13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter thirteen
N ick parked behind Julia’s car in her mother’s driveway. He’d followed her here from her place. She’d stopped off at the market on the way to pick up groceries. He’d waited in the car while she shopped, then he waited for her to park at the house and go inside before he approached. He wanted to catch her by surprise.
Her apartment had too many people around. If she was going to meet with her brother, it would be here. This place was out of the way and backed up to a sparsely wooded area, the three cabins out back hidden among the trees.
He climbed out of his car and headed for the porch, hearing Julia call out to her mother, “If you want something to eat, you better keep quiet.” The snap in Julia’s voice made it clear she expected that order to be followed.
Nick frowned. That was no way to talk to your mother. Then again, he hadn’t heard whatever the mother said before he got to the door.
Was she talking to someone else?
He’d find out. He knocked on the door.
Julia answered, her gaze shooting past him and searching for more agents, he guessed.
“It’s just me. Can I come in? I have a few more questions to ask you.”
She didn’t move back from the door. “How did you know I was here?”
He didn’t answer that. “I could ask your mom the questions instead of you, if you’d like.”
She pressed her lips tight and held the door open wider for him to enter.
The living space was just a couch, two chairs, a TV atop a wood cabinet, and family photos on the wall that separated the kitchen and living room.
Julia walked back to the kitchen. “I have to finish putting away the groceries.”
Nick walked to the entry between the living room and kitchen and stopped, staring down the hallway to the back bedroom, where he spotted Mrs. Lopez propped up in bed, dressed in a pair of joggers and a simple white T-shirt.
“Who are you?” she called out.
Julia went still, then called back, “He’s with the FBI. Here about Javier.”
Nick gave Mrs. Lopez an easy smile. “Have you seen your son recently?” It was a shot in the dark that she’d even answer, but worth a try.
Mrs. Lopez opened her mouth to say something, but Julia beat her to it. “Don’t say anything. Let me handle this.”
Mrs. Lopez crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not a part of this.”
Wondering what she meant, Nick turned and raised a brow at Julia.
She rolled her eyes. “She washed her hands of Javier years ago. She calls him a sinner.”
“Well, I have to agree. Which is why I’m trying to find him. To hold him accountable for all his sins. To make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else.” Nick stepped into the kitchen and noted the boxes of cereal, two gallons of milk, and frozen pizzas on the counter where Julia had unpacked them from the bags at her feet.
Mrs. Lopez had a sweet tooth with all the sugary cereal Julia had bought for her.
The giant box of taquitos probably didn’t meet Mrs. Lopez’s standards but they were fast and easy for someone who had trouble getting around. She probably couldn’t stand over a stove for very long anymore with the arthritis in her knees.
“Good luck finding him.” Julia put away the milk in the fridge.
He glanced at the counter and saw a brand-new bottle of a children’s fever medication. “Why the kid’s medicine?” His gut went tight.
“My mother doesn’t tolerate pain meds very well anymore, so I give her the low dose stuff, which means I can give it to her more often during the day to manage her pain.”
And yet when he’d looked down the hallway, he’d spotted several prescription meds on her bedside table. “Just to satisfy my curiosity, mind giving me a tour.”
“He’s not here.”
Nick waited, hoping his silence and scrutiny would get him what he wanted, just so Julia didn’t have to suffer his presence any longer.
“Fine.” She waved him off. “Go look.”
Well, that was even better. He made his way down the hall to the first room. It was set up with a sewing machine on a desk under the window with a twin bed opposite. The closet was closed. He took a peek inside. Stacks of fabric and tulle and sequin in an array of colors.
“My mother used to make quincea?era dresses before the arthritis made her hands ache too much to sew.”
There was a beautiful aqua-colored gown hanging in the closet. “Yours?”
She nodded. “From another time.”
“It’s beautiful. Your mother did exceptional work.”
Julia’s eyes went soft. “And now she can barely hold a fork to eat.”
“I’m sorry.” He meant it.
