His chin bumped his chest.
“I know it’s hard to think about moving and not seeing Daddy…for a while,” she added to soften the blow. “But—” she drew a deep breath “—I hope you can trust me on this.”
The sun glinted off his bowed head.
“Can you trust me, Max?”
His nod was barely perceptible.
“Now we need to find a car so we can get out of here, okay? Can you be good just a little longer?”
“What about Preston?”
Emma pictured Preston’s face, wet with tears. A man like Preston didn’t cry easily, which told her what she’d done to him. “He’s left us behind.”
“Because he doesn’t like me.”
“Because I made a bad choice. It had nothing to do with you.” She didn’t want Max feeling responsible for something he couldn’t help. It wasn’t his fault Preston had lost a son. It wasn’t Max’s fault that she’d chosen not to tell Preston about his diabetes. “Do you believe me?”
He shrugged.
“Can you be good a little longer?” she repeated.
“Yeah.” Grudgingly, he went back to digging in the dirt.
Once again, she had to depend on Max to handle more than a child his age should have to. Pride nearly brought tears to her eyes when he glanced up and offered her a brief smile. Somehow, he understood that she was doing her best. Even at five years old. Or maybe he only understood how much she loved him. She hoped that would give him enough to cling to until she could get their lives sorted out.
Returning to the phone book, she discovered that Ely had a jeweler who could attest to the value of her earrings. Now if she could just find someone selling a five-thousand-dollar car who might be willing to trade for ten-thousand-dollar studs.
MANUEL PACED the empty men’s room of the Hotel Nevada, waiting for his call to go through. He’d already sent Hector to Vegas to chase down the lead he’d received from that stupid waitress. He thought they might be on Vanessa’s trail again. But he was angry that he’d come so close—and missed her.
“Guess who?” he said as soon as Rosa answered.
Juanita’s sister paused. “What do you want?”
“Funny thing, but Vanessa didn’t go to St. George, like you told me.”
“You found her?”
“Not yet. But I will.”
Silence.
“Rosa?”
“She said she was going to St. George.”
Manuel wasn’t sure whether to believe her or not. It could be that Vanessa had used her to mislead him, and Rosa had no knowledge of it. Either way, it didn’t matter. Now that he knew Juanita had a sister and Vanessa was in contact with her, he could turn it to his advantage. “Has she called again?”
“No. And she probably won’t.”
“If she’s worried about Juanita, she will.”
As before, Rosa began to cry. “Where’s my sister? What have you done with her?”
“How badly would you like to know?” he asked.
She managed to compose herself. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, if you ever want to see your sister again, you’ll find out where Vanessa is and call me.”
“I knew you had her.” Rosa’s voice broke into a wail. “Don’t hurt her! Please, don’t hurt her.”
He slammed his fist into the swinging door of a toilet cubicle. “Shut up! Whether or not she gets hurt is up to you.”
“But I don’t even know if Vanessa will call again,” Rosa whined. “And asking too many questions will only make her suspicious.”
The door he’d sent swinging still banged open and shut again. “I thought you cared about your sister. I guess I was wrong. She won’t be happy to hear it. I’d better go—”
“Wait! I—I’ll do my best. I do know something.”
The breath caught in Manuel’s throat. “What?”
“I heard a voice in the background the last time she called. I—I think she might be traveling with someone.”
Someone. Manuel’s muscles bunched. Was it the trucker the waitress had mentioned? Or a secret lover? Had Juanita held out on him?
“Is it a man?” he asked, barely able to force the words between his clenched teeth.
“Sí. A man.”
He pivoted away from the mirror because he didn’t like seeing the red in his face and eyes, the vein pulsing at his temple. Look what she’d done to him! “Who?”
“I don’t know. As soon as I heard the voice, she told me she had to go and the line went dead. Now will you set my sister free?”
Manuel heard the pathetic weakness, the supplication in her voice, and felt his gut twist with derision. Juanita had spit in his eye. As much as he’d made her pay for her disrespect, he had to admire her spirit.
Rosa, on the other hand, was nothing. Less than nothing. “When you tell me where she is,” he said, and hung up.
TWENTY MINUTES after leaving the Hotel Nevada, Preston stood at the front desk of the Starlight Motel. “How long ago did she leave?” he asked.
The manager who’d helped with the emergency earlier, an older, white-haired woman with the last name of McMurtry, consulted the clock on the wall. “It’s been about an hour, I guess.”
“Do you have any idea where she might’ve gone?”
“She asked me if there was a car dealership in town. I told her Elton Lee owned one over on the west side.”
So Emma was looking for a car. That told him something. “And did she and the boy head in that direction?”
“No, they went plumb opposite.”
Why? In another few blocks, the town gave way to wilderness. What kind of car could Emma have hoped to find going east? “Can you remember anything else she might’ve said, to you or her son?”
“She asked if you’d been back.”
Preston ignored the guilt he felt on hearing this news. Maybe he’d reacted too harshly after what had happened to Max, but he still couldn’t think about the boy lying limp in his arms. Not without wanting to throttle Emma. “That’s it?”
“Um…let’s see.” She drummed her fingers on the countertop. “She bought a newspaper at the gas station across the street. I know, because I saw her come out with it.”
“Anything else?”
“Sorry.”
Preston thanked her and strode across the lobby. The first thing he had to do was pick up the van. It was finally time, and he could cover a lot more ground in a vehicle.