Page 79 of Christmas Mittens Murder

“Very much,” I murmured. It was. Nobody should have to endure such a string of heartbreaks. Parents, nephew, now sister. I glanced at his left hand. He didn’t wear a wedding ring, but a band of pale skin made me think he’d divorced not too long ago.

“I’m afraid my joining the military made the kid think it was a good thing to do.” He stared into his beer. “I felt responsible for his death.”

“Do you have children, Rafael?” Cam asked.

He smiled, his expression brightening. “I do, a boy and a girl. Those two are the main joys of my life. They’re in high school now, and by some miracle they still like to hang out with me.”

“Do they live with you or their mom?” I asked.

He stared at me, his nostrils flaring. “How did you know I was divorced? What is it with you two? All this BS sympathy when what you’re really doing is investigating me?” His voice was low and harsh as he half stood.

“No.” I held out the back of my own left hand and rubbed where a wedding band would be, a ring I’d removed as soon as I could after Greg died. “I simply noticed the pale skin where your ring had been not too long ago. Please sit down and eat.”

Cam shot me an approving glance.

He glanced from me to her and back. He sat. He bit into his burger.

“We would still like to know if you have any idea who Val’s enemies might be,” Cam spoke softly. “So we can try to track them down.”

I supposed we’d be overambitious to expect him to also explain what made him stop speaking to his big sister. I couldn’t imagine ever cutting ties with my twin. But Allie wasn’t Valencia Torres Harper. Not even close.

Chapter Fourteen

Takeout pizza consumed and children asleep by nine o’clock that night, Allie, Cam, and I put our heads together. Or, rather, we lounged on the family room comfy furniture sipping a fine port Allie had been saving.

“Did Rafael ever say who, in his opinion, Val’s enemies were?” Allie asked.

“All he could come up with was Otto,” Cam said. “But even then he blamed Val for the animosity between them more than her ex.”

I wrinkled my nose. “We failed to ask why they’d divorced, or when. Do you know, Allie?”

“Did he tell you about their boy dying?” Allie asked.

“Yes. Awful.” The son might have been Zoe’s age. Children dying before their parents of any cause wasn’t the natural order of things. I shivered to think of anything bad happening to my girl, much less something fatal.

“I think their marriage couldn’t endure the loss,” Allie said. “Or at least Val’s side of it.”

“Burying a child is one of the hardest things a couple ever has to do.” Cam shook her head, a sad look on her face. “It’s the ultimate test of their love as well as their communication skills.”

“I don’t even want to think about losing one of mine,” Allie murmured.

“I don’t think Rafael caught on to us suspecting him, did he, Cece?” Cam asked.

“For a minute he thought we were investigating him, which we are, when I asked him about where his kids lived.” I explained about the wedding band tan line to Allie. “But then he relaxed.”

“I didn’t really find him acting suspiciously,” Cam said. “On the other hand, we didn’t ask about his alibi for the night Val was killed, which the sheriff should have already done.”

Allie noiselessly drummed her fingers on the arm of the stuffed easy chair she’d curled up in. “So, he thinks everything is Val’s fault. She changed. She couldn’t deal with her kid’s death. She was at fault with her brother. Kind of classic, isn’t it?”

Interesting. “You mean, if he killed her, it was her fault?” I asked.

Allie bobbed her head.

“Do you know Rafael?” Cam asked Allie. “He seemed to think he’d met you.”

“I don’t really know him, but as he said, we’ve met. Thing is, my son Arthur is a really good distance runner, for a kid who’s ten. He’s also fast. He’s begged me to take him to the high school’s cross-country meets when they run locally, and I have a few times. Artie tries to race the big kids at the end of the course to the finish line. Mr. Torres has been nothing but sweet and supportive to my kid. He said he’d save Arthur a place on the team when he gets to high school. Artie was over the moon, as you can imagine. I’d hate to think Rafael killed his own sister.”

“Still, he could have a dark side none of us has seen.” I savored another taste of the warm, rich port.

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