Much to his chagrin, she didn’t simply accept his polite gesture and go on her way. “That’s all you’ve got to say to me?”
He clenched his jaw. Apparently, the Dunlaps weren’t as willing to ignore him as he was them. “What else do you want?”
“Bruce says you’ll be staying with us next week. I would think you could at least greet me.”
What was his father doing? He had no plans to stay at the ranch, and he’d made that very clear. He figured this had more to do with a power play between the two of them than whether or not he was ever going to become a houseguest.
Rod hated to weaken his father’s position; Edna didn’t deserve the relief the truth would bring her. But he wasn’t about to get drawn into their games. “Fortunately, your husband’s wrong. I won’t be staying with you. Ever. Why would I want to?”
The relief he’d expected didn’t appear. “How long will you be in town?”
Physically, Patrick took after Bruce, but Stuart resembled his mother. They had the same broad, determined forehead and fathomless gray eyes. Edna had been pretty enough once. She still tanned herself and spent plenty of time doing all the things women liked to do—having her hair and nails done and whatever else. But she was already becoming a mere shadow—or maybe a caricature—of what she’d been in her glory days. Her cheeks drooped like jowls, and her chin seemed to disappear into her neck.
“If I keep my distance, what does it matter?” he asked.
“Can you really be that uncaring? You must understand how difficult it is for me and my children to have my…my husband’s…well, you know what you are, showing up all over town, inviting speculation and gossip. Ever since you arrived, I’ve had to hear about it from just about everyone I know.”
“Forgive me for not being more sensitive to your discomfort, but I’m here until I leave.” Since she didn’t have the sense to pass through the door he held open for her, he let it swing shut and walked inside. But instead of going out, she marched after him.
“He already has two sons,” she cried. “He doesn’t need you!”
Turning, Rod forced her, with a steely look, to back up. “You’re right. And I don’t need him. Or you.”
Quickly recovering her nerve, she poked a finger into his chest. “How I wish you’d never been born.”
She’d lowered her voice, no doubt to avoid being overheard, but Rod caught every venomous word. “You’ve made that clear from the beginning.”
“He was married,” she said, scrambling to justify herself.
“So? It’s not my fault you couldn’t keep your husband satisfied.”
At this, she nearly choked. She hadn’t expected him to go on the offensive. As a child, he’d been cautious whenever he encountered her. He hadn’t wanted to incite her anger for fear she’d have his mother kicked off the farm. Or that she might do something even worse to Carolina. She’d been the only Dunlap who truly frightened him, the only one who was more mean than stupid. But she didn’t frighten him anymore. His mother was gone. There was no way Edna could hurt Carolina now.
“You think you’ve climbed so far above the lettuce patch that you’re too good for us?”
“Anyone with a heart or a conscience would fit that description.”
Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “I don’t care what you’ve become. You’ll always be a dirty Mexican to me and anyone else who matters!”
“It’s not my Mexican blood I’m ashamed of.” Leaving her standing where she was, he strode off in search of the recorder he’d come to buy. He wished the fact that he’d let loose and said what he wanted made him feel better, but it didn’t. He’d long since learned that he could find no peace where the Dunlaps were concerned. He could cover the wound, hide it from the curious, but it would always fester….
By the time he left the store, Edna was gone and so was Sophia. He spent the rest of the late afternoon and evening visiting the farmers, ranchers and homeowners who lived in the area he’d been assigned. All the while, he tried to put his encounter with Edna out of his mind. It required some effort, but he was determined not to let the Dunlaps get under his skin the way they had when he was growing up.
His last interview ended at close to ten, but he’d finished what he’d hoped to do and headed back to the motel, eager to check his e-mail and get some sleep, since he couldn’t visit that safe house for a number of hours yet. But there was no longer a parking space available. After circling the lot twice, he eventually wedged the Hummer into a corner spot next to a van with ABC News on the side and walked to his room from clear over by the ice machines.
Since he was still analyzing his interviews, he didn’t notice anything amiss until he drew close. Then he could see that his door, the one the manager had fixed after Sophia had taken a battering ram to it, was standing open.
Problem was, he’d closed and locked it when he left.
16
It was Leland Jennings, the motel manager, who called Sophia shortly after she reported for work. She wasn’t sure Rod would’ve bothered. When she arrived, Leland stood in the doorway while Rod sat on one of the beds, arms and legs spread wide as he leaned back on his hands, frowning at the destruction around him. Someone had emptied his clothes out of his duffel bag and cut them up, presumably with the knife sticking out of his pillow. Even the bag had been slashed. Writing covered the walls and the place smelled like gasoline. But if the person who’d broken in had meant to torch the room, something had stopped him.
“Wild night?” she said as Leland moved to admit her.
Rod glanced up. “Someone had fun. But it wasn’t me.”
“He’s a trouble magnet,” Leland complained with a shake of his head. “I just replaced the lock on this door last night. You remember. I took it from the laundry room. And look, it’s broken again.”
“Good thing the city’s going to replace it for you, right?”
He gestured for her to follow him into the bathroom. “And that’s not all the damage.”
A giant penis had been spray-painted on the mirror. Below that, Sophia read the words, Go home, Mexican cocksucker.
“Anyone see who did this?” She withdrew a notepad from the breast pocket of her uniform as they returned to the room.
Rod nudged his laptop with his foot. It had been thrown to the floor and lay there broken. “No. I roused the ABC camera crew, a few of whom are staying on either side of me, but they said they didn’t notice anyone coming or going.”