Casey worked up her witness list for Rosalita's case while she waited for Maria. She didn't want the woman to get off easy over the phone. She wanted Maria to feel her rage. Half an hour later Stacy knocked once, threw open the door, and announced Maria. Casey pointed to a chair and didn't let her even settle in before she began.

"You didn't tell me about your brother-in-law, the gangbanger," Casey said.

"My brother-in-law?" Maria said, touching her chest. "Elijandro? Ellie is a laborer and a hunting guide."

"What else does he do?"

Maria shrugged and said, "He teaches Sunday school."

"Someone's in a gang," Casey said. "The Torres brothers? The Latin Kings?"

Maria's eyes widened and she said, "Ellie's brother."

"Who?"

"My sister's husband," Maria said. "His brother. Teuch is his name. Teuch Torres. He's a Latin King, but Ellie, he doesn't-didn't-even talk to him. Teuch is very bad."

"Yes, he is," Casey said. "Why didn't you tell me about him?"

"He lives in San Antonio. My sister met him only twice. Once at Paquita's baptism, then right after that for the last time. I was there. Ellie took us down to Christmas dinner at his mother's. She is a housekeeper there. Teuch and Ellie got into a fight. They have no business together at all. Nada. They don't even speak."

"Well," Casey said, lowering her voice, "ICE made the connection. I'll do my best, look for some kind of precedent. I'm sorry I was a little rough. I just felt ridiculous."

"I never thought about Teuch," Maria said. "He's so far away and they have nothing to do with him. There are many people with the name Torres. I don't know how they would find him and put him with Elijandro. I am worried that they would do this."

"I'm worried, too," Casey said.

Casey worked alone and didn't realize how late it was until her stomach growled and she looked at her watch. Stacy and Donna had gone on a double date with their new boyfriends, one a guy who owned a shoe factory and the other a financial planner. They'd been talking about it for over a week, so Casey encouraged them to leave while she prepared for Isodora's hearing on Monday by herself. Sharon never stayed late, especially on Friday. She had two kids at home and a husband who expected dinner on the table at six.

Casey closed the book in front of her with a clump and rubbed her eyes. The room had grown dark around her but for the glow of the computer screen and the small lamp on her desk. Outside she heard the crunch of tires on the broken pavement and she sat up straight. Jose's warning about Domingo Mondo jumped to mind. The wife, Soledad, had been whipped across her backside regularly with an electric cord.

Casey heard a car door slam and she reached for the desk drawer by her knee. She opened it, removing the nickel-plated.38 Jose had insisted she keep there. Comforted by the cold shape of the metal in her hand, she dug into her purse, searching for her cell phone. Feet scuffed across the parking lot and came to rest outside the metal door.

Casey flipped open the phone and saw she'd missed three calls from Jose. Her heart took off at a gallop. The phone had been left on vibrate. She'd missed Jose's warning calls.

A fist hammered the metal door.

Casey hit dial on Jose's number.

The door shuddered under another pounding.

Jose answered his phone.

"It's me," Casey said. "I think he's here."

"Who? Where?" Jose asked.

"Domingo Mondo."

"Aren't you at your office?" Jose asked.

"Yes, and I think he's right outside."

CHAPTER 15

SILENCE HUNG BETWEEN THEM A MOMENT UNTIL JOSe SAID, "That's me. I'm outside."

"Jesus. You?"

He rapped twice on the door and said, "Me. Three times now."

He rapped three times.

"You're not pointing that.38 at me, are you?" he asked.

Casey looked at the gun in her hand and lowered it quietly into the drawer. "Of course not."

"Can I come in?"

Casey hung up the phone and went to the door, calling to him and putting her ear up to it just because she couldn't help herself. When he said his name, she threw the bolt and swung open the door. His big white smile glowed at her from the shadows of the streetlight. He'd slicked his dark hair back behind his ears and wore a clean white shirt, dark jeans, and cowboy boots that showed no wear.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I tried to call."

"I know, I thought to warn me about Mondo. That made it worse."

"I'm glad you're being safe," he said. "I just put the redheaded wife to bed-so to speak. That little Roadway Inn down by the highway. I thought I'd see if you were around. Did you eat yet?"

Casey shook her head. "Are you shaking?" he asked, lightly taking hold of her wrist. "I'm sorry I scared you like that. I tried to call and then I saw the light on, so I stopped."

"I'm fine," she said, pulling away. "I'd love to get something, though. We could talk about Rosalita and a new case I've got that I think I'm going to need your help on."

"You like fried oysters?" he asked.

"Sure."

"Come on. Follow me. Del Frisco's has the best."

Casey shut down her computer, packed her notes into her briefcase, and followed him out into the back lot. She noticed for the first time the slight bow in his muscular legs. When he turned to say something, she blushed and looked away. He stood there, waiting for her to get into the Mercedes and start the engine before he nodded and climbed into his pickup. She followed him onto the Tollway and they headed north almost to the Belt Line.

Casey handed her keys to a valet.

"You know the hubcaps is gone on this, right?" the valet said.

"I try not to be too flashy," she said.

"Just 'cause I don't want anyone saying nothing."

"Try to keep it away from that Bentley over there," she said, angling her head toward the lot and the enormous car with its sparkling grill. "I don't want those wide doors chipping my paint when some P. Diddy guy swings it open."

Casey left the valet pinching his lip and stepped toward the door Jose held open for her.

"Very fancy," she said, looking around at the dark wood, the candles, and the linen tablecloths.

"I try to spend as much as I can, so if something happens to me my wife won't get a dime."

"You have a daughter, don't you?"

"And a life insurance trust in her name," he said, following Casey inside, "so if I do die, she'll be all set. The trustee is my mom and you know she won't let the ex see a penny of it. Cash, cars, my watch."

He rattled the stainless steel Submariner.

"Anything liquid," he said, "and even though it goes to my girl, she'll have her mitts all over it."

Jose had called ahead for a table and the hostess took them to it right away.

"I'm sorry. You don't want to hear crap like that," he said, leaning over his open menu. "That's no way to start a da-a dinner."

"This isn't a date, is it?" Casey said. "Is that what you were going to say?"

"I like working with you," he said. "I don't want to screw that up."

"You think I can afford to fire you?"

Jose rubbed his chin and said, "I think you'd fire yourself if you got the itch."

"Can I ask you a strange question?"

"Would you mind a strange answer?"

"Do men ever get a rash from sex?"

"Down in Juarez you're apt to, but I don't frequent those kinds of places."

"Not that kind of rash. I mean, like breaking out in hives on your chest."

"Can I wait until I've had a couple oysters?"

"I'm being serious," Casey said. "I had a client tell me her husband always breaks out in a rash. That's how she knows he hasn't been sleeping with his boss's wife."

"This sounds more like my paying clients," he said.