Silence in the Dark (2 page)

She’d run afoul of the man when some of the women came to her tea parties, then came back for the Bible studies and stopped following him.

Her friend ducked her head. “I have not told you, but I have been teaching the Bible studies again. And I’ve been thinking about asking Pastor Carlos if I can start the tea parties.”

Pastor Carlos, bless his heart, believed change took place very slowly, and that had been her problem with Father Horatio—Bailey had moved too quickly. She turned to stare at her friend. “Elena, that is absolutely wonderful.”

She lifted her chin. “I got tired of my conscience pinching, and I still had the instructor’s book you left.”

“I always said you were a natural-born teacher.” Bailey smiled at Elena, hoping her friend could see the admiration she felt. To go against Father Horatio took courage. Remembering his vile tactics to get rid of her, Bailey had second thoughts about encouraging Elena. “But would your husband allow it? And Father Horatio—what does he say?”

Elena shrugged. “As long as I’m home to cook his meals and keep his clothes ready, my husband won’t care. And I don’t care what Father Horatio says. He isn’t even a real priest.”

Bailey squeezed her hand. “In three days I fly home, but when I come back, I hope you’ll come to Chihuahua and visit—you
could ride with Miguel sometimes, and I could see to it that you get home. I’d like to show you the school where I teach, maybe give you more material to use with the women here.”

Elena broke a stick off the scrub oak tree and scratched the ground with it.

“You will come?” It angered Bailey that for all of Elena’s bluster, her husband would be the one who decided.

“I will try. But why do you go home now? Isn’t the school in Chihuahua still in session?”

“My sister that I told you about has come back, and—”

“They found her?”

“Yes, and the man who took her has been arrested. I couldn’t wait until June to see her. And one of my students needed someone to escort her to visit her grandparents, so I’m killing two birds with one stone.” She stood and brushed the seat of her pants. “I better find Miguel and see if he’s ready.” She took a card from the tote around her waist. “Here’s my email address. You can use Pastor Carlos’s computer at the church to write me, so I expect to hear from you.”

“I will.” Elena stood and hugged her. “Be safe. And please do not report what we saw today.”

Bailey returned her embrace. “You be safe too.”

In the state of Chihuahua, that meant staying under Father Horatio’s as well as the drug cartel’s radar.

Three days later, Bailey savored the rich atmosphere of the small Chihuahua cafe as the sun warmed her face. She would miss this while she was in Logan Point. A guitar played in the background as she cut up an egg and sausage burrito for the kindergarten student she was accompanying to Mississippi. “Did you show your uncle the new bows I brought for your hair?”

Four-year-old Maria pulled the red and white bows from her
tiny purse. “Do you like them, Uncle Joel? We’re going to put them in my hair after we eat.”

Joel McDermott leaned toward her. “I like them very much, sweetheart. Did you tell Miss Bailey thank you?”

Maria nodded and picked at her food.

The child seemed so much more subdued than at school, but it could be nerves about flying. Or it could be because she was leaving her uncle, who had taken over raising the child after her mother’s death. But Bailey figured once she was with her grandparents, she would perk up.

Bailey speared a piece of sausage for herself and lifted the fork to her mouth. Her eyes widened.

No. It couldn’t be Danny. Not here in Chihuahua.

She returned the fork to her plate as Danny Maxwell sauntered through the outdoor cafe toward their table, his dark blond hair falling over his forehead. The pounding of her heart drowned out the soft guitar music.

He stopped at her table, and she tipped her head up to look at all six feet of him. “Not lost, are you?”

Sea-blue eyes lazily slid from Bailey to her companions, then back to her. “I’d say you were the one lost since I’m a regular to the area. Last I heard, you were in some small town near Mexico City doing your missionary work, not in one of the most dangerous states in Mexico.”

She twisted the napkin in her lap. So he hadn’t heard she’d fled rural Mexico for the city. She took in a breath to steady herself, but he spoke again before she could explain.

