33. Chapter 32 #2
“ Needs to?”
“Yeah.”
“Did he say about what?” Hope asked.
“No, but he seemed really worried.”
“Can you send me his number?”
“Of course… Do you want me to tell anyone I talked to you?” Kim asked.
“No. Not yet. I’m still lying low, though I’ll probably check in with Chelsea just to let her know I’m okay.” She thought about touching base with the sheriff since he’d called a couple times, but hadn’t decided yet.
“I won’t even tell Andrew,” she whispered. “Gotta go.”
A few seconds later, her phone alerted her to an incoming text with Nestor’s phone number.
She sat on it for a moment, then headed downstairs. Hailey was sitting in the kitchen with her husband Jesse and they looked as if they were having a moment, so Hope started to step back. But Hailey waved her inside when she saw her.
“Come on in. We’re just talking. ”
Her husband’s slightly surly expression said otherwise, but then he gave her an easy smile. “I’ve got some work to get to anyway.” He kissed the top of Hailey’s head before disappearing, a pastry in hand.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“We’re good, I swear. Bradford said you’d seen everything online?”
“Sort of, yeah. I started scanning, but it’s a lot. And I learned very early in my career not to even search my name. I don’t think we need to read what strangers have to say about us.”
Hailey snickered. “Isn’t that the truth, and something I’ve learned big-time the last couple years. You hungry? Rowan cooked before everyone left. He made a bunch of mini sausages wrapped in pancakes.”
Her mouth watered at the mention of that. “Uh, yeah. I need more caffeine too. So is Berlin with them?”
“Yep. But if you need anything, I’m here too. Despite what that lunatic says, I’m just as good as her. Just…maybe not as crazy.”
“Bradford says you’re both equally good. And crazy,” she added with a laugh.
Hailey snickered. “God, I love him. And I love you two together.”
“Thank you.”
Hailey narrowed her gaze slightly at her. “Huh. Okay, then. So you kinda look like you’ve got something on your mind.”
“Maybe.” She quickly recapped her conversation with Kim, then said, “Obviously I want to be careful about meeting him, but the Nestor I remember was a good man. If he wants to meet, I don’t want to miss the opportunity.”
Hailey grabbed her laptop from the kitchen table while Hope heated up her breakfast. “I’ll do a search on him. Also, send me his cell number, I’ll see about tracking him. We’ll figure out if this is a trap or not.”
** *
Hope glanced around the quiet coffee shop, didn’t pause on Ezra, who’d arrived twenty minutes ago to get a lay of the place. She knew not to make eye contact with him or act like she knew him. They were a few towns over so she wouldn’t be recognized by anyone in King’s Creek.
Hailey was in a vehicle out back with her husband waiting so she had plenty of backup.
And…she spotted Nestor. Right where Ezra said he would be. In a back booth, sipping an espresso, a cruller mostly untouched in front of him.
Relief flooded his expression when he saw her and a rush of memories hit her all at once.
Jesus, how had she forgotten? He’d come by the farm more than a few times.
He, Kim, and a bunch of others had dropped off casseroles at least once a week.
And Kim had always given her free pie whenever she’d been in the diner, all the way up until she was eighteen and left town.
Something she’d never thought of because she’d been a kid.
“Hope,” he said with a shaky smile as she approached, sliding out of the booth. “You look so much like your mother.”
“Thank you.” She stepped into his open arms, realized she was a little taller than him and felt his tears on her neck when he hugged her.
He wiped at his face once they parted. “I’m so glad that you’re okay,” he whispered, even though there was no one nearby.
Ezra was near the front and the barista was on his phone behind the countertop near the front as well. And Nestor couldn’t know that she had a listening device on her. But he seemed…nervous maybe. Or just shaken, she couldn’t tell.
“I saw that video and…” He motioned back to the booth. “Here, sit. And eat the cruller. I’ve been too worried to eat. ”
“Mr. Rivera—”
“Oh, sweetheart, call me Nestor,” he said with a laugh.
“Okay, Nestor.” She found herself smiling, taking in his wrinkled face and sweet smile.
He still looked like the same man she’d known as a kid with a few more laugh lines, but the same kind eyes.
“I appreciate you being worried about me, but there’s obviously something more going on, isn’t there?
” Otherwise he wouldn’t have reached out to Kim to get her contact information.
“Yes.” He held on to his espresso cup tightly, the whites of his knuckles showing before he took a deep breath.
She’d learned with her job not to push people, even though that was exactly what she wanted to do right now. But that often stressed people out, made them shut down faster. So she waited. When he didn’t say anything, she nudged a little. “Want me to go grab a coffee while you gather your thoughts?”
“No, no. I was just wool-gathering. Your father…he was a complicated man.”
“I’ve been hearing that a lot lately,” she said dryly.
Which brought out a startled laugh from Nestor.
