Eliana motioned to the aisle. “Go for it.”
“The scene has been processed by state police. Including the lab we woke up in.” The slight edge to his tone indicated he might not be as fine as he projected. “But no one is in a hurry to investigate anything, given there’s no evidence of a crime.”
“No evidence?” She stopped in the middle of the crowded lobby. “What?!”
People around them stopped talking and turned toward them. Carlos grabbed her elbow and hurried her outside into the cool lunchtime air, a heavy swath of cloud covering the sky over the church. Cars pulled out of the parking lot in a line.
“We found blood on that gown.” Eliana inhaled, trying to stay calm. “All those people disappeared!”
His jaw flexed. “As much as I want them to be looking for Luci, we have no proof she was there. All the evidence is being tested and will take time to come back. The judge said there’s insufficient evidence that a crime has been committed. No victim. No IDs. Nothing more than apossibleinjury.”
“You were injured,” she said. “So was I.Someonedid that to us.”
“Without a medical report, there isn’t much anyone can do.”
So the fact she’d declined medical assessment was now a problem for the case? How was she supposed to have known that would happen?
She lifted her head. “Please tell me you have a…a lead. Something.”
“Wehave a lunch date.”
“With who?” And why invite her unless it was about protecting her?
“Don’t you mean, withwhom?”
She rolled her eyes. “No one has said ‘whom’ for like a century.”
Carlos chuckled. “It’s a new day, and church was great. But now it’s time to get back to work.”
She didn’t know whether to believe that was sincere. She agreed with him, but never in her life had she been in a situation like this.
In fact, this whole week had been a series of firsts. Tony had been promoted to head of security over her. She’d seen a dead man left in a gruesome manner. Carlos was now a Chicago PD officer, which was definitely a first for both of them. Luci being missing wasn’t a first, but the fact that it seemed like she might have joined a cult was new.
“Fine. Lunch.” Eliana shook her head, lowering her cross-body backpack over her shoulders. “Let’s go.”
Outside, he glanced over. “Want to leave your car here and ride with me?”
She tipped her head to the side. “I don’t have a car. If I don’t want to be driven, I take the Ltrain, the bus, or I walk.”
“Guess we’re taking my truck.” He swung his arm wide to indicate the way. “You have a license, though. Don’t you?”
She nodded. “I’ve driven plenty, but when my car broke down in Wyoming before I left, I didn’t bother replacing it. I was moving anyway, so I just packed up and flew here.”
“Weren’t you living with that gal in Cheyenne? The nurse?”
“Yeah, Shira. She kept all the furniture, because I might be back at some point. Most of it was thrift store, or hand-me-downs anyway.”
“No roots. Nothing to tie you down. Just you and the open road.”
“And a thumb to stick out, so I can get picked up by some psycho and my grisly death will be headline news.”
He mumbled, “And I’d have been blamed for that, too.”
“What did you say?”
“Never mind.” Carlos unlocked the truck. “Okay, bad plan. Flying was a good idea.” He opened the passenger door for her, the way his father always had for his mother, Valentina.
Felt like a lifetime ago now, back when his mother had called hermi hija,and Luci hadn’t been missing, possibly tangled up in a cult. Back in the days when Eliana’s whole world had revolvedaround Carlos. Everything was swallowed up in her feelings for him, making him into an idol in her life when she should have put God first. A relationship with Carlos should’ve been a blessing, not something that pulled her away from God.
