“Do you remember what he looked like?” He hadn’t wanted to upset her before by asking any details, but she’d calmed down and those details were important.
She screwed up one side of her face. “He was old. He had gray hair...matted with blood. I couldn’t tell you his height because he was lying on the ground.”
“Latino? White guy?”
“White—gringo.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “You don’t think that was him, do you? El Gringo Viejo?”
“That wouldn’t make sense if the two guys were afraid to tell him they hadn’t confirmed your death. If he were dead himself, he wouldn’t care.” He pulled onto Paradiso’s main drag. “Burgers and fries or something more elegant?”
She pinched the material of her khaki-colored capris between her fingers. “Do I look elegant?”
“You look...fine.”
“What if the man in my memory wasn’t dead? What if he were just injured? He could still be El Gringo Viejo.” Straightening in her seat, she pushed the hair from her face. “What if I injured him? That would be motive for him to come after me.”
Rob rolled his eyes. “You’re determined to make yourself the bad guy, aren’t you? Your first impression of the man in your image was that he was dead—murdered.”
“Maybe I thought I’d killed him but didn’t. So, in my memory he’d be dead because I wouldn’t have known any better.”
He pulled the truck up to the curb of the Paradiso Café and cut the engine. “And why would the owner of an art gallery try to kill a drug supplier?”
“Argh, I don’t know.” She drilled her finger in the middle of her forehead. “This is what I come up with when I think about my past. You have to admit, my life has been pretty dramatic up to this point. Also, an American living in Mexico, running an art gallery with a drug dealer after her, has to be an adventurous person. Would you agree with that?”
“I would, but your association with El Gringo Viejo, if there is one, could be purely innocent, unintentional.” He snatched his keys from the ignition. “Look, I know a lot of people in my old neighborhood who were not looking for trouble and got swept up in it anyway. Rocky Point may be a tourist area, but it’s also on the edge of an area controlled by the Las Moscas and Sinaloa cartels. If you wander in the wrong neighborhood, you could be in a world of hurt.”
She cocked her head. “I like that you’re more optimistic about my background than I am. Rob Valdez, you’re an optimist. Despite everything, you’re still an optimist.”
“I’d say I’m an optimist because of everything.” He pushed open the door of his truck. “Let’s eat.”
As usual, she’d hopped out before he could get her door. He still went around to the passenger side of the truck and took her arm as they walked into the restaurant.
Being a little early for dinner, they had their choice of tables, and Rob led Libby to one by the window.
He snatched up two plastic menus from the side of the table as he sat down, sliding one over to her side. “They have more than burgers here, but the burgers are good.”
She trailed her finger down the menu. “A burger sounds good.”
“I’m going to have a beer, too.”
“Me, too.”
He raised his eyebrows at her. “Are you sure?”
“Who knows? Maybe if I get rip-roaring drunk, everything will come back to me. Jennifer explained that hypnosis puts you in a deeply relaxed state.” She flicked her finger against the menu. “Maybe beer will do the same.”
Sydney, the waitress, scurried over even though she had just two other tables. “You’re early, Rob.” Her gaze wandered to Libby, but he didn’t feel the need to make introductions. Sydney could get her info like everyone else—from the town grapevine.
He pointed to Libby. “Are you going to order that beer?”
Libby picked out an IPA on draft and ordered a burger with avocado.
“Good choice.” He ordered the same beer and a double-bacon burger.
Sydney returned minutes later with two frosty mugs of beer.
Libby planted her elbows on the table. “What am I keeping you from?”
He slurped his drink through the foamy head and asked, “What?”
“You’ve been babysitting me for two days now, got some clothes for me, took me to Tucson. What should you be doing instead and with whom?”
“I told you I didn’t have a girlfriend.” He licked his lips and gulped back more beer.
“You don’t have any friends? Hobbies? Commitments?” She wrapped her hands around her own mug and took a delicate sip, which left foam on her upper lip.
Before he could make a fool of himself and wipe it off for her, she dabbed her mouth with a napkin.
“I’ve been with the Border Patrol just over a year. I just passed probation a few months ago. I didn’t even live in Paradiso until a month ago. I was waiting to pass probation before making the move from Tucson.”
“You commuted here all the way from Tucson?”
“Just in case I didn’t make the department, I wanted to be in a place where I could look for other work.”
“That’s why your house is so neat. You haven’t been there long.”
“Yeah.” He felt the warmth creep up to his hairline. He’d let her believe that instead of revealing his control-freak tendencies. Maybe that was why he’d jumped on her case. He’d wanted to control what happened to her. Better keep that to himself. The poor woman had enough problems.
“So—” she ran a fingertip along the rim of her mug “—it’s not because you like to control all aspects of your life because you had so little control as a child?”
Shaking his head, he said, “I’m telling you. You should hang your shingle right next to Jennifer’s.”
Sydney returned to their table with two baskets containing their food.
Rob pointed a French fry at Libby, attacking her burger. “Hypnosis must’ve made you hungry.”
She circled her
