She laughed. “Okay, then. How’s our JJ?”
“Fine, now that he knows you’re okay.” He smiled warmly. “I’m glad you like kids.”
“I’m glad you like kids, too,” she replied.
Velasquez stuck his head in the door. “Get married first,” he advised. “Fewer legal issues afterward.”
“Were you eavesdropping?” Josie asked, exasperated.
“You’re kidding, right?” he teased. “I have every inch of this house wired. You couldn’t sneeze and I wouldn’t know it. I am, after all, a wanted man,” he pointed out.
“Any less likely drug lord,” she began.
“I’ll second that,” John said. “How are the calves, by the way?”
“We lost one,” Velasquez said sadly. “The others will recover. That man Raines, to do such a thing to a helpless animal.”
“He’ll be answering to a higher authority now,” Josie said, and her eyes flashed.
“Where is Raines?” John asked.
“Rotting beside some dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and good riddance,” Josie remarked. “Vega gunned him down in cold blood. He said you could never trust a traitor. Did they tell you what his genius idea was, to transport the drugs over the border?”
“Marlowe told me. I couldn’t believe it,” John replied.
“Depravity at its best. But that wasn’t Raines’s idea,” Velasquez told them. “It was Vega’s. It’s the way he does business.”
“I would love to shut him down,” Josie said.
“You have to recuperate,” John pointed out. “We have issues to discuss about your job. And then there’s a wedding to plan.”
“Am I invited?” Velasquez asked.
“Is he?” Josie asked John.
“As long as you don’t try to abscond with my bride,” John assured him.
“I never abscond,” Velasquez huffed. “It causes warts.”
They all laughed.
Seventeen
It was the wedding of the century, on the Big Spur, at least. Champagne flowed like water. Tony Garza and Odalie flew down for it. Dunn Marlowe sat in the pew opposite Duarte Velasquez and two of his bodyguards. Several DEA agents attended, including Rodrigo Ramirez. All the Everetts were there, and the Brannts. It was a full Methodist church for the ceremony, and even more full for the reception at the fellowship hall following it. There were magnificent displays of every finger food imaginable plus confections that had several of the local families almost swooning with delight—rural Texas wasn’t known for such uptown fare, so it was really an occasion.
“I must leave before my pilot drinks himself into oblivion.” Velasquez excused himself with a warm smile, glancing toward a tall man who was sipping champagne. “It would be a disaster if I found myself stranded here.”
Cole chuckled as he shook the other man’s hand. “Outlaw or not, you’re always welcome on the Big Spur,” he said, and meant it. “You saved our brand-new daughter-in-law. We’re in your debt.”
“I’m in yours, for discovering what was done to my poor bulls,” Velasquez replied. “Fortunately, they are all thriving, save for the one we lost.”
“She told us that you built a chapel on your ranch,” John said, sliding an arm around Josie in her beautiful white wedding gown. “Is that true?”
Velasquez nodded. “I... lost my little boy,” he said in a rough undertone. “I was going mad. It seemed an insane thing to do, but it has become a great asset to all of us who live there. And to my sister, who is the only surviving member of my family.”
“Your sister is very sweet,” Josie said.
“Considering the tragedies of her life, she is a miracle,” Velasquez sighed. He forced a smile. “But let us think of happy things. Congratulations to you both. And should you ever be, God forbid, shot in Mexico any other time, I will be happy to take care of you at my hacienda.”
