Delia's Gift

  “Are you accusing her of selling drugs to Sophia Dallas?”

  “You know we’re not,” Lieutenant Danbury said. “We’re trying to find out who did, however.”

  “So, why don’t you ask her outright if she has any definitive information about that?”

  “Do you?” Detective Boyton asked me.

  I looked at Mr. Simon. He nodded.

  “No, sir,” I said.

  “Not in the bathroom or at the party?” Lieutenant Danbury asked.

  “She’s answered you,” Mr. Simon said.

  “How did you get the drugs you used when you were pregnant?” Lieutenant Danbury asked quickly.

  Mr. Simon nodded at me.

  “I did not get any drugs then. I do not know why the hospital said I took drugs.”

  “If you’re protecting someone, you could be in just as much trouble,” Lieutenant Danbury said.

  “She knows that,” Mr. Simon said. “Anything else?”

  “This investigation will continue,” Lieutenant Danbury said. He made it sound like a threat.

  “Well, we hope so. We can’t let this sort of thing go on and on,” Mr. Simon said. Although his words should have made the two detectives happy, his tone obviously angered them.

  “Okay, that’s it for now,” Lieutenant Danbury said.

  We got up and left the room.

  “I hope you were telling the truth in there, Delia,” Mr. Simon said before we met Edward.

  “I did not see Sophia get drugs, Mr. Simon.”

  “Okay.”

  “What happened?” Edward asked, rushing over to us.

  “Nothing for now. They don’t have anything to implicate Delia on this. Maybe her friend is in trouble, but that’s not our problem.”

  “What about her other matter, Mr. Simon?” Edward asked.

  He looked at me and shook his head. “The lab report is authentic, Delia, and from what I’ve seen of the paperwork, you pretty much have made this custody matter irrevocable.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “It means I don’t think I can do much about it and would only waste your money trying. Your baby will remain with Ray Bovio, his grandfather,” Mr. Simon said. “Talk to you later, Edward,” he added, and left me feeling as if I had just been on a roller coaster.

  “Edward,” I began, but he put his finger on my lips.

  “Don’t despair,” he said. “We’re not done yet.”

  I had no idea what he meant, but I followed him out of the police station like someone clinging desperately to the last drops of water in the desert.

  16

  A New Crossing

  Before we did anything else, Edward wanted us to return to the hospital to see how his sister and his mother were doing. Despite the bad feelings between him and his sister, she was still his sister, and no matter what his mother had said and done, Tía Isabela was still his mother.

  Back in my Mexican village, Señora Porres, who would make predictions with the authority of a biblical prophet, often said, “Vale más una gota de sangre que un arroba de amistad.” A drop of blood is worth more than a gallon of friendship. Beware of those who seem to turn against their own brothers and sisters, she would warn. In the end, they’ll turn on you instead. Family was too strong. No matter how hard Edward might try, he couldn’t deny it, either.

  By the time we arrived at the hospital, Sophia had just been moved from intensive care to a private room. Her vital signs had stabilized. Tía Isabela was on the phone in her room when we arrived. When she saw me with Edward, her eyes widened, but she did not stop talking to whoever was on the phone. Sophia looked smaller in the hospital bed somehow and suddenly very young. I could see in her face that she had been told how close she had come to dying and had been seriously frightened.

  Tía Isabela hung up the phone and turned to us. “That was Ray Bovio,” she said, looking directly at me. “After this, if he never sees you again, it would be too soon.”

  “Now, just a minute, Mother. Before you say another word that you will regret,” Edward began, holding up his hand, “the police know that Delia had nothing to do with what happened to Sophia. In fact, if there is anyone he should think of avoiding, it might be his cousin Fani Cordova. If you told Ray Bovio anything else—”

  “I didn’t have to tell him anything,” Tía Isabela said. “Once he heard there were drugs involved, he came to his own conclusions.”

  “Which are deliberately incorrect. By now, you also know that if it weren’t for Delia, Sophia might not be alive. Mother, did you manage to get that little detail into the conversation?”

  She didn’t reply. She just turned away to look out the window.

  Edward walked to the bed and looked at Sophia. “I bet you feel like a little idiot now.”

  She turned away, but Tía Isabela turned back to us.

  “If you two have come here to gloat,” she started to warn, “you had better just walk out of here and—”

  “No, Mother. We don’t need to gloat. I’m happy you’re going to be okay, Sophia,” Edward continued. “When you grow up someday, you can thank your cousin. She remained at the hospital, concerned about you, while your so-called best friend ran off. I don’t imagine she’s been around today, either, has she?”

  Sophia looked at me and then looked away again.

  “She doesn’t need this now, Edward,” Tía Isabela said in a softer tone of voice. “Anyway, she’s already heard all of that from me. I think, or at least I hope, this has opened her eyes wider.”

  “Good. We haven’t been much of a family,” Edward said, more directly to his mother now, “but whether we like it or not, this is it. We’re the only family we have.”

  Tía Isabela raised her eyebrows with surprise. “Well, I’m glad you realize that,” she said.

  “I realize it, but that includes Delia,” he said. He turned back to Sophia. “The police will be back to see you, Sophia. I hope you will do the right thing and tell them only the truth.”

