Twilight (14 page)

“If you don’t object, I don’t. I’ll tell Dad to order it on my bridge night. I won’t have to cook a meal before I go, and he won’t have to worry about getting the food on the table. He’ll also get to cheat on his diet. That should make everyone happy. I draw the line at anchovies, though. They give your father indigestion.”

Dana chuckled at the thought of her boys asking for those “slimy little fish,” as they called them. “That won’t be a problem, I assure you,” she said. “Thanks, Mom. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Then isn’t it fortunate that you don’t have to? Love you, baby. Here’s Bobby.”

Dana talked to each of the boys, reassuring them again, now that they were wide awake and could understand her, that everything was okay back home and that she’d be back with them soon.

“Love you, Mommy,” each one said in a rush.

“Granddad’s taking us to the pool before school,” Bobby explained, sounding more upbeat than he had during their past conversations. “The squirts have turned into little fish. I don’t know what they’ll do when we get back home and there’s no pool. They’ll probably shrivel up.”

“Will not,” Kevin shouted.

Dana laughed at the sound of the familiar bickering. For too long, right after Ken’s death, they had been too quiet and subdued. Listening to them now, she honestly believed for the first time that they were going to be okay. Did that mean that she, too, would eventually be okay?

“Bye, sweetie,” she said to her oldest. “Keep an eye on your brothers and mind Grandma and Granddad.”

“Did you talk to her about my bedtime and the pizza?”

“Taken care of.”

“Thanks, Mom. Bye.”

“Bye,” she said again, but the connection had been broken. Sensing that she wasn’t alone, she glanced up and saw Kate standing in the doorway.

“Good girl,” her friend said. “Everybody okay?”

“They sound like they’re getting better every day. I can’t wait to get back and see for myself.”

“Then go.”

“Not just yet, but soon. If I don’t have the answers I need very soon, I’ll make a quick trip just to get a look at them. I could use a couple of hugs and some sticky kisses myself.” She stood up, grabbed the coffeepot and poured Kate a cup, then refilled her own. “Okay, let’s have it. What did you find?”

“Like I told you last night, not much. I have half a dozen names that triggered some sort of an alarm when I came to them.”

Dana’s gaze narrowed. “What kind of alarm?”

“That’s just it. I’m not sure. Maybe I just have an overactive imagination from hanging out with you. Or maybe there’s something in the dim recesses of my mind, a newspaper article or TV report I didn’t see yesterday.” She shoved her list across the table. “Any of these ring any sort of bell for you?”

Dana scanned the list: Peter Drake, Miriam Kelso, Vincent Polanski, Lawrence Tremayne, Carolina Vincenzi, Gerrold Wald.

“All of these came from the roster of active church members, right?” she asked.

Kate nodded. “Don’t you know them?”

“All but one of the women, actually. Who is Carolina Vincenzi?”

“Tall, refined-looking, with an aristocratic nose and oodles of dark hair. Very good face-lift. She hardly looks a day over thirty-five, even though I know for a fact she’s at least ten years older than that.”

“Is she on here because you’re jealous of her looks?” Dana asked dryly.

“No, she’s on there because I overheard her talking about the gang kids that Ken was bringing into the community. She looks very much like a lady, but she has a trashy mouth and a streak of prejudice a mile wide. I wouldn’t want to tangle with her. She’s a tough cookie.”

“What about Drake, Kelso, Polanski, Tremayne and Wald, especially Tremayne? He’s head of the church elders, for goodness’ sake. Surely he’s above suspicion.”

“I know,” Kate said. “He’s the kind of upstanding guy that any church would be proud to call its own. Good businessman. Decent father and husband.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what it is, but I don’t trust him.”

“He’s been very kind to me since Ken died.”

“I know. I can’t explain my reaction.”

“Has he ever said anything, done anything even remotely suspicious?”

“No,” Kate conceded. “In fact, when I ran a check on him at the local newspaper, he had nothing but accolades. President of this, chairman of that, honored for something else.”

“Maybe he’s just a good guy,” Dana said, thinking of the very polite man who’d always been eager to help Ken with any church problems. He’d been an absolute whiz at straightening out the mess the church’s financial affairs had been in when Ken first arrived.

“Maybe so. Or maybe he has the kind of reputation a man would do anything to protect. Isn’t that the kind you said to look out for?”

“He is, indeed,” Dana said thoughtfully. She tried to picture Lawrence Tremayne, with his thick brown hair, perfect features and expensive wardrobe, tainting his image by committing a murder. She couldn’t do it. Still, there was something to be said for finding answers in the least likely places.

