t sure how to approach talking with him about her own feelings and about her activities. She wasn’t sure why she felt that way. She and Neal had disagreed before—often about this same issue, but they’d always been able to work it out between them. Maybe it was simply the fact that now they were planning to be married in less than a month and their relationship would take on a new permanence. This is important, Lin thought. We have to be able to talk freely about such issues. She felt a firm sense of resolve as she approached the door.

  She found Neal in the darkened bedroom stretched out on the bed clad only in his boxers. At first she thought he was asleep but when she reached to put her bag down on the dresser he opened his eyes.

  “There you are,” he said, “I was wondering where you were. You didn’t leave a note.” He sounded a bit hurt.

  I’m sorry if you were worried.” Lin replied sincerely, “actually, I didn’t expect to be out this late when I left this morning. I was only going for coffee and to make a few phone calls and I expected to be back here for lunch but something came up. I knew that you and Chris were busy or I would’ve called.”

  “I suppose you’ve been playing detective again,” Neal said a bit sullenly, “I could tell last night that you weren’t satisfied that Doug Davison was guilty of these murders…” he sat up on the edge of the bed, “ dammit Lin, you scare me sometimes with these things, you always want all the answers and you’re forever getting involved it seems. I’m always afraid something horrible is going to happen, I…” he stopped, all choked up and unable to say anything more.”

  Lin wanted to embrace him to comfort him and reassure him as she had so many times before. In fact, she’d thought this issue had been settled between them on more than one occasion when they’d talked earlier. This time she actually felt angry about things. She was tired of having to address the same issue over and over again.

  “Neal, I’m not sure what to say to you right now. I’ve told you many times in the past how
I do understand your feelings. We’ve talked about our fears for each other and how much we care about and love each other. I still feel the same way and I think you do too. It seems to me you just want to have your way about all this. You don’t seem willing to let me pursue my own interests at such times. I’ll have to say I was upset to learn that you’d already made our travel arrangements without even talking to me about them. I don’t disagree with your choice of dates—I want to get back and move forward with our wedding plans as much as you do, but I still think we might have talked about this—together. I am fully prepared for us to leave Tucson on Wednesday, but in the time we have left here, I intend to try to find some answers to the questions remaining in this case. I had lunch with Susan Davison, Doug’s widow, today, and frankly, I learned a lot. In fact I think Doug’s death wasn’t a suicide at all. I think these killings are far from resolved. Susan is a young woman with a young child and no family or friends to support her. She needs backing to pursue her own legitimate questions about her husbands death and….” Lin stopped in mid-sentence, realizing that she was on some sort of tirade here—going on and on.

  Neal got up from the bed and approached her, taking her in his arms and drawing her close. She could feel his heart beating against her face and his body stirring against hers. She discovered by surprise that she was crying, tears of frustration and anger coursing down her cheeks.

  “Please don’t be angry with me, Lin,” Neal buried his face in her hair. “You’re right. We have talked about all this and every time we do, I think I have my feelings under control, but they come surging back and my overprotective self takes over.”

  “And then your desires, and mine, take over and we both forget the importance of talking to each other.” Lin pulled back from his embrace. “I believe in kissing and making up, but I think I have a better idea. “Let’s get on our swimsuits and hit the pool to cool off, then I want to tell you all about my conversation with Susan and the other things I did today. I think when I finish you’ll agree with me that this case is not solved and someone needs to keep asking questions.” Lin smiled, “Then we can come back here and you can satisfy your every desire, and mine. After that maybe Chris and Marla would like to join us for dinner—I think Marla may be heading home tomorrow.”

  Neal relaxed his hold on her, stood back, and smiled. “OK. I’ll agree to that plan but be warned, I’ll be more eager than ever by the time we return.” Lin simply smiled and went into the bathroom to change into her swimsuit.

  ***

  The day was a scorcher; temperatures were climbing well past one hundred throughout the city. Fortunately much of the neighborhood pool was shaded by the late afternoon and the water was refreshingly cool. Lin felt much better now that she and Neal were actually talking to each other again—even though she wasn’t certain all their issues were fully resolved, or even if they ever would be—at least they could keep talking. She began swimming laps, happy to feel the cool water splashing against her body and working the stresses of the day out with each stroke. She noticed Neal was doing the same. For the moment she tried to banish all thoughts and questions from her mind and simply relax with the rhythm of the exercise.

  After half an hour she noticed that Neal had climbed from the pool and stretched out on a chaise lounge in the shaded area of the pool patio. She decided to do the same, choosing a spot next to him. The air was still quite warm and she could feel the hot desert breeze against her wet body, but the shade made things tolerable and she felt very relaxed.

  After a few minutes of quiet Neal spoke, “That felt good. I feel much more relaxed after swimming. Nothing like physical exercise to help rid yourself of tension and stress. Why don’t you tell me about your day now? I’m ready to hear what you’ve learned and—he turned to her with an open demeanor—afterward we can talk together about what should be done and what we can do to help.”

