Twilight (11 page)

11

D
ana had the uneasy feeling that something other than cooperating to find Ken’s killer was on Rick’s mind. It had been a long time since she had been the subject of a fascinated gaze from a man other than her husband, but she hadn’t forgotten the signs. There had been a knowing gleam in Rick’s eye, an easily recognizable flaring of pure lust. She had trembled under that look. It was a reaction she wasn’t crazy about.

Kate had mentioned the sparks in the air between them. They had both interpreted that as pure friction, but what if it was more? No, she thought quickly, she wouldn’t allow it to be anything more. She didn’t even like Rick Sanchez very much. She certainly didn’t trust him. How could she possibly be attracted to him? The lust, if it existed at all, was completely one-sided. It had to be.

Which didn’t mean, of course, that she didn’t have to deal with it. If Rick were ever crazy enough to try something, if he dared to risk this tenuous truce between them by putting the moves on her, she would simply explain to him, in no uncertain terms, that he was way, way off base.

She found herself grinning suddenly at the image of the prim lecture she intended to deliver. Yes, indeed, Rick Sanchez was definitely the kind of man who’d respond well to being told that something—or someone, in this case—was off-limits. He’d probably try to seduce her just to prove how wrong she was. She didn’t have quite enough confidence in her resistance to put herself to that particular test.

“Has anyone signed up for the class?” she asked, hoping the move to a safer topic would alter the sizzling tension in the car.

Rick grinned. “These kids don’t exactly sign up for things. They show up or they don’t. You could have one kid there today or twenty.”

“Or none?”

“That’s a distinct possibility.”

Her spirits sank. She was counting on this overture to pave the way for her. Frustrated, she met Rick’s gaze. “Okay. What then?”

“You’ll just have to find another way to win them over.”

His nonchalant response grated. “You really don’t intend to cut me any slack here, do you?” she asked.

“None,” he agreed as he pulled into his space behind the building.

His attitude solidified her resolve. “Don’t look so smug,” she retorted. “I’ve always loved a good challenge.”

“Then you ought to be in heaven here,” he said, leading the way inside.

Instead of taking her to his office, he continued past it to a small classroom. It was filled with a hodgepodge of desks and chairs of various shapes and sizes. Wood and Formica surfaces alike had been scarred with graffiti. The blackboard bore a similar collection of four-letter words in English, along with what she assumed to be the Spanish equivalents.

“English lessons?” she inquired.

Rick muttered something unintelligible under his breath and grabbed an eraser. The blackboard was wiped clean in a matter of seconds. There wasn’t anything to be done about the desks.

He looked around the dreary, cramped room with a critical gaze, then glanced at her. “It’s not much, but it’s the best I can do.”

“It’ll be fine,” she assured him. “We won’t be spending much time inside, anyway.”

Alarm flared his eyes. “Why not? Where are you thinking of going?”

Dana thought that ought to be obvious. “Outside,” she said patiently. “It’s the best place to teach photography. All of the classes I took spent at least half the time outdoors and most of the rest in the darkroom. Outdoors is where you find the interesting faces, the best scenery, the architectural curiosities. It’s also the best way to work with lighting, to learn to use the camera’s settings for the best effects. It’s where I have the most experience. I’ve never done much indoor or studio work.”

Rick was shaking his head before she could finish. “Dana, I’ve told you how I feel about you being out in this neighborhood. It’s not safe.”

“I’m not going to be alone. The kids will be with me.”

“I don’t know,” he said uneasily. “You’ll be the only
gringa
around, an easy target.”

His choice of words startled her, but she saw at once that he was right. It was an unnecessary risk, one she didn’t dare take with three sons counting on her safe return.

“Can’t you teach the class here, indoors?” he suggested.

“For a week or two, maybe, while I go over the basics. But if you want these kids to really get some experience, we’ll have to venture out sooner or later. Do you have any kind of van to take them someplace else?”

“Are you kidding? On our budget, we can’t afford bus fare. Look, just make it later. I’ll rearrange my schedule so I can come, too.”