“I can imagine you have. He was a shitty father and a shitty husband to you and Grace. But he wasn’t always like that.
And he was a good neighbor. I was glad when he finally kicked his demons.
” He cleared his throat. “My mama had a problem with alcohol too.”
She was silent as he went quiet for another moment, unsure if she should respond.
But then he looked back at her, clear-eyed and worried. “Do you know who broke into your home? The men from the videos?”
“Not the men specifically, but I can guess.”
He nodded slightly, then leaned forward. “Does it have to do with one of your stories?”
She shook her head.
“Okay, okay. That’s what I figured. Like I said, your father was a complicated man. He discovered that one of his neighbors was running drugs… Heroin.”
“The Killeens?”
He nodded again, this time more fervently.
“Yes, yes. I sold my farm to Edward. I didn’t know what he was doing when I sold, I swear to you.
” He shook his head, frustration clear on his face now.
“But he made an offer I couldn’t resist. I’m too old for farming, and my family had moved away.
I missed my grandkids and… Sorry, I’m rambling, as my daughter likes to say. ”
Hope gave a faint smile. “Take your time.”
“Anyway, your dad, he started investigating and roped a couple of us old-timers into it.”
“His AA buddies?”
“Mostly, but he brought me in too. Said he needed people he could trust.”
“What about Chelsea Ortega?”
“The lawyer? No. She lost her daughter to drugs on a spring break trip in Destin. Hank said it might be too much for her to get involved. Plus…he might have done some breaking and entering and trespassing. I don’t think he wanted to involve her for legal reasons as well.
And the short of it is…he gave me some information. A flash drive and pictures mostly.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “Told me to hold on to it just in case. And then he died. I’ve been sitting on the drive trying to figure out what to do with it.
I have no idea who to talk to about this…
and then I saw that viral video. Actually, one of Hank’s AA buddies from town sent it to me.
Said he was worried ab out you and wanted me to know what was going on since we’d all been part of his investigation. ”
She nodded, pretty sure she knew where he was going with this.
Then he slid a small leather bag across the table.
“This is for you. You’re a journalist, and if I’m being honest, I’ve got kids and grandkids.
I don’t know what would happen if I turned this over to the Feds or whoever.
I don’t want to risk them getting hurt. But hopefully you’ll have the right contacts?
” He looked so hopeful in that moment that she found herself nodding.
“I do, actually. And after I look at this, I’ll figure out what to do from there.” She couldn’t make any promises until she’d seen exactly what he’d given her.
“Good, good. I… Sometimes I swear I’m being followed. I feel paranoid saying that. But some of the other farmers, the ones who used to work with Hank on all this…they say the same thing.”
“His AA friends?”
Nestor nodded, then glanced at his phone, smiled at whatever he saw on the screen. Then he showed her a picture of a smiling, chubby girl who couldn’t be more than three smashing bananas all over her face. “This is my heart right here.”
She smiled at the clear love in his voice. “I’m glad for you. And I know I never said thank you, but thank you for all you did to help my mom and me.”
He shot her a surprised look. “You were a child. You don’t need to thank me. It was my duty as your family friend and neighbor to help. More than that, I wanted to. I loved your mother,” he said simply.
And she couldn’t tell if he meant platonically or more. She definitely wasn’t going to ask either because she had way too much to handle right now. Talk about complicated .
“Well thank you anyway. We were lucky to have a neighbor like you.”
He reached out and patted her hand gently. “I’m so proud of who you’ve become. And Grace would have been proud too. In case you ever have any doubts. Now,” he said, clearing his throat, “I have to get back on the road or I’ll hit traffic back in New Orleans.”
Nodding, she slid out of the booth with him and gave him a big hug. After he’d left, she’d planned to head out front but stopped when she saw a text from Ezra.
Someone followed your friend. They planted a tracker on your car. Head out back. Hailey will pick you up.
She texted back a thumbs-up emoji, then casually ordered a drink from the barista. Once she’d paid, she asked, “Where’s your bathroom?”
He pointed. “Hallway. Your drink will be ready when you get back.”
She nodded, then left, bypassing the bathroom door and stepping out into the bright sunlight. Shielding her eyes, she started to scan the alley, but Hailey was already pulling up to the rear door.
Or Jesse, she realized, was driving, Hailey in the front seat.
Her heart rate kicked up, Hope slid into the back seat without pause. “He was followed?” she asked as she shut the door behind her.
“That’s what Ezra said. Got the guy on video too. Said he was subtle about the tracker, but not subtle enough. Ezra’s going to tail him, see what happens.”
There really was something to be said about working with a team. “What about Nestor?”
“Ezra’s going to head out, see if the guy follows Nestor. If someone else does, he’ll tail him instead.”
Relief slid through her. At least Nestor would be safe—she could only hope that Bradford was safe as well. Seeing how his team worked the last few days, she had no doubt that they all had each other’s backs.