Time of Death

23

The Sarvas house was in an upscale El Paso neighborhood on a half-acre lot. Access to the property was through a security gate with a keypad.

Ren got out of the car and pushed the call button. Catherine Sarvas buzzed her in. The gates swung slowly open and Ren drove through into a cobbled courtyard and a stunning two-story stucco house.

Catherine Sarvas was suddenly face-to-face with the woman whom she had been happy to talk to only because she was hundreds of miles away at the other end of a phone line. Her hands were shaking.

Ren smiled. ‘Thank you so much for seeing me. Sorry I couldn’t give you more notice.’ She shook Catherine’s hand and held it briefly.

Catherine’s shoulders relaxed a little. ‘Thank you,’ she said. She led Ren into the kitchen and poured her water from a jug that had lemons and tiny white flowers floating in it. They sat on high stools across the counter from each other.

Catherine’s fine, glossy blonde hair was tied in a pony-tail. Her freckled skin was tinted with light moisturizer, a little blusher. She was a natural beauty. But her ordeal had clearly taken a toll on her.

‘How was your trip?’ she asked.

‘The trip was fine,’ said Ren. ‘Catherine…I spent this morning at the El Paso police HQ interviewing Luke’s friends.’

‘Oh.’ Catherine looked taken aback.

Ren nodded. ‘I had some questions that I needed answers to.’ She paused. ‘How much do you know about what’s happening along the Mexican border?’

Catherine frowned. ‘I read the newspapers…but what has that got to do with anything?’

‘OK, I’m going to have to tell you a few things about Luke that may be difficult to hear.’

‘Oh, God…’ Catherine held a hand to her chest.

‘In April last year, Luke told you that he spent spring break with his friends in San Diego, is that right?’

Catherine nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘He did spend two days there,’ said Ren. ‘But the boys crossed the border into Tijuana for the rest of the vacation.’

‘Tijuana?’

Ren nodded.

‘Why would he go to Tijuana? Tijuana is-’

‘While they were there,’ said Ren, ‘they…partied hard.’

‘Meaning…?’ Catherine waited for Ren to answer.

Ren nodded. ‘Yes — drugs.’

‘But…there is no way Luke would touch drugs. Maybe some of his friends, but still…we made it very clear to Luke what the dangers of drugs were and what the consequences would be if he went down that route.’

‘I spoke with his friends,’ said Ren. ‘And I’m afraid they confirmed that he had been doing drugs.’

‘Did they say that they had too?’

Ren nodded.

‘I…I…just can’t believe this.’

‘Also,’ said Ren, ‘there were girls…’

‘With them?’ said Catherine. ‘From school?’

‘No.’

Catherine stared at her. ‘What kind of girls?’

‘Prostitutes.’

Catherine looked ill. ‘Prostitutes.’

‘A couple of the boys, yes,’ said Ren. ‘But we’re not sure exactly what Luke did. They were very drunk, they had been taking cocaine. The boys’ memories are hazy. But enough of them have backed up the story.’

‘Luke wouldn’t need a prostitute,’ said Catherine. ‘That’s ridiculous. He’s a very handsome boy…Girls lined up for him.’

‘Boys get swept up in this kind of environment,’ said Ren. ‘They were at one of the table-top bars-’

‘What’s a table-top bar?’

‘Like a strip club. Full contact. You can touch the girls. It was that kind of atmosphere. Apparently Luke went outside at one point — halfway through the night. The guys didn’t know where he went, but they say he was gone for at least an hour, maybe more.’

‘I’m a little lost,’ said Catherine. ‘What has Luke’s trip to Tijuana got to do with what happened to my family?’

‘We’re not sure yet,’ said Ren. ‘But what I do know is that the Mexican cartels are recruiting American teenagers to take drugs across the border. There is so much traffic going through every day, Border Patrol just can’t check every vehicle and every person in it. A lot of these kids are strapping packages to their bodies-’

‘Hold on a second.’ Catherine shook her head. ‘This sounds ridiculous. There is no way that Luke would carry drugs across the border for anyone.’

