Taking Aim (8 page)

“Man’s got a right to eat.” He held up a hand. “You can stop right there.”

Zach halted at the base of the steps, directly in front of the old man, his jaw tight, his knees bent slightly, ready to spring. “Before she came into the diner, she spoke with a short Hispanic man. You sat in the booth staring out at them. Can you identify the man?”

“I could...” The old man stuck a straw in his mouth and sneered. “If I gave a rat’s behind.”

Zach’s blood boiled. While this man lorded himself over them, Tracie Kosart could be suffering horrible torture. Frustrations of the past day, no, the past two years exploded in one flying leap.

Zach climbed the steps, grabbed the shotgun, jerked it out of the curmudgeon’s hands and flung it across the yard. Then he lifted the man to his feet and slammed him up against the wall of the house. “How about right now?”

The man’s eyes bulged, his face and body breaking out in a sweat. “You ain’t got no right to push me around on my own property. I’ll have your job for this. Let me go,” he gasped, scratching at the fingers pressing into his windpipe.

“You’re assuming I care about my job.” Zach pushed the man higher up the wall until his feet dangled. “I don’t. However, I do care about finding a woman who could very well be raped, tortured and killed. Preferably before all three of those things happen.” He shook the man. “Now, are you going to tell me something that will help me find her, or do I make you sorry you didn’t?”

“Zach. Don’t.” Jacie’s voice called out behind him.

“Listen to the girl,” Sarly whined. “Won’t do you no good if you knock me out or kill me.”

“Please.” Jacie’s hand touched Zach’s arm.

A blast of calm washed over Zach’s raging nerves. Still, he wanted to beat someone’s head in, and Bull Sarly was just enough of a pain in the butt to deserve it.

The hand on his arm tightened. “He’s not worth going to jail over,” she whispered.

“And your sister’s not worth saving?” Zach rasped.

“Yes, she is, but this isn’t going to help.”

“Sister?” Bull stared from Zach to Jacie. “You didn’t say nothin’ ’bout that woman being yer sister. Let me down. Maybe I know somethin’.”

Zach held him there a second longer, then let go so fast the man slid down the wall before his legs engaged and held up his bulk.

“Talk fast. A woman’s life depends on us finding her sooner than later.”

Jacie stepped up to the man and touched his arm. “Mr. Sarly, the cartel took my sister. We think she might have spoken to someone the day she came to town who might know where they would have taken her. Please.” Her eyes filled with tears. “She’s my only living relative. I’d do anything to save her.”

A growl sounded behind Zach.

As Sarly had indicated, once the dog had finished the treat, he was back and ready to take up where he’d left off.

Zach pulled the pistol from his shoulder holster and aimed it at the dog. “Call him off or I’ll shoot him.”

“Don’t.” Sarly raised a hand. “Like your sister, Mo is the only family I have.” He gave the rottweiler a stern look. “Sit.”

A long moment passed as the dog growled low in its throat, knowing a threat when he saw it and ready to launch an attack to the death.

Zach’s weapon remained trained on the dog.

“Sit, damn you.” Sarly pushed to his feet and took a step toward the dog.

Mo squatted on his haunches, his lip still pulled back in a menacing snarl.

“Good boy.” The older man patted his leg. “Come.”

The dog trotted up the steps to his master and sat at his feet.

Zach let out the breath he’d been holding. He liked dogs and hadn’t wanted to shoot the creature. But he would have, if it was Jacie’s or his life over the dog’s.

“Look, I don’t want nothin’ to happen to yer sister, any more than you do.” Bull scratched his beard. “I seem to recall her lookin’ just like you and I really thought it was you until she asked for directions to the Big Elk.” He snorted. “Didn’t even know you had a twin.”

Jacie gave him the hint of a smile. “Not many people do.”

“Did you recognize the man she spoke to outside the diner?” Zach pushed. The clock was ticking and they hadn’t gotten any closer to finding Tracie.

“I thought it strange that you—” he nodded toward Jacie “—would be talking to a man from the wrong side of town. What with you working out at the Big Elk with yer hotshot clients.”

Zach stepped toward Sarly. “Get to the point.”

Sarly glared at Zach. “Back off and I will.” He faced Jacie, his features softening. “I had a sister once.” He sighed. “The guy she was talkin’ to was Juan Alvarez. I know that ’cause he used to work at the feed store with Henry Franks. Franks fired him when he didn’t show up for two days. What with all the traffickin’ goin’ on round here, he figured Juan was involved, and Henry didn’t want no part of that.”

“Juan Alvarez.” Jacie glanced across at Zach. “I know who that is.”

