Posted by rache on December 17, 2008 at 19:34:57:
Tina Vasquez - Texas Ranger (Part 4)
"Shit…That's what I'm talkin' about, homes!" Roy's head turned slowly on his thick neck. "See that shit?"
"What's that?" Mike tried to see past his teammate, but Roy's big black body filled the front seat of his truck.
"Turn around, man," Roy slammed the dash with his palm excitedly. "That bitch was fine!"
"Heh!" Mike shook his head and put his soda in the cup holder before swinging a big U-turn. He and his friend had gone to the Burger King for some lunch and now they were just killing time before getting back to the college.
"There she is!" Roy grinned and he grabbed his crotch, giving his big cock a squeeze through his jeans.
"Damn!" Mike stared at the woman as she walked down the sidewalk away from them. He couldn't see her face or tits, but with an ass like that, with those long legs and golden hair, the man knew it was all gonna be good.
"You seen her before?" Roy asked and his quarterback shook his head.
"Nope," Mike answered. "But she's begging for it, ain't she?"
"She wants some," Roy's deep voice broke into a rumbling laugh. "Rape that ass all night long, homes!"
"No shit," Mike agreed. "She ain't from around here either."
"Nobody gonna miss her," Roy nodded. "We take her out to the canyon, huh? Play with that puss all weekend, Mike. Come on!"
"Shut-up. Be cool now," Mike waved at the man as he pulled up alongside the woman, driving slowly past the small stores and shops that lined Main Street.
"Talk some of that white boy shit!" Roy chuckled softly.
"Hi…" Mike leaned out the cab of his old Dodge Powerwagon. "Uh, excuse me…Miss?"
Emily Thomas had noticed the dusty pick-up truck and she reluctantly stopped walking, looking at the young man who was driving. She'd seen boys like him before and recognized his cocky smile for what it was, just another come on from one of the local studs. She had turned down a lot of offers during her four years of college and plenty more after graduating. Emily sighed inwardly as she knew that ignoring the boy wouldn't send him on his way. Studs were like bullies, in her opinion, and she had little use for either of them.
"Hi," she smiled back politely, but not very warmly at all. "Are you looking for directions?"
"I'm looking for something," Mike grinned the way a young man will when he has a high opinion of himself.
The quarterback of the college football team was big and muscular, with a square jaw and handsome face beneath his deliberately unkempt black hair. It didn't occur to Mike that the woman wouldn't find him attractive and he thought she was gorgeous. A little older than he was, like 25 maybe, and looking sweet as hell in her short blue skirt and yellow blouse. Not much of a rack, Mike noticed, but she was tight all over, he could definitely see that.
"Well," Emily sighed theatrically. "I'm afraid I'm just passing through. You'll have to ask someone else for help. Sorry."
Emily started walking again, turning her eyes towards the store front windows and catching the truck's reflection in them. She'd probably have to go inside one of the shops, just to get away from the guy, and she wondered why some people couldn't take a hint.
"Hold, on a second. My name's Mike, what's yours?" the man asked as he pulled his truck to the curb and parked it. "I just want to get to know you a little."
"I'm on my way to meet my husband for lunch," Emily said over her shoulder, frowning as the boy walked quickly to her side. "I'm running a little late."
"I'll walk you then," Mike offered, giving Emily his very best smile. "You're married, huh?"
"Happily," Emily said. "So, uh…I think I'll be okay."
"Please? You wouldn't want to get me in trouble would you?" Mike wondered in a coaxing voice.
"Trouble?" Emily turned her blue eyes on him.
"My momma would whip me good if I let a pretty lady like yourself walk around town alone," Mike said, working up as much charm as he possessed. It was enough for the local girls, the young women just starting college who were flattered by a handsome boy's attention.
"Is that right?" Emily actually smiled and the boy wasn't that bad, he had a great smile and must have had a lot of practice with it. "Well, you tell your momma you were a perfect gentleman. But I really don't…"
"What's your name?" Mike asked, ignoring Emily's protest. "At least give me that much. I'll be spending the rest of my life wondering, if you don't."
"Oh," Emily sucked at her cheek. "I couldn't have that on my conscience, could I?"
"I'm sorry," Mike shrugged helplessly. "I just don't get to meet a lot of new people. I'm Mike Setter…" he turned towards her and held out his hand.