She considered the other names on the list. Peter Drake was a mousy, unassuming little man, but she agreed with Kate that there was something a bit odd about him.

Miriam Kelso was outspoken and highly critical of Ken, as she had been of every other minister the church had had, according to those who knew her best.

Polanski and Wald were in the carpeting business together. Despite that union, they fought loudly and often, always patching things up just in time to save the business from ruin. They had quick, flashpoint tempers, but Dana wasn’t convinced they would murder in a fit of rage. They were too used to stopping short of that with each other.

“Maybe I should call and invite them over,” she suggested to Kate. “Maybe it’s time for everyone at the church to know that I’m turning over rocks to see what crawls out.”

Kate seemed a little nonplussed by the idea. “Isn’t that asking for trouble? What if one of these people does know something? You could be endangering yourself.”

“Very little progress comes without risk.”

“I thought you were taking all the risks you needed to by going into Chicago with Rick Sanchez. How did that go, by the way?”

“It was a first step, but I have a long way to go before I gain the trust of those kids. I can’t wait for that. I have to keep checking every angle. Will you call these people today? Invite them over for tea tomorrow.”

“Why not today?”

“I’m going back to Yo, Amigo.”

“Will you tell Rick that you’re checking out other leads?”

Dana held up the list of names. “Sweetie, these aren’t leads, and that tea tomorrow isn’t any more than a chance to float a few theories. It’s a little too much to hope that someone will fall to their knees and confess.”

“Just in case,” Kate said, “maybe you’d better vacuum.”

14

R
osa had almost driven Rick crazy asking about Dana and those photographs she’d taken. From the minute he’d walked into Yo, Amigo at 8:30 a.m. until the time he had left to pick up Dana, Rosa had pestered him.

“For the last time, she will be here in a couple of hours,” he’d explained at least a half-dozen times. “You can see for yourself.”

“You could call her,” Rosa had pleaded each time. “You could ask if they turned out at all.”

“Patience, angel. You will know soon enough.”

“Are you sure she did not tell you they were awful?” the teenager asked worriedly.

“She has told me nothing. She hadn’t even looked at them the last time I talked to her.”

Rosa’s face fell. “Perhaps she did not have time to check them. I thought they had to be done at a drugstore, anyway. Perhaps she will not bring the pictures today at all.”

For some reason, he had absolute faith that Dana would do as she had promised. He felt confident reassuring Rosa of that. “She promised to bring them, didn’t she? She said she was going to do them herself. Even if she didn’t have the time, there are many places that make prints. I swear to you that we will stop at one of them, if she doesn’t already have the pictures.”

“Yes, but—”

“No buts. If she said she would, then you can count on it,” he said, praying his instincts were right. Maybe he should call to check, just in case, and look for one of those one-hour services in the Yellow Pages.

And maybe he was just looking for an excuse to hear her voice, he had thought with disgust. He had forced himself to resist the temptation to dial her number. He’d been less successful forcing her image out of his head. Fueled by an impatience he could no longer control, he left a half hour earlier than he’d planned to pick her up.

Even so, apparently Dana was every bit as anxious today as Rosa had been. He found her waiting outside on the front stoop when he drove up. He noted with a sigh of relief that she was carrying a large, flat envelope, along with the camera bag and other equipment she’d had the day before.

He helped her to load everything except the envelope into the trunk.

“Are those the pictures?” he asked as he put the car into gear.

She nodded.

“Rosa’s very excited. I hope they turned out okay. I’d hate to see her disappointed.”

“Okay? They’re beautiful. Even lovelier than I’d hoped. Trust me, she won’t be disappointed.”

“May I see?”

She grinned at him. “Now who’s anxious? Besides, you’re driving. You need to keep your eyes on the road.”

“We’re still in the driveway,” he reminded her.

“Which is no way to get these to Rosa in a hurry.”

At the teasing tone, he slanted a look at her. “You sound better today.”

“I am better,” she said. “I think I’m finally beginning to get a grip on things.”

Something in her voice alerted him that she was not referring entirely to her own emotions. “Why? Did something happen after I left last night?”

She said no, but her eyes said otherwise. “Dana? What are you keeping from me?”

“Who said I was keeping anything from you?”

“You weren’t out snooping around last night, were you?” he asked, envisioning another foray into the streets surrounding Yo, Amigo. He knew she hadn’t made it inside, because he’d lain awake all night tossing and turning on that sadistic couch. He would have heard her, just as he had the first time she’d broken in.

She scowled at him. “I don’t snoop. I’m an investigator. I investigate.”