“Then let’s go.” Zach was already off the porch and halfway to the truck when he realized Jacie wasn’t right behind him.

She stood on the porch with Mr. Sarly, shaking his hand and smiling. “Thank you, Mr. Sarly. You don’t know how much I appreciate your help. If ever there’s anything I can do for you, let me know.”

His ruddy older face reddened even more. “Well, now. Next time you come bring ol’ Mo some of whatever you brought this time. He seemed to like it right plenty.”

Jacie patted Bull’s hand and hurried toward the truck, climbing in without a word.

As they pulled away, Zach glanced in his mirror at the man retrieving his shotgun.

Zach’s first instinct was to slam his foot to the accelerator. But the man just held it in one hand, patted the dog with the other and watched as they pulled out of sight.

The truck bumped along the rutted track to the highway, where Zach stopped and turned toward Jacie. “Where to?”

“The south side of Wild Oak Canyon. From what I know, Juan lives in a not-so-safe neighborhood on the edge of town. You’ll want to make sure your gun is loaded and you’re ready to fire.”

Chapter Eight

Jacie’s heart raced as they sped toward town. “Is this
what FBI agents do? Follow clues, one step at a time to find a missing person or
apprehend a suspect?”

“Yes.”

Her hands twisted in her lap as she studied Zach, hoping to
catch a glimpse of the former agent in him. Perhaps that would help her to
understand what drew her sister to join the FBI. “Doesn’t it get tedious and
frustrating?”

“Yes.” The word was short, with no telltale expression or
anything a person could read in to.

Jacie frowned. “Anyone ever tell you that you don’t talk
much?”

His lips twitched. “Yes.”

Jacie’s stomach flipped. When he wasn’t looking all fierce and
deadly, the man was downright handsome.

“Are you always so forceful when you question people?” she
pressed.

The hint of a smile disappeared. “Only when I’m out of time and
patience.”

A heavy weight pressed down on Jacie’s shoulders. “Do you think
we’ll be too late?”

His foot lifted from the accelerator and he stared across at
Jacie, his lips thin, his eyes narrowed. “No.” Then he jammed his boot on the
gas and the truck shot forward, faster than before. “At this point, we go all or
nothing. Doubt can’t be a factor. Got that?” He shot a stern frown at her, his
nostrils flaring.

“You’re right. My mother used to tell us not to borrow
trouble.” She sat back, the intensity of his stare making her glad he was on her
side.

They blew into town, exceeding the speed limits, but Jacie
didn’t care.

“Turn left at the next street,” she said.

Zach took the corner a little too fast. The bed of the truck
skidded around behind them, leaving a trail of rubber in the hot pavement.

They passed houses along the road, the exteriors diminishing in
care and upkeep the closer they got to the edge of town, until all that was left
was a smattering of crumbling shacks and even seedier mobile homes.

“Next right.” Jacie pulled her cowboy hat low on her forehead
and tucked her hair beneath.

Zach nodded his approval. “You’re learning.”

Men sat on porches or lounged in old lawn chairs; some stood
around the shade trees. A small child played in the dirt, his hair shaggy, his
clothes unkempt.

As Zach passed, narrowed gazes followed the shiny pickup’s
progress.

Jacie squirmed at the attention, not at all comfortable. “Is it
safe to stop here?”

“If Juan is here, we need to find him. Safe or not. Maybe I
should take you back to the Big Elk before I conduct business.”

“No.” Jacie sat up straighter. “I’m not afraid for myself.”

Zach’s lips twisted. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid for me?”

She shrugged. “Maybe.” She was, but she wouldn’t admit it. The
man had a death wish, based on the way he walked up to Mr. Sarly, an angry bully
holding a gun, as if he had nine lives to spare.

A young, dark-haired, dark-skinned man stepped out on the metal
stairs leading into a ramshackle mobile home.

Jacie’s heart fluttered. “That’s him.” She nodded toward the
trailer. “That’s Juan.” She recognized him from one of her trips to Cara Jo’s
Diner.

“Let me do the talking and stay in the truck with the doors
locked.”

“No way.” Jacie reached for the door handle. “You can’t go out
there alone. You need backup.”

He snorted. “Like you’re my backup? Please.”

Anger bubbled up in Jacie’s veins. “Some backup is better than
none.”

Zach grasped her hand in a tight clamplike hold. “Just do it.
If I’m worrying about you, I might not see what’s coming, like a fist or a
bullet.”

Jacie let go of the door handle and bit her bottom lip, torn
between wanting to help and hurting the situation. “What are you going to
do?”

“I’m going to ad-lib and get some information.”

