Jarillo Sunset Page 18

Vincent let go of his throat and walked out.

  Nick had already explained to Vincent that the papers would not hold up in court, because relinquishing parental rights required approval by a judge and a court order. But Vincent doubted Hunter was intelligent enough to know that. And if he ever did try to fight it in court, Vincent had no doubt they could prove their case to a judge.

  Vincent stopped at Debbie’s room just as the doctor came in. “Ms. Carter, you have a hairline fracture to the right side of your skull and some heavy bruising. You’re looking at a couple of days in the hospital. You’re very lucky that you didn’t sustain more injuries. I’m also going to have a psychologist assigned to talk to you about physical abuse, and I highly recommend that you attend counseling. This is serious stuff, Ms. Carter, and I don’t want you to treat it lightly.”

  Vincent gave Debbie the I-told-you-so-look, and then said to Rosie, “I have to leave now to go help Char. Will you be coming over to pick up Emily soon?”

  Rosie stood up and said, “I think Debbie is in good hands with Bruce. They have a lot to talk about, so I’m going to go upstairs and check out, and then I’ll head to Debbie’s place to pick up Emily. If you need me for anything at all, Debbie, you call me, okay?”

  Debbie nodded.

  “Thank you, Bruce, for being here to help us out,” Rosie said.

  “Not a problem, Rosie. Thank you for calling me, Vincent.”

  Vincent and Rosie walked out toward the receptionist desk.

  “What do you think? Is she going to be out of danger?” Rosie asked.

  “I don’t know. I hope Bruce can help her emotionally by being supportive of her and… I just don’t know.” Vincent let out a deep sigh.

  “Okay, I’ll be over to pick Emily up in a few minutes,” Rosie said sadly and walked to the elevator.

  Vincent left the hospital, and as pulled out of the parking lot, he tried to reach William but the call went to voice mail. When he arrived at Debbie’s house he walked in quietly, in case Char was sleeping.

  He heard a soft, quiet voice in the living room and looked in. Char was in the recliner with Emily in her arms, talking softly to her as she fed Emily her bottle. “I think you’re the prettiest little girl in all of New Mexico.”

  Vincent suddenly had a vision of Char rocking their baby.

  Vincent stood against the entranceway from the kitchen to the living room, observing Char. His heart swelled with love at the sight of her and the baby.

  Char smiled and then gently pulled the bottle from Emily’s mouth and put her on her shoulder to burp her. She patted her back softly as she looked over at Vincent. He finally walked over and sat down on the table in front of the rocker. He watched Char as she rocked the baby and burped her. Emily fell asleep almost immediately, and Char got up from the rocker and headed toward the baby’s room.

  A few minutes later she came back into the living room and sat down in front of Vincent. “How is everything?”

  “I think everything is okay for now. Rosie will be here any minute to take Emily home with her. Debbie has a hairline fracture and some bad bruises. Bruce came to the hospital, and he’s staying with her while the rest of us try to figure out what the hell to do. When I went up to the receptionist desk to find Rosie, Hunter Greene was brought in by ambulance with a black and blue face. So William might have already gotten to him.”

  “Vincent, two wrongs don’t make a right. He shouldn’t have done that,” Char chastised. “Now William faces the possibility of assault charges.”

  “We don’t know for sure that he did it.” She’ll probably think what I did was wrong too.

  Vincent’s cellphone rang, and he looked at it and saw that it was Nick calling.

  “Yes, Nick,” Vincent said.

  “It’s all done. He signed, and then he got up and left the hospital without being released and says he’s on his way out of New Mexico.”

  “Good. Thanks, Nick.”

  “Also, just so you know, the sheriff had been called and they’re here investigating, questioning the staff about how and why Greene left, so watch yourself.”

  “I will.” Vincent snapped his phone shut.

  “How are you going to keep him away from her?” Char wondered aloud.

  “He won’t be bothering her again,” Vincent said quietly.

  “How do you know that?”

