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

by Sue Hardesty

“It would have been if you hadn't broken my nose for the second time.” Loni complained as she rubbed her nose.

  “Let me see.”

  “Get away from me, James!” Loni dodged under his arm and called Coco. Settling Coco between the two coyotes, Loni climbed back in the front listening to the dog's low growls as she swung her head back and forth between the two men, staring them in the eyes between each snarl. They didn’t move or say a word while James drove back to the well and explained to the couple and their five children what was happening and that they'd be back for them.

  It took two hours for Loni to get back to abandoned family. On the way to Maria's Hacienda, Loni explained to the father about the IU Visa. “You get one because you helped capture the coyotes.” Loni could tell from the blank looks the others didn't know what she was talking about. “It protects victims of trafficking and violence. People who put criminals in jail can live and work in the United States toward a green card. You can also add family and get help.”

  “You're kidding?” The father blurted in amazement. “You can really help us stay?”

  With a wide grin, the father translated to his wife what Loni had told him. She looked at Loni in disbelief, tears rolling down her plump cheeks as she kept repeating, “Gracia Dios” as the kids cheered.

  CHAPTER 19

  “SIT, LONI,” CARL ORDERED LONI. “What's going on with your undocumented workers?”

  “I found a home for the two kids I brought home from the Cabeza with the Ybarras.”

  “That's illegal as hell, Loni. What were you thinking?”

  “No, no. We just added them onto their IU Visa as family. They were delighted, especially with getting a little girl.”

  “I hope you're right.”

  “About that trip to the Cabeza Refuge, Carl. The two bikers? I've been thinking. There's something bugging me. Something is off, but I can't figure it out. Can we talk about it?”

  Carl let go of his ear. “You're talking about the dead biker with the cocaine in his saddlebags?”

  Loni nodded her head. “A fluke? An anomaly? A strange coincidence? Something doesn't add up.”

  “I know how you feel about coincidences.”

  Loni squirmed and waited until Carl tilted his chair back before she risked a comment. “Maybe it's not a coincidence. Maybe our real dealer plowed into the bike. Maybe it was planted on him to mislead us. Did you find out what hit him?”

  “No.” His sun-brown skin on his forehead crinkled into a frown. “Didn't even think to look.”

  “Me neither until just now. Did anybody keep the paint transfer from the bike?”

  “I don't know that either.” Carl sighed and pulled on his bolo tie. "It was Junior's case. Guess I shoulda' checked." The gaudy turquoise blob twisted as he adjusted it. Sighing again, he stood and tucked the back of his Western shirt into his Levis. “Let's get the evidence box from Lola and find out. We could send it off for analysis.”

  “Can I see the accident photos?”

  “Why not? Should be in the box.” Loni followed Carl out of the office and up to Lola's counter. “Lola. Get me the file and the evidence box from the motorcycle accident last month where that kid was killed.”

  “You talking about Ralph Manor?”

  “That's the one.”

  Watching Lola disappear into the evidence cage, Carl turned to Loni. “What do you think you'll find?”

  Loni didn't want to say. She waited for Lola to set the box on the counter and dug out an envelope of photographs. Scattering them along the length of the countertop, she put them in order. It was like hovering above the scene. Loni traced the tire marks with her index finger from one photo through another. “See this, Carl?” She walked along the counter, pointing out more tire marks. “There’s nowhere that the driver skidded to a stop before he hit the bike. He didn't hit the brakes. He hit the gas. That kid was deliberately run down.”

  “Well, shit! That makes it murder. No wonder we never found the vehicle.”

  “Add conspiracy, Carl,” Loni decided. “He was set up to send us looking somewhere else.”

  Carl turned to Lola. “Did you send the paint transfer scrapings to the lab?”

  “I did. Got a fax back on it a couple of weeks ago and gave it to Junior, but I don't think he followed up on it." Lola handed him the fax from the file.

  Carl grabbed the paper and held it close to his face before he pulled glasses out of his pocket. Balancing them on his skinny nose, he read the report. “Says here it was a dark Woodland Green. Maybe from a 2008 to 2010 Jimmy truck.” Handing the fax back to Lola, Carl rambled on. “I can't think of any green truck around here. You seen one, Loni?”

