Chapter 16 #3
“I wouldn’t be happy sailing around the world on a yacht,” Rodrigo said easily. “Besides, my wife works. And our son thinks
he might like to work for the agency when he grows up.”
“More American feds to make my life a misery.” Velasquez grinned.
“Unlikely that any of us could do that,” Rodrigo replied. “Besides which you’re a very bad drug lord. You make too many friends.”
He just shrugged.
“What about Vega?” Josie asked. “And what about the purebred calves that Raines had put drugs into?”
“The calves have already arrived,” Velasquez assured her, “and they are being cared for by my own vet. We only lost one.”
He sighed. “As for Vega, he continues to be a thorn in my side.”
“We have plans for him.”
“Into which I see myself being sadly involved,” Velasquez said with a glance at Rodrigo.
“Of course. We’re cousins. We have to help each other, don’t we?”
Velasquez glared at him. “Your idea of help is extreme.”
He just shrugged and smiled.
“When can I go home?” Josie asked.
“When you’re better,” Velasquez said. “They tell me that you live in an apartment in Dallas and that you have no family or
close friends. Here, you are safe and I have a doctor on call and even an infirmary. Nor can Vega approach you here.”
“He’s right,” Rodrigo said.
“The Everetts,” Josie said, her face falling. “They still think I’m a criminal.”
Her boss gave her a long look. “If you like, we’ll have Sheriff Marlowe pull John Everett in and tell him the truth.”
“Could you?” she asked hopefully.
“Of course,” her boss replied. “Meanwhile, you’ll be safe here. When you heal, we’ll discuss your next assignment, but it
won’t be undercover, I’m afraid. Too dangerous, now that Vega and his men have seen you.”
She sighed and lay back, grimacing a little. “Well, it was getting a little tedious,” she had to admit.
Velasquez had his own theories about what might happen to Josie next, and it involved a blond rancher. But he kept his silence.
John was curious about why Dunn Marlowe wanted him to stop by the detention center. He assumed it was about Josie. Maybe her
case was coming up. Or maybe she’d committed another crime. He grimaced. He’d been worried, especially as days had gone by
with no word for or about her.
“Come in and sit down,” Dunn told him, indicating his guest chair.
Marlowe dropped into his own chair. “I guess you’re wondering why I asked you here. I’ve been appropriated by a federal agency
to share some news.”
“It’s about Josie, isn’t it?” John asked. “Is she in trouble somewhere else?” His jaw tautened. “If she is, I can get a lawyer
for her . . .”
Dunn held up a hand. “Just be patient.” He opened his desk drawer and pulled out two items. One was Josie’s cell phone. The
other was a leather case. He pushed them across the desk to John.
“What are these?” he asked apprehensively.
“They’re Josie’s.”
John’s face went waxen. “She’s . . . dead?” he asked. Every hint of color drained right out of the world, every drop of it.
The road ahead dropped off into oblivion. He could see no future, nothing to look forward to ever again. He felt empty. Drained.
“Open it,” Dunn prompted, indicating the leather case.
Sadly, John opened it to reveal a badge. He stared at it. Looked up at Marlowe. Stared at it again.
“She’s a fed?” he exclaimed.
Dunn nodded. “She was undercover, trying to shut down a shipment of extremely dangerous drugs. Raines was in the loop, along
with Velasquez. But Velasquez was double-crossed by a rival drug lord named Vega. There was an attempt to move the shipment,
which Vega interdicted. There was a shootout and Josie was wounded.”
“Is she alive?” he asked, his eyes wild. “Is she?”
Dunn nodded. “Alive and recovering.” His face hardened.
“Where is she? In a hospital?”
“No.” Dunn’s eyes glittered. “She’s at Velasquez’s ranch, over the border.”
John’s eyes widened. “She’s where? Is she a hostage?”
“No. She’s a guest.”
“Velasquez. The drug lord Velasquez?”
“Yes. He’s the biggest drug lord in northeastern Mexico. He’s worth more than the annual budget of a small country.”
“Why is she at his ranch?”
“Because they’re friends,” he muttered.
“Friends? How does she even know him?” John asked.
“She met him at a local bar. She thought he was in the chain of distribution. She didn’t know he was the drug lord himself.”
He cocked his head. “Neither did you or your dad, apparently.”
“What?”
“Who do you think bought your purebred bulls at the private auction?” Dunn asked him.
John’s eyes widened. “That was Velasquez? But he was furious because the cattle had been used to transport drugs!”
Dunn sighed. “Yes. And he was outraged that two busloads of private citizens from Mexico had been forced to swallow balloons
of drugs to transport across the border. That was Vega’s idea. It almost worked, too, except that Josie upset the applecart.
