Chapter 13
13
T he following day, Camila and Alejandro drove to the ME’s office to meet Melissa. She had called to let them know she talked to the detective on the drive up, and he explained she could go in to identify her brother.
On the ride there, the Honda seemed especially small. All Camila could think about was the almost-kiss between her and Alejandro the night before. He had been aroused. Very aroused. The impression of his hard-on was branded into her hand, and he was huge .
Getting ready this morning had been awkward as they moved around the kitchen, both of them careful not to touch. Which was almost impossible because of his size. A man almost six foot three with broad shoulders took up a lot of space. The air around them had been strained—which reminded her of how she had felt when he stayed with her after her mother’s funeral.
An underlying… tension emerged between them during those two weeks, though neither of them acknowledged it. The feeling was so powerful, she almost suffocated. She hadn’t wanted him to go but was happy when he left so she could breathe again.
The feeling had returned. Stronger. More powerful. A hand covering her nose and mouth.
She didn’t know how to explain why she had reacted the way she did, except to say the sexual tension between them had been unexpected, and despite wanting him, fear held her back.
Fear of what he would do when he learned the truth—that she wasn’t sweet and perfect like he believed. Because she was the reason Emilio was dead.
Staring out the window, she clenched her hands in her lap, swallowing hard at the painful memory and vowing to stifle her emotions. To pretend. Pretend nothing had changed and the more than twenty years of pent-up feelings didn’t exist. Otherwise, she would lose her mind.
Alejandro parked the car in the shade of a tree at the end of the lot and stepped out holding Poodle in his arms. As if he wasn’t already sexy, seeing him holding the pup made him even more so. Why was it that big, brawny men holding small animals was so attractive?
Melissa approached them, a small woman with wiry blonde hair that barely touched her shoulders. As a testament to the toughness of life on the street, she looked at least ten years younger than her brother, though she was the elder sibling.
Her eyes were dry but red-rimmed, as if she’d cried on her way there, but she smiled when she saw the dog. “Is that Poodle?” she cooed.
“This is her,” Camila confirmed.
While Melissa scratched behind the terrier’s ear, the dog remained nestled in Alejandro’s beefy arms, thoroughly satisfied by all the attention she was receiving.
Finally, Melissa took a deep breath and placed an obviously forced smile on her lips. “You must be Alejandro,” she said.
“I am. Nice to meet you.”
“How are you holding up?” Camila asked.
“I’m here,” Melissa replied.
Camila placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Alejandro’s going to wait here with Poodle while you and I go inside to see the body. Ready?”
“Ready,” Melissa answered, barely above a whisper.
Camila took her hand, and they entered the building together. Although she barely knew the other woman, she felt close to her because they had lost Doug in such an unexpected way.
Inside, they met Vicky, the coroner’s assistant. Tall, with her black hair held back by a colorful scarf, she warned them about the condition of Doug’s appearance. Despite the warning, Camila quietly gasped when she saw the right side of his face blown off. Melissa put a hand over her mouth and whimpered, tears filling her eyes.
Camila had been hoping for a miracle, but… no doubt about it—that was Doug lying on the cold metal table.
After their confirmation, Vicky rolled the sheet over his face again, and Melissa excused herself to rush from the room. Though disturbed by what she had seen, Camila didn’t leave right away.
“Did you say the medical examiner decided this was suicide?” she asked.
“Yes, he was shot in the side of the head, as you can see.”
“I’m sorry, but there’s no way he killed himself. Holding a gun to the right side of his head would be impossible for Doug. He had an old army injury, which made it impossible for him to lift his hand higher than a forty-five degree angle. He couldn’t have shot himself.”
Frowning, Vicky looked down at her paperwork. “I’m sorry, but that’s what Dr. Stenner determined.” She looked up again.
“Is there any way I can talk to him?”
“I suppose so. He’ll be here tomorrow. You can call and make an appointment.”
“If he could see me first thing in the morning, I’d appreciate it.”