* * *

Z
ACH
PULLED
IN
front of the trailer,
shot the truck into park and climbed down. “Alvarez,” he called out.

Alvarez leaned against the door of his trailer. “Lost,
gringo?
”

“You owe me and I’m here to collect.” Zach marched toward the
Hispanic.

Juan’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t owe you nothin’. Never saw you
before.”

A couple of the men who’d been lounging against beat-up cars
pushed away and ambled toward Alvarez and the ruckus Zach was stirring.

“I asked for good stuff and you gave me shit.” Zach marched up
to the steps. “I want what I paid for, and I want it now.”

Alvarez leaped to the ground and flipped out a switchblade. “I
don’t know who the hell you are, but I don’t owe you nothin’.”

Before the other two men could get close enough, Zach whispered
low and without moving his lips, “You spoke to a woman two days ago in front of
the diner.”

Alvarez froze.

Zach went on. “I need to know what you said. Come with me and
you won’t be hurt.” Louder he said, “Do I have to beat my stuff out of you?”

Juan lunged, his knife aimed at Zach’s heart.

Zach ducked, grabbed Juan’s knife hand and twisted it up and
behind the man, pushing it high between his shoulder blades.

“Dios!”
The knife fell from Juan’s
grip. “It’s not here. I’ll take you there, just don’t break my arm.”

“That’s more like it.” Without loosening his grip, Zach scooped
up the knife and held it to Alvarez’s throat. “Now tell your
compadres
to back off or I use this on you. And I warn
you,
entiendo español.
”
I
understand Spanish.

Juan spoke to the men in rapid-fire Spanish.

Zach understood enough of the language to gather that Juan told
his buddies he’d be okay, not to interfere, he’d take care of this.

With Juan as his shield, Zach moved toward the pickup.

Inside, Jacie unlocked the door and slid to the center.

Zach pulled his pistol from his shoulder holster and handed it
to her. “Point this at him and shoot if he so much as breathes wrong.”

“Will do.” She aimed the gun at Juan.

“In the truck,” Zach ordered.

When Juan glanced into the truck, Jacie raised her head and
stared straight into his eyes.

For a moment, Juan’s eyes widened and he blinked. Then he
ducked his head and climbed in without further argument.

Zach slammed the door shut, then rounded the truck and climbed
into the driver’s seat. “Just so you know, she’s actually a better shot than I
am, so do yourself a favor and behave.”

Juan sat silent, staring at the pistol Jacie held in both
hands, her finger caressing the trigger grip.

Back through town, Zach drove, his attention alternating
between the road ahead, the rearview mirror and the woman holding the gun on the
man beside her.

She held it steady, her face a mask of intensity.

Once he was certain he hadn’t been followed, Zach shot out into
the country, far enough away from town he could be certain no one was behind
him.

Juan nodded toward the pistol in Jacie’s hand. “She can put
that down. I won’t try to run or hurt you.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’ll keep it right here,” she
said.

Zach’s chest swelled at her calm, clear and determined tones.
She wasn’t shaking, she hadn’t hesitated to take the weapon and she probably was
a better shot than he was, given that she hunted for a living.

Zach pulled off onto a side road and traveled another quarter
of a mile before he parked beside a large clump of prickly pear cactus.

“How do you know my sister?” Jacie started.

“I don’t know you and I don’t know your sister,” Juan muttered.
“And I don’t have your stuff, because I never sold you none.”

Zach nodded to Jacie. “Keep the gun on him.” Then he got out of
the truck and rounded the front.

“You better answer our questions. My friend gets really cranky
when he has to use force,” Jacie warned, loud enough Zach could hear her.

He almost smiled, but that wouldn’t be effective in what he
planned next for Juan Alvarez.

Zach yanked open the passenger door.

“I don’t know nothin’,” Juan insisted.

“Maybe I can jog your memory a little.” Zach grabbed Juan by
the collar of his shirt and yanked him out onto the ground, then slammed him
against the truck. “The woman you spoke to the day before yesterday was
kidnapped last night. Which I suspect you already knew.”

Juan shook his head but didn’t voice a denial.

“Think real hard before you deny it. Next I will use that
pretty little gun my assistant is holding to blow each one of your fingers off,
one at a time.”

Jacie slid down out of the truck, her eyebrows raised. “He’s
not kidding. But if you want to play Russian roulette with your hands, we can
oblige.” She lifted the nine-millimeter pistol. “I want my sister back and I’ll
do anything to get her.”

Juan’s eyes bulged. “La Familia Diablos
es
muy loco.
They’ll kill me if they know I said anything.”

