Midnight Crossing (23 page)

Ernie sighed heavily. “Us old-timers have to stick together. What do you need?”

“A few things. First, latent prints and DNA from the gun.” He held up a plastic bag with the pistol. “I’m after one clear chain of evidence from the scene of the crime to your lab. The police officer in question never touched any of this, so we’re looking at good evidence. I don’t want any reason for someone to cry foul later.”

Ernie waved it off. “No problem. I understand. What else?”

Otto held up another plastic bag, this one holding a bullet and casing. “I need to know if the bullet found inside the woman’s body, and the casing found at the crime scene, match the gun found at the crime scene.”

“All right. Unless I run into problems, I’ll get you an answer by tomorrow.”

Otto smiled and then laughed, feeling a huge sense of relief. He’d expected at least a two-week turnaround. “Next time I make it up this way, I’ll buy you a steak dinner.”

Ernie patted Otto on the back and told him there might not be a next time, that retirement was indeed looming. But Ernie had been saying that for a decade, and still kept showing up at the microscope.

*   *   *

As Otto drove back to Artemis he saw that it was just after five o’clock and decided he had one more stop for the day: Selena Rocha. He knew Josie liked her and valued her input, and Otto thought she might be able to offer some additional piece of information. Through the years, he had discovered that hairdressers, garbage collectors, and mail carriers were some of the best sources for information in a small town.

At quarter after five Selena turned the dead bolt on the salon door and opened it for Otto to enter. When he introduced himself she smiled pleasantly and said that, yes, she knew him and she hoped everything was okay.

She closed the door and turned back to him. “Would you like coffee or tea?”

“No, no,” he said, feeling nervous talking to this woman with long legs and big brown eyes and a bright white smile. For a brief moment he couldn’t remember why he had thought it important to visit her.

They sat in the waiting room and Otto cleared his throat, organizing his thoughts.

“Chief Gray came by and talked to you a few days ago about the woman who was murdered.”

“Yes.”

“She suggested that you have a good feel for what’s going on in town. And that you have some knowledge of the trafficking industry.” He paused and she frowned, but nodded once to acknowledge the statement.

“Things have gotten complicated since she last spoke with you. I’d like to talk with you in confidence about the case. Can you give me your word that you won’t talk about the case with anyone?”

Her expression altered somewhat, her eyes focused and brightened. She was getting interested now. “You have my word.”

“Good,” he said, settling into the conversation. “Did you hear today that Chief Gray has been suspended due to breach of contract?”

“We heard it on the radio this afternoon. I couldn’t believe it.”

“You won’t share this information with your coworkers?” Otto asked. If she did, it wouldn’t put the case in jeopardy, but he preferred to keep the information quiet as long as possible.

“Just because I hear gossip doesn’t mean I spread it,” she said.

“Good enough. Chief Gray’s suspension is tied to the trafficking case. There are some things that make us believe Caroline Moss may be connected to a trafficking ring. That she may have set up the transport of the women who came here from Guatemala.”

She shook her head slowly and murmured, “Unbelievable. The Citizen of the Year.”

“Remember. She’s not been arrested. This is conjecture.”

“I know, I know. You made that clear.” Selena squinted at Otto as if she were putting the pieces together. “I also heard they picked up Josh Mooney for driving the van. The word around here is that Josh kidnapped the woman at the trauma center, but he was arrested before he could get her delivered.”

Otto put a hand in the air and wavered it. “Something like that.”

“Now you think the mayor’s wife got Josh to drive the women from Guatemala up north?” Her eyes widened and she placed a hand across her heart. “It was that bastard mayor who suspended Josie, wasn’t it?”

Otto pursed his lips and decided to avoid that part of the conversation as best he could. “Something like that. But here’s my question for you. We suspect Caroline’s involvement, but we have little to go on. I’m wondering if you’ve heard anything about her being involved in any kind of transporting of illegal immigrants.”

She stretched her legs out in front of her and slumped back into her chair. “No, just the opposite. I thought she helped people in trouble, especially women. Did you talk to the women who Josh was transporting?”

