AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No—no, sir, I don’t.” Bright red spots in the middle of her cheeks gave her a feverish look. “I don’t know nothing about no investigator. He’s—Tómas is coming here?”
“We think so.” Cooper spoke for the first time, his voice gravelly with the same anger that consumed Alex. “Your husband is involved in one of the most violent gangs in south Texas. He manufacturers meth and distributes drugs for a living. He recently was involved in the kidnapping of a little boy on the ranch y’all used to live on. The kidnapper died in a chase with some of your husband’s goons. What do you think he’ll do when he finds you?”
Her hands went to her throat in a convulsive gesture. “He’ll kill me. He’ll kill me because I know what—” She swallowed a sob and stopped.
“You know he killed Nina.” Alex spoke softly. An eyewitness maybe. Or an accomplice. Either way, her testimony would put Chavez away for a long time.
“He’ll kill me and the kids—the girls for sure. You have to help me. You have to hide us. Please.” She fell to her knees, her hands on her face, sobbing at his feet. “Please.”
Cooper knelt next to her. Alex couldn’t bring himself to help her. She was the worst kind of mother. He searched for compassion in his soul and found none. That fact scared him. He should care about her.
He started to bend down. A scratching sound stopped him. Startled, he paused, waiting to hear it again. The sound was coming from behind a closed door next to the refrigerator. The door had a padlock on it. “What was that?”
“Nothing. It was nothing.” Mrs. Chavez jerked from Cooper’s grasp and stumbled to her feet, knocking over a chair in her haste. Her legs banged against the table, and Coop’s mug went flying. Coffee spread across the table and dripping onto the floor. “I have to pack. I have to take the kids and get out of here before he finds us.”
Alex brushed past her and strode over to the door. “Where does this go?” He jerked on the padlock. “What’s in there.”
“It’s just a storage room. We keep extra supplies in there.” She didn’t move from the table. “Just flour and sugar and such.”
Alex pounded on the door and rattled the padlock. “Hello, who’s in there? Hello!”
“Mommy. Mommy.” A small voice called. “I’ll be good now.”
Chapter Forty-one
The high pitched sound of girls giggling filtered through the cracks around the chicken house door. Deborah put her hand on the metal bar handle and jerked it open. The door creaked and groaned. She peeked in. Two girls, with matching faces and dark braids to their waists, stood in the middle of the shack, frozen, looks of guilty fear on their faces.
“Uncle Ezra, we were just—”
Deborah stepped inside. “Hi. I’m Detective Deborah Smith from the San Antonio Police Department.” She left the door open behind her. “You must be Estrella and Esperanza. Frankie said you were out here.”
“San Antonio, Texas?” The slightly taller girl spoke first. She tossed her braid over her shoulder. “You don’t have any jurisdiction here.”
Deborah suppressed a smile. Whatever this girl had been through, it hadn’t broken her. She felt the tug of a kindred spirit. “Whoa. A budding lawyer. Are you Esperanza or Estrella?”
“Estrella. I’m the oldest.”
“By two minutes.” Esperanza protested, her lower lip stuck out in a pout. Her gaze grazed Deborah’s, then sank to the floor. “Did God send you to save us?”
The thought stunned Deborah. She hesitated. A sense of something big washed over her. “I think He did. Esperanza. That means hope in Spanish, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.” The emotion that sufficed the girl’s face was so like her pretty name. She slapped a hand on her sister’s hand. “I prayed someone would come.”
Estrella stuck both hands on her hips. “Well, la-de-dah. My name means star in Spanish. And it’s prettier. Now what?” Deborah smiled. “My . . . my partner—he’s up at the house, you’ll meet him in a few minutes. His name is Alex Luna andlunameans moon. So we’ve got the moon and the stars. And hope. Not a bad combination. Couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?”
“Stop trying to snow us.” Estrella frowned. “Ain’t like Momma’s gonna let you just take us away. You ain’t got no jurisdiction here. You ain’t even wearing a uniform. Uncle Ezra will eat you for lunch, sure as I’m standing here.”
“You’re right about jurisdiction, but we’re here with Detective Baker from Abilene. This is about making sure you’re okay. It’s also about your sister, Nina.”
Neither girl made a sound, but Deborah saw the simultaneous flinch.
“Momma said they sent Nina to California.” Estrella said, her tone fierce.
“California?”
“It was right before we moved here.” Estrella’s look dared Deborah to contradict her. “She said Nina went to live withPapi’ssister in California.”
“But she didn’t.” Esperanza glanced at Alex and then at the ground.
