CMM01 - Without Any Evidence Read online

  Carly answered apologetically, “I’m sorry we haven’t turned up anything new, but I want you to know, I’m not giving up.”

  “We know that, Detective. We appreciate what you’ve done. We just wanted to keep you informed. I don’t know what to expect when we get there, especially after last time. We haven’t told anyone we’re going this time. We hope to surprise him so he doesn’t have a chance to send the kids away again.”

  “Well, I assure you, I won’t tell a soul,” Carly said.

  Hanging up the phone, Carly had an inspiration. Maybe it was a really farfetched inspiration, but then, Carly had always been one for farfetched ideas. She decided that since she had already put in for some personal time for the holidays, she take that time to go to Mexico. She knew she had to be discreet, but she could be there, she could watch him, she could make sure the Simons got to see their grandkids.

  Carly called and booked the first flight to Brownsville. As soon as she could, she drove home and started throwing things in a suitcase. It wasn’t actually a suitcase. Carly didn’t own a suitcase. It was really more like a duffle bag. She’d had it since she was a kid and she used it whenever she traveled, which wasn’t often. She’d never been to Mexico and had no idea what kind of clothes she’d need. Since she mostly wore jeans and t-shirts, it was actually pretty easy packing. She packed a zippered sweatshirt, just in case. Even though it was December, the weather in Nashville was pretty mild, so she didn’t need a coat. She packed just essentials. And, she threw in a blouse and slinky skirt. She knew it would be a long shot, but she figured if she was there, she might have the opportunity to see Miguel.

  Carly got to the airport in plenty of time to stop at the bar and have a quick glass of wine. She loved to fly, but it still made her a little nervous. Maybe it wasn’t the flight making her nervous, she thought. Maybe it was the fact that she was leaving the country, going to a place where she didn’t really know anyone and she was going to be in close proximity to a man she sincerely believed committed murder. Or, it could have been that she was going to, if she had any opportunity, to see a man that she thought was the sexiest man on the earth. A man who could make her skin tingle and her stomach to flip flop simply by touching her hand.

  No matter what the reason for her nervousness, the wine did help, and by the time she boarded her plane, duffle bag in tow, she was a lot more relaxed.

  Walking to the back of the plane Carly found a window seat in one of the rows where the seats face one another. The plane wasn’t particularly full, so no one was really drifting that far back. She found she had the entire two rows all to herself. She tucked her duffle into the overhead bin, grabbed a pillow and blanket and settled into her seat. Propping her feet up on the seat across from her, Carly kicked back and decided to try to take a nap. The plane was scheduled for a stop in Houston before going on to Brownsville, so she knew she wouldn’t get much of a nap, but she tried anyway.

  She slept fitfully. Every time she’d drop off, she’d start dreaming about Miguel. Once she even woke herself up. She was sure that the flight attendant had heard her moan.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Before long, the plane was landing in Brownsville. It was raining and dark by the time Carly reached the doors of the terminal. She had never been there before and was still trying to figure out whether she wanted to catch a cab to a local motel or rent a car and drive for a while. She was running to keep from getting drenched and had her head down as she ducked into an opening. Bam! She ran smack into someone. Startled, she looked up and standing right in front of her was Miguel.

  “Well, well, what are you doing here?” he asked. His accent was even more delicious than she remembered.

  “I, um, well, I decided to take a little personal time off from work and figured I’d just check things out down this way.” Carly admitted sheepishly. “What are you doing here?”

  “I just got back from looking at some horses that Wade is thinking of buying. What do you say we get out of this rain and I’ll buy you a drink?”

  “I was thinking about renting a car and driving a while, but with this rain, and not having the faintest idea of where I’m going, I think a drink is a much better idea.” Carly admitted.

  “I have my truck in the lot, why don’t I just drive you. I know a restaurant not too far from here that serves great food and doesn’t do too bad on the drinks either. What do you say?”

  “Sounds good. Let’s do it.”

  They were absolutely soaked to the skin by the time they reached Miguel’s pickup truck. It was one of those big ones with the back seat. Miguel grabbed Carly’s duffle bag and opened her door. He threw the duffle in the back seat, helped Carly climb into the cab and closed the door.

  Miguel walked in front of the truck and Carly looked at his wet t-shirt clinging to his skin then looked down to realize that her t-shirt was also clinging to her, but she didn’t care.

  It wasn’t really cold, but the wet night air had both Miguel and Carly chilled. “The heat will be on in just a minute,” Miguel said obviously noticing what the cold wet t-shirt was causing Carly’s body to do.

  “Thanks, it is a bit chilly,” Carly said turning about three shades of red.

  As they drove down the highway, Carly tried to think of cleaver things to say. Hell, she was trying to think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound stupid.

  Miguel pulled into the parking lot of a very small Mexican restaurant. “This place serves authentic Mexican food as well as the Americanized versions. It also has a variety of imported beer and great margaritas.”

  “Sounds good,” Carly said as she reached for the door handle and opened the door.

