Maddy's Oasis (7 page)

“He growls all the time. Just ignore him.
Keep your hands away from his mouth, and you’ll be fine.”

“Jake-- ”

He hung up.

“Madeleine?” Eric called again.

“Um, try to come in,” she said. “Duke, stay!
Friend!”

Duke sat. He growled as Eric stuck his head
in but remained in place.

“Friend!” she said again. Eric eased into the
trailer. Duke remained in place. “God, I overslept!” she said. “The
finance department is two hours ahead and needed this information
mailed four hours ago!”

“I’ll take it into the motel,” Eric offered
without removing his shades.

“You okay?” She looked up at him.

“Had a few drinks.”

Madeleine waited for an explanation or at
least an apology for not including her in the invite. Nothing came.
Unusually hurt by the exclusion, she gathered her papers.

“I’ll take them in,” she said. “Need to get
away from this place for a bit.”

“Sure, great,” Eric agreed. “I’ll watch
things here.”

She glanced at him again. Eric didn't
normally leave her side or volunteer to be left behind
anywhere.

“Okay,” she said. “Jake’s dog likes AC. You
might have a furry coworker until he takes the blasted thing
home.”

Eric nodded and sat on a couch, gingerly
touching his head.

“The coffee here is horrible,” she said.
“I’ll bring you some good stuff. Why don't you go help Jake while
I'm gone and make sure they're doing what they're supposed to
be?”

He grimaced in response. Her phone rang, and
she tucked her earpiece in place. She placed the papers in her
briefcase, waved to him, and started out the door as she answered
the phone. Duke followed, pushing by her as he trotted down the
stairs.

“Ms. Winters, this is Deputy Miguel Fuentes.
How are you today?”

“Great,” she responded. “Is this about last
night?”

“Yes, ma’am. Jake asked me to give you a call
this morning.”

“Thanks. I’ll be by your office in precisely
an hour and a half. On what street are you located?”

Call waiting beeped, and Madeleine glanced at
the number. It was Dotty.

“Look, I’ll call when I’m in town,” she said,
then switched to Dotty's call. "Talk to me, Dotty!"

Duke trotted after her. She opened the door
to her rental, and the dog bolted into the car. She looked over her
shoulder. Jake was not in sight, and she was late enough as it was
without waiting for him to claim his dog. Duke walked around the
backseat twice before settling behind the passenger’s seat and
rubbing his wet nose around the closed window.

Dotty was already talking. Madeleine tried to
pay attention as she rolled down the rear window and started the
car.

" … patch the finance department through?"
Dotty asked.

"Right now?" Madeleine asked, unable to keep
the dismay out of her voice. She waited for the AC to cool off,
irritated by the heat. "I don't need worse news."

"Rumor has it your dear ex-fiancé Mark
ordered an audit."

"Oh, dear god. I can't find what Alex did
with the money-- there's no way I can explain it to the finance
department!"

"I'll hold them off. You sound beat already.
Can you come up with some story for them in an hour or two?" Dotty
asked.

"Yeah, I'd appreciate it. I gotta get going.
Will take me a while to get to town," she said.

"Take care, Maddy."

She smiled, thankful to have one ally in the
office. She wasn't surprised Mark was acting like the cad he was;
he'd know just how to make her look bad enough in their boss's eyes
to make sure she never moved up in the organization. She watched
Eric make his way to Jake and pulled out with another look at the
massive dog in the backseat.

* * *

“This’ll help my hangover?” Eric frowned.

“Yeah,” Toni responded. “It’ll sweat the
alcohol right outta you.”

Half-listening, Jake smiled as he continued
to stack the scattered stones into neat piles on top of wooden
pallets. He and Toni, among others, had long since stripped down to
their jeans and boots under the hot sun. Jake was sweating heavily,
but it felt good to get his body moving after a night of
drinking.

Eric removed his suit coat and carefully
folded it before placing it on a waist-high stack of stones on one
of the pallets. He unbuttoned the sleeves of his shirt, rolled
them, and planted his hands on his hips.

“Great, guys,” he said with some of his
previous enthusiasm. “What do I do?”

