Fatal Divide (19 page)

“Yep. Let’s go.” Jimmy lifted a backpack that was stuffed as tight as Sophia could get it. He kissed Sophie on the cheek, causing her blush to deepen, put his hand on the sleeping baby’s head, and walked out the door. After kissing Alex on the lips, Dylan followed, her admonition to be careful sending him on his way.

A few minutes later, Dylan was heading east on the highway. “Okay, we’ve got a while. Talk to me. What’s the deal?”

“What deal?”

“How’d you get mixed up in all this, brother? And what comes next?”

“I don’t know, ‘
mano
. Get up to Alaska, get that job. Figure it out from there.” He seemed dejected.

“Are you going to miss the life?”

Jimmy’s bark of a laugh was humorless. “No. I’ll miss being able to do what I did with the money. But I couldn’t do that if I was dead anyway. It’s time for a new life.”

Dylan was silent for a minute, giving Jimmy a chance to tell him more. When he didn’t, Dylan asked, “What did you do with the money?”

“Helped my family. I got in when I was Sophia’s age, man. Didn’t know any better. These guys, they all had money. My family didn’t. They offered me a job. End of story.”

If Dylan had been raised on the reservation, would it have been the same for him? He couldn’t judge, could he? There but for the grace of God, and all that. Maybe his mom had done him a huge favor by leaving the rez.

“That’s rough, man. Glad I’m getting the opportunity to help you make a change. It could have been me, too.”

Jimmy looked over at him. “Funny. I never wanted your help, but thanks. I’ve spent almost ten years trying to make people think I’m a badass. Guess I’d better break that habit, yeah?”

Dylan chuckled. “I would, if I were in your place. Hey, what did you say to Sophia?”

“Told her she could come to Alaska if she wants. I’ll take care of her until she wants to come back here. She will, you know. I hope she’ll stay with me until they forget about her.”

“All you can do is let her decide.”

“I know. But if I’m going to give her baby my name, I want to have a say in how he’s raised.”

“Don’t blame you. I’m trying to adopt my little brothers. Your grandfather getting killed actually helped my cause.”

“Shitty thing to say, ‘
mano
.”

“I know. Just being honest.”

“My grandfather was a good man. Why didn’t he want you to adopt your brothers?”

“He didn’t think I’m full-blood O’odham. Wanda has other information, though. He didn’t know everything. I’m sorry he was killed; we could have worked it out.”

“Thanks.”

They reached the airport sooner than they expected. Dylan winced as he put a one-way ticket to Salt Lake City, with a flight to Nome on Alaska Airlines after an eight-hour layover, on his credit card.  Jimmy said, “I’ll pay you back, man.”

“You’re going to need to get some clothes in Salt Lake, but not too many. They won’t be warm enough for Alaska. You ever been out of Arizona, brother?”

“Sure,” Jimmy laughed. “South.”

“Ha ha. You have any cash?”

“Enough. You’ve done enough, man. Thank you.”

“You’ll be okay here until your flight? I need to get back to Alex and get the ladies to Dodge.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good. Don’t give the TSA agents any reason to detain you. You do have a driver’s license, don’t you?”

“I have one.”

Dylan squelched his inclination to believe that the license Jimmy had may not be his own. He’d done his best for Jimmy, fulfilled his promise to Wanda, and more. It was time to get his own house in order.

FORTY-ONE

Saturday Afternoon

Thurston had sent two cars to the reservation this morning to continue the search for Wanda Lopez. He stayed in Dodge, expecting her to return eventually. Dylan Chaves and Alex Ward weren’t in town that he could determine, either. Thurston was certain that some kind of conspiracy was going down, but he couldn’t see the Ward girl being in on it, even if she was an annoying little brat.

That business out at the murder scene the other day was unbelievable. And the kid wasn’t even out of her teens. He’d heard she was working toward a degree in mass communications. She was going to be hell on wheels if they ever let her get in front of a camera.

To test his theory that Dylan was probably with Wanda, wherever she was, and Alex had tagged along, Thurston made an onsite call to the Ward home. Paul came to the door looking as if he’d just gotten up. Thurston looked at his watch, and then looked up to find Paul scowling at him.

“What do you need, Kevin? I assume you’re here for a reason.”

Caught off-guard, Thurston compensated with aggression. “Where’s your daughter, Ward?”

“Why? Has she done something that concerns you?” Paul shot back his answer with uncharacteristic assertiveness. Maybe he was in on whatever was going on too.

Thurston glared. “It concerns me if she’s with that boyfriend of hers. I’m about this far from getting a warrant for his arrest, too.”

“On what grounds?” sneered Paul “You’re on a fishing expedition and you know it. And what does my daughter have to do with it?”

“She showed up pretty quickly at the murder scene.”

“You’ve got to do better than that. Everyone in town knows she’s got a scanner everywhere she goes. Alex is a more dedicated reporter than I ever was. For the record, I don’t know where she is.”

Thurston was stymied for the moment. He wasn’t prepared to threaten Paul with anything, or his daughter either. But, he tucked Paul’s attitude away for further consideration. He’d bet his last dollar that all of them were up to something. He just couldn’t figure out what.

It didn’t make sense for Alex to be involved with a murder. In fact, it didn’t make sense for Dylan either, but the time of death wasn’t conclusive. Dylan had opportunity, as well as motive. If they could find the murder weapon and tie it to him, they’d have the main suspect. Wanda Lopez would just be a bonus.

“Tell her to come and see me when she gets home,” Thurston ordered.

“I’ll give her the message.” Paul didn’t give any indication that he thought she’d comply.

Thurston walked back to his department-issued SUV. He wasn’t at all satisfied with that encounter. He was far more comfortable when people were respectful, even cringing at his feet. It was the main reason he’d become a deputy, but he’d never admit that to anyone.