“I had no idea that you knew Joel.” He nodded to her companion, then, not waiting for her answer, he shifted his attention to the child. “Hello, Maria. You are looking as pretty as ever.”

She beamed at him. “Hi, Mr. Danny. Do you know my teacher, Miss Bailey?”

“Indeed I do.”

“Did you know she’s taking me to see my grandparents?”

“I didn’t.”

Danny shot Bailey a look she couldn’t read. Surprise, maybe. If so, then they were even. She shifted her gaze from him to her companions. Joel McDermott stared at her, puzzlement in his pale blue eyes, while excitement lit Maria Montoya’s darker blue ones.

Joel pointed first at Bailey then at Danny. “You two know each other?”

“We were engaged once.”

Bailey drilled him with her gaze. “Since I said no to your proposal, we weren’t engaged.”

“You first said yes, then a day later changed your mind. Close enough.” Danny offered his hand to Joel. “Good to see you, man. Just called your secretary for an appointment this afternoon, and she put me off until tomorrow. I understand why now.”

“Wrong conclusion, unfortunately. I’m dropping Bailey and Maria off at the airport and then going back to the office.” Joel took a sip of coffee and then pointed at the chair next to Bailey. “But since you two are friends, why don’t you join us?”

Danny scratched the space above his lip. To hide a grin, she was sure.

“Only until my food arrives.”

He took the chair next to her, and Bailey wanted to disappear. She’d dreaded running into him when she returned home, and now here he was. Why was he being so nice? They hadn’t parted as friends—he’d made it plain that friendship wasn’t what he wanted.

A flutter in her chest made her catch her breath. And why did her heart have to go nuts on her right now? She shook the fog from her brain and addressed Joel. “So how do you and Maria know Danny?”

Danny answered for him. “The company he works for produces the porcelain dinnerware for Maxwell Industries. I met Maria at the office last year.”

The somberness in his eyes made her think it was after Maria’s mother had died. In the weeks after the funeral, the child had missed school on numerous occasions, and Bailey discovered later that she’d spent the time in the care of one or more of the secretaries in Joel’s office.

“And he took me to get an ice cream.” Maria’s eyes danced.

It was clear she had succumbed to Danny’s charm. That she remembered him surprised Bailey. But he was a hard one to forget—she ought to know.

“Do you live close to Miss Bailey? Maybe I can come see you too.”

Danny shot her a quick look. “You’re coming to Logan Point as well?”

Bailey nodded. “While Maria is spending a couple of weeks with her grandparents, I’ll stop off in Logan Point. Robyn’s home and I want to see her.” She’d asked for a leave as soon as she learned Robyn was home, and then Joel had asked if she would take Maria with her.

“What Robyn did was amazing. And I’ve never seen anyone change as much as she has,” Danny said.

“You’ve seen her?”

“Yeah. In town at Molly’s Diner with her daughter and husband.” He chewed his bottom lip. “So you planned on slipping in and then leaving, hoping I wouldn’t find out.”

“I didn’t say that.” She was not discussing their past in front of Joel. She checked her watch. Their flight wasn’t until two thirty. Four more hours. She wished it was sooner so they would have an excuse to leave. She glanced at Maria’s half-eaten food. “Finish your meal, sweetie. We have a plane to catch.”

“If you had let me know,” Danny said, “I could have flown you home in my plane and saved you the hassle of flying commercially.”

“That would have been super.” Joel raked his fingers through his short-cropped red hair. “We could still—”

“No.” She had no intention of flying home with Danny. Being
that close to him for however long it took to fly home would not work. Especially with him in that black cashmere turtleneck that hugged his lean body and showed he’d been working out. “We’ve already made plans to leave today, and besides, your parents are expecting us tonight.”

Danny pricked her heart with his slow smile that always made her feel like she was the only one in the world who mattered.

