Kicks for a Sinner S3 (18 page)

“Yeah,” said Knox. “You don’t want the
federales
in on this.”

“I spit on the
fedrales
.” For emphasis, the man did just that, but he answered, “The boy is missing. That is all I can tell you. You take the truck and go.
El Jefe
isn’t going to believe this. Joe Dean Billodeaux right here, and that’s his red-haired boy.”

Knox spoke up. “Go back to your car. Throw out all your weapons. Shut your doors and stay still. If I see one muscle move, I’ll put a shot through your head.”

“Fine, but first, would you autograph my handkerchief, Joe?”

The negotiator laid down his weapon, removed his white flag and moved close to the rocks. He tied a stone into the handkerchief to give it some weight and tossed it up to Joe.

“You got a pen?” Knox asked Joe.

“I always have a pen, brother.” He stretched out the white cotton over a smooth surface, wrote “A pleasure to meet you. Joe Dean Billodeaux” and drew his trademark devil’s tail heart beneath it. Usually, he used that for women, but he wanted to make the signature as authentic as possible to impress
El Jefe
and hope he would leave Tommy alone if he found the boy first. He weighted the cloth again and threw it in a nice, easy arc to the henchman who snatched it out of the air.

“I’ll treasure this. Thanks, man.”

“You’re a good size and have pretty nice reflexes. You should change careers and try out for the football league.” Slathering on the butter never hurt.

“You think so? If I need to change careers, I just might.” The gunman left his weapon in the sand and walked back to the SUV with the shot-out tires. The other shooter tossed down his weapon on shouted orders from Joe’s big fan.

Knox motioned for Joe to climb down to the truck while keeping him covered, then he followed, totally alert, forever the soldier, despite his short-cropped gray hair. He kept his eye on the SUV while Joe climbed in and started their ride out. Backing to the passenger door Joe opened for him, Knox jumped inside and immediately stuck the rifle out the side window.

“Drive along the arroyo, then veer for town. Don’t backtrack.”

“What about Tommy?”

“Nothing much we can do now, and no one is sorrier than me. If I don’t come home with that boy, Corazon will never forgive me. Soon as we come to a road, take it into the city and head for the border crossing. We need to bring the FBI in now, though I doubt they can do much this side of the border.”

Joe nodded. That famous smile of his seemed gone forever. He didn’t spare the truck until they reached Nuevo Laredo and had to slow down. They crossed over the bridge again with no problems. On the other side, both noticed the red van parked at the building where they’d dined on tortilla chips and guacamole only a couple of hours ago. Seemed more like twenty-four had passed, but the setting sun only now cast long shadows as the day faded into twilight.

“The Rev and Connor got here safely. That’s good,” Joe said in a flat tone.

In fact, the Rev with a huge grin covering half his dark brown face moved their way, coming out of one of those shadows like an exceeding huge and friendly vampire. He reached their vehicle and towered over the guard as Joe explained that the truck belonged to his cousin so the registration wouldn’t match his driver’s license or the passport he dug from a pocket. Knox offered his I.D., withdrawn from a holder he wore around his neck on a string. The rifles he’d stowed under the seat safely out of sight.

“You make any purchases in Mexico?” the border guard asked, running through the routine while checking the passports.

“No. We came to find a lost boy.”

“And we did,” the Rev interrupted. “These are the guys we told y’all about. Tommy is here, Joe, right inside swilling down orange pop and peanut butter crackers. You won’t believe this, but the kid hitched a ride in an urn those two senior citizens who almost ran us off the road brought back. The guard found him and a few other little problems when he did an inspection.”

“Nothing we can’t handle,” Joe said with his smile and his optimism coming back in a rush.

“I don’t know about that. You better come see.”

The guard told them to park next to the van until everything got sorted out, implying they had lots of sorting to do. As soon as Joe entered the building he saw one of the problems, a thin little girl wearing a sunflower-print, sleeveless dress he was fairly sure had come out of the twins’ closet. Same went for the neon orange sneakers on her feet. And damn Bijou, she had Billodeaux eyes. His cousin really had fathered a child south of the border, a daughter who was now an orphan. Talk about complications. As he came closer he noticed she smelled of urine. No wonder if she watched her parents die. The way she pushed away from the table holding her snacks, stood up, and put her hands on her hips defiantly as he approached reminded him a lot of his own daughter, Jude, tanned and taller but very feisty.