"Emily Thomas," the woman said reluctantly and let Mike hold her fingers for just a second.
"Emily," Mike said softly. "That's a nice name. You wouldn't be that new English professor we're getting, would you? At the college?"
"Me? No," Emily smiled at that. "I'm just here for a couple days and…I really should get going."
"Sure," Mike nodded. "To meet your husband, right? I noticed you don't have a ring."
"What? Oh…" Emily frowned slightly. She wasn't used to lying and the woman wasn't very good at it.
"That's okay," Mike smiled again as they stood there on the sidewalk. "It's none of my business, but…"
"But what?" Emily pulled some blonde hair out of her face as a dry wind picked up for a second.
"If your husband doesn't meet you," Mike said slowly. "I'd like to buy you lunch. If that's okay."
"No," Emily smiled. "That's very nice of you, but…I'll be fine. It was nice meeting you, Mike."
"Yeah, nice meeting you too, Emily," Mike nodded and he didn't need to push it any more than he had.
He'd gotten what he needed out of her. She was alone and in town for at least one more night, that meant she was staying someplace and there were only a couple motels in town. Emily Thomas would have a room at one of them, he was sure, and a couple phone calls later he had her room number.
"Two Twelve? You sure, Janice?" Mike gave Roy a thumbs up through the glass of the telephone booth. "What? Yeah, baby…I told you, next week I'm gonna take you out for something special…Soon as I settle with Susan, you know…" Mike rolled his eyes "…I love you too, Jan…" he hung up the phone "…bitch. Howard Johnson, dude."
"You sure she ain't married or nothin'?" Roy asked and Mike shook his head with a laugh.
"That chick ain't married," Mike said. "She's probably just fuckin' lost or something. We gotta get everybody together if we're gonna do this thing."
"Heh!" Roy nodded eagerly. "We gonna do dat thing! Fuck, that bitch was fine!"
"No doubt," Mike said. "But we gotta bury this one or some people are gonna start asking questions."
"What about that slut? What's her name?" Roy wondered. "She knows you was askin' now."
"Janice?" Mike looked at his friend. "I told her next week I'd take her out for something special."
"So?" Roy narrowed his eyes.
"So, next week we take her out to the canyon and give her something special," Mike laughed as he opened the door of his truck. "That bitch is dumb as dirt."
"Oh shit! We gonna do her too? You got ‘em lined up!" Roy laughed as he got in the truck, giving his quarterback a look of admiration. That was why Mike was the quarterback, Roy figured, cause for a white boy he was pretty smart sometimes.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This boy wasn't too bright, Tina sighed, but Deputy Hansen had been the
first responder to the scene of Barbara Welch's death.
"…and she was already out of the pool when you arrived?" Tina asked him, knowing the facts but it was a matter of protocol to ask the questions anyway. You never knew what you might get for an answer, verbal or otherwise, and Tina was watching the man closely.
"Yes ma'am," Hansen nodded, sipping a Coke as he leaned against the front counter. "Old Hank Lawler pulled her out soon as he found her, but I reckon she was already dead."
"Hank Lawler is the maintenance man over at the college."
"Uh, he's a janitor, yeah," the deputy nodded, taking another look at the Ranger's tits and wondering what color her bra was under that white blouse and mustard blazer. Black, he figured, but it coulda been blue.
"Was she clothed?" Tina asked.
"C-Clothed?" Hansen blinked beneath the woman's bright green eyes. "She was wearing, um…A swimsuit. I guess."
"You guess?"
"I mean, uh…yeah. She was swimming so…"
"Did you check her for a pulse? Try giving her mouth-to-mouth? What did you do upon arriving at the scene, Deputy?"
"I, uh…" Hansen shrugged. "I called the Sheriff."
"Okay," Tina nodded. "Thank you, Deputy. You've been a real help."
After spending the morning talking to Fiddler and going through the official reports, the last thirty minutes with Hansen hadn't given her anything new. The boy wasn't lying and he was too dumb to be involved in anything more serious than extorting free donuts from the coffee shop. The person she really needed to talk to was Helen and get the original of that file she'd faxed Mahoney's office. But before Tina could do that, she needed the sheriff out of the office.
