Tres Leches Cupcakes (7 page)

“There’s something else that’s been bothering me,” Sadie said, deciding this was as good an opportunity as any to ease into the other purpose for her visit.

“Yeah?” Margo asked, lifting her eyebrows expectantly.

“Shel—the guy who found the second body—he was digging after Bill told everyone to stop.”

Margo looked to the side and pondered that for a few moments. “That’s right, Bill
had
told everyone to stop, hadn’t he? Even us. He didn’t want us to keep digging up that first body.”

Sadie nodded. “Shel’s only been working with D&E for a month. He said they paid better than the last company he was with and—”

Margo’s phone chirped and she picked it up, reading something before looking up at Sadie. “Langley got called back to the dig too.”

“Oh,” Sadie said, feeling like chopped liver.

“Anyway,” Margo said, putting her phone down again, “even though he’s new with D&E, Shel’s been working digs for years, right? He knows better than to keep digging.”

“Right, and everyone else had stopped. Plus the first van had left already so there could be no doubt he knew that the dig was closed for the day.”

“Yeah,” Margo said, “that’s weird.” She paused for a moment, then picked up her phone again. “Want me to find out what he has to say about it?”

“You have Shel’s number too?”

“No, but Langley might. They hung out a fair amount on the site. I bet he could put us in touch with Shel.”

Sadie leaned forward, all tingly with anticipation. “What would we say to him?”

“Ask him why he kept digging,” Margo said matter-of-factly.

It was hard to argue with her logic, so Sadie didn’t bother. Margo pushed a few buttons on her phone, then held it to her ear.

“He better answer,” Margo said. “He owes me.” A second later she straightened. “Langley? Yeah, I’m good. . . . Yeah, I’m on the crew starting on Thursday too. . . . Hey, I’m looking to get in touch with Shel, and you guys seem to be buddies, so . . . I just need to talk to him about something. . . . No big deal. . . . Seriously, no big deal.” She rolled her eyes at Sadie and Sadie smiled at her encouragingly. “Yeah . . . I’d prefer in person.”

Sadie startled slightly—a face-to-face meeting? Of course those were always more effective, but they could be intimidating all the same. Then again, maybe only Margo would go. Sadie wasn’t sure if that thought was a relief or a disappointment.

Margo paused for a few more seconds. “Langley,” she said in a flat, even tone. She was too calm—and a little scary. She leaned forward, completely focused on the call. “You owe me for what you did to that little girl. If you know where he’s going to be, then tell me and we’re square.” Then she was quiet again, listening.

Sadie swallowed, really glad she wasn’t in Langley’s shoes right now.

“I know where that is. North end, right?” Margo said after several seconds passed. “What time should I run into you guys? . . . Perfect, I’ll look for you.”

She hung up and tossed her phone back on the coffee table. “Looks like we’ve got a double date tonight,” she said, getting to her feet with a triumphant smile. “They’ll be at The Conquistador. I wouldn’t call it classy, but for a bar, it’s not a total dive.”

“Oh,” Sadie said with more surprise than she’d have liked Margo to hear. Suddenly everything was moving really fast. “A bar. Right. I can go to a bar.”

Margo cocked her head to the side. “Have you ever been to a bar?”

“Sure,” Sadie said, thinking of the time she and Gayle ended up at a bar in Fort Collins; they were getting a flat tire repaired at the auto shop next door and needed some place to eat. It had been dark and smoky inside the flat square building, but it had played good music and the soup of the day, Chicken Tortilla, had been surprisingly good. It even had avocados in it. Maybe this bar would have some really good food too.

Margo picked up her phone again. “Give me your number and address, and I’ll pick you up at nine tonight.”

“That late?”

Margo smiled slightly. “You’ve never been to a bar in your life.”

“I have,” Sadie declared, nodding her head to further convince Margo that she was familiar with the bar scene. “Nine o’clock is great. But what if they stand us up? Langley didn’t seem . . . happy about this.”

