It took a few minutes. Ronaldo couldn’t reach the ball and implored Tony to help him. Dalia pronounced the grass too wet for her shoes then assured them all that the dog didn’t want to play ball. It took the promise of hot chocolate and another donut to finally get all three of them into the backyard. They promptly started a loud game of fetch in which Millie gleefully participated.
The three adults watched for a few minutes.
Finally Tony turned to Mary. ‘We’ve got to talk.’
Mary nodded and gestured toward the kitchen table. ‘Let’s sit in here so we can see the yard.’
Tony pulled out a chair for Luanne, who lowered herself slowly onto it.
Mary headed for the coffeepot, rinsed out the remaining few drops and filled it with water. ‘Luanne, can you drink regular?’
‘It’s the only caffeine I allow myself. I had half a cup with breakfast so I’m ready for more.’
She looked as if she needed it. There were black circles under her eyes and her mouth was pinched and worried. Mary glanced over at Tony. He didn’t look much better. His usually immaculately groomed black hair stuck up in the back and a five o’clock shadow had advanced to ten o’clock stubble.
Mary poured the last tablespoon of coffee into the filter, flipped the switch and turned back to face them. ‘OK, what’s happened?’
Tony managed a small smile as he tore his eyes away from Luanne to look back at Mary. ‘How did you know?’
‘All I had to do was look at you. Besides, you didn’t come bearing donuts so you could examine my stitches. What’s wrong?’
Tony sighed. Luanne swallowed a sob.
‘I’m not sure,’ Tony finally said, ‘but we think someone tried to break in last night.’
Mary almost dropped the mug she’d reached for. Clutching it tightly, she whirled around to face him. ‘Someone tried to do what?’
‘Tony found footprints under Ronaldo’s window.’ Luanne looked as if she was going to break down or have hysterics, or both, and soon.
‘Footprints? Under his window? How did you …?’ Mary took a deep breath to quell the panic that was beginning to rise, took down another mug, filled them both and set one in front of each of them before refilling her own. ‘Tell me what happened.’
Tony put his hand around the mug but made no attempt to pick it up. He glanced over at Luanne, who held hers halfway to her mouth, staring at the steam that rose lazily toward her pale cheeks.
‘I’m not sleeping too well. It’s hard to get comfortable.’
Mary nodded. She certainly didn’t look too comfortable.
‘It must have been around midnight. I’d gotten up to use the bathroom and was having trouble getting back to sleep when I heard a noise.’
‘What kind of noise?’ Mary envisioned scratching at the window, glass breaking, something dramatic.
‘A sort of rustling noise. Like someone or something was in the bushes by the side of the house.’
‘Most likely a cat.’ Mary heaved a silent sigh of relief. Their nerves were all on edge. This was sure to have been a false alarm. But hadn’t Tony mentioned a footprint?
‘That’s what I thought. I was sure I heard it meow. Only, cats don’t whisper or break branches off bushes.’
Mary made a soft ‘oh’ with her mouth. ‘You heard someone whispering?’
The sound Luanne made was somewhere between a sigh and a sob. ‘It sounded like a whisper. It sounded like someone said “damn it.” Then a branch broke. That’s when I woke up Tony.’
He nodded. ‘It’s funny how fast you can wake up. One minute I was sound asleep, the next wide awake. I heard the rustling too. I told Luanne to go into Ronaldo’s room but not to turn on the light and I’d see what was happening.’
‘Why Ronaldo’s room?’
‘The sound seemed to be coming from outside his room. I started for the back door, but it was dark and I bumped into a chair in the kitchen – one the kids hadn’t put back where it belonged, and knocked it over. By the time I got the door open and turned on the light, no one was in sight. I looked around but couldn’t see anything. I decided it was a cat, that we were all getting paranoid and went back to bed. But I didn’t sleep very well. This morning I went out to look. I found the broken bush and a footprint.’
‘How could someone leave a footprint? The rain the other night was barely enough to dampen the sidewalk.’
‘I’d just mulched the beds.’ Tony smiled. ‘Loose compost takes a good footprint.’
Mary’s scalp tingled. Another footprint. She had to ask. She didn’t want to. She didn’t want him to have anything to do with this, but she had no choice. ‘Could you tell anything from it?’
‘It was a sandal.’ Tony seemed to stumble over the words. ‘What was he doing in our bushes in the middle of the night? Priests don’t prowl around in bushes. They don’t – I can’t believe – but I don’t know anyone else who wears sandals in the middle of winter.’
‘Luke does.’
Almost as one, the adults wheeled around to stare at Dalia, who stood in the doorway, watching them, her brow furrowed, her eyes wide with anxiety.
‘Who’s Luke?’ Tony sounded a little taken back but also a little hopeful.
‘Luke from the library. He had them on the day we built the can tree. Only he wasn’t barefoot, like Father D’Angelo. He had on white socks. Ask Ronaldo. He saw them too.’
They didn’t have to ask him. He stood behind his sister, Millie at his heels, and nodded. ‘Dalia’s right. Luke wears sandals. I’d like to wear my sandals like that. With socks.’
