Desert Blood: The Juárez Murders

Ivon becomes lost trying to drive to the airport. She comes across Elysian Fields Boulevard, a part of Juárez that looks like Paris or New Orleans. When she smells petroleum, she realizes she is at the Chevron Oil Refinery. In her mind, she hears the little boy from the bookstore: “Mapi, I thought you were gonna supervise me in the kid’s section. I’m starting to feel kinda lonely” (270). She considers how unimportant her dissertation seems now that her family is falling apart. She is determined to find Irene, and when she sees headlights, she speeds off.

The headlights belong to Pete’s car. He has not slept in 24 hours; he has been trailing Ivon since the rastreo that morning. Pete was disappointed that he could not see the body they found. As he waited in his car, he read about Richard Ramírez and how court psychologists believe he became a killer after witnessing his cousin shoot his own wife. The day before, Pete had investigated Ramírez’s old neighborhood.

After Ximena, Ivon, and Father Francis left the desert, Pete followed them until Ivon suddenly got out. He then followed her cab to Raquel’s house, where he waited for hours until Ivon came out and drove away in Irene’s El Camino.