“They should be,” Marlowe said, not pulling punches. His eyes narrowed. “All I can find out from my source is that this guy Raines is about to double-cross his boss. Vega is going to try to hijack the shipment.”
Tanner’s heart jumped. “That puts Josie right in the line of fire with no backup.”
He nodded somberly. “I don’t know where it’s going down, how they plan to move it, where the hijacking may take place...” He ran an impatient hand through his thick black hair. “My dad has a ranch on the border. One of his men is a former border patrol agent. He’s trying to find out some stuff for me, but apparently the border patrol knows nothing more than I do.”
“Pity one of us doesn’t know Velasquez personally,” Tanner sighed.
“I know him,” Marlowe said tightly. “Not personally, but I know what he looks like. He bought some purebred calves from your father.”
“What?” Tanner exploded, leaning forward. “When?”
“He was there, in person, at the private sale,” Marlowe said. “I saw him. It was all I could do not to throw down on him. It would almost be worth going to prison for the rest of my life.”
Tanner knew the cause of Marlowe’s violent antagonism for the drug lord, but he wasn’t going to risk Marlowe’s black temper by airing it. “Are you sure it was him?”
He nodded. He looked up. “Worse, he seems to have an affinity with Josie.”
That was news. “I don’t understand.”
“There are rare instances when two people meet who should be strangers, but aren’t,” Marlowe explained. “The bartender, who does some surveillance work for me undercover, said that Velasquez was more tender with her than he gave the man credit for being.”
Tanner nodded. “Dad said that when he was there buying the lot of purebred young bulls. He was outraged to find them loaded up with drugs in their stomachs.”
“He was,” Marlowe conceded. “It surprised me. I neverthought of a drug lord having tender feelings for any damned thing, not even a calf.”
“I’ve heard things about him as well. He built his workers in Mexico a church. He pays high wages. He has almost no turnover in personnel. Some of his people are second-generation employees. He pays his taxes, goes to church, helps people in trouble... you can’t say a word against him in any small town near his ranch if you don’t want to get knifed.”
Marlowe’s face tautened. “So I’ve heard.”
“But you don’t want to believe it,” Tanner replied.
Marlowe looked up. His eyes narrowed and burned like lasers on Tanner’s face. “Don’t. Can’t. Won’t.” He enunciated each word. His pale eyes narrowed and glittered. “Tanner...?”
“I know nothing,” Tanner said casually, leaning back against the door facing. “But hadn’t we better get somebody with really good resources to find out where Josie is, before Vega’s men off her?” His face tightened. “Because he will. And you know it.”
Marlowe took a breath. He opened his cell phone and dialed a number.
Sixteen
It was morning. Sheriff Marlowe had an unexpected visitor: Tanner.
“You want to know what I found out about Josie,” Marlowe guessed as they sat in his office.
“Yes,” he replied. “I’ve heard rumors about a large group of people in a village in Mexico who have apparently vanished. There’s also a tour bus company in the same general area that’s missing two buses. I can’t believe there’s not a connection.”
Marlowe frowned. “I just got that information ten minutes ago—hey! Have you got my phone tapped?” he demanded belligerently.
“I’ve got the whole area tapped, don’t worry about it. Listen, this place in Mexico where the people are missing; how close is it to Velasquez’s ranch?”
Marlowe was bristling. “You think he took them?”
Tanner shook his head. “I don’t think he knows. And this isgoing to be tricky. I’d bet my other eye that you know exactly where his hacienda is. The only chance we have to save Josie is if you have the GPS coordinates.”
He was staring right through Marlowe, who would never in a million years, even under torture, have given out that information except in a life-or-death situation. He had plans for Velasquez and knowing where the man lived wasn’t going to end well for him.
“Come on, Marlowe,” Tanner said quietly. “You know you’d never do it. You’re too much a lawman.”
The man’s stare was really hot now, blazing. “What do you know?”
