Shady Lady

“Yeah . . . and yeah. I’ll see you tonight at Chuch and Eva’s if you’re not doing anything. We’ll talk about everything then.”

He laughed. “The woman I want to see hits town and you ask if I can make room in my schedule? I think I’m offended.”

Jesse wanted me to move to Texas and rejoin the America he called home. He wanted me to get an apartment and meet his family. I know he foresaw Fourth of July barbecues and Thanksgiving dinners, wherein he could show me what I’d missed.

I knew I had trust issues, but part of me wasn’t sure he could accept what I was doing to ensure my own survival. His sense of morality wasn’t fluid; he came from a bedrocksolid foundation, and he’d never slept in a bus station. It’d be better if I could look into his eyes and explain what I’d done, along with the choices I’d made. If he cared about me as much as he claimed, he’d understand the necessity.

“Well, I didn’t want to assume.” There were no promises between us, so he might’ve had plans. He had a way with the ladies, and I didn’t expect him to change his life unless I showed up in Laredo, ready to open a shop and commit to a relationship.

“You caught me on a free night,” he admitted then. “I’ll be there.”

Once we disconnected, I checked out and went out front to wait for Shannon. She arrived twenty minutes later.

“Where’s Kel?” Shan asked as I got in the car.

Chuch had sent her to pick me up in one of his spares. This one was a half-restored but functional 1972 Dodge Charger. She looked fine, healthy, and her black hair sported new pink tips on the bottom. God, I hoped she had my purse. I hadn’t seen it—or Butch—since Escobar took me.

I swallowed hard. “Gone.”

“He bailed on you?” Her expression darkened.

“He saw me through what he needed to. Please don’t blame him. He reports to a higher authority.” Whatever else had come of this, I believed in his orders.

The Charger peeled out of the parking lot. It wasn’t the same shitty La Quinta I’d stayed in when I was here with Chance, but all cheap motels more or less looked the same. Escobar’s men had given me a small wad of bills, payment for my time, and dropped me off at one they knew accepted cash. Since I didn’t have any ID on me, it had to be a place like that.

“Someone in the backseat wants to say hi.”

I slid my knee up on the seat so I could twist at the waist. Butch popped out of my purse, which was lying on the backseat, and gave a happy little bark with his tail wagging in excitement. I reached for him and cuddled him to my chest. He licked my face and hands, vibrating doggy Morse code for, Dude, I missed you; where you have you been? For long moments I just petted him and tried to let go of the surreal quality of the past days.

Maybe that was the best attitude to take. It wasn’t real. None of it was real. Therefore, I couldn’t miss him.

Shannon drove while I cuddled an ecstatic Butch. Her familiarity impressed me. Clearly she hadn’t spent her time sitting around Chuch’s house all day. “I’ve been helping Eva,” she explained. “Running errands. Grocery shopping. You wouldn’t believe how cranky and tired she is.”

By my reckoning, she must be more than eight months along by now, so I would. “I’m glad you’re both okay.” I included Butch in the word both by rubbing my chin against his head. Wag, wag, wag. His tail thumped against my arm.

“They’re great,” she said, smiling. “I mean, I felt weird at first, but Chuch said, ‘Any friend of Corine’s,’ and they just took me in, no questions asked.”

“That sounds like him.” My throat felt choky. It wasn’t like me to get tearful so fast; life had given me a harder shell than that, but I’d seen and suffered too much in the past few days, so my emotions bobbed near the surface. “Would you rather stay? I mean, Eva will need help after the baby comes.”

At this point, I didn’t know where I was going, if I would survive the encounter with Montoya. I touched the pendant I wore, ostensibly to protect me from being located by Montoya’s sorcerer. For all I knew, it could also compel my loyalty or give me plantar warts.

My mother would’ve known.

There was no guarantee I’d ever be able to repair the shop. No guarantee of anything, really, and part of me thought Shannon should stay with Chuch and Eva, where she’d be safe. They offered the family warmth she needed.

“Are you kidding?” She cut me a quick look before she went back to watching the road. “I want to see the world, not settle down in some Texas town. Seems to me that sticking with you is the best way to accomplish that.”

“Well, that much is true.”

Butch yapped, leaving me in no doubt about his opinion. Holding him made me feel better, despite the uncertainty. The rest of the ride passed in silence.

The Ortiz family home hadn’t changed much since my last visit. It was still a good-size stone ranch house, but I did notice a couple of improvements. Instead of having halffixed cars in the driveway, which drove Eva crazy, Chuch had paved some ground to the right of the garage, out of sight. Since they had substantial property, it didn’t lessen their lot size, only increased the appeal of the place.

Shannon pulled the Charger onto the cement pad. Two other cars kept ours company, an Impala with its guts hanging out, and a sweet little Ford Opal. The latter looked like it was nearly finished.

I reached over the seat, snagged my purse, and slid out of the car, Butch nestled in the crook of my arm.

Shannon’s eyes widened as she took her first good look since I hopped into the car. “Holy shit.”

Despite the heaviness of my heart, I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, I’m planning my own infomercial: the Jungle Diet.”

She laughed as I meant her to and led the way to the front door, where Eva stood waiting. I ran to hug her. It had been months since I’d seen her, and the belly didn’t permit the kind of embrace she preferred. We managed.

“Look at this,” she said, holding me at arm’s length. “I’m big as a whale, and you’re skinny.”

I wasn’t sure I’d go that far, but it was nice to hear. I knew I’d dropped some weight. I’d sweated and walked and eaten little and fallen in a river and then fallen—

No. Not that. Never that. If nothing else, I was a realist. While I might indulge secret pipe dreams, I understood the difference between desirable and attainable.

“How’re you feeling?” I asked, following her inside.

“Huge. The baby keeps kicking me in the kidneys, and I have to pee all the time.”

I filed that away for future reference. It seemed unlikely I’d ever have children of my own, but one never knew. “Where’s Chuch?”

“He ran to the store to get me some pistachios. I’m going to crush them up and put them on cherry-swirl ice cream.”

As weird pregnancy cravings went, I’d heard worse. “Look, I’ll tell you guys the whole story, as I promised, but I’d rather wait for Jesse to get here. That way, I only have to tell it once.”

“Fine with me,” Shannon said.

Eva nodded. “Nena, the only thing that matters is that you’re here and you’re safe. You know we’ve got your back.”

That was the problem; I did know. And I didn’t want to lead trouble to their door. I was here only because of Escobar’s pendant, and maybe I trusted him too much. He was a bad guy, after all, but I thought he possessed a rigid sense of personal honor, apart from what he did for a living. But if I were wrong about him, if he was using me as bait right now, I endangered Chuch, Eva, and their unborn child. Just thinking about the potential consequences filled me with horror.

On second thought—