She clasped her hands together. “Will this man—this Dante—come after me and my family?”
“No,” Addy said firmly. “He’s in jail as we speak.”
Mack wouldn’t have given the same answer. He didn’t think Dante being behind bars made a difference. If word got back to Dante about this woman, and he told Razo she’d snitched, Mack expected Razo would retaliate.
Mack handed the woman his business card. “If there’s even a hint of a danger, you call me immediately. I’ll make sure your family is protected.”
Her big eyes widened. “You can do this?”
“I can and I will,” he said with force. “You have my word.”
“Mine too,” Addy said. “Thank you for helping us.”
She gave an uncertain nod.
Mack hurried Addy out of the building. He searched for the group of homeless men. They’d moved on, leaving the street corner empty.
Addy looked at Mack. “Displaying my creds made us pariahs for sure.”
“Still, I think it helped this woman talk.” He opened the SUV door for her. She settled inside, and he quickly closed it.
Once behind the wheel, he turned to her. “Let’s head tothe office in San Diego and regroup. We’ll look up addresses for the names she gave us and then bring the men in for questioning. We can get other agents to help us to move things along faster.”
“I hate having to haul them in, but at least they’re legal and we don’t have that issue to deal with.”
He searched her gaze. “Do you think we should pursue interviewing these men?”
“Don’t you?”
“Yeah, but what if Razo really is bringing miniguns into our country and plans to use someone from here? If he hears that we’re in town, he’ll move the delivery to another location, and we’ll miss catching him in the act.”
She swiveled in her seat. “Good point. But then Zamora’s in jail, and it’s less likely he’ll hear about us. So unless the locals have a way to get to Razo, we should be good. And with Zamora in jail, Razo might even postpone the delivery.”
“Okay, we interview the men but still have the local agents stake out the places where Zamora got his drivers. And we get Cam on digging up background on these people.”
Not wanting to waste even a moment of their precious time, Mack dialed Cam and rapidly detailed what they’d learned today. “I want all the information you can find on these businesses in San Ysidro, and I want it fast.” Mack shared the bodega and tattoo shop names. “And get me info on the owner of the strip mall. Now that we’re pretty certain on the crossing where Razo is moving the gun over the border, get me more info on the internet cables in the area.”
“Can do.”
“Good,” Mack said. “And do it like yesterday. Lives are counting on you, and this is going down tomorrow whether we’ve figured everything out or not.”
A long day of interviews ensued, and Addy felt the time slipping away as if it were being pulled out of her grasp. After closing the door behind the last man, she tapped a foot in the conference room, and glanced out the window at the sun sinking behind the horizon. They had to find a lead soon—they only had the rest of the day today and then tomorrow the guns would be moved. But where were they going to get a lead? The men they’d interviewed told stories very much like Pena’s. Except they added that once a person drove for Zamora, they were never allowed to drive again. No matter how much they begged—and several of them had, especially the homeless man—Zamora was adamant. No more work.
Mack jumped up, grabbed a marker, and started scribbling the names of the men they’d interviewed on the board, his strokes fast and almost frantic. He’d been jittery all day. Obviously feeling the pressure of the deadline fast approaching, just like she was.
He noted the location where Zamora had hired each man. One outside the bodega and tattoo shop where this line of inquiry started, but also a man at a local taqueria, liquor store, vape-and-smoke shop, and pawnshop. Addy and Mack had also visited each store. Nothing new to go on, but they at least built a strong case against Zamora,ifthe men and women they talked to came through in the end and testified against the man.
Mack looked at her. “So if we can convince Pena and any of the people we interviewed today to testify against Zamora, we have him cold.”
Addy could hardly believe his thoughts mimicked hers. Had they always been so in sync with each other? She suspected they had, and she liked the thought as much as it disturbed her.
She held his gaze. “I think very few of them will step forward when it comes time to take the stand. But what if we got the DA to offer Pena a plea deal in exchange for his testimony?”
Mack shook his head. “Pena will testify without a deal.”
“Still, wouldn’t it be nice if he could be home when the baby’s born?”
He frowned. “Nice, yeah, but he broke the law, and he should have to pay for that.”
