The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind (15 page)

Dalia —

I’ll miss your kisses, but when I’m working, I’ll come back with plenty of presents for you to make the wait worth it. Conchita’s friend is hiring workers for his restaurant. It all looks good. Keep an eye on my baby sister. I trust no one better than you.

Remember me.

Rafael

Sonia’s mind raced. So this was the letter. But there was nothing here about a lizard. There was nothing here at all that could help Sonia find Rafael. She could think of only one person who might be able to help her now.

She ran to the window and leaned over the balcony, gauging the drop to the garden below. If she hung from the balustrade by her hands, she could reach the rose trellis. She already had one leg over the railing before Eva lunged after her in a panic.

“Get back here! Where do you think you’re going? You can’t leave me here with your grandmother’s spirit blowing around!”

“I’m going to the main house to make a phone call. I have to find out who Conchita Fo sent Rafael with.”

But Eva only pulled back harder.

“Using
la señora
’s phone without permission? No! It will be trouble for all of us if you’re caught, and I can’t risk my hide for you, Sonia. You’re staying right here,
mi amor,
” Eva said. “Don’t make me wake Ramona.”

Sonia thought quickly and rushed back inside. She dug through her closet until she found the fancy shoes Tía Neli had given her as a traveling gift.

“Take these,” Sonia said, holding up the high-heeled shoes. “My aunt says they’re wonderful for dancing.”

The heels were stacked, the toes pointed and shiny. Eva hesitated.

“Take them,” Sonia urged. “Take them and say nothing. I’ll be back in a little while — I swear it on Luis’s grave.”

Moments later Sonia stole across the damp grass in her white nightdress. From the balcony it seemed to Eva that her friend’s feet were barely touching the ground. She shuddered to see that the girl moved like a ghost herself.

T
HE PARLOR DOORS
were already open when Sonia arrived, as though she’d been expected in the eerie purple room. Her bare feet felt cold against the tile as she crept toward the phone on the desk. At this hour, the chairs looked like hunchbacks, the clock on the mantle like the face of a demon.

Sonia stared at the phone, trying to decide how best to reach Pancho — not that there were many options. There were only three telephones in all of Tres Montes to choose from: one at the telegraph office, another with Señor Arenas, and the third at the police station. At this hour of the night, only the police station would have anyone there who could fetch Pancho from his bed.

It took six rings before a young man’s sleepy voice came on the line.

“Police.” Static crackled through the line. “Hello?”

“Yes, yes, I’m here,” Sonia stammered.

“Who is calling?”

“This is Sonia Ocampo. Is that you, Tomás?”

Tomás Melendez was the police chief’s apprentice, a boy not much older than Sonia.

“Sonia Ocampo?” Another series of crackles sounded. “Speak up,” he said. “You sound a million miles away.”

“I
am
a million miles away — or very nearly. I’m working in the capital.”

“What’s the matter, then, for you to be calling in the middle of the night?”

A sound behind her made Sonia turn to listen. Nails against tile floor and a faint whine: the greyhounds were wandering nearby. She cupped her hand over the receiver and lowered her voice further.

“Listen carefully, Tomás. I need to speak to a friend of mine. It’s very urgent. Can you find him for me at this hour? I’d be grateful forever.”

“Who is it?”

“Pancho Muñoz . . . from school. He lives with Señor Pasqual now. He’s —”

“Pancho Muñoz? The orphan?”

“The
taxi boy.
” There was no time to argue. “Can you find him quickly? I can call back in exactly ten minutes.”

Tomás hesitated. “I don’t know, Sonia. Is this urgent business? This is a police station, after all. Capitán Fermín wouldn’t like me lending his phone for social calls.”

“For God’s sake, Tomás. Do you think I’d call to chat at this hour? Now, stop dallying, please. I’ll call back in ten minutes.”

She hung up the phone and crawled under the desk to wait.

Ten minutes later, Pancho picked up the phone on the first ring.

“Sonia! Is that you? What’s wrong?”

Static crackled loudly, but Sonia could make out his voice. For the first time since reading her father’s letter, she felt a ray of hope.

“Pancho! Forgive me for waking you in the middle of the night. I hate to ask this, but you said I could call you if I ever needed anything. I need your help now.”

“I’ll do anything. What do you need?”

“I need to know about my brother’s disappearance.” There was a long pause on the other end of the line as Sonia listened to the pops and fizzles. “Hello? Are you still there?”

“Yes,” Pancho whispered. “I’m sorry.”

“Listen carefully,” she continued. “I have a question.”

“Sonia, I —”

“What do you know about iguanas?”

“What?” he blurted out.

“Iguanas! Like the lizard.”

“Nothing; everything.” Pancho stammered. “Is
that
the question?”

“Yes.”

“Ah.” He sounded strangely relieved. “But what does
that
have to do with helping you? I don’t understand.”