  “I have a lawyer friend named Nick Saber. He drew up some papers that would relinquish Hunter’s rights to the baby and keep him from contacting Debbie ever again. He just signed them and left the hospital against medical advice and is supposedly hightailing it out of New Mexico.”

  “Vincent, what did you do?” Char asked, alarmed.

  “Nothing. I just convinced him to see things my way,” Vincent said, and stood up as Rosie entered the back door quietly.

  “Hi, Rosie,” Char said.

  “Hey, Char, thanks so much for coming to our rescue,” Rosie said.

  “Not a problem. I just gave Emily a bottle and burped her, so she should be all set for now.”

  “Okay, great. I think I’ll just stay here and wait until she wakes up rather than try to suit her up and take her out while she’s trying to sleep.” Rosie walked over and gave Char a hug. “Thanks again for helping us out in a crisis. I wished it hadn’t happened, but I appreciate you being here for us.”

  * * * *

  Char and Vincent left his sister’s house and he drove over to drop Char off at her apartment. His cellphone rang and he answered. “Carter,” he said into the phone. He paused for a moment and then said, “Okay, Joe. I’m on my way over to Char’s place to drop her off. Once I’ve done that, I’ll come over to see you.” Vincent snapped his phone shut. “Well, let the fun begin.”

  “The sheriff wants to talk to you?” Char asked, not surprised.

  “Yep.”

  Vincent got out of the SUV and walked Char to her apartment. She unlocked her door and they went inside, then she asked Vincent, “Would you like to have a quick breakfast before you go see the sheriff?”

  “You know, now that I think about it, we’re both probably famished, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, I know I am. Feeding little Emily made me hungry.” She smiled. “I’ve got eggs, toast, bacon, coffee, and orange juice. How does that sound?”

  “Sounds like a good deal to me.” Vincent smiled back at Char.

  Char went to the kitchen and started pulling stuff out to make breakfast. “How do you like your eggs?” she called out to him.

  Vincent came around from the living room into the kitchen and dining area. “Scrambled is fine for me,” he replied. He opened the package of bacon, pulled several strips out, and placed them in the microwave to cook.

  Char pulled the bread from the bread box and put two slices of bread in the toaster while Vincent reached into the refrigerator and got the orange juice. Char then put some coffee in the coffee filter, poured the water in, and turned it on. They worked together as if they had been doing this all their lives.

  Finally, they sat down to eat. “Do you think that the sheriff wants to talk to you about what happened to Debbie?” Char took a bite of her egg.

  “I have no doubt that’s precisely what he wants to talk to me about.” Vincent’s eyes narrowed.

  “What are you going to tell him?”

  “The truth.”

  “You’re going to tell the sheriff that your brother beat up the guy that hurt your sister?” Char asked.

  “I don’t know that he did. I assumed he did, but I haven’t talked to William since before the incident with Greene took place.”

  “Oh, I see.” Char arched an eyebrow and looked at him.

  “You don’t approve?” Vincent’s gaze smashed into hers.

  “It’s not that, I just don’t think William should have gone after him in the first place. He should have let the sheriff handle it. Assuming, of course, that William did it.”

  “I agree with you. You heard me when we got to my sister�
��s house and he was pacing like a raging animal. I told him to let the sheriff handle it.”

  “Yes, I recall you saying that. What about what you did?” Char asked.

  “What did I do?” Vincent looked at her, his eyebrows knitted together.

  “You apparently had Greene sign some papers and he left the hospital right afterward against medical advice. Don’t you think the sheriff is going to want to know what method of persuasion you used to accomplish this, causing Greene to avoid punishment for his misdeeds?”

  “You have a point there. I’ll see how the conversation goes. If I have to confess to what I’ve done, then I will. I don’t lie, Char,” Vincent said with emphasis.

  “Of course you don’t lie, I know that. But you could end up getting yourself in some serious trouble if they think you interfered with an investigation.”

  Vincent didn’t reply for a moment, then finally said, “Yeah. Well, we’ll see how the conversation goes.”

