eyes framed by black lashes.
“Are you moving?” Ashley asked the woman on the right.
Maria Gutierrez nodded. “Yes. This is my sister, Nina. She and her husband are loading the last of my things.” Her tone was polite, but it was clear that she wasn’t in the mood for a social call at the moment.
Courtesy dictated that Ashley and Cooper make their excuses and leave. When it seemed as though Ashley was about to do just that, Cooper clamped a hand firmly on her arm. “We don’t mean to trouble you, ma’am!” she called over the space of the tiny front yard. “I know you’re busy, but do you think you could spare me just a few minutes of your time? It’s very important that we speak.”
“Well . . .” Maria began, but her sister was quick to respond on her behalf.
“Maybe tomorrow,” she said in flawless English. “That would be a more convenient time. We need to finish loading before nightfall.”
“I don’t think you’ll be here tomorrow,” Cooper stated softly, locking eyes with Maria. She held out her hands in what she hoped was a gesture of supplication. “Please. It’s about Miguel and Hector. And other boys just like them.”
Maria grabbed onto the doorjamb for support and Nina’s eyes turned dark with indignation. “You have no respect! Leave my sister alone! Isn’t she in enough pain?”
Ashley was also staring at Cooper, her mouth ajar in horrified embarrassment, but Nina’s reaction confirmed what Cooper had suspected. The family knew about Hector’s illicit activities. Did that knowledge now endanger them? She sensed it did.
“I’m begging you, Mrs. Gutierrez,” Cooper whispered plaintively. “Help me prevent Albion Ivan from hurting another boy.” She used the word “boy” deliberately.
It seemed as though time slowed to a crawl as Maria made up her mind. Nina’s husband squeezed between the two sisters in order to fetch more items from inside the townhouse. As soon as he passed them by, the women instantly reclaimed their positions, standing shoulder to shoulder as though guarding the abode against invaders.
“Go ahead, Ashley,” Cooper said loud enough for the other women to hear. “Ivan might be coming after me, too, so I’ve got to stay.”
Ashley opened her mouth to protest, but seeing the steely determination in her sister’s face, nodded, and turned away with an apologetic smile for Maria.
Cooper took a step forward. Maria’s reluctance to talk, her sudden decision to move, and the panic written in her eyes confirmed Cooper’s suspicion that the older woman had withheld information from the police. “Other boys will be killed. You know this is true. Don’t walk away from them.” Cooper kept her voice as gentle as she could, despite the urgency she felt. “Please. Just tell me what you know so I can do something to stop him.”
Maria looked at the ground, her face contorted as different emotions—fear, anguish, and anger—manipulated her features.
“Do you want more mothers to know your grief?” Cooper asked, allowing her own anxiety to show. “To be in agony?”
Covering her face with her hands, Maria began to cry. Nina instantly advanced on Cooper and pointed at her. “Have you no shame? Go away from here!”
“No!” Maria called out, her voice cracking. She spoke quickly to her sister in Spanish and then vanished into the house. As no one had invited Cooper inside, she waited out in the cold, hugging herself against the air and the sharpness of her own words. After a few minutes she sat down on the edge of the curb, her back turned toward the Gutierrez house.
Maria joined her there, coatless and shivering. Her eyes were raw from crying and her nose red from being rubbed over and over again with a tissue. She handed Cooper a photograph. “This is my son. I came to this country for Hector, so that he would have chances I never had. I was a single mother and an illegal, but I got papers and a job. Nina had immigrated before me and had become a true citizen by then. But there was never enough money.”
“What was your first job?” Cooper asked to keep the other woman talking. Maria’s answer took her by surprise.
“I was in charge of human resources at Double A Auto in Norfolk,” she said.
That’s where Miguel once worked! Cooper was stunned by the revelation. But what does the connection mean?
Maria touched the picture of her son, tracing the curve of his face with her fingertip. “I had nothing when I got that job, but both Nina and