Tony looked over at Mary. ‘Is that right? This Luke, does he wear sandals?’
Mary shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I’ve never looked at his feet. Why would Luke be rummaging through your bushes?’
Tony’s face was grim, his eyes large and angry. ‘Why would anyone? There’s only one answer I can think of.’
The stillness in the room was oppressive, as if Tony’s remark had somehow sucked all of the air out of it. Then, suddenly, they all started to talk at once.
‘Why are you talking about sandals?’ Dalia’s voice held deep uncertainty, her eyes more than a little frightened.
‘No reason. We were just talking.’ Luanne made what Mary thought a valiant attempt to be casual. But it didn’t appear to fool Dalia.
‘Actually, we were talking about Mrs McGill’s accident. Good thing she had on running shoes. If she’d had on sandals …’ Tony smiled at Dalia.
She just stared. She appeared to be buying none of it.
‘Millie’s real good at catching a ball.’ Ronaldo’s interest in sandals ended when the conversation didn’t include him. ‘Aunt Mary, are you picking us up from school tomorrow?’
‘She can’t.’ Luanne made that statement emphatic.
Did Mary hear a little wistfulness in there?
‘Of course I can. You don’t think I’d let a little cut on my leg stop me from collecting you two, do you? We’ll go see how the can tree looks before it gets torn down. I want a picture of you both in front of it. After all, you helped build it.’
The children looked at each other and giggled. ‘Can we get Sampson and have him in the picture?’
That, of course, came from Dalia.
‘No.’ Tony and Luanne gave one horrified gasp together.
Mary didn’t say a word but thought that wasn’t a bad idea. Someone might see it and identify him. She’d suggest it to Dan. In the meantime …
‘How long before Christmas break?’
‘Next week.’ Luanne sighed. ‘Christmas is coming fast and I’m not ready. So much has happened …’ She looked at the children, then at Tony.
‘My mom is coming out next week. She’s going to stay until after the baby is born.’ He looked at the children with an uncertainty Mary hadn’t seen before. ‘It’ll give the kids a chance to get to know her. However, if you can help out until she gets here …’
A surge of different emotions ran through Mary. She, too, was worried about the children and if she could help keep them safe, she would. However, she wasn’t ready for Christmas either. She hadn’t even dragged out her decorations. Maybe she could get the kids to help. That would keep them busy and under her watchful eyes. As for this latest development, she wasn’t sure what to think. Had someone really been under Ronaldo’s window with the idea of breaking in? Tony seemed to think so, but Mary thought it seemed a foolhardy thing to do. Whoever killed Cliff and Evan could hardly think he could sneak into their house and … do what? Kidnap the children? That wouldn’t have been successful. Harm them? That was a thought too awful to be considered. Besides, he couldn’t realistically have expected to get away with it. However, the other two murders had been pretty brazen. A shudder ran through her. She needed to talk to Dan. Tony had called him, hadn’t he?
‘You did call Dan?’
Tony nodded his head slightly.
Luanne looked stricken. She turned toward the children, who were listening intently to every word. ‘What are you two doing back in here? I thought you were out playing with the dog.’
‘We were, but we thought we’d better tell you.’
Dalia’s tone was matter-of-fact but there was a spark of something in her eyes that Mary couldn’t quite identify. Fear? Certainly uneasiness. ‘Tell us what?’
Dalia took a deep breath and turned her gaze on Ronaldo as she slowly let it out. ‘There’s a man in our bushes. I think he’s looking for something.’
Luanne put her hand on her stomach. ‘What makes you think that?’
‘He’s behind the bush outside my window, and he’s bending down doing something. I don’t like having someone outside my window.’ Ronaldo looked as if he was torn between anger and fright. Anger was winning. ‘Who is he?’ The look he gave Tony was almost a glare.
Tony didn’t answer. ‘We have to go if we’re going to make ten o’clock Mass.’
Luanne pushed herself forward in her chair in preparation to pushing herself to her feet. Tony was there ahead of her, holding out a hand, pulling her up. The smile he gave her and the hand carefully holding onto her elbow as she steadied herself were tender, caring. No trace of the impatience and the sometimes quick anger he was capable of.
He motioned to the children. ‘Let’s go. We’ll walk, so if you have to go to the bathroom, do it now.’
‘Good heavens, look at you.’ Luanne held Ronaldo at arm’s length, examining the dirt on the child’s cheeks and the hair that had escaped whatever she’d combed it with earlier. ‘How do you do it? You were clean when we came over here.’ She turned to Mary, who had no trouble anticipating Luanne’s request.
‘Of course you can use the bathroom. Dalia, go with your mother. You don’t look much better.’
She and Tony watched Luanne herd the children down the hall.
When the door closed, Mary turned toward him. ‘OK. What’s that man doing in your bushes?’
‘Taking a cast of the footprint, I suppose.’
Mary nodded. Forensics. That made sense. ‘Does Dan really believe someone tried to get in last night?’
