“He doesn’t stay unless he’s working the fields.”
Dena nodded. Somewhere, somehow, she’d find a connection.
Stanton stared at the three photos again. “I’d better go. While I still have my job I want to investigate some more.”
“You think they’ll fire you?” Zeke asked.
Stanton swallowed hard. “Most likely put me on probation. I had sex with Susie in my car while on duty. That’s enough for dismissal. But I had to tell it like it happened. You never know, there may be some clue that comes through that can point to her killer. I owe her that.”
Good for Stanton for doing the right thing.
Zeke stood and held out his hand. “Thanks, if you need anything…”
“Sure.” Stanton pumped Zeke’s hand for a moment, then slapped Zeke’s forearm. “I’ve got it covered. I’ll find the bastard, whether I’m on duty or not.”
“Good. I don’t like the thought of him doing harm to another woman,” Zeke said.
“Sorry, you know…for my behavior yesterday,” Stanton said. He moved away, came back. “Listen, there’s someone in town I believe is making trouble for you. Nothing I can pin him with, but I’m going to look into it a bit closer.”
Zeke pursed his lips and ran a hand over his head. “You can’t give me a hint?”
“Rather not do that, in case I’m wrong. Give me a few days and I’ll be in touch, even if I’m no longer in uniform.”
Dena walked Stanton out the door, hugged him, and watched his sad figure waddle up the path toward the hacienda. The secrets of the desert were beginning to unravel. She shivered, and went back inside.
****
Zeke dropped back into a chair and banged his head against the iron rim of the table. First the confession from Stanton, then the photographs, how weird was that? Then there was the suggestion of sabotage of his business. His thoughts spun wildly, hitting on feelings that almost materialized, then spun out of his mental grasp again.
“What the hell does all this mean?” he asked Dena when she came back inside.
“I don’t know. But you’d better stop doing that head banging. You’ll break the glass top and that’s all we need, an injury and a visit to the E.R.”
They sat in silence for a while. Dena took a sip of the lukewarm coffee and made a face. “I’m making a fresh pot. Want some?”
“Yeah, make it extra strength. Damn. Poor Dave.”
He shook his head a couple of times, noticed Dena’s pallor. He wanted to ask, but wouldn’t risk a discussion on her friend’s photo just yet. There’d be time later.
“So, was everything okay with your mother this morning?”
She put a clean filter in the coffee pot, spooned in the grounds, and added an extra scoop.
“Mom apologized for being mean.”
He took a slurp of disgustingly cold coffee, and waited.
“I think she had a breakthrough with therapy, or maybe Aunt Ruth helped her in some way.”
“Well, that’s good, an apology.”
“Maybe, but I still can’t trust her.” She grimaced. “I know I have issues, but she’s never been there for me before.”
“It’s a beginning. All the rest is stuff from the past, and that means nothing. Let it go.”
“I know,” she said her voice soft, resigned. “I’m sure we’re in for a long overdue heart-to-heart.”
“Good for you,” Zeke said. “I regret never doing that with my mother. If I’d worked harder to know mine, perhaps—”
“Take your own advice, Zeke. Let it go.” She walked over and kissed the top of his head.
He slipped an arm around her waist, liking the feel of her body warmth, and the sound in her voice that said she was working on her relationship with her mother. By the end of his mother’s life, they had held each other in cool regard. Like polite distant cousins.
The coffee pot gurgled.
He ignored it, pulled her into his lap instead. They held each other tight. Not kissing, not touching in a sexual way. Just two wounded birds taking sustenance from each other.
Chapter Twelve
Zeke headed for his office a little before ten. Late for a Monday. He settled in the chair behind the desk and opened his appointment book but there was nothing of great importance or off-premises for today.
Memories of Dena, the way they’d comforted each other, filled him. He could still smell the sweetness he’d come to know as her scent…vanilla and roses. He’d asked her what it was and she’d said she’d taken two scents of body mist and combined them to make her own special fragrance. It worked.
He stared out the window for