bench or he wish he never born. The coach don’t say nothing to that one.”
“Gosh, it sounds like the parents can get pretty ugly.”
“Yes, but the school is like a family. They argue with each other, but they fight together against anyone from the outside. The fat man and the shrimp hat, they help Coach Martin when your friend hit him.”
“Did you ever hear the coach argue with anyone else? Maybe someone from the school?”
“The coach, he was a macho guy. He argue with a lot of people. When they built this field a couple of years ago, he argue with the contractor, the workmen, and the woman from the army.”
He must be talking about the Army Corps of Engineers.
“Lately the coach have a new kind of trouble.” He hesitated and looked down.
“Please, Miguel, anything might help.”
“Coach, he comes here a few times a week to check equipment and check the field. He has an office inside.” Miguel pointed to the maroon-and-gold monstrosity directly behind Ed’s house.
“For the last six month, a lady come to see the coach at least once a week. They go in his office and he close the door. She stay for about an hour and then leave. Last week, another lady come. I think she is his wife, because this time he doesn’t close the door. I hear them fight. She yell, ‘Your whore will be sorry. I told her husband.’ I keep my head down and work. They think I don’t see nothing or hear nothing.”
“Can you describe the women to me?”
“His wife is small like you, and is muy embarazada. She is going to have a baby. The other lady, she is very tall, yellow hair.”
“Does she drive a yellow Mercedes?”
Miguel looked shocked.
I was right! Diane Davis and Dax Martin were having an affair.
“Did anyone else know about the coach and his girlfriend?”
He looked down and didn’t answer.
“I know who she is, Miguel. Did her husband know—like the coach’s wife said he did?”
He shuffled his feet in the dirt. “Please, Mrs. Martha.”
I couldn’t blame Miguel for not wanting to come right out and accuse his employer’s wife of having an affair with the coach.
Dax Martin’s murder was personal. Although I could sympathize, I could hardly see a small, pregnant woman beating her husband to death with a baseball bat, no matter how much he deserved it.
I doubted a rich and successful Beaumont parent, no matter how obnoxious, would kill Martin over his refusal to give their kid more playing time.
Diane’s husband, Jefferson Davis, the control freak, was still the most likely suspect in Dax Martin’s murder. If Javier and Graciela could confirm this, Ed would be out of the woods.
Of course this also meant Diane Davis could be in terrible danger. Who was to say Mr. Davis wouldn’t turn his rage on her next? I worried for her safety.
“Did you tell any of this to the police?”
“No, Mrs. Martha. I mind my own business. They do not ask and I do not say.” He looked worried. “Mrs. Martha? You know I could lose my job if they find out I talk to you. I have a family.”
I smiled and put my hand on his arm. “I promise I won’t tell the school you talked to me—not even if they send me to Guantanamo and pour water up my nose.”
He relaxed a little and gave me a slight smile. “Gracias.”
CHAPTER 18
I continued to walk around the adjacent park to burn calories and put some mileage on my new exercise shoes. I stepped off the path to take a closer look at the deep violet flowers of a Mexican sage plant growing in a sunny patch. I smelled it before I saw the pasty dog crap now staining the sides of my clean white Skechers.
Back home again, I scraped most of the doody off my shoes and put them in the laundry room to wash for the second time in a week. I was disappointed to find out I’d been gone only twenty-five minutes, including my conversation with Miguel.
His story about Coach Martin’s affair was too good to keep to myself, so I put on my pink Crocs and walked over to Ed’s
“Gosh, it sounds like the parents can get pretty ugly.”
“Yes, but the school is like a family. They argue with each other, but they fight together against anyone from the outside. The fat man and the shrimp hat, they help Coach Martin when your friend hit him.”
“Did you ever hear the coach argue with anyone else? Maybe someone from the school?”
“The coach, he was a macho guy. He argue with a lot of people. When they built this field a couple of years ago, he argue with the contractor, the workmen, and the woman from the army.”
He must be talking about the Army Corps of Engineers.
“Lately the coach have a new kind of trouble.” He hesitated and looked down.
“Please, Miguel, anything might help.”
“Coach, he comes here a few times a week to check equipment and check the field. He has an office inside.” Miguel pointed to the maroon-and-gold monstrosity directly behind Ed’s house.
“For the last six month, a lady come to see the coach at least once a week. They go in his office and he close the door. She stay for about an hour and then leave. Last week, another lady come. I think she is his wife, because this time he doesn’t close the door. I hear them fight. She yell, ‘Your whore will be sorry. I told her husband.’ I keep my head down and work. They think I don’t see nothing or hear nothing.”
“Can you describe the women to me?”
“His wife is small like you, and is muy embarazada. She is going to have a baby. The other lady, she is very tall, yellow hair.”
“Does she drive a yellow Mercedes?”
Miguel looked shocked.
I was right! Diane Davis and Dax Martin were having an affair.
“Did anyone else know about the coach and his girlfriend?”
He looked down and didn’t answer.
“I know who she is, Miguel. Did her husband know—like the coach’s wife said he did?”
He shuffled his feet in the dirt. “Please, Mrs. Martha.”
I couldn’t blame Miguel for not wanting to come right out and accuse his employer’s wife of having an affair with the coach.
Dax Martin’s murder was personal. Although I could sympathize, I could hardly see a small, pregnant woman beating her husband to death with a baseball bat, no matter how much he deserved it.
I doubted a rich and successful Beaumont parent, no matter how obnoxious, would kill Martin over his refusal to give their kid more playing time.
Diane’s husband, Jefferson Davis, the control freak, was still the most likely suspect in Dax Martin’s murder. If Javier and Graciela could confirm this, Ed would be out of the woods.
Of course this also meant Diane Davis could be in terrible danger. Who was to say Mr. Davis wouldn’t turn his rage on her next? I worried for her safety.
“Did you tell any of this to the police?”
“No, Mrs. Martha. I mind my own business. They do not ask and I do not say.” He looked worried. “Mrs. Martha? You know I could lose my job if they find out I talk to you. I have a family.”
I smiled and put my hand on his arm. “I promise I won’t tell the school you talked to me—not even if they send me to Guantanamo and pour water up my nose.”
He relaxed a little and gave me a slight smile. “Gracias.”
CHAPTER 18
I continued to walk around the adjacent park to burn calories and put some mileage on my new exercise shoes. I stepped off the path to take a closer look at the deep violet flowers of a Mexican sage plant growing in a sunny patch. I smelled it before I saw the pasty dog crap now staining the sides of my clean white Skechers.
Back home again, I scraped most of the doody off my shoes and put them in the laundry room to wash for the second time in a week. I was disappointed to find out I’d been gone only twenty-five minutes, including my conversation with Miguel.
His story about Coach Martin’s affair was too good to keep to myself, so I put on my pink Crocs and walked over to Ed’s
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