Unfortunately, Fiddler seemed more than content to baby-sit Vasquez, sitting behind his desk and trying to look busy while he watched her with his beady little eyes. Tina wondered just how nervous the man might be. She went back to the desk Fiddler had put at the Ranger's disposal and Tina looked through the reports and her notes slowly.
There were always clues and after a few minutes Tina found one, or at least another detail to follow up. Barbara's lab work hadn't returned yet and like all small towns in Texas, the coroner had sent his samples off to UT-Dallas Medical Center to be processed.
"TFL, Norris speaking. Can I help you?"
The woman at the other end sounded a little busy and the people at the University of Texas Forensics Lab always were. In addition to being part of the university medical school and supporting an associated hospital, they were contracted to support Texas law enforcement in a scientific capacity.
"Good morning, this is Detective Vasquez with the State Police, I'm following up some lab work…" Tina held the line as her call was forwarded once and then twice before she could fully explain to the man on the other end what she was looking for.
"Yeah, we just finished that one up, actually," a young man named Peters said somewhat apologetically. "It was marked routine, so…"
"Right," Tina cut him off. "Just give me the details."
"Bloodwork was clean, some elevated blood sugar, but no alcohol or drugs. Uh, lets see…The only real interesting thing is the sample from the lungs was inconsistent with the comparison sample…"
"How's that?" Tina asked. "Just give it to me in English."
"Right, sorry," the man cleared his throat in annoyance, wondering why a routine request had suddenly become a priority. "The water from the lungs contained chlorine, about seven parts per million, but the comparison sample from the swimming pool? I'm assuming. That water showed only three parts per million."
"Chlorine," Tina said. "And the discrepancy is…significant?"
"Right," Peters agreed. "That's a big difference. The victim didn't drown in the same water. It was probably a swimming pool, yeah, but unless the samples were taken after the pool was drained and refilled and the filters changed…"
"It was a different pool," Tina said, narrowing her eyes at that.
"Yep," Peters said. "Does that help?"
"I don't know," Tina answered seriously. "What's normal for a swimming pool?"
"Normal? It depends on the system, but usually about 3ppm is what we see around here," Peters shrugged into his phone. "Seven is a lot for a pool, that's more like what we get from kids."
"Kids? Children?" Tina asked.
"Yeah," Peters said and his voice was tinged with something like regret. "We get cases, you know, once a year or maybe twice kids fall into a hot tub or Jacuzzi and…"
"Higher chlorine," Tina nodded. "So she could have drowned in a Jacuzzi and been moved…"
"Sure," Peters agreed. "But…no alcohol and it's hard for an adult to drown in a hot tub."
"Unless she had help," Tina said. "Okay. Make sure those reports get copied to the State Police, attention Mahoney at SCD okay?"
"Ma-hon-ey…SCD…got it," Peters said, writing it down. "Anything else I can do for you, Detective?"
"No, that's good work," Tina said. "Thanks." Tina sat back in her chair, looking over the notes shed taken and feeling a small surge of excitement.
"Ladies and gentleman, we have a murder," she said under her breath. It wasn't great evidence, but it wasn't bad either. The file Helen had sent showed physical abuse and sexual assault, which led to a strong suspicion of wrongful death, but now Tina had a smoking gun, confirming what she'd already known to be true.
"Hey, Deputy?" Tina leaned against the doorway and Hansen jerked upright, almost coming to attention at the sound of her voice.
"Uh, yes ma'am?" he stared at her guiltily and Tina could imagine what he'd been daydreaming about.
"Is there a Jacuzzi or a hot tub near that swimming pool where the body was found?"
"Y-Yeah…" Hansen nodded dumbly. "There's a training room, thing…Uh, why?"
"Just wondered," Tina gave him a smile that would probably blot every memory of their brief conversation from his adolescent mind, or so she hoped.
Barbara Welch had been raped and drowned someplace else, probably the training room, then dressed in her swimsuit and tossed into the pool to be found the next morning by the maintenance crew. Deputy Hansen had responded, taken one look and called Fiddler. The sheriff had called the county coroner and conducted an investigation of the scene and concluded death by misadventure. Another accidental drowning in a state that had reported 83 such deaths the year before.