“I had a friend who flew out of Chihuahua a while back. Plane had mechanical problems, and he sat in the airport for ten hours before boarding. How about I program my Mexico number into your phone. That way if there is a delay, you can call me. I’m sure her grandparents would rather wait a day than to have Maria all exhausted.”

“Great idea,” Joel said. He waited for Bailey to hand her phone over.

She fumbled in her purse and finally dragged out the smartphone Joel had given her and handed it to him. “Thank you for being so thoughtful, although I bet your friend wasn’t flying a premier airline.” Neither of them even seemed to notice the saccharine in her voice.

Danny held his phone out. “I don’t have your number for Mexico. Why don’t you put it in?”

She took the phone and punched in her number, purposefully transposing the last two digits. She did not want him calling her. When he leaned over to exchange phones again, his woodsy aftershave brought back memories she wanted to forget.

“Good. Glad we got that settled.” Joel turned to Danny. “Now, what did you want to discuss?”

“I’ll catch you tomorrow. I’m sure you and Bailey have things you need to talk about before you take them to the airport.”

Bailey jumped on the opportunity. “Joel, we do have a few things to go over.”

“And my food has arrived, so I’ll take my leave.” Danny stood
and flipped his gaze over her once more. “Be sure and call when you get to Logan Point.”

“Oh, I will.” As soon as he left, the frozen smile slid from her lips. She slipped the phone back into her purse. Like she’d ever call him.

2

G
racias,” Danny said when the waitress offered to refill his coffee.

“My pleasure,” she replied.

He smiled up at her. “Your English is very good. Do you have American friends?”

“No, family in Arizona. I only just returned from there last week.”

He pushed his plate back. He was sure the egg-topped enchiladas were delicious, but seeing Bailey with Joel had taken his appetite. Besides, there was something different about Bailey. Nothing he could put his finger on, maybe a dampening of her boldness . . . a hesitancy.

Or maybe he just imagined it. After all, she was in Chihuahua, one of the most dangerous places in all of Mexico, especially for an American woman alone. She couldn’t afford to come across too bold. When he returned home, he would enlist her family to help convince her to stay in Logan Point.

Not that it would likely do any good. She believed her God had called her to Mexico, and that was it as far as she was concerned. Well, he didn’t believe God called her to have dealings with Joel McDermott.

Danny had flown to Mexico determined to find the Blue Dog
Company and the man behind it. This same man was the one who had bought stolen Maxwell AR-15 rifles from Geoffrey Franks, former chief financial officer of Maxwell Industries. McDermott was on his list of possible suspects.

“Leave it alone, Danny. Let the ATF handle it—they’ll get the information from Geoffrey.”
His cousin’s words rang in his head, but Danny brushed them aside. Ian didn’t understand, and while a full investigation last year had cleared Maxwell Industries of any wrongdoing, Geoffrey Franks had tainted the company’s image.

The way Danny saw it, the only way to prove that none of the owners were involved was to find the person Geoffrey had done business with. He couldn’t believe a judge had granted Geoffrey bail. The man steadfastly refused to give up his contact in Mexico and probably thought he’d beat the rap.

Danny glanced toward Bailey’s table again. He hadn’t expected to find her in the company of a possible suspect. Not that he came to that conclusion easily.

He’d known Joel for years, ever since he went to work for Montoya Ceramics . . . probably eight or nine years ago. And the man had already had enough trouble for one lifetime with his sister dying last year, leaving him with a four-year-old niece to care for. But, until Danny ruled him out, Joel McDermott would remain on his suspect list.

Danny took another sip of coffee and took note once more of a man sitting a couple of tables away from him. Light coloring but definitely Latino. Earlier he’d been staring at Bailey. That wasn’t unusual. Even though she didn’t have the sultry beauty of Mexican women, she had a way of attracting attention, especially in Mexico with her fair skin and ashe blonde hair that she’d pulled up in a ponytail.