Almost Forever (20 page)

A few minutes later she brought their salads, then left to take the large party's dessert order.

“What did she and Raúl have to say about your arrest?” Luke asked. “It seems a little suspicious that they didn't come clean about the boots when you were being charged with murder.”

“They don't know,” Lori answered. “All I told Raquel was that I had to go into town with the officer. I'm sure she thought it was because they had some news about Mark. I was afraid it would hurt the winery's reputation and frighten the staff.”

Luke finished his glass of wine and held it out for a refill. “You make excellent wine. Do you ship it?”

“Yes. I've even started a subscription service where we have auto-ship.”

“Good idea.”

Chef Bradley brought out their entrées. “It's a pleasure serving your friends, Mrs. Roberts.”

“Thank you, chef.” Lori smiled her approval.

The food was delicious, and all conversation stopped while they devoured it. By the time they were finished, all the guests had gone, and Raquel was cleaning up.

“Is there anything else I can get for you?” she asked.

“Actually, I was wondering if you could get Raúl and come join us for a minute. We have some news about your brother.” Lori's face was expressionless, but Raquel went white.

“Y-yes. Of course,” she said and scurried away.

Justin looked at Lori and smiled. “You don't beat around the bush, do you?”

“I was going for the shock factor.”

“I think you achieved that, and more.” Justin pulled the tape recorder out of his pocket and repeated his date, time, place, and attendees speech.

In less than five minutes, Raquel returned with Raúl. They stopped at the table, their faces reflecting their concern and confusion.

“Please sit down,” Lori said.

Luke stood and pulled out a chair for Raquel while Raúl took a chair from another table and sat next to her.

“I'm going to record our conversation,” Justin informed them. “Please state your names.”

“Raquel María Castillo.”

“Raúl Luís Castillo,” Raúl said, leaning toward the recorder. Then he looked at Lori. “Is something wrong, Miss Lori?” His hands were neatly folded together on the table, but his tension was visible in the bulging muscle in his jaw.

“Ranger Archer, his brother, and I went to Laredo today…to the detention center.”

Raquel's gaze darted to Raúl and his eyes widened.

“We spoke with your brother Armando,” Justin told them. “Very nice man. He said to say hello.”

“Armando? Why was he in Laredo?”

“He was caught with a group of people illegally crossing the border.”

Raquel gasped, but Raúl sat quietly.

“Is he okay? Did they arrest him?” Raquel asked, her voice cracking.

“He's fine, and they didn't arrest him. But he is in the process of being deported,” Justin answered.

Raúl frowned. “But how did you know he was our brother? Why did you go all the way to Laredo to talk to him?”

Justin lifted the boot box from under his chair and placed it in the middle of the table. He removed the lid and lifted Mark's boots to an upright position. “When he got picked up, he was wearing these boots. Recognize them?”

Raúl's face drained of color and he exchanged panicked looks with his sister. “
Las botas de Mark!
” he whispered.

Raquel's eyes filled with tears that flowed unchecked down her beautiful cheeks. She shook her head slowly as she studied her brother's face. She kept repeating, “No…no…no.”

Justin reached over to the table behind them, pulled a napkin from under a place setting, and handed it to her. “Armando said you sent these boots to him for Christmas about eight years ago.”

Raquel was sobbing now and Raúl took her hand and held it tightly, as if to give her strength. But the tears in his own eyes showed that he too was very upset.

Justin leaned back, his gaze locked on Raúl. “Why did you have the boots, Raúl?” His voice was gentle but stern. He found himself holding his breath, waiting for the young man to answer.

“It was my fault…all my fault, Miss Lori,” Raquel cried. “I am so sorry.”

“Stop, Raquel! Stop!” Raúl leaped to his feet and stalked away from the table.

Raquel ignored her brother. “I was in the toolshed one evening after the restaurant closed and—”

Raúl whirled around and rushed back to Raquel. “Don't say anything, Raquel. It's too painful to relive.”