“I wish I knew! It’s that Rafael is missing, and Abuela has just come to see me about it. She told me to find an iguana. Oh, I don’t know. It’s all a mess. All I know for certain is that Conchita Fo made his arrangements. Please, Pancho, see what you can find out.”

“But —”

Sonia sat up and listened. There was whimpering next door and the sound of shuffling.

“Sonia?” Pancho’s voice was still coming through the receiver. She hung up just as the door swung open.

T
HE GREYHOUNDS BOUNDED
in, jumping up at her. Sonia let out a tiny yelp.

Smiling in the doorway — and admiring the silhouette of her figure through her thin nightdress — was Umberto Masón.

“Imagine finding a pretty prowler in the middle of the night. Were you sleepwalking, or am I the one dreaming?” he asked a little too pleasantly. He was still in a dress shirt and black pants, recently returned, she assumed, from one of his parties.

Sonia felt his eyes on her breasts. She crossed her arms and kept her eyes trained on him as he walked slowly in her direction.

Umberto gave her a knowing look as he spotted the phone nearby.

“What are you doing here barely dressed? Not that I’m complaining.”

Sonia’s tongue felt too thick to move.

“No, you don’t have to answer,” he said, shrugging. “I think I can already guess. It’s terrible to find yourself alone in bed. You were in my aunt’s parlor making calls to your boyfriend to help you feel better.
Without
permission. Yes?”

Sonia could smell the cigars and scotch on his clothes.

“Don’t worry,” Umberto continued, smiling. “My aunt has many silly rules. Your secret is safe with me. In fact, all of you is safe with me.”

Sonia forced herself to speak.

“It’s not what you believe, Señor Umberto,” she whispered. “I’m sorry to have taken such liberties. I needed to call home right away; there’s been an emergency.”

“Oh?” He was staring again at her necklace, at the buttons on her nightdress, at the points of her breasts through the fabric. “What’s the emergency?”

Here Sonia fell silent. How could she explain about Rafael, about Abuela?

“It was silly,” she said finally. “A misunderstanding that’s all resolved now. I’ll go. Thank you again.”

She started toward the open patio doors when his hand grazed her waist and pulled her back. She could feel the heat of his palm through her nightdress, but it was not at all a comfort. Nothing like the way she imagined Pancho’s hand would feel on her waist.

“I have to go,” she said.

“What’s the rush? It’s a lovely night, isn’t it?”

Sonia’s heart quickened as his long fingers drew upward along her arms. Outside the wind gusted fiercely, snapping branches in the yard. Flash lightning lit the sky. The dogs, meanwhile, had dropped down and were growling at something outside.

“Please stop, Señor Umberto,” she said, stepping back. His sour breath repelled her. “I don’t want this. I should get back home. Eva is a light sleeper. If she wakes, she’ll be worried.”

But Umberto only moved closer. He pressed her close to the wall, and all at once his hands were around her waist and his tongue slid along her neck. Sonia pushed with all her might, but she was useless against the weight of his body as he tried to lift her nightdress over her thighs.

Suddenly, a gust of wind shot through the yard and caught the patio doors, banging them open hard enough so that glass shattered in an explosion. The shards pierced Sonia’s bare feet and arms. Umberto released her instantly, yelping and trying to pull the glass pieces from his cheeks. Almost immediately there were footsteps and shouts from all directions.

Oscar and the gardeners appeared in the yard, holding sticks.

“Sonia?” Oscar asked, his eyes darting warily from Umberto to Sonia. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?” He stepped forward and took her arm. “Tell me the truth,
niña.
What’s happened?”

The light snapped on inside the parlor, and the room went bright. Sonia felt as though she were caught in a spotlight on a stage. She squinted to see who had arrived in the doorway.

“Go back to bed, Oscar,” Teresa hissed. “I’ll handle this.”

She was holding an antique pistol in a shaking hand.

P
ANCHO LOOKED THROUGH
the open window and saw Conchita laughing at the bar. Glassy-eyed admirers surrounded her and toasted her beauty.

“Are you sure you want to go in there, Pancho?” Armando, who had followed Pancho all the way to La Jalada, pointed at the bar and squinted to get a better look. “It’s the middle of the night, and even Mongo looks like he’s waiting for someone to kill.
¡Jesucristo!
Look at that cannibal!”

A cleaver went hurtling toward the wall.

“Don’t be silly,” Pancho said. “He’s just playing darts.”

Armando’s eyes grew wide as he ducked back down.

“Have you finally gone crazy, Pancho Muñoz? It’s bad enough you’ve been driving like a lunatic for days. Then you run off to the police station in your underwear to take a phone call in the middle of the night. Now this! What’s between your ears?”

“The only thing that’s ever been there: imagination,” Pancho said honestly. “Hopefully, that will do.”

Armando thumped his friend on the side of the head. “Imagine this, then, you fool: Señor Pasqual’s face when he finds out you’re hanging around with these drunks instead of picking up fares to pay him back for your bike repairs.”

Pancho gave Armando an impatient look. “Then, don’t tell him.”