Rogelio groaned and moaned and screamed. In the end he wept and talked. As I’d predicted, it was a threat to Rogelio’s handsome face that broke him.
Eli told him he was going to make all Rogelio’s teeth fall out, and his hair, too. “And every hair will hurt as it detaches from your scalp,” my “husband” promised. “Every tooth will ache and bleed.”
Since Rogelio was already aching and bleeding from a few points on his body, he could appreciate what was in store.
The next time Eli said “Who hired you?” Rogelio began talking.
“The lamb people,” he said. “I don’t know how they got my name, but after Jake took the job of guarding the crate, I got a visitor at my house.”
I didn’t know where Rogelio’s house was, but I assumed it was easier to get to than Segundo Mexia.
“What did your visitor tell you to do?” Eli sat back on his haunches, sweat trickling down his face and plastering a stray strand of hair to his cheek. It was hot, even under the trees, and the bugs and birds were making a ruckus. The country is not quiet, especially farm country.
“He told me that during the journey, someone would try to take the crate, and I should do everything I could to help it happen.” Rogelio was crying, tears and sweat blending on his cheeks in a salty wash.
I nodded at Eli to let him know this was true. I had suspected Rogelio had pretended to be hit worse than he was during the train wreck attack. And he hadn’t gotten in a shot in the earlier attempt, with the two men who’d charged into the car.
“What was the man’s name?” Eli said.
“He didn’t give me one. He wore one of those pins.”
“What did he look like?”
Rogelio’s nose was so runny by now that he had to snort for a moment before he could speak. “He was all dressed up. Good clothes and shoes. He looked rich. Maybe fifty years old.”
“He was on the train, wasn’t he?” It was the first time I’d spoken since we’d left the car.
Eli looked startled, like he’d forgotten I was there.
“Yes, he sat close to the doors.” It was hard to understand Rogelio, because blood and snot were bubbling out of his nose.
“I didn’t see him after the wreck. What did he do?” I bent closer.
“He left the cabin just before.” Rogelio gasped desperately because all the fluids were choking him.
Our enemy had been so close. I could have killed him, if only Rogelio had spoken up. Rogelio himself could have shot the man when he’d come to Rogelio’s house, and been true to his crew. I lost all sympathy for Rogelio in that moment. He’d sold us out. He’d let us be shot, would have let us die, for money. I didn’t understand it.
My eyes met Eli’s for a moment. We were of one mind on the subject of Rogelio. Then Eli looked back at his prey. He asked, “How were you supposed to contact him here?”
“He said he would find me in Sally. That’s why I’ve been out in the streets and cafés so much.”
“You idiot,” Eli said. “Mr. Well Dressed thought you would die too. He never planned to meet you after the wreck. He was sure the gunnies he sent in would kill you.”
Rogelio looked kind of confused and a little shocked, and then Eli snatched his life out of him.
I said some things in my head that people didn’t say out loud very much, and I felt a rush of relief that this episode was over.
Then, since Rogelio had fallen silent forever, I heard a car coming.
There was a good chance it would pass by; our car couldn’t be seen from the road, at least at a quick glance. But I had a bad feeling, maybe because I was half-grigori, maybe just from being cautious.
“We got to get him out of sight,” I said, and when I used that tone Eli didn’t ask any questions. “Open the trunk.” Together we dragged the body over to the car and tossed it inside the trunk, snapping the lid shut.
I looked around at the trampled ground, the marks of Rogelio’s boots, the drops of blood.
“Lie down right there,” Eli said, pointing to the most marked area. Since he was using that voice too, I did so, though I had a twinge of distaste because that meant the damn skirt would suffer even more. Eli was beside me on the ground the next instant. He kissed me like he wanted to compress about ten kisses into one. Not what I had expected at all.
I heard a car door slam, distantly, and then a man cleared his throat. “Excuse me,” he said apologetically. He also sounded a little amused.
I blinked to clear my vision. Standing a few feet away was a man I’d never seen before—but I’d heard his voice. This was Jerry Fielder’s neighbor, surely, the one so upset about Willa May hitting his mama. The older man with him was the sheriff; I remembered him from the site of the train wreck.
Eli rose from the ground and gave me a hand up. “Gentlemen, good day,” he said. He didn’t explain or apologize in return. No law against having sex with your wife in a secluded spot, right?
I kept my eyes cast down as if I was embarrassed, but I was scanning the ground for any sign we’d just killed someone. We’d done a good job of muddling things up. Maybe we were okay.
“We just spotted your car parked back here, and wondered what business anyone would have behind this old place,” the sheriff said. At least he was being straightforward.
Eli looked doubtful. “Have we done something against the law?”
“No, of course not,” the neighbor said. “I met you at the Fielders’, remember?”
“Norman Moultry,” Eli said, breaking out in a smile. “This is my wife, Lizbeth.”
“Mrs. Savarov,” Norman said, nodding in my direction.
“How is your mother?” Eli sounded genuinely concerned.
Norman said, “She’s well, thank you. Doesn’t remember a thing about the incident. And Willa May never showed back up at our house. We got to find us someone else to watch Mama.”
“I hope you find someone more to your liking.”
Though I made myself look agreeable, I didn’t like the way the sheriff was looking at us. I could see he was doubtful about our story. Maybe he didn’t know why he was suspicious, maybe he thought this was a real odd place to be overcome with passion.
“Are you all just out riding today?” I aimed to sound a little amazed, because truly, unless you needed to torture someone in a quiet place, why would you ride out this way in the heat in the middle of the day?
The sheriff said, “No, ma’am, we’re on our way to Bergen to court. Mr. Moultry here is a lawyer, and I have to testify, so we’re sharing a car.”
That was a lie. Eli squeezed my arm a little to let me know he thought so too. They’d been tracking us somehow. Maybe someone at the hotel had seen us driving out of town, but after we’d gotten Rogelio into the car. They hadn’t asked about him, and I was fairly sure they didn’t know he’d been with us. I could only be glad they hadn’t gotten here twenty minutes earlier.
I would have had to kill them, too. Three bodies to dispose of was a lot.
“Well, honey, shall we go back to town?” Eli was smiling down at me fondly.
“Sure, let’s get some ice cream.” I smiled up at him. I was calculating who I’d have to kill first. The sheriff had a gun. I’d go for him with my knife. Eli could handle Norman Moultry, who looked like he wasn’t used to quick action of any kind.