“I assure you, the profit here is quite large. And it may lead to even larger profits if our association continues.”
“I’ll drink to that,” she said and lifted her glass, smiling, to her lips.
He did return her pistol after they spoke and left her with a big smile and promises of a great deal of money.
Raines drove her back to the motel. “That was a good trick, befriending that kid so that you had a way into the Everetts’ good graces,” he told her. “The boss was really pleased. This could work out in a big way. But you have to keep in touch with the Everett man while we work out the details.”
“No worries, I can do that,” she said, and thought what a stroke of luck it was for her as well. Not that she didn’t love JJ already.
“Okay, then. You keep in touch with me. I’ll be near the phone anytime you need to update me.”
“I’ll keep you in the loop,” she promised. “But where will you be?”
“In Mexico, of course, lining up the shipment.”
“Shipment.”
“Don’t be dense,” he muttered. “You know what I mean.”
“Drugs, right?” she asked nonchalantly.
“Of course, drugs, you idiot woman. Fentanyl. In just a few weeks, we’ll all be rolling in money! Just make sure you do your part. And remember, the boss will be watching.”
“I never thought he wouldn’t be,” she said easily.
“But why does he want such strange information, about places and security and storage, if we’re going to rustle culled cows?” she wondered.
“He has big plans. You’re not going to know anything moreuntil we get our ducks in a row,” he told her. “Just go see the kid and find out about that young, purebred bull auction.”
“Why would he have an auction now?” she asked. “They do those in the spring...”
“This one was advertised,” he said shortly. “The big boss knows everything.” He looked at her evenly as he stopped at her motel. “Everything.”
He let her out of the truck and drove off.
She went into her motel, grateful that they hadn’t frisked her or checked that her phone wasn’t recording every word they said. Was that trust or stupidity? she wondered, but then recalled that most of her adversaries in her job hadn’t been unsung geniuses.
She downloaded her audio files and shot them off to her office, carefully wiping them from her phone immediately after. She took out her scanning device and checked her purse for a homing device, which she found quite readily and left in place, and the tap on her motel telephone, which she also left intact. She’d have to be very careful what she said.
She also checked for hidden cameras, but found none. So at least she retained a small bit of privacy.
She left her purse in the motel room and eased outside, ostensibly going for a walk, but using her phone to call her contact, out of range of any listening devices.
The street was deserted, except for a lone cowboy staggering down the sidewalk out of earshot.
“It’s me,” she said when she heard the familiar voice.
“Damn! Still alive, huh?” came the amused reply.
“So far, so good. Listen, I’m not positive, but I think the big drug lord is Eduardo Velasquez.”
“Him!”
“Sounded like him to me, from what his El Paso manager said. And he’s got big ambitions. I worked it out on the way back over here tonight, after meeting with the regional boss. Theyhad me foxed, but no more. I’m pretty sure he plans to move some of his shipments onto the Big Spur, the Everett place, for safekeeping. The ranch is huge. They get shipments on semis all the time, so one more isn’t going to raise many suspicions. And at least two of them are left at a silo near a line cabin, several miles from the ranch house, and there’s nobody in the line cabin at the moment.”
“You got a lot of info in a little bit of time,” he said.
“I met a retired Texas Ranger who gave me some great information. I just put two and two together and got lucky.”
