Chapter Thirteen #4
Raine sighed as she looked at her watch and then ate a few bites of Shabina’s famous fried zucchini sticks.
“We have to move on to Guadalupe. I’m running out of time.
Trust me, even if we’re not finished, Rush will just swoop in, gather me up, laptop and all, and walk out with me without saying a word. He’s so annoying.”
Harlow would have agreed with her assessment of Rush but she heard the note of exhaustion in Raine’s voice. She was pale, her freckles standing out like a dusting of strawberry gold, and perspiration formed in little beads along her hairline, making her damp enough for her hair to start going wild.
“Did you find anything on Guadalupe?”
“Well, she hasn’t visited your mailbox since our luncheon, which is a good sign,” Raine said.
“I’ve monitored her movements closely. She’s spending quite a bit of time showing property, but her main focus has been digging into the ownership of the place we’re looking at.
The property was placed in an old family trust that was later put into an LLC.
She’s been trying to find the owner of that corporation.
That corporation pays the taxes on it. She’s been making inquiries, so sooner or later, someone will answer her. ”
“Are we really thinking of buying the property?” Zahra asked. “I thought that was a ruse just so Guadalupe wouldn’t be suspicious.”
“I like the property,” Stella said. “I think we could develop it under the right circumstances. Water, electricity, ability to rent it as an Airbnb when we’re not using it.
Things like that. It’s a great location for wildlife, and it has two amazing boulders that few could ever climb if they didn’t have permission and access to the property. ”
“Kind of like what we’ve been doing already,” Harlow said.
Stella laughed. “Exactly. Back to what you found out about Guadalupe.”
“I believe she was trafficked, and her husband was part of a coalition on this side of the border. Border officials, law enforcement and several of the very prominent ranchers and landowners were part of the ring, along with the Delgotto Cartel. There was some speculation that Guadalupe’s husband fell out of favor with the cartel and was killed.
The fire was used as a cover-up. Those investigating originally wrote that in their reports—the detectives, the fire marshal and the local ME.
Those reports were buried. The new reports all said the same thing—it was an accidental fire.
A terrible tragedy. There was no mention of Guadalupe’s husband’s head injury in the later reports. ”
“Was there any evidence that Mr. Brown abused his wife?”
“Over the years, yes. They often went to charitable functions, and every time she was seen laughing, dancing or speaking to another man, he would lose it and chastise her publicly, sometimes verbally and other times physically. When it was physical, he was so brutal that several of his friends would interfere and try to stop him. Many witnesses reported that it seemed as though he would instruct Guadalupe to interact with the men, speak to them or dance with them, and then he’d be angry with her for doing as he insisted. ”
They exchanged long looks, each trying to puzzle out what that could mean. “Do you think he used her to further business deals for him, and then made it look as if he had no idea what she was doing other than flirting with other men?” Zahra asked.
Vienna inclined her head. “It sounds like he would give an order to her, tell her to entice some man and maybe make a date with him for later that evening, but he didn’t want anyone to know he was doing it, so he made a scene.”
“I believe he was using her, forcing her to sleep with other men. He most likely filmed it or had her do it, and then he got what he wanted out of the business deal,” Raine said. “It’s a common tactic. He appeared to have been very brutal when he got physical.”
“It would explain why she didn’t leave him and why she refused to tell the cops that he was pimping her out. She probably knew the cops were involved,” Stella said.
“You know who is connected to the mastermind,” Shabina said. “It’s so instinctive because you’re totally in survival mode.”
“There is one thing she did several times when she was out showing property. She received a phone call, but not on her own cell. She carried a second phone with her and would speak briefly to someone on that line and hang up. It was clear she didn’t want anyone to see or hear her.
She’s definitely got a burner phone,” Raine reported.
The back door swung open, and Rush’s powerful frame strode toward them.
“Do you think she still has ties to the cartel?” Harlow asked hastily.
“You don’t just walk away from a cartel,” Raine said, hastily closing her laptop.
“Even though she’s been here for years?” Stella asked.
“Even then,” Raine said, and slid her arms around Rush’s neck as he carefully lifted her.
Harlow put Raine’s things in the computer backpack and gave it to Rush. He transferred it to the hand farthest from her leg and turned and walked out without a word, just as Raine had predicted he would.