“If they stand us up, then we’ll know one of them is hiding something,” Margo said with confidence.

“Oh. Good point.”

“Trust me,” Margo said. “This will be perfect.” She lifted one arm and took a sniff of her armpit, making Sadie wince and look away. “I better take a shower though.”

Sadie let herself out of Margo’s after they exchanged phone numbers.

After stopping at the library and then at the Mexican market for the tortillas, Sadie told herself it was silly to be so worried about going to a bar. Margo wasn’t worried. But Margo and Sadie were very different women.
But with the same goal,
she reminded herself. She’d been fine at that bar in Fort Collins, and she’d be fine here too. Besides, she’d seen
Cocktail
and
Coyote Ugly
—she knew what she was getting into.

Tostadas Compuestas

Chili con carne

2 pounds course ground pork or beef (pork tastes better)

4 tablespoons red chili powder

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon oregano

4 cups hot water

Tomato juice, as needed

In a large mixing bowl, combine meat, chili powder, garlic, and flour. In a large, heavy skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until tender. Add meat and cook until brown. Add salt, cumin, and oregano. Add water and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour. Add tomato juice as needed if chili becomes too dry. Add additional amounts of salt, cumin, and oregano as needed to get the flavor you prefer. Keep mixture warm on stove until the tortillas are done being fried.

Note: For a slow cooker version, brown meat according to recipe, then transfer to a slow cooker. Add seasonings, three cups of water, and one cup of tomato juice. Cook on low for up to 8 hours, or on high for 2 to 3 hours.

Tostadas

2 quarts oil, for frying

Corn tortillas (3 to 4 per person)

Cheese, grated

Lettuce, shredded

Sour cream

Pinto beans, warm

Tomatoes, diced

Guacamole (optional)

In a deep, heavy saucepan, heat oil over medium to medium-high heat. (You know the oil is at the right temperature when you can drop a small piece of tortilla into the oil and it floats to the top and starts to sizzle. If it sinks to the bottom, the oil is not hot enough. No bueno.)

Stack the tortillas three at a time and make 4 slits, about an inch out from the middle on each side, forming a rough square pattern in the center of the tortilla. Set a cooling rack over a sheet pan to drain and cool the shells. Drop the tortillas one at a time into the hot oil. When the tortilla floats back up to the surface, press a soup ladle into the middle of the tortilla so that the edges fold up and around the ladle. This will form the shape of the tortilla bowl.

Hold the ladle in place for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the ladle and flip the tortilla over to check brownness. You want the tortilla to just barely have some color. If it looks too golden, then it will taste overcooked. Place the tortilla bowl upside down on the rack to drain and cool.

Once all the tortillas have been fried, layer the additional ingredients according to your preference. Enjoy!

Note: If using canned pinto beans, drain and rinse them. Add them to a small saucepan with a small amount of fresh water, and heat up before serving.

Note: Caro always puts the cheese into the tortilla shell first, so that the chili makes it all gooey and melty. Mmmm.

Note: Caro is offended that I put “Optional” after guacamole.

Chapter 6

The room Sadie stayed in at Rex and Caro’s house was referred to as “the apartment,” but was really just a large bedroom, complete with a small table and sitting area, its own fireplace, and full bathroom. They had designed it for Rex’s mother who had lived with them up until four years ago when she’d passed away. Their daughters had shared it after that, certainly enjoying the independence it afforded them.

It did not, however, have its own outside entrance, which meant Sadie had to come and go through the front door of Rex and Caro’s home. She didn’t mind, of course, but couldn’t help thinking that the resell value would have been much improved if they had added an exterior door.

It reminded Sadie of her friend, Fiona, an avid gardener who’d ripped out her only full bath in favor of a greenhouse area she felt sure would work well with the existing skylight. After the remodel, the house was left with one bathroom complete with a shower, which was fine with Fiona since she had issues with the unsanitary nature of bathwater.

