Page 8 of Don't Say a Word
“We have some questions,” Tess said kindly, “and the more you can tell us, the better, okay?”
“Of course,” Alina said. “Father Rafe says if anyone can find the truth, it’s the Angelharts.”
Uncle Rafe caught my eye. He smiled that slight smile he had when a situation ended to his satisfaction. Yes, he was a priest, but he could be very manipulative. Fortunately, it was usually on the side of truth, justice, and the American way, so I was okay with it.
Tess took notes, and Jack and I asked most of the questions. What school Elijah attended, who his closest friends were, did he have a girlfriend, a list of his teachers, who attended the funeral, how long he worked at the Cactus Stop and which location, did he own a vehicle or how did he get around. An hour later we had a very good sense of who Elijah was, at least from his mother’s perspective, and I had a list of people to talk to first—a teacher, the guidance counselor, three friends, and his supervisor at work. She only had Elijah’s work number and the number for one of his friends, Andy Perez. I’d have to track down the others. What they told me would dictate my next steps.
When we were done, I walked Uncle Rafe and Alina to the door. “I’d like to come by your house and look through Elijah’s things, if that’s okay with you, Alina,” I said.
“Sí.Anytime.”
I wanted to talk to Josie first, so said, “Would this afternoon be good? I’ll text you exactly when, but probably between two and four.”
She nodded. “I will be home. My supervisor has been very generous with time off, but I need something to do, so I go back part-time tomorrow, then full-time next week. Everyone has been kind. Father Rafe. Mr. Ramos. Elijah’s teachers.” Alina touched her chest over her heart. “Everyone who met my son liked him.”
“I’ll see you this afternoon,” I said to Alina. Then I hugged Uncle Rafe and said, “We’ll talk later.”
As soon as they walked out, I went to my office and called Josie. “Uncle Rafe and Alina Martinez just left.”
“Damn, I wanted to give you a heads-up. I didn’t know they’d go see you, but Uncle Rafe called me yesterday with a hundred questions, and I had a feeling he was going to ask you to look into that kid’s death. You’re taking it, aren’t you?”
“Yep. Have time to meet?”
“It’s my day off, so anytime, but I don’t want to go downtown.”
“I have some research to do here, then I’ll come up to your neck of the woods.” Josie lived in a small condo in Desert Ridge.
“I’m not going to ask you to come all the way up here.”
“Not a problem. I want to go to the wine store and get Uncle Rafe his favorite tequila and my mom her favorite wine.”
“Oh, shit!” Josie said. “I totally forgot Aunt Ava’s sixtieth birthday party!”
“You didn’t, because it’s not until Thursday. What are you doing for yours?”
September was a big month of Morales/Angelhart birthdays. Uncle Rafe’s was the day after Mom’s, and Josie’s was two days after Uncle Rafe’s.
“My mom’s taking me to a spa, then I have a date.”
“Who?”
“I’ll tell you later. I’ll meet you at those tables outside Barnes & Noble at eleven thirty, good?”
“See you then.”
Chapter Two
Margo Angelhart
Jack walked into my office eating the breakfast burrito I’d left for him.
“We have a kitchen,” I said. The windows in the building didn’t open and my office would smell of eggs and chorizo for the rest of the day.
Jack put his paper plate on the corner of my desk and said, “You’re meeting with Josie?”
“Yep.”
“I texted Rick for info. The lead detective is Rachel King.”
