“Archer, we’ve got a problem.” Espinoza rubbed the back of his neck.
Clay’s pulse jumped. “What kind of problem?”
“That body you found yesterday and that head on your porch—they don’t match.”
APRIL CUPPED THE cell phone in her sweaty palm and dumped it on the table. She waved to the waitress balancing three plates in her hand. Once she delivered the food, the waitress scurried to her table.
“More iced tea?”
“Actually, I’m looking for an outlet.” April dangled the charging cord from her fingers. “Just bought a new phone, and I need to charge it up.”
“We can do that for you behind the counter.” The server held out her hand, wiggling her fingers, and April pressed the phone and the charger into her palm.
“Thanks, and I’ll have more iced tea when you get a chance.”
The waitress smiled, but her eyes assessed April—hard.
April nodded and ducked her head to slurp some lukewarm tea through the straw. Had this young woman cut her teeth on crazy April Hart stories? Did she recognize her?
Meg had been suspicious of April’s story about rushing out to help a friend—not that she expected her cousin to believe anything she said, but that fabrication sounded more worthy than the fact that she’d run out on a wedding—again.
Mom’s side of the family always slept with one eye open around her and Adam, as if they’d inherited Dad’s killer gene or something. Not that she was totally convinced her father murdered her mother. They’d had their problems and Dad was always a scammer, but he’d also loved Mom—or he’d been an incredible actor...or a sociopath.
If Dad were really this El Gringo Viejo character like Adam thought, maybe he did kill Mom because she found out something. Like she’d found out about Jimmy.
“Your phone is charging.” The waitress hovered over the table with a plate of food in one hand and a pitcher of iced tea in the other. “And here’s your sandwich.”
She placed the plate on the table and filled up the iced tea glass. “Do you want a cup of ice for that?”
“Sure, thanks.” April whipped her napkin into her lap and picked up one half of her turkey sandwich.
The front door of the café swung open and April nearly choked on her first bite as Clay charged through the door, his dark hair already askew.
“Glad I found you.” He held up his hand to the waitress. “Can you bring me a cola, Larissa?”
Clay dragged the chair out across from her, scraping it across the tile floor, and sat down. “You’re not gonna believe this.”
Still chewing, April pointed to her mouth. She swallowed and took a sip of tea. “You almost made me choke on my food when you barged in here. I don’t want a repeat. What is going on?”
Clay gripped the edge of the table as if to brace himself. “That head we found yesterday on my porch?”
“Yeah, I remember it.” She nabbed a spot of spicy mustard from the corner of her mouth with the tip of her tongue.
“It does not belong to the headless body at the border.”
The room tilted and April twisted the napkin in her lap. “What do you mean? There’s another body without a head out there and another head missing its body?”
“Exactly.” He rubbed his knuckles across his jaw. “That’s crazy, even for Paradiso, even so close to the border.”
April pushed away her plate, one perfect bite missing from her sandwich. “I don’t understand. How did they discover that so quickly? You told me the DNA would take a while.”
“Espinoza doesn’t have the DNA test back yet, but the medical examiner has determined that the body belongs to a young Latina and the head is that of an older, Caucasian woman.”
Goose bumps raced up and down her arms and she folded them across her chest. “How is this even possible? And why was the older woman’s head left on your porch when you found the body of the younger woman?”
“They’re obviously connected, from the same hit. Maybe both women came through the tunnel, Las Moscas killed the younger one there, leaving her body and taking her head, and then murdered the other woman elsewhere, dumped her body and left her head for me—just to mess with us.”
“It’s pure evil, isn’t it?” April rubbed her arms. “Do they think this is some kind of joke?”
“This is business, and they’re deadly serious.” He glanced up at the waitress. “Thanks, Larissa.” He sucked down half his soda before coming up for air.
“How’d you track me down here?” She poked at her sandwich. Coming to Paradiso had seriously done a number on her appetite.
“Happened to see your car out front as I was driving through town, and I remember this used to be one of your favorite places. I wasn’t sure you’d be back from Tucson yet.”
She leaned back and ran her finger around the neck of her new T-shirt. “Picked up some clothes and bought a phone.”
“Did you make the call yet?” He picked up the untouched half of her sandwich. “Are you going to eat this, or did I just ruin your appetite?”
“You can have it and my new phone is charging behind the counter, so I haven’t called Jimmy yet.” She drummed her fingers on the table next to her plate. “What does Espinoza think about the two murders?”
“Same.” He waved the sandwich in the air. “It’s obvious they’re connected.”
“Really? ’Cause this morning you thought it was obvious that the head belonged to the body by the border.”
“Good point.” He scooted the plate back in front of her. “I’m feeling guilty. Eat your lunch.”
She picked up the sandwich and nibbled on the crust. “How is Espinoza going to ID the body, fingerprints?”
“That’s first, but if she never committed a crime and she’s a Mexican national, we may not get a hit. Missing persons, maybe.”
The waitress swung by again. “Clay, do you want to order something? I’m off in five.”
“I just
