“Homicide? Someone brought that chopper down on purpose?”
“That’s right.”
Color surfaced in Hollenbeck’s neck and crept into his face. “I hadn’t heard.”
“The helo gears were tampered with,” Reese continued. “The break-in means someone besides the regular crew had access. You got anything that could point us toward who might have broken in that night?”
Hollenbeck shook his head. “Like I said, I can look at other break-ins and burglaries in the area. Maybe that’ll turn up something.”
The tension in Reese’s jaw eased. The deputy’s attitude had definitely improved. Amazing what tossing around the lettersFBIcould do. “I appreciate your time and any help you can give us.” Reese handed him a card and rose from the chair.
Kenzie rose, as well. She was wearing black slacks and a dove-gray V-neck blouse in a soft fabric that curved over her full breasts. It was modest by any measure, shouldn’t have looked sexy, but did, which Hollenbeck clearly noticed.
Reese tamped down the irritation he had no right to feel. “I’d appreciate a call if you come up with anything.”
The deputy nodded.
They were on their way back to the Range Rover when Reese’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out and checked the screen.
He paused next to Kenzie on the sidewalk and accepted the call. “Hey, Tab, tell me you’ve got something.”
“Couple of things, actually.”
“Hold a minute. My assistant, Kenzie Haines, is helping me with this. Let me put you on speaker.” They moved into the shade of a nearby tree and Reese held the phone so Kenzie could hear. “Go ahead.”
“I ran the names you gave me, got a couple of interesting hits. Manual Alvarez, the guy off the Poseidon who died in the crash, had a nice little side business going. He worked a typical shift, two weeks on, two off, which gave him plenty of time to deal drugs with his brother, Rico, in Houston.”
Reese smiled. “I know better than to ask how you managed to find this out.”
Tabby laughed. “I had a little help from a mutual friend. I saw where Rico Alvarez was arrested the week before the crash, so I asked Hawk Maddox to look into it, see if there was a chance Rico’s brother, Manuel, was working with him. Sure enough, from what Hawk found out, Manuel and Rico worked as a team and both of them had enemies. Apparently, the money from a couple of recent cocaine deliveries went missing. The guys higher up the food chain weren’t happy about it. Hawk says Rico was lucky he got arrested or he might be as dead as his brother.”
“Hawk thinks they sabotaged the chopper to get to Manuel?”
“He doesn’t know but he says it’s possible.”
“Thanks, Tabby, appreciate the help.”
“You said there were a couple of things,” Kenzie put in. “Was there something else?” She had a way of keeping him focused, one of the reasons he considered her such a valuable asset.
“Not about Manuel, but Hawk made a few more calls and guess what? Turns out, the copilot on the flight, Craig Bigelow, is sleeping with the wife of one of the mechanics who had access to the chopper. You need to call Hawk. He can fill you in.”
Reese nodded. “Will do.”
“I’ll let you know if I come up with anything else.”
Reese ended the call and turned to Kenzie. “It’s lunchtime. There’s a place to eat just down the block. I can call Hawk from there.”
They made their way into a small café called the Sunbonnet and slid into a booth at the back. Pretty, wide-brimmed straw hats banded with silk flowers hung on the walls. The booths were upholstered in bright yellow vinyl, and yellow flowers in small glass vases sat in the middle of the tables.
“Hawk Maddox,” Kenzie said as she picked up a menu. “He’s one of the guys at The Max, right? You’ve mentioned his name a couple of times.”
“Jason Maddox. Everyone calls him Hawk. He’s a bounty hunter, one of the best in the trade. He’s got a network of informants all over the country. You want to know what’s happening in the underbelly of a city, Hawk’s your man.”
A little waitress with a bouncy blond ponytail arrived to take their orders: grilled chicken salad for Kenzie, a pastrami sandwich for Reese. While they waited for the food, Reese phoned Hawk.
“I been expecting your call,” Maddox said, his deep baritone rumbling over the line clear enough for Kenzie to hear. He was a big guy, former spec-ops marine, six foot four inches of solid muscle. He was recently married and extremely happy about it.
“I understand you’ve got information for me,” Reese said. “I’m putting you on speaker so my assistant can hear.”
