GET MARIA DELGADO IN HERE," CASEY SAID TO STACY, BANGING open the door between her office and where Stacy sat.
"What got under your skin?" Stacy asked.
"I just made an ass out of myself," she said.
Stacy raised her eyebrows.
"You said I had to see her? That I shouldn't be worrying about a lunch?" Casey said. "I could lose my lunch when I think of her sniveling face. Crocodile tears. Do you know the sister and her husband are gangbangers? Drugs. Murder. All of it. That's why they want her out."
"Oh, right," Stacy said, picking up the phone and dialing. "Our government couldn't be the ones making the mistake. Not the gang who gave us Iraq."
"Don't get political," Casey said.
"Maria?" Stacy said into the phone. "It's Stacy Berg. Can you come down to the clinic?"
Stacy looked at Casey from under half-lidded eyes.
"Yes, I know it's Friday afternoon," Stacy said into the phone. "I'm afraid it's very important. Right away. Yes. Good."
Stacy slammed the phone down and took out a nail file that she began to work at with great concentration.
Casey worked up her witness list for Rosalita's case while she waited for Maria. She didn't want the woman to get off easy over the phone. She wanted Maria to feel her rage. Half an hour later Stacy knocked once, threw open the door, and announced Maria. Casey pointed to a chair and didn't let her even settle in before she began.
"You didn't tell me about your brother-in-law, the gangbanger," Casey said.
"My brother-in-law?" Maria said, touching her chest. "Elijandro? Ellie is a laborer and a hunting guide."
"What else does he do?"
Maria shrugged and said, "He teaches Sunday school."
"Someone's in a gang," Casey said. "The Torres brothers? The Latin Kings?"
Maria's eyes widened and she said, "Ellie's brother."
"Who?"
"My sister's husband," Maria said. "His brother. Teuch is his name. Teuch Torres. He's a Latin King, but Ellie, he doesn't-didn't-even talk to him. Teuch is very bad."
"Yes, he is," Casey said. "Why didn't you tell me about him?"
"He lives in San Antonio. My sister met him only twice. Once at Paquita's baptism, then right after that for the last time. I was there. Ellie took us down to Christmas dinner at his mother's. She is a housekeeper there. Teuch and Ellie got into a fight. They have no business together at all. Nada. They don't even speak."
"Well," Casey said, lowering her voice, "ICE made the connection. I'll do my best, look for some kind of precedent. I'm sorry I was a little rough. I just felt ridiculous."
"I never thought about Teuch," Maria said. "He's so far away and they have nothing to do with him. There are many people with the name Torres. I don't know how they would find him and put him with Elijandro. I am worried that they would do this."
"I'm worried, too," Casey said.
Casey worked alone and didn't realize how late it was until her stomach growled and she looked at her watch. Stacy and Donna had gone on a double date with their new boyfriends, one a guy who owned a shoe factory and the other a financial planner. They'd been talking about it for over a week, so Casey encouraged them to leave while she prepared for Isodora's hearing on Monday by herself. Sharon never stayed late, especially on Friday. She had two kids at home and a husband who expected dinner on the table at six.
Casey closed the book in front of her with a clump and rubbed her eyes. The room had grown dark around her but for the glow of the computer screen and the small lamp on her desk. Outside she heard the crunch of tires on the broken pavement and she sat up straight. Jose's warning about Domingo Mondo jumped to mind. The wife, Soledad, had been whipped across her backside regularly with an electric cord.
Casey heard a car door slam and she reached for the desk drawer by her knee. She opened it, removing the nickel-plated.38 Jose had insisted she keep there. Comforted by the cold shape of the metal in her hand, she dug into her purse, searching for her cell phone. Feet scuffed across the parking lot and came to rest outside the metal door.
Casey flipped open the phone and saw she'd missed three calls from Jose. Her heart took off at a gallop. The phone had been left on vibrate. She'd missed Jose's warning calls.
A fist hammered the metal door.
Casey hit dial on Jose's number.
The door shuddered under another pounding.
Jose answered his phone.
"It's me," Casey said. "I think he's here."
"Who? Where?" Jose asked.
"Domingo Mondo."
"Aren't you at your office?" Jose asked.
"Yes, and I think he's right outside."