Chapter 11
11
B ack at the house, Alejandro sat on the sofa, phone to his ear, while Camila dialed the number for Doug’s sister. This was going to be a tough conversation, and she understood how Doug’s sister was about to feel because she’d had similar painful conversations in recent years.
Almost four years ago she found out her husband had been in a fatal accident. The following year she received the call that her father had died from complications with leukemia. A couple of years later, her mother passed away from heart failure. She took hit after hit, each call changing her life forever. She’d been hurt, disillusioned, and numb for weeks. Now she would be the one relaying information that would destroy another person.
She could imagine the disappointment and devastation Melissa would experience—finding her brother after all these years—only to lose him before they could meet.
At Melissa’s cheery greeting, Camila almost wished she hadn’t picked up the phone so she’d have more time to think of what to say, but she couldn’t delay. Detective Slater would be calling in the morning.
“Hi, Melissa,” Camila said, much more subdued.
“Hey there! What’s up? If you’ve called to tell me my brother has changed his mind, tell him that he can’t weasel out of our reunion. I’ve told the whole family, and we’re planning a big welcome home party for him.” She laughed, as if she’d told the best joke, certain there was no way Doug would cancel when he was about to be reunited with his family.
“Melissa, I need you to sit down. I have some bad news,” Camila said, her voice quivering. She folded her feet under her in the armchair, her eyes resting on Alejandro as he spoke quietly to his boss to let him know he would remain in Vegas for longer than expected.
“Wait a minute, I was kidding. He hasn’t changed his mind about moving in with me, has he? Is that why he hasn’t returned my calls?”
“No, that’s not why,” Camila said gently. “Melissa, I don’t know any other way to say this, but… Doug passed away. The police found his body.”
Silence filled the line, and Camila hesitated to break it by speaking.
“Are you sure? Did you see his body?” Melissa asked in a strained voice.
“No, but the detective on the scene confirmed the birthmark on his arm.”
“No.” Her voice cracked on the word. “I don’t understand. What happened?”
Hearing Melissa’s pain caused grief to tighten her throat. “He was shot, and the police think it was self-inflicted,” Camila replied in a low voice.
“They think he killed himself? That doesn’t make any sense. How would he get a gun?”
“It doesn’t make sense to me, either. The medical examiner has the final word, but that’s what was suggested when I was at the scene.”
“No. No. I don’t believe he would kill himself. We just found each other again. I was coming to pick him up. I’ll be there tomorrow. We talked about this. We talked about this. We talked about this , Camila.”
Her voice ended on a heartrending wail. Then she quietly sobbed into the phone. Camila remained quiet, giving her space to express her grief. Her own eyes filled with tears, and when she glanced up, Alejandro was looking at her.
Melissa sniffled. “I’m sorry. This is so unexpected. I was happy we had found each other, and now he’s gone. Foolish man. Do you know, the last time we talked, he mentioned giving me money because he didn’t want to be a burden? I laughed it off, because how could my own flesh and blood be a burden? And where would he get money from? But now… do you think he was mixed up in something and didn’t want to tell me?”
“If he was, I don’t know anything about it.”
“Why did this have to happen!” Melissa cried out. She sniffed again. “I’m sorry. I’m just… I don’t know what to do right now.”
“I understand your grief. I was excited for your reunion.”
Melissa sighed. “What now?”
“I can pick up his stuff and have them ready for you tomorrow,” Camila offered. “He also had a dog. He named her Poodle.”
“He told me about Poodle. I’d love to have her.”
“I’ll get Poodle and his belongings for you today.”
“Thank you.” Melissa sighed heavily again. “I guess… I guess I’ll have a different reason for being there tomorrow. I’ll have to make arrangements for his body to be shipped back to California.”
“The police will need you to identify the body. The lead detective, Detective Slater, is going to call you first thing in the morning.”
“Would you come with me to the morgue? I don’t think I can handle seeing him on my own.”
“Of course, I’ll come with you. Anything you need, let me know.”
“Thank you, Camila, for everything. My brother’s gone, but I’m glad we had the chance to talk to each other and get to know each other again. I guess he won’t need the spare room after all.” Her voice trembled and dimmed at the end.
They spoke for a few more minutes, finalizing the plans for the next day, and then Camila hung up.
“Are you okay?” Alejandro asked.
She shook her head. “I feel terrible for her. This was the first time I’ve used my connections to reunite family members, and it turned out horribly.”
Alejandro came over and dropped to his haunches before her. “You did a good thing. You helped them find each other, and your work with other people in his situation is commendable. You do not have to volunteer at the shelter and shine a spotlight on these people, but you do, and I’m sure there are plenty of people who are appreciative of what you have done. People who never got the chance to say thank you.”
“Thanks,” Camila said softly.
He swiped away a tear hanging on her bottom lashes and splayed his fingers across her cheek. She leaned into the warmth of his touch. More than anything, she wanted to hide in his warm embrace, the same way she did when he came to visit after her mother’s death. Resting in his strong arms had done wonders for soothing the ache of yet another loss.
When she lifted her gaze, he was so close, if she leaned forward a couple of inches, their mouths would touch. His gaze dropped to her lips, and she thought for sure he’d kiss her. Time suspended. She stopped breathing, her own gaze lowering to the temptation his mouth presented.
Then Alejandro shot to his feet, and the moment came to an abrupt end. Camila swallowed her disappointment and sank deeper into the chair.
