Paws & Ballroom Blues (A Willow Crossing Mystery Book 2) Read online

  “Murdered,” Esteban repeated, not sure what to do with the new information. “I can’t believe it. I mean, I know not many people like him, and he can be quite abrasive and obnoxious, but I can’t believe someone in this town would kill a man.”

  “Right now I am so tired I just can’t think straight,” Ru said, laying down on top of the comforter.

  “Then rest, Mama. I’m going to go make some warm milk. Would you like me to bring you some?”

  “No thanks, Papi. I’m just going to close my eyes and try to clear my mind.”

  “I’ll be back up soon,” he said and then kissed his wife gently on the forehead.

  As Esteban warmed the milk on the stove, he tried as hard as he could to remember all of the weekend’s events, paying close attention in his mind to all of the times he noticed Seth Washington’s presence. He poured the milk into a mug and sat at the kitchen table, only one soft light glowing. The more he thought, the more frustrated he became. He and Ru had been at every gathering over the weekend, and yet he couldn’t think of anything that struck him as odd…not until Seth wound up face down on the banquet hall floor. He took another sip of his milk and closed his eyes, hoping something magically would come to him. He opened his eyes and looked across the table. There was a newspaper laying there from Friday, so he slid it toward himself, and slowly thumbed through the pages.

  ~~~

  “Mama, are you awake?” Esteban whispered softly.

  “I wish I wasn’t, but yes, I am.”

  “I just read the gossip column in the paper.”

  Ru sat up in the bed and looked at her husband, “You are always making fun of me for reading that column.”

  “I know,” he said. “I was just trying to clear my head and started reading what I thought would be a silly story. Turns out that it may help lead us to the killer.”

  With her eyes wide open, Ru responded, “What did it say?”

  “Well, apparently, Don Jacobs was in the park the other day. He was with Seth and they were arguing. Don was making a scene, threatening to take back the Dobermans he had sold to Seth.”

  “Why?” Ruby asked.

  “According to the article, Don said that Seth was training the dogs to be mean.”

  “Why would he want to train his dogs to be mean?”

  “I don’t know. They’re Doberman Pinschers; maybe he wanted them to be watch dogs?”

  “I get that, but if he is going to be making appearances at charity events for dogs and their welfare, it seems odd he would jeopardize his possible political career by training his dogs that way.”

  “We are talking about Seth Washington, you know.”

  “I know, but still. This just all seems crazy. You don’t think Don could do something like this, do you?”

  “I wouldn’t think so, but I guess anything is possible.”

  “You have known Don your whole life, Papi. Do you really think he had anything to do with it? He was the first person to give our catering business a try. He is at every charity event this county has held, and he loves being a part of this community.”

  “I know, Mama, I know. If I had to answer your question right now, I’d say no, he isn’t capable of something like murder. But I also know how dedicated he is to his breeding business, and how much he loves his dogs. If anyone was mistreating them, I know he’d have a problem with that.”

  “I just can’t see him doing anything as horrible as murdering someone. If he had a problem with how Seth was treating the dogs he sold him, he could have just insisted that he get the dogs back. He could have called and had him charged with animal cruelty.”

  “I know, and I’m not saying he did it, but if I could come to the conclusion I came to, you know it’s just a matter of time before Chief Putnam or someone else does.”

  Ru looked at the clock and realized how late it was, “Oh, my gosh, it’s 2:47 a.m. I have to work in the morning.”

  “You try to get some sleep, sweetheart. I know I won’t be able to sleep. I think I’ll go downstairs and watch some TV.”

  “You’re going to fall asleep on the couch.”

  “If I get sleepy I will come up to bed.”

  Ru laughed and said, “No you won’t, but it’s cute that you think you will.” She held out her arms and he hugged her tight.

  “I love you, Mama.”

  “I love you, too, Papi.”

  Esteban went down to the family room and turned on the TV. He kept the volume low so Ru could try and sleep. He found a movie to watch and made himself comfortable. Within minutes, just as his wife said, Esteban was fast asleep on the couch.

  Chapter 3

  At 5:30 a.m. the Delgados’ alarm clock buzzed and Ru grunted. She had had only a couple hours of sleep and contemplated calling into work. She knew they would understand why she couldn’t come in, but since she was so dedicated to her students, she dragged herself out of the bed and downstairs to make a pot of coffee. When she made it to the bottom of the stairs, she could hear the TV in the other room, so she went in to turn it off, knowing she would find her husband sleeping.

  In the kitchen, she brewed a pot of coffee and read the paper that Esteban had left on the table, open to the gossip column. She didn’t want to believe that a friend of theirs would be willing to kill another man. That feeling brought her back to when she was faced with the possibility that Griffin could have harmed a helpless old lady. She felt strongly that Griffin didn’t do it, and it turned out she was right. She hoped she was right about Don, too.

  When Ru was on her third cup of coffee, Esteban came into the kitchen and looked at his wife, “You look exhausted, Ru. Stay home today.”

  “I can’t. It’s test day today. If I have a substitute, the kids will do bad on their tests because they will be distracted.”

  “Those kids are lucky to have you as their teacher, Mama.”

  “They better know it, too!” Ru replied and then laughed.

  “I need to get going. I’m gonna go get dressed. Can you drag the garbage down to the street for me?”

  “Of course.”

  Ru got dressed and hurried downstairs where she found her husband, waiting at the front door with a Thermos of coffee in hand. She smiled and said, “You say the kids are lucky to have me, but really it is me that is lucky to have you. Thank you, Papi.” She took the Thermos and kissed her husband goodbye. As she drove to the school, Ru focused on work, trying to push the previous day’s events out of her head. It was obvious, however, when she got to the school, that what happened the night before would play a large role in the day.

  All of the students were talking about the murder. Ru noticed there were a handful of stories going around; some were absolutely ridiculous and obviously made up, but one she had heard from multiple people. During one of her classes, when the test was over, the students were allowed to talk freely while Ru graded the tests. She overheard some of her students:

  “Yeah, well, my mom said Washington was going to run for mayor next time and that Mayor Espinoza was afraid to lose his position.”

  “Yeah, right. Can you see the mayor killing someone?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “Uh, duh, because he’s the mayor.”

  “So? Who cares what he does for a living? He is still just a man.”

  “Yeah, a man with ties to the community. Why would he risk everything like that?”

  “I don’t know, why would any other killer want to risk whatever life he has to kill someone?”

  “I don’t think it was the mayor. You’re crazy.”

  “Hey, dude, I’m not the only one who thinks it was Mayor Espinoza. Half the school thinks it’s him.”

  Ru finally stood up and said, “Okay, guys, take a break.”

  She looked right at the two having the conversation and then continued, “I know that what happened yesterday is a big deal, but none of us know exactly what happened and why, and we definitely don’t know for sure who did it. Until the police figure it out
, we need to concentrate on school and not on placing blame on any one person.”

  “But, Mrs. Delgado, Mayor Espinoza …”

  Before he could even finish his sentence, Ru interrupted, “Mayor Espinoza is no more guilty than you or I right now. Were you there? Did you see the mayor kill anyone?”

  “No,” the boy said, hanging his head.

  “Then you can’t say it was him. Besides, Seth Washington was not a threat to Mayor Espinoza. If he ran for mayor, hardly anyone would have voted for him. Come on, now. You all have seen enough movies and TV shows to know there has to be an investigation. Let the police do what they need to do and you guys just focus on what you need to focus on.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  The rest of the day continued in a very similar fashion and she found herself giving the same speech a few more times. She firmly doubted Mayor Espinoza had anything to do with the murder, but decided to pay the mayor a visit after work.

