Page 15 of Unhallowed Murder
“I told you — I’m retired. I was asked to try to keep Calacas and Spyder from killing each other. That’s the only reason I was there.”
His words smelled sour. Rancid. “Ahhh. You were doing so good, telling me the truth, and you had to go and blow it. Just a few more questions — do you know who killed Wendy Abrams?”
“I don’t think it was any of the boys.”
“Hmmm. Truth. Let’s try another. Did you intend for Calacas to kill Wendy when you told him to shut her up?”
“I didn’t tell him to donothing.”
“Another lie. When he entered the bar yesterday, you thought he’d raped herandkilled her, and weren’t happy he’d done both. You thought the rape was overkill. That tells me you have some humanity in you. Warped, but still.”
She hadn’t asked a question, and he didn’t give her an answer. Ronnie waited a few heartbeats, and said, “You haveno problems ordering someone dead, but raping them goes too far — is that it?”
He rearranged his cuffed hands and glared at her.
“That’s okay. You don’t have to answer. I find your silent response enlightening.” Ronnie stood. “Hang out a while longer, sir. I may have more questions for you once I’ve talked to the other men.”
Next up was Spyder/Ramirez, because she needed to gain as much information as possible before she confronted Calacas/Flores.
“I don’t know if anyone’s told you, but on behalf of the Sheriff’s Department, I’m sorry for your loss.”
Spyder eyed the cuffs attaching his wrists to the center of the table, and looked back up to her. “Yeah. I can see that.”
Ronnie reached in her pocket and pulled a cuff key out. “You’re right. I have questions for you, and you’ll likely be charged in the bribery scheme, but that isn’t my case.” She freed his hands and sat back in her chair. “You were read your rights during booking? You understand them?”
“Yes, and yes.”
“You and your cousin were close as children?”
He glared at her with no intention of answering further questions.
“Here’s the deal — if you want me to find out who killed Wendy, I need your help. It’s a simple question: were you and your cousin close as children?”
He rubbed his wrists. Considering. Finally, he nodded. “Yeah, but then my parents moved to Nashville, and theneighborhood kids were…” He shrugged. “You either joined the gang or you were beaten up. A lot. It was a different world. I guess I grew up one way and she grew up another.”
Asking an easy question first was designed to get him talking. Would he answer a more difficult one? “Tigre assumed Calacas killed her, but he says she was alive when he left her, and I believe him. Who else might’ve wanted Wendy dead?”
He shook his head. “Had to be Calacas. No one else even knew about her.”
“Not even Tigre?”
“He knows everything, but no one else.”
“Her mother says the two of you spent some time together after you moved back to town.”
“My uncle on my dad’s side said I could move in with him when I got out. Once I got an apartment, my PO said I’d get bonus points if I spent time with family, so I contacted Wendy and her mom, and they had me over for dinner a few times. Wendy paid me to help her paint her house, and we talked while we worked. After that, we hung out and watched movies some. She cooked for me — good food.”
His emotions got the better of him and he looked down. Ronnie had a hard time feeling sorry for him. He might not’ve pulled the trigger, but she was dead because of him.
“Did she have a boyfriend?”
“Yeah. Mickey, like the mouse. He works in the passport office at the post office. They hadn’t been datinglong, but they’ve been friends a while. She met him at church.”
“Okay, that’s helpful, Kevin. Next, I need to know if you called her with the bribe, or if your buddy Calacas made the call.”
“I ain’t a rat.”
“He raped Wendy in....” Ronnie flicked her tablet on and paged through the files to her notes. “I bent her over her goddamned bed, fucked both her holes, and warned there’d be fuckloads of mothahfuckers workin’ them holes if she gabbed to the smurfs again.”
