Silent Night: A Spenser Holiday Novel by Robert B. Parker

the ball landed at his feet where he couldn’t return it. “Move your feet,” she yelled at him. “Keep moving your feet.”
    After ten minutes Sam looked as though he might need a defibrillator. Carmen walked smartly off the court, draped a towel around her neck, shook hands with the hapless Sam, and joined us.
    “Take no prisoners,” I said.
    “These rich guys don’t feel they get their money’s worth unless I make them suffer a little,” she said and grinned. “How’s my boy,” she said to Slide, putting a hand on his cheek, and he beamed at her.
    “You play real good,” he said.
    “For an old lady of twenty-nine, not bad. You play, Spenser?”
    “Tennis is not part of my skill set,” I said.
    She laughed. “I wouldn’t make you suffer. I like you. Slide, Spenser and I have some grown-up stuff to talk about. Would you go help Martita with the laundry and feed the baby? I’ll see you later.” Slide nodded, eyes wide, and took off.
    “There’s coffee. Want some?” Carmen said. I nodded and followed her to a small bar area. I poured myself a mug while she took a bottle of water from a fridge beneath the bar.
    “A couple of things occurred to me after our last conversation,” I said.
    She smiled. “Of course. But couldn’t you have asked me over the phone?”
    “I like to see faces when I ask questions. What you say and how you say it are equally important to me.” I could hear Susan’s voice in my head. “Juan Alvarez is suspicious that I’m nosing around in his business. It occurred to me that he may be using you to find out how much I know, and to share what I know with you so that you can report it all back to him.”
    “You don’t trust me,” she said.
    “In my business, that’s what keeps you alive.”
    “So ask your questions.”
    “You told me you learned Juan is a drug dealer. Tell me how you found out.”
    She took a breath. “We were in bed. He liked to smoke this hash he brings back from Mexico. Strong stuff. Believe me, Spenser, I’ve been clean since rehab, but Juan says he needs it to relax.” She looked at me, and I nodded. “He was feeling good, let me tell you. Then his cell phone rings and he takes the call. I can see his expression change as soon as he looks at the incoming number. He waves me away, so I go into the bathroom and close the door. But I can still hear him. He was talking to someone about a shipment coming through Juárez to El Paso. The distribution would take place immediately, and the money would be in his hands by the following week.”
    “It could be flowers,” I said.
    Carmen laughed, but it wasn’t happy. “Yes, it could be flowers. Or shoes. Or tires.”
    “But you don’t think so.”
    “One moment I was listening and the next he was inside the bathroom holding me by the arms and asking me why I was eavesdropping on his call. It happened in an instant. I told him the door was closed and that I couldn’t hear a thing, but I don’t think he believed me. He was very rough with me when we went back to bed. Once he fell asleep, I left.” She took a sip from her water bottle. “Thank God he hasn’t come near me since. Not in that way. I moved in with Martita two days ago. He is pleasant enough when others are around, but he’s got his eye on me. He has me watched now whenever I leave the farm.”
    “How many guys does he have here? I’m assuming they’re all armed.”
    “At least five. Will, the one who stopped you, and four others. One of them is Martita’s brother. Marco. He’s weak. I use him for bits of information.”
    “Do you have any reason to believe Juan is about to move away from here?”
    She looked puzzled. “Move where? He travels a lot as it is. But we haven’t said much to each other these last few days. I don’t really know what he’s thinking or doing.”
    “Let’s say he were to disappear. Would he take you with him?”
    “Before last week, I would have said yes. I thought he loved me and would take me