“Okay. Exactly what did you
investigate
last night?”

“Nothing,” she swore. “I printed these pictures. Then I went to sleep.”

His gaze narrowed. He guessed that might be the truth, as far as it went. Perhaps the question had simply been too narrow. “And this morning?”

“Kate came by,” she said nonchalantly.

“And?” he prodded with the sudden sense that he was onto something.

“We talked.”

He had to fight a grin at her determined reticence. “About?”

“This and that,” she said, continuing the evasiveness.

“Dana!”

“Okay, okay, we talked about people in the church who might be suspicious.”

The relief he felt was out of all proportion to the announcement. It wasn’t as if she’d proved conclusively that Yo, Amigo’s kids had nothing to do with the murder. But at least she had opened her mind to other possibilities and was exploring them.

“Anybody look especially guilty?” he inquired.

“No, and don’t get your hopes up,” she retorted. “So far all I have are hunches and wishful thinking about people who on the surface seem very pious and generous.”

“Wishful thinking?”

She sighed. “I don’t really want anyone at Yo, Amigo to be guilty,” she conceded grudgingly, then added hurriedly, “For Ken’s sake. I would hate to think he was betrayed by the very kids he’d befriended.”

“He wasn’t,” Rick said vehemently. “I’d stake my own life on it.”

“That’s very noble, but you’re prejudiced.”

“I also know those kids better than anyone.”

She paused at that. “I hope for your sake that you truly do.”

“You’ll see,” he told her. If she would give the kids a chance, they would win her heart, just as they had won Ken’s. And they needed her faith every bit as badly as they’d needed Ken’s. Far too few people had ever believed in them. He thought again of Rosa and her high hopes.

“Dana, be careful with Rosa. Don’t promise her things you can’t deliver.”

“I’ll only tell her what I see.”

“And that is?”

“That she is beautiful and photogenic.”

“She really is?”

“Rick, I swear to you that even though she isn’t professional and I’ve never done anything remotely like a fashion shoot, these pictures are incredible. I’ve already called a friend of mine about them. He’s promised to take a look at them if I send them over. As soon as I have Rosa’s permission, that’s what I’m going to do.”

“This friend knows what he’s doing?”

“He’s with Hanson and Watts. In fact, he’s Ted Hanson.”

“One of the best ad agencies in Chicago,” Rick said incredulously. “I have heard of them.”

“The best,” Dana corrected. “At least according to Ted.”

“You have that much faith in these pictures?”

“I have that much faith in Rosa. If I can shoot pictures like these, a professional would pay a fortune to get her in front of a camera.”

He fell silent at that. He couldn’t help worrying that Rosa was being set up for a tremendous letdown, but that was one of the risks of dreaming big, and he had always encouraged the kids in the program to dream very big. For too long, most of them had had no dreams at all.

When he pulled into his parking space at Yo, Amigo, Rosa was waiting in the doorway, her eyes bright with anticipation, her expression fearful. The contradictory emotions were all too typical. Hopes were shot down here with distressing frequency.

“You’ll be lucky if she lets you get inside,” he warned Dana just as Rosa came rushing up to the passenger door and yanked it open.

“Do you have them?” she asked, all traces of her usual shyness gone.

“In the backseat,” Dana assured her.

Suddenly Rosa’s expression faltered. “They are terrible?”

Dana squeezed her hand. “They are anything but terrible.”

“The others are waiting inside to see, even Marco. Maybe I should look at them first, here so I will not be embarrassed if they make me look like a huge whale.”

“I don’t think you will be embarrassed,” Dana said. “But let’s not look at them out here. We could take them to Rick’s office, if you like,” she said, glancing at him for approval.

“Of course.” He was as anxious to see them as the others. Thanks to Dana, he might catch one of the first glimpses.

But at his office door, after running past a gauntlet of kids with expressions ranging from eager to sullenly distrustful, she put a hand on his arm. “Not yet,” she told him. “Just Rosa for now.”

“Hey, it’s my office,” he protested. “That ought to count for something.”

“It does. We appreciate it, don’t we, Rosa?”

“Yes, very much,” Rosa said distractedly, her avid gaze locked on that large envelope.

Rick sighed and settled for perching on a corner of Maria’s desk to wait. He kept his gaze fixed on the door, wishing he had the power to see through it or the skill to eavesdrop. Not that the place was all that soundproof, but Rosa and Dana were keeping their voices low.

The first hint he got of Rosa’s reaction was a faint squeal, then another, and finally a burst of joyous laughter. He glanced at Maria.

“She sounds happy, yes?” Maria said.