She found that prospect almost as disturbing as the idea of being a target. She quickly glanced around the empty room. “All of this planning seems like a moot point, at the moment. The room isn’t exactly overcrowded with students, and it’s already after four.”

“Time is another problem,” he explained with a grin. “They have no sense of it. Part of that’s rebellion, I’m sure. Part of it’s because they’ve never had to adhere to any particular structure in their lives.”

“Is there a bell or something?”

“Nope. Around here, when it’s time for a class or a meeting, there’s only one thing to do—go around the building and round them up.”

Dana nodded. “Okay. You do that. I’ll get set up.”

“Sorry,
querida,
” he said with apparent amusement. “Any rounding up will have to be done by you. I have work to do this afternoon.”

She stared at him. “You expect me to go out there and talk those kids into coming to my class?”

He winked at her. “Pick the right kid and the rest will follow.”

She scowled at him. “Any hints?”

“Nope. I think I’ll let you go with your instincts. I’ll see you around five-thirty or so. That should be about as much as you can take, before you start wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into and whether it’s worth it.”

With that new taunt left hanging in the air, he was gone. Dana sank down on a chair and stared around her. Even if she thought of this as being some sort of elaborate undercover scheme, it was still, without a doubt, the oddest investigation she’d ever conducted.

Or attempted to conduct, she amended, conceding that she hadn’t actually done the first bit of real investigating yet. She’d thrust herself into the midst of potential informants, but until she actually held a conversation with someone, the effort was pretty much wasted.

She could sit here until five-thirty and claim that she’d tried, but Rick would see right through that. Or she could march herself out into the main gym and see who was hanging out. If she ever expected to get any answers, there was only one option. She headed for the gym.

She was barely a few feet from the classroom when she spotted Maria coming her way. The teen beamed at her.

“
Señora
Miller, you did come back. I had to see it with my own eyes. I was sure you would tell Rick to go jump into a stream.”

Dana was so relieved to see a friendly face that she didn’t bother correcting the fractured phrase. “Hi, Maria. I’m about to go in search of prospective students. Any idea where I should start?”

“Rick said I shouldn’t interfere,” she said, then grinned. “But if I were you, I would speak first to Marco.”

Dana instantly recalled the young man who had surveyed her so insolently on her previous visit. He’d seemed dark and dangerous to her then, even with Rick beside her. He was not the person she wanted most to deal with. Naturally, though, that made him the obvious choice. She sighed.

“Where is he?”

“In the gym, as always. He may have given up the streets, but he cannot live without turf of his own. In the gym, he is king.”

“Exactly how did he claim the title?” Dana inquired worriedly.

“As a lion would,” Maria said, innocently creating a very worrisome image. “I must run, before Rick misses me and guesses that I’ve come to see you.”

She vanished almost as quickly and quietly as she’d appeared.

“Ah, yes,” Dana muttered with a trace of bitterness. “We wouldn’t want to upset Rick.”

Sucking in a deep breath, she turned into the gym. Sure enough, Marco was sitting on a bench on the sidelines, holding court. At the sight of her, he fell silent. His sensual mouth curved into a smirk as he lazily surveyed her from head to toe as she approached.

“I see the
padre’s
widow is back,” he said when she drew closer. “I did not expect it.”

“Life is just full of unexpected twists and turns,” Dana replied.

“What brings you back out of your safe little suburban world?”

As an investigator who frequently faced belligerent, defensive individuals, she knew there was only one way to deal with a man like Marco. She had to stand up to him and refuse to let his sarcasm get to her. Just as Rick had been doing with her, she couldn’t help thinking. He probably thought she had a worse attitude than Marco. Now would be a good time to start changing that, she concluded.

“And here I thought you were so tapped into everything that goes on around here,” she said, making the taunt light, but hopefully effective enough to catch his attention. “Haven’t you heard? I’m teaching a photography class.”

“Now, there’s something almost as practical as basket weaving,” he said, drawing nervous laughter. “Another example of the Anglo notion of keeping idle hands busy.”

