A Basket of Trouble (12 page)

“Ice?”

“Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Charley explained.

“But employers can’t legally ask to see a green card from someone 90

like Pedro who doesn’t speak English well, if he shows what seems to be a valid social security card and driver’s license. That’s all you need on the I-9 form.”

“Can you require all your employees to be US citizens?”

Charley shook his head. “No, that’s discrimination, because the

people who are permanent residents and have green cards can’t be

denied work just because they weren’t born here.”

“And they don’t have to show you those green cards to work

for you.”

“Right, because legally, to get a social security card, they either have to prove citizenship or show their green card.”

“So you’re covered!”

“It’s not that simple. Social security cards are easy to forge and to buy. If your employee turns out to have a fake one, you’re still liable. And ICE can fine you up to two thousand dollars per illegal employee.”

Claire rubbed her forehead. The complexity of the issue was

giving her a headache. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Unfortunately, I’m not.” Charley raised his hands and

shrugged his shoulders in a helpless gesture. “Because a lot of illegals work in stables in the US, I consulted an immigration lawyer about this in Durango.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me to make copies of my employees’ social security

cards and driver’s licenses when I hire them to prove that I checked them. And he told me that if ICE ever wants to check my records, I have the right to ask for three days to get them in order. But I can’t ask new hires any questions about citizenship status, where they

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or their parents were born, or to see a birth certificate, passport, or green card.”

“Do you know if Pedro and Jorge are legal?”

“No, I really don’t,” Charley said. “And I don’t know if Brittany and Gil are either, or if Kyle was. All I know is that they all showed me social security cards and driver’s licenses. And I have copies.

That’s why Wilson’s questions were making me nervous.”

“And if one of your wranglers isn’t legal,” Claire added, “ques-

tions about citizenship and green cards would make him nervous,

too.”

“Damn right.” Charley slapped his hat against his thigh.

“Nervous enough to kill whoever was asking?”

Charley peered up at the barn. “I don’t know. But why would

Kyle be asking?”

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seven:

digging for clues

Claire was walking beside Daisy in the corral the next morning,

with Brittany on the other side of the horse and a small, sprightly boy with autism who was about nine years old in the saddle. A

strong wind sluiced down Pike’s Peak in the west, flinging the dust stirred up by Daisy’s hooves into Claire’s hair, eyes, and ears. She pulled the bandana tied around her neck up higher over her nose

and mouth and glanced at Brittany, who had done the same thing.

They both wore sunglasses, as did Jessica, walking in front of

Daisy, but they weren’t much protection from the swirling wind.

Claire wondered if she was squinting as much as Brittany was.

“This wind bites, doesn’t it?” Brittany said over Daisy’s shoul-

der, her voice muffled by the bandana.

Claire nodded then glanced at Donny, the boy in the saddle.

A huge grin split his face as he bounced in the saddle and said,

“Go, go, go,” to Daisy. The wind and dust didn’t seem to bother

him at all.

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He held Daisy’s reins in one hand and a large plastic ring in

the other. The task that Jessica had given him was to pick up rings hanging from both ends of a tall T-shaped pole planted in the dirt near one end of the corral. Then he had to slide the rings onto

three tall straight poles sticking up from the ground near the other end of the corral as Daisy walked past them. Each pole already had one colored ring on it, red, blue or yellow, and Donny had to slide the colored rings he picked up onto the matching pole. The activity of guiding the horse and positioning the rings was designed

to make him focus on interrelated work tasks while still having a good time.

He was doing more of the latter than the former, though, as the

reins lay ineffectively against Daisy’s neck.

“Donny, hey, Donny,” Jessica called to get his attention. “Pull

the reins to the right to turn Daisy around the pole. That’s it. Now bring her close enough so you can reach the next one. Good!”

Donny leaned too far over to Claire’s side to lasso the pole

with his ring, and Claire steadied him with a hand at his waist. She could feel Brittany tugging gently on his safety belt on the other side.

“Sit up straight,” Jessica said, “and try to stay in the center of the saddle.” As Donny followed her directions, she said, “Good job.