“You see those rocks?” Jake asked,
straightening.

Several pallets of previously stacked stones
had been scattered over about a hundred square yards by the
vandals. They couldn't move the stones out of the way of the heavy
equipment until they were on the pallets.

“Pick ’em up and stack ’em there,” Jake
instructed, pointing to the pallets.

Eric slapped his hands together in
anticipation and started forward. He hefted the first one while
Jake and Toni watched.

“Use your legs, or you’ll end up with a sore
back,” Toni called.

Eric waved a hand but continued to lift the
next two rocks incorrectly. Jake met Toni’s gaze and shook his head
in wry amusement.

“Never thought I’d meet a man who’s never
done some sort of manual labor,” Toni said. “That kid is about as
foreign to this type of work as I am to his suit.”

“We oughta take him out tonight to get some
boots,” Jake said with a grunt. “Show him there’s more to being a
Texan than drinking.”

“I saw Miguel this morning,” Toni said. “Said
there was some trouble last night?”

“City-girl called me about three. Guess there
were some men out here looking for Alex,” Jake responded.

“Lots of men looking for that idiot.”

“Yeah. I’m afraid they’ll make city-girl a
mark.”

“Howard should know better than to build a
hotel in the middle of the Cortez gang’s trafficking route,” Tony
said.

“You think he's involved?”

“Miguel said that guy Alex owed Cortez and
Perez money and never repaid it.”

"Didn't Alex owe half the shady characters in
town money?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, but Cortez and Perez are the two you
don't wanna cross."

Jake knew of Cortez’s illicit activities in
the area; everyone did. There would never be enough law enforcement
to stop Cortez, not with his guns, men, and money. There were
uneasy truces between him and local law enforcement, which meant
the towns and those in them did not need to worry so long as they
did not wander directly into Cortez's operations. Worse, the Oasis
was nearly at the crossroads of two drug gangs: Cortez and Perez,
who were competitors.

It wouldn't bode well for Madeleine if the
men she saw were indeed Cortez or Perez's men there to collect
Alex's debt. If either thought her and her project a threat to
their operations, they had the manpower for force her out, or if
nothing else, to extort his price from her. If she failed to
comply, she would end up another of the bodies occasionally found
in the desert.

City-girl didn't seem like the kind who would
take extortion very well.

“Maybe that’s why Alex left,” he said.

“Probably,” Toni agreed. “Oughta warn
city-girl.”

“Don’t think it would matter,” Jake said.
“She’s obsessed with this project. I told her whatever we did with
the lobby would have to be torn down after Mr. Howard’s visit. She
don't give a shit.”

“Different people,” Toni said with a shake of
his head. "It really could've been anybody, if Alex was as stupid
as folk say he was."

"This whole thing just smells bad. Thought
Howard was an idiot until I saw the article in the paper about the
proposed bypass to go near here. Would be a gold mine for him. This
godforsaken hotel is an hour from any sort of civilization," Jake
said with a grunt.

"Howard's in a position to know stuff like
that. Would make more sense if he pressured the bypass into getting
passed. It'd be in Cortez's interest, too, since a bypass would cut
the time traveling from the border down quite a bit."

"You never know with these kinds of people.
They're all shady."

They fell into silence and continued working
under the hot sun. It was not long before Eric stripped down to the
T-shirt under his collared shirt. Jake held off their lunch break
until late, still buzzing with angry energy. Toni finally called
the late break, and Eric joined them for a small picnic packed by
Toni’s wife.

The small man drank a quart of water before
glancing around him.

“Quite a day!” he said enthusiastically.

Jake knocked back a quart of water as well
and wiped his mouth. He leaned back to pour the remainder of the
water bottle over his head and neck.

“Good afternoon, boys.” The honeyed voice
made them all turn.

Jake chose a sandwich and began eating,
ignoring the three blonds in tight shirts. One wore snug white
pants, one a mini-skirt, and the third Daisy Dukes.

“Afternoon, ladies,” Eric said, and rose.
“Care to join us?”

“Hi, Jake.”

“Lily,” he said.