Otto explained that the police had spoken with Isabella and the other three women, but that they’d learned little new information.

Selena stood. “I’ll help you. Chief Gray stood by me when people were questioning my business. She didn’t allow a bunch of gossips to ruin me. So I’ll stand by her now.”

Otto stood too, having no idea where this woman thought they were headed. “How do you propose to help?”

“Who do you think those women want to talk to right now? The police?” She made a face. “They don’t trust you any more than they trust the men who brought them here. They want you to save them, but they don’t trust that you will.”

Otto started to speak and she stopped him with a hand in the air.

“Don’t get defensive. I know what these women are thinking. It’s exactly the way I felt.” She considered him for a moment. “It’s because there’s this mixed message we get. Sometimes the media loves the immigrants and wants to do everything they can to help people like those women. Other times the media says, ‘Send them all home. We don’t want them!’”

Otto crossed his arms and tried not to look skeptical.

“Go home tonight and turn on your TV. Watch one channel and you’ll hear about the illegals ruining the country. Taking all the jobs, committing crimes, running the country broke, turning to terrorism. Watch another channel and the immigrants are hardworking people wanting better for their families. Some towns help us settle and find work. Other towns throw us in jail the first chance they get. It’s no wonder we don’t trust anyone!”

He hadn’t considered this angle, but she had a point.

“Then this woman, Isabella, comes to the U.S. to find work and is raped and humiliated and the police say they’ll help her find safety. And
then
she’s kidnapped by the man who attacked her and maybe even murdered her friend. She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

Otto studied her for a moment. “You said she was raped. That’s not public knowledge.”

“It is now. Macey spread it all over town that the police were accusing her brother of rape. How he was getting ripped off.” She made a dismissive noise and rolled her eyes.

Otto sighed. “Okay. How is it you think you can help?”

“I’m from Venezuela. And I know they’re from Guatemala, but I know what these women have gone through to get here. I can talk to them as someone who made it. I can help them understand that you don’t want to send them to jail. You want to help.”

“We need to find out what happened the night Renata was shot. I need Isabella to talk about that night. What she heard, and what she saw.”

She nodded.

“The other three women too. They’re all at the trauma center under observation. You’ll be able to talk with them all?”

She nodded again.

“And we need to find out who’s behind this ring.”

“I’ll get my purse and lock up.”

*   *   *

Otto walked outside and raised his arms slightly to allow a breeze under his armpits. He wondered how it was that a man of his age could still be nervous around a well-put-together woman less than half his age. It was an embarrassment. He got in the jeep and blasted the AC, pointing the air vents toward his sweaty forehead. Even if a genie in a bottle granted him one guilt-free night with that woman, a night Delores would never know about, he’d turn the genie down. He had no interest in that young hairdresser woman, so why the fluster? He thought of Delores in her soft cotton dresses and house slippers, taking apple chunks out to the goats in the field for a snack, saving stray cats, and making homemade dumplings to die for, and he was overcome with love for his wife of forty years. He called Delores.

“Delores?”

“Yes, Otto. Who did you expect to answer the phone?”

He smiled. “I’ll be a bit late. I’ve got to run over to the trauma center.”

“Roast and potatoes are in the oven. They’ll wait till you get home.”

“I love you.”

The line was silent for a moment and he could imagine her looking shocked, and then smiling, her cheeks blushing. “Well, I love you too,” she said.

*   *   *

Selena climbed into the jeep and placed a hand on his forearm.

“Before we go. Can we just agree that you won’t talk about this to people?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I’ve had to fight to get people to take me seriously as a hairdresser. As someone who can successfully run her own business.” She scowled at Otto when he continued looking confused. “I’m more than just a skirt and a pair of legs. I don’t need the massage parlor rumors started up again.”

“Ah,” he said. “Understood.”

He pulled the jeep away from the curb and started across town. When she remained quiet he glanced her way, noticing her erect posture and the worry lines stretching across her forehead. “I appreciate you doing this. I’m sure it takes you to a place you’d just as soon forget.”