She smiled. “I’ll let him know you’ll be here when the office opens.”
“Thank you.”
Camila exited the room and found Melissa in the bathroom.
“That was… horrible,” Melissa said.
“Way worse than I expected,” Camila agreed.
Melissa sniffled. “Thank you for coming with me. I couldn’t have done it alone.” Melissa dabbed her nose with tissue.
Camila slipped an arm around her shoulders. “You don’t have to thank me. I was happy to do it. Doug was a friend of mine, and I can’t believe he’s gone.”
“Me either.”
They walked slowly toward the front of the building. As they strolled into the sunshine, Melissa squinted and cleared her throat. “You brought his things with you?”
“They’re in the trunk.”
They returned to where Alejandro was leaning against the car with Poodle in his arms. He looked like an advertisement for a fireman’s calendar—holding an adorable dog, with his tattooed arms exposed by the cut-off sleeves of a close-fitting T-shirt.
“She’s ready to take his things. Would you pop the trunk?” Camila asked, not quite able to meet his gaze.
Alejandro moved Doug’s belongings into Melissa’s rental while she held the dog in her arms. She licked Melissa’s chin, and she laughed.
“You know, I’ve never been much of a pet person, but Poodle might force me to make an exception.”
“She’s a well-behaved dog,” Camila said.
“Doug chose well.”
“Yes, he did,” Camila agreed.
When Alejandro finished transferring Doug’s possessions, Camila turned to Melissa. “Next stop is Heart & Mind. I notified the manager and she’s expecting us. She said she’ll let you take whatever is in Doug’s locker.”
“I’m ready.”
“You can follow behind us, but here’s the address just in case.” She handed Melissa a slip of paper.
“Got it. I’ll meet you there.” Holding on to Poodle, she walked to her car.
Camila and Alejandro climbed in their vehicle and pulled out of the lot.
“How is she?” Alejandro asked.
“She took it hard,” Camila answered, explaining Doug’s appearance and how Melissa had rushed to the bathroom. “Something’s not adding up though. Doug was shot on the right side of his face, but there’s no way he could have committed suicide in that way.” She explained about his injury.
“Which means what you suspected is true. He didn’t kill himself.”
“I’m one hundred percent certain now, and I told the coroner’s assistant I’d like to speak to Dr. Stenner in the morning. He wasn’t there today.” She paused, thinking. “If Doug didn’t kill himself, why does someone want people to think he did?” Camila asked.
“The million dollar question. Are you going to tell Melissa?”
She gnawed her bottom lip. “I haven’t decided yet. Not now, anyway. Not until after I talk to Dr. Stenner.”
They both fell silent and didn’t speak much for the rest of the ride over, except for her to give directions to Heart & Mind. Seconds after they arrived, Melissa pulled up behind them.
“Be right back.” Camila hopped out of the vehicle.
She and Melissa went inside, leaving Poodle with Alejandro again. Right away, Camila saw MacKenzie, the manager of the nonprofit.
“Camila! How are you?” She had a bunch of mail in her arms, her brunette hair in a sleek ponytail.
“Hi, how’s it going? This is Doug’s sister, Melissa. Melissa, this is MacKenzie. She runs this place.”
MacKenzie’s eyes softened. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” Melissa said gratefully.
“Doug was a good guy. We once had someone come in here acting crazy, yelling, and carrying on. Doug calmed him down and made sure he knew he needed to respect us and the work we do. Makes sense since he used to be military police. He’ll be missed.”
“I want to hear all the stories about my brother. Sounds like he was exactly the same as when we were kids—always looking out for everyone else.”
“He definitely was. Let me get the key.”
MacKenzie left them standing in the lobby and returned moments later.
“Rhonda said he’s only had this locker for about a week. Is that right?” Camila asked.
“That’s right. He came in last week, after he’d scraped up the money to pay for the space. He said he had something valuable he wanted to keep in there. This is the key. His locker is all the way down at the end, at the top.”
