He nodded.
“Sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
“Those bein’?”
“Excuse me?”
“What happened to my girl?”
“Daddy. Be nice.”
I placed a hand on Molly’s shoulder.
“The police are investigating.”
“Been two weeks.”
“These things take time,” Mateo said.
“Yeah.”
“Are they keeping you informed?” I asked.
“Nothin’ to inform.”
“I’m sure they’re working on it.” I wasn’t certain I believed that but wanted to soothe him.
“Been two weeks.” His eyes dropped to the gnarled fingers laced in his lap.
True, Jack Dayton. Very true.
I took Molly’s hand in mine.
“How are you?”
“With a little time, I’ll be right as rain.” Another weak smile. “I’ve never understood that expression. Must have been coined by farmers.” She rolled her head to look at her father. “Like Daddy.”
The old man didn’t move a muscle.
“I’m forty-two, but my parents still think I’m their little girl.” Molly turned back to me. “They were against my coming to Guatemala.”
The ice-blue eyes in the corner flicked up.
“Look what happened.”
She gave me a conspiratorial smile.
“I could have been mugged in Mankato, Daddy.”
“At home we catch lawbreakers and lock ’em up.”
“You know that’s not always true.”
“Least the cops’d be talking a language I know.”
Dayton pushed to his feet and tugged his belt upward.
“I’ll be back.”
He shuffled from the room, Nike Cross-Trainers squeaking on the tile.
“You’ll have to excuse Daddy. He can be ornery.”
“He loves you, and he’s frightened and angry. It’s his job to be ornery. What are your doctors saying?”
“Physical therapy, then right as rain. No need to bore you with the details.”
“I’m so glad. We’ve all been crazy worrying. Someone’s been here almost every day.”
“I know. How goes Chupan Ya?”
“We’re moving full-tilt boogey on the skeletal analyses,” Mateo said. “Should have everyone ID’d in a couple of weeks.”
“Is it as bad as the eyewitness accounts suggest?”
I nodded. “Lots of gunshot and machete wounds. Mostly women and kids.”
Molly said nothing.
I looked at Mateo. He nodded. I swallowed.
“Carlos—”
“The cops told me.”
“Have they questioned you?”
“Yesterday.”
She sighed.
“I couldn’t tell them much. I only remember fragments, like freeze-frames. Headlights in the rear window. A car forcing us off the road. Two men walking on the shoulder. Arguing. Gunshots. A figure circling to my side of the truck. Then nothing.”