"I'm going for some lunch," Fiddler appeared from his office, looking at Tina. "Care to join me?"
"Oh, no thanks Sheriff," Tina smiled apologetically. "I need to work on this a little more. I was wondering though, if I could see the file on Lisa Thomas."
"What file?" Fiddler blinked and Tina felt a surge of emotion, both good and bad.
"I was speaking to her sister this morning," Tina said slowly, knowing full well that Fiddler was aware of that. He'd seen them together at the diner. "She told me she filed a missing persons report with your office."
"Oh, the report," Fiddler cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh…Ask Helen to get you a copy. Not much in it, she…run off, I guess."
"Yeah," Tina nodded.
They'd already discussed Lisa's relationship with Barbara, but the Ranger had been saving her request for the file for an unguarded moment and now it had paid off. The sheriff knew something about Lisa's disappearance and that meant he probably knew everything. Tina had been hoping for good news, but that split-second look of surprise in Fiddler's eyes told her that there wasn't going to be any.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"The hell you mean she's a Texas Ranger?" Dr. Floyd Peterson looked up
from his desk and Fiddler shrugged, grabbing a chair and putting his
bulk into it.
"Not a real one," Fiddler said, trying to explain the woman's presence as Vasquez had explained it to him. "She's just getting information on how we do business. She's a paper pusher, going to get us more funding, she said."
"What?" the coroner stared at the man across from him. "Rangers don't push paper, Owen. They don't come around looking at how you do business; they are the business. What's she looking at?"
"The Welch case," Fiddler frowned, wondering if that Mexican bitch had been lying and he figured she had.
"That's fucking great," Peterson threw down his pen. "She asked for it, or did you give it to her?"
"She asked for it," Fiddler admitted. "What was I supposed to do?"
"I don't know," the older man pursed his lips and thought about it for a minute while Fiddler sat like an unhappy schoolboy. "All she's got are the official files, right?"
"Yeah," Fiddler nodded.
"What did you do with my original?" Peterson asked, because that had weighing on him for nearly a week.
"I destroyed it," the sheriff said. "Just like you told me to."
"Okay," Floyd's dark eyes stared into his brother-in-law's face for a long ten seconds. "Then we got nothing to worry about," the man said slowly and Fiddler almost smiled. "Except…"
"Except what?" the sheriff frowned.
"Moore," Floyd nodded slowly. "I don't like him."
"I don't like him neither," Fiddler rubbed his jaw. "But he ain't gonna talk…is he? He's in it deep as we are, if…"
"Shut-up. Let me think for a minute," Peterson said, turning his chair to look out the window of his office.
"What about Riles and McKinnen?" Fiddler said, ignoring the coroner's command to be quiet.
"What about McKinnen?" Peterson snapped his eyes on Fiddler's. "He doesn't know anything. You been talking to him, Owen?"
"What? No!" Fiddler shook his head. "Course not, but that Ranger was askin' about the Thomas girl. Wanted to see the report her sister filed."
"I shoulda let this one go," the coroner said to himself. "I'm going over to the college, talk to Moore."
"What are you gonna say?"
"I'll talk to Riles too," Peterson said. "It was his boys; he knows what's at stake here. Moore's the weak link and sooner or later that Ranger's going to find him. We can't afford that, understand me?"
"I'm not sure I follow…" Fiddler said slowly, licking his lips.
"Yeah you do," Peterson nodded. "I'm going to put some fear into the man, but if it don't take…"
"You mean me?" Fiddler asked, not wanting to believe what Floyd was suggesting. Covering up a murder was one thing, but committing one himself…
"You're the stick, Owen," Peterson stared at the sheriff until Fiddler nodded. "Get over to the funeral parlor, have a little talk with McKinnen. He'll be okay. Moore is the one we have to watch."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Who else knows about this file?" Tina asked, holding the unofficial coroner's report and sheriff's findings in her hands.
"Ethan Moore," Helen answered, looking at the open folder unhappily as the Ranger looked through it.
"Alright," Tina nodded at that. "Why has he seen it?"
"He's a friend of mine," Helen smiled at Tina. "I wanted his advice before I made a decision."
"A good man?" Tina asked with gentle eyes and the old woman turned a little pink.
