Chapter 27

 

 

The apartment building was typical of student housing everywhere—a nothing-special tan building, a big parking lot, no real amenities. It was a place to sleep and study. Sally had told them Patsy drove a yellow VW beetle, so when Kelly spotted a young woman about to get into that very car, she pulled up alongside. The UTSA Law sweatshirt was another giveaway.

“Patsy?” Sam called as she got out of the rental.

Patsy Flores looked up with a smile full of beautifully white teeth. Her liquid brown eyes went along with wavy long, dark hair. She wore jeans with the blue and orange school logo sweatshirt. She tossed a heavy-looking backpack into the passenger side of the little car.

“You must be Sam,” she said. “Mom texted me.”

“Have you got a minute?”

“A minute—that’s about right. I’m graduating law school in May and it’s brutal. Every spare second, I’m studying.” She leaned on the open door of the car.

“I was hoping to chat briefly about Danny and Lila, how they were getting along and all that. We’re trying to help find Lila’s killer.”

Patsy shook her head woefully. “It can’t be Danny—I’m sure of that. He may be flaky and noncommittal in relationships, but he’s never been violent.”

“You think he moved to New Mexico to get out of the relationship?”

“Well, of course. That would be his way of handling it, rather than sitting down and properly breaking it off.”

“He told me he tried talking it out with her. He says she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Patsy nibbled at her lower lip for a moment, squinting her eyes. “I don’t know about that. Lila always seemed reasonable. I mean, I wouldn’t take on a roommate who didn’t have her act together.”

“And Lila did? Have her act together?” Kelly wasn’t hiding her skepticism very well.

“Eh, most of the time. I mean, she was fun and knew how to party—don’t we all? Well, okay, maybe not me so much, not right now, since I’m busting my fanny to finish school. Lila had a job, but didn’t seem career oriented. She always had money to buy little gifts for friends, to go out, to get new clothes. Maybe she got some extra support from her parents or something. All I know is she gave me two month’s rent in advance for my second bedroom here. And, hey, every little bit helps. I’m just saying, she was a nice person. It was horrible what happened to her.”

“Could we take a look at her room sometime? I know—”

“Yeah, sure. I’ve gotta run now … but we’ll catch up.” She slid down into her seat as she said it.

“Real quick,” said Kelly, stepping forward to block the car door from closing. “Could we get the numbers of a friend or two of Danny’s? We only have a couple days here in town and need to make the most of it.”

“Um, sure.” Patsy reached into a side pocket of her backpack and pulled out her phone. With a couple of quick swipes she brought up contacts. “Here’s Sergio. He’ll be an important one to talk to.”

She held up the phone screen and let Kelly add the number to her own phone.

“And here’s Devon Miller’s number. She and her brother are nearly always with whatever group is going out. She’s sweet and would probably tell you whatever you need to know.”

The moment Kelly had finished taking the numbers, Patsy pled lateness and pulled her door shut as she stuck her key in the ignition. With a flash of a stiff smile and a tiny wave, she backed out.

“Marginally helpful, but I guess it was worth the trip to get the phone numbers,” Sam said.

The sun was beginning to dip in the sky, and their early awakening had begun to tell. Kelly drove and Sam used her phone to call the new contacts.

Sergio Sandoval answered on the first ring. “Yo.”

Sam explained who she was and gave the rehearsed version of why they were in town, hoping to help Danny.

“Yeah, bummer. It sucks that Lila died, but it sucks worse that Danny’s in trouble.”

“We’re hoping that by talking with some of their friends we can figure out what went wrong. We need some evidence that would show Danny didn’t commit this crime.”

“I know, man, I wish I knew what to tell you. He was kind of reaching a limit with her, you know. It’s why he moved away.”

“Right. That’s what he’s told me,” Sam said. “We just ran into Patsy and she said a bunch of the friends get together regularly. Could we maybe meet up, have you introduce us to some of the others?”

There was some shuffling at the other end and the sound of a car starting. “Look, I’m on my way to work now, but yeah … Anybody who’s available usually shows up at Thrashed around ten or eleven. I’ll be there tonight after I get off work.”

Sam wasn’t about to admit she was usually dead to the world by eleven. The ranching life didn’t include many late nights. “Sounds great, Sergio. Thanks.”

“Oh my god, nightclubbing after eleven,” Kelly said. “I haven’t done that since I moved back to Taos.”

“Yeah, we live a pretty sheltered life, don’t we?” Sam said, setting Kelly’s phone on the console.

“Well, I’ll never make it, especially since I’ve been up since before three a.m. Texas time, unless I get a nap first.”

Their hotel at the Riverwalk was ten minutes away and the room’s blackout drapes helped create the perfect little nap haven. Later, over dinner—salads in the hotel restaurant—they talked about what they’d learned so far.

“Patsy didn’t exactly seem to take her brother’s side in this whole thing, did she?” Kelly said.

“Yeah, and I’m not sure she’d be a good witness. She’s almost too truthful about Danny’s shortcomings.”

“Not to mention, she seemed to believe Lila’s version of things over her own brother’s.”

“Still, I think we can learn something useful and we need to stay in contact with her. I want the chance to go through Lila’s belongings that she left behind at Patsy’s apartment.” Sam set down her fork and stifled a yawn.

“You sure you’re up for this, Mom? I could go to the club by myself.”

“No way. Sorry to pull mom rank on you at your age, but I’m not sitting back in a hotel room and sending you off to some nightclub in a strange city.” Sam gave a wry grin. “I wouldn’t rest anyway.”

“It’s not like we need to stay very long. We’ll see how it goes, hopefully chum up with the friends and learn something.”

Kelly grabbed the check and handed over her credit card. While she was waiting for her receipt, she looked up the address of the club Sergio had mentioned.

It was slightly after ten o’clock when the perky GPS voice directed them to the parking lot on a street just off the college campus.

“I think I’m glad we handled the wooden boxes before we left the hotel,” Sam said, eyeing the façade of the cinderblock building that had a violent looking mural painted on the wall that faced the parking area.

Kelly was also giving it a hard stare. “Yeah, I wonder what kind of place this is. At least I’m not getting any warning sirens in my head yet.”

Sam took a deep breath. “The cars all look like typical college kid rides, don’t they? I mean, the lot isn’t filled with motorcycles and I didn’t see any rough types hanging outside the door.”

“One can hope.” Kelly checked her purse for the pepper spray she always carried. “What’s the plan? If the evening should go south, maybe we need a signal or escape word for each other?”

“You’re asking me? I spent my high school years in an itty-bitty Texas town where the Dairy Queen was the social life, and I escaped that as soon as I could for a pipeline camp in Alaska. Since then it’s been Taos, first with a baby to raise and then a bakery where the hours begin at o-dark-thirty. I’m not exactly an expert at this.”

“Okay, let’s play it by ear. I’ll let you know what vibes I get.”

They bumped fists and got out of the car.