Justin leaned forward and shifted his focus to Raquel. “Did you know that Mrs. Roberts has been arrested and accused of killing Mr. Roberts? If you know something about his death, Lori's life may depend on it.”

Raúl dropped back down on his chair. He looked at Lori in shock. “Is this true, Miss Lori? They think you killed him?”

Lori nodded. “It's true. Last week when Raquel came over to take care of Kenzie, they arrested me. We've been trying to find the killer before I go to trial.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I don't know what will happen to her if they send me to prison.”

Raquel turned to Raúl. “We have to tell them. Miss Lori can't go to jail.”

Raúl, his lips pressed tightly together, nodded stiffly.

Raquel looked at Lori. “That night over eight years ago, I was trying to find something to repair a table here in the restaurant. I went to the toolshed and…” She paused and swallowed hard. The memory was obviously very painful. Haltingly, she continued, “…
he
came in.”

“Who?” Lori asked.

“Your husband…
el jefe.
”

“What did he want?”

Raquel tried to speak, but after several starts where no words actually made it out, Raúl put his arm around her shoulders. When he lifted his gaze to Lori, anger turned his brown eyes almost black. “Your husband wanted Raquel. He raped her!”

“Good God!” Justin exclaimed, shifting his gaze from Raúl to Raquel to Lori, then back again.

“It was not the first time he was forward with her,” Raúl answered.

“I was always able to put him off…” Raquel's small voice trailed off.

“But not this time?” Lori asked.

Raquel shook her head and lowered her eyes in shame. “He came up behind me. Before I could run, he had me on my back on the stone floor. I screamed, and he stuffed his shirt into my mouth. I could hardly breathe.” Her chest heaved up and down as if she were reliving the attack. “He tore off my clothes. I fought him, but he hit me so hard. I don't remember what happened next, but when I woke up, he was naked and he was…inside me.”

Lori got up and hugged the young girl. “I'm so sorry, Raquel. I never knew!”

Raquel sobbed, “I couldn't tell you….I was ashamed.”

“Ashamed? You had nothing to be ashamed of,” Lori assured her. “Mark was the monster. But you've always trusted me, haven't you? Why didn't you come to me? Either of you?”

“Your husband was a powerful man. He said he would call ICE and have us deported,” Raquel answered, her emotions almost under control.

“We have seen many men come and go because of him,” Raúl said.

Justin knew he had to get them back on point. “Raúl, did you walk in on them?”

“I waited for her to come back with the piece of wood. I had taken the table apart and needed the part so I could finish it. When she didn't return after several minutes, I went to look for her and found him…on top of her.” Raúl wiped the sweat off his forehead. “When I saw her struggling to push him off and his dirty hands all over her, I was enraged. I threatened him, but he told me to get lost…that this was none of my business.” He lowered his face into his hands. “I had to stop him.”

“Yes, you did.” Lori touched his arm.

He looked directly at Lori, but his eyes were focused on the past. “I grabbed his arm and pulled him off of her. He swore at me and told me to get out. Raquel tried to get away, and he hit her again. My God, Miss Lori, she's my sister.” He rubbed his eyes in an effort to erase the memory. “I jumped between them and tried to protect her.”

“And then?” Lori prompted him.

“He told me to pack light because he was going to have me sent back to Mexico, but he was going to keep Raquel…for fun, he said. Then he tackled me. He was much bigger, but he was drunk and I was able to push him away. I tried to drag Raquel out, but he charged me. I pushed him back, and he fell down…and didn't get up.”

“What happened?” Justin asked.

“You know that small anvil we have for fixing things out in the vineyard?” Raúl asked Lori. “His head hit that.”

“There was so much blood,” Raquel murmured, as if in a trance.

“We felt for a pulse but he was dead.”

“What did you do then?”

“We waited until the middle of the night, then loaded his body on a cart and took him out behind the fence,” Raúl admitted.

“And his clothes?”

“I wasn't going to put them back on him, so I just buried them next to him. Except for his boots. They were too excellent, so I sent them to my brother. I didn't think he would ever come here, so no one would know.”