"I like him," Helen admitted. "He's been so worried over all of this. The Welch woman and now the Thomas girl…He's the college president and what happened. It's been awful for him."
"I can imagine," Tina sighed sympathetically.
"She was murdered, wasn't she?" Helen asked softly. "Someone raped her and…"
"Murdered her," Tina agreed.
"Yes." Helen closed her eyes for a moment, not wanting to see the photographs that Peterson had taken of the girl's body. The close-ups of her abused sex and the bruises on her body.
"You did the right thing," Tina offered as they sat together in the empty lunchroom.
"I was born and raised in West Abilene," Helen looked at Tina. "I've seen some bad things, some troubles like a small town has, but this…I never imagined…"
"I know," Tina reached out to pat the woman's wrinkled hand. "It isn't fair, I know."
"Just find out who did it," Helen said. "Please?"
"I will," Tina promised and she looked back down at the photos and she'd seen similar pictures before. She'd seen the bodies before too, up close and personal, and as much as she wished she was, Vasquez wasn't numb to the horror of it. She wasn't immune to the outrage and anger she felt and that, the Ranger decided, was a good thing. It kept her hungry.
=-=---=--=-=-=-=-=-=
"Hey," Emily had
spotted Tina as soon as she'd walked through the door of the small
restaurant, a Chinese restaurant of all things, called Wong's.
"Hi," Tina smiled as she slid into the booth opposite the woman. "Sorry I'm late. Have you been here long?"
"Hmmm…Two cups of tea," Emily gave Tina a tiny pout. "I don't mind."
"I missed you," Tina admitted, without really planning on it.
She was unused to such things, such feelings and the expression of them, but she'd felt her heart gain strength as soon as she saw the blonde waiting for her. This wasn't just lust for a beautiful woman, nor was it some juvenile infatuation, the Ranger thought. There was something real going on between them and it was all she could not to lean across the table and give Emily a kiss.
"I've been thinking about you all morning," Emily smiled shyly, feeling the warmth spreading through her. "I can't…"
"Hello! I'm Angie…" an oriental girl barely out of her teens smiled and offered the two women menus "Can I bring you some tea?"
"Thank you," Tina nodded and she shared a smile with Emily while they waited for the girl to leave.
"Did, um…Did you find anything out about Lisa?" Emily asked softly and Tina had been trying to think of an answer to that question ever since she'd seen Fiddler's reaction.
"I'm not sure," Tina didn't look away and she wouldn't lie, but… "I called a psychologist and he's looking at the information you gave me. If something…happened to her, then he thinks she would have wanted to be close to Barbara."
"Close to her…" Emily furrowed her brow for a moment. "You mean her body?"
"No, more like someplace special to them both," Tina said. "A place where she would be comfortable. Did Lisa ever mention anything like that? Maybe they had a little getaway spot or a place out in the desert, camping or just a picnic?"
"No," Emily shook her head after a moment's thought and Tina sat back as Angie brought fresh tea and the two women ordered quickly, finally opening their menus.
"Thanks," Tina said to the girl and turned her eyes back to her friend.
"No, Lisa never really talked about going anywhere," Emily said. "The only big news was their swimming. The team was ranked and…"
"Ranked?"
"Yeah, I guess," Emily shrugged. "It was a big deal for them. Um, they were number four in the country, so I don't think they spent a lot of time doing anything else, really."
"Number four?" Tina almost smiled. "West Abilene Tech?"
"That's what Lisa said," Emily did smile. "You think that's important?"
"I don't know," Tina looked around and the restaurant had only a few other customers, older people mostly. "Excuse me for a second. I'll be right back."
"Okay," Emily gave Tina a puzzled look as the woman got out of the booth.
"Oh, hi…" Angie was just coming out of the kitchen when Tina stopped her. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, it's great," Tina said. "I was just wondering, I heard the college swim team here is pretty good. Do you know anything about that?"
"The swim team?" Angie shrugged. "Yeah, they're really good. The chamber of commerce had a meeting because of the television people."
"Television?" Tina gave the girl a blank look.
"Uh-huh," Angie nodded. "ESPN, I think. They were going to put the big swim meet thing on TV, I think it was UCLA? Maybe…or San Diego, I forget. Anyway, I guess they're not coming now though."
"I guess not," Tina agreed.
