The Last King of Texas

by Rick Riordan

Page 39

 

  "And you got married. Again. "

  "Fuck again. That was Sandra. That wasnt a marriage. " She spat the word.

  "The law wouldnt see it that way. Del knew that — knew your secret could be used as leverage against you and Aaron in the future. You played into his hands. "

  Ines was silent.

  "After you left," I said, "Del went to Zeta. Del convinced him youd left town because you were having an affair with Jeremiah. "

  "It was total fiction. "

  "Of course. But your husband didnt know that, and the fiction suited Del perfectly. Zeta knew all about Jeremiahs reputation with young women. Del didnt have to do much convincing. Zeta shot Jeremiah. Then Del helped Zeta leave the country. Del inherited Jeremiahs company and got rid of all his competition at once — Aaron, Jeremiah, Zeta. "

  "We had no idea," Ines said. "Del was horrible, but we never thought he was capable of anything like murder. Aaron — it destroyed him when he learned about his father. "

  "And Del wasnt even done. Afterward, he hit up Aaron for RideWorks. After all, wasnt that Aarons side of the bargain? Only Aaron had never counted on his dad being gunned down as part of their deal. So Aaron refused. Del took matters into his own hands again. He stole the company from Aaron in a legal maneuver. That pissed Aaron off. He filed a suit, but the minute he did, Del threatened to expose your identity. "

  "Yes. "

  "The police would want to talk to you, of course — a woman whod fled town with the victims son and a new identity right after her legal husband had committed a murder. At the very least the investigation would ruin your chances at a new life, nullify your second marriage, make Michael a—" At the look in her eyes, I stopped. I folded my napkin, tossed it over my Sonora casserole. "At worst, it would attract the attention of Zeta and his pals. Del had something to worry about too if the story got to the police, but he mustve been fairly sure no one could prove anything on him, especially with Sanchez gone. You, on the other hand, had everything to lose. Aaron had no choice but to drop his claim to RideWorks. How old was Michael at the time? Two months? Three?"

  "Two months. We had our first terrible argument, Aaron and I. His fathers death was entirely my fault. "

  "Then Del paid a visit to your brother Hector, who also knew the truth about your disappearance. Del used the same leverage with Hector that hed used on Aaron — Do some business with me or Ill see that your sister gets crucified. "

  "I dont know what Del told Hector. "

  "Del was just following up on Zetas good idea — to move heroin through the carnival circuit. Hector arranged the purchases from a friend of his, Chich Gutierrez. Del distributed the heroin, keeping the amounts small so as not to attract too much attention, but large enough to make RideWorks a nice fat supplementary income. "

  She raised her hands slowly off the table. "I — dont — know. I dont know anything about that. "

  I looked at the kids. Theyd each gotten another plastic egg from the machine and were prying them open.

  "You take it for granted," Ines said hoarsely.

  I refocused on her. Her face was hard as copper.

  "What?"

  "That you can have a child like Jem someday," she said. "Raise him without seeing him shot in the crossfire, without having him go on lookout for the locos at age five. You can be in a place where they dont keep the needles and the baby bottles in the same cabinet, have a spouse who isnt in jail for murder or dealing. You take that for granted. "

  "I take it for granted youd kill to protect Michael from your past. "

  "Oh, youre right. Youre absolutely right. Thats the difference between me and Sandra Mara. I would kill to protect my son. "

  "Hows your batting average so far?"

  Ines shook her head, as if she were disappointed in me. "I wont lie to you. I didnt feel guilty that Jeremiah Brandon got killed, or that Zeta had to flee the country. In fact, I was disappointed Zeta didnt get shot in that barroom, too. I cant say I care much if Hector and Del were moving heroin through RideWorks, either, if it bought me and my son some extra years of anonymity. None of that matters. But you think I killed my husband? Or had him killed?"

  "That was my original question. "

  "Youre wrong. Aaron was putting Michael and me in terrible danger — thats true. When Aaron wanted to move back here to San Antonio, I told him it was too much of a risk. Too many people here who might recognize me. Aaron insisted. He had all these ideas about challenging Del — getting back that damn company. He seemed to forget what Del would do if he tried. I was desperate, but Id never—"

  "You wrote those threats to the University. "

  "I—" She faltered. "All right. Yes. I wrote them. Aaron had brought the first letter home, the one addressed to Dr. Haimer. It wasnt hard. Before I knew it Id sent six of them. "

  "You thought if things got unpleasant enough, Aaron would agree to move away again, out of San Antonio. "

  "There had been two other offers, Tres — one in Iowa, one in Connecticut. Not wonderful jobs, but we should have gone there. We wouldve been safe there. But Aaron was so damned determined to come home. "

  "And the bomb?"

  "Hectors idea, before we even knew Zeta was back in town. Hector was sure the University police would discover the bomb before it ever went off, that theyd blame it on campus radicals. Hector just wanted to convince Aaron the threats werent idle. He didnt intend for anyone to get hurt. "

  "Why were you away the weekend Aaron was shot?"