  “She will be coming home with me as soon as she is able to do so,” Tía Isabela quickly interjected. “We’re not going to remain here and deal with any police. She doesn’t remember anything. Someone obviously slipped something into her drink. It happens often at these sorts of parties. My lawyer is already handling it.”

  “Whatever story you come up with is fine, as long as it doesn’t implicate Delia,” Edward said firmly. “Otherwise, it will open up a whole other can of worms.”

  Neither Sophia nor Tía Isabela replied. Edward looked satisfied and winked at me.

  “All right, Mother, I might not see or call you for a while,” he continued. “I just wanted you both to know that we’re happy Sophia is going to be all right. Let’s go,” he said to me, and turned toward the door.

  “What do you mean, you might not see us for a while? Where are you going?” Tía Isabela asked.

  “We’re going to do what we have to do,” he replied. “Let’s leave it at that.”

  “I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, Edward.”

  “It’s better you don’t,” he replied.

  I had no idea what he meant, either, but I was afraid to say another word. I nodded at Tía Isabela and at Sophia and quickly followed Edward out of the room. He was walking quickly down the hallway.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “To get your baby back,” he said.

  “But you heard what Mr. Simon said. How will we do that?” I asked when we stepped into the elevator.

  “You’ll tell me,” he replied.

  “Me?”

  “Yes, you, Delia, but I have a few things to arrange first for afterward.”

  We went from the hospital to a bank and from the bank to a brokerage house, where my recently acquired portfolio was being held. Edward helped me make arrangements to get to my money whenever and wherever I wanted. He thought it wise for me to carry a considerable sum of money as well, so we withdrew nearly four thousand dolla
rs. He said he wanted everything as far away from Señor Bovio’s control as possible as quickly as possible. After all of that, we had lunch and talked.

  “As you can see from the way my mother gets things done, what’s just and right is often forgotten, so don’t think anything will change for you in that regard, Delia. What I think should be done is the only thing to do now.”

  “I’m frightened, Edward,” I told him, “and not just for myself. I’m frightened for you as well. The more you have to do with me, the more trouble you get into, especially if we do what you are suggesting.”

  “You’re doing me a favor by letting me help you,” he replied. “I haven’t done anything I consider worthwhile in my life for some time. In fact, this might be the very first thing.”

  “Are you really sure we should do this, Edward?”

  “Do you want your baby to be with you?”

  “Con todo mi corazón. With all my heart,” I replied.

  “Then it’s settled,” he said, slapping his palm on the table. “Let’s go.”

  Despite his confidence and determination, I couldn’t stop the trembling inside me. We drove back to Fani’s apartment so I could get my things and my car. Edward thought we should use my car, since it was bigger than his sports car. Fani came to the door as soon as we stepped off the elevator and started down the hallway.

  “Where have you been?” she asked. She looked at Edward. “What’s going on?”

  “Sophia’s doing better. Thanks for asking,” he replied dryly.

  “I know how she’s doing. I called the hospital. What are you doing?” she asked me.

  “I’ve got to get my things,” I said.

  “Why?”

  I didn’t answer. I hurried into the bedroom and quickly took off the clothes she had bought for me. I changed into my own clothes, closed my suitcases, and came out. She and Edward were still standing near the doorway.

  “Thanks for not saying anything that would get me into trouble,” she told me. To Edward, she said, “Thanks for advising me to get an attorney, too.”

  “Then you did give my sister the drugs?” Edward asked, pouncing quickly like a prosecutor in a courtroom.

  “I didn’t give her anything, Edward. She took what she wanted while I was doing something for Delia in the bathroom. What happened afterward was not my fault, either. I’m not and never have been your sister’s keeper.”

  “We’ll discuss all of this some other time,” he said, taking my suitcases.

  “Are you moving in with him already?” she asked me. “Because I’m not chasing you out.”

  “What she does now isn’t really your business, Fani.”

  “Oh, really? You’re both sick,” she said angrily. “You probably do belong together.”

  “We know we don’t belong here with you,” he retorted, nodded to me, and started out.

  “You’re making a mistake, Delia,” Fani said.

  “I’ve made so many. One more won’t matter,” I told her.

  “I’m the best friend you could have. The best friend you ever will have!” she shouted after me as soon as I walked out. Edward gazed back at her, and she shut the door.

  “I’ve never trusted Fani,” he said. “She lives in another dimension.”

  When we stepped into the elevator, I told him I couldn’t help feeling sorry for Fani because of what was going on between her parents.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, and I told him what she had confided in me.

  “So, she had you believing she was telling you a big family secret, is that it?”

  “Yes.”

  He didn’t say any more until we had put my suitcases in the trunk of my car.

  “Now, let me tell you something about the Cordovas that’s not such a big family secret. Her father has had a mistress for years and years. Everyone knows it. She knows it. She made all that up about his being gay,” he said. He looked up at her apartment window. “Maybe not just to get your sympathy. Maybe it was how she could live with it.” He shook his head. “This whole world is one big soap opera. Let’s get out of here, Delia. While we still can.”

