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Chapter Twenty-four
Alex wandered through the house looking for Ray. According to Maddy, who had been sitting on the front porch reading a book when he had trotted up the front walk, Ray and Susana were in the study. He tapped on the door. No answer. The newlyweds were hiding out. He couldn’t blame them. Between Benny’s kidnapping and little Jane Doe, their memories of the early days of their marriage would be very interesting. He had to ask Ray two questions and then he’d leave them alone. One dealt with the case, but the other question had been eating at him since he’d left Deborah’s apartment, and dogged him as he’d done the Glover interview.
Late afternoon sun shone in his eyes as he opened the screen door off the kitchen and stepped onto the side porch. Giggles floated through the air. Ray and Susana shared a lawn chair. Ray had both arms around Susana, who sat on his lap. They were kissing. Rocky rested at their feet. The dog raised his head growled.
Alex dropped his gaze, trying to identify the emotion that ran through him. It felt like envy. He started to retreat through the screen door.
“Hey, Alex! Where are you going?” Ray waved a big hand. “Did you need something?”
“It’s all right. I’ll come back later.”
Susana planted another kiss on her husband’s lips and jumped up. “No, we were just taking a little break. Time to get back to work.”
“I could see that.” Heat burned Alex’s face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I know you guys aren’t getting a lot of privacy these days.”
“Don’t apologize, Alex. We have the rest of our lives for privacy.” Susana sounded so much like Samuel that Alex had to smile. She seemed so tough, but the way she looked at Ray was pure mush. She pushed past him and then called back, “I’ll bring you guys some sodas. Dr. Pepper or root beer?”
Alex needed caffeine. “Dr. Pepper.”
Susana laughed. “Two caffeine boosters coming up.”
She disappeared into the house. Alex stayed in the doorway.
“You coming out, bro?” Ray stretched back in the patio chair, his hands behind his head. “Or do I need to come in?”
“I’m coming out.” He went as far as a second lawn chair and plopped down in it. The breeze had a cool chill to it. Fall had finally arrived in South Texas. He closed his eyes for a second and let it blow over him.
“What’s up?” Ray cranked his head from side to side and rolled his shoulders. “You look . . . stressed.”
“How’s Daniel doing?” Alex stalled.
“So-so. Susana talked to Lily a few minutes ago. She said he was still throwing up, still had a fever. Lily thought Nicole had done something to upset him, but that’s probably just the protective sister in her talking.”
“Has Morin called?”
“No. Not since he found out we know who he is.”
Alex shook his head. “That’s not a good sign.”
“No. We were hoping he’d go for the money.”
“Maybe he still will.”
“Maybe.” Ray didn’t sound optimistic. “In the meantime, we’re trying to figure some places he might go. The Crime Scene Unit matched a fingerprint at the Jordan house to Miguel Suarez, which tells us there’s definitely a connection between Barrera and Morin. But with the Jordans dead, we got no new leads on Morin’s whereabouts. What about the connection to Tómas Chavez?”
“Chavez knows more than what he’s saying.” Alex leaned forwarded and propped his elbows on his knees. “Morin confided in him in jail. We tried to get a search warrant, but the judge didn’t think we had enough probable cause. If we nailed him for cooking meth and selling it, he might be willing to deal Morin to reduce the charge. I wish we’d get the ID back on the little girl’s body. It’d help to know for sure she’s Chavez’s daughter.”
Alex took a breath. Ray would probably recognize his rambling for what it was. Nerves. He didn’t like delving into Ray’s painful personal history. “Nobody remembers seeing Nina Chavez after she was returned to the ranch by CPS. Then the whole bunch disappears. Chavez hired a private investigator who went looking for them in Kansas and never came back. Right around the time you bought the property.”
Ray was quiet for several seconds. “So they disappeared around the time I bought the property and you’re wondering how I couldn’t have known that and brought it up.”
Alex shifted uncomfortably on the lawn chair. “A little. I mean, it would have been investigated by the sheriff’s office, not PD, but even if it didn’t make a big media splash, it was property you were buying.”
Ray’s hands slapped the metal arms of the lawn chair, making a hard, angry sound. “Five years ago, I was still in patrol on the south side. I was burying myself in work—among other things—trying to get past Laura—my first wife’s death.”
He stopped. Alex waited, letting Ray wrestle with emotion. “I drove myself into the ground working during the day and buried myself in bars and bottles at night. Some mornings I woke up in strange places and didn’t know how I’d gotten there—and with women whose names I didn’t know.” His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. “By the time I took possession of the ranch, Chavez was gone and I didn’t give him a second thought. I started fixing the place up and getting myself straight instead of drowning in a bottle of bourbon every night.”
A few oblique references in the past had made Alex aware that Ray’s first wife had died. This was the most his friend had ever told him about that era in his life. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
