Tres Leches Cupcakes (28 page)

“I don’t know,” Ethan said. “The only thing I can come up with is that someone’s trying to frame me.”

“Why would they tip you off if they were trying to frame you?”

He shrugged again. “I don’t know.”

Sadie glanced down toward Fiesta Park, just a patch of grass from this far up, and processed through everything she’d learned these last several days. Then she turned back to him. “Were your assistants a threat to someone? Could they have both been involved with something criminal?” She meant criminal other than their status as illegal aliens.

“They were good men,” Ethan said, running his hand through his hair again. “I don’t understand how any of this happened. And then there’s your friend who’s missing, and Shel said that the guy he was with at the bar that night was dealing in artifacts, and it’s all just such a mess.”

“Langley?” Sadie said, perking up. “Shel said Langley was dealing in artifacts?”

“Yes.”

“How did Shel find that out?”

“He said he talked to the guy Wednesday night after my exhibit and, even though the guy denied it, you’d told Shel some things that made him think this guy was dirty. That’s also when he told me he was going to Arizona, that things were too much for him here. I couldn’t blame him; I’d leave if I could get out of this that easily. But I don’t see how a guy on the crew being involved with the black market has anything to do with Teodor and Raphael, yet this is going to come back to me. I feel . . . ambushed, and I don’t know why, or what to do.”

“You need to get an attorney and then tell the police the whole truth,” Sadie said, trying to calm him. He shook his head but she continued. “I know that after keeping your secret this long it feels impossible to just put it all out there, but like you said, this is bigger than just you. Teodor and Raphael deserve justice. It can only be found if you help the police find it.” Margo had said in her message that whatever she wanted to tell Sadie was bigger than she thought—did she mean this? What Sadie wouldn’t give to talk to Margo about what she knew.

“Right.” He sounded completely miserable and muttered, “How do I tell my parents?”

“Just tell them,” Sadie said. “Tell everyone the truth. It’s your only protection.”

Sadie peered over the edge of the basket. They’d caught the northern air currents and were now moving closer to the festival grounds rather than away from it. They’d been gone for more than half an hour, but as they got closer to the landing area, Sadie realized she was running out of time to talk with him. “Ethan,” she said, “after my friend left the bar that night, I think she went to your ranch with Kyle Langley.”

“That’s impossible. The ranch isn’t open to the public, and I’d never heard of Kyle Langley until Shel mentioned him the other day.”

“Do you live at the ranch? Were you there that night?”

“I keep an apartment near the plaza, and I was in Mexico the night Shel called me to tell me he’d been arrested. I didn’t get back until Wednesday morning.”

“Did you ask Benny to bail Shel out?”

Ethan nodded.

“I also ran into Benny on Wednesday,” she said, then proceeded to tell him about their encounter. “I won’t deny that he made me very uncomfortable.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Ethan said, but Sadie could see that talking about Benny had raised his defenses. “We’ve had a hard few years at the ranch. We’ve had to cut back on our workers, and with my mother’s health, it’s been a strain on everyone. Benny’s been the glue that holds everything together; I’m sorry he was rude to you.”

“I didn’t realize the ranch was struggling,” Sadie said. The website hadn’t mentioned that detail, but then again, a website wouldn’t get into those types of things. “Is that why you’re cutting back on your photography and turning your attention to the ranch?”

“That’s part of it,” Ethan said. “My mother’s in poor health, and my father wants to spend more time with her and, then, all this business with my assistants and feeling like someone is setting me up—it’s all kind of compounding to show me the only path I can really take right now. I need to get the ranch back on track and ease things up for my dad. I should have done it years ago, really. I’d appreciate it if you kept the status of the ranch quiet. We’ve worked hard not to make a big deal about it, and I’ve been able to help support it with some of the profits from my photography, but money isn’t all that’s needed—the ranch needs someone there, all the time, being attentive and aware. I’m only telling you this because I want you to understand where Benny was coming from. The ranch is his life, and like the rest of my family, he’s dependent on its success—he’s like an uncle to me.”

He leaned over the side of the balloon and did something that made them descend faster than they had before.

“I won’t tell anyone,” she assured him, sensing the heaviness upon Ethan’s shoulders. “Detective Gonzales is the man heading up this investigation. He’s kind and will be fair with you.”

Ethan nodded, but as they approached the landing zone at Fiesta Park, his mood became more and more somber, more and more scared.

“The sooner you call the police back, the better.”

“I know,” he said miserably. “I’ll call them after I talk to my attorney. I promise.”

They landed ten minutes later and parted with a handshake that Sadie turned into a hug. Everyone needed a hug now and then, and Ethan looked truly tormented. What she’d learned felt heavy to Sadie, who didn’t know Ethan’s assistants, but knowing that he cared for them increased her sympathy for the burden he carried.

Before stepping back into her work at the booth, Sadie ducked into the trailer and called Marcus, but ended up leaving him a message recapping her conversation with Ethan. She was following her own advice by being completely up front with everything she learned. After she hung up, she tried to push away the difficult discoveries of the day before returning to the booth, nearly running into Caro at the bottom of the trailer steps as she did so.

“Sorry,” Sadie said, stepping to the side so that Caro could pass her by.

“I’m getting more cookies,” Caro said by way of explanation, not that Sadie needed one. “It’s going to get busy soon.”

“Okay,” Sadie said. How long had Caro been standing there? Could she have heard Sadie leaving the message for Marcus? She thought back to the comment Caro had made Wednesday night about investigating things herself, and she felt another burden of responsibility descend upon her weary shoulders.

“Caro?” she said.