“Did she say anything that could give insight into Doug’s mind before he passed?” Alejandro asked in an oddly gruff voice. He returned to the sofa.
“Um, not really, but she did say something which surprised me. She said Doug mentioned he would give her money because he didn’t want to be a burden. I know he had a little money that he earned from collecting cans and metal, but… he didn’t have real money. Why would he say something like that to his sister?”
“Could he have money that you were not aware of?”
“Possibly, but I feel as if I would have known, and from what Melissa said, she doesn’t know where he could have gotten the funds from. Matter-of-fact, she dismissed the whole idea because she didn’t need or want his money.”
Alejandro hummed thoughtfully, his brow creasing in the way it did whenever he was in deep concentration.
“What did your boss say?” Camila asked.
“He’s fine with me staying out here a little longer.”
“Okay,” Camila said, resting her hands on her thighs. “What do we do in the meantime?”
Alejandro stood. “In the meantime, you tell me everything you know about Alvaro and Javier Reyes.”
“There’s not much to tell, other than what I’ve already told you. Javier took over when his father retired.”
“When was this?”
“About a year ago.”
“Where is his father now?” Alejandro asked.
Camila shrugged. “Last I heard, he’d moved to Singapore. No one has seen him since his son took over the casinos.”
“Is it possible that he’s dead?”
“Dead?” She laughed. “No, he?—”
Alejandro raised an eyebrow at her hesitation.
“I’m trying to figure out why Doug is dead, and now you’re throwing Alvaro’s death at me. This is nuts.”
“I have seen lots of crazy behavior in my line of work. Nothing is off the table, especially where money is involved.”
“You know, before Alvaro retired, there was a rumor that he didn’t want his son to take over his casino empire. Everyone expected Alvaro’s second in command—Patrick—to take over the businesses, but Javier was installed instead. Once he took over, he fired Patrick.”
“Has he been doing a good job?”
“So far as I know. The Celestial Palace is one of the most popular casinos on the strip, and when the other one opens after the renovations are completed, it’s expected to do well.”
“But no one expected him to be the one to take the reins of the company,” Alejandro said.
Camila shook her head.
“Something tells me that’s going to become important later on. You mentioned going to pick up Doug’s belongings for his sister?”
“Yes. I should go now.”
Alejandro went with Camila to pick up Doug’s possessions, but he hung back until she introduced him to everyone.
“Where’d they find you? Hunks R Us?” Rhonda asked.
“Rhonda,” Camila chided her.
Alejandro smiled, while the older woman laughed, a mischievous glint in her eyes that Camila had never seen before. Her behavior gave Camila a glimpse of what Rhonda’s personality must have been like when she was younger and not in her current situation.
The older woman’s smile died, and she pushed to her feet. “You heard about Doug?” she asked in her raspy voice.
Sadness came over Camila again. “Yes, I did. I guess you did too.”
“We all did.” She shook her head.
“His sister’s coming tomorrow. Do all of these belong to him?” Camila pointed to the pile of bags stuffed with clothes and other items beside Rhonda.
Rhonda nodded. “Yes. I can’t believe he’s gone, but I kept an eye on everything for him.”
“You knew him better than I did. Do you think he killed himself?” Camila asked.
“Is that what they’re saying?” Rhonda asked in a shocked voice.
“Yes.”
“Hell, no! Pardon my French. He wouldn’t have left Poodle.”
Camila bent and scratched behind the dog’s ears.
“Cops probably shot him,” Sam said, seated nearby.
“Nah, wasn’t the cops,” Rhonda said.
“Then who? Cause he sure as hell didn’t kill himself,” Sam mumbled.
“But what if he did?” Camila asked. “What if he was going through something none of us knew about?”
They all fell silent. No one had an answer but couldn’t deny the possibility.
“Do you think anyone would have wanted to hurt him?” Alejandro asked.
Rhonda and Sam looked at each other.
“I can’t think of any reason why anyone would, but you know how it is. Don’t nobody want to acknowledge us, y’know what I mean?” Sam asked. “One of us go missing and don’t nobody look for us or care. They treat us like we don’t exist. Tommy been missing for six weeks, but who’s looking for him? Not the cops. Now, putting a bullet in a man’s head seems kinda extreme, if you ask me, but folks can be real mean.”
Rhonda nodded. “Some people pick on us for kicks. Mean sons of bitches.”
In her “Invisible Lives” series, homeless interviewees had shared disturbing stories that broke Camila’s heart.
“I’ll try to come back in a few days. If you think of anything, let me know,” she said.
“We sure will. You doing okay?” Rhonda asked.
“As good as could be expected. I need a little time to process.”
Rhonda nodded. “Oh, I almost forgot. This isn’t all Doug’s stuff. He had a locker at Heart & Mind. He paid for it in the past week.”
Heart & Mind was a nonprofit that catered to the homeless. They offered a variety of services, including job training and placement, hygiene services such as showers and toiletries, transportation, and therapy sessions.
“Huh. I didn’t know he had a locker. I’ll let his sister know,” Camila said.
Alejandro and Camila picked up Doug’s belongings, including the dog, and headed to the car.
They settled the pup in the back seat and placed Doug’s belongings in the trunk.
“I’m starving. How about some dinner?” Alejandro said.
“Great idea,” Camila agreed. “I know the perfect place.”