The petite blond with manicured nails perched
on a rock near him. He felt her gaze rake over him and remembered a
time when such a look would have boiled his blood. The knowledge of
her rampant infidelity during their years together-- and the fact
she hid well that she was a gold-digger-- had cooled his emotions
and desire for the beautiful woman. She left him for a sugar daddy
three months ago, and word in town was that the sugar daddy wasn't
as rich as she thought Jake's uncle was, which was why she was
back.

“Haven’t seen you in awhile,” she said.
“Missed that cute smile of yours.”

Her honeyed voice agitated him, brought up
both the memories of steamy nights and the realization of his own
ignorance of her true personality.

Javier's instinct had known what she was the
whole time. Jake still owed his uncle for advising him not to marry
the woman when he'd considered proposing a year before she left
him.

You think too well of her, son.

As always, Javier was right.

“Been busy,” Jake said, and wolfed down the
sandwich.

“I’m in town for a few days. Saturday still
tequila night?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t I join you tonight?”

“Free country.”

Lily appeared satisfied by his response. Jake
glanced at her from the corner of his eye, part of him wondering if
he dared go drinking with the woman. Their nights of drinking had
always led to one thing: bed. His anger was still hot, but as he
had learned the hard way, Lily was always up for a one-night stand.
After three dry months, Jake wondered if a one-night stand with the
deceptive woman might settle his anger and his restless
hormones.

He finished eating and rose without another
word. Toni and Eric remained, Eric flirting shamelessly with all
three women. Jake looked back once to see Lily’s hand on Eric’s
thigh and decided even if he needed to get laid, she would not be
the one he chose to sleep with. Of course, drinking always had a
way of lowering his standards. He didn't want to skip tequila night
but suspected he wouldn't go home alone if he went.

Irritated, he set out stacking stones with
renewed energy.

* * *

Madeleine was in a foul mood when she
returned to the site. An argument with Nigel, plea bargains with
the finance department to extend her funding, and a waste of two
hours at the police station all ate at her patience. While the
finance department was considering a partial extension of funding
in exchange for a full audit, Nigel had threatened to cut it
already.

Nigel’s verbal instructions regarding the
third change of the blueprints baffled her. He refused to send the
blueprints but expected the changes to be incorporated for Mr.
Howard’s visit, uttering excuses ranging from their final drafting
status to the lack of time in his schedule to help her. To make
matters worse, Eric was refusing to answer his phone, and she
needed his help in working through several of the funding and
building kinks.

The hamburger and fries she fed Duke during a
quick stop to eat gave the panting dog horrible gas. Madeleine left
the windows of the car down and grabbed her briefcase. Duke climbed
out the window and loped ahead. She stopped to orient herself,
staring at the office. It was not where she left it, unless she
parked elsewhere. She looked back at the common parking lot.
Unwilling to waste time on the moved office, she made her way to
the trailer. Duke launched himself onto a couch.

Madeleine glanced at him as she dropped her
briefcase and papers on the desk.

The trailer smelled as bad as the dog.
Agitated and hot, she dialed Eric’s number again. He didn't answer.
No one had been in the trailer for awhile; the AC was out and the
generator silent. She left the office to refill and start the
generator.

Her own lunch was cold. She popped it in the
microwave and sat, pulling out a newspaper she'd picked up in town.
The microwave dinged, and she withdrew her soggy hamburger and
fries, eating quickly as she read.

Five bodies found in
desert; linked to Cortez-Perez fight for drug corridor.
She scanned the article, surprised to find what
Jake said was true: there were drug trafficking gangs in the area.
The article included a small map illustrating the route the thugs
used.

The Desert Oasis was in the middle of the
route.

Cortez. She frowned and sat up, flipping open
her accounting book. Alex had owed a Cortez five million. She
opened the newspaper and soon decided it was a coincidence: half
the town had a Cortez in their name, if the newspaper's Community
page was any indication. Graduations and marriages, small business
owners, local charity for the poor-- many of them were Cortezes.
Even Javier, whose full name was listed on his card as Javier
Enrique Garcia Cortez.