  ~~~

  “Hey, Papi,” Ru said into her phone from the school parking lot.

  “Hi, Mama. How was school?”

  “Well, it was a long day and I spent half of it trying to get the kids to focus on school and not on Seth Washington.”

  “I bet! You on your way home?”

  “I’m going to stop in and see the mayor.”

  “The mayor? Why?”

  Ru responded, “I think he needs to know that rumors are going around about him.”

  “What rumors?” Esteban asked.

  “Well, it seems a lot of kids are talking about him. They think he killed Seth because he was scared Seth would be elected mayor and take his job.”

  Esteban laughed, knowing full well nobody in town would vote for a blowhard like Seth Washington. “Maybe you should let Chief Putnam deal with this.”

  “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I’m just going to let him know what the kids are saying.”

  “Do you want me to meet you there?”

  “No,” Ru started, “He may feel ganged up on if both of us are there. I don’t want him to feel cornered, I just want to give him a heads-up.”

  “Okay, but try to hurry. I don’t like you being out there alone.”

  “Papi, really, don’t worry. Even if he was the killer, do you think he’d do anything to me in his office with so many people around?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Okay, then, I’ll see you soon.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Papi.”

  Ru tucked her phone into her purse and drove over to the city building where the mayor’s office was. She found herself feeling weird about going to talk to the man about a murder. Nothing like that ever had happened in their town. So she figured it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for a resident to want to know what the mayor planned to do about it, so that was the premise she used for talking to him.