"Too bad," Angie said, lifting her eyebrows and glancing around. "We coulda used the extra business."
"Yeah," Tina nodded. "Thanks."
"No problem," Angie smiled. "I'll have your lunch out in about ten minutes."
"Okay, no rush." Tina walked back to Emily and sat down.
"What were you talking about?" the blonde asked.
"The swim team," Tina said. "You're right. It was big news for a little town apparently."
"But what would that have to do with…"
"I don't know," Tina said. "Probably nothing at all. Just a coincidence."
"Hmmm…" Emily looked at Tina and it was almost enough to make the Hispanic woman uncomfortable, which was a very new sensation for her.
"What?" Tina finally asked with a smile playing at her lips.
"You just don't look like a woman who believes in coincidence," Emily decided and they shared a smile at that, the two women trying to set everything else aside, if only for a few selfish minutes.
After their lunch Tina was looking at her watch and frowning, Emily as well and neither of them wanted to say goodbye.
"What are you doing to tonight?" Emily wondered, nibbling on a bit of fortune cookie.
"Staying in," Tina smiled. "What are you doing?"
"Staying in," Emily laughed lightly. "Come to my room, 212, okay? I'm going to do a little shopping."
"Oh?" Tina tilted her head.
"There's a little lingerie place," Emily rolled her eyes playfully. "It kind of surprised me."
"Lingerie, yeah," Tina licked her lips and wondered how this woman could make her feel sixteen again.
"What's your favorite color?"
"Mine?" Tina laughed. "Whatever you're wearing."
"Okay."
"What's yours?"
"Um, green, I think," Emily answered softly, looking into Tina's eyes. "Beautiful green."
"I'll see you later, okay?" Tina forced herself to move, picking up the check as she got out of the booth.
"Yeah," Emily reached out, unable to let the entire meal go without touching the other woman at least once. She stroked the back of Tina's hand lightly. "Bye, Tina."
"Bye, Emily." Tina wanted to say something else and she took a deep breath as she went to the counter to pay for their lunch.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"I'm sorry, Miss…"
"Detective Vasquez," Tina reminded Laura, the college president's secretary.
"Detective, sorry. Dr. Moore is in a meeting right now, if you'd care to wait…" the woman gestured towards a leather sofa.
"Uh…" Tina looked at her watch, "Do you think you could find the maintenance person responsible for the pool?"
"Oh," Laura nodded. "I guess so, um…Mr. Lawler takes care of all the…"
"Hank Lawler? Great," Tina smiled. "I'll just meet him there. Which way?"
"Down the stairs and to the left," Laura said, unsure of what was going on or why. "You'll see the signs."
"Thank you," Tina said. "I'll be back shortly, if you could find an opening for me in Dr. Moore's schedule."
"Alright," Laura shrugged. "I'll tell him."
Tina returned to her car briefly, opening the trunk and lifting a carpeted piece of plywood attached with hinges, folding metal arms snapped into place and she was gazing at her ‘office' as Tina called it. A small fireproof safe was mounted in the generous space and for the moment it held the original coroner's report that she'd gotten from Helen, along with copies of the sheriff's official files. Tina moved her flak vest out of the way to reveal an Armalite AR-16 assault rifle and a modified Remington Model 1100 shotgun. What interested the Ranger was her Evidence Kit, which resembled a yellow plastic toolbox more than anything else.
West Abilene Technical College wasn't overly large and Tina had little trouble finding the pool. It was locked and there was a tatter of yellow police tape still stuck to the double doors. She had to wait nearly five minutes before a large, overweight black man approached carrying a set of keys in his hand that he jingled like a sleigh bell at Christmastime.
"Mr. Lawler?" Tina asked, opening her ID for the man. "I'm Detective Vasquez, Texas Rangers. I was wondering if you'd mind giving me a tour…"
"I found her, yes'm," Lawler drawled with an accent so thick Tina could have cut it with a knife. "Got myself wet doin' it too."
"You pulled her out," Tina nodded. "And everything was locked? No open doors or windows?"
"No ma'am," the man shook his head. "She's locked in tight."
"Okay," Tina was walking around with Lawler following her. "Has anyone used the pool since…"
"Not a soul," he shook his head. "Sheriff didn't let nobody in for three days, then Doc Moore told me to keep it locked."