  After breakfast Vincent drained the last drop of coffee from his cup. “I’ve got to go. I better get down there before he calls out my little brother to come and arrest me.” He grinned.

  They got up from the table and walked to the door. Vincent leaned over and kissed Char gently on the lips. “Thank you for your help today, sweetheart.”

  “You’re welcome. Let me know how your meeting with the sheriff goes.”

  Chapter 18

  On the way to the sheriff’s department, Vincent received a call. “Carter,” he said as he flipped open his cellphone.

  “Vince, it’s William.”

  “Yeah, William, where are you?”

  “I’m up here in Santa Fe looking at horses.”

  “When did you go up there?”

  “After I left Deb’s house early this morning.”

  “So, you didn’t beat up Hunter Greene?”

  “I wanted to, but no. Why, did someone beat him up?”

  “Someone pistol whipped his face. Did you hire someone to do it?” Vincent asked, confused. William didn’t answer the question, and Vincent was glad. He didn’t want to have to explain that to the sheriff.

  “How is Deb?”

  “She’s got a hairline fracture on her skull and some bad bruising. She’ll be in the hospital a day or so and then they will release her. When are you coming home?”

  “Sometime this evening.”

  “Okay, the sheriff wants to talk to me now. I’m on my way there. I’m sure they’ll want to talk to you too. Tell me, William, do I need to get funds together to bail you out of jail?”

  “No, I didn’t do anything,” William replied tersely.

  “I’ve never known you to walk away from something like this, William. What changed your mind?”

  “I was in a rage, but decided to head out of town and get away instead of doing anything that would land me in the same jail cell as Greene. What did you do, Vince?”

  “I convinced him that it would be in his best interest to sign off on having any access to Emily, and to stay away from Debbie and to leave the county.” Vincent smiled to himself.

  “He fell for it?” William asked doubtfully.

  “Yep.”

  William let out a quiet chuckle. “You have always been known for your persuasive abilities.”

  They ended the call as Vincent pulled up to the sheriff’s department. He was glad William hadn’t taken a swing at Greene, but if William didn’t, then who did?

  He saw his brother, Patrick walking up to the door. Vincent caught up with him and asked, “Do you know that Deb took a beating this morning?” Vincent eyeballed his brother critically.

  “Yes, I heard about it. Heard about Greene skipping town too.” Patrick looked over at his brother with a frown on his face.

  “Are you going to be in the meeting with me and the sheriff?” Vincent asked.

  “I shouldn’t. It could be a conflict of interest, but the sheriff felt I should be in there,” Patrick answered. When they entered the lobby of the department, Patrick unlocked the gate at the front counter, and then led Vincent back to Sheriff Turner’s office. As they walked up to Turner’s secretary, Patrick said, “Hey, Nancy. The sheriff is expecting me and Vincent.”

  Nancy nodded. “You can go on in.”

  Patrick entered the office first, and Vincent followed.

  “Come on in, Patrick, Vincent. Close the door behind you and have a seat.” He pressed the intercom button.

  “Yes, Sheriff,” his secretary said.

  “Be sure that we’re not interrupted, Nancy.”

  “Okay.”

  “Thank you for coming down, Vincent. I understand that your sister was beat up by Hunter Greene, and she has filed a formal complaint. The problem is, we can’t find him. He left the hospital without medical approval and no one has seen him since.”

  The sheriff looked at the file in front of him.

  “It says here that at approximately three this morning, the owner of Triple Crown Bar walked out the door to close for the night, and he found Hunter Greene lying in the parking lot with blood on his face. He called 911and they got him to the hospital. The deputy on duty searched the area and came up empty-handed as far as finding any evidence or witnesses. Most everyone was gone by that time. When the deputy arrived at the hospital approximately two hours later, Hunter Greene had vanished, nowhere to be found. Tell me what you know about the events that occurred involving Mr. Greene.”