“Thanks, MacKenzie.”
“Not a problem. I know you and Doug were close. You’re doing great work, Camila.”
“I try. We’ll bring back the key as soon as we’re finished.”
“Hand it to Aaron when you’re finished if you don’t see me. I have some work to do in the back.”
“Will do.”
Camila and Melissa went in the direction of the lockers, which were all located in a room off from the lobby. The room was dark, but when they entered, the lights flickered on.
Following MacKenzie’s instructions, they walked to the end. Camila handed over the key, and Melissa inserted it into the lock. With a right twist and a pull, the door opened.
Looking over the other woman’s shoulder, Camila saw a slightly dirty white 9 X 12 envelope and a stack of papers.
“Doesn’t look like much,” Melissa remarked, taking everything out. “Oh, this is weird.”
The papers appeared to have been shredded then taped back together.
“These are from the clinic.” Camila pointed to the name at the top—Community Care Center.
“Why would he have shredded documents from the clinic?” Melissa asked.
“Don’t know. Mind if I take a look at them?”
“No, go right ahead.” Melissa handed her the documents and made her way out the locker room. When they didn’t see MacKenzie, she handed the key to Aaron as instructed and then left.
Alejandro’s eyes followed them as they approached. “What did you find?” he asked.
“Files from Community Care Center, Dr. Shapiro’s clinic.”
Melissa tore open the envelope and pulled out a stack of photos. “Huh. Doug had a camera?”
“I bought him a disposable one because he wanted to take photos of Vegas and his friends before he left for California,” Camila said.
They flipped through the images. Mostly they were of other homeless people, like Rhonda and Sam. There were photos of Las Vegas at various times during the day, including at night, and a couple of shots of Camila and Doug.
“You should keep one of these.” Melissa handed her one of the photos.
“Thank you.”
Suddenly, Melissa stopped. “Do you know who this is?”
Camila peered at the photo in shock. What the hell? “That’s Dr. Shapiro and Javier Reyes,” she said slowly.
“Since you know them, you can have these. There are three photos of both men.”
Melissa handed them over, and Camila examined the pictures. Reyes’s limo was parked in front of the clinic at night, and both men stood outside near the door, in what looked like a heated conversation. In one of the photos, Reyes had jabbed his finger in Dr. Shapiro’s chest.
Melissa lifted Poodle from Alejandro’s arms. “I guess that’s it for me. I have to make arrangements for Doug’s body to be transported to California. Then I’m headed home.”
Camila squeezed her arm. “I’ll check on you in a few days. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call.”
“You do the same. If not for you, I wouldn’t have found my brother. Although he passed before we could reestablish our relationship in person, I’m forever indebted to you.”
Both women hugged, and Camila petted Poodle’s head one more time before Melissa said goodbye to her and Alejandro and climbed into her rental.
After she had driven off, Camila turned to Alejandro. “What do you make of these photos?” She showed him the three of Shapiro and Reyes.
He frowned down at the images. “Looks like they’re having an interesting conversation.”
“Yes, it does. I don’t understand any of this. Everybody loves Dr. Shapiro. Why would he be involved with a scumbag like Reyes? What are they arguing about, and could these pictures be why Doug is dead?”
“It’s possible.”
Camila held up the papers in her hand. “We need to examine these documents. I only briefly reviewed them, but I think these, along with the photos, are why Doug called me.”
“Reyes must have known he called you. Maybe he also knew he had these files or took the photos—or both. Do you know if the police found the prepaid phone Doug’s sister bought for him?”
Camila shook her head. “I don’t know, and I didn’t think to ask Detective Slater, but I can find out tomorrow. I can give him a call or reach out to a source I have in the police department.”
“Contact your friend. I’m not convinced you can trust the detective.”
He was probably right.
“What’s going on here, Alejandro?”
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, I have no doubt Reyes is willing to kill to keep the secret.”