Bus Stop at the Last Chance (Loni Wagner Western Mystery Book 2)

by Sue Hardesty

  Tully just kept grinning. “Sit.”

  “Well, I'm glad to see you regardless of why I'm here.” Loni ran her hand along the back of the leather couch as she continued to look around. “Air conditioning. Don't suppose you brought me here to stay in this, huh?”

  “Maybe you better wait on that.” Tully patted her on the shoulder as he sat beside her. “We have a problem. How did you put it? The snake's not scotched after all.”

  “Yeah, Carl told me we missed another connection."

  “I can't believe closing down the greenhouses on Carl's ranch didn't fix it. Somebody's still moving big batches of cocaine through Caliente.”

  Rubbing her face hard to relieve her exhaustion, she complained, “Well, hell, Tully. Nothing is going to stop the drugs.”

  “I know, Loni. Doesn't mean we shouldn't try.”

  “I get that, Tully. I just don't see how coming all the way over here is stopping the drugs in Caliente. So why am I here? “

  Tully got up and pulled two sodasout of the refrigerator. He handed one to Loni and plopped back down on the rust colored plush couch. “We figure some of the motorcyclists down here are pretending to be racing so they can take drugs across the border. We just don’t know where.”

  “Are you kidding me, Tully? The Arizona border's damn near four hundred miles long!”

  “I know.” Tully held up his hand to interrupt Loni. “If your granddad's people on the O'ohdam Nation would help us, it would cut out a huge chunk of the border we wouldn't have to worry about.”

  “No, no.” Loni shook her head. “The border's too much of a goddamn mess, especially on the O'odham Nation, and they want everybody gone. Who's to blame them?” Loni took a deep breath to reduce her fury. “After George W. Bush's failed amnesty promise in 2004 for temporary workers, the O'odham Nation's been overrun with undocumented people, especially coming in around Sasabe.”

  “I know.” Tully stopped her. “I know where the amnesty trail corridor crosses over into Arizona. We been tryin to close several trails running through the ranches in the Alter Valley before they cross the O'odham Nation to Highway 86.”

  “Yes, and until they reach Highway 86, everybody's fair game. Don't they know there's no amnesty?”

  “Somebody forgot to tell them?”

  Loni sighed in defeat. “Hope’s too often a killer.” Chugging down the rest of her soda, Loni burped in Tully's face and set the can down on the coffee table. His grouchy expression made her grin.

  “Still, it doesn't matter, Loni,” Tully argued. “They're still illegal and have to go back.”

  “I understand that. But the border patrol could at least return them in a humane way. I hate the way they get treated, Tully.”

  “They’re breaking the law.”

  Loni leaned forward, elbows on her legs. “So is mistreating them. You got the cartel, coyotes, drug traffickers, undocumented workers, and the Federales on the Mexican side. You got our own Border Patrol with its Forward Operating Camps.” Loni stood and waved her arms. “Then the right-wing Arizona politicians turn loose the self-appointed groups like the American Border Patrol who call themselves a watch group.” Pacing around the tiny area, she continued to rant. “There's the Civil Homeland Defense. And my favorite of course, the Tea Baggers. Most heartless pieces of shit ever walked this earth.”

  Tully tried to interrupt, but Loni wouldn't stop. “Then there's the right-wing asshole white supremacist vigilante second pieces of shit, Minute Men, National Socialists, some of the ranchers, and Ranch Rescue. Oh, yeah, don’t forget the Joe Arpaio Walking Tallers. That's just some of our homegrown who’ve given themselves permission to travel the border and hunt human beings like they were sick dogs. Stand Your Ground, my ass!”

  “Wow, Loni. All in one breath!” Tully laughed. “Preachy little shit, ain't yah?”

  Shutting up, Loni got another soda from the fridge and held the cold can to her forehead before she spoke again. “Well, damnit, Tully! You asked.”

  “You're right. So, you're saying these crazies are running wild on the O'odham Nation border. Why don't the O'odham's just stay out of their way?”

  “Come on, Tully, what are they supposed to do? They got land and families on both sides of the Gadsden Purchase line, hunting and fishing grounds, and sacred places they need to visit.”

