“I grabbed Rick and drove,” Soledad said. “I knew those monsters probably had people at the hospital, so I left Rick at the free clinic in the barrio where I did my internship. I was driving to the kids’ school when I heard the lie on the radio. The police chief told the world Rick had shot himself. ‘Pressure from the job, blah, blah.’ I knew he was giving us our only chance. I got the kids from school. We picked up Rick and headed across the border to my grandmother’s place.”
“Outside of Ejido el Cinco?” Seth asked.
Soledad nodded.
“I needed surgery,” Rick said. “Soledad’s uncle came with a team. They worked on me for hours.”
“The assault couldn’t have lasted more than three minutes,” Soledad said. “Five maybe. Ricky’s had thirty surgeries, takes handfuls of pills, and . . .”
“So fast,” Rick nodded. “They clearly had lots and lots of practice. Well, of course, all those illegals.”
“You stayed at your grandmother’s house?”
Rick and Soledad nodded.
“We came back a year ago because Rick needed a different antibacterial,” Soledad said. “That money you gave me?”
Seth nodded.
“I used some of it to buy this place.”
“In your own name?” Seth’s eyebrows furrowed with concern.
“Not a chance,” Soledad said. “My brother is a lawyer. You know the money people gave me after Ricky died?”
“Mostly you,” Rick said. Soledad nodded.
“My brother, he cleaned the money through some businesses. There’s no trace back to me or Ricky,” Soledad said. “He set up an anonymous trust. The trust bought this land. He cashed out Rick’s pension and donated it to the little clinic that saved Rick’s life. We couldn’t have done that without your help. That’s why Ricky came to visit you.”
“That and the fact that you’re dealing with the same guy,” Rick said.
“We would have been lost without your help, Seth,” Soledad said and Rick nodded.
“Glad it’s of some use,” Seth said.
“Soledad writes children’s books in Spanish,” Rick said. “That’s how we live.”
“There aren’t a lot of children’s books for Spanish-reading kids,” Soledad said.
“Fabulous,” Seth said.
“She has a whole team now,” Rick said. “A couple of publishers.”
Rick smiled at Soledad, and she grinned at him.
“You know what happened to that chief?” Soledad asked.
“I never keep track of brass.” Seth shook his head.
“Shot dead,” Rick said. “Stepped out of his house and blam. Less than a month later. No suspects.”
“Everybody focused on the death of the chief and forgot about Rick,” Soledad said.
“Served us fine,” Rick said.
“Do you mind if I ask you some questions?” Seth asked.
“No,” Rick said. “We knew you would. Go ahead.”
“The handsome guy, he hit you with an electric cattle bolt?” Seth asked.
“Enough electricity to incapacitate him, but not put him to sleep like a stun gun,” Soledad nodded.
“By the handsome man?”
“Oh,” Soledad shook her head. “I don’t know. Ricky was already down when I got there.”
“The animal?” Seth asked.
“It was one of those rat creatures,” Soledad said.
“We think it was a weasel of some kind,” Rick said.
“Did it smell?” Seth asked.
“No idea,” Rick said. “I was a little . . .”
“It smelled like . . . skunk, but more oily,” Soledad said.
“Brown?” Seth asked.
Rick looked at Soledad, and she nodded.
“You know what it is?” Soledad asked.
“Sounds like a mink,” Seth said. “He was using it to . . .”
Seth let the question linger.
“Clean him out,” Soledad said. “From the inside.”
“While he was alive?” Seth’s stomach turned over.
Soledad nodded.
“Got rid of my hemorrhoids.” Rick snorted, and Soledad shook her head at him.
The image was too real and visceral for Seth. He took a few minutes to settle his stomach.
“Have a cookie,” Soledad said. “They help.”
Seth reached for a cookie. Holding one in his hand, he asked, “Marijuana?”
“Just sugar and butter,” Rick said.
“And lots of love,” Soledad said. “He bakes a lot now. It’s really nice.”
Seth took a bite and another cookie from the plate. He focused on the fire and the food for a few minutes to get his bearings.
“It’s hard,” Soledad said. “To know there is so much evil in this world and yet . . .”
“I see a lot of love,” Rick said. “The kids . . . I mean they were teenagers. We ripped them from their lives. My daughter was four days from her big party. You’d think she would freak out.”