Now turn Daisy back to the T to get the next ring.”

She kept up a steady monologue of directions and positive

reinforcement as Donny went through his paces. The patter con-

stantly redirected his attention from the distracting sensations he was experiencing back to his job.

Finally he finished and Claire joined Brittany and Jessica in

clapping and cheering Donny’s success. By then, his session’s time 94

was up, so they helped him dismount and returned him to his

waiting mother. While Jessica talked to the mother about her son’s progress, Claire and Brittany walked Daisy back to the barn.

After they got inside and slipped the bandanas off their faces,

Claire figured it was a good time to talk to Brittany about her love life.

“Even with the dust, that was fun,” she said. “I had a good time

on the trail ride Wednesday, too. Until we had that run-in with

Peak View Stables at Giant Footprints, that is.”

“I think Hank handled it as well as he could.” Brittany held

Daisy’s stall gate open so Claire could lead the horse in.

“Yeah, and I don’t blame their trail guide. He had his hands full with antsy clients and horses. Couldn’t help but notice how handsome he is.” Claire smiled at Brittany. “And I think you noticed, too.”

A blush stole up her neck. “We’ve dated some.”

“I figured as much, given his comment about his competition

being gone after Kyle died. Have you known him long?”

Brittany stepped to Daisy’s head and started unfastening her

bridle. “We took an animal husbandry class together at Pikes Peak Community College last fall.”

Claire tugged on Daisy’s saddle strap to loosen it. “Was Vince

jealous of Kyle?”

“I didn’t meet Kyle until we both started working here. For a

while, they didn’t know about each other. Then when Kyle and

I were at the movies a few weeks ago, I saw Vince in line with a

group of wranglers from Peak View. I ducked behind a wall, but he must have seen me, because he brought it up the next time we saw

each other.”

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“I bet he was steamed.”

Brittany shrugged and slid Daisy’s bridle over her ears. “I guess so, but since we’d just started dating and weren’t exclusive or anything, he couldn’t do much about it. He asked me to stop seeing

other guys then, but I said I wasn’t ready.”

“Good idea. It takes a while to get to know a guy well, and

you’re young and have lots of time.” Claire had unfastened the

saddle strap and grunted while trying to lift the saddle.

“I’ll get that.” Brittany came around to slide the saddle off of

Daisy’s back. She hung it on the gate rail then turned to Claire.

“You know, it’s nice to be able to talk to you about this. My mom would get all negative and tell me I shouldn’t have dated either of them.”

That made Claire wince a little inside. If her daughter Judy had

been in the same situation a few years ago, she might have acted

the same way. No need to tell Brittany that, though. “It sounds to me like you’ve been pretty mature about the situation.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want there to be any secrets, so I told Kyle about Vince, too. Figured I didn’t want to make him mad either.”

Claire slid the saddle blanket off Daisy’s back, shook the dust

out, then hung it on the side of the stall. “And how did Kyle take it?”

Brittany smiled shyly. “Pretty much the same way. Asked me to

stop seeing Vince.”

Laying a hand on her hip, Claire gave Brittany a teasing wink.

“Lucky you, having two guys fight over you.”

“It’s not like I’m a flirt or anything,” Brittany said defensively.

Claire waved her hand. “I’m just kidding. What attracted you

to each of them?”

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“Well, along with being a wrangler, Vince is practicing to com-

pete in rodeos. He hunts for elk each fall, and he took me fishing a couple of weeks ago. I like how confident he is, especially in the wild.”

“Sounds like a real hunk.” Claire picked up a brush and started

brushing Daisy with it.

Brittany nodded and started brushing Daisy’s other side. “And

Kyle was a lot of fun, cracking jokes and being real friendly with everyone. I loved hanging with him. I liked how he always could

make me laugh.” She bit her lip. “I miss him.”

“I’m sure lots of people do. He seemed very nice. Still, it’s probably a good thing Vince and Kyle didn’t work together. Speaking of which, I hadn’t realized that Kyle got Pedro his job here. Did you know that?”

