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“Were you around when Ray bought the ranch?”
“No, as a matter of fact, my sister was quite ill when Ray moved here. I went up to Tulsa to take care of her before she died. When I came back the Chavezes were gone, and Ray was settled in. A quiet one he was. Saw him working his rear off to get this place in shape, but he barely said a word to me the first year he was here.”
Maddy had a faraway look on her face. “Of course, now I know he was grieving for his first wife. Some folks are like that, real quiet for a while.”
Cooper’s face had gone white. Daniel tried to remember how long it’d been since the detective’s wife had died. Ray had mentioned it. She’d had a heart attack at the breakfast table a couple of years ago. Cooper finally answered. “Yes, ma’am, they are.”
No one spoke for a few seconds. Cooper stood. “I should let y’all get some sleep. Thank you for your time. Daniel, I’ll be here at five a.m.”
Maddy started to rise. “I’ll see you out.”
“Thank you, ma’am, but there’s no need. I know my way.” Cooper slapped his hat on his head and disappeared through the door.
Quiet reigned for a few moments. Maddy sipped her coffee. Daniel felt as if his body were floating in a sea of exhaustion.
“Do you really expect Benny’s mother to cooperate?” Maddy leaned back in the chair and rocked, the squeaking sound grating on Daniel’s serrated nerves. “After all, you’re asking her to admit to possession of a large quantity of drugs.”
“If there’s an iota of motherly love left in her, she’ll be willing to pay the price to get her son back.” The surge of anger that flooded him felt good. It propped up his body. “If she won’t do it of her own accord, we’ll have to find another way, maybe offer her an incentive of some kind.”
“Well, her prior behavior says she doesn’t give a hoot about her son.” Maddy’s tone was tart. “What’s plan B?”
“We’ll take apart the record of her visitors. Ask the warden to put pressure on her—put her in administrative segregation. Take away all her privileges. Whatever it takes.”
“Good.” She tapped neatly trimmed nails on the arm of her chair. “You won’t let Detective Cooper make Ray into a suspect in the little girl’s death, will you?”
Daniel met her cool gaze, surprised at the change of subject. “He’s a good friend of Ray’s. I’m sure he’s trying to do his job without bias and let the chips fall where they may. That’s what I would do. Ray didn’t do it, so the truth will win out.”
He stood and bumped into the coffee table with his knee. Coffee slop over the edge of his cup onto the table. He bent over to grab a napkin. Maddy beat him to it. “Go to bed, Son, you’re exhausted. I’ll be praying for Benny.”
“Thank you.” He stumbled toward the door.
“Daniel.”
He glanced back, one hand on the door to steady himself.
“And for you and Nicole.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
For a few seconds, the darkness lifted a little and he could see a path to his room.
* * *
Deborah stumbled toward her truck. The asphalt undulated around her. Cars jammed the parking lot, forcing her to zig zag. The Saturday night crowd never let her down. She’d managed to keep up with a couple guys she’d never seen before and would never see again. Not bad for someone who hadn’t practiced drinking in a while. She leaned on the Dodge while she dug through her purse for her keys.
Stupid. How could she have been so stupid? Her face burned with shame at the memory of Daniel’s bewildered look and Nicole’s frigid stare. Deborah had messed up. How could God forgive her? He’d forgiven her for so much already, and now, after she had accepted Jesus as her savior, she’d messed up all over again. It could be the straw that broke the camel’s back. For her salvation. And for Daniel’s marriage. That seemed even worse. She might be new at this, but she was sure it was even worse.
She had to make it up to him somehow. Find Benny. Yeah, find Benny. That was what mattered to Daniel right now. Nothing else. Tomorrow, she’d find Benny.
Her fingers curled around the pack of cigarettes she’d bought in the bar. They tasted so good, smelled so good, felt so good. Her anxiety eased a little. She’d have one more and then throw the pack away. Right now. Where was the lighter? She dug some more. Her billfold and her checkbook slid out and landed on the asphalt.
She sank to her knees, trying to ignore the slick, black Altima that glided to a halt next to her. Great. Here she was alone in a bar parking lot. She’d stashed her weapon in the glove compartment of her locked truck. The scenario had a familiar feel to it. She would have sworn it would never happen again—until the feel of Daniel’s arms around her in that nightmare-induced need for assurance made her limp back to her old crutches.
“Deborah?”
She forced herself to look up at Alex Luna.
“Luna? What are you doing here?” She dragged herself to her feet and tried to shove her stuff back into her purse. Instead, her makeup bag slid out and hit the ground, spilling its contents. Groaning, she knelt again.