Dana shrugged off the glib remark. “Who knows? Maybe someone here will have a good enough eye to become a fashion photographer or a photojournalist.”

She glanced at the pregnant girl seated next to him. Rosa, wasn’t it? Even with the extra weight she carried with the baby, she was a beautiful girl. She had gleaming dark hair, high cheekbones and sparkling eyes that, despite Marco, glinted with interest. “Perhaps Rosa, with the right portfolio to show around, could become a model,” she added.

She gave him the same sort of insolent going-over that he’d given her. “Even you, Marco, have an interesting look about you. A bit of attitude...” A massive understatement, she thought. “Strong features. With the right pictures, an agency might take a chance on you. Or with your aggression, you could take your camera into places no one else would dare and become a world-famous photographer.”

A little of his disdain faded, replaced by the tiniest hint of interest. She prayed that the limb she was going out on wouldn’t get chopped off behind her. She did know a handful of people in the modeling business and at ad agencies in Chicago, as well as a few journalists. She could get pictures into their hands. She had no idea what their reactions would be, though.

She did know, however, that there was a danger in building false hope here. Already, these young people had seen too many dreams dashed—their parents’ and their own.

“Don’t get me wrong,” she added as a deliberate caution. “Either side of the camera, it’s hard work. It’s not something for a coward to tackle. It’s a risk. If it pays off, it could pay off very well. Or it could amount to nothing at all.”

“You know people in this business?” Rosa asked, eyes shining with excitement. Clearly she had been intrigued by Dana’s words.

“Shut up,” Marco ordered her harshly.

“No, you,” the girl retorted, undaunted by the order. “It doesn’t hurt to listen, to see what she has to say. That is your trouble, Marco, you never want to listen. You are twenty-two and you think you know everything.”

Dana waited to see which one would win the argument. To her astonishment, something in Marco’s eyes softened as he gazed at Rosa.

“You would want to do this?” he asked. “You would be a model?”

Rosa rubbed her hands over her rounding belly. “When the baby is born, I would like to know I can support her without taking help from anyone.”

Marco said something to her in rapid Spanish, but she refused to back down. Chin up, she faced him defiantly. Eventually he shook his head, his expression resigned.

“Take the class, if it will make you happy,” he said, his tone indulgent.

Rosa’s expression turned speculative then. “You, too, I think,” she told him, clearly not satisfied with her own small victory. “We could do this together.”

Dana thought she detected a faint hint of wistfulness in Marco’s expression, but he refused to accede to Rosa’s request.

“I am not wasting my time in this way,” he said with finality. “The rest of you may do as you like.”

Dana seized the concession as the best she was likely to get. “Rosa, come along. If any of the rest of you would like to join us—even if it’s just to watch what’s going on—we’ll be in the classroom for the next hour.”

To her disappointment, only Rosa followed. Inside the classroom, Rosa regarded her sympathetically. “It is a waste of your time to teach for just one, is it not?” she asked worriedly.

“No,” Dana said at once. “I would rather have one person who is truly interested than a whole roomful of people who are just killing time.” Plus, there would be only one to see how inexperienced she was at this teaching business.

“Now, tell me, would you rather learn how to use the camera or would you rather let me take some pictures and see how they do?” she asked Rosa.

The teenager smiled shyly. “Do you truly think I am pretty enough to be a model?”

“I’m not an expert, but yes, I do.”

“Then take the pictures, please. I would like to have one to show the baby someday, even if nothing else ever comes of this.”

“Why don’t I tell you what I’m doing as I set up anyway? It never hurts to know a little about what the photographer’s job is. I don’t have all the equipment that a professional would have, but we can make do,” she said as she set up her tripod, loaded a fresh memory card into the best of the cameras and mounted it on the stand. “I’ll have to use natural light, which puts us at a disadvantage, compared to all those fancy lights in a photography studio, but it may make the pictures more interesting. I’ll do a few in black-and-white, then some in color.”

Rosa watched what she was doing with obvious fascination. As soon as everything was set up, Dana pointed her toward the teacher’s desk. “Let’s try something up there,” she suggested.