  Vincent knew that Joe was giving him a lot of latitude at the moment. “Char and I were awakened by a telephone call from William. He said Debbie had been beaten up, and he asked us to come to her house to take care of the baby. When Char and I got there, William was there, but he left shortly afterward. Char stayed with the baby, and I went to the hospital to see Debbie. I visited with Debbie, called Bruce Spinner, then had the receptionist track down Rosie. In the meantime, Hunter Greene was brought in on a stretcher and taken to triage.”

  “Did William rearrange Hunter’s face?” Patrick asked Vincent.

  “William says he had nothing to do with it,” Vincent replied.

  “Where is William now?” the sheriff asked.

  “He’s in Santa Fe, checking on some horses. He’s due back this evening.”

  “How was it that William ended up at Debbie’s house first and who got her to the hospital?” Patrick looked over at Vincent again.

  “I don’t know, Patrick. You’ll have to ask William and Debbie that question.”

  “Vincent, I’ve known you for a couple of years now, and I feel that I can trust you to be honest with me. Tell me, did you have anything to do with Hunter’s beating and him leaving the hospital like he did?”

  “I may have been responsible for his leaving, but no, I did not attack him,” Vincent replied calmly.

  “What did you do that made him want to leave the hospital?” Patrick asked.

  “I persuaded him to sign off on having any access to Emily, and to sign off agreeing to have absolutely no contact with Debbie ever again, and that he would leave the county.”

  Patrick rolled his eyes, then gave Vincent a hard, sideways glance.

  “I see.” The sheriff grimaced and then let out a sigh. “Suffice it to say that he has left the county then?”

  Vincent shrugged in an I-don’t-know manner.

  “Vincent, what method of persuasion did you use?” the sheriff asked, then said, “No, wait a minute, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.” He shook his head. “All right, I’m just going to keep this case open but put aside, just in case Greene happens to come back here. If you were any other man, I would arrest you and charge you with interfering in an active, ongoing investigation. But if I find out that you lied to me in any way, or you were involved in roughing Hunter up, I’ll haul your ass in here so fast your head will spin. Do I make myself clear on this, Vincent?”

  “Yes. Thank you.” Vincent stood up and shook the sheriff’s hand.

  “I’m going to ask William to come down so I can hav
e a talk with him about this. I think he may know more than he’s letting on. Patrick, I want you to go talk to your sister and see if you can find out any more information about what occurred.”

  * * * *

  “Okay, will do.” Patrick grounded his teeth together and clenched his fists.

  Patrick and Vincent walked out of the sheriff’s office. When they left the building and headed to Vincent’s SUV, Patrick asked tersely, “What method of persuasion did you use, Vincent?”

  Vincent turned around and studied his brother for a few minutes. “Why do you want to know?”

  “Why couldn’t you let the law handle this?” Patrick asked.

  “What, and have Deb repeatedly beaten by this man and put Emily at risk?” Vincent drew his eyebrows together, staring at his brother.

  “Protective Services would have stepped in and help.”

  “Tell me what Protective Services would have done, Patrick, besides taking Emily away from her mother. Deb needs professional help, and she wasn’t going to get it with him around pulling her strings.”

  Patrick thought for a few minutes and said gruffly, “This family is a fucked-up mess. You and William work as vigilante cops. And we have one sister who goes from one abusive relationship to another, and another sister that mettles in everyone’s business.”

  “And you, who wants nothing to do with your family, and prefers to live in a white man’s world, dress in a white man’s uniform, follow a white man’s laws, and pretend that you’re white instead of Native American,” Vincent finished for him.

  Patrick stood stunned at what Vincent had just said. Vincent had this uncanny ability to read people. Earl Ackerson had always said it was a gift. Patrick wished the gift had been given to him instead of Vincent. It could work really well in his police work. He wondered too, if what Vincent said was true. Is that why I’m so unhappy?

  “At least tell me that you didn’t do anything to him physically,” Patrick said.

  “I threatened to cut off the air to his lungs and made him aware that I could cause him serious harm, and to keep me from doing that, he had to sign an agreement giving up his rights to Emily and leave the county. That’s all I did.”