  He drove, and I sat shivering with my thoughts, feeling like someone who had just come through an icy rainstorm but was not heading toward sunshine. There was quite a bit more thunder and lightning looming ahead. Sunshine was still a distant dream.

  We fell into heavy traffic as we started back toward Palm Springs. It was stop-and-go for miles and miles. Finally, Edward decided we should pull off to have some dinner and wait it out.

  “We don’t want to get there too soon, anyway,” he said. “There’s no point in rushing.”

  I was too nervous to have any sort of appetite, but I ate to pass the time. He could see how tense I was and reached across the table to put his hand on mine.

  “It’s going to be all right, Delia. We can do this. Besides, there is clearly no other way,” he stressed.

  I smiled. At least, I would pretend to be brave.

  Afterward, the traffic did lighten up. We made better time and went directly to his home. Of course, Tía Isabela was still in Los Angeles. He gathered up what he said we would need. He had black clothing for me to wear. I rolled up the bottoms of the pants and tightened the belt around my waist. He decided we should put black shoe polish on our faces.

  “After all,” he told me, “we’re going behind enemy lines.”

  Later, in the wee hours of the morning, we drove to the Indian Canyons, parked my car where it would be unnoticeable, and began our trek through the canyon, where I had explained we could approach Señor Bovio’s estate and enter undetected. As we walked over the desert floor, we heard the coyotes moving and howling in packs just to our right. The stars were so bright in the dry desert atmosphere, the terrain so stark, only sparsely peppered here and there with cactus or brush, that it was truly like walking on the moon.

  I couldn’t help but be reminded of my flight with Ignacio through the desert into Mexico. The terrain was just as barren but far more dangerous because of bandits and the border patrol. Our walk now was also miles and miles shorter, although it was no walk in the park. Edward estimated it was close to two miles. I thought we could do this to reach the estate, but to come back in flight and with an infant might be significantly more difficult.

  It took us almost an hour and a half to reach the point where we could see the Bovio estate ahead of us. The walking was not easy because of the rocks and small hills. We had stopped four times to drink some water and rest. Both of us were keenly aware of the danger we’d face if we disturbed a rattlesnake, too.

  And after all, the most difficult part lay ahead. We couldn’t afford to be tired or careless. Now that I could see the hacienda, I had real doubts that we could succeed. It looked too formidable.

  “We won’t be able to do this,” I said. “I don’t know why I even suggested it. I was simply fantasizing, Edward.”

  “Sure, we will be able to do it. You’ve got to think positive, Delia. Remember, I once asked you if there was anything you wouldn’t do, and you said no.”

  “I know, but…”

  “We can do it,” Edward insisted. He squeezed my hand gently. “We can.”

  I took a deep breath and nodded.

  “Okay, Edward.”

  We walked on.

  As we approached the eastern boundary of the property, I saw that there was a light on in the small trailer in which Gerry Sommer lived. It was right near the stable. From the way the light and shadows played on the window, we could see that he was watching television. I had told Edward who he was and what duties he performed for Señor Bovio.

  “That guy either stays up late or fell asleep in front of his television,” Edward whispered.

  We moved as quietly as we could, but Amigo either heard or sensed me. I heard him neigh, and then I heard the sound of his hooves against the walls of his stall in the barn. We both froze.

  Then a large beam of light fell over us. I gasped and turned to see
Gerry Sommer standing there with his large flashlight.

  “Delia?” he asked. “Is that you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who’s that with you?”

  “My cousin Edward,” I said as he drew closer to us.

  He paused and stared. “What’s with the blackened faces?” Before either of us could reply, he continued. “Teresa told me you were told to leave the house and property,” he said, “and leave your baby behind.”

  “Look,” Edward began, “we—”

  Gerry Sommer put up his hand before Edward could try to explain anything and turned back to me.

  “You walked through the canyon to get here?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Sounds like Amigo knows you’re here.” He nodded and looked toward the hacienda. “Well, it’s a nice night for a walk.”

  He turned off his flashlight and started back to his trailer.

  “You think he’s going to call security?” Edward asked.

  “No. Amigo wouldn’t let him,” I said.

  “Who?”

  I smiled and shook my head. We walked on toward the hacienda. I remembered that the rear door into the pantry was never locked. Locking up the hacienda was never a major concern because of the security at the gate and the walls around three-quarters of the property. I hesitated at the door, half hoping it had been locked and we couldn’t get into the house.

  “We can do this,” Edward whispered, seeing my hesitation. “We can.”

  I took a deep breath and turned the handle. The door was not locked. We slipped in quietly and closed the door softly. I led him through the pantry, through the kitchen, and down the hallway toward the stairway. As usual, there was some dim lighting throughout. We paused when we faced the stairway and listened. The house was very quiet.

  Edward looked at me, because I stopped moving. I was frozen with fear.

  “Go on, Delia. We can do this,” he whispered.

  I started for the stairway. We climbed so slowly that it gave me the feeling the stairway was growing longer with every step we took. When we reached the top, we stopped to listen again. I had already explained where Mrs. Newell slept and where Adan Jr. was. Señor Bovio was all the way down the other side of the hallway.