Her first words to him, “I did not wet myself because I am afraid. His puppy peed on me.” She pointed an accusatory finger at the seat Tommy had occupied a second ago. Now only a little yellow dog stood there with his white front paws on the table as he scarfed up peanut butter crackers with his black muzzle, the pup who lured his son away, the pup Tommy would want to keep. More trouble.

Joe felt the tug on his leg and looked down on that beloved red head, those freckled little boy arms hugging his thigh, and heard the small voice of his son say, “Daddy!”

He knelt to Tommy’s level and took his boy into his arms. “Oh son, we were so worried about you. Never do anything like this again, you hear?”

Tommy nodded against his shirt and after a chest-spanning hug finally looked his father in the eyes. “Papi said we were going on a vacation, and I did have fun until—until today. I got us away in some big pots, and I remembered my phone number when the guards asked me. Mama Nell knows we’re safe. I have another sister now and a dog. Can we keep them?”

Joe ruffled the red hair that set this whole business in motion. “I’m proud that you kept a cool head and saved everyone. I think we can keep that dog, but he might have to stay with a vet for a while to make sure he’s healthy. It’s not so easy to claim a little girl.”

There she was, right in his face, still stinking of pee and entirely undaunted. “Why I not go home with Rojito? My name is Xochi Gracia Billodeaux. I am American citizen, born in Texas. Mama says so. I want to see America. I never want to go home because—because Mama and Papi are dead and my house burn down.” And then she cried, those large brown eyes with the curly lashes overflowing with huge tears. Joe gathered her into the hug. What else could he do?

“Look, sugar, I’ll make sure you never go back there.” Another child and a forbidden puppy added to three babies on the way, Nell might not forgive him this time for making plans without her. He’d never cheated on her, not once despite many temptations. He knew he was a good father as he’d vowed to be, but all women had their limits. Had Nell reached hers with the entire Billodeaux family? Add that to the quandary list.

Connor lounged with one leg up on a chair by a window overlooking the Rio Grande and the setting sun. With a smile on his face, he said, “Looks like I need to take daddy lessons from you.” The smile faded. “We did report the fire and the…what happened to Bijou and his wife.”

“Thanks. Won’t be the first thing you did for me or I do for you. Kids, go finish your food while I figure this out.” Joe turned to a guard, a short, stout woman with a Latina face. “We have two other friends still across the border and maybe in trouble. Anyway we can get someone to search for them?”

Before she could answer, Connor called out. “Here they come now, walking across the bridge. I’d recognize Cassie’s hair anywhere. Some ride they picked up.”

Joe went to the window and watched the couple progress across the bridge. On the far side, an attractive Mexicana leaned against a robin’s egg blue low-rider in pristine condition. She appeared to be blowing kisses Howdy’s way while he waved to her without turning around. Joe stepped outside to greet them. The young lady with the jiggling breasts jumped up and down and pointed. “Joe Dean,” she shrieked so loudly he could hear it across the water. “I save you!” He doled out one of his bone-melting smiles and shouted a “Thanks” her way, though he had no idea what she meant.

Two more of his kids were on their way home. That’s all that mattered. He waited impatiently while Howdy presented a curled, damp passport to the guard and Cassie turned her back and withdrew hers from her bra. Howdy declared a rug he had tucked under his arm and the green sash Cassie wore around her waist. They’d gone souvenir shopping in the midst of a crisis? Young people, go figure. Who needed a rug to remember what happened on this trip?

He moved forward as they came through the checkpoint and embraced them both. “Tommy is here, safe and sound, with the Rev and Connor.”

Howdy stepped back. “That’s great. And look at you, not a scratch on you.”

Cassie lingered in Joe’s arms. She pressed against him, arms around his neck, and said, “I was so worried about you and Tommy. That girl called the police for us after a little persuading and drove us here. We had to buy one of her rugs.”

“No, we didn’t. She never asked us to, but her grandfather did want a hundred dollars for the ride and forty for the burro rental. Long story. We can tell you on the way home,” Howdy said.

Joe unwrapped Cassie’s arms and moved aside to clap Howdy on the back. “Nice work keeping Cassie safe and getting here. I’ll pay you back for the—um, car and burro rental.”

“No need. Happy to do it.”

“Sure, he was. That Mexican hottie laid all over him! I had to save him from himself,” Cassie exploded.