‘He may have had no choice,’ said Ren. ‘Based on something that happened during his trip to Tijuana. It could have been anything. He could have hit on the wrong girl in one of those bars and had to trade his way out of the situation. He could have been forced to do it. Maybe he tried to get out of having to do it and what happened to you…and your family was the result of that.’

‘Me? But…there’s no way. Would these…drug dealers…come all the way up here to do that?’

‘Look at Erubiel Diaz,’ said Ren. ‘And not long ago, San Diego State arrested a lot of middle-class students who were dealing on campus and had direct links with Mexican cartels. We’re looking into it. There is also a possibility that Luke willingly agreed to take drugs across the border for money and may have made a mistake that led to something else-’

‘Luke did not need money,’ said Catherine. ‘Once our boys got good grades at school, we were very generous with them. Greg wanted to show them that hard work pays off — he wouldn’t give them money for nothing. They valued it. And they valued earning it honestly. In fact, Greg had given Luke a thousand dollars for spring break. Along with what Luke had saved up already, he wasn’t in a vulnerable position financially.’

‘Mrs Sarvas, I’m trying to help you find out what happened to your family,’ said Ren. ‘I’m not judging Luke or you or your husband. Luke is young. Kids his age do that separation thing — in his head, he could have been just “driving”. These kids can get four or five thousand to “take a drive”. If they make it through in one piece, depending on the kid involved, the rush can get a lot of them hooked on doing it, which could account for the several months between the trip to Tijuana and the events last July. He could have been doing this for several months.’

‘This is insane.’

‘That hour that Luke disappeared when he was in Tijuana?’ said Ren. ‘That was a crucial gap. And it will be extremely difficult for us to fill in what happened during that missing time. But, I think that whatever happened in Tijuana may be linked to what happened here.’

‘But, how?’ said Catherine. ‘This is all crazy. Luke involved with drugs and prostitutes-’

‘Please don’t look at it that way,’ said Ren. ‘He had — from what we can gather — one blowout vacation where he behaved, yes, out-of-character or irresponsibly, but he would not be the first.’

‘He was going to study law…’

‘He might have been overwhelmed,’ said Ren. ‘Scared he couldn’t live up to the behavior expected of a lawyer.’

‘But…drugs? Sex?’

Ren shrugged. ‘Sounds to me like Luke was a good guy who spent one weekend living a very different life-’

‘That ruined his whole family’s lives, if what you’re saying is true.’ Catherine started to sob, sucking in huge breaths that after a while, she was starting to lose control of.

Ren poured her some water and handed her the glass.

‘I am so sorry. I…What about Michael?’ Catherine wiped her nose with a Kleenex.

‘We don’t know,’ said Ren. ‘I’m sorry. Right now, we’re going to presume they’re both together.’

‘Dead…’

‘No. We have no reason to believe that.’ Apart from precedent.

‘I know they are alive,’ said Catherine. ‘I just know they are. No one believes me. Not even my Church any more. They think I’ve lost my mind.’

‘It’s hard for other people to watch the kind of pain you’re going through,’ said Ren. ‘They feel helpless and they just want it all to go away. It’s more about them than you. I’m sure no one thinks that you’re crazy. They just don’t know how to handle your grief. They want you to have hope, but they don’t want to be the people to give it to you, because they don’t want to be to blame if that hope is shattered. They see how devastated you are now, they can’t imagine how bad it would be if you got worse news.’

‘This is a nightmare,’ said Catherine. ‘My worst nightmare.’

‘I know,’ said Ren. ‘But we’re going to do everything we can to find your sons. And to find out the truth. Are you OK here? Is there anyone you’d like me to call?’

‘No, thank you. I’m fine.’

‘I’m sorry I’m going to have to leave this for now.’ Ren began gathering her things. ‘I don’t have much time. I have a flight to catch.’

‘That’s OK.’

Ren reached out, lay a hand on Catherine’s arm and looked her in the eye. ‘Don’t try to do this by yourself. Please leave this in our hands. You know the situation along the border. You’ve seen the news reports.’

Catherine nodded.

‘These people are animals,’ said Ren. ‘They are conscienceless.’

‘I feel so helpless.’

‘You would not be safe down there,’ said Ren. ‘Which means that you would be no use to your sons…’ Ren left the sentence open. I am not the person to give you hope.