Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
“You’re saying you believe her husband beat her when she returned,” Harlow said. “But despite that, she always returned.”
Raine nodded slowly. “I didn’t have much time, but I followed enough threads to believe that’s true. She was able to get her US citizenship far faster than most others. Benedict seemed to have a tremendous amount of influence on politicians, and he often called in favors.”
“Did that influence extend to local law enforcement?” Stella asked.
“No doubt,” Raine affirmed. “Benedict threw a huge celebration party for her when she became a citizen. That night, everything went very wrong. The party was held in the largest barn on Benedict’s property. Outside the barn, several firepits were blazing. The wind came up, and the barn ignited. It went up fast, trapping several people inside. Benedict was one of them.”
“How terrible,” Zahra said, her breath coming out in a rush of sympathy.
“It was. Fifteen people were burned, six severely. Three died in the fire. The thing is this: Benedict had a head injury they attributed to falling beams, and his death was ruled an accident.”
“You’re not so sure.”
“Something is off. The Delgotto Cartel is very active in the area where Guadalupe was living prior to her marrying Benedict. They ran a very lucrative human trafficking ring in conjunction with five of the ranchers. Benedict was suspected of being one of those ranchers. That came out a couple of years after his death. It was never proved. But if he was, it was more than likely that Guadalupe had been trafficked by the cartel. She came across the border regularly and supposedly worked at the school. I don’t think it was a school. I need a lot more time to follow all the threads, but I can see very clearly things weren’t right.”
“How long was she married to Benedict?” Harlow asked.
“Eight years.”
“How terrible,” Harlow murmured. “Living that way for so long without a way to get out. I hope she didn’t have anything to do with his death. It sounds as if her life was difficult.”
“Eight years is a long time to live with an abusive husband,” Vienna pointed out. “It’s possible she snapped. She’d had enough.”
“On the night of her celebration of citizenship?” Stella countered. “That seems as if she may have managed to achieve what she needed from the relationship, and she was ready to move on. Just playing devil’s advocate.”
Harlow rubbed at her aching temples—usually her first warning of trouble. “Let’s just say if she had anything to do with his death, she’s very capable of playing the long game. And that’s concerning.” She shook her head. “I consider her my friend. It would be horrible to think that from the first, she was plotting with someone to harm me.”
“Remember that Guadalupe moved here several years before you did, Harlow,” Raine reminded. “She didn’t come to Knightly with the express idea of harming you.”
“Why would she have a vendetta against you?” Zahra asked. “Have you thought about what the reason could be?”
Stella glared at her best friend. “Seriously, Zahra? No one can have a good enough reason to do what this woman has been doing. I’m sorry she’s had such a difficult life, but all of us have as well. We know others who’ve had it even worse. There’s no excuse to sneak around, pretending to be Harlow’s friend, while stuffing threats in her mailbox all the time.”
Zahra took no offense, waving a casual hand in the air. “I agree completely. There is no excuse, but Guadalupe may think she has one. In fact, she must believe she has a reason or she wouldn’t be doing it.”
Harlow had to admit that made sense, even though she couldn’t imagine what she’d done to the woman who had sold her the home she loved so much. Unless…Her head went up, and her gaze met Raine’s.
“What is it?” Raine asked. “What are you thinking?”
“It’s so far-fetched I’m afraid to even say it out loud,” Harlow admitted. “I told you about the young girl, she would have been fifteen or sixteen, who was pregnant and wouldn’t sell her baby to my parents. They had her deported, just taken across the border and dumped. If she had no family to go home to and the cartel got ahold of her, she would have been so vulnerable, with no one to help her. She was carrying a boy. That was why the senator was so angry with her: because he wanted a son.”
Even saying it aloud, telling her friends, it seemed even more impossible that Guadalupe could be the same woman. What kind of coincidence would it be that both of them sought out the peace of the Sierra?
“The age works, doesn’t it?” Vienna asked Raine. “Doesn’t the timeline fit?”
“Do you know where on the border they forced her back into Mexico?” Stella asked. “That would be very helpful.”