pale light shone, giving shape to Becca's silhouette. She stood in the dark with arms crossed, watching the Marquez brothers wait for her to show up in the next room. A crime-scene tech had already swabbed both men for DNA testing. Now she let time do its work. Both looked anxious, each in his own way. Their voices were muffled on the intercom speaker.
'Don't volunteer anything. If you have any doubts, don't answer. Just look at me, and I'll tell you what to do.'
Dressed in his priest vesture, Victor sat rigid in his chair. His tone low and forceful. He talked out of the corner of his mouth, not really looking at his brother.
'I don't need you here, Victor. You should have let me drive myself.'
Rudy rolled his eyes and slumped deeper into his chair, but the priest ignored his objection.
'Don't worry. If we need a lawyer, I know someone who may do it for free.'
'You get what you pay for, bro.'
The priest didn't reply. He shut his eyes for an instant and took a deep breath. Victor raised his chin and maintained his stoic expression, hoping to assure his younger brother he could handle the situation. But by Rudy's actions, Becca saw he hadn't bought into Victor's overtures. The guy avoided looking at the priest and fidgeted in his seat. His eyes darted to the closed door every few minutes.
Despite his nervousness, Rudy's dark brown eyes appeared childlike. An undeniable innocent quality to them. He looked most like Isabel in that sense. Dressed in his work clothes of faded blue jeans and a black Spurs basketball T-shirt, Rudy looked like he'd barely had time to wash his face and hands. His clothes had a layer of dust and grime, the pattern only broken by the darker markings of sweat. Shorter than Victor and very slender, Rudy had the appearance of a boy in a man's body.
But Becca couldn't let her first impressions of Rudy sway her judgment as a cop. Her instincts told her this family was holding something back. Now she'd push them to uncover the truth. Becca walked through the door of interrogation room 5.
'Sorry to keep you waiting.' She dropped her casebook on the table in front of the Marquez brothers. 'I appreciate your cooperation, Father.'
Becca extended her hand to Rudy. 'My name is Detective Rebecca Montgomery.'
After a long moment, he eventually returned her gesture.
'Rudy . . . Rudy Marquez.'
His eyes avoided hers. He raised a hand to his mouth and chewed on a thumbnail. Becca sat in front of him. She leaned forward with her elbows on the table, forcing him to look at her.
'Your brother tells me you and Isabel were very close. So I'm going to need your help, Rudy.' She paused, making sure she held his attention. 'Tell me what she was like. Tell me about your Isabel.'
Her request surprised him. Eyes wide, he looked up and sat straight in his chair. Nearly a minute ticked by before he spoke, his voice almost a whisper.
'When she was little, Isabel wanted to please Mama so much. She was a good girl.' He stared across the room, not focusing on anything in particular. The past had caught up with him. 'When I think of her, I remember Isabel putting her hand in mine when we walked to school, and not just at the crosswalks. She used to tell me how I made her feel safe.'
That memory took its toll. Tears welled in his eyes, a contradiction to the sad smile on his face. 'She needed me then.'
He quit talking. Silence overwhelmed the room. And Father Victor didn't fill the void. The priest swallowed hard, watching Rudy.
'But at some point, little girls grow up,' Becca prompted. A flash of Danielle's sweet face wedged a knot in her throat. 'Little girls learn to live their own lives.'
A tear slid down his face. Rudy never looked up. 'Yes, they grow up. And they learn about ugliness from despicable men with no honor.'
Father Victor turned his head in surprise. 'Please, Rudy . . .'
'You never want to hear about this, Victor. Yet here, you drag me in front of this stranger to talk about it. Why is that? So you can act surprised, like you never knew? So you can remain the saint?' Rudy's voice rose in anger. He glared at his brother. 'You were gone. I was left to deal with it alone.'
'Deal with what, Rudy?' Becca asked. 'Tell me about Isabel.'
'Don't do this,
Rudy yanked his arm free and turned his back on Victor.
'About a week before she went missing, I saw Isabel get into some kind of Mercedes, a block down from our house. She was with another girl, Sonja Garza. It was kind of dark, but I recognized the Garza girl. When I asked Isabel about it, she lied. She told me the car belonged to Sonja's boyfriend.'
'But you didn't believe her?' she asked. After Rudy shook his head, Becca persisted, 'Why didn't you believe her, Rudy?'
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. He looked tired. After a moment, Rudy wiped both hands over his face. 'I followed the car, that's why. Out I-10 to some rich guy's place. I didn't like her sneaking around like that. It wasn't right.'
'Did you ever actually see the man driving the car?' she asked.
'It was Hunter Cavanaugh.'
Hearing Rudy say Cavanaugh's name surprised Becca. She tried not to let it show.
'How did you know it was Cavanaugh, Rudy? Had you ever seen him before?'
He hesitated. Anger replaced the accusation in his eyes.
'Oh, I get it. You don't believe me. You wanna protect that son of a bitch.' He stood and paced the floor behind his chair, running a hand through his thick dark hair. 'The dude's old enough to be my old man. A guy like that only wants one thing from a young girl like Isabel.'
'So you actually saw him?' Becca needed confirmation. 'You said it was dark.'
'I saw good enough. I recognized the car. He came out to the Imperial Theatre sometimes, during the renovation. I saw him there.' Rudy sat back down, on an edge of the chair.
'You worked the renovation at the Imperial?' she asked.
She'd know the answer soon enough. Becca had requested the billable personnel listing taken off the architectural firm's invoices from the subcontractor on the renovation. And she had requested the personnel records for the subcontractor for a comparison, but none of the information had come in yet.
'I think we've told you enough, Detective.' Father Victor stood and reached for Rudy's arm, pulling him to his feet. 'Go talk to this Hunter Cavanaugh but leave my brother out of it.'
Yet despite Victor's plea, Rudy wasn't ready to quit. He leaned across the table and pointed a finger at her.
'Cavanaugh bought her that damned necklace. The one you were asking about, the gold heart. I'm sure of it.'
'You don't sound sure, Rudy. Sounds like you're guessing.' Becca stood and stepped closer to Marquez. 'Tell me about the last time you saw Isabel.'
His eyes grew wide. He stopped himself and swallowed. As Rudy opened his mouth to speak, Victor intervened.
'That's it. No more.' The priest rattled off in Spanish, too fast for Becca to keep up. Whatever he told Rudy, it was enough to shut him up. 'Please, Detective, stop this. If you want to speak to either of us again, it will be through an attorney. Now I'd like to take Rudy home. Mama is expecting us for dinner. Are we free to go?'
Father Victor's voice wavered. And his eyes no longer looked confident. He clung to his brother, hoping she'd let him claim his small victory. Eventually, Becca nodded and watched them leave the room. After they shut the door behind them, she sat down, alone with her thoughts.
Not once did Father Victor or Rudy ask about Isabel, where her body had been found. She had deliberately held back the information to see if they would. One of them had been at the Imperial after the fire. Becca had a sinking feeling if she told them where Isabel's body had been found, she wouldn't be telling them anything new.
She replayed the interview in her mind and made notes in her casebook. When she was done, Becca pulled