Brittany’s hand stilled, then she vigorously started brushing

Daisy again. “Yes.”

Claire peered at Brittany. “You say that like you’re not happy

about it.”

“Oh, I’m happy Pedro got the job. He’s nice, and I like working

with him—unlike Gil.”

“So what’s wrong?”

With a sigh, Brittany said, “It doesn’t matter any more what I

say about Kyle, but I don’t want to get Pedro in trouble. That’s why I didn’t say anything to the police.”

Claire stopped brushing. “Kyle was murdered, Brittany. If you

know anything that might help the police find out who did it, you should tell them.”

Dropping her hands to her sides, Brittany pursed her lips and

dug the toe of her boot into the straw lining the stall floor.

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Claire tried another tack. “If Pedro is involved in something

that got Kyle killed, he could be in danger, too.”

Brittany’s head jerked up, and she automatically started brush-

ing Daisy again. “Oh, no, it’s nothing like that. The man Kyle

worked for liked him and his results. He never would have hurt

him—or Pedro.”

Claire resumed brushing her side of the horse, too. “Maybe you

should tell me exactly what’s going on, who Kyle worked for and

what he was doing. Then I can help you figure out what to tell the police.”

“But I can’t. You’re Charley’s sister. You’ll tell him, then he’ll fire Pedro.”

“I think I already have a pretty good idea what you’re talking

about,” Claire said. “Pedro is an illegal immigrant, isn’t he?”

“Shit. I shouldn’t have said anything.” Brittany squinted her

eyes shut as if she was in pain.

“Yes, Charley’s my brother, Brittany, and if I find out anything

that threatens him or his business, I’ve got to tell him.”

“And if Charley knows Pedro’s illegal, he has to fire him.” Brit-

tany’s voice took on a worried whine. “If he doesn’t, then he’s in trouble.”

Claire thought for a moment. “Okay, here’s what I can do.

Charley knows that if ICE asks to see his records, he can request three days to get them in order. And he will. I won’t tell him about Pedro until or unless that happens. So spill.”

Brittany looked around the barn. Claire did, too, but she knew

they weren’t within earshot of anyone else. Jorge and the farrier were in the back treatment area working on a horse. Gil and Hank

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were out on a trail ride, Charley was in the trailer, and Jessica was still outside with Donny and his mother.

“No one can hear us.” Claire put down her brush, picked up a

mane comb and started combing Daisy’s mane.

While doing the same, Brittany exhaled. “Okay, here’s the

thing. Kyle wasn’t bringing in illegal immigrants, but he was helping them once they got here. There’s this guy in town named Os-

car Vargas who brings in people from Mexico and gets them fake

ID’s. Kyle found jobs for those who can work with horses.”

“And I suppose this guy Vargas paid Kyle for every job he

found.”

“Yes, but Kyle didn’t do it for the money. He said he did it to

help people who are really poor and can’t find work in Mexico.”

“Like Pedro.”

Brittany nodded. “Like Pedro. And Pedro has to give part of ev-

ery paycheck to Vargas until he’s paid off the fee to get him in the U.S. So, Vargas has no reason to hurt him. He knows Pedro will

keep quiet, and he wouldn’t want to stop his payments.”

“And Vargas was happy with Kyle’s work?”

“Sure. Just a couple days before he was … killed, Kyle told me

he’d recommended two people for jobs at a stable in Monument,

and they were hired. So Vargas was going to give him a bonus. Kyle said he’d use the money to take me to Cheyenne Frontier Days

next month.”

Claire thought for a moment. “So far, I don’t see a motive for

murder here. But where there’s a secret, especially one this big, there’s the possibility of that secret getting out, and of someone getting mad as a result. Maybe Vargas thought Kyle had ratted on

him to the police.”

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“Kyle wouldn’t have done that,” Brittany said. “He swore me to

secrecy before he told me. And he only told me because I asked

where he got the money for a trip to Wyoming. I knew the money

came from somewhere fishy. Now I wish I hadn’t pushed him to