Free Bad Penny by Sharon Sala

Luis the okay to backtrack along the path Tutuola had taken to get to their city, or the case was going to be shelved and classified as a cold case.
     
    So he gathered up his notes and the files he’d compiled, and headed for his captain’s office.
     
    Thirty minutes later, he was on his way home to pack a bag. He didn’t know whether to be glad or sorry that he’d made such a persuasive case. He did know that Conchita was not going to be happy about the fact that he was going to be gone for her birthday. Such was his life. He’d missed many family events during the years they’d been married. But it was also this job that kept them in a nice house, with money to travel now and then. His brother was nothing but a day laborer, and he and his wife and six kids were often down to nothing but tortillas and beans to put in their bellies at night.
     
    Conchita had, as of yet, been unable to conceive. The absence of children left a huge empty spot in their lives, and the demands of his job only increased her loneliness. Still, there wasn’t anything to be done about it. His job was his job, and he was fortunate to have it.
     
    So Luis kept going over the facts in his mind as he packed, tossing in a couple of changes of clothes and reminding himself to get extra cash before he left. It wasn’t going to take all that long to get from Chihuahua to Nuevo Laredo, but he didn’t know what he would encounter along the way. Then he heard Conchita talking and realized she was home.
     
    She was still on the phone when she came into the bedroom, but when she saw he was packing a suitcase, she ended her call and sat down on the side of the bed. The look on her face was one Luis had seen before.
     
    “You’re leaving again?” she asked.
     
    “Yes.”
     
    “For how long this time?” “Maybe two or three days.”
     
    There was an odd expression in her eyes, but he didn’t want to go there, knowing it would only result in another fight.
     
    She sighed, then looked away.
     
    “It’s my birthday tomorrow. What do I do while you’re gone?” she asked.
     
    Luis didn’t know how to answer her, and because he felt frustrated, his remarks sounded short.
     
    “Whatever you want to do,” he said. “You should be glad you don’t have to work.”
     
    She looked up at him then, her dark eyes swimming in tears.
     
    “Yes, I am a very lucky woman,” she said softly, and walked out of the room without looking back.
     
    He felt like a heel, but it had been said, and he didn’t know how to take it back without making things worse.
     
    A few minutes later he was packed. He went to find her to tell her goodbye, only to find that she was nowhere to be found. When he went out to his car, he realized hers was gone.
     
    He cursed beneath his breath, then got in and drove away. When he got back, he would make it up to her—maybe take her to Mazatlán for a quick holiday. She had family there.
     
    Convinced that everything was fine, he never looked back. Five
     
    Cat put down the hair dryer, then combed her fingers through her hair before giving her face and arms the once-over. It had been three days since the storm, and while the scratches on her body were beginning to heal, the bruises were vivid hues of purple and green. There was even one bruise on her back shaped like a hoofprint. Wilson had gone through the roof when he’d seen it, and she’d understood. Thinking about how it must have gotten there gave her the creeps. She was just grateful to be alive.
     
    She left the bathroom with slow, measured steps, paying homage to her new bruises. Today she’d chosen to wear her oldest, softest pair of jeans and a T-shirt, but since she’d lost her boots during the tornado, she was down to socks and some old moccasins.
     
    If the tornado hadn’t dumped Wilson’s truck in the pond, and if she weren’t so miserably sore, she would have taken herself into Austin for a quick shopping trip. But for now she was going to have