Sinner or Saint

by Brenda Donelan

  Marlee was torn between laughing and yelling. “I really don’t hold anything against you, Hector. You made your choices, and your so-called fling led to a lifetime commitment. I’m over it and willing to work with you as a professional, but if you think we’ll ever be friends, you’re wrong.” The hurt he inflicted on her ran deep. Hector had planned on moving in with Marlee, a big move for two people with major trust issues. As they were making final preparations, Trish showed up and announced she was pregnant with Hector’s baby.

  Hector was dead to her, at least on a non-professional relationship basis. She had no intention of re-establishing a romantic relationship with him and certainly didn’t want to be one of those pathetic women who need to be friends with her exes. At the same time, Marlee knew Elmwood was a small town and that Hector was a top-notch detective. She hoped he understood that any contact between them would be purely professional. The last thing she needed or wanted was Hector mooning over their past. The past is called the past for a reason.

  Their eyes met, and they held the gaze for several seconds until Marlee looked away. “Thanks. I just needed to talk to someone in law enforcement who could give me some advice on my house guest and all the trouble that seems to have followed her here. Bettina’s on her honeymoon, as you know, otherwise I would’ve called her.”

  As a poker player, Hector would have been an easy mark. The hurt spread across his face when Marlee mentioned the name of his coworker. She’d only wanted to meet with him to get his expert opinion on her current legal predicament. Nothing else.

  “Sure, no problem. Just doing my job,” he said, brusquely as he stood from the booth. He swooped up the plastic coffee cup and turned toward the door.

  “Thanks for meeting me. I didn’t call your landline because I didn’t want to upset Trish. Meeting here at a coffee shop was a good idea,” Marlee conceded, wanting Hector to recognize her gratitude but also realize she was considerate of his relationship situation.

  Hector turned to face Marlee, looking her straight in the eye. Ordinarily stoic when it came to expressing his feelings, Hector’s voice softened as he spoke. “Trish and I are no longer together. The baby wasn’t mine, and when I found out, I left her.”

  Why is it so easy to focus on the problems of others and ignore your own? Marlee McCabe needs to spend more time tending to her own life and less time worrying about mine.

  Chapter 13

  Marlee’s ears rang like she’d been hit in the head with a cast iron skillet. Her world was spinning, and it was difficult to focus on Hector and the surroundings in the coffee shop. The love of her life, the guy who left her for another woman who was having his baby, was now telling her that the baby wasn’t his, and he’d ended the relationship with that woman. Marlee’s feelings went from relief to joy to disappointment. Hector was now free, but his past relationship with Trish was still a reality. Even though he believed her baby wasn’t his, he’d still fulfilled the father role in the baby’s life for over a year. Maybe he really was the father and was just trying to get out of his paternal responsibilities.

  “How do you know the baby isn’t yours? You had sex with Trish, correct?” Marlee asked, pointedly.

  “Yes, Trish and I were together just that once before she told me she was pregnant, but I began to suspect I wasn’t Olivia’s father early on. She didn’t look like me or Trish. I’m Hispanic and everyone in my family has brown or hazel eyes. Olivia’s eyes were dark blue, and I never met anyone on Trish’s side with blue eyes. So, I took a cheek swab from the baby and myself and had them compared. It showed that I couldn’t be the father. I confronted Trish, and she denied it at first but then admitted she’d had a fling with a guy she met in Fargo a week before we got together. She wasn’t sure at first who was the father, but decided she wanted to be with me, so told me I was the daddy, and you know the rest.”

  “Wow! I’m blown away by all this. Where are Trish and the baby now?”

  “They’re still at the house. I moved out because I thought it would be easier on Olivia. It’s not her fault that her mother is a liar,” Hector said with more than a hint of bitterness in his voice.

  “Do you still see Olivia? I imagine you’re really attached to her even though she isn’t your biological child.”