As he got back into the vehicle, the radio crackled. Thurston made an effort to control his annoyance as he answered. The last thing he needed was one of his men knowing that someone had gotten to him like Ward had.

“Say again. Dodge 1, I was out of the truck, please say again.”

A loud crackle made him jump and wince at the same time. These radios were the worst. No budget, Tucson said. If they had to put up with this shit, he bet there’d be a budget. He couldn’t make out who was talking, and the message was broken up. All he got was that someone was in the hospital at Sells. The guy on the radio was requesting his presence there. What the hell? What was going on that his deputy couldn’t handle?

With a curse, he tossed the handheld mic in the passenger seat. All right, he’d go to Sells. But if it was something the guys on the scene should be expected to handle on their own, there’d be hell to pay.

An hour later, Thurston stood at the door of Hector Lopez’s hospital room, speechless. Two of his men were guarding the door, with Wanda Lopez barricaded inside. In one hand, she held a razor-sharp scalpel she waved back and forth any time one of them tried to enter.

“Wanda, what the hell? Put that down, or I’ll have to add resisting arrest to your charges,” he said. He was rather proud of how forcible he sounded, considering his chest pain flared every time she waved that thing.

“I’ll put it down as soon as your storm-troopers agree to let me stay until Hector wakes up. I’m not going anywhere while my husband is unconscious.”

Thurston hesitated. He knew his warrant was bullshit. He’d love to make it stick, but the fallout later, especially if Hector was in really bad shape, could be more than he was willing to risk. “What’s wrong with him?”

“The
pendejos
that grabbed us on Thursday hit him with something. He’s got a brain injury. The doctors aren’t certain how bad. But he’s been unconscious ever since.”

Thurston gulped. That didn’t sound good. And what did she say? Someone grabbed them? He began to get a bad feeling that he had misunderstood her disappearance.

“What assholes?” he asked.

“Cartel, probably. One minute I was asking if anyone knew where my relative was, and the next I was waking up in a hole in the ground. They dumped Hector in with me a few hours later, I guess. I don’t know for sure.”

Wanda relaxed as they conversed, dropping the hand with the scalpel to her side. Thurston briefly considered rushing her, but the thought of that thing slicing through his belly stopped him. Wanda may be an older woman, but he had no doubt she was at least as fast as he was. He’d slowed down a lot with the extra fifty pounds he’d put on since he joined the sheriff’s department. Instead, he focused on what she said. Cartel. Who else had said that to him lately?

Bill. He’d asked this morning as he went off-shift, about the motorcycle club that bought the Stars and Garters, wondering if they had contacts within the cartel. Thurston dismissed his question, figuring he was tired from the midnight shift. Now he wondered. There’d been evidence the young Latino Alex Ward nearly killed in self-defense last July was a cartel enforcer. Thurston hadn’t believed it, based mainly on the belief that a sheltered teenage girl like Alex couldn’t have fought off a pro.

He couldn’t make sense of why any cartel people would want to grab the Lopez couple, though.

“What makes you say that?” he asked.

Wanda made a show of closing her mouth and zipping her lip, raising Thurston’s ire again. How the hell was he supposed to do his job if the citizens wouldn’t talk to him?

“Wanda, I’m going to ask you one more time. If you don’t stop stonewalling me, and tell me what the hell’s going on, I’m going to have my men execute this warrant for your arrest, Hector or no Hector. Cooperate, and maybe we can reach an understanding.”

Wanda appeared to be considering his words. Before she opened her mouth again, she checked the clock on the wall. Why was she stalling?

“Okay, but before I say anything, promise me you won’t go off half-cocked, as usual. I want it in writing, and I want it witnessed with your deputies’ signatures.”

Thurston was backed into a corner. He didn’t want to let his men think a woman could get the best of him. He also didn’t want to make another mistake like the one he’d made last summer. “All right. But if you’re stringing me along, all bets are off.”

“I’m not,” she promised.

FORTY-TWO

Alex helped Sophia pack clothes for herself and the baby. Anna had left a while ago, promising to return with a case of diapers for Diego. She assured Sophia that her things, the baby’s and the case of diapers would be fine in the pickup bed when Dylan returned for them. The girl seemed distracted. Alex kept finding things she would have considered essential that hadn’t been packed yet.

When Dylan finally arrived, it was nearing sundown. They wanted to check on Wanda and Hector before leaving Sells, but Alex was getting anxious to be back on familiar ground. As soon as they loaded everything, Dylan drove them all to the hospital. Sophia agreed to stay with the baby in the pickup while they went in. Alex was relieved they left her there as soon as they got inside.

Pima County deputies were stationed near the information desk, and further down the hall. Alex couldn’t see a way to get past them without giving themselves away. The fact that the deputies were there likely had something to do with Wanda and Hector, a realization that she and Dylan evidently shared. They looked at each other at the same time, and Dylan steered her in a U-turn back outside.

“I don’t like the look of that,” he said.

“I don’t either. We can call to check on Wanda and Hector, once we’re out of here.”

Dylan opened the passenger door for her and ran to the driver’s side, not bothering to answer her. Apparently, he agreed with her one-hundred percent.

Dylan eased out of the parking lot and had them on the road toward home before either one of them answered Sophia’s questions about what was going on. Finally, Alex did her best.

“We don’t know, but whatever it is involves Pima County sheriff’s department. We’re going to go home and mind our own business for a while.”

Alex fell asleep almost immediately, waking up only when the pickup made a turn at Why. “What time is it?” she asked.

“A little after six. I’ll have you home in time for dinner,” Dylan’s answer was laced with the smile he had for her. It was funny how she could always tell he was smiling by the way his words sounded. She smiled back, even though it was getting too dark to see each other.