Time of Death

‘Do you think it’s all connected?’ said Gary.

‘I can’t see how it wouldn’t be,’ said Ren. ‘Even though it makes no sense.’

Colin shrugged. ‘It does if the kids are screwed up. They rape their own mother – which is why she doesn’t want to report it – their father finds out, they kill him and run.’

‘But she called and ID’d Erubiel Diaz,’ said Ren.

‘Picked a random rapist from the internet?’ said Colin. ‘That can happen. People lie. People get desperate. She wants to find her boys, doesn’t care what they’ve done, plans to forgive them, but needs someone on the case with the resources to track them down. And maybe someone who will believe her sorry tale.’

Oh, like me, maybe? Screw you. ‘Of all the people in all the gin joints?’ said Ren. ‘No, her sons did not rape her. That’s not what any of this sounds like. I’m not sure what the hell is going on, but I know it’s not that.’

‘Do you think we need to look at the husband?’ said Gary.

‘I’m thinking, why not?’ Ren shrugged. ‘His behavior is off. Not reporting the rape rings serious alarm bells. She also said he talked about moving house around that time.’

‘I’d want to move too,’ said Cliff.

‘This was before the rape.’

‘Ah,’ said Cliff. ‘And did she want to move?’

‘No.’

‘Maybe he hired someone to scare her out of the neighborhood, to make her feel unsafe there, so she’d want to move, but the guy went too far?’ said Colin. ‘Sarvas tracks him down to beat the shit out of him, but the guy gets in first, blows him away?’

Cliff sucked in a breath. ‘You’d have to be seriously desperate to get out of your neighborhood to go that far.’

‘Maybe the man had every reason to be desperate,’ said Gary.

‘Maybe he was boning one of the hot neighbors and she turned psycho on him,’ said Colin.

Ren looked at him. ‘Always quick with the fucked-up scenarios.’

‘Did you get everything from El Paso PD?’ said Gary.

Ren nodded.

‘Split it up between you and see what you can come up with,’ said Gary. ‘No one’s to neglect Gartman in all this. All eyes are on us. And the Gregory Sarvas murder could be a time-consuming tangent.’ He turned to Ren. ‘You’re looking at this as your route to Val Pando? Via Diaz?’

Ren paused. The correct answer is …

‘Be careful,’ said Gary. ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.’

8 (#ulink_7f321652-19e3-5e9d-9e8c-94e0647903e8)

That night, Ren and Misty walked out the motel-room door for the last time. Ren smiled.

Who could ever be sad, leaving a motel?

She thought about that: husbands going back to their wives, wives going back to their husbands, people who have had bad sex, guilty people, short-changed hookers, Catholic chamber maids … who, on reflection, would have been sad going in in the first place … Ren stopped reflecting.

OK, lots of people. Just not me.

Robbie walked behind Ren up the path to Annie’s house. Ren was pulling a suitcase, Robbie had a stack of boxes in his arms. She turned the key in the front door and had to push hard with her shoulder to open it. She dragged the suitcase on to the black-and-white tiled floor. Robbie laid the boxes down beside it.

‘Do you need me to take these anywhere?’ Robbie nodded toward the stairs.

‘Here is fine, thank you.’

‘Can I do anything else?’

‘You have done more than enough,’ said Ren. ‘Will you stay for a soda?’

‘I’d love to, but I’ve really got to go. I think this should be your night with Misty.’

‘You’re a sweetheart.’ Ren gave him a hug and glanced out to the Jeep. ‘I hope she likes it.’

‘What’s not to like?’

Ren walked down the path with Robbie and said goodbye.

Misty sat on the back seat of the Jeep and stared out the window at Ren. Then she wiggled back as far away from her as she could.

‘Please, baby, do not do this,’ said Ren. ‘You have to love what Mommy loves. That’s the deal.’

Misty’s expression was hard to read.

‘You used to live in a shack on the side of a mountain,’ said Ren. ‘Surely a historic dwelling is …’ Ren paused. ‘Oh, is this place too fancy for you?’

Ren leaned in the Jeep door and carefully hugged Misty toward her. ‘Come on.’ They made their way up the path.

Misty paused on the threshold.

‘Hey, get in here, young lady,’ said Ren. ‘This is your new home.’ She crouched down and rubbed Misty’s back. ‘How do you feel about that?’ Ren stood up. ‘Misty-fied, clearly.’

Misty walked into the hallway as if to prove a point. Ren closed the door behind them. Silence. For as long as they stood there, there was no sound. No creaking floorboards, no ticking clock, no rattling pipes.

I am completely alone.

Since she turned sixteen, Ren had rarely been without a boyfriend. It was one long relay race where one man was always handing the baton over to another. He just didn’t know it. And sometimes, neither did Ren. But something would make her feel safe enough to leave and, if she admitted it, it was knowing that there was a new man waiting in the wings. Even if it never happened with that particular guy, she at least knew he was there. But … it always happened.

Ren’s men never came without drama. The last person she really cared about was a confidential informant that could have gotten her fired. She had forced herself to walk away from him eight months ago, and for the first time in her life, she’d had no one lined up to take his place. No flirtation to follow through on. No cute guy in the diner. No hot agent on a visit to Denver. Ren Bryce had jumped without a safety net. A few months later, she had a week-long fling with an extreme rider performing at the National Western Stock Show. A beautiful man. A futureless fling. Endless comedy potential for the guys.

Ren took a deep breath.

No. More. Men.

The thought made her feel weak.