  “At first, I did, but when I moved out, Trish went after the real daddy for child support. Lo and behold, after he found out he had a child, he wanted to be involved in raising her, so he moved here to Elmwood. Not sure if he and Trish are together as a couple, but there doesn’t seem to be much room for me in this arrangement. As long as Olivia has the love and support of two parents, that’s all I care about. I love that little girl like she was my own, but I know it’s best for everyone involved if I stand back and let her real dad take over.”

  A few months ago, she wouldn’t have believed it possible. Her disdain for her former boyfriend had lessened to the point that Marlee actually felt sorry for Hector and his exclusion from the baby’s life. It was a sad situation, but completely all Hector’s own doing. If he hadn’t had a fling with Trish in the first place, none of this would have happened. The baby still would have been born, but Hector wouldn’t have been a contender for paternity. Marlee bit her tongue, resisting the urge to point out this very fact.

  Instead, she summoned her inner “bigger person” and said, “It sounds like a tough spot for everyone involved.”

  Hector nodded and gave Marlee a surprised look. He’d expected her to go in for the kill when she found out how his whole life had blown up. “Yeah, it’s been a rough few weeks. But at least work is going well. That’s the one bright spot in my life right now.”

  “Bettina said you and the other detectives cracked some big drug cases around Christmastime.” Marlee’s friend had shared some choice information on the drug busts as they unfolded. Bettina knew Marlee could keep her mouth shut, so she occasionally shared case details that were not made open to the public yet. Marlee’s years of working as a probation officer had taught her how to keep a secret. Not that employment in law enforcement automatically makes one capable of secret keeping. She knew several current and past law enforcement officers who readily blabbed confidential information to anyone who would listen. Some even contacted the newspaper and television stations to disclose insider information. How they were able to leak top secret information without losing their jobs was always a mystery to Marlee since everyone always knew the identity of the blabber mouths.

  Hector grinned. “Yeah, we worked hard on that case for months. And we’re not done yet. A few of the people we arrested took plea deals and rolled over on others who are involved in manufacturing and selling drugs around Elmwood. The case is far from over.” He stood a little straighter as he talked about the accomplishments in his work, the one area of his life that wasn’t a complete disaster.

  “So, what do you think I should do about Kelsey and her drug habit? Do I take her to the police department and turn her in?” Marlee asked.

  “Why don’t you let me talk to her before you do anything else? Maybe I can get her to open up about the person who sold her the pills and how she made the connection with them in the first place,” Hector said.

  “Sure. Why not? I feel like I take one step ahead and then fall two behind every time I talk to her. You want us to meet you somewhere tomorrow?”

  “I’d like to have the element of surprise with her. The more I can throw Kelsey off balance, the better shot I have of getting information from her. I’ll stop by your house in the morning.”

  A flood of emotions swept over Marlee. Hector had spent a lot of time at her house in the months before she ended their relationship. They’d cooked meals together, argued over television whodunits, worked on solving cases, and spent a fair amount of time in the bedroom. Everything in Marlee’s house held special memories of her time with Hector before he betrayed her. It was only in the past few months that she’d been able to move on. Now, he wanted to come back to her house, and she wasn’t ready
for it. She’d meant it when she told him that she’d forgiven him but didn’t want to be friends.

  “How about if I take Kelsey on a tour of campus and we end up in my office around 11:00 a.m.? You can show up and interview her there,” Marlee said.

  “That’ll work,” Hector said, realizing Marlee didn’t want him in her house. Not now and maybe not ever. As the realization hit him, a wounded look passed across his face for a moment before he regained composure.

  The next morning, Marlee was up at six, pacing the kitchen while waiting for her coffee to brew. Pippa weaved around her feet, mewing for attention. She picked up the giant fluffy kitty and walked around the house with her, singing a little song she made up on the spot. After a few minutes, Pippa stopped purring and then struggled to free herself from Marlee’s grasp.

  She’d played out several ways in her mind on how to get Kelsey to campus and then into her office. She might refuse to go on the tour. Once they got to campus, Marlee might get pulled into a time-sucking discussion with another professor that they couldn’t dodge. Whatever happened, Marlee had envisioned it and planned a way to work around it.