  “Nope. You, Lola?”

  “No.”

  “What now?” Carl sounded lost. “Shit, shit, shit.” He tossed the photos back into the box.

  “Don't do that.” Lola slapped his hand and took the photos from the box, carefully putting them back in order.

  “Damn, Lola, I'm glad I don't live with you. You're so OCD I bet you'd even count out how many sheets of toilet paper I could use.”

  “Twelve.” Lola flipped back at him.

  Half laughing, Carl asked again. “What now?”

  Not knowing whether the question was rhetorical, Loni answered him anyway. “I guess we start all over.” Loni glanced around. “I wonder if that truck will be mentioned somewhere in my files. Where's Junior?”

  “He left early this morning.” Lola answered. “Said something about going out to your ranch, Carl.”

  “Do you know where Junior left the files?” Loni interrupted.

  Lola turned to answer Loni. “At his home I guess. He told me he'd done too much work on them to leave them here for just anybody to mess them up.”

  “What the hell?” Carl demanded. “What made him think he could take files home with him?”

  Lola avoided eye contact with both of them. “He’s asking weird questions too.”

  “What kind of questions?” Carl demanded.

  Lola shot Carl a quizzical look. “Mostly how well you knew the O'Neals and that couple from Fresno that died up on the butte. Did you ever visit Fresno? How did you find your renters? Did you keep anyone from checking the ranch out? Did you have anything against the Barclays, especially around the time they lost their son, Todd. Did you lose or change any evidence? That kind of stuff.”

  Carl glared at Lola. “That sonofabitch! Why would he want to know that? It’s none of his business anyway!”

  Lola’s nervous shrug set off her stacked metal bracelets. “He didn't say, Carl.”

  “You said Junior went where?” Carl asked.

  “I just told you, to your ranch. You renting again?”

  “Yeah. Winter vegetables. The greenhouses are still there. This time I was real careful when I checked them out. Did he say why?”

  “Something about how he needed to look at one more thing before he arrested somebody. I couldn't get any sense out of him before he rushed out.”

  “So, what'd you tell him?” Loni asked.

  “Nothing that wasn't in the file.”

  Carl stretched and took a deep breath. “It's been a long day, and I'm looking forward to an even longer weekend. What do you say, ladies? Let's start again Monday.”

  Watching Carl stalk back into his office, Lola cautiously asked Loni, “You going to the ranch this weekend?”

  “Yeah. Bahb wants me to move some mother cows to the north windmill. It got a little rain and the six-week grass looks good there.”

  “How’s he doing?” Lola’s voice softened.

  “Compared to what? If you’re talking about a bear, run. If it’s a skunk, duck.” Loni turned to leave but before she got the door open, Lola called her back. “Loni! Telephone!”

  “Loni here ... Sure. How old …? See you.” Loni handed the phone back to Lola. “Chelsa’s got an undocumented girl at the clinic.”

  “And she called you why?”

  “Remember last summer
when we got her kids back and put her ex-husband in jail?”

  “Of course.” Lola said. “He was as mean as my ex. I'm glad I never had kids with him.”

  “You never said much about him.”

  Lola frowned at Loni. “We were talking about Chelsa. What about the girl?”

  “Last summer I told her about Maria's Hacienda and asked her to keep a lookout for anybody who could use our help. Somebody found a young girl out in the desert under a mesquite tree nearly dead. The girl said there were five of them in her family, and the rest of them died. She walked as far as she could.”

  “You're taking her to Maria's?”

  Loni nodded her head. “Chelsa said she had her on an IV, but she’s in fair shape and doesn’t need hospitalization. Said she’d be ready for Maria's in another day.”

  “Chelsa's a really special PA. If anyone can save her, she will.” Lola paused, her green eyes soft. “You know it's been just over four months since you bought Maria's Hacienda. I can't believe how much work we got done.”

  “Thanks to people like your dad. You wield a good hammer too.” Loni grinned at Lola.

  “Only thing that saved that motel was its good bones.”

