| Someone is killing gang members in Dallas. Anthropologist Maria Contreras, who has returned to her old neighborhood to teach at a community college, has been asked by Dallas police to assist in the investigation as a gang liason. Teaming up with homicide detectives Bill Maloney and Frankie Nguyen, Maria tries to track down the killer and avert a gang war. As leads develop, Maria discovers that the killer has trained his eyes on her. In this excerpt, the kiiler has just called her. She explains to Bill that she needs to go to New Guinea, where she did her fieldwork, to get away,gain perspective, and maybe find a clue. |
| Author's Note: Maria's old neighborhood is in reality an old suburb of Dallas called Oak Cliff. You might remember that Lee Harvey Oswald lived here in the fall of 1963 when he worked at the Texas School Book Depository (See photo at the top of the page), and on November 22nd he was arrested at a movie theatre on Jefferson Avenue. I lived in Oak Cliff for five years, in a historic district called Winnetka Heights, which is an enclave of renovated homes dating back to the early 1900s. The area is rich in cultural diversity and has a strong Hispanic flavor. Today Jefferson Avenue is a bustling business ribbon, with shops, taquerias, super mercados, colorful Christmas displays, and some of the best Mexican restaurants in Dallas. |
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| �Maloney,� the voice answered.
�Bill, it�s Maria. He just called me. He just called me, Bill! He, he�� Maria�s panicky voiced trailed off into silence. �I�m on my way. Sit tight. Where�s your security?� he queried. �He stepped out for lunch. I told him it was okay. I had no idea�� her defensiveness was obvious. �Ok. Hold still, I�ll be there in twenty minutes.� Bill slammed down the phone, grabbed his bottle of water, headed out the door of the Oak Cliff Substation, and drove to Central College in downtown Dallas. He was at Maria�s office in eleven minutes. He knocked gently on the door. �Come in,� he heard a soft voice reply. He opened the door and saw Maria standing with her back turned, staring out the window. �Hey Maria, you ok?� Bill asked as he walked to the edge of the desk that separated them. She did not turn around. �Oh, I don�t know. One minute I think I'm this strong woman who can stand up to anything, and the next my stomach is doing flip flops.� �I know that feeling,� Bill said. Maria turned and looked at him, rubbing both arms with her hands. �You do?� �Yeah. I had it all the time I was in Vietnam. There were times when I thought I was the strongest Marine out there. Then there were times when the fear was so penetrating that I thought my insides would explode through my chest. It usually happened at night, when I was laying in my cot with nothing to do but think.� �How did you overcome it?� she asked. �I didn�t,� came the reply, soft, almost a whisper. � I just kept doing what I thought I had to do, until it was over.� Bill looked around her office, as if trying to locate the right words. �Maria, what do you think you have to do?� Maria turned away again to look out the window. �Well, I know I can�t help Manuel,� she said. He could tell by her voice and her manner that she was wiping back tears. She did not want him to see her cry. As she sniffed once, her hands went to her face as if she were wiping her eyes. Then she turned again to look at him. �Maria," he said, " what do you think you have to do?� �I can�t stop whatever the Blancos are going to do now. Manuel was my best contact. They won�t trust me now that he�s dead,� she said. �Maybe I can still help you find the Lawn Man. But I think I need to back up and gain some perspective, and I have to be free from his taunts and threats.� �How?� Bill asked. �Well, maybe we can get help from an unexpected source,� Maria replied. �I mean if there is anything between the parallels I drew between the fighting and feuding of the New Guinea tribes and gangs, maybe there is something else I can find out.� �Like what?�. �Like motive.� Maria put her hand on the table between them. �I don�t know, it sounds crazy, but once I heard my adopted Dani father tell me why some of the old tribal feuds went on for so long. He said blood was their argument. Bill I know what I have to do.� �What is that?� As he looked deeply into her, he began to stretch his hand toward hers. He wanted desperately to hold it, to tell her through touch that everything would be alright. But there was too much holding him back. Quickly he disguised the move by picking up a book lying next to Maria�s hand. �I have to go to New Guinea. I have to talk to the Dani.� She looked into his eyes, and saw something, something she had not seen for a long time. It was a kindness, a genuine affection that radiated toward her like a sunbeam. What was going on with her, she thought? She felt a little flushed as she rubbed her arms. His voice cut through her enchanted moment. �What can they tell you about a killer in Dallas, Texas?� he asked, returning her look. She turned away to look out the window again. She watched a leaf being blown between several oak trees, and then saw it land gently on the ground, safe. After a few seconds, she turned around again and looked at Bill, who had not altered his gaze. She ran her fingers through her hair, took a drink of water, and replied, �They can tell me about vengeance.� |