"So nobody's been in here except for you and the sheriff's department?"
"Doc Moor come down and, uh…Peterson, he's the coroner fella," Lawler rubbed his cheek. "Coach Riles come down for a look see."
"Who has access, besides yourself?"
"Keys?" Lawler asked and Tina nodded. "Uh, Coach Riles got one. Ms. Welch had her own key. I reckon there's some in the office. I dunno."
"How about the hot tub, you cleaned that at all? Changed the water or anything?" Tina asked when they reached the training room, just off the pool area. The only thing of note in it was a large, molded plastic Jacuzzi mounted in the center of the room and some long metal racks for towels along the opposite wall.
"Uh, no ma'am," Lawler frowned. "I been meaning to get around to it, but…"
"What?" Tina asked, glancing up from the Jacuzzi. The plastic and fiberglass it was made of was porous like sandpaper and wouldn't hold much for prints, she knew and she hadn't planned on it anyway.
"I just don't like comin' down here too much," the man admitted. "It don't feel right no more."
"Yeah," Tina sighed and it was a lonely place. "I'm going to get a couple samples of the water and then I'm going to want you to drain it for me so I can check the filters."
"Yes ma'am," Lawler nodded, watching as the Ranger opened her kit and started putting on a fresh pair of surgical gloves.
"Did you know her at all, Mr. Lawler?" Tina asked as she worked.
"Ms. Welch? I knew her some, I guess. She was a happy woman."
"Happy? How's that?" Tina looked up.
"Just…happy, I guess," the black man shrugged. "She weren't ever sad, always smilin' you know? Most folks didn't mind bein' around her."
"Is there anybody who did mind?" Tina wondered, capping a small glass container and sealing it with evidentiary tape.
"Uh, well…Coach Riles didn't like her none," he almost smiled. "He likes to yell, that man, but Ms. Welch, she give it right back to him. Plenty of times."
"What did they argue about?"
"Oh, I don't know nothin' about that," Lawler said. "Money, I heard sometimes, but I don't know."
"Money?" Tina raised an eyebrow questioningly. That was always a good motive for murder.
"I heard 'em once talkin' bout how the football team gets all the money and her swim team didn't get none, but…Like I say, Ms. Vasquez, I don't know about that stuff."
"Okay," Tina nodded. "You think I could turn this on for a minute or two, stir it up some before I get another sample?"
"Yes'm right over here." Lawler flipped what looked like a large light switch and a faint hum filled the room as the water began to bubble.
"Ms. Welch was a good looking woman, as I understand it," Tina said, watching the man's face.
"Uh, I reckon," he nodded slowly.
"She ever have any boyfriends or anything like that?" Tina wondered. "Anybody ever come down…"
"Just to watch her, you mean?" Lawler did smile then. "There was always boys comin' round for a look see when the girls were in the pool."
"Okay," Tina smiled at that.
"But, uh…" he cleared his throat and glanced around. "Ms. Welch and one of the other girls, they were…you know…"
"She was a lesbian?" Tina asked and the black man might have been blushing she thought.
"Yes'm, I mean they didn't tell me so, but I'm kinda invisible round here sometimes, you know?" Lawler shrugged. "I don't mind none."
"Right," Tina said. "Can you hit that switch for me again, please."
"But I heard ‘em talking," Lawler continued as he turned off the Jacuzzi. "They were bein' quiet bout it. Not hurtin' nobody."
"The other girl…" Tina asked, "do you remember her name?"
"Thomas," Lawler nodded. "Ms. Thomas. She's always tellin' me to call her Lisa, but I…I wasn't brought up like that, I reckon."
"Lisa Thomas," Tina said, taking another sample. "You ever notice anything about her? She have any problems with boys or…"
"I dunno," the man shrugged. "She's a pretty one, I don't mind sayin'. Pretty like an angel. I ain't seen her around though."
"When's the last time you saw her?" Tina asked, fixing her last sample.
"Last week. Thursday afternoon maybe?" Lawler offered a thin, apologetic smile. "Hard to recall with all the excitement round here. Ms. Thomas ain't in any trouble, is she?"
"I hope not," Tina sighed, putting her sample inside the kit.