AN: I've recently done some edits to this and Chapter 26. Please let me know if they work OK. :)
Driving to Silvio's farm in his van, Alfonso was extremely worried. The old man was very distressed, and he was reluctant to attend the scene alone. Silvio deserved to be told in person rather than by phone, but these deadly symptoms and their rapid onset suggested poisoning.
'Thanks for coming with me, Rita. Really,' he said.
'Any time. Besides, I've been told to take a week off for stress. It's not like I've got anything else to do,' Rita said, sitting beside him in the van.
'How come? Is it anything you can talk about?' Alfonso said gently. Aside from that evening at the restaurant, Rita hardly discussed her work.
'We went to the plaza de toros a few days ago and made an arrest. I can't believe I made it out without screaming at someone. I had a panic attack. I'm not sleeping. We cancelled the corrida and rescued the bulls. I was in a similar state to how they were.' She leaned back in her seat and sighed as the van drove through a pothole. The roads out here had seen better days, Alfonso thought.
'I've been losing it with this case, with this killer,' she said.
'You're not losing it, Rita. If you need to talk, I'm here, yeah?' Alfonso's phone hadn't beeped since he left.
Alfonso nodded. He too felt jittery and anxious. Neither he or Rita had slept after she'd woken up; thoughts of Sonia and Caroline haunted him. Pilar had found Sonia's issues too much to deal with alongside her own battles with physical and mental illness; Alfonso had never known her well. Her murder was horrific, but he and Pilar had been dealing with so much...
'I'll be fine. Just need to get my shit together,' she said.
'Don't be so tough on yourself. I don't know how you stayed calm in that hellhole. And well done for saving those poor creatures.'
'The answer's simple, I didn't, did I,' Rita laughed bitterly. Her phone went. She picked it up and shrugged.
'Nothing, I guess?'
'Just spam. Silvio still hasn't replied to the text I sent him. I'll try to call him,' Rita said.
'No. Not answering.' Alfonso's van approached the farms. He turned onto the dirt track at the bottom of the hill, the ominous feeling building. As they climbed the hill, Alfonso glanced over and saw the beef herd Pepelito adored, clustered at one side of the field, as far down as they could go.
They looked frightened.
Looking out the window, the battered van bumping along the gravel, he saw Silvio's field was empty. From the road, the fence looked damaged. The barn looked as though it was open, but Alfonso couldn't see Pepelito or Maribel; he gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white as the situation hit him. As he stared at the grassy expanse and at what was lying on the path ahead, he felt his face drain of colour.
****
A dead silence hung over Silvio's farm as Rita and Alfonso stepped out of the van. The bodies of several geese lay on the path between the farmhouse and the barn. The remaining birds were huddled against the fence. A few looked sick. They all stared at the pair, frightened, their aggression gone. The livestock truck had moved several metres from its usual spot, with its window smashed. Part of the fence was broken.
Lying a few metres away was the body of Silvio himself, face down on the dried mud in front of his home. The old farmer had been killed mafia execution style with a shot to the head.
'Maribel, cariña, you need to get away from the scene, so forensics can do their job,' Rita said with a lump in her throat. The elderly cow was lying next to his body, crying and panting. Her right front knee was bleeding. The barn door was wide open. Rita already knew Pepelito wasn't there.
At first, Alfonso tried to coax her away from the body. But she couldn't stand up.
'Some sick piece of shit shot her in the leg. Who the fuck would do this to a cow?' Alfonso bent down next to Maribel as she attempted to stand, her legs buckling, horror in her eyes. The scene tore at Rita's heart.
'We'll get you to the animal hospital, Maribel. Just hang in there.' Alfonso dialled the number, and so began the long wait. The cow had been doted on and cared for. Until Castella decided his wounded pride took priority over Silvio's life, and called on his gangland connections.
And now they had Pepelito.