Selena shrugged. “I grew up knowing there were things I had to do for my family. Even as a kid I knew my looks were part of who I was. They would take me places other people couldn’t go. Some people have brains. Some people have looks. You use what you have.”

Otto pulled into the trauma center parking lot and thought about his own daughter, Mina, married with kids. He’d not raised her to value looks over brains. But he wondered if this young woman didn’t have a point. You took your gifts, whatever they were, and you used them. He turned off the engine, thinking about Josie and her take on this conversation. Had she been here, he was fairly certain she’d be lecturing him about some part of his thinking. He smiled at the mental image of her scowling face and realized how much he appreciated her perspective. He hoped like hell he could get her out of her current predicament.

They walked through the sliding glass doors of the trauma center and Otto turned to Selena, worrying suddenly that the plan was too off-the-cuff. “Would you like to go over questions? Talk about the information we’re looking for?”

“No. I don’t want to sound like a cop. I want them to know I’m here to help them.”

“Right,” he said, nodding, hoping it would work.

Otto asked the receptionist if Vie Blessings was available. Ten minutes later she bustled into the lobby wearing her bright purple scrubs and pink glasses. She extended her hand to Otto, and he introduced her to Selena.

Vie pointed to her own spiked hair and smiled. “I know Selena well. She keeps me looking good.”

“Nice to see you,” Selena said.

“We’re here to check on the young women from Guatemala,” he said.

“Physically, they’re okay. Dehydrated, mostly, but nothing serious. Mentally, I can’t begin to think how horrible this has been for them.”

“I’m trying to balance their need to recuperate with our need to catch the bastards who are behind this.”

Vie nodded. “Absolutely. I understand.”

“Selena has offered to talk with the women, to get a different perspective. Can you allow that at this point?”

“I think that would be fine. The doctor from Odessa can’t be here until tomorrow. It may do them all some good to talk about their situation.” Vie narrowed her eyes at Otto. “The women are two to a room. I’m not sure how you want to meet with them.”

“Do you have a lounge or empty staff room that they could meet in all together?”

She looked uncertain. “We don’t usually allow patients into the lounge, but I can just let the staff know it’s off-limits for an hour. Do you think that would be enough time?”

Otto nodded. “That would be much appreciated.”

*   *   *

Fifteen minutes later, Selena found herself entering a nurses’ lounge where four women in hospital gowns sat around a table looking dazed. Vie had entered first and introduced Selena in English, but two of the women clearly couldn’t understand her.

Selena sat down at the table and took a long calming breath. The expressions on their faces took her back several years, and she realized the officer had been right. She did not want to relive the feelings she’d put behind her, but as she looked into the terrified eyes of the four women staring back at her, the fear grabbed hold and closed her throat so that she could barely speak. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Vie smiling kindly at her.

Selena cleared her throat and spoke in Spanish. “I’m so sorry for what’s happened to you, to all of you. I’m here to try and explain things. So you know what’s happening. So you won’t be so frightened.” She stopped, suddenly aware she had no idea what was going to happen to them. No one had any idea what was going to happen to them. They were one more casualty in a world where monsters preyed on the desperate.

They stared at her, probably too tired to hope she could really help, but also too desperate to turn away.

“I’m from Venezuela,” Selena said. “I came here like you did. I paid my way. People lied to me. Stole my money and my dreams. Men treated me like an animal. My life was gone.” One of the women shifted in her seat and looked away as if she didn’t want to confront the subject matter, but Selena continued. “I learned that when people said they wanted to help me, it was usually a lie. The police. Other girls. People who said they wanted to find me a job and place to live and food to eat? They took advantage of me. Made me do things that made me ashamed to even be alive.”

A woman whose long black hair was in a loose braid down her back swiped away tears.

Selena leaned into the table. “But I want you to know that I made it. I’m okay now. There are people who are good, who want to help you. The man who drove you was a devil who should burn in hell. But the people here?” She gestured toward the door. “The nurses and doctors and the police? They aren’t bad. They want to help.”