Bad Habit (12 page)

A uniformed officer stopped him.
Angel showed his badge and asked who was in charge. He was directed
to a tall African-American man in plain clothes.

“
Are you Sergeant Tolliver?” he
asked.

The large man turned with his back
bowed and his chin jutting at an angle. “I’m Sergeant E. E.
Tolliver. Who wants to know?” His rich baritone was softened by his
Texas accent.

The uniformed officer beside him
had a mostly black German shepherd on a leash. The dog’s ears were
on alert and he eyed Angel suspiciously.

“
I’m Detective Garcia and I’m way
out of my jurisdiction.” He handed his badge to the Sergeant and
dug a card out of his pocket.

A deep crease between the
Sergeant’s brows attested to his perpetual frown. “New York City?
You are a long way from home, but you don’t sound like no Yankee.
Why are you here?” He returned the badge but kept the
card.

“
I’m from San Antonio originally,
but I live in New York. I came down on a case. What’s going on
here?”

“
There’s been a homicide. Do you
have anything to tell me about it?” The Sergeant glared at Angel
with the same suspicion as the dog.

“
Who was the victim?” Angel
asked.

“
Look for yourself. He’s got no ID
on him.” The Sergeant stepped back to reveal a crime scene tech
taking pictures and another gathering evidence from around the
body.

Angel stepped closer and recognized
the crumpled form. He squatted on his haunches. The corpse stared
into the trees with a surprised expression on his face. His glasses
were missing and the comb-over had flapped down to cover his right
ear. The front of his shirt was stained with a large amount of
blood and his pockets had been turned inside out.

“
Well, do you know him or not?”
Sergeant Tolliver drew his brows closer together and jutted his
chin out even farther.

“
I know his name. He’s a local PI
named Marcel Farmer.”

“
And just how do you happen to know
his name?” The sergeant planted his fists on his hips and leaned
over Angel.

Angel stood up and Tolliver stepped
back abruptly.

“
He was indirectly involved with my
case.” Angel took a few steps away from the crime scene.

“
Well I guess you just better start
talking about your case then because I’m thinking you could be
involved with this Marcel Farmer’s demise.”

Angel raised a skeptical brow. “I
flew down to follow up on a lead. A man was killed in New York City
and his girl friend went missing. The woman’s only relative is a
nun and she teaches at St. Pius.” He decided to leave out Teri’s
identity to prevent her being drawn into this case.

“
How does that have any bearing on
this man being killed?”

“
I wish I knew. Farmer was hired by
someone to search for the woman. He was keeping surveillance on the
nuns in case the missing woman showed up.”

“
And you know this
because...”

“
Because I was doing the same
thing.” Angel grinned at him, but didn’t get any change in the
sergeant’s demeanor. “I confronted him a couple of nights ago. I
wanted to make sure he wasn’t one of the killers.”

“
And how did you happen to turn up
here so conveniently tonight? Did you have some reason to think Mr.
Marcel Farmer would meet his maker right here in the early morning
hours?”

“
I received a call from one of the
nuns. She was worried about the commotion so I promised her I would
check it out.”

“
You don’t mean to tell me that a
nun could see these goings on from a block away?” Tolliver’s voice
had taken on a strident tone and his upper lip was curled back in a
snarl.

“
The nun’s apartment is right up
there.” Angel turned and pointed to the second story landing in
front of the apartment. He thought he saw movement at the window as
though someone had been peering out from behind the
curtains.

“
They let them nuns live there?”
The sergeant sounded incredulous. “I thought they keep them all
locked up behind walls.”

“
It’s a new day, Sergeant,” Angel
said.

The sergeant, missing his meaning
looked up at the sky. It was somewhat lighter and long fingers of
pink were just beginning to reach across the horizon.

“
Ain’t that the damned truth?” He
dug a slightly wrinkled card from his pocket and handed it to
Angel. “I’m gonna check out your story and you better not be
holdin’ nothin’ back.”

Angel made his way back to his car
and called Sister Clement on his cell. He told her what had
happened and that the local police might check to see if she had
seen anything. He asked her to be careful and suggested that the
nuns make the trek to and from the convent as a group and not to go
anywhere alone.

“
Ooh, Detective Garcia. Do you think
we’re in any danger?”

“
I couldn’t say, Sister but I think
it’s good to be cautious.”

“
Do you think we should stay at the
convent for a few days? There’s plenty of room for the three of
us.”

“
That would be a great idea, Sister
Clem.” Angel grinned as he spoke. “I’d hate to have something
happen to any of you.”

He drove back to his parent’s house
making a detour to a bakery with a drive-through window. He picked
up fresh doughnuts and kolaches still warm from the oven. When he
entered through the back door, his mother was pouring a second cup
of coffee for his father.

His parents turned to look at him with the same
expression they had given him when he was a teenager coming in
late.

“
What?” he asked with a
grin.

“
You’re up early,” Arturo
commented.

“
I thought I’d pick up fresh
kolaches.” He set the boxes on the kitchen table.

“
How thoughtful, Mijo,” Isabel said.
“And what else did you think you would do?”

“
What do you mean?” he
asked.

“
Don’t even play the innocent with
us.” Arturo folded the section of the newspaper he’d been
reading.

“
What’s going on?” Isabel motioned
Angel to a chair and seated herself between her husband and oldest
son.

“
I’m working, Mom,” he
said.

“
Like I said before, what else?”
Isabel gave him a look that all mothers know how to deliver and
police interrogators would do well to learn.

“
I told you, I came down here on a
case and I had to follow up on something. I can’t tell you more
than that.”

