Look For Me (Detective D.D. Warren #9)(11)

D.D. waited.

“I heard later . . . Juanita didn’t take it well. Drank harder. There was some drama. Family services was called, but I’m not sure what happened. I’d left town and Manny doesn’t remember much. But Juanita lost custody of the kids. She had to do court-ordered counseling, join AA. Then she got the kids back—”

“She lost the kids,” D.D. interrupted.

“Yes. Juanita blames me for the alcohol, for all her problems back then. Which isn’t fair. She was drinking way before she met me. But together . . . we were so loco. Apart is better for us. She is sober now, goes to AA every week. Manny says so. And me, I cleaned up my act, too. For Manny. He is my boy. Every Sunday, I pick him up and it’s our day together. Juanita and I, we might have the devil inside. But Manny . . . he is perfect. In every way. Perfecto.”

D.D. nodded. Her hand was still on Hector’s arm. Now her grip relaxed. But she kept her gaze on his face, her voice level.

“You’re saying Juanita was an alcoholic when she met you. But now she’s sober?”

“Yes.”

“What about this new guy, Charlie Boyd?”

“Mmm, they met maybe a year ago? Juanita is a nurse at St. Elizabeth’s. Charlie came in for stitches. Had cut himself on the job.”

“He’s a contractor?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like him? Get along?”

Hector shrugged. “Manny likes him. He’s helping Charlie work on this house. Fix up the place, learn some skills. I like that. Maybe Manny will become a contractor, too. Better money than bartending.”

“Sounds like Charlie spends a lot of time with your son.”

Hector stiffened, but didn’t take the bait. “Charlie doesn’t like me. Like I said, Juanita blames me for her drinking, so Charlie does, too. But I asked around. Charlie’s not so perfect either. At one time, he was a man who liked his beer. Manny, though, he says everything is good now. Charlie gave up drinking for Juanita, even goes with her to meetings sometimes. Life is calmer. Juanita . . . happier. That’s good. I loved Juanita once. She is the mother of my son. I want her to be happy.”

“And the girls?” D.D. asked. “Roxanna and Lola? Who are their fathers?”

“I don’t know. Juanita never talked about them.”

“One man? Two separate fathers?”

“Different men. But not around. I told you, Juanita was a drinker before she ever met me.”

“What can you tell us about the girls? Did they get along? Like Manny?”

“Roxanna and Lola? Yes, of course. Manny is their baby brother. They love him. Maybe spoil him. It’s not so bad that Juanita moved in with Charlie. Otherwise, poor Manny was being raised in a family of girls.”

“Roxanna is sixteen. Pretty?”

Hector shrugged. “Sure,” he said in a way D.D. took to mean he was being polite. “But, um, maybe not like her mother and sister. Juanita, muy guapa! And Lola . . . her mother’s daughter. Trouble, that one.”

In other words, D.D. thought, Roxanna was the ugly duckling of the family. Interesting. “She into boys?”

“Roxanna? No! Roxy is quiet, shy. She reads, takes her studies very seriously. When Juanita and I were living together . . . Roxy fed her siblings, got them dressed, then off to school, where there was also day care for Manny. She took very good care of them.”

“Roxy is the responsible one?”

“Yes.”

“She have a job?”

“I don’t think so.”

“She’s close to the dogs? Maybe the one who takes them for walks?”

“Blaze and Rosie? Manny loves those dogs! Charlie, he rescued them from some breeder. The kids, even before they liked Charlie, they loved his dogs. Roxy and Manny often take them for walks together. Manny says they are very good. When they were puppies, they were never allowed outside, so now they like to be on the back porch, lie in sunbeams. On walks, they trot right along; you’d never even know they were blind.”

“The dogs spend most of their time outside?”

“In good weather, yes.”

D.D. looked up at the brilliant blue sky, figured today qualified.

“And Lola?” she asked.

Hector hesitated. “Mmm. Lola is very pretty. Too pretty for thirteen. And fiery, like her mother. She doesn’t take her schooling seriously. And she definitely likes boys. Manny says she and Juanita fight. All the time. Things have not been easy lately.”

“Manny mention any particular boy his mother and sister might have been fighting about?”

“Manny’s nine. He thinks his thirteen-year-old sister is silly; he doesn’t pay much more attention than that.”

“But Manny loves his sisters and they love him?”

Hector smiled. His whole face softened, the jagged mark on his cheek becoming less menacing, more of a war wound. And D.D.’s heart broke for what she’d have to tell the big guy next.

“Those girls, they would do anything for Manny. And he loves them, too. He’s sweet, kind. Not at all like me. Can I see him now? My son?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Alvalos . . .”

“He’s at the hospital?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Alvalos . . .”

Then, she didn’t have to say the rest. He knew. From the neighbors’ reactions, the crime scene tape, the detectives who wouldn’t let him inside the home.