  Loni nodded. “And your mother badgering the good townspeople to donate time and materials to start fixing it up.”

  Lola nodded. “Worked, didn't it?”

  “Glad she had the churches on her side.”

  Lola grinned. “I'm pretty proud of what everyone’s given to Maria’s.”

  “Yeah.” Loni agreed. “It's still pretty rough, but having even six units up and running is pretty good.”

  “It’s a great place to take the girl. Calli will take good care of her.”

  “And put her to work.”

  “And send her to school with papers.”

  “God bless crazy judges.”

  “I heard the Ybarras are working in a grocery store for her brother. Are they really taking in those two kids you drug in from the Cabaza Refuge?”

  Loni smiled. “Six degrees of separation. The Ybarras wanted children, and now they have them.”

  “You did good, Loni.”

  Loni stared at Lola. “Why are you all of a sudden being nice to me?”

  “Got a call from Manny. He convinced me he would be home soon and that you saved his ass. Said to tell you thanks.” Lola smiled at her again. “Sorry for being such a bitch.” Lola's green eyes were sparking again. “Just wondered if you would like to do something this weekend. Besides working on Maria's. ”

  Loni returned her smile. “Wow, wish I could but I've gotta help Bahb this weekend. Rain check?” Ecstatic that Lola was softening toward her, Loni left for the ranch.

  * * *

  A mile from the ranch road turnoff, traffic was blocked by a car crossway on the bridge over the dry wash outside of town. What the… Loni got out of her truck and walked through the cars until she got to the bridge and found a woman standing over a buzzard, hollering, “Do something!” Mrs. Ballard’s booming voice could wake up a dead sidewinder buried in the sand. Loni's cell phone rang and she tried to listen to Lola as the huge woman’s voice bombarded Loni’s ears.

  “I'm getting calls, Loni,” Lola hollered over Mrs. Ballard. “They're saying you got traffic stopped from both directions. What the hell are you doing on that bridge?”

  “I'm trying to get to the ranch, but Mrs. Ballard is blocking me.”

  “What?”

  “You tell me, Lola. Listen.” Loni held out the phone so Lola could hear Mrs. Ballard's diatribe. Tired of waiting for her to wind down, Loni said, “I know traffic is blocked, but I can't get Mrs. Ballard to move her car off the bridge.”

  “Why not?”

  “Why not?” Loni almost screamed at Lola. “Because there's a goddamned buzzard here with a broken wing, and she wants me to take it to the vet. And she won't move until I pick it up.”

  “Well, pick it up and take it to the vet.”

  “And be the butt of everyone's jokes for the rest of my life? I don't think so.”

  “Well, do something and get that traffic moving.” Lola’s voice rose in both pitch and volume.

  “I know I need to do something I just can't figure out what.”

  Loni heard Junior's voice in the background. “Shoot it!”

  “No I can't shoot it.” Loni shouted back in exasperation. She turned off her phone to avoid the catcalls from the cackling people standing around Lola at the station. “Heel, Coco,” Loni ordered. “Heel that bird.” Confused, Coco stared first at Loni and then at the bird as Loni kept pointing to it. “Heel!” The brown poodle carefully danced around the bird, dodging its sharp curved beak and darting in between jabs. Loni grabbed a blanket from behind the seat of her truck and slowly circled behind the hissing bird as it followed Coco, marveling at how butt ugly its flaming red head was.

  While Coco kept the bird rocking back and forth, Loni tossed the blanket over its head, leaped on it, and bundled the blanket before she tied a rope around the bottom capturing the buzzard's feet in the wrap. Stunned, it lay quiet. Laying the buzzard onto the back seat of her king cab truck, she got Mrs. Ballard off the road and waved the traffic on, nodding to the laughing or scowling faces as they passed by. Well, shit. I'll never live this one down.

  The ride to the vet was quiet until Loni unwrapped the bird on the vet's table in the back room. Once again, she was surrounded by a crowd. Tori’s assistant shooed Loni into a side room after Loni told her story.