“
And Teri? How is she involved in
your case?” Isabel spoke with quiet authority.

“
I can’t discuss it with you.” He
tried giving them his stone wall face.

“
But you can tell us whether you’ve
brought a felon into our home.” Arturo’s words earned him a little
slap on his arm from Isabel.

“
No, no. We don’t think she’s a
criminal,” Isabel said. “It’s just that you work in homicide now
and we worry about you. We don’t think you would fall in love with
a bad person.”

Angel grinned and snagged a doughnut. “And who said
I’m in love with her?”

Isabel made a scornful noise in the
back of her throat. “Your face,” she said. “It’s written all
over.”

“
Don’t you like her?” Angel gave
his mother a searching gaze.

“
Of course I do! She’s perfect for
you and she’s Catholic. Her sister is a nun.”

“
And you, Pop? What do you
think?”

“
I think it’s about time you found
someone. You need to settle down and get married.”

“
Yes, and make babies,” Isabel
said. “Your children will be beautiful. I want lots and lots of
beautiful grandbabies.”

Angel rose from the table. “Well,
that’s settled then.” He headed up the stairs to grab a shower
before the others woke up. “I just have to tell her,” he said under
his breath.

#

Teri experienced a moment of
confusion when she awoke. She was in a child’s room with well-used
baseball equipment stacked in the corner. She stretched and smiled,
remembering where she was.

Angel’s bed.

She stared at the vintage Metallica
poster affixed to the ceiling. A stack of dog-eared baseball cards
sat on the bedside table under a lamp with more baseball cards
stuck in the shade. She was sensing a theme.

A small desk by the tall casement
window held a school photo of Angel in a navy blazer with a crisp
white shirt and burgundy tie. The thick dark hair and large brown
eyes were the same. Angel’s sons would look like this.

Teri shook herself and threw back
the covers. In the real world, her life was a mess. She was in
danger and she had endangered people she cared about. Teri put her
bare feet on the cool oak floor. She tied the belt to her
terrycloth robe and peeked out into the hallway. The smell of
coffee and bacon wafted up the stairway. She made a quick dash to
brush her teeth and wash her face but hadn’t finished before
someone was banging on the bathroom door. She stuck her toothbrush
in the pocket of her robe and ventured out into the
hall.

Angel’s brother Mikey leaned
against the door frame. “Oh! I didn’t know it was you.”

“
Sorry if I took too long,” she
said.

“
No. Take your time.” Mikey flushed
and dropped his razor. He held it up to show her. “I can’t leave it
in the bathroom or one of the girls will use it on their
legs.”

Teri laughed and padded back to
Angel’s room. When she dressed and went down stairs she found Angel
at the table reading the newspaper. His great-grandmother had
finished eating and was sipping hot tea from a dainty porcelain
cup.

Isabel flashed a smile and pointed
to the food on the sideboard. “Help yourself.”

“
First, let me return these.” Teri
held out her hand and placed the sapphire earrings in Isabel’s
palm. “Thank you so much for allowing me to wear them. Knowing that
they belonged to your mother made the experience even more
special.” Teri folded the black lace shawl over Isabel’s arm and
gave her a hug.

Isabel gazed briefly at the gems in
her hand and glanced at Angel, raising her brows in an unspoken
question.

“
Come sit down, Teri.” Angel poured
coffee into a cup at the place next to him.

Wordlessly, Isabel closed her
fingers around the earrings and slid them into the pocket of her
apron.

Teri slipped into the chair and
smiled at Angel. “Good morning.” She gazed into his eyes,
acknowledging the pleasure she found there.

“
Right back at you. Did you sleep
well?”

“
I was asleep before my head touched
the pillow...Your pillow.”

“
I kept thinking about you there. I
felt so far away from you.”

“
Me too.” She dropped her gaze.
“You were an adorable little boy. I didn’t realize you were a
Metallica fan.”

He rolled his eyes and grinned. “And I ate, slept
and breathed baseball.”

“
I could tell.”

Elena and Rosario came down the
stairs followed by Mikey.

“
Where’s Esme?” Angel
asked.

“
Dead to the world. She’s not used
to staying up so late,” Rosario said. “Last night she fell asleep
in the car and Pop had to carry her inside like she was five years
old.”

Teri pushed away from the table and
helped herself to scrambled eggs and bacon. As she returned to her
seat Isabel placed a stack of fresh flour tortillas on the table.
Angel took one and loaded it with bacon and eggs and spooned a
healthy dose of salsa down the center before rolling it up. Teri
followed his lead, giving him a questioning look as she pointed to
the salsa.

“
It’s a little spicy,” he
said.

“
It’s pica,” Rosario
said.

Teri spooned some of the salsa on
her eggs before biting into the filled tortilla. It had enough heat
to make her eyes water.

“
Too hot?” Rosario
asked.

Teri nodded, chewing as rapidly as
she could.

Isabel brought her a glass of milk
and Angel took her plate and filled a new one.

“
Why don’t you start over?” he
said.

She couldn’t taste the next few
bites but they served to quell the fire raging in her mouth as well
as fill her stomach. The fact that she was unable to speak went
unnoticed because everyone else was talking.

The Garcia family seemed to be able
to communicate without anyone completing a sentence and each member
was capable of conducting more than one conversation
simultaneously.

By the time Teri bit into a doughnut her taste buds
were beginning to regain their function.

Isabel waved her off when she
attempted to help clear the table.

“
Remind me,” she said to Angel as
they walked away from the dining room, “never to put anything in my
mouth that could remotely be described as ‘pica’.”