“There’s no sign of them,” he said. He slumped in a chair, propping his rifle next to it.
“Where’s Rafael? I thought he was with you,” Carlos said.
“I don’t know,” Tomas said. “I think he went back to get Angel.”
Ana drew in a deep breath. “What about the strangers?”
Tomas looked around at the other men. “I lost them. But they can’t get far.”
Ana looked at her grand-nephew, Tomas. His eyes glittered with anger in the soft light. Tomas...as unpredictable as the hurricane winds that had torn across the island three weeks ago.
“Do we know who they are?” Ana asked.
“They came here to get Francisco,” Tomas said, sitting up. “The newspapers said he killed Shelly. Why else would they be here?”
Ana looked up at Francisco. “Is that true? Are they policemen?”
All eyes turned to Frank.
“The black man is a private investigator,” Frank said. “I don’t know the other one. He may be a policeman.”
“He’s no cop,” Tomas said quickly. “He can’t be. He’s blind.”
“Then they pose no threat,” Ana said.
Tomas stood quickly. “No threat? If you —-”
“Tomas,” Orlando interrupted. “Watch your tongue.”
Tomas glared at his father then sat back down. Orlando turned to Ana.
“You’re wrong, Abuela Ana,” he said. “They will bring others.”
“They don’t know anything,” Frank said.
Tomas spun to face Frank. “They know about you! They know you are here, old man.”
“Tomas!” Ana snapped.
Tomas raked a hand through his hair and looked away. Frank stepped toward the center of the room. “This is no good. I’ll give myself up. We’ll leave quietly.”
“What good will that do now?” Tomas said. “They know you came here. They won’t leave until they know why!”
“I can keep them from —- ” Frank began.
“How?” Tomas shouted. “Do you really think they’ll believe you now and leave the rest of us alone? They saw Angel! They saw what was happening!”
“They saw a pregnant woman, that is all,” Frank said.
“How do you know? How do you know for sure?”
Ana looked around the room. She could see it in their faces, see that they were listening to Tomas.
Tomas saw it, too, and he stood up. “We need to kill them.”
“No,” Frank said.
“We need to kill them and bury them here so they don’t float to the mainland like Shelly did.”
“No,” Frank said.
“You have no say in this, old man,” Tomas said.
“We can’t kill them,” Frank said.
Tomas laughed. “Did you hear him?” he asked, his eyes scanning the faces. “He killed his brother but he won’t kill strangers?”
“It was an accident,” Ana said.
“Accident?” Tomas said. “He killed Emilio then threw him in the water so they would find him!”
The room was quiet for moment. Then Carlos stepped forward, resting the butt of his rifle on the floor. “Tomas is right. They cannot be allowed to leave.”
Ana looked at him then her eyes moved to the man standing next to him.
“And you, Pedro?” she asked.
Pedro’s chest rose with a deep breath. “The police might know they are here,” he said slowly. “If they don’t return, we could bring ourselves even more trouble.”
Tomas shook his head. “I’m telling you, they are alone. If they had any authority or backup, they wouldn’t be sneaking around and hiding in the bushes.”
Ana’s gaze moved to Tomas’s father. “Orlando?”
Orlando lifted his head, his hard dark eyes sliding to Tomas. He held them there for a moment, his lips drawn tight.
“This is my son’s fault,” he said, looking at the rest of them. “I apologize for what he has done to this family.” He took a deep breath. “But Tomas is my son, and I will do what is necessary to protect him and the rest of us.”
Ana felt Frank’s hand slip from her own. She looked back at Edmundo. He was still sitting at the table, his back to them. He had not moved or said a word.
“Edmundo?” Ana asked.
Edmundo turned. He looked older than his sixty-two years, and his creased face was sunken with despair. His eyes were red as he looked first at Ana, then up at Frank.
“Francisco has been gone for many years,” he said. “But that doesn’t make him less of a brother or a son to us. He has done nothing wrong.”
He looked at Tomas. “You are the one who must go, Tomas. You should go to these men and take responsibility for what you did. Then maybe they will leave the rest of us alone.”