  “I know,” Tully said, in an attempt to placate Loni. “The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the O'odham Nation border predated ours.”

  “Yeah, but it doesn't matter to Arizona politicians. They unleashed the crazies on the O'odham Nation and invaded their homes, slaughtered their animals, terrorized their children and raped their women. Do you really wonder why these people don't want anyone on their land? And most especially don't want a fence across the middle of it?”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “My granddad buys lots of Brahma-mixed steers from families he knows.” Loni took another long swig of her soda. “Bahb’s friends told us horrible stories about beatings, people left in the heat and lying in their own piss, no water or food, wives and daughters raped, and homes vandalized. Those state-sanctioned animals stripped them of everything they owned and turned them loose to die. The O'odham Nation police are helpless because they can't arrest non-Natives.”

  Tully shrugged in defeat and changed the subject. “How well can you ride a bike?”

  “Putt-putt or pedal?”

  Tully laughed. “Putt, of course.”

  “I'm okay.” Loni hesitated. “Daniel taught me years ago. Mostly dirt biking. Rode them some on the streets in LA.” With a small laugh, she confessed, “Scared me enough that I told them I didn't like to play with their toy and they could have it back.”

  “Suck it up, Loni.” Tully poked at her. “You can do it. Need you to meet with an undercover FBI agent.”

  “Why me?”

  “Because you know the border better than anybody I know.” Tully added, “That I know and trust. Besides, you have an uncanny ability to see through bullshit.”

  Loni kept shaking her head. “Let me tell you what I keep telling Carl. Caliente is where the snake is. That's where we should be looking.”

  “Looking at what?”

  “I don't know, Tully. Every truck and car in and out, every biker. Knock around the farms and ranches. We got a rattler in Caliente at least 15 feet long. We can't miss it forever.”

  “Sorry, Loni. People at State don't agree with you.”

  “We all have a different truth, don't we?” Loni looked at Tully. “Like I told Carl, we need to follow the money.”

  “What'd he say?”

  “What else? We have no legal right. But I think we better find a way.”

  “Sorry,” Tully said. “Carl's right. We need something before a judge will let us look at bank records.”

  Loni gave up. “Where do I get the bike?”

  “Sitting right outside.” Tully grinned at Loni's horrified expression. “State fixed up the crashed one. Nobody claimed it. James thinks maybe someone will recognize it and look to question you. Might give us a lead on who to look at.”

  Loni's laugh was short. “If it doesn't get me killed first. How do I explain where I got it?

  “Say you stole it off a police lot. They'll love you for that.”

  Loni stared at Tully a few seconds. “Who was it registered to?”

  “Well that's the thing. Some Mexican export/import business way down Hermosillo way that doesn't exist.” Tully handed a file to Loni. “Paperwork he used to enter the races gives his contact information and address in the states. All bogus. Ran his prints. Seems he's a petty crook from LA area.”

  Loni studied the photo and said. “He's just a baby. L.A. cops give you anything?”

  “No, but trying to get information from them is like pissin' upwind.”

  Loni flipped a page. “James thinks he's working with other bikers?”

  “Yes. He's convinced if we find his buddies we can figure out how these drugs are gettin
g to Caliente.” Tully reached over and took the file out of Loni's hand. “I need you to listen to me now. I want you to work his last known hangout.”

  “I'm going in without a partner?”

  “No. You’ll partner up with the FBI agents. One of them's a woman and you're going to be her girlfriend who finally showed up.”

  “She's in a motorcycle gang? In the middle of the Arizona desert?” Loni said in amazement.

  “Actually California right now. Crossing borders makes it an FBI problem. She and two other undercover FBI agents hooked up with a gang that crossed into Mexico for cross-country racing around Algodones.”

  “Algodones, Mexico? Are we working with the Mexican police on this as well?”

  “No!” Tully's responded with force. “Strictly undercover so stay out of trouble there.” He shook his index finger at her. “I won't be able to help you, understand?”