  Marlee’s Irish prison project was weighing on her mind. All the nonsense with Kelsey showing up on her doorstep with smuggled contraband and then her pill use put the project on the back burner. She’d planned, step by step, what she would work on each day after her return from Ireland. So far, she’d accomplished almost nothing. Granted, she had until August to finish up her work and submit papers, but those months would go by quickly, and she wanted to keep her nose to the grindstone while the information was fresh in her mind and she was enthusiastic about her research. It was too tempting to put off a research project for a few days, which turned into a few weeks, which turned into a project that never got finished. She was coming up for full professor soon, and she intended to get the promotion. To do that, she needed to enrich her research and publication agenda.

  By 9:30, Marlee was making as much noise as she possibly could in an attempt at waking Kelsey. Bacon was frying on the stove top, and sheet pans clattered as they went into the oven. The television was turned to a classic rock channel and “Doctor Love” by Kiss was blaring through the living room.

  Kelsey wandered out of her room, looking more disheveled than ever, and slumped into a dining room chair. “Morning,” she mumbled as Marlee set the table and placed a mug of coffee in front of her.

  “I have a plan for us this morning,” Marlee said after Kelsey had finished her first cup of coffee and was digging into the plate of bacon and platter of hot cinnamon rolls.

  “What is your plan?” Kelsey asked with the enthusiasm of someone about to be subjected to a lecture on crop rotation.

  “I want to show you where I work. You walked around campus a bit on your own, but I’d like to show you my office and some of the classrooms where I teach. We’ll have lunch at the Student Union, and I can introduce you to some of my colleagues.”

  Kelsey gave a non-committal shrug. Based on her appearance and demeanor, Marlee guessed she hadn’t taken any Oxy yet this morning. She instantly felt a pang of sympathy for the young woman and how hard it must be to have every aspect of her life controlled by a chemical substance. Marlee walked back to the kitchen and poured herself another cup of coffee, waiting for Kelsey to contemplate the campus tour.

  “You can introduce me to some of your male students?” Kelsey yelled from the dining room. “The cute ones!”

  Marlee smiled, stirring the non-dairy sugar-free creamer into her coffee. People were the same the world over. “You betcha. I’ll introduce you around campus.” She wasn’t sure it was such a great idea to introduce an unstable drug user to her students. Plus, she hoped to have Kelsey back on a plane to Dublin within a day or two. But Marlee was willing to say whatever it took to get Kelsey to campus for her interview with Hector.

  Just before 11:00 a.m., Marlee turned the key in the lock on her office door, Kelsey standing directly behind her. “And this is my office. Not that big or fancy, but it’s where I get my work done. To be honest, I get most of my work done at home. It’s too noisy here, and there are too many distractions to prepare lectures and grade papers. But I meet with students to discuss their classes or careers they want to explore. I also set up internships for them with local agencies, so the students can get a taste of what it’s like to work at a prison or in a group home for juveniles.” Marlee chattered on, waiting for Hector to arrive.

  “But don’t you get bored doing the same thing every day?” Kelsey asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as she looked out the small window above a file cabinet.

  “Not really. I see it as part of my job to bring in new information to keep things interesting. Everything in the field of criminology is constantly changing, so I have to keep on top of that, so I’m giving my students the most current facts and trends. If one of my classes feels like it’s getting a bit dull, then I try to think of some in-class activities and discussions to liven it up. And I have some fun speakers come in to talk about their work so students can find out more about careers like working in a crime lab or investigating financial crimes.”

  “It seems so dull,” Kelsey said, looking around the room crammed with bookcases, file cabinets, and an oversized desk. “No offense,” she said giving Marlee an apologetic look.

  A knock on the door frame caught the attention of both Marlee and Kelsey. They turned to find Hector Ramos who had been listening to their conversation.