  They found a booth in the corner. Miguel ordered a combination meal with burritos and enchiladas and a couple of tacos thrown in for good measure. He also ordered a Negro Modela beer to drink with his food. Carly ordered a Chili Relano and a margarita. As they waited for their food they chatted small talk, which they continued through dinner. Non committal, non interesting, small talk.

  “Okay, enough of this, tell me why you are really here,” Miguel said as he leaned forward.

  Carly had had two margaritas by now and was feeling no pain. She had also let go of her inhibitions as she said, “I told you, I decided to take a little vacation and I’ve never been to Mexico, so I thought I’d take a trip down here. Also, before you left town, you offered to show me around your town, so I figured if you weren’t busy, I’d take you up on your offer.”

  “That’s true. I did make that offer.”

  As they sat at the table talking and drinking, their legs kept touching under the table. There was so much heat it was a wonder they didn’t spontaneously combust. Miguel watched Carly’s lips every time she licked the salt from around her drink. He couldn’t help but be aroused by her innocent sensuousness.

  And Carly wasn’t doing much better. She was looking at him like he was a giant lollypop. His muscles were evident through his shirt and she couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to be held tight in his arms with his mouth kissing hers.

  “How about we stay here tonight and drive down in the morning? There’s a little hotel just down the street that’s not too bad and we can get an early start.” he said not sure it was a good idea, but he also knew he was in no shape to drive.

  “That sounds perfect,” Carly said imagining what could happen if she’d let it. “but I warn you, I’m an early riser.”

  “Don’t worry, I am too. I’m usually up by 5.”

  Miguel insisted on paying the tab, but Carly insisted on paying the tip. After all, she knew she shouldn’t even be letting him do that much because of their circumstances, but the margaritas were saying something entirely different. And Carly decided to go along with them.

  The hotel was a small, very old hotel, but it had character. It was probably built in the late 1800’s and was only three stories tall. There was a porch that went across the entire front of the building on all three stories an
d around both sides. It didn’t have but 10 rooms and the lobby was filled with antiques. As you entered the front door the lobby took up the room on the left and a dining room was set up in the room on the right. A large staircase was in the center dividing the two rooms.

  As much as Carly wanted to be with Miguel, her sense of propriety wouldn’t let her. Even the margaritas couldn’t make her forget that she was still a professional and the drive had started to clear the margaritas from her head. They checked into the hotel and both went to their respective rooms.

  Carly’s room had a big double bed with an enormous canopy situated between two large windows. There was a beautiful armoire on the wall across from the bed and two large fluffy chairs with a table between against the wall to the side of the bed. The bathroom was small, but quite adequate. It’s claw footed tub was just like the one at she had at home, but it didn’t have a shower. Carly figured that most people who stayed here didn’t mind not having one. This was one of those little hotels like you see on the travel channel, but you never really thought existed.

  Carly stripped off her clothes and crawled into the bed not bothering to put on her nightgown or even a t-shirt. She situated the big fluffy pillows all around her to make more of a nest than a bed and drifted off to sleep with thoughts of Miguel swirling around her head.

  Miguel’s room was every bit as nice, in a more masculine sort of way. Instead of the canopy bed, his room had a massive wooden headboard and footboard. It had leather wing back chairs where Carly’s big fluffy one’s were. Miguel was having thoughts of Carly, too. As a matter of fact, his thoughts ended him up in a cool shower. He was just lucky his room had a shower instead of just a tub.

  When the knock on Carly’s door woke her at 5:00, Carly jumped. She hadn’t had such a great night’s sleep since this case started. She could hear Miguel’s voice saying, “It’s 5 o’clock, do you want to meet me downstairs in 30 minutes? We can grab a bite to eat here before we leave.”

  “Yeah, that’d be perfect.” Carly said back to Miguel through the door of her room. Thirty minutes gave her just enough time to grab a quick bath and wash her hair. “I’ll meet you there in 30.”

  Miguel couldn’t take his eyes off her as she bounced down the stairs and into the dining room. Carly had slipped into her usual attire of jeans, t-shirt and tennis shoes. Her hair was a little longer than when they first met. It was still wet and had formed loose curls around her head and around her shoulders. She had put on just the slightest bit of eye liner and mascara.

  “Good morning,” she said as she sat down into her chair.

  “Good morning to you. You look rested,” Miguel said smiling across the table at her.

  “Oh, I am. I slept like a log.” Carly said in a very chipper voice. “Did you sleep well last night.”

  “Yes. Surprisingly well.” He said as he signaled the waiter to bring some coffee over.

  Of course, he’d never admit that he had dreamed about Carly the entire night. And x-rated dreams at that.

  Carly was full of herself today. She decided she was not going to pull any punches with Miguel. She wanted to find out what he knew about Jerry and Claire, figuring she’d probably never see Miguel again anyway and not having anything to lose.

  “Do you really think Jerry killed Claire?” Carly asked as she nibbled on a piece of toast.

  Miguel was taken by surprise by Carly’s matter-of-factness. He liked it though. He was tired of women trying to be coy. He didn’t like games and he was glad that Carly was up front and outspoken.

  “Yes, I really do. Jerry has always been a little strange. I used to pass it off as just being jealous of me and Rosa. But…..it’s something more than that. I guess the best way to say it is, he has a mean streak. Nothing he did would surprise me.”

