“He had to have some money, though. He’s never worked for anyone but himself.”
JJ hadn’t considered that, but yeah, based on what they knew of Toby, he’d spent his entire life coming up with grand ideas for new business ventures. His first attempt had been with a coffee shop when he was fresh out of college. From what she’d uncovered, Toby had purchased a small shop in Round Rock that was in dire straits. He made an attempt to revitalize it, but it failed within the first six months. He sold it off and moved on to the next thing, which was a mobile dog grooming service. That hadn’t worked, either, but she wasn’t sure if it was because he wasn’t building a client base or because he didn’t have the motivation for it. After that, he bought a laundromat. A freaking laundromat of all things.Who does that?
Then it hit her. “Wait.” JJ frowned. “What’s the one thing all his professional ventures have in common?”
Baz was watching her closely, but he didn’t respond, so she continued. “He started with the coffee shop, then the mobile groomer. There was a laundromat, the self-service kind, but he didn’t hang on to that for more than a year.”
Baz’s eyebrows lowered. “Don’t forget the nursery.”
Yep. He’d tried his hand at that, but JJ figured he didn’t have a green thumb, so it hadn’t lasted long.
She recalled a few other of his wild schemes. “The delivery service he tried lasted the longest. Two years, I think.”
“Landscaping company,” Baz filled in. “And the resume service.”
That one had tripped her out because seriously? “Convenience store, then the food truck.” She met Baz’s gaze. “They were all cash-heavy businesses.”
Baz sat up straight. “You’re right. They were.”
“One where he interacted with people directly.”
His nod encouraged her to keep going.
“So why the travel agency? I mean, what does he do? Schedule people on cruises? Plan their vacations?”
“That’d be my guess.”
“Who uses a travel agency?” she asked, trying to wrap her head around what would make it appealing to a man who’d spent his life taking on small businesses that would net him next to nothing.
“People who don’t want to do the work themselves?” Baz mused.
“Yeah.” JJ took a drink of Baz’s tea since her glass hadn’t been refilled yet. “It’s probably easier to have someone who knows what they’re doing plan the trip, right? Take care of the airfare, the hotel, sightseeing tours, and whatnot.” She cocked her head. “What about cruises? They probably handle a lot of those, huh?”
“Probably.”
“And they pay by credit card.” She laughed. “Or check, you know, back in the day.”
Baz’s eyes relaxed, and she liked that he found her amusing.
“So why go from these cash-heavy businesses to one that doesn’t deal in cash at all?”
“You’re goin’ down a whole different path than Brantley and Reese,” Baz said.
Yes, she was, and JJ figured that was what had been bothering her all along. She couldn’t wrap her head around how a travel agency would help someone get weapons from Mexico. It wasn’t like he was providing an actual bus tour service. He didn’t have a fleet of vehicles that gave him a free pass to move in and out of the country. Toby was setting up vacations for people. He was making airline and hotel reservations, maybe having flowers delivered or whatever when planning someone’s anniversary trip. She honestly didn’t know. JJ had never been on vacation, much less had one planned out for her.
“What’s on your mind, JJ?”
She pushed her chair back. “I need to get back to the office.”
Baz sat up straight and began looking around for their waitress. “Somethin’ wrong?”
“I think I know what Toby Land was doing.”
“You gonna enlighten me?” he asked with a smile.
JJ shook her head, her mind running a million miles a minute. “I need to look at somethin’ first. If I’m right…”
Turning, JJ waved the waitress over when she appeared too busy flirting with a couple of guys in suits. She didn’t have time for this chick to earn a bigger tip. She needed her computer. Stat.
