Jaiden and Toni waited at their desks while the other detectives and officers gave them space, afraid to come too close after Jaiden's outburst. He had the box with the images sitting on his desk. He couldn't bring himself to acknowledge it again for now.
He bounced his leg while waiting for the results while Toni was flipping through some of the files. Jaiden groaned. His arm was killing him, and he wanted a cigarette. However, he didn't want to leave because he needed to confirm the results.
The tech running the fingerprint practically ran into the room with a white face. Jaiden and Toni stood up, anticipating the answer.
"I... I don't know how to tell you... but we got a match. Its for a Terrance Chavez in Las Cruces." He said, and the officers let out a cheer, not knowing the circumstance.
Jaiden sighed. "The man who died two years, right?"
The room became still when the tech nodded. "Two years ago today... He killed a detective in Las Cruces and then engaged in a shootout with the second detective on the scene. He died due to a bullet clipping his carotid artery."
There was some grumbling from the office. They hated knowing a bastard took down a fellow member of law enforcement but also hated that the case hit yet another wall.
An older detective sighed a little. "Tough break, guys. But maybe you can talk to the detective involved in the shootout. They may have some info about this guy."
Jaiden shook his head. "No need."
He bit his lip, trying to contain his nerves. It was time to call in a favor. He pulled Toni into another room and dialed an old number after placing it on speakerphone.
"Well, I'll be damned." An older gentleman picked up the phone. "Jaiden fucking Ryder is giving this old man a call."
Jaiden chuckled. "Hey, Chief Joel."
Toni raised an eyebrow, recognizing the name. He was a highly decorated Chief of Police in Las Cruces.
"I heard you got hurt. Healing alright?" He asked Jaiden.
"The best that I can. Valeria and the gang came up, so you know I'm in good hands."
Joel gave an appreciative grunt. "You know, you should just come back down here. I have a position waiting for you if you do."
He laughed a little and shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, Chief, but I like where I'm at now."
Joel sighed. "So you're calling for business?"
"I am. I have to call in a favor, but trust me when I say that I'm not jumping off the deep end." Jaiden said, trying to keep him amicable. "Something came up with the case we're working on, and I hope you can send over the files for the Chavez and Garcia foster children."
Joel saw the result of Jaiden losing Carlos as well, so he was always worried about Jaiden. He let out a deep breath and muttered, "Vete a la chingada..."
"Chief..." Jaiden called out cautiously.
"Please tell me you are not looking into those murders again. Not today." He said, his voice was stern.
Jaiden's jaw clenched. "I understand how it sounds, especially today of all days."
"I know where this road leads, and it's not healthy, Jaiden." His voice was softer.
Jaiden smiled warmly. Now that he was finally stepping out of his shell, he found more and more people who genuinely cared for him. "You sound like Nate, which may not be a good thing, Joel. But trust me, it's not like before. My partner and I found a link, and we need to explore all options."
Joel suddenly laughed. "You know, most of us didn't believe Valeria when she told us you found someone. I heard he is quite the catch."
Jaiden suddenly blushed. "Tia told you? Christ, Joel. Does all of Las Cruces know about him?"
There was more laughter on the other line. "Her youngest son found himself a man, of course, she told everyone. Toni Alvarez, right? A lot of guys look up to him over here."
Toni gave Jaiden a smirk, which only made Jaiden shake his head. "He's leading the case we're working on." He tried to change the subject. "So about those files..."
The line fell silent. "You promise it's nothing like before?"
"I promise. Besides, I have someone to keep me in line now." Jaiden said quietly.
"Fine. I'll send them over."
Jaiden sighed with relief. "Thanks, Chief."
He hung the phone and released a long exhale. He ran his hand through his hair, and his smile fell. He seemed to have aged a little as he slumped in his chair.
"You're ok?" Toni asked quietly.
Jaiden shook his head. "No... I'm furious, but at least I know which direction to go. Come on. He should be sending an email soon."
They left the room and headed back to their desks. Jaiden was lost in thought. He didn't know how to control the storm of emotions raging inside of him, but he did know that a new hunt was beginning.
He was surprised when he walked into Toni's back, not realizing that he had stopped walking.
"What the hell are you doing?" He yelled.
