Dena balanced on the edge of the chair, but leaned her arms forward on the table. “Why did everyone focus on you as a murder suspect? You have a ton of men who come and go from Three C’s. It could have been anyone.”
“Hey.” He raised both hands again, his fighting spirit back. “They didn’t really focus on me. First off, it was only questions along the lines of who does come and go, who lives here, who I’d hired recently. Any strangers I’d noted—”
“I understand all of that, but what is it with Stanton? And were Manny and Rocky, and the farmhands, all investigated?”
“I believe so. And Stanton is…he’s just Stanton.”
“Did they take DNA samples from them?”
“No, I don’t think so. I offered. They found my telephone number in the first victim’s purse, remember?” He blew out a gust of air, shoved at the hair falling over his brow. He was in desperate need of a good haircut. Dena seemed to wait for him to regroup. Her face was still, her large blue eyes unwavering.
“I don’t know why the woman would have had it, and it’s an unlisted number. Of course Susie had had that number for years. She’d moved back to Rancho Almagro just before Mom died. Tried to get back together with me—”
“And?” Dena asked, and raised her brows.
“I wasn’t in the mood.”
He noticed the inquisitive stare and knew she wasn’t about to back down. Okay, he supposed he owed her more of an explanation.
“The place needed work, because things had started a slow decline. Not sure why. Money wasn’t coming in like it had before. Maybe Mom’s illness affected everyone, and they let the business slide.”
Dena narrowed her eyes. “Wait a minute. Go back to the money thing.”
“We weren’t generating the same sales as in the prior five years. That’s why I sold that portion of land to the developer.” He ruminated on that for a few moments. “Rocky was angry about it. But there were a lot of medical expenses toward the end—”
“So you never discussed it with him?”
Zeke shook his head. “Nope. I’d investigated. Put out some feelers and then lucked into the hotel deal. It was almost a done deal when I told him.”
“He resented that, I’m sure,” Dena said.
“Yes. I was embarrassed to have to sell. Land for Cabrera’s has always been a big deal. We started out in this country with nothing.” He gave a quick shrug. “My guess is my decision drove home the fact to Rocky that I was now the owner, and he was the employee.”
“Back to the money. Were funds missing?”
“Ah, I’m not sure. Some of the records are incomplete.”
“Who would normally handle those accounts?”
“Mom—”
“Even when she was ill?”
“Look, Mom never told anyone she was ill, until it was too late.” He blew out a long breath, glanced away. “I got the feeling the business was failing and she just…you know—”
“Died?” Dena asked, in an almost whisper.
Zeke nodded. There was a slight sound in the hallway. Manny came into view, stuck his head around the door.
“Goodnight Zeke, Dena. I’ll be out late.” He shot Zeke a quick grin, and an even quicker shrug.
“Be safe, okay?” Zeke said.
Seeing Manny all spiffed up, he was aware the young boy was growing into a young man. Unspoken words passed between them. He liked his role of big brother, but the last thing he’d do was nag him.
“Will we see you tomorrow, Manny?” Dena asked.
“Sure, I’ll be around. Have to take Mama to church.”
Dena smiled. “That’s sweet.”
“Yeah, that’s me.” Manny grinned, and walked away.
Dena reached across the table, put her hand on Zeke’s, and rubbed her thumb back and forth. He didn’t draw away, enjoying and needing the comfort.
“Back to the conversation about your mother, if that was the case, sad as it is, it wasn’t your fault. How long did she have left after you came home?”
Did he want to re-open the topic? He ran a hand over his jaw, drew in a long breath. Ah, hell. “About a month,” he said. “But it had gone to the lung, she was on oxygen and—” He shook his head.
“Who told you of her illness?”
“The family doctor.”
“Why did he wait so long?”
“He didn’t know. One weekend, Irma got angry with Mom. It was about her weight loss and lack of appetite. She threatened to pick her up, put her in the car, and take her to the doctor.”
Dena leaned forward. “What happened? How come if Rocky worked