Chapter Fifteen
Axe recognized Pablo’s knocking pattern and tore open the door. “About time you got here. We’ve got real trouble.”
“You screwed up,” Pablo said. “Hey, I tried my best. Cornered Leanna inside the bar and told her to go home. Your lady is stubborn and hotheaded. She signaled to the thug to rescue her from me.”
“Aren’t you El Bardo?” Axe’s breath hissed through his teeth. “They should have deferred to you.”
“They didn’t recognize me.” Pablo rolled up his sleeves and showed Axe the bruises on his arms. “The bouncers threw me out before I could warn you. Where did you go anyway? You weren’t answering your phone.”
Axe removed his sunglasses and pointed to his puffy eye. “I got jumped and robbed. The problem is what to do now. I thought you were someone big up in the chain here. You said you knew everything, and I trusted you when you said those three stooges weren’t dangerous.”
Pablo raised a finger and shook his head. “I told you Gabriel’s brother’s dangerous.”
Axe slapped his fist on the dresser. “Then how come when I mentioned El Bardo, your street name, he shook in his sneakers? You’re supposed to be the big man here.”
“I am the big man,” Pablo said. “They need me to hook them up with the crooked cops.”
“Great. You know crooked cops.” Axe pulled up his pant leg and strapped on a knife. “Let’s find one to haul them in.”
“It’s not that simple,” Pablo said. “I’m working on the Carmelita angle. You know she’s worth a lot of money to someone.”
Axe gritted his teeth and paced around the room like a caged lion. “Not going there. We’ve been through this before. I don’t want that kid hurt. Why can’t we use the police if they’re your friends?”
“I’m thinking. I’m thinking.” Pablo followed him, sticking too close. Frustration and anger welled up in Axe’s gut, and it was all he could do not to punch out his supposed ally.
“Time’s wasting.” Axe growled out his frustration. “Leanna’s out there with those three losers. We’re no closer to finding Carmelita, and you’re useless.”
“On the contrary.” Pablo stopped in mid-pace, one leg suspended off the ground. He pivoted into a martial arts stance and circled his hands like he was blocking and parrying. “Ha, ha, ha.”
Was this the best help his father could come up with?
Axe easily grappled Pablo’s arms, turning them around and bending his hand to the breaking point. “Speak, if you’re so smart. Or I’m out of here.”
“Ow, ow, let go,” Pablo said. “I know the entire police department, inside and out. I know the local politicians on both sides of the border, the ones who take bribes and the ones we blackmail. I know who’s cheating on their wife, who double-crossed their father-in-law, and who sold the drugs that killed someone’s daughter.”
Axe let go of Pablo’s limp hand. “I doubt you know anyone. Get out of my way. I’ll find Leanna and Carmelita without you.”
“You don’t know the way around,” Pablo said. “You can’t just bribe any cop. They have a tight organization. Some are deeply involved. Others stand by and turn a blind eye when needed. Very few are honest, because they don’t last long. But just like rival gangs, jockeying for influence and power, some might turn against a partner. The key is to find a weakness, and that takes investigation and funds.”
“My father gave you tons of funds already.” Axe shoved the hapless guy against the wall. “You’re El Bardo, for God’s sake. You’re supposed to be the go-between for the cops and the cartel.”
“Keep your voice down, and stop pushing me around,” Pablo protested.
“I’ll push you around until we get the women back,” Axe said. “It wasn’t supposed to go down like this. You were supposed to make Leanna leave town so I can mop up this Carmelita mess.”
“No one told me Leanna’s so feisty.”
“You’re useless.” Axe stomped toward the door. “Get out of here, El Bardo.”
“Don’t say that name so loud.” Pablo followed after him, straightening his tie. “There are eyes and ears everywhere.”
“Tell you what. If you’re not the top-cover, then introduce me to the guy who can get me what I need. I want to launch a paramilitary group to rescue Leanna. The three bozos can’t be that hard to find.”
“No one’s going to help you,” Pablo said. “Don’t you get it? Everyone here is complicit with the smuggling. Everyone gets their cut. The safehouses, the cantinas, drivers, drug dealers, money launderers, auto mechanics, weapons specialists, even the ladies who cook and feed the travelers.”
“I don’t care.” Axe shook his fist in front of Pablo’s face. “If you’re not going to help me, I’ll go myself. Someone has to know where these guys took Leanna.”
“Follow the trail. Each smuggling operation has a path.”
