Show Me Chapter 29

Enrique watched the TV, trying desperately to keep his mind on other matters other than the investigation going on in New Mexico. It had been four days since the "anonymous" letter had arrived and Martinez had sent a team up to New Mexico to scan the area and ask some questions. There was just one problem.

"This town is huge, Enrique," Martinez had said. "We're talking about thousands of square miles of land to search. I don't think we have to worry about tracing the person who wrote the letter, it's obvious that de la Cruz wrote that letter, but it might take time to search all of that land."

Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Enrique had seen the investigator off at the door and went back to the workshop. The last thing that anyone wanted was for people to start asking questions about the letters. It had already been a huge struggle to convince the Rodriguez family to get reinvolved with the case against de la Cruz Productions and an even bigger fight to keep them involved.

"They're frightened," Gloria said to her mamá. "They don't want what happened to Papá to happen to them. Besides, having that letter turn up out of the blue can look a bit strange. But so far it hasn't raised any questions."

Deciding it was best to take a break and head over to the school to pick up Rosa and Miguel, Enrique headed out the front entrance, stopping only to check out something shiny he noticed on the ground nearby.

Scooping it up gently with a napkin, Enrique examined it closely. With indentations on the sides, it reminded Enrique of one of the buttons on Miguel's mariachi jacket, but he knew it wasn't his son's. Not wanting to alarm anyone, Enrique folded it carefully inside a napkin and put it in his pocket.

School wasn't quite over when Enrique arrived pick up his son and niece, so it gave him an opportunity to sit down for a spell. Ever since the year that changed everything for the family, some of the parents had been reluctant to let their children hang out with the Rivera children.

It wasn't anything personal, but Enrique knew that they didn't trust Elena, hearing the word "senile" floating around. Compared to other families in the area, the Riveras were very modern in that they used electronics and embraced technology as much as they could.

"Hola, Papá," Miguel said as he came up to Enrique. "Is everything ok? Did something happen at home?"

Shaking his head, Enrique was quick to reassure the young teenager, "No, no, mijo, nothing's wrong, I was just in the area and wanted to talk to you and Rosa. Where's your prima?"

Pointing back to the school, Miguel answered, "She's coming—there was some boy she wanted to talk to about something. I think it was that Crepúsculo book that she's been reading. You know, the one with the apple."

Refraining from rolling his eyes, Enrique quickly spotted his niece coming towards him, stealing quick glances over her shoulder. Rosa, was still a bit shaken from the almost-attack, spent as much away from the hacienda as possible to be at the library to do some research. Carmen and Berto had wanted her to talk to the priest or school counselor about what happened, but Rosa insisted that she was okay. Not wanting to pressure their daughter further, the couple decided to leave it be for now.

"Alright, mijos, let's go home," Enrique said. "We can stop by the plaza and pick up some candy on the way."

Miguel had been going to the Plaza since he was a child, but even he knew that each time could be different. Some of the mariachis and shopkeepers waved at the family, but others, including parents of Rosa's and Miguel's classmates, stayed back, nodding stiffly in greeting. It wasn't until a flash went off then Enrique quickly began to realize that maybe going to the Plaza wasn't the best idea.

Within seconds, the three Riveras were swarmed by news reporters, some shouting questions in English as well as in Spanish while others stuck microphones in their faces. Rosa tried to take off one of her ballet flats to swat the reporters away, but it was impossible.

"Did Héctor Rivera kill Jorge Rodriguez?"

"Why did you wait until now to investigate this?"

"What advice do you have for the young mariachis of today?"

Shouting "BASTA!" at the top of his lungs, Enrique shoved through the throngs of photographers and reporters and managed to reach the two teenagers. With the help of the mariachis, the Riveras quickly bolted back home, not even bothering to see if the reporters followed them.

"What happened, Papá?" Miguel asked. "Why were they there?"

"I don't know, mijo," Enrique said. "I honestly don't know."

Elena was almost a basket case when her son and her two nietos came home. Having heard what had happened from a neighbor, she had quickly rushed them inside and looked them over for injuries.

"Abuelita, we're mmph—bueno." Miguel said as Elena crushed him in a hug.

"I know, Miguel, but that shouldn't have happened. What if they had followed you into the school?" Elena said as she hugged Rosa next.

"But we're fine, Abuelita! Really!" Rosa protested.

Sensing that Elena wanted to talk to the adults alone, the parents of the two cousins told them to do their homework while they spoke to the other adults.

"Someone tipped the press off, Mamá," Enrique said. "That's the only reason why they followed us from the school."

Shaking her head in disgust, Elena said, "Don't those buitres* know how to leave us alone? Why do they go after mí nietas? If anything, they should go after me! I'm the one who posted the video!"

Walking quickly over to the computer, Enrique booted up YouTube and almost immediately his jaw fell open in shock. There, on the front page, was an image of Torres' daughter featured on an American news show as well as the original video. Which read 1.5MIL under the "Views" tab.

Knowing his English wasn't good enough to translate an entire video, Enrique said, "We'll wait until Gloria gets home."

It took almost an hour for Gloria to translate the entire news clip; mostly due to angry interruptions from Elena as well as from Miguel, who was astonished that anyone had bothered to look at the video.

The report mostly focused on the discovery of de la Cruz's true songwriter, as well as other tidbits of the news revealed at the Lopez trial. Among the people interviewed in the clip were investigators from the New Mexico team as well as ordinary members of the public.

The report also mentioned (very briefly) the search for Torres' daughter but did not dwell on specifics, claiming that for the family's safety, they could not reveal her name. They also mentioned the video and asked that if anyone had any information to please contact the number below.

"We're all going to have to be much more cauteloso from now until this whole thing isover," Elena said that night at dinner. "No more going to the Plaza, and do not mention anything about the case to anyone who has not heard about it."

If it had been a different time, Miguel would have protested the "no Plaza" rule. But that was before. Now, it was about protecting his familia at all costs.

"What about the woman who left a comment about knowing someone who might be Torres' granddaughter?" Miguel asked.

"I heard from her last week, Miguelito," Gloria said as she ruffled her nephew's hair. "I set up a meeting with her via the YouTuber who commented on the video. She's not very comfortable talking to the press and wants to remain anonymous as much as possible."

Miguel's eyes became big with excitement, "And we can find out the truth?"

Elena nodded, "Let's hope so, mijo."

Translations

*vultures