“That’s an understatement.” He pinned his gaze on the door handle and waited for it to turn. At the first hint of a twist, he was on his feet. So was Maria. He noticed then that Marco had edged into the room and was waiting as well, though his expression feigned indifference.

The door opened and a beaming Rosa beckoned to them. As he passed her, Rick thought he detected traces of tears in her eyes. He glanced hurriedly toward Dana for some indication of what those were all about, but she never even glanced his way.

Rosa grabbed her brother’s hand and tugged him inside. “Oh, Marco, wait till you see.”

The pictures had been spread across the desktop, Rick noticed. They were far larger than snapshots. And there were so many they could have filled a model’s portfolio. He glanced at the first one and smiled. The second one quite simply took his breath away. In fact, he concluded, even though he was by no means an expert, it seemed that each one was better than the one before.

He turned and saw that Marco’s expression was every bit as astonished as his own must be. The hard lines of the young man’s face softened ever so slightly.

“She has made me look beautiful, hasn’t she?” Rosa asked shyly.

“You are beautiful,” Marco said emphatically, then turned to Dana. “But you have captured it on film.
Gracias.
You have made my sister very happy. My parents will be pleased, as well. They have nothing so fine as these at home of any of their children.”

“She says that an advertising agency president will look at them if it is okay with me,” Rosa said. “Isn’t that incredible, Marco? An actual advertising agency.”

Marco, rather than demonstrating the excitement that Rosa so clearly expected, frowned. “Mama and Papa will never allow it.”

“It is not their decision,” Rosa said angrily. “Papa would have me on the street if not for Mama stopping it. He will be pleased when I can afford to go.”

“But you are under their roof now,” Marco reminded her. “You must obey their rules.”

“As you did?” Rosa said derisively.

Marco reacted angrily with a spurt of Spanish that brought bright patches of color into Rosa’s checks. Her eyes flashed with fiery temper. She didn’t back down.

“I will do this, Marco.”

He seemed taken aback by the defiance, but then, as suddenly as they’d fought, he grinned. “Yes, little one, I believe you will.”

Rosa expelled a sigh of relief and turned to Dana. “You will take these to your friend today? Right now?”

“Perhaps we should let the others see them first,” Dana suggested, gesturing toward the young people crowded into the doorway. “In the meantime, I will call for a courier to pick them up.”

“I can show them to the others?” Rosa asked, as if they were too precious for her to handle.

“Of course.”

When Rosa had gone, leading a parade of curious friends, Marco lingered. He fixed a steady gaze on Dana. “Perhaps I owe you an apology,
señora.
”

“It’s not necessary,” Dana assured him graciously. “You were just protecting her interests.”

“And my own,” he said wryly. “I do not trust outsiders easily.” He hesitated, then added, “If I knew something about the
padre’s
death, I would tell you,
señora.
We respected him. None of us wished to see him harmed. And if anyone here had information, I would find out about it. I would take care of it. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she said, clearly shaken by his vehemence and his obvious meaning. Rick knew full well that Marco meant every word.

Marco looked for a moment as if he might say more, but then he turned and followed his sister, leaving Rick alone with Dana.

“He meant that, you know. He confirmed what I also believe.”

She nodded. “Yes, I believe he did.”

“Your answers aren’t here,
querida.
”

She lifted her gaze to meet his. Despite his reassurances and Marco’s, she still looked doubtful. “Time will tell, won’t it?”

“You will be back, then?”

“Until Ken’s murderer is behind bars, yes,” she said vehemently. “I will be back. For him and for them.”

Rick sighed. Heaven protect them all from a woman as hell-bent on revenge as Dana was.

“Then I suppose we should go back to Tico’s for dinner tonight and formulate some sort of strategy,” he said.

“You don’t have to help.”

“Yes, I do,” he insisted. “I owe it to Ken to protect you while you are on this fool’s mission.”

She bristled visibly at that. “Is it a fool’s mission to want to know who killed my husband?”

“No, of course not, but I believe with everything in me that you will not find the murderer here, but the longer you go on stirring things up, the more danger you are likely to put yourself in,” he said. “Right now the murderer is probably feeling fairly complacent, fairly certain that he’s home free. When he discovers that you have not let matters die, you will become the next danger to him. This is a person who eliminates threats.”

She didn’t so much as blanch at the harsh warning. “Then I will just have to work very quickly, won’t I?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know whether to admire your tenacity or fear it for the danger it could bring into your life.”

“I can take care of myself,” she insisted. “You needn’t worry about me.”

“But I do,” he said. In fact, the truth was, he thought about little else these days.