This made Jaiden look over his shoulder and saw a group of cops looking at the pictures that the messenger left him. He wanted to get mad and yell, but he didn't have the energy. He didn't like that they just saw a very intimate moment of his, the one that broke him.
"While you're looking at those pictures, can you bag them for evidence?" He asked, his voice cracking under his emotions.
Sal was one of the detectives at his desk. He nodded and shot Jaiden a look full of pity. "Fuck Ryder... this is... I'm sorry."
Jaiden sighed a little. "Thanks..."
Suddenly, Jaiden and his cold attitude made sense to everyone. His distance and reluctance to work with others were because he witnessed the death of his partner. A lot wasn't known about the Las Cruces murders, but some pieces were falling into place.
Now that they knew, an electrifying rage was buzzing around the precinct. No one fucked with their own. Yet some murderous asshole was waving the death of a partner in Jaiden's face, and they took it personally.
Jaiden didn't care about what was happening around him. He was glowering at his computer, waiting for the report to come in from the Las Cruces office. He was bouncing his leg, but Toni placed a hand on his knee and started to speak to him in hushed Spanish. Jaiden would give quick responses, but he was slowly relaxing.
When the report came in, he opened it right away and printed it. He held onto the stack of paper with white knuckles as he looked over the familiar information. It had been years since he saw it, and it didn't make him feel better.
"Fuck." He murmured, trying to push away the sick feeling welling up inside him mentally, but it felt like he chugged a bottle of Fireball Whiskey. The first file was a Terrance. The picture of him at 12 years old in the hospital with a dead look in his eyes. He was already a broken and disturbed child at that time.
Two years ago, when he first looked at the file about him, he felt pity. He even said something along the lines of 'poor kid' because he saw himself in Terrance. Hell, he has seen a lot of kids like Terrance. Many of those kids, including himself, got out of their lousy situation but not Terrance. He had no help or support. He only knew violence because that was what was ingrained in him.
Two years ago, he felt pity for the disturbed man. And two years ago, he killed him.
"The first page is going to be about Terrance." He said. "There's no need for me to look at that because I've already memorized it. There's nothing new to see."
Toni raised an eyebrow and placed the papers down. "Then tell me about him."
Toni knew that when Jaiden would get quiet, he would attack himself in his mind. One way to keep him from self-destructing was to keep him talking.
Jaiden nodded a little."Terrance Roberto Chavez. He was orphaned at the age of two and bounced around for a while—Socorro, Hatch, Deming—until the Chavez family took him in at the age of 5, and they lived in the Mesilla suburb until he was 12 years old. People thought he was lucky to stay with a family for so long. The family used to own the church off of the Sierra Vista Trail. The family consisted of Barbara and Thomas Chavez and two other foster kids—Sarah and Mary. They were close friends with Elaine and Sammy Garcia, who also went to the same church. The Garcia family at that time had one foster son, Christopher.
"It was later found out that the Chavez and Garcia parents were abusive and embezzled money from the church. As part of their abuse, they would leave the children in the church for hours on end in the confessional to pray.
"23 years ago..." he's started to rummage through the documents. "23 years on Friday... the children were left in the church to pray and were locked in the confessional like usual. A fire broke out."
He started to spin the ring on his hand.
"Terrance, Sarah, and Christopher escaped but were injured—Christopher having the worst injuries. But Mary died in the fire. The city ruled it an accident.
"Terrance seemed to suffer the worst mentally. He was volatile and lashed out. He attacked other children and was a bully. He was in and out of juvie four times by the time he turned 16. When he turned 17, he beat a kid so badly that he was tried as an adult for assault and spent some time in jail. He was released at the age of 22, but that's when it gets fuzzy. He would appear with warrants for his arrest from time to time—always leaving someone bloody and beaten, but he was nearly impossible to catch.
"There are records of him in El Paso and up north to the Four Corners. He just stayed in the New Mexico and south Texas areas for about a decade. He only resurfaced that day in the church when I... well... the day he died."
Jaiden sighed. "A history of abuse and a life of crime and violent tendencies. All evidence pointed to him. Only him."
"I would have thought the same." Toni said.
