The ride back to Denver was quiet. MacFarland felt awkward with all the attention that Pierson gave him. It seemed so out of character. He was also aware of Delgado's sullen silence in the back seat. At first he attributed her reticence to post-traumatic stress, but surely Delgado had been in situations a lot more stressful than what happened at the cabin. He could remember many times in Albania where either of them could have been killed, and she had gotten through those with no difficulty. Even the shooting in Taxco hadn't really disturbed her, and when he recalled how she had gone after the cartel members holding Jack and Doug prisoner, he simply couldn't believe that a little romp in the woods would bother her.
But he couldn't think of anything else that would have upset her.
Unless, he realized with a start, she really was upset about Alejandro Gil getting killed. Maybe she did really love him. Maybe she lamented his death. Certainly MacFarland wasn't upset that the cartel leader was dead.
Gil's death did make big news. Somehow the cable and network news channels all found out that one of the five top cartel leaders in Central America had been killed outside of Vail. Because of the publicity and barrage of calls at Police Headquarters, Commander Chamberlain had suggested that Pierson should take Thursday off. It was a good suggestion, as Fox, CNN, MSNBC, Telemundo, as well as local affiliates of ABC, CBS, and NBC all descended on Vail, the Vail PD, and the Denver Police Departments, wanting exclusive footage and interviews. Pierson insisted that Lockwood should keep MacFarland's and her names away from the media, but by Thursday morning, there were news trucks and reporters camped out in front of Pierson's house.
"I'll kill him!" said Pierson. "God damn publicity hound! I let him have his first big case and he can't keep his mouth shut! Rufus! Get away from that window!"
"Maybe it wasn't Lockwood," said MacFarland, peeking out through the curtains. "Oh, my God, that's Anna Spiros!"
"Who the hell is Anna Spiros?" demanded Pierson.
"She's a reporter from Channel 8. She interviewed me."
"And me," added Rufus. "Boss, there's quite a crowd out there. Maybe we should set up the hot dog stand and sell some dogs."
"You are very entrepreneurial, Rufus," said Delgado. It was one of the few comments MacFarland had heard her utter all morning.
"That's our business," said Rufus. "This detective stuff is just by the side."
"You can say that again," said MacFarland. "I've got to say, I am never taking on another kidnapping case. Too many people get killed!"
"Well, it if wasn't Lockwood who notified the press, who did it?"
"Maybe it was Dougie," suggested MacFarland. "I don't think he'd even be aware of the consequences of letting this story out. With his niece under arrest and his brother in the hospital, he probably had a lot on his mind."
Pierson gave him a look of disgust. "I'm holding you responsible," she said. "Look at all the damage they're doing to my lawn!"
"Maybe you should call the police," suggested Rufus in a joking manner.
Pierson extended her sour look to include Rufus. "I need some coffee. Anybody else want some?"
Rufus joined Pierson in the kitchen, leaving Delgado and MacFarland in the living room. "There's something I wanted to ask you, Calida," said MacFarland in a low voice. He didn't want anyone else to hear what he and Delgado discussed.
Delgado looked up, uncertain and cautious. "What?"
"Why did you want to kill Gil? I didn't mention to Pierson or the other police about you taking my gun to go and kill him. But I want to know why? I thought you liked him."
"Liked him? Liked him?" she asked, her voice rising with frustration. "I hated Gil! Yes, maybe there was a time when I liked him. Even loved him, I suppose. When I first met him, and he seemed so much like a knight in shining armor. But then I learned that what he saved me from, he was the cause of it. He directed his cartel to do the car-jackings and kidnappings. Some of his thugs just made the mistake of doing it in a building where he was staying. That's why he was around to save me."
"You wanted to kill him because he is responsible for car-jackings?"
Delgado shook her head, annoyed that she was having trouble explaining herself. "No, not just for that. Cartels, crime--it is a way of life in Mexico. We learn to live with it. Or we buy a gun and handle it ourselves. It was not for that I wanted to kill Alejandro. It was for the really awful thing he did."
"What did he do?"
Delgado seemed hesitant to answer. She kept looking nervously around the room, her eyes misting up. Finally, in a very subdued voice, she began to speak. "He killed my husband, Mac. He killed the man I loved and married. My Rafael. Alejandro thought he owned me. Thought I was his possession. If another man even looked at me, he would get furious. At first he would punish me. Then he would have his men threaten or hurt whoever showed any interest in me."
"Why didn't you leave him?"
"How do you leave a man like that? Even when I had assignments out of the country, he had people watching me. Only as long as I stayed in my own casa was I safe. About two years after I met Alejandro, I met Rafael Cortez. We fell in love, and two months later, we got married. I thought because nothing happened at first that Alejandro had given up, let me go. But that was not true. A little more than a year after Rafael and I got married, he was crossing a street, and a car passed him by. Someone shot him from the car, killing him dead. When I confronted Alejandro about it, he laughed at me and said that Mexico was a dangerous place. I swore that I would get even with him, Mac. But over time, I stopped dating. I didn't want to fall in love."
"But what about people like Moreno? Couldn't he protect you? After all, wasn't he a policeman?"
"Prosecutor. No, he could not protect me. Alejandro knew I was friends with Alfonso, but he treated it like a big joke. It was only when you came down that things changed."
"Me? What did I have to do with anything?"
Delgado paused, her face becoming suffused with a faint blush. "I might have mentioned to him something about you when I first met Alejandro."
MacFarland tried to suppress a short laugh. "What could you possibly tell him that might upset him?"
"That you were my first love," she said quietly.
MacFarland was stunned. Unsure of what to say, he chose to say nothing.
Delgado went on, her voice barely above a whisper. "When you showed up, Alejandro was furious. He couldn't stand the idea that someone I once loved was staying with me. That was the reason I feared that the people who shot at us in Taxco were Alejandro's men. I thought he was trying to kill you then. When you left Mexico, I thought you would be safe. But then Alejandro said he had to come to Denver to take care of something. I feared—no, I knew—that he was coming here to kill you. I couldn't let that happen, Mac. I just couldn't."
"I don't know what to say, Calida," said MacFarland.
She smiled briefly, then her face became stony once more. "Don't say anything. I thought maybe you loved me also, Mac, but I can see that you love someone else. So I am going back to Mexico. But this time, I will be free. Alejandro can't hurt me anymore."