Gabriela pulls out the milk and sets it on the counter, then reaches up into a cabinet and pulls down three glasses. She unscrews the top off a plastic container and uses a plastic scoop to fill each glass with some protein powder, and she fills those glasses with milk and stirs them with a whisk. She hands the first glass to me, then takes the other glass over to her grandmother. Her grandmother smiles at her again, and there’s an instant where confusion flashes in her eyes before she blinks it away. Gabriela puts a straw in the glass and holds the glass so her grandmother can drink.
I sip from my own glass, watching them.
Once Gabriela’s grandmother finishes the remains of her protein shake, Gabriela rinses the glass out in the sink, sets it aside, and then turns back to her own shake. She drains the entire glass down in what seems like one nonstop gulp. She rinses out her glass, takes my empty glass and rinses it out too.
I say, “Now what?”
Gabriela glances at her grandmother, answering me with a low whisper.
“Now I need to bathe her. Probably change her diaper, too. I’m sorry, but it’s probably going to take a while.”
I shake my head.
“No need to apologize. Take all the time you need. I think it’s great what you do for her.”
Gabriela shrugs and offers up a somber smile.
“She is the only family I have.”
Gabriela’s grandmother sits at the table, staring into the distance, like she doesn’t even know we’re there.
I ask, “Does anybody check in on her when you’re not home?”
“I’ve hired a woman to check in on her for a couple hours each day. She helps clean the kitchen, do the laundry, that sort of thing.”
“Have you given any thought about what I said last night?”
Gabriela pauses, thinking about it, and smiles again. Only this time the smile is brighter.
“Of course I’m not going to quit. I knew what I was getting into when I started this. It’s scary, but somebody needs to do it.”
She pauses, looks at me again.
“What are you planning to do today?”
“I want to go back to La Miserias.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“I can give you a ride there once I finish here.”
“I’ll find a ride.”
Gabriela smiles.
“You mean steal a ride.”
“Borrow would be a less sinister word.”
“I’m happy to drive you, but first let me bathe my grandmother. It won’t take too long, I promise.”
Thirty-Three
Carlos was already at headquarters when Ramon arrived in the morning. Ramon found him at his desk, leaning back in his chair, studying a crumpled piece of paper.
Ramon said, “What’s that?”
Carlos held up the crumbled item, and Ramon quickly realized it wasn’t a piece of paper but a photograph.
“This was left behind by the two girls last night.”
Ramon looked around the room at the other officers at their desks and in their cubicles. He motioned for Carlos to keep his voice down.
Carlos rolled his eyes, leaning forward in his chair to set the photograph on his desk.
“I’m pretty sure the Asian girl had it on her. I took it home with me last night.”
Ramon stepped forward to give the photograph a good look. It was a young woman, barely in her twenties, wearing short shorts and a halter-top and heels. Long hair. A belly button ring.
Ramon grinned down at Carlos.
“I bet you did take it home last night, you old pervert.”
Carlos gave him an annoyed look. He sighed, focusing again on the photograph.
“For the life of me I can’t figure why she would have this on her. And why it was crumpled like this. This was exactly how she took it out of her pocket.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Well, if she crumpled it herself, why keep it? Why not just throw it away?”
“Or?”
Carlos tilted his head back and forth, considering it.
“Or somebody else crumpled the photograph and it ended up in her possession. In which case the question is again, why keep it?”
Ramon stared down at the photograph. He wasn’t thinking of the girl in the picture but of Samantha Lu, or whatever her name was. He wasn’t sure yet whether or not he wanted to tell Carlos about her calling him last night.
Suddenly the large room took on a strange feel. Like everybody froze and held their breath at the same time. Even Carlos felt it. Frowning, the older man stood up from his chair, stared across the room, and whispered.
“Jesus Christ, he showed up.”
Comandante Geraldo Espinoza had entered the room and was making his way toward his office. A few of the other officers approached him quietly, offering their condolences, and Espinoza nodded soberly and thanked them for their kind words before moving past them. Finally, only steps away from his office, he paused and turned to address the entire room.
“I want to thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers. I truly appreciate it. And I know you’re surprised to see me here. But … I think we all mourn in our own ways. For me, I want to catch the bastard who did this to my daughter and those children. Understood?”
There was a round of nods across the room, a few murmured yes sirs, and that was it. Espinoza stood there for another moment, surveying the room, and then entered his office, closing the door behind him.
Carlos said, “He looks like he hasn’t slept all night.”
“I wouldn’t blame him for not sleeping.”
“I spoke to him on the phone earlier this morning. He didn’t mention he would be in.”
“Why did you call him?”
“I stayed up late last night doing some digging. I thought I’d found a connection between his daughter and Miguel Dominguez.”
“What kind of connection?”
“To be honest, there wasn’t much. They attended the same school. But for the area that isn’t surprising. Maybe they were friends. Maybe they dated. Maybe they never even knew the other existed. I called Espinoza to see if the name rang a bell with him but he said it didn’t.”
Ramon grabbed the chair from the desk across from