Caro turned at the top of the stairs, her expression unreadable. “What?” Her tone was defensive and cold enough to convince Sadie not to make any accusation that would make things even worse between them.

“Uh, you look nice today.”

Caro seemed startled by the comment. “Thank you,” she said politely before entering the trailer.

“You’re welcome,” Sadie said to no one but herself before returning to the front and praying that the increasing crowds would distract her from her thoughts. She told herself she couldn’t change what had happened to Ethan Standage or his assistants. She’d given him the best advice she had, but it was a poor balm for her heart that ached for the families of Teodor and Raphael.

Cupcakes,
she told herself as she greeted a customer.
Focus on the cupcakes.
If only it were that easy.

Chapter 27

Inez returned from Santa Fe with an air-conditioned carload of cupcakes around three thirty—just in time. Sadie helped her unload the cupcakes to the freezers, then got swept into the early-dinner rush. At five o’clock, Molly, another of Lois’s employees, showed up to help for the rest of the evening, and Lois told Sadie that she was free to go and enjoy the Fiesta.

“You’re sure you don’t need me?”

“I’m sure,” Lois said, waving her away with a smile. “This is your first Fiesta. Go be a part of it.”

Sadie couldn’t deny how much she wanted to see the entirety of the festival. “What time do you need me tomorrow?”

“Is eleven too early?”

“Seven isn’t too early,” Sadie countered. “I have nothing else to do.”

“Well, in that case, if you could come at nine, that would be wonderful. I just don’t want to take your entire morning.”

“I’m
giving
you my morning,” Sadie said. She cast a look at Caro and wondered if she would be working tomorrow as well and if the awkwardness between the two of them was the real reason Lois was encouraging Sadie to leave. Caro seemed to know Sadie was watching her and pointedly turned away, rearranging the cookie platter.

Sadie retrieved her purse and phone from the trailer moments before Lois practically pushed her out of the booth with two Biscochitos cookies—the official cookie of New Mexico—and a cup of hot cocoa. There was no arguing with Lois, and so with a promise to be back tomorrow morning, Sadie left and enjoyed the dinner that was sure to give her a sugar-induced headache. It was delicious, though.

Once her hands were empty, she called Pete. He’d be leaving for Albuquerque first thing in the morning, and his excitement to see the balloons made Sadie smile; he’d been coming to the Fiesta since it had been a few taco stands and two dozen balloons lifting off from a park in Albuquerque.

Sadie sat on one of the bleachers and told him about her conversation with Ethan, inviting back all the mournful feelings she had successfully pushed away while she’d been working at the booth.

“Marcus hasn’t called me back yet,” Sadie said when she finished her explanation.

“He might not ever call you back. You’re not a member of the investigative team. But you did the right thing passing on what you know.”

“I know that,” Sadie said, looking up at the sky and wondering when the balloons would come back. There was an evening event in less than two hours, but even the balloons that had been giving rides had disappeared. “It’s just that every time I learn something new, I feel that pull to dig into the story again, and I have to start all over with the separation.” She let out a breath. “It’s a difficult balance.”

Pete commiserated with her, reminded her that she’d done the right thing and that he’d be there soon to distract her.
That
sounded wonderful. They spoke for a few more minutes about Caro’s coldness and Pete’s training, which had gone very well despite him going AWOL for the Tuesday classes. Finally, Pete admitted to having some things to do before he left in the morning, and they said good night.

A beautiful sunset was turning the underbelly of the clouds dusty shades of pink and orange, and attendees were beginning to move out onto the big, grassy arena at the center of the park.

There were a few vans and trucks scattered along the field, and as the sun set, more vehicles drove out. Sadie thought it would be hard for the balloons to land with all these vehicles out there, but soon the van doors opened and the tailgates came down, revealing balloon baskets and large rolls of bright fabric. Apparently some balloons would be inflated right now. Cool. Sadie followed the crowds somewhat blindly, not sure where everyone was going but not wanting to miss it. She searched the sky again and frowned—not a balloon in sight.

The sun was almost gone when she looked across the field to see a bright splash of purple and blue begin to billow up from the ground. She turned the other direction where a green-and-black bubble was growing larger on the other end of the field, and she realized she’d been completely off base. The balloons must have come back from their mass ascension earlier in the day rather than float around the valley all day as she’d assumed. The balloonists were now reinflating them, but would they take off again for an after-dark show? Could balloons fly at night?

To her immediate left, a red, white, and blue mound rose up from the ground, the silky fabric shifting and rippling in the breeze that had picked up as the sun went down. She continued moving closer to the center of the field and then stopped and slowly turned in order to take it all in. Hot air balloons blossomed in every direction. Yellow, pink, white, orange. The sight nearly took her breath away.

“Step left! Step left!” a man shouted.

Sadie startled, but followed his instructions and stepped left moments before a long snake of nylon rolled right where she’d been standing. She traced the fabric back to a basket nearly thirty yards away from her. A woman was attaching the limp balloon to fixtures on the edge of the basket.

Sadie continued walking backward in order to get out of the way, only to have someone grab her arm to stop her. She looked up just as another long bundle rolled out a few feet behind her. The man who’d kept her from stepping into the balloon’s path nodded to her as he let go of her arm. He tipped his cowboy hat in her direction before continuing across the field, which was becoming more and more colorful by the moment.

Sadie didn’t even think to say thank you until he was too far away to have heard her, so she thought it instead and hoped it would still count.
Did he look familiar?
she asked herself, then shook it off. Was it so hard for her to be uninvolved that she was making up things to worry about? She thought back to her paranoia at the café that morning, when she’d thought the man on the corner was watching her. Ridiculous.