“When did Pedro come to get Ruiz? Where does he live? What’s his last name?” I’d get Hardy to check the guy’s sheet.
“Vega. Pedro Vega. He lives in Los Angeles. He belongs to a gang. I never liked him, and I tried for so long to get Maria to come here, where I could keep her and Ruiz safe from the time he was born.” She then muttered something more in Spanish that I didn’t catch, not that I would have understood it in the first place.
I shrugged. I didn’t understand what she said or what she meant, so she held up a finger and hurried away, returning amoment later with a denim vest. On the back of it was a large serpent, coiled and wearing a crown with its forked red tongue and glowing red eyes prominently displayed.
Across the top of the image was a rocker: Viper Kings Los Angeles. Beneath the serpent was another rocker: Property of Vega.
So, Pedro Vega was a Viper King? And Maria Ramirez was his girlfriend? The drugs—where did they come from?
“Ms. Ramirez, the drugs Maria took. Do you know where she got them?”
She teared up again. “I don’t know. I don’t take any medications, and Maria didn’t either.”
My mind quickly rushed to a conclusion. Maria could easily have gotten the drugs from Pedro Vega. Maybe it was too much of an assumption, but I knew someone who could give me more information.
I reached into my wallet and grabbed a business card. “When you hear from the coroner regarding a cause of death, would you let me know?” I handed her the card, and she nodded.
“My fear is that Vega will take him back to Mexico but won’t give him to Maria’s parents. She would want him with her family, you see.”
Fitz and I shook her hand before going back to Fitz’s truck to head to the office. My mind was rolling along a winding road that possibly led to a cliff. Whether I’d drive over that cliff on my own or would be pushed, I didn’t know. I hated to be doing it by myself, but Maria’s death made no sense to me. There was something more I needed to find.
Sitting on a bench across from the Carson Building reminded me of the last time I was there—just a few days ago. Who knew it was long enough to fall in love with a man who was really a stranger? Maybe it was just me?
Fitz dropped me off at the office to get my truck, under the premise of running home to check on a leaky pipe. Of course my duplex was in the opposite direction of the Carson Building and my pipes were just fine.
The bell jingled over the door of Cate’s on Carson, a small restaurant that was famous for its baked goods. I glanced up from my glass of iced tea to see Detective Spitzer come through the door in all his tacky gumshoe glory.
He walked over to the table and sat without invitation. “Good afternoon, bail agent. How are things in the murky gray area where your type exists?”
Obviously, that was a dig at my profession.Fuck him.I’d done my time as a LEO. I’d probably been just as cocky as Spitzer.
“Just fine. How about you, Detective?”
Spitzer was chewing on a toothpick, which he took from his mouth and shoved in the breast pocket of his tacky sport coat. “I’m wondering why you’re sitting here across from the building where my snitch works?”
I laughed. “I’m here for a snack, Detective. According to Yelp!, Cate has the best homemade turnovers in town.” I pointed to half a cherry turnover I hadn’t finished.
Spitzer picked up the half a turnover and took a bite, the jackass. “Yeah, tastes good. So, why are you tailing my snitch?”
Fuck, I wasn’t cut out to be a covert operative any longer. I was too used to being a good guy. “I need information on the Viper Kings.”
“Okay. I know a lot about the Viper Kings. Ask away.” Spitzer cocked an eyebrow at me as if daring me to ask him something about an open investigation so he could shoot me down.
I wasn’t an amateur. I’d led investigations before. “Who is Pedro Vega?”
In a flash, his expression changed from cocky to curious. “Vega? Who told you about Vega?”
“What do you know about Vega?” I lifted my eyebrow to challenge him.
Spitzer lifted a finger to signal the server, who hurried over. “I’ll have a black coffee, and bring us another one of those, please. Add them to his check.” He pointed to me, the prick.
The young woman looked at me, and I nodded. I needed information from Spitzer, and if a pastry was what it took, I’d write it off.
After she walked away, I turned to Spitzer. “Sure. What can you tell me about Vega?”
“He’s a road captain for the Viper Kings. He’s an asshole, and he escorts drugs through checkpoints into California and destinations east. As far as we know, their reach is nationwide. Now, your turn.”
“Pedro Vega is the ex-partner of a woman my employer recently bailed out for shoplifting. I found her dead in her aunt’s home from a possible suicide, leaving her son unsupervised, which her aunt said she’d never do. Ms. Ramirez said Maria would never leave her son because he was her whole world.” I was aching for Spitzer to tell me something that would piss me off.