Rita got out her police radio and called for help. She felt strangely detached, as if she was watching herself from above. Far out of range, none of her colleagues from the city responded. Most of them were searching Henry Dixon's villa. Rita was almost grateful Dominguez didn't answer. It felt like her fault Silvio was lying dead.
The village cop who eventually answered sounded far too relaxed. 'We'll send someone in about half an hour.'
'No. We need assistance now! There's one down at the hillside farm in Colmenar. Probable gunshots.' Rita's panic rose. After someone was killed the first hours were always the most critical. With the weather so hot, evidence was already being lost.
Shaking, she called Dominguez, knowing it was irrational but bracing herself for him to blame her. He sounded breathless. 'Rita! You all right? Sanchez said he'd signed you off sick for a week! I've been at Henry Dixon's villa for the last hour. They've dug up three skeletons so far, it's grim, it's like Ted Bundy out here. Guy's gone on the fucking run –'
'Silvio's dead, Jesus, he's been shot,' she said, her voice coming out in a ragged gasp. Everything turned quiet. Dominguez sounded like he had dropped the phone. He made a miserable, choking noise, then swore and muttered something inaudible.
'I'm –' she started to say but he had already hung up. Poor Jesus, she thought. She watched how gentle Alfonso was with Maribel. Suddenly she couldn't stop sobbing. She couldn't blame Dominguez if he held her responsible. He had that right.
'It's my fault,' she said quietly, as she looked helplessly at his poor body, feeling out of control and dizzy. It felt wrong not being on duty, unable to move him or offer any dignity as she usually would. The village cops were approaching from the bottom of the hill in their beaten up cars, plus a forensics van; some sign of modernity at least.
'Don't blame yourself,' Alfonso said gently, but how could she not?
She'd asked Silvio for help. Castella had just had him killed.
'Silvio wanted to do the right thing, like any normal person would. He didn't hesitate.' Alfonso's voice was reassuring but firm with conviction. Rita was unconvinced.
'Maybe.'
'This is on nobody but Castella, the thugs working for him, and the people who are too cowardly or greedy to bring him to justice.' As Alfonso spoke, Rita's mind was somewhere else. There was nothing more she could do for Silvio but stopping his killers inflicting further harm.
A police car pulled up and two officers got out. A woman approached Rita, short with grey hair. Her card identified her as Juanita Ferrera from the Guardia Civil. She wandered over to Rita, who withdrew her ID from her pocket. Juanita's lip tightened and she drew her gun as she spotted the body.
Slowly, Rita put her hands up, nudging Alfonso to do the same.
'Who are you?' Juanita snapped.
'My name's Rita Silvera, I'm an off duty Policia Nacional officer in Valladolid,' Rita said, taking a shaking breath. Juanita snatched her ID and peered at it.
'What are you doing here?'
'I had a call from this address, regarding a suspected poisoning of geese on this farm,' Alfonso said. Rita marvelled at how he could stay so calm. 'We arrived a few minutes ago and found Silvio dead. We both know Silvio and Rita isn't on duty, so she accompanied me.'
'I see,' Juanita said, as more police cars pulled up and Maribel gave another anguished cry. The man beside her was gabbling into a radio. The old brown cow had been sedated while they waited for more help, her wound was dressed and she was quiet; but she looked at Rita with pleading eyes. A couple of officers were trying to move her from Silvio's body. Alfonso watched them, anxious, ready to step in. Jesus warned you about Castella, Rita wanted to sob. She wanted to scream it to Silvio, too.
'Before we go any further, we'll need prints and DNA samples,' Juanita's partner said. 'And we'll need to take your shoes. Did either of you touch the body or the scene?'
'Just the cow,' Alfonso said, shaking his head. 'She was next to him. We tried to move her, but as you can see, she's hurt.'
'I can see,' the policeman said, glancing dispassionately at Maribel. Rita followed Alfonso, trying not to cry. Both their jobs necessitated carrying around at least one change of clothes, and today, both sets were in bags at the back of his van. She had absolutely no idea how long she would be kept here. She slid into the back seat, shut the door and got changed into tracksuit bottoms while several police officers stood around outside.