“Well, he is a nice looking young man, Cass.”

“Not my type. Where’s Tommy?”

“Inside.”

She stomped off, but got over her mad as soon as she spotted her son running toward her. She lifted him in her arms and twirled around in happiness. “You’re safe! I love you so much, Tommy, so very much. You and I and Joe can ride home in the truck together, just the three of us.” She set Tommy down and noticed he frowned. “What’s the matter? Aren’t you glad we’re together again?”

“Sure, but can my dog and my sister ride with us?”

“What?”

Joe joined their reunion. “Another long story. Cassie, I think you should go along with Connor, the Rev and Howdy tonight. Get a place to stay, a hot shower and a good meal, then go back to Louisiana in the morning. I have to figure out what to do about the dog and the new sister and even Tommy since he left and entered the country illegally. Knox has lots of law enforcement contacts. He’ll help me work it out.”

“Do I stink? Oh! I must look awful. But, I’m good with children. I’ll stay.”

“No, you go along with the guys.”

“Tommy is my son, too!”

“And always will be. Don’t be
tetu
, you. Do as I ask, please.”

“Only because you asked me nicely. Come on, Howdy. You could use a shower, too.”

TWENTY

Despite giving in, Cassie burned like a sparkler on the Fourth of July most of the way home. The three Sinners listened without commenting until the least experienced with women spoke up. The Rev rolled his eyes, the whites showing the way they did in spooked animals. When Howdy weighed in, Connor sat very still as if they carried nitroglycerin in the back seat of the red van.

“Yes, Joe said he cared about you. He sent you to safety. He cares about me, too. He cares about the Sinners and about winning another Super Bowl, but caring isn’t love. He loves Nell and his children. He’d die for them. You can’t make your own little family by busting up his, or at least you shouldn’t.” There, he’d gotten it out of his system after miles and miles of remembering and holding it in—the sight of Cassie pressing up against Joe and begging to stay with him.

A deep “Ah-huhhh,” came from the Rev’s throat.

“That’s not what I was trying to do. Tommy needed one of his mothers, and Nell wasn’t there.”

“Because she is at home pregnant with three of Joe’s babies. Tommy gave the guards her number to call for help. Nell is who he talked to first. You have a cell phone. It didn’t ring the whole time we were in Mexico. You’re the young, fun mother, not the one Tommy turns to when he’s scared. Get over it. Get over Joe.”

“My phone probably lost its charge.” Cassie flipped open the slim instrument she took from her hip pocket. The bars lit up brightly. “I don’t think it works in Mexico.”

“Most likely not, but we’re almost to the Louisiana border, and he hasn’t called yet.”

“Maybe Joe won’t let him.”

“I understood the deal was Tommy could call you anytime, but you had to stay away from Lorena Ranch until Thanksgiving.”

“Joe didn’t mean that. He couldn’t possibly after what just happened.”

“Look, I understand you wanted to help, but you horned your way into this trip and only got in the way! You could have been killed, Cassie.”

“Got in the way! I saved you from that Mexican tramp. You would have ended up forgetting all about Joe after she lured you back into her bedroom to catch who knows what kind of terrible diseases if I hadn’t scraped her off of you and bought a rug.”

“With my money. I told you I’ve been to Mexico before. I know how to handle myself there. I didn’t need your help.”

“To fight off cheap women? Or don’t you fight them off?”

“I’d say two-hundred dollars isn’t cheap in Mexico. Maybe I gave way to temptation more than once during my spring breaks in college, but I didn’t catch anything.”

“Howdy, son, it disappoints me to know that,” the Rev said.

“I’m not proud of it. I’m just saying I’m a man who can take care of himself.”

“That’s good, Howdy Doody McCoy, because you have no family. You have no one who cares about you! I thought you were my friend.” Cassie slashed at him with her words.

“Low blow,” the Rev commented softly.

Howdy cleared his throat of something stuck deep down inside and said, “That’s true enough. My mama left me on my grandparents’ doorstep when I was three years old. While I sat inside their house having milk and cookies with Grandma, she drove off with her boyfriend. I don’t think he was my daddy, but I can’t be sure. Never saw her again. Now those good people who raised me are gone, but they built their house upon a rock, not on sand. No matter where I went, they waited for me with open arms. They left me their place, and I hope to make a home of it again some day with my own family.”