Tony ran a hand through his hair. ‘I don’t know. He didn’t say much when I told him. Just that he’d investigate.’ He paused, shook his head and seemed to stare through Mary. ‘Someone was there. Who it was and what he wanted, I don’t know. The thought he may have tried to get in, to do …’ He broke off, looking a little sick. ‘This whole thing is unreal. Luanne is trying hard not to show it, but she’s worried sick. That’s not good for her or the baby. I’m not much better.’
He was probably worse.
‘I can’t concentrate on anything. I keep thinking about Cliff and wondering why … and Evan. Why would anyone … Do you think someone would really try to hurt my kids?’
His kids. Mary was sure Tony thought of them that way. He wanted this baby, badly, but he’d been a close friend of Cruz, the children’s father, and had known both since they were born. He was the only father they could remember. Mary was positive he loved them deeply.
‘I don’t know, but with you, Luanne, Dan and me on the job, he’s going to have a hard time getting near them.’
‘We can’t even begin to thank you enough for what you’ve done, but I – we – feel so guilty. Are you sure you’re up to picking up the kids tomorrow?’
Mary thought if one more person asked her if she was up for something she’d scream. Or attack someone with a rolling pin. She was fine. Almost fine. She hurt, but then, when you got to be her age, hurting was nothing new.
‘Of course I am. I’m certainly not going to let a couple of stitches hold me down. Now, about tomorrow. I’ll pick them up from school. Then what? Do you want me to bring them to the winery or do you want me to bring them here?’
Tony looked blank. ‘We’ll have to ask Luanne. I’m not sure what her schedule is. It’s probably better if you drop them off at the winery, even though I’m sure they’d love to help you, take the dog for a walk and feed it, that kind of thing.’
Feed it. Something stirred in Mary’s head. Someone had said something – Bill Bliss. He’d gone into the pet store. At least he had if Leigh was right. ‘When did the Blisses get another dog?’
Tony looked blank then totally confused. ‘A dog? What gave you the idea they have another dog?’
‘A cat then?’
Tony shook his head emphatically. ‘Not even a hamster. Why?’
‘No reason. Someone said … I must have heard them wrong.’
Tony’s eyebrows narrowed as he looked at Mary. ‘I hope they never get another dog. At least, not a little one like Merlot. I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did.’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Naomi let him run loose. That wasn’t so bad when he stayed up by the winery, but he’d taken to roaming the vineyard. We have machinery in the vineyard. Tractors, cultivators, sprayers, all kinds of things. That dog was little. No way could someone on a tractor see him. Or stop the sprayer from spewing insecticide on him. I told them both, he had to stay out of the vineyard, but neither Bill nor Naomi listened. She thought it was cute that he roamed all over. Bill just couldn’t be bothered. When he went missing, I was sure we’d somehow killed him and we’d find his body down by that damn fence he patrolled. Instead, he was stolen. I feel sorry for the dog, but I’m glad my crew had nothing to do with it.’
Before Mary could make a comment, Luanne appeared, towing the children behind her. They looked much better. Sticky donut sugar mixed with backyard dirt was gone from both faces and hands and both heads were damp from the water Luanne had liberally used on the comb.
‘We’re ready whenever you are.’
Tony smiled at her and at the children. ‘You look a lot better.’
From the scowl on both faces, Mary doubted they thought so.
‘Let’s go.’ Tony headed for the door, the reluctant children slowly following.
Luanne paused to give Mary a kiss on the cheek. ‘If you don’t feel up to dealing with them tomorrow, give me a call. I might be able to tuck them away in my office for a couple of hours. You’ve done so much, and been through so much, I’d certainly understand. I’m sure Naomi wouldn’t mind.’
Mary doubted that. Naomi might not have minded if her little dog wandered all over the winery and vineyard, but Mary was pretty sure that indulgence didn’t extend to children. ‘I’ll be fine. I’m going in right now to shower and get dressed. And I’m going to try to get into the beauty shop in the morning. I’d feel a lot better if I can get some of this sticky blood out of my hair.’
Luanne was on her way to the open front door but stopped and turned back to face Mary. ‘I thought you couldn’t get stitches wet for a few days.’
‘Irene can at least see where they are and wash around them.’
Luanne looked doubtful. ‘Just be careful, won’t you?’ She sighed. ‘You won’t, though. You’re going to do whatever you want. OK. Call if you need anything. Otherwise, I’ll see you at the winery tomorrow afternoon.’ She blew Mary another kiss and was out the door.
‘“Need anything.”’ Mary addressed Millie, who looked at her as if to say, What?
‘Exactly what I was thinking. What could I possibly want her to do? I’m fine. Just fine.’
Only she didn’t feel too fine. In spite of the Tylenol, her leg hurt – burned would be a better way to describe it – and her head still throbbed. She wished she could stand under the shower and see if it could wash away any remaining blood from her hair. But, since she couldn’t, she was going to find out more about that footprint. Maybe Dan was still there, looking for more. If she hurried, she could catch him.
‘Stay here,’ she instructed Millie. Limping only slightly, she walked out her front door and headed for the Mendosa house.