'I have to save Pepelito,' she gulped as she forced a clean top over her head. Alfonso turned round from the front seat and looked at her with concern. Images flashed through Rita's mind. Pepelito sprawled on her floor, blood gushing from the gaping wounds in his neck and back. Pepelito letting her hug him when she was upset. The love in his eyes whenever he looked at those who had helped him.
'Castella will break his spirit. He probably doesn't have any water...'
Alfonso took her hand and squeezed it hard. 'He won't kill him now. Castella's a showman. He'll want to perform a beautiful estocada at Las Ventas or somewhere, not do him in with a shovel in his back yard.'
'He's got a private bullring. Or they could just send him somewhere else.' Shaking, she pulled on her tracksuit bottoms and opened the door. She handed over her old clothes and waited for Alfonso. As they followed the policemen she saw another vet's van had parked up. The vets were begging to be allowed through to help Maribel and the geese. Although Rita knew they'd be given permission, the sight and sound was unbearable.
'Did you know the victim?' one of the rural police asked. Rita answered politely, knowing if the rural cops had treated Silvio's reports with the same seriousness, he'd still be alive.
It was an hour and a half of facing the same questions by different people before Rita felt the intensity shift away from her and Alfonso and to forensics. After that, it was a matter of answering remaining queries. Silvio's sweet little driveway was now sealed off as the people in white coveralls did their work. After a further hour of standing around, she decided to see if Juanita was prepared to let her leave.
'Yeah. That's all in order. One of you can go,' she said, then turned towards the crime scene and sighed.
'I know what you're thinking,' Juanita said, her face softening. 'You're asking why things were allowed to come to this. I was on the scene after the last incident. We know who's responsible. We want him behind bars. Certain people see him as useful to keep around. I can only hope even they see he's gone too far this time.'
Rita turned away, not knowing what to say. The guard now stationed at the gate gave her a sympathetic look. She stood by the fence and looked at the village at the bottom of the hill. Alfonso placed an arm around her. Without warning she pictured Pepelito bleeding out alone and uncared for, the sadistic audience applauding as Castella's sword pierced his heart.
'Thanks for being so calm. It's more than I can manage,' she said to Alfonso, turning away from the policeman guarding the gate so he wouldn't see her face. 'The police will need someone to stay. Could you give me the keys to your van and stay here?'
'What? You're not going to look for Pepelito on your own, are you? Castella's a fucking mafia boss. You said so yourself.' Alfonso wrapped his arm around her tighter.
'I know. I don't want to confront him without backup. But he's got so many friends in high places, I have my doubts if they'll even arrest him.' Rita swallowed as he folded her into a hug. She wanted to hold him forever. If only she could.
'I lost someone I loved too young,' Alfonso said, his voice cracking as he handed her the keys. 'Don't let me lose you to these sadistic bastards.'
'You won't.' Rita's voice hardened. 'If he's hurt Pepelito, I'll kill him.'
'I mean, fair enough,' Alfonso said. 'I didn't expect anything else.' He pulled her close to him and ran his fingers through her long hair. For several long moments they kissed, before he broke off to speak.
'Look. If – when you find our four legged friend, call me right away. He'll need lots of love and reassurance. Bulls are very dangerous when they're mistreated. You can be sure that this murderous piece of shit will have done so. I don't want you hurt. You're both too precious to me.' She held him tighter.
'Of course,' Rita said, filled with an overwhelming rush of affection.
'Rita,' Alfonso said. He spoke slowly, running his hands down her back, sending a tingle down her spine. 'You're an amazing woman, you're kind, you're brave, you're funny. I've never told you this, but I need to say it. I love you.'
'I love you too. I've been in love with you since the day I met you,' she said, reaching up to kiss him again.
'Just come back alive,' he said.
AN: there's a bit of a plot twist coming, see if you can guess what it is...