Jaiden looked at the second page something that he hadn't really studied before. However the report looked similar to Terrance's. Sarah S. Chavez: abused kid in the foster system. Withdrawn. Introverted. Lived with the family from ages five to eight, until the fire. Was taken to a new family who lived in Valencia County. But traces of her disappeared when she turned 18.
Christopher M. Garcia lived with the a Garcia family for even longer than Terrance with the Chavez's. He was with them from ages two to sixteen. After the fire, he stayed in town until he graduated the top of his class. But his injuries were bad, covering 20% of his body. He couldn't do anything outside of studying. He was a quiet kid, but like Sarah, he seemed to have dropped off the grid at 18.
When they dug deep enough they found records of Sarah and Christopher living Mexico. There was no record of them crossing the border back to the states, so it seemed like they had an alibi. He and Carlos had figured that they wanted to forget everything about Las Cruces and their abusive foster parents and left. There was no indication that they had violent tendencies and simply wanted to get away.
He flipped through Christopher's medical history from the fire and started to read about his wounds. He stilled and absent mindlessly rubbed his neck. He glanced over at two small details and sucked in a sharp breath.
"Jaiden?" Toni called out to him. "What's wrong?"
"The church's name. The one that burned down. The one where Carlos..."
Toni looked down at the report. "Our Lady." He muttered.
Our Lady as in Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The church's name was a detail he never paid attention to it, neither in his manic or current state. But deep down, Jaiden had never wanted to link the two cases together. He was scared that it would just trigger another breakdown. But now there were so many glaring things that linked the two.
A while ago, he chucked out his notion of coincidences. They had long stepped past that point of no return. There was meaning behind absolutely everything.
Toni was saying something to him, but he didn't seem to hear him. Instead he was now looking over the reported injuries Christopher sustained; severe burns on the left side of his neck and all the way down his arm. A vague memory resurfaced in his mind.
"Need another tequila?"
"Let me know when you decide on something, detective."
"I've worked here for a while, so I recognize you."
A bartender that he never got a clear view of... one that recognized him and gave him a feeling of deep unease. At that time, he justified the bartender's recognition and shelved that memory in the back of his mind so he could deal with his family.
How did the bartender know that he was the one drinking tequila that night?
Was he watching him?
Did that bartender really worked there for a while?
Odd pieces about the case started to click together because of that one bartender. He grabbed his phone and dialed the familiar restaurant and placed it on speakerphone.
"Maria's, how can I help you?" Her friendly greeting echoed through the now silent room.
"Hola, Maria. It's Jaiden." He responded back, but his voice was strained. "I have some odd questions to ask you, if you don't mind."
"Claro. Shoot."
"You have a couple of staple meats for your dishes - one with lamb and the other carnitas."
"Right, we make the lamb barbacoa and the carnitas is basically in everything." She explained happily.
Jaiden twisted his ring a little. "Where do you get the meat from?"
"We have a local butcher we normally use. We basically get the meat right off the farm, so it's all local." She explained.
"Does the butcher bring it directly to the restaurant?"
"Recently, yes. Before, we had one of our workers pick it up. He worked part time with the butcher for extra cash, so it was convenient for everyone. Unfortunately, he had to quit both places a bit ago. Something to do with family." She answered, unease slipped into her voice. "Por qué?"
"Sorry, Maria. That guy... was he the bartender with a scar on his neck?"
He heard a small mhmm slip from Maria. "Thats right. Nasty burn. Poor guy. He said it was an accident back when he was a kid."
Jaiden released a shaky breath. "What was his name?"
"Chris." She said quietly.
Jaiden looked down at the report in front of him, looking at the full name. Why didn't he ever remember this?
"Chris... Christopher Marcos Garcia?" He asked her.
Toni dropped the file that was in his hand. "No way."
"Jaiden? What's going on?" Maria asked, now worried.
"Do you have anything on file for him? An address, emergency contact, a picture?" He asked, ignoring her question.
"Um... I think I do. It's somewhere in my office." She said with a meek voice.
"We can head over there. We can probably be there within the hour." Jaiden said and Toni nodded in agreement.
Finally there was a trace to Maros, the infamous bartender who always hid his neck under turtlenecks. However, Jaiden kept his calm because he remembered that Terrance and his accomplice only left traces when they wanted to be seen.
This was a break in the case, but very well could be a part of his game.