He shook his head.
“She took one look at her father and never said another word,” Soledad said. “I asked her about it last year before she left for college. You know what she said?”
Seth shook his head.
“I’d rather have a dad than a party,” Rick said. “Just another thing I took for granted before all of this. I don’t do that anymore.”
“And the infection?” Seth asked.
“I need another operation,” Rick nodded. “Know any place I can have the operation without them finding out?”
“I don’t know who ‘them’ is.” Seth shook his head.
“Didn’t think so,” Rick said.
“You will solve this,” Soledad said. “And when you do, we can come out of hiding.”
“Is there anything you need?” Seth asked. “Anything I can do?”
“Solve this thing,” Rick said. “Get these guys.”
“Will you testify?” Seth asked.
Soledad looked at Rick. For a few moments, they looked at each other, before Rick turned to look at Seth.
“I will,” Rick said.
“I will, too,” Soledad said.
“If I had a police artist call you, Soledad, could you come up with a sketch of the guys who attacked Rick?”
Rick and Soledad looked at each other again. Rick turned to Seth.
“Someone you trust?” Rick asked.
“Someone who works for my wife, Amelie,” Seth said. “They’re working right now. I can call.”
“Can they trace your phone?” Soledad asked.
Seth shook his head.
“Okay,” Soledad said. “I’ll tell them what I remember.”
“Thank you,” Seth said. “You’re very brave.”
“We promised each other that we would do whatever you asked to help you get these guys,” Rick said.
Seth smiled.
“I knew Cavetti,” Rick nodded. “She came to our house for dinner every year when she vacationed in Tucson.”
Seth nodded and placed a call on his cell phone to Ava’s lab. Ava answered.
“Hi,” Seth said.
“Hi,” Ava said. “Schmidty’s looking for you. Are you out boozing and floozing?”
“Floozing?” Seth smiled.
“That’s a Nelson word for cavorting with floozies.”
“I’m talking to an old friend,” Seth said. “Would you mind if Leslie did me a favor?”
“For the case?” Ava asked.
“I found an eyewitness,” Seth said. “She’s pretty skittish, so . . .”
“Leslie’s a good choice,” Ava said. “Hey, Leslie . . .”
“What are they doing working so late?” Soledad asked.
Seth covered the phone with his hand.
“They just got a grant to review about a thousand physical remains and a couple thousand coroner’s case files from remains found in the Arizona desert,” Seth said. “Seems like someone’s been carving them up.”
Rick smiled.
“She’ll be careful?” Soledad asked.
“They’re in a locked facility,” Seth said. “No one can get in without passing through detailed security.”
“What about the State Attorney?” Rick asked.
“He’s been locked out of the facility by the chief,” Seth said.
“That’s right,” Rick said. “Denver got that new chief.”
Seth nodded.
“Is he on the take?” Soledad asked.
“I’d like to see someone try,” Seth said, with more confidence than he felt. This entire case was eroding his sense of safety. The horror of what Rick and his wife had gone through was icing on the cake.
“I’m supposed to tell you that you need your rest,” Ava said.
“But?” Seth turned his attention back to the phone.
“It sounds like you’re making progress,” Ava said. “And progress means you’ll be home to cavort with me. I’m selfish like that.”
Seth chuckled.
“Anyway, here’s Leslie,” Ava said and got off the phone.
“Seth?” Leslie asked.
“How’s your Spanish?” Seth asked.
“Good,” Leslie said. “She must be really scared.”
“Yes,” Seth said.
“I’ll be nice,” Leslie said. “What do you want me to do with the images?”
“Send them to me, and ask Nelson to hide them,” Seth said.
“Will do,” Leslie said.
Seth gave the phone to Soledad. She looked at Seth and nodded.
“Hello?” Soledad asked, as she moved into the house.
Seth returned to the fireside. He and Rick sat and watched the fire until Soledad came out again. The strain of the conversation showed in the tight smile she wore over her tear-stained face. Rick stood and held her.
“I know the cost of doing this is enormous,” Seth said. “I want you to know that I appreciate it.”
Without letting go of each other, they looked at Seth.
“It’s good,” Soledad said. “We will be done with this forever. I want that.”