  Miguel sipped on his coffee and watched to see what Carly’s reaction would be.

  Carly leaned back in the chair and wrinkled her nose a little and said, “Well, I guess I’m just gonna have to figure out some way to prove he did it. I can’t stand the idea of letting someone get away with murder.”

  “Maybe we can figure it out together because I sure don’t want him with Rosa.” He finished his last sip of coffee, set the cup down and said, “ You about ready to hit the road?”

  “Yeah, I just need to run upstairs and brush my teeth and then I’m ready to get going. How far is it from here?”

  “It should take about four hours. It’s not too bad a drive and the scenery is really nice once we get closer to home.”

  Carly bounced up the stairs two at a time, quickly brushed her teeth and checked herself in the mirror. She didn’t usually care about her appearance, but something about Miguel made her want to look her best. She realized she kept contradicting herself about Miguel. One minute not caring what he would think and the next caring about her appearance because she did care what he thought about her. But, she rationalized that it never hurt to look good. Or at least presentable. Most mothers told their kids to make sure they had on clean underwear when they went out, but Carly’s mom always told her to make sure her teeth and hair were brushed as well.

  As they drove out of town, Carly settled in and made herself comfortable. She was more comfortable with Miguel than she was with anyone else in her life except Bill.

  She felt so comfortable, in fact, that she decided to she was ready to talk. Not just about the case, but really talk about herself and see what she could find out about him while she was at it.

  Carly wasn’t used to opening up to people, so she was a little unsure how to start.

  “Miguel, my dad died when I was really little and my mom died when I was a teenager. I guess that’s why I feel so invested in this case. I hate to see those kids lose their parents.”

  “I know how you feel. We’re a lot alike in that respect. Rosa and I were lucky to have Wade take us in and treat us as his own, but it wasn’t the same as having our real parents.”

  “At least you and Rosa are close. My sister and I hardly see one another and when we do, we don’t seem to have a lot to say.”

  “What’s your sister like?”

  Carly gave a big sigh and turned her body toward Miguel. “Maggie is difficult. I always thought I was rebellious, but she takes the cake. I guess she’s just looking for love or something like it, but she always picks the wrong guys. Walk into a bar, look around the room and when you spot the dirtiest, scruffiest, meanest guy in the room, that’s the one she’ll pick.”

  “I guess I’m pretty lucky,” Miguel said as he reached over and touched Carly’s hand. “I may have to deal with Jerry, but at least he’s clean.”

  That comment cracked them both up. For the first time in months, Carly and Miguel were both relaxed and smiling.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  “We should probably stop and do a money exchange before we cross the border,” Miguel suggested.

  Carly hadn’t really thought about that. She just figured everyone took traveler’s checks, but she agreed and they pulled into a bank to change her U.S. dollars for Mexican pesos. She had no idea how much she’d need those pesos.

  They had to stop as customs agents searched the truck and asked Miguel questions. Most of the agents seemed to know Miguel, but they were very curious about why he was traveling with Carly. While standing there watching the agents, Carly looked around. She saw a woman who was refusing to let a young Mexican man wash her windshield. He kept trying and she kept trying to wave him away. Finally, she just turned on her wipers and brushed his cloth off the windshield. He left muttering to himself.

  Carly looked at the two lines of cars at the border station. None of the cars seemed to be moving and people were packed into the cars like sardines. She always thought there would be more cars trying to get into the U.S. and not out of it, but she figured maybe it was because of the holiday.

  Finally Miguel signaled for Carly to get back in the truck. “I had to play their little game,” Miguel said to Carly.

  “
What game?”

  “Well, usually I’m by myself and they don’t bother me. But today, I have a pretty American woman with me. Today, they wanted to make a little money. It’s a game they play. Usually with dumb Americans. They wanted money to let you go through.”

  “But I have all the right paperwork, don’t I?” asked Carly totally confused.

  “Yes, you do, but don’t forget, most of these people make very little money and they have figured out a way to make a little more for themselves. Most people are willing to pay a little and get a little less hassle. It’s a game to them.”

  Carly had just learned a very valuable lesson about how the system worked in Mexico. One that would end up helping the Simons.

  As they drove through and across the border with all their appropriate papers in hand, Carly realized her idea about Mexico was wrong. They had to drive through the busy urban areas surrounding the border crossing for what seemed like forever. Eventually, Carly noticed the smooth blacktop changed to a rutted, cracked-up concrete. It seemed more like a roller coaster than a road and Carly also noticed the scenery changed as they drove along. It went from the dry, scrubby desert of southern Texas to beautiful pastures, and rolling hills filled with trees. Carly had never imagined it would look like this. It was breathtaking and she finally realized why someone would move here to live.

  Carly could see what seemed like forever and the air smelled crisp and clean. Even though the ocean was miles from where they were driving, Carly could swear she could smell the salt air of the ocean. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her.

  “You know, everyone thinks detectives can solve cases like they do on television. You know, in a one hour TV show, they can have a murder, find all the clues, have all the forensic testing, arrest the bad guys and go out for drinks. It’s not like that in real life,” Carly said exasperated.