  "Wed found out Zeta was back in San Antonio. Hector and I were both insane with fear. Hector told me to get out of town for a while. "

  "—so you couldnt be implicated. Hector was timing a murder. "

  "No," Ines insisted. The word was a little shrill. "He swore to me. He didnt shoot Aaron. "

  "Then who?"

  "God damn you, Tres. Leave it alone. "

  "Paloma knows," I said. "She was the witness. "

  "Paloma wouldnt talk to me. "

  "You mustve guessed she was lying about Zeta being at your house that night. But you havent pressed her too hard on that point, have you?"

  Ines flattened her hands on the Formica. "No. I havent. "

  "You knew she was lying to protect you. You figured if somebody had to go down for Aarons death, it might as well be your husband. "

  "Zeta isnt my husband anymore. Why cant you see that?"

  The waitress came to our table, sensed the tension, took a step back. She asked skeptically if we were finished with our food. We said we were. She slowly loaded our plates onto her tray. She smelled of black-eyed peas.

  "Ill bring yall the check. " Before leaving, she shot me a chastising look.

  "Those are two cute boys over there. "

  The old couple at the next table had gotten up and were shuffling toward the door. The margarita-drinkers on the opposite side of the room kept doing their best to ensure prizewinning hangovers for the following morning.

  Jem and Michael were making a pretty good dent in my quarter supply now. Their pockets bulged obscenely with prize capsules.

  "Ive told you the truth," Ines told me. "What now?"

  "Theres still the matter of my friend. "

  She frowned, not immediately understanding who I meant. That irritated me. "George Berton," I said. "He got himself shot poking around in your past after Zeta Sanchez was arrested. George talked to Hector, then visited your family farm. He must have found a photo of you there, used it to get an ID from the woman at the Poco Mas. He realized that the real story was you, but he didnt know all the details, and he was a little too soft-hearted to put a widow and her five-year-old boy in harms way. So he set up another meeting with your brother. Probably George wanted to figure out a bargain whereby you could be spared discovery and Hector could give Del Brandon to the police on a skewer. It wouldve meant Hector getting jail time for the heroin, but this is the guy whod got himself shot in the leg for you once. Hector would take the fal
l. Before that could happen, somebody interrupted his meeting with Berton — murdered Hector, almost killed George Berton. "

  "Youre accusing me of that, too? Of murdering my own brother?"

  "The police will wonder. "

  "I dont intend to talk with the police. "

  "Two people have died. Aaron. Hector. "

  "Dont you think I know that?"

  "Thats a lot of blood, Ines. A lot of blood even for a secret worth keeping. "

  She gazed across the room at her son, watching Michaels every move like she was trying desperately to memorize him. "Are you in love with somebody, Tres?"

  The question struck me mute.

  Ines raised her eyebrows — a gesture that reminded me powerfully of Ana DeLeon. "Are you?" she insisted.

  "I — no. " And then added inanely, "I dont think so. "

  That brought a dry smile. "Safe answer. Loves not the blazing epiphany some people imagine, is it? I didnt realize I was falling in love with Aaron until wed been seeing each other for two months. When I started to fall out of love with him, the process was just as insidious. Now that hes gone. . . "

  Streetlights on Broadway started to blink on as the sky darkened. The round window behind the 410 bar glowed, the glass liquor-bottle shelves that crossed it making it look like some sort of giant military insignia.

  Ines fixed her eyes on the traffic outside. "Aaron so desperately needed to prove himself. He wouldve destroyed our family, endangered Michael, not even realized what he was doing until it was too late. That was his real inheritance from his father. Aaron and Jeremiah — they were like children. They both took what they wanted. No matter who got hurt. It took me a long time to understand that about Aaron. Hector — Im not sure I ever understood my brother. To him, I was just some family banner he had to keep from getting trampled. All Im really sure of now is Michael. "

  The kids used their last quarters. They began gathering up their loot.

  "Dont destroy us, Tres. " It was a whisper. Sandras voice.

  From across the room, Jem rolled open a Felix the Cat sticker for me to admire.

  Our waitress came out of the kitchen with our check. She took one read of the situation — the boys with their loot, Ines and me still deep in conversation — then knelt down to intercept Jem and Michael before they could start back toward us. She gestured for the boys to climb onto the metal toadstool seats at the dining counter, questioned them about their stickers. Jem and Michael were happy to oblige.

  I reached across the table, picked the crumple of packing tape from Ines sleeve. "You dont have to talk to the police alone. "

  Her shoulders stiffened. "You said you would help. "

  "I will. But I cant be silent. "

  "The only reason Ive been talking to you—" She swallowed back her anger.

  "Then well have to run. Michael and I. "

  "That wont help. "

  "Ive done it before. "