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alcoholic but at least he’d never cheated on her. A divorce would have been devastating. It was already humiliating that she’d made him move out and had prepaid a rental for him. If they were divorced he didn’t know what he’d live on. When he received those papers he was more than furious. He’d called Vicky’s cell but she didn’t answer.
    Then he remembered there was a concert at the school that night. He jumped into the jeep and high tailed it over there. Of course, he hadn’t realized that the gas light was on so he had to make a stop first. Didn’t stop his momentum though. When he arrived at the school, the parking lot was full. He could hear the concert as soon as he walked in the door. Feliz Navidad… fat chance . Feeling like a volcano about to erupt , he went to her office and waited for her. She was so smug. “You’re history, my soon to be ex-hubby. You’re a sorry excuse for a man––alcoholic, you lost your job. You even look like you slept under a bridge.” That’s what she told him. Then he let her have it. Javier got back on the highway and never looked back.

Chapter 16

    The next morning, the phone rang while Susan was unloading the dishwasher.
    “Mrs. W., I’m so worried,” said Carolina. “I didn’t know who else to call.”
    “What’s wrong?” Carolina sounded frantic and Susan knew it took a lot to rattle her.
    “I tried to call my dad. He didn’t answer. I called all morning. Finally, I decided to go over there and make sure he was okay. The housekeeper took me over there. I knocked but he didn’t answer so I let myself in. It looked like a ghost town in there. Everything that belonged to my dad was gone. I’m sure he wouldn’t just go away without telling me. We’d talked about getting together after Christmas so I know he didn’t plan on going away.”
    “Maybe he had a job interview out of town.”
    “He wouldn’t have packed all his things then.”
    “Carolina, let me call Lynette. He might be in trouble.” Susan was thinking that Javier was either on a drunken binge, or he was trying to hide from the police. Maybe he had murdered Vicky after all. She’d only met him that once. It’s possible that he was crazy enough to kill his wife because she was cheating on him or because he was unemployed and facing a divorce.
    “Okay. Go ahead and call her. Maybe he had been drinking, decided to leave town, and gotten into an accident. He could be dead just like my mom.”
    Susan thought it unlikely that Carolina was suddenly an orphan but did think it was about time to involve the police. She hung up with Carolina and called Lynette.
    “Lynette, can you come over? It’s police business. It’s about Vicky’s murder.”
    “What is it now, Mom?” Susan detected a bit of sarcasm in her daughter’s voice.
    “I can’t talk about it over the phone but it’s serious.”
    “It’s always serious. Okay, I’ll be right there,” said Lynette.
    Meanwhile, Susan picked up Carolina. She thought Lynette might want to question her. Susan’s mind started working. She was seeing a police chase complete with sirens. Lynette would be behind the wheel skillfully dodging cars in her pursuit of Javier. It would be just like the OJ Simpson case except Lynette would be chasing a jeep instead of a white bronco. A knock at the door brought her back to the moment. It was Lynette.
    “Thanks for coming so quickly.” She put her hands on Carolina’s shoulder. “Carolina couldn’t get in touch with her dad so she went over to his apartment and when she got there it looked as if he’d moved out.”
    Lynette addressed her questions to Carolina. “What makes you say that? Did he have plans to move?”
    “No, he never said anything about moving. His closet and drawers were empty and the sheets and blanket were off of the bed. All his suitcases, his bowling bowl, and his laptop were gone.”
    “We know about the impending divorce and that he was near the school the night of the