  Loni dropped the file on the coffee table and stared at Tully. “Let me get this straight. You want me to get on a bike and travel the back way to Algodones, meet up with FBI agents, and stalk bikers along the border across the open desert where I hope to catch them with drugs and follow them to Caliente. That about right?”

  “Close.”

  With a snort followed by a sigh of resignation, Loni picked up the map. “I know the O'odham Nation doesn't let bikers on their land so we can skip that section of the border. Getting on the Goldwater Proving Grounds takes an act of god. Or at least Congress. So you're right. Probably the best route would be somewhere across the Cabeza Priete Refuge to Highway 85.”

  Tully nodded. “Liv thinks so, too. But we haven’t caught any bikes with drugs. So far we have no idea how they move them out of Algodones. Maybe the two of you can find the trail to Caliente.” Tully tapped the map with his index finger. “If you cross the Colorado below Yuma, it's a straight shot to Algodones. Shouldn't take more'n three or four hours.”

  “The FBI agent. What's her name?”

  “Liv Ludd.”

  “Where do I meet her?”

  “At a biker bar at the town's edge called Diablo. You can't miss it when you get through the town.”

  Loni studied the map. “Looks okay.”

  Tully stretched out his long legs. “Remember how the border between California and Arizona jogs at the Colorado River?”

  “Sorta. I was there only once. Went with Bahb and Carl to help another rancher dig cattle out of the bush along the Colorado. Saw where the river had broken through into Imperial Valley, flooding everything. Carl said it was the 1905 flood. The only way they could stop it was to fill railroad cars full of rocks and back them into the break until they filled it up. Couldn’t believe it, all those stacked cars. But that was years ago.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Tully interrupted her. “Kinda like No Man's Land. They put so many dams on the river it dried up below the canals. We think it's one of the main routes. They travel under the radar into Arizona and cross somewhere along Devil's Highway. Once they get there, they disappear into the Cabeza Priete Refuge.”

  “How come nobody spots them?”

  “I wish I knew. We know they can't cross on the sand dunes at Algodones. That fence stretches for miles. But that still leaves more than a hundred miles of fence to monitor.”

  “Maybe they get somebody to lift that fence up at night. I know one of the guys who moves it every time the wind shifts and builds another sand dune to cover it up. Did you check that out?”

  “Yep. Looked into that. But you know a third of the fence in Arizona is mostly a couple of strung barbed wires. Easy to cut.” Tully wagged a finger in Loni's face. “Just remember, when you get there, don't mix with the local cops.”

  Loni reluctantly nodded. “What's the name of the bar again?”

  “Diablo.”

  Loni laughed. “Why am I not surprised?”

  “Here's the agent's picture.”

  “It’s black and white,” Loni complained.

  Tully retorted. “Then listen! She’s got light red hair and blue eyes, and the back of her black leather vest has BOSS written across it. You're going to be the girlfriend she's been waiting for.”

  “Sounds like fun. So do I get to kiss her?”

  “If she arrests you for sexual harassment, don't call me. She's undercover as a lesbian, but she's straight. You push on her, and she might bop you one.”

  Loni laughed, rubbing her nose. “Won't be the first time.”

  “Still. Just saying.” Tully sounded serious.

  “Damn, Tully. When'd you ever see me hit on anybody straight?”

  “What about Jenny?”

  “No, no, Tully. She wasn't straight,” Loni protested. “Besides, she came on to me.”

  “Then, how about Lola?”

  “What about Lola?” Loni flashed in exasperation.

  “I watched her look interested in you last summer.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “What happened?”

  “Her brother got into trouble and decided I didn't help him enough.”

  “Did you?”

  “Move on, Tully. When do I meet this Liv Ludd?”

  “Tomorrow afternoon at one o'clock.” Loni listened as Tully handed her a few more photos. “These bikers are keeping records of possible mules running drugs.” Waiting for her to memorize them, Tully took out more papers from an envelope. “Here's your passport and the permit for the FMM along with a short bio for you. Learn your new name.” Tully tapped on the permit with his long index finger. “This is good for up to 180 days.”

  “Oh, please, Tully.” Loni's sarcasm came through loud and clear. “Cold day in hell before I renew this.”