  Because the Delgados are known around town due to all of the events they have catered, as well Ru being a beloved teacher, the mayor was willing to meet with Ru without an appointment.

  “Mrs. Delgado, it’s nice to see you,” Mayor Espinoza said.

  “Thanks for seeing me on such short notice, Mayor.”

  “Not a problem, sit,” he said, and pulled out a chair for her. “I don’t have a lot of time, but I can talk for a few minutes.”

  Ru sat down and Mayor Espinoza sat at the desk in front of her. He shuffled some papers around and then looked up at her. “What can I do for you?”

  “Well, after what happened last night, I thought I would stop in and see you.”

  He looked as though he really didn’t want to talk about the night before, but with her in front of him, he really had no choice.

  “It’s an ongoing investigation, and the police are doing everything they can to figure out what happened.”

  “You should know the kids at school are talking…a lot. Some seem to think you were worried Seth would take your job.”

  “No, Mrs. Delgado, I never was worried about my job being in jeopardy.”

  “I just wanted you to know people are talking. Mr. Washington made a lot of waves in the short time he lived here in Willow Crossing.”

  “Waves or no waves, Mr. Washington and I got along fine. He gave a lot of money to the town. He paid for the upgrades to our computer system both for the courthouse and for the police department. He also donated money to start a couple of new social programs.”

  “I didn’t know that. That was very nice of him.” Ru didn’t know where to go with the conversation. It didn’t seem to her that the mayor was going to offer up any information on his own.

  “I’m sure what the kids are saying is just speculation. You know how they get; they hear one thing and it spreads like wildfire.”

  “Well, Mrs. Delgado, I assure you Mr. Washington and I got along fine. I may not have agreed with his plans for Willow Crossing, but he had done some good things for the town.”

  “What was he planning for Willow Crossing?” Ru asked curiously.

  “He wanted to turn it into a tourist attraction. He had some really odd ideas. We had numerous meetings, and I honestly can say the only thing that made them bearable was getting to see his assistant.”

  “Miss Birch is a beautiful woman, isn’t she?”

  The mayor didn’t answer the question, but instead smiled weakly and then said, “I’m sorry, but I’m really busy. I’m about to go into a meeting.”

  Ru knew that was code for, “I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” so she excused herself.

  As she drove home, she went over the conversation in her head and didn’t like how he seemed to answer everything with canned answers, as if he were talking to investigators or at a press conference. She felt like there was more that he wasn’t saying, and hoped she was wrong.

  Chapter 4

  “Wow, that smells amazing!” Ru said as she walked into the kitchen.

  “I didn’t even hear you come in. Did you just get home?” Esteban replied.

  “Yep. I could smell the chicken all the way outside. Thank you for making dinner again.”

  “It’s my pleasure, Mama.”

  “I’m going to change and then I’ll come down and help you.”

  “No need, go change and then we’ll eat. Dinner is ready.”

  Ru went up to change and for the first time all day, she was thinking about something other than Seth’s murder. She instead thought about how lucky she was to have such a wonderful husband. Since they got married, Ru thought she wanted to wait to have children. She knew she wanted to teach and she also wanted time to spend with her husband alone so they could do all the things they wanted to do together. She just recently began wondering if that was a mistake. She knew Esteban would be just as great a father as he was a husband. Ru smiled and went down to the kitchen.

  “What can I do to help, Papi?”

  “Everything is done. Sit and enjoy.” Esteban said, ushering his wife to the table.

  Esteban brought the roasted chicken to the table, followed by his famous mashed potatoes and seasoned sautéed asparagus. He went back to the oven and pulled out a tray of freshly made biscuits and brought a couple over to the table. After filling their glasses with wine, he finally sat across from Ru.

  “Thank you, dear. Dinner looks beautiful,” Ru said, smiling.

  “You are quite welcome. So, tell me, how was your visit with the Mayor?”

  “There really isn’t much to tell. Mayor Espinoza was very vague.”

  “Did you get the feeling he had anything to do with what happened?”

  Ru replied, “The only feeling I got was that he wasn’t saying everything on his mind. He did say that he got along fine with Seth, even if he didn’t agree with him most times. He kind of pretended to be really busy, and only let the meeting take up a few minutes of his time.”

  She took a bite of food and then said, “Oh, I think he has the hots for Mr. Washington’s assistant.”

  Esteban ask
ed, “What makes you say that?”

  “He told me the only thing that made his meetings with Seth Washington worthwhile was getting to spend time with Leanne.”

  “Well, you’d be blind if you didn’t see how attractive she is.” He realized his wife was shooting him a look, so he quickly added, “But not as attractive as you, Mama.”