  Marlee made the introductions, feigning surprise that Hector dropped by her office. He played it off saying he was on campus for a meeting between the university and the police department.

  “So Marlee tells me you came to Elmwood somewhat unexpectedly,” Hector said, leaving the comment open ended.

  “It was time for me to leave Ireland and make my own way here. I was tired of working at my family’s B&B,” Kelsey said, leaving out a hell of a lot of information on her trip to the U.S.

  “And I hear you were hoping to help your parents out by transporting something here that a collector wanted.”

  Kelsey’s eyes widened as she looked at Hector and then Marlee. “Are you here to arrest me?”

  “No, not at all. Marlee was worried about you, and she contacted me about the mess you’ve gotten in to. I’m not here as a cop, just as a friend of Marlee’s,” Hector said kindly.

  Marlee couldn’t help herself. “Not so much a friend. More like a fellow professional.”

  Hector turned away from Kelsey to focus on Marlee. “Yes, a fellow professional for now, but I hope we can be friends again.”

  Kelsey looked from one to the other. “Oh my god. Is this the fella you told me about back in Ireland? The one who had a baby with some tart while he was moving in with you? Is he the one who broke your heart into a million pieces?”

  Time to do some quick thinking. I love improvising!

  Chapter 14

  Marlee blushed, not so much because Hector didn’t know the impact their breakup had on her life, but because she hated to be seen as vulnerable. She’d moved on and disliked being reminded of the heartache this man caused her. She’d completely forgotten that she told Kelsey about a detective back home who’d broken her heart. Had she remembered, she might have waited a few more days until Bettina Crawford returned from her honeymoon and was back at work.

  Hector ignored Kelsey’s remarks and pushed on with his questions. “Tell me about the antique pipe you brought here for Conrad Thayer.”

  “I don’t know much about it other than Mr. X had me bring it here and then wait for Mr. Thayer to contact me. As soon as it was done, Mr. X would consider my Ma and Da’s debt paid.”

  “Marlee said your parents owed about eighteen thousand euros to the loan shark. Do you think the antique pipe was worth that much?” Hector asked.

  “Mmmm…,” Kelsey scratched her chin. “I’m not sure how much it was worth. It looked like an ordinary old pipe to me. I suppose Marlee told you
about the emeralds inside it?”

  Hector nodded. “And you’re sure they’re emeralds? Maybe it was something else?”

  “Looked like emeralds to me. I can’t think of anything else that looks like emeralds and would be of value. If I’d known there were emeralds inside the pipe, I wouldn’t have brought it on the plane. I’m surprised I wasn’t caught when my suitcase was scanned.”

  “So, it looks like the emeralds were the real reason Mr. X had you come to the U.S. The pipe was just a cover and a hiding place for the jewels,” Marlee interjected.

  “Probably. Maybe. I don’t know,” Kelsey said. “All I know is I wanted to get my parents out of debt, and I wanted to move to the United States anyway. It seemed like a way to solve both of my problems.”

  “How did your parents meet Mr. X?” Hector asked, looking Kelsey squarely in the eye.

  Kelsey sat in a wooden chair, crossing one foot over her knee and then uncrossing it. She looked around the room and then focused on the window. “I don’t know. I already said I’m not telling anyone anything about Mr. X because if he finds out, he’ll kill my family or me. If he finds out I’m talking to a cop, he might kill me.”

  Marlee couldn’t make sense of the supposed hold Mr. X had over Kelsey. “If he’s in Ireland, how’s he going to know who you talked to here?”

  “He has connections all over. That’s why I can’t be seen talking to you in public,” Kelsey said, pointing at Hector. “I’m scared he’ll kidnap my sisters and sell them to the highest bidder. Maybe even kill them! There’s no telling what Mr. X might do. I’ve heard of the damage he’s done to other families, and it’s not rubbish. I know it’s true!”

  “Do you really think he’s going to forgive your family’s debt now? If you pulled this caper off, I don’t see him letting you go. I think he’ll force you to keep smuggling for him.”