  Noticing that he had used the word “we” Lin felt a smile coming on. This was progress for sure. Neal seemed ready to listen to what she was saying. She launched into a full account of her morning omitting nothing, explaining why she felt the unanswered questions in these cases were growing deeper and why she couldn’t accept what seemed to be the answers the authorities were relying on. Finally, she had it all out there, everything she now knew and what she felt someone had to look into.

  “I just can’t let this go,” she insisted, “not without feeling certain that these issues will be examined, will be addressed fully. Otherwise, I think there’s a real risk of killers going free here. The lives of others may be endangered. Frankly, I think Susan Davison and her child could be in danger, maybe Mark Garcia’s family too. At the very least, there needs to be an investigation into Doug Davison’s death and I also feel we need to find out if Rich Lafferty has all the relevant information that was initially gathered by the sheriff’s department. He can only talk to Chris. Do you think Chris would be willing to call him? I’ve also had another thought. Ben Ramirez seems not to have involved the tribal police in this investigation at all and I think it’s clear that there might be links to the reservation. I’m not convinced at all that the murders were the result of business rivalry, and I think the arrest of Doug Davison confirms this—unless the authorities think the demonstrations opposing the construction were part of a larger scheme. If that’s the case then Doug had to be working with someone higher up in the Superior Group. That seems a bit of a stretch to me; someone would actually order two murders to stop the building of a shopping center by a business rival? And, as I told you, Susan mentioned that Doug had other issues on the reservation also…” Lin realized she was on a tear once again. Neal cut her off.

  “Slow down sweetheart, I hear what you’re saying and I have to admit I think you’re right, you may be on to something here; although you and I may not be qualified to handle these questions, I do agree that someone needs to get involved. I’m not sure about Chris talking to the lawyer. I think he may just want to get all this behind him and done with, but I will agree that we could talk to him tonight over dinner if he and Marla are free. I’ll call him when we get back to the casita and then…” He winked at Lin. He didn’t have to say more. She grabbed her towel and they prepared to head home.

  When they arrived, Neal placed the call to Chris and Lin headed directly for the shower, stripping out of her almost dry suit and dropping it in the bedroom. Her body felt a bit cold as the AC hit her still damp skin and the warm water of the shower actually felt good. Funny about life in the desert during the height of the sun drenched summer. She reached for the shampoo, but at that moment, Neal joined her. He said nothing, but simply began to wash her hair and then her body, bathing her all over with gentle caresses. She did the same for him, their eyes meeting with understanding. The bathing completed, they wrapped their bodies in the soft fluffy bath sheets.

  “I do love you, Lin Hanna,” Neal smiled as he gently led her toward their bed, “I love you just as you are and I hope you feel the same. I’m sorry if I let my fears override sometimes, but I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. Please try to understand, I don’t mean to seem as if I’m trying to control you but…”

  She pressed a finger to his lips, “You don’t need to say anything Neal. I should be more willing to consider your feelings also. It’s only fair. We should remember to talk these things over before we act and create misunderstanding. I know that I tend to go ahead on my own. It’s been a long time since I shared my life with anyone except my children. I have to learn to be a partner again…I thought I had, but I still have room to grow…”

  “Same here,” Neal replied, “ but for now I think we’ve certainly talked enough.”

  ***

  Lin roused herself from what had been a very pleasant light nap. Neal was no longer beside her. She sank back into the pillows and pulled the sheet up over her body, now feeling chilled from the AC in the room. She remembered the heat she’d felt from their lovemaking. She’d drifted off to sleep lying naked on th
e bed with no cover—not needing any.

  Neal appeared by her side looking handsome and sexy as he donned a pair of crisply pressed khaki shorts and reached for a white polo shirt that emphasized the tan he had from working outdoors. “You’d better hop to it sleepy head. Chris and Marla will be stopping by in less than half an hour.”

  Lin got up slowly, feeling chilled as she left the warmth of the bed, and headed to the closet to find something to wear. She chose a pair of white capris pants and a hot pink tee. She knew that bright colors complemented her fair skin and sandy brown hair, the latter laced with a bit of gray, she had to admit. It seemed that her relationship with Neal had entered a new, perhaps more trusting, permanence and that was good. She almost felt like she had when they first began dating and she wanted to look her best. She knew she’d succeeded when she turned to face him and saw a smile on his face. He reached forward and kissed the top of her head. “You’ve never looked more lovely, Lin. You have a certain glow about you. I’d say you might be in love.”

  “I think I just might be,” she teased. “You look pretty happy yourself.”

  “Oh, I’ve come a long way since last night,” he grinned, “Then, I felt…”

  Lin cut him off. “I was pretty miserable myself,” she admitted, “and I think that’s behind us now, but I don’t want either of us to forget how we got to that place. We can’t understand each other, if we don’t talk to each other, be open and honest about our feelings.”

  “I vote for that he replied, “he drew her to him and kissed her deeply.

  Just then the doorbell rang. Chris and Marla had arrived. They hurried out to the living room to meet them, ready for a nice evening out and hopefully a productive discussion of how they might help with the issues remaining related to the murders and the death of Doug Davison.