  With no room to pace, Loni sat on the edge of a chair and looked around at the warm tan colors in the walls and soft stuffed chairs. A small rock waterfall trickled in a corner. Loni decided that this was the room where Tory gave people bad news. Listening to the trickling water that only made her want to pee, Loni knew she wasn’t going to cry over a buzzard.

  Forty minutes later, Tory came in laughing. “First time I ever splinted a buzzard’s wing.”

  “Yeah?” Loni grinned back. “Well it’s the first time I ever caught one.”

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  “Take it to Maria's.”

  “That shelter in that old motel outside of town. Heard you are beginning to open rooms for undocumented people to stay. You’re going to add a buzzard to that?”

  “The woman who runs it? Lucky for me she has a soft heart.”

  “You hope. Heard you named it after your late girlfriend.”

  “Yes,” Loni said pensively, looking down at the floor. “She loved everything. Always dragging somebody home or somewhere to find a safe place. She would have loved Maria’s Hacienda.”

  Loni was quite a few seconds before she looked up at Tory. “Listen. I heard about your husband. I’m really sorry.”

  “Thanks.”

  A laughing young teenager walked in and handed the wrapped bird to Loni. She tried to avoid the snickers around her as she left the office with the tranquilized buzzard, holding her head high as she held the bird like a baby to protect its splinted wing.

  In the truck, the bird woke up and pecked at her ears while Coco barked at the bird’s insistent squawking. Its broken wing, heavy with a splint, hung down as it hopped back and forth, shitting all over her back seat. Pushing her truck as fast as she dared, she was relieved Maria's Hacienda had so many people around to take care of the bird. Dumping it off on a young girl in the office, Loni sped away before Calli could catch up with her.

  Home at last, Loni drove into the hangar and parked. With a sigh of relief she climbed out of her truck, half-smiling at the ribbing she had been getting for saving a buzzard. She was headed for the stairs when Daniel grabbed her shirt.

  “Mom's taking us all out for Dad's birthday tonight.” Clean shaven and his black hair slicked back, he was all dressed up in new Levis and a gleaming white Western shirt with pearl snaps. Even most of the black grease was scraped away from under his fingernails.

  “Wow, how come you smell like bubblegum?”

  “Loni!” Black deter
mined eyes stared down at her. “It's Halloween and you have to come.”

  “Oh god. How could I have forgotten?” Loni was walking backward as Daniel pushed her toward her stairs. “But I have to get the ranch now!"

  Daniel grinned at her. "I wonder how many outhouses are still around for kids to dump on the streets.”

  “Let someone else clean up the mess tonight, Daniel. Not everything that happens in this town is my problem.”

  Daniel held her against the stairs until she agreed to go with him. It's dad's birthday. You have to go."

  “But I don't have a birthday present.”

  “I figured you'd say that so I put your name on mine.”

  “Oh, yeah. What'd we get him?” Loni looked doubtful.

  “A case of peanut butter.”

  “What!” Loni didn't believe Daniel. “You putting me on?”

  “What's wrong with that? He loves peanut butter. Especially on watermelon.”

  “Oh god, I forgot.” Loni stared at Daniel in disgust. “I'll go. But I'm denying any part in buying this. I'll get my own present. When's this shindig?”

  “Now.”

  “What do you mean now?” Frantically, Loni tried to jerk away. “I can't get ready that fast.”

  Daniel looked her up and down. “Looks like you just had a shower, your hair's still wet, and you smell funny yourself. Go put on a dress shirt and clean Levis.”

  Loni sighed. “Where?”

  “The Oasis.” Daniel looked at his watch.

  “But it's karaoke night!” Loni objected.

  “So?”

  “I hate listening to screechy off-key voices.

  Daniel giggled. “Get drunk like the rest of us, and you won't care.”

  “I couldn't get that drunk if I tried,” Loni retorted, trying to jerk away. Daniel held on tight.

  “Are you going to get ready?”

  “No!”

  “Mama told me not to come without you.”

  Loni groaned. “Now you're trying to guilt me.”

  “How's that working?” Daniel giggled.

  “Maybe a smidge,” Loni admitted.

  “Lola promised to sing tonight.”