The greenhouse never quite worked as well as she’d hoped it would—there wasn’t enough light, and it looked downright strange to have a greenhouse inside your home. Five years later, Fiona decided to move and had to put the full bath back in because the market had gone soft and she couldn’t compete with all the other two-bath homes on the market. It cost her nearly $12,000. Point being: resell mattered, even if you weren’t planning to move soon.

At five minutes to nine, Sadie was putting the final touches on her hair when she heard the sound of an engine in the driveway. She peeked out her window that overlooked the front lawn and saw Margo’s faded green Land Cruiser come to a stop. Having had hours to think about what the night might become, Sadie was a bundle of nerves. A real-life bar! At night!

She grabbed her purse and turned off the light in the apartment before sneaking past the living room where Rex was watching a sport fishing show. Caro was organizing her photo box—twenty-five years’ worth—and pouting a little at not having been invited to go to the bar too.

Sadie had anticipated her reaction and so had waited to tell her until after they’d made the Tostadas Compuestas—little taco salads in corn tortilla bowls—one of Caro’s favorite family recipes. Caro might have been more inclined to argue about it if she hadn’t already promised Rex she’d spend the evening with him. Watching a show about marlins while sorting photos didn’t seem quite date-worthy, in Sadie’s opinion, but then she hadn’t been married for thirty years either. She and her late husband, Neil, had celebrated their eleventh anniversary a few months before he died of a massive heart attack, leaving her a widow and a single mother of their two adopted children. She’d always envied those people who had long, comfortable marriages, but she understood that there were trials to be had there too.

Sadie shut the front door quietly behind her and headed toward the Land Cruiser. Margo met her on the front walk, bringing Sadie up short as they appraised each other. Margo was wearing quite a bit of makeup, including some bright red lipstick that looked like wet paint. Sadie tsked in her mind over the tight pink tank top that left too little to the imagination. Margo was trim and athletic, but she was close to forty; and regardless of age and fitness level, modesty was a good rule of thumb for any woman.

After a few seconds, Margo shook her head and smiled sympathetically. “You can’t go to a bar looking like that.”

Sadie looked down at her khaki capris, cute brown sandals with just a hint of a heel, and flowing patterned blouse with a little ruffle at the neck. Caro had helped her reinvent her wardrobe with regular shopping trips to the fabulous boutiques in Old Town. Sadie was better dressed than she’d been in years.

“I thought I looked nice,” she said, frowning. She eyed Margo’s top again and hoped she wasn’t supposed to dress like
that.

“Exactly,” Margo said, taking Sadie by the shoulders and turning her back to the house. “Too nice. It’s not that kind of bar.”

Fifteen minutes later, Sadie stood in front of the full-length mirror attached to the back of the bathroom door in her apartment and pulled at the black fitted T-shirt she usually wore underneath other shirts, not by itself. It hadn’t fit this well a year ago, however. One of the positive side effects of Sadie’s trip to Kaua’i last spring was that she’d lost her appetite and, in the process, dropped nearly twenty pounds. Of course, she’d gained half of it back once she came home thanks to a six-week trip to England with her two children. But within a week of returning from
that
trip, she was in New Mexico and Caro was dragging Sadie to her Zumba and spinning classes every day.

Sadie hated the bikes, but the Latin American dance class was kind of fun. She didn’t have Caro’s moves, but the other people in the class didn’t seem to mind that she flopped around like a drunken monkey in the back of the room. She’d lost five pounds of the weight she’d gained back. Though she felt arrogant to say so, even to herself, she looked good in the top Margo had picked out for her. In addition, Margo had chosen a pair of Sadie’s straight leg jeans and folded them up into too-wide cuffs. A pair of silver ballet flats out of Sadie’s closet and a chunky turquoise necklace of Caro’s that Sadie hadn’t returned yet completed the outfit to Margo’s standards.