“So, were you the one to set my sister up to take the fall in
Wild Horse Canyon?” Jacie stepped closer. “Maybe I’ll start with the trigger
finger. Hold it out.”

Zach’s chest swelled even more at Jacie’s ability to follow his
lead. He knew without a doubt that she would never shoot another living being
without deadly provocation, but Juan didn’t know that.

Jacie was so convincing at her roll, Zach could almost believe
she would start shooting. Zach shoved Juan to the ground and stepped on his
hand, splaying the fingers wide. “What did you tell the woman?”

“I’ll tell you whatever you want to know,” Juan squealed. “Just
don’t shoot.”

“Start talking.” Jacie squatted next to the man.

“She got my name from my cousin in San Antonio. She came to me
asking when a shipment was going down with the men from the DEA. She paid me
five hundred dollars and promised not to tell La Familia who told her. That’s
all. Now are you going to let me up?”

Zach snorted. “I’ll think about it.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Juan insisted.

“Did you inform La Familia Diablos that my sister was
coming?”

“No. I hate La Familia. They killed my brother, Roberto. I owe
them no allegiance.”

“Let him up,” Jacie demanded.

Zach removed his foot from the man’s hand, grabbed his shoulder
and hauled him to his feet. “Don’t try anything,” he warned Juan.

Jacie’s eyebrows furrowed. “You knew the woman you’d spoken to
was captured?”

“Sí.”

Her gaze narrowed. “How?”

He shrugged, rubbing at the hand Zach had stood on. “News
travels fast in the barrio.”

“Then you also know Los Lobos killed the men who captured her
and took her.”

Juan’s lips clamped shut and he stared from Zach to Jacie.

“Maybe you even know where Los Lobos are keeping her?” Jacie
prompted.

“No.” Juan looked away.

“Liar.” Zach’s lips thinned and he stepped toward Juan, fists
clenched. “Either you know or you know someone who does.” He held out his hand
for the gun Jacie still held. She slapped it into his open palm.

Zach’s fingers curled around the handle, warm from Jacie’s
touch. “Save us the crap and tell us what you do know.”

Juan stared from Jacie back to Zach. “You aren’t going to shoot
me.” He straightened his shoulders. “You don’t have it in you.”

“Try me,” Zach said, his tone, low and dangerous. His hand rose
with the gun pointed at Juan’s forehead.

Juan stared down the barrel. At first Zach thought he would
succeed at calling his bluff. To hell with that.

Zach pointed the nine-millimeter at Juan’s foot and fired off a
round.

“Madre de Dios!”
Juan grabbed his
foot and hopped in place before he fell to the ground and pulled off his shoe.
Blood oozed from the side of his foot. “You shot me!”

Jacie stood with her mouth hanging open. Then she swallowed
hard, her throat working in spasms. She shook back her hair and stared down her
nose at the wounded man. “A flesh wound. The next one will count.” She held out
her hand. “My turn.”

Zach passed the weapon back to her, his eyebrows rising.

“Did I mention I’ll do just about anything to get my sister
back alive?” She aimed the gun at Juan’s kneecap. “I want answers now, not after
she’s dead.”

Juan held his hands over the knee, as if they would have any
effect stopping a bullet. “They’ll kill me.”

Jacie shrugged. “Us or them? You choose.”

“Okay, okay.” Juan stood. “Los Lobos might have taken her into
one of the caves they use to stage drug runs. In Wild Horse Canyon.”

“Guess who’s taking us on a little trip into the canyon?”
Zach’s mouth quirked upward.

Juan’s eyes rounded into saucers. “No. I told you what you
wanted to know. Let me go.”

“Sorry. That’s not an option.” Zach nodded to Jacie. “Let’s go.
We’re burning daylight.” The quicker they got to the canyon, the better for
Tracie. Even a trained agent didn’t hold up well under torture.

Zach shoved Juan into the truck.

Jacie got in beside their captive and took Zach’s gun from
him.

Without uttering another word, Zach slid into the driver’s seat
and spun the truck around, heading toward Hank’s Raging Bull Ranch.

When he passed the turnoff to the Big Elk, Jacie looked at him
with a frown. “Shouldn’t we go back to the Big Elk and get horses?”

“Shouldn’t you take me back to
mi
casa?
” Juan whined.

“No,” Zach answered. “You’ll be showing us exactly where this
cave is.”

Juan pointed at his foot. “But I’m injured. I can’t walk.”

“You’ll be on horseback,” Zach said.

Juan didn’t look any happier. “I don’t know how to ride.”

“Can I just shoot him now?” Jacie asked.

Juan sat in silence for a moment, glaring out the front
windshield. “What if I don’t remember?”