“Our Mariana…” The man said sadly. “Yes, no one claimed her body after it was brought here from her home. We had to bury her ourselves.”
“Can I pay for a stone for her?” Ellie asked.
“Are you family?”
“No.” I replied. “We’re friends of hers from out of town.”
“Splendid!” The man cheered. “It’s a sad story—I’m sure you know.”
“No. We were living abroad. Hadn’t really been in touch for some time.” I told him. “We heard it was medical?”
The man looked around then back at us. “Rumor has it, she was involved with gangs. The medical examiner said she had a child right before her death. But no one has been able to find the child. I feel for her.”
“Yes,” Ellie said, her voice cracking. “Truly sad.”
“What do we need in order to get her a stone?” I asked.
“This way please.” He escorted us to an office.
It took no time at all to make arrangements for Mariana to get a proper stone. In that time the gossipy director gave us a little more information about Mariana. Apparently, her house was locked up and Otis had refused to sell it. It made no sense he’d hang on to it, since from what Samuel, said Otis was the cause of her demise.
“Our next stop has to be that house,” I told Xman and Bunny once we congregated at a local diner for some food.
“Can you get Grim to run backup for you?” Xman asked. “Bunny and I are due in Butte for a meeting with our staff that’s been a long time coming. If you need us, we can stay.”
“Hey, no worries,” I said. “Grim can do it. But thanks for heading out here for this.”
“No worries.” Bunny nodded. “If you need us to come back…”
“You’ll be the first call.” I promised.
We finished lunch and Bunny and Xman went on their way after hugs and words of encouragement to Ellie. We rented a truck and made our way to the house to check it out. When we arrived, it was precisely as I suspected—there were cars parked in the front yard. While the windows were boarded up, and someone had gone ahead and erected a chain linked fence around the place with one gate. Cameras were sitting above the front windows and the corners of the roof. I suspected they were showing every angle. It would be hard getting inside and almost impossible getting out.
I drove past the house and stopped the truck a little distance away, then killed the engine and waited.
“What are we waiting for?” Ellie asked.
“This is merely a fact-finding mission.” I told her. “This entire thing is even worse with that fence. There are also cameras—four from what I gathered during the quick stop.”
She nodded and turned her attention back toward the house. “I don’t get why they’re protecting the place so much. Mariana is dead.”
“They’re not protecting the house.” I explained. “They’re using it as a hideout—a sort of headquarters.”
“Is nothing sacred?”
“Not to these people.” I explained. “Like we heard, he killed his own sister. You get in the way of their money and you’re dispensable. Having a vagina is a curse to a man like Otis. No matter if he loves you or not—you cross him and you’re replaceable.”
She grunted.
“Look, Ellie, about what happened the other day…”
“Don’t say you’re sorry.”
“I shouldn’t have done that.” I pushed. “You didn’t deserve it.”
“If I get what I truly deserved I’d be dead.”
“Ellie…”