“How about the diamond ring?”

Raúl and Raquel exchanged quizzical looks.

Raúl fidgeted nervously. “We don't know anything about a ring. We didn't take it.”

“We know you didn't,” Justin said to calm their fears. “We found it with the body. Perhaps it was in his pocket.”

“We didn't check his pockets except to take out his wallet.”

“What about his wallet?” Justin asked.

“We hid it behind a rock in the wall in the toolshed. We didn't want to bury it because there might be something important in it,” Raquel explained.

“So Mark wasn't carrying a large amount of money?” Justin asked.

Both Raquel and Raúl shook their heads. “I think there was some money in his wallet, but we didn't look inside,” Raúl explained. “We didn't want to steal anything. We never meant for any of this to happen.”

“We'll look for the wallet tomorrow morning, and I'll turn it in for evidence.” Justin turned to Lori. “You'll get it back as soon as we sort all this out.”

Lori shook her head, still in shock. “I don't know what to say. An apology for Mark's actions could never be enough. You've had to live with this hanging over your heads all this time.”

“It was not your fault, Miss Lori,” Raquel said. “You have been like a mother to us, sponsoring us, paying for our educations, giving us jobs and a place to live, and taking care of our doctor bills. No one could have done more.”

“So now what?” Raúl asked nervously.

Lori looked at Justin and Luke.

Justin exhaled a long breath. “First we need to set up a meeting with Lori's attorney, the DA, and both of you. This is clearly a case of rape and self-defense, but you need to tell the DA exactly what you told us.”

“I'll pay for my attorney to defend you both,” Lori assured them. “And I'll stand behind you all the way.”

Raúl finally asked, “What will happen to us?”

Justin was calm. “You'll have to make an official statement. Your worst crime is that you hid the body and never came forth with the information, even after we found it.”

“We were afraid. We're citizens now, but they could still send us back to Mexico,” Raúl explained.

“I'm sure you'll get a stern lecture, but considering the circumstances and the amount of time that has passed, you'll likely just get probation.” Justin laid the boots down in the box and put the lid back on. “Luke and I will vouch for you and recommend leniency.”

Luke nodded his agreement.

“I'll call tomorrow and set up the meeting,” Justin said. “Don't do anything stupid like running away.”

Both Raúl and Raquel were quick to say, “No. This is our home now. We don't want to leave.”

“Yes, it is your home for as long as you want.” Lori had been standing next to Raquel. She gave Raúl a hug. “You're good people. And so is Armando.”

“What will happen to him?” Raúl asked. “Will we be able to see him before he is sent back?”

“We're trying to set something up,” Luke said. “But no promises. Transferring detainees can be tricky.”

“I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted,” Lori said. “We'll let you know tomorrow what's going to happen next.”

Raúl and Raquel still looked worried, but there was also relief on their faces. Justin couldn't imagine what a nightmare it had been to not only cope with the trauma of the rape but to believe they had to keep it a secret all these years.

“Well, I didn't see that coming,” Luke said. “Good job, Justin.”

“As many cases as I've solved, I shouldn't be surprised, but this one is for the books,” Justin admitted. “They were at the bottom of my suspect list.”

“Raquel was only sixteen and Raúl just seventeen when it happened. She had been living with us for a little over two years at the time.” Lori still seemed to be in shock. “They must have been terrified.”

“We'll fix this,” Justin promised. “Why don't I lock up for you?”

Lori nodded and waited in the restaurant until he returned, then they all headed toward her house.

“I'm heading out,” Luke said. “Let me know the plans.”

Justin held his hand out and they did a fist bump. “Hey, thanks. You gave us the break we needed.”

“It was fun. I like happy endings.” Luke waved goodbye and got into his little rental car. It started right up, and with a low hum he backed it around and headed out.

Justin put his arm around Lori and she snuggled against him. “We're going to get through this,” he murmured into her hair. “You're going to be out of the woods soon, and you can put all this behind you.”