While Linc set up his computer and went to work at one of the desks in the main part of the office, Carly led Row into the inner office and they sat down at the small round table in the corner.
“Okay, so what’s going on?” Row asked.
“As I said, there are some things you need to know before you accept the job.” Taking a deep, steadying breath, Carly told her friend about the night she’d been abducted, about El Jefe’s threats, and that he might be the man behind Miguel Hernandez’s murder.
“I don’t want you going into this job blind,” she said. “That wouldn’t be fair. I don’t think you’d be in any danger working as office manager but there’s always a chance.”
Row leaned back in her chair. “Wow. I can’t believe this is happening to you. You’ve only been here a couple of months and you’re dealing with death threats and murder. It must seem like the weight of the world iscrashing down on your head.” She straightened. “You can trust me not to say anything to anyone. You know that, right?”
“I know. Linc and I are trying to figure a way out. He’s hired a private investigator, and he’s got some very influential friends, but there’s always a chance something bad could happen.”
“I trust Linc and I trust you even more. I really want this job and I’d really like to help. So yes, I accept your offer.”
Carly felt a wave of relief. It was going to work out. She had someone capable and trustworthy to help her. All she had to do was find a way to deal with El Jefe.Yeah, right.
“When can you start?”
“How soon do you need me?”
“Tomorrow if you can swing it. If not, we’ll manage until you’re ready.”
“I’d have to give notice to my part-time employer and cut my hours at the roadhouse, but I can juggle things for awhile. I can start tomorrow if you need me.”
Carly grinned. “Terrific.”
* * *
While the women were talking, Linc sat in front of his laptop in the main part of the office, reviewing plans for the tire rebuilding plant, the first in a chain—he hoped. Dammit, everything was in order. All they needed was the county permit. It should have been a done deal.
Instead, he’d be sending in a team next week to discuss concessions Tex/Am would be willing to make to get the permit they needed to break ground. He hoped to hell it would work.
He glanced up at the sound of Carly’s office door swinging open. “Gotta run,” Row said, waving at Linc as she hurried through the main room toward the front door. “See you tomorrow, Carly.”
“See you then,” Carly said.
Linc smiled. Looked like Row had accepted the job. Carly needed someone she could trust, and from what Linc knew of Rowena, she was trustworthy, as well as smart and capable.
“Glad it worked out,” he said.
Carly smiled. “Me, too.” The door had just clicked shut when the knobturned and one of the drivers pushed it back open. He walked in holding onto a kid by the collar at the nape of his neck. Linc recognized Pete Sanchez from the day Carly had freed up the jackknifed big rig—a slender man in his late twenties, at least part Latino.
“What’s going on, Pete?” Carly asked.
“I found this kid hiding in the break room. Looks like he’s been there all night. He won’t talk, just keeps asking for Joe.”
The boy was around ten years old, too thin, blue-eyed, and nearly towheaded. Linc noticed a bruise on his cheek, turning from purple to an ugly greenish yellow. The boy jerked free of Pete’s hold and stood up a little straighter.
“I want to see Joe Drake. I’m not leaving till I talk to him.”
Carly looked at Sanchez. “You didn’t tell him?”
Pete shook his head. “Figured that was your business.”
Linc studied the boy, wondered at his connection to Joe, and a pang of sympathy tightened his chest. He remembered the way he’d felt when he’d gotten the phone call from Johnnie Banducci telling him Joe was dead.
“How do you know Joe?” Carly asked gently as Pete backed out of the office and closed the door.
The boy ignored the question. “I gotta see him. I need to talk to him. It’s important.”
