St Kilda Consulting 01 - Always Time to Die

job.”
    He gave her a slow sideways look. “I’m so glad to hear that.”
    “Stop that.”
    “Stop what?”
    “Acting innocent and throwing out double meanings for me to trip over.”
    “You trip and I’ll beat you to the floor.”
    She tried not to laugh. She laughed anyway. “Focus, Dan. Focus.”
    “I am.”
    “Don’t focus on that. ”
    “What?”
    “Sex.”
    “I’m a man, honey. That’s like asking me not to breathe.”
    What he didn’t say was that it was good to feel like a man again, instead of a bloodstained wraith raging at what couldn’t be changed. But if he mentioned that, his curious Carolina May would have a thousand questions, none of which he could answer.
    Carly saw the change in Dan’s expression, dark again rather than amused, and wondered what he was thinking about. Not sex. She would have bet on it.
    With a stifled sigh, she picked up a tintype from the group Winifred had agreed to talk about, and started describing it. When she was finished, she added the information she’d received from Winifred. “The date is January third, 1870. Juana Castillo married a third cousin, Mateo Cortéz de Castillo.” Carly picked up another tintype, described it, and said, “Two years later she died in childbirth. This image is of her dead.” Carly picked up the next tintype, described it, and said, “María, daughter of Juana. Mateo Cortéz de Castillo remarried two years after his wife’s death. All trace of him in the Castillo family history stops as of his remarriage. His descendants didn’t count, even if they were half siblings to María.”
    “Clannish lot,” Dan said.
    “To put it mildly. From what I’ve gathered, Winifred and her mother didn’t think much of Mateo. He’s the one who pretty much lost the farm to the Anglos. That’s why he married off his barely fourteen-year-old daughter María to Hale Simmons.”
    Dan whistled. “Fourteen? Even in the bad old days, that’s a little young.”
    “Hale was at least forty. The odd thing is that they didn’t have any kids for almost twenty-five years. Then Sylvia María was born in 1916.”
    “So Sylvia’s daddy is over sixty-five before he starts fathering kids with the same woman he’s been living with for a quarter century?” Dan asked skeptically. “Sounds like María finally jumped the fence to look for sperm donors.”
    “You want to suggest that to Winifred?”
    “Why not? She’s the one who’s hell-bent on detailing the maternal family history. Does she think she’s descended from a long line of Mother Teresas?”
    “Um, right. I’ll ask her, but it probably won’t matter to her anyway. Simmons isn’t a Castillo.”
    “You have a point. So Winifred was born right after her sister?”
    “If you think ten years is right away, yes.”
    He did some fast addition. “Menopause baby?”
    “It happens. That’s why there’s a name for it.”
    “New boyfriend? Hale was likely too old to get it up, much less shoot anything but blanks.”
    “I’ll be sure to ask Winifred,” Carly said dryly. “But there were some stillbirths along the way, so I’m guessing the boyfriend was a steady one.”
    “If you want to be sure, find Hale’s grave, get some DNA, and see if me or my mother could be related to him.”
    Carly thought quickly. “It’s been a long time since Hale died.”
    “You’d be amazed at what the labs can do.”
    “I wonder if Winifred would pay for the tests.”
    “Forget her. I’ll pay.”
    Carly stared at Dan. “Why?”
    “Because if Winifred realizes that she can’t control the results of her family history, she’ll probably decide not to do it at all.”
    Carly put her hands on her hips and faced him. “Oh, gee, thanks. Forget about digging up Hale. Nice to know you want me out of work.”
    Dan stood before she could back up even half a step.
    “What I want,” he said, his face very close to hers, “is to keep you from being the one screaming into a microphone.”

TAOS
VERY EARLY WEDNESDAY
26
    DAN STRETCHED HIS LEFT LEG AND KNEADED MUSCLES THAT WANTED TO KNOT UP . Walking and running he could do well enough, but sitting at a computer for hours at a time was guaranteed to make his leg ache. He glanced over the summary of his report and hit the send button, letting people in D.C. know that Colombia was going to hell in a handbasket. Again. Maybe Colombia’s staggering government could pull the country out of the mire created by drug money and illegal armies. Maybe the