Velasquez had a mole in the organization who tipped him off, just in time to save Josie’s life. She would have bled to death.”
It looked as if it was killing Marlowe to say anything kind about the drug lord. Some old wounds there, John thought, but
kept it to himself.
“Where is she, exactly?” John asked.
“I’ll pull up a map for you.” He chuckled. “Velasquez said you were welcome. Apparently, Josie was more worried about what you’d think because she disappeared without a word.”
“Was she?” John was grinning from ear to ear.
He chuckled. “Take her those.” Dunn indicated the phone and the badge. “She took a burner phone with her, but she thought
it was too dangerous to keep these on her, so I locked them in my safe. You going to fly down? Velasquez has a paved airstrip.
You can land there. But you’d better phone first, so he doesn’t think you’re about to bomb him.”
“He saved Josie. I won’t lift a finger against him.”
“Neither can I,” Dunn said disgustedly. “He’s never broken a law in this country. Not even a parking ticket. And he’s related
to some powerful people, not only in Mexico, but in Washington, DC, Spain and Denmark, of all places.”
“Some connections,” John remarked, pocketing the phone and the badge. “Thanks for letting me know. And for the map.”
Marlowe had printed it out. He handed it to him. “You can get it on your phone, but sometimes communications down on the border
are iffy. I like printed maps.”
“So do I.” He shook hands. “Thanks a million.”
“Don’t let Velasquez muscle you out.”
“No chance of that,” John replied. “I’m persistent. Water dripping on stone . . . ?”
Marlowe winced. “Don’t say that.”
“Why?”
“I was spec ops in the military,” he replied. “I did some jobs that I can’t talk about. A few involved water.”
John got it. “Sorry. Bad choice of words.” He grinned. “But I’m persistent anyway. See you.”
Dunn nodded. “See you. Safe trip.”
“Thanks.”
Marlowe sat back down in his chair and thought about the past, about how long he’d hated Velasquez, how much he’d wanted to hurt the man.
He’d learned things about the drug lord that disturbed him, that challenged him.
He couldn’t let go of the anguish. But he was surprised to find that he’d softened, even just a little bit.
John shared the news with the family as he prepared to fly to Mexico with their pilot.
“I knew she wasn’t what she seemed,” Heather said. “But I was right about the danger.”
“You were,” John replied.
“Is she going to be okay?” JJ worried.
Heather hugged him. “She’s going to be just fine.”
“She’s with a friend,” John said. His face hardened. “But that won’t last long. I’m bringing her home. We have doctors.”
“Indeed, we do,” Cole agreed with a hidden smile.
“Who’s the friend?” JJ asked.
“A notorious drug lord,” John said, surprising them. “Speaking of which, guess who bought our purebred bulls at the private
sale?”
Cole stared at him. “The drug lord?”
“The same. Dunn Marlowe said the man had never committed a crime in the States, not even a parking ticket, so he can’t arrest
him. He sure wanted to, if I’m any judge of men. I expect he and Velasquez have a history.”
“Probably a good guess,” Cole said. “But the man was outraged about the bulls being used to transport drugs. He wasn’t putting
on an act, either. He was furious. That doesn’t sound like a drug lord to me.”
“Well, Tony Garza doesn’t sound like a notorious mob boss, either, now does he?” Heather said with a smile. “People can change.
Maybe Josie affected the drug lord.”
“She sure affected me,” John said absently. “Listen, Precious hasn’t been himself lately. I hate to ask, but could you guys
keep an eye on him. Just in case?”
“I’ll get Bill Harvey up here,” Cole promised. “He loves snakes. He’ll check on Precious daily. Okay? How long you expect to be gone?”
“Until I’m kicked out or Josie will come back with me,” John replied doggedly.
“In that case,” Heather said, “I’ll get one of the guest rooms ready. Just in case. I knew she wasn’t a bad girl,” she added
softly. “She had too much heart.”
“She sure was good to me,” JJ added.
“To all of us, sweetheart,” Heather said, hugging him.
“I’ll be back when I can,” John said. “Don’t rattle any of your Christmas presents while I’m gone,” he added, staring at all
of them. “Some might be breakable.” He was looking straight at his dad.
“I never shake presents,” Cole said belligerently.
“You do so,” Heather said calmly. “Our first Christmas together, I’d given you a crystal mouse and you dropped it while you
were shaking it. Its poor little tail fell off.”
“And I glued it back on,” he replied with a warm, soft smile.
“Yes, you did,” she said, and replied with a warm smile of her own.
John was always amazed at the way they were together, even after years of marriage. He hoped for that same feeling in his
own marriage. In fact, he had marriage in mind. His infatuation with his sister-in-law Stasia, which had persisted for years,
had finally faded into the past with Josie’s explosion into his life. She was all he thought about now. She consumed him.