  Tully laughed out loud at her. “But it's so easy to do. Just return to the States, grab a cup of coffee and a new FMM, and cross right back over for another 180 days.”

  Loni shook her head. “These assholes cross back and forth forever, and nobody to stop them.”

  “There's you,” Tully reminded her with a shit-eating grin.

  Loni looked up, a slight smile bringing out a small dimple and shook her head. “There you go again, Tully. There’s your truth and then there’s facts. I’ll bet you my new boots we’re looking in the wrong place.”

  “I already heard you, Loni. But we need you to do this anyway.”

  CHAPTER 13

  HOPING TO AVOID the afternoon sun, Loni headed toward Algodones right after breakfast. The worst of the heat broke after Halloween, but the reflected desert sand could still boil Loni in her heavy helmet and leather chopper gear. And chopper it was with its multi-colored long stem with skinny front and fat back tire. It was built for a taller person, and Loni was soon worn out from reaching forward to grab the long handlebars as she leaned into the wind. With no shield to protect her from the wind and bugs, she couldn't get rid of the bug splatters without stopping to wipe off her helmet visor. She swore in exasperation as her wiping just smeared the bug goo and made it harder to see. Her biggest problem was remembering to keep her mouth shut or else eat them. A couple had been really bitter gross.

  Bikers had dug an animal trail deeper as it crossed the sand and salt-weed ridden river flats. Loni climbed out and up until she crested above the river basin. Turning off the engine for a minute to rest from the horrible racket, she let the silence settle over her as she checked out where she had been. The Colorado River, finished before it even reached the ocean, fizzled out miles below her, and all the rivers that joined her in that long run had disappeared in the sand below her. They had all been dammed to death.

  After what seemed like eons bouncing across rock spurs, up and down jagged wash banks, and around mesquite patches, catclaw, and other spiny plants grabbing for her legs, she spotted the border to Old Mexico. Idling as she waited to pass through, she admired the border fence, fifteen feet tall and narrow, specially built so that it could be vertically lifted to move with the ever shifting sand dunes

  Loni rode her bike slowly into Algodones. Its four-block area of med
ical buildings with doctors, dentists, opticians, and pharmacies was filled with hundreds of people from the States. The flood of people looking for big savings and better medical care made the place look like just another town north of the border.

  Following the map Tully gave her, Loni wandered to the edge of town and saw the Diablo bar ahead. Sticking out like a sore thumb, the bar had a garish red sign of the devil sitting on top of an adobe building that had seen better days. Parking her bike alongside a dozen others, she walked through a swinging door into the bar's cool space, grateful to be able to take her hot helmet and leather jacket off to escape the heat. Her feet stuck in dark blobs mired with dirt on the floor as she moved to the bar. Hope it's not blood, she thought.

  Looking around she saw several tables with two or three bikers watching her. She nodded to faces as she walked toward the bar. The blurry bar mirror distorted faces as Loni studied the three bikers drinking bottled Beer, and she inwardly chuckled at the long pale red hair curling down the back of a vest dotted with rivets reading BOSS. That's my girl. “Hi, honey,” Loni said grabbing the stool and spinning the redhead around. “How about a kiss?”

  “You're late, you bitch, and you don't deserve a kiss. Get off me,” Liv snarled at Loni. “You were supposed to be here a week ago.”

  Loni took a step backward. “Liv, you never change. I missed you, too.”

  “Well? What took you so long?”

  “My husband got sick, and I had to stay until my mother-in-law came.”

  The guy sitting next to Liv laughed. “Does he know what you're doing, hanging out with a girlfriend biker?”

  “Well hell, yeah. He was going to hang out with his boyfriend till he got sick. Really, really bad flu.”

  “Sure it’s flu?”

  “Ah, hell, Howard.” Liv climbed down off the barstool and grabbed Loni's hand, dragging her into a hallway. The sound of catcalls followed them into a filthy bathroom. Liv grinned at Loni's expression. “Bobby and Howard are good. They're undercover. Glad to have you aboard, Loni. Tully says good things about you.”