“So do I,” Seth said.
“I’ll take you back to town,” Soledad said.
“Why don’t you take me to the edge of town?” Seth asked. “I can walk or find a ride from there.”
“You sure?” Soledad asked.
“I’m sure,” Seth said. “Rick?”
Rick gave Seth a hug.
“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you made it,” Seth said.
“I’ll remember that when I have my next surgery,” Rick laughed.
Seth smiled. He raised a hand in goodbye and followed Soledad out. She got in a rusted Datsun sedan. He took the passenger seat.
“We don’t ever take the same car into town,” Soledad said.
“Probably smart,” Seth said.
They drove to the gate, and Seth got out to open it. She waited for him on the other side. They drove in silence to the highway.
“Are you going to ask?” Soledad asked.
“Not my business,” Seth said.
“You’re so Seth.” Soledad smiled.
He shrugged.
“I guess I need to tell you,” Soledad said. “You remember that I was . . . uh . . . involved.”
“I remember that you’d filed for divorce,” Seth said.
“Things get really clear when you see your husband being hacked to death,” Soledad said. “Crystal clear.”
“I’d bet,” Seth said.
“Rick was an alcoholic, workaholic, awful to be around,” Soledad said. She touched her chest. “He was dead inside. All that death for all that time. He’s not joking when he said he didn’t think the case was a big deal. Disconnected. He didn’t really connect to anything, certainly not me or the kids.”
“And now?”
“He’s a new man,” Soledad said. “Sober. Very sweet. So loving. My grandmother noticed it first. It’s like he was resurrected.”
“And the boy?” Seth asked.
“Rick doesn’t care,” Soledad said. “When he came out of surgery the first time, he told me that I was all he wanted. If I could forgive him . . . Forgive him? Come to find out, he knew about the other guy all along. It wasn’t that he wasn’t thinking of me, didn’t love me . . .”
She cleared her throat and gripped the steering wheel to keep from crying.
“He was filled up with all the awful things people do to each other,” Seth said. “It fills every crevice of your body and soul until you bleed the pus of other people’s troubles.”
“He didn’t say it so poetically,” Soledad smiled. “But, yeah. What do you do?”
“I play the piano,” Seth said.
“And this new wife?”
“She seems to understand my need to play,” Seth said. “She’s viciously independent. She trusts me to take care of myself. In turn, I have to trust that when it’s all too much for her, she’ll tell me.”
Soledad nodded.
“Rick’s a really great dad,” Soledad said. “Even to Emanuel. I feel . . . so lucky.”
Soledad sniffed. They drove in silence for a while.
“You be good to your hot young wife, Seth,” Soledad said.
“I try,” Seth said. “What happened with the boyfriend? Emanuel’s father?”
“No idea,” Soledad said. “We left town and didn’t look back. I haven’t looked him up or seen him since. Should I?”
“No,” Seth said. “I just wondered.”
“See,” Soledad said. “You’re nosey under all that ‘not my business’ crap.”
Seth laughed. Soledad pulled to the side of the road. Seth took a slow look around.
“You sure about this?” Soledad asked.
“Positive,” Seth said.
“You just go down there, cross the railroad tracks, and your hotel’s about a mile down the road,” Soledad said.
“Thanks,” Seth said. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that everything worked out for you.”
“Me, too,” Soledad smiled.
Seth got out of the car, and Soledad took off. He watched her make a U-turn before he started walking. The brisk night air and the steady motion of his feet helped him work through his thoughts.
The bite on Davies’s hand could easily have been from a mink.
Soledad and Rick had confirmed his belief that Davies wasn’t working alone. Rage flushed through him. Davies must have been recruited by Chiến in high school. Seth should have killed the man when he had the chance. But Cotton had protected him.
Caught in his own sullen thoughts, Seth was surprised when his hotel appeared in front of him. He entered through the back and took the stairs to his suite.
His dark mood followed him like a cloud. He pushed the door open and went into the suite. He threw his keys on the desk and walked to the window. Opening the shades, he looked out into the night, hoping to see a liquor store.
He would kill for a bottle of Jack Daniels.
When he closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the cool glass window, he caught the scent of light citrus cologne.
Chiến was in the room with him.