“Come.” She waved him to follow her with an exasperated expression. “Mama, the fed is going to check your room.”
Nick did it quickly, trying not to stand in front of the TV or upset Mrs. Lopez further. “You have a lovely home. The dress you made Julia is gorgeous.”
Mrs. Lopez nodded, then shooed him away with one hand, so she could finish watching the telenovela on TV.
He gave the bathroom a quick glance then walked back into the living room. “Would you mind showing me the cabins?”
She rolled her eyes again. “I need to make my mother dinner.”
“Then we better get to it so you can get it started.”
Julia flipped her long dark hair behind her back. “Ugh! Fine. Let’s go.” She went to the back door off the kitchen, grabbed a set of keys from the holder by the door, and walked out ahead of him.
When they reached the bottom of the steps, he noticed a cellar door that led under the house. It had a brand-new shiny lock.
“The old door rotted away. I had someone come and build a new one.”
“What do you keep under there?”
“Until we got the new door, rats. Sometimes squirrels and larger animals. My mother is an old woman. She wants to live in peace with a roof over her head and no rodents keeping her up at night.” Julia walked off toward the trees. “You coming?”
He didn’t have much of a choice. If she didn’t open up the cellar door, he couldn’t get in without a warrant. She was accommodating him now. And he enjoyed the walk through the trees. The first cabin wasn’t very far. He turned and looked back at the house, noting that he couldn’t see the main house. And anyone at the main house couldn’t see this cabin. Tire tracks led to the cabin as well. They weren’t fresh, but they weren’t grown over by weeds or obscured by falling leaves either.
He turned to her, noting her hands clasped in front of her, like she was nervous. She’d done it when he interviewed her at the resort as well. “Do you rent the cabins out?”
“Sometimes. It’s extra money for my mother. Mostly in the summer. I’m too busy to keep up with it all year round.” She walked up to the door and used her key to open it. The place wasn’t that big. A bedroom and bath on one side, living space with a kitchen on the other. Neat. Simple. The fireplace would be a cozy comfort on cold nights and create a warm and inviting atmosphere to relax.
He walked to the bedroom and peered inside. He noted the bookcase and small toy chest. The bookcase held board books and chapter books, a few bestselling hardcovers.
Nothing out of the ordinary or suspicious about any of it, unless you knew that Javier trafficked kids. Then a single room with a queen bed with books and toys and no other bed for a child to sleep in made things feel a little creepier.
He didn’t want to think about it, but it was his job.
“Let’s go check out the other two.”
Half an hour later, he found himself outside Mrs. Lopez’s house with a creepy-crawly feeling dancing up and down his spine.
The other two cabins had been similar to the first one. One was a single bedroom like the first, though it actually had a set of bunk beds, the bottom bed bigger than the upper bed. The third cabin had two bedrooms, both with queen beds.
Again, on the surface it appeared that they were quaint little places to rent while you fished in the nearby river, or hiked the pristine countryside. But even the most mundane setting could be used to play out disturbing deeds.
“I assume you’re satisfied.” Julia stood beside him, trying to hide her nerves, but she kept rubbing her fingers together and clasping her hands in a nervous gesture she couldn’t seem to stop since he got here.
“I’m satisfied Javier isn’t here now. But I’m not satisfied that you haven’t seen or spoken to him. I’d hate to see your mother here all alone with no one to help her if you’re lying to me, or involved in some way and I have to arrest you as an accessory.”
She squared her shoulders. “I’ve done nothing wrong. I showed you what you wanted to see. Next time, I’ll ask for that warrant instead.” With that, she stormed into the house, slamming the door.
Good. He wanted her off-balance. He wanted her scared. Then maybe she’d reach out to her brother.
He had a feeling the forensics team would find something in the hotel room or that cart she used to sneak something out of the hotel. He’d like to get them into those cabins to check things out, find things he couldn’t see.
She was up to something.
He’d find out what it was and if it had anything to do with her brother, he’d use Julia to take Javier down.