Chapter Thirteen
The Cantina Pollero Loco was located in a “Zona Rosa” or red-light district. It was perched on a corner across from a two-story pink stucco motel. A corrugated metal fence covered with graffiti art and gang tags separated it from the storage yard on one side and a dilapidated car wash on the other. Two spindly palm trees drooped listlessly over the arched entranceway, and a pair of stocky bouncers wearing starched white shirts flexed their muscles beneath the flashing neon signs.
The streetlights directly in front of the club were broken, leaving a single light across the street to cast weak shadows over the small groups of men entering and exiting the club.
“I don’t like the way it’s situated,” Axe said, peering out the passenger window of the Oldsmobile. He’d let Leanna drive so she could park the car close to the club. “You can bet someone’s watching from the motel.”
“They told me to come alone,” Leanna reminded him. “You can’t be with me when I walk in.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Axe clenched his jaw while noting the lay of the land and the dark corners he could blend into.
“I don’t think Gabriel’s friends will harm me,” Leanna said. “What does your contact, this El Bardo, say about them? Which one should I hire?”
“They’re all losers,” Axe said. “Lookouts and snitches. The one you call Blue Skull goes around acting like a smuggler when he’s only the muscle. Pimply Toad’s a computer whiz and wannabe hacker. He’s their money guy. Scabby Goatee is Gabriel’s half-brother. He’s the most dangerous, but he also knows the most.”
“Meaning?”
“He’s the guy who collects protection money. Ana and Eduardo were paying him.”
“For what?” Leanna slowed the car and stared at him.
“Every business needs protection,” Axe said. “It’s called payingpiso, or paying the toll. My contact says Eduardo was behind on payments.”
“Do you think these guys will help us?” Leanna asked. “Why can’t El Bardo help?”
“He’s got bigger fish to fry, and he doesn’t want to get involved,” Axe said. “Go around the block. You’re driving too slow, and it looks suspicious.”
Leanna sped up and bounced the jalopy down the street. “Why are you involved? What are your goals in all of this?”
“My goal? You want to know my goal?” Axe lasered her with a pointed stare. “Isn’t it obvious? To keep you safe. You hired me for protection.”
“Actually, I hired any old escort for protection, and somehow, you got mixed up in this.” Leanna braked sharply to avoid a fender bender.
Several cars behind them honked.
“You’re causing a traffic jam,” Axe said. “You don’t want to draw attention to us.”
“La, di, da. Like the entire neighborhood doesn’t know this car by now. Look, I haven’t forgotten that you lied to me. Tried to get me to go home.” Leanna eased back into traffic.
“Consistent with my objective of keeping you safe.” Axe pointed to the intersection. “Turn here.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so. I want you to drop me off behind the car wash.”
“Gladly, if it means getting rid of you.” Leanna turned the car around the corner and came to a stop in the next block behind the car wash. “You haven’t answered my question. Why don’t you want me to find Carmelita?”
“I want you to go home.”
“I don’t want to go home. Don’t you understand?”
“More than you know.” Axe’s heart twisted with the familiar and unwelcome pain. She wasn’t the only one to lose someone and wonder what happened to them. “Keep driving.”
“Oh, I get it.” Her voice took on a snarky tone. “You’re heartless, and you have no idea what a mother feels for her child.”
She had no idea how a father felt for a child he almost got to raise.
Axe shoved the thought from his mind and set his face like stone so Leanna wouldn’t know how close to home she’d struck.
