“It was about that time that Mr. Sastrias paid José to take a package to Powerhouse.”
At the name of the fitness center, it took all of Mason’s self-control not to leap out of his seat and pace around the room. Alex had only been nine years old when Margie was killed, so he probably didn’t know the significance of the place. And it was obvious from the way he casually named the gym and continued with his story that he did not. But beside him Karina’s eyes went perfectly round. Forcing himself not to look her way, Mason kept his attention on Alex.
“We went on like that for a few months. A couple of packages a week and I got fifty bucks extra, plus my time on the clock. Sometimes Mr. Velesquez had me run a package over to the gym, but mostly I took mine to the restaurant.”
“Were they always the same size?” asked Mason.
Alex shook his head. “Sometimes they were square and small enough to fit inside my backpack. Sometimes long.” He shrugged. “It just depended.”
“And you never looked inside?” Though Alex’s body language told Mason he was being entirely truthful this time, he could hardly believe a fourteen-year-old kid wouldn’t be curious enough to peek, at least once.
But Alex shook his head. “I wanted to, but they were always taped up real tight.” Spots of color appeared on his cheeks, and his eyes darkened. “But José did. Last Friday he unwrapped one of his packages on his way to the gym. He came over to the Superette where I was restocking the back room and showed me. And that’s when we knew we were in real trouble.”
Though Mason had warned Karina not to speak, she piped up with a question, her expression betraying her curiosity. “What was in it?”
Alex remained silent a minute, examining his hands in his lap. When he answered, his voice was soft. “It was pieces of a gun. A big gun, like…” He hesitated. “Like an assault rifle. We know, ’cause we looked it up on the internet in the back office.”
Silence descended on the room. Mason leaned back in his chair and let Alex’s words sink in. Parts of assault rifles being delivered between the Superette, Casa del Sol, and the fitness center where his wife worked when she was murdered.
Somewhere deep inside him a flicker of excitement flared. This was the piece of the puzzle that he’d missed four years ago, when he was trying to prove that Maddox was somehow involved in Margie’s death. He’d suspected drugs—it seemed everyone was involved in drugs these days—but he’d been wrong. It was weapons. Illegal weapons.
Alex leaned forward, his face thrust across the table. “José told me, and we talked about it. We were both scared, real scared. Coupla months ago I saw a report on the television news about this border cop who got killed by a drug cartel from down in Mexico, but the gun had been built right here in Albuquerque. And I thought, What if one of those packages I delivered had part of that gun in it? I might be responsible for killing that guy.” He looked faintly sick at the idea.
“It wouldn’t be your fault.” Karina placed a hand on his arm. “You didn’t know.”
Alex didn’t look at her, but held Mason’s gaze. And Mason knew what he meant. Of course a sister would say that. But a guy knew the truth. Being a pawn and not questioning was as bad as acting with full knowledge. In some ways it was worse, because who wanted to be a dupe?
Mason nodded. “I understand. So after you and José realized what was happening, what did you do?”
Alex leaned back in his chair. “We decided to quit our jobs. Both of us. I decided to tell Mr. Velesquez I was having trouble at school and my sister was making me stop working.” He ducked his head and shifted in the chair so his body was angled away from Karina. “I was afraid to tell him I’d figured out about those packages.”
Mason nodded. “That was a smart move.”
“Yeah.” The teen’s shoulders heaved with a silent laugh. “If José had done the same thing, maybe I wouldn’t be in this mess. But he couldn’t let it lay. Our plan was for him to go ahead and deliver the package to the gym and go back to work. Then both of us were going to quit our jobs when we left work for the night.
“Nothing worked out right, though. Mr. Velesquez had to go to a meeting or something, and he left another guy running the register. So I couldn’t quit. And then José messed everything up. Instead of going to the gym, like we’d decided, he took the package he’d opened back to Mr. Sastrias and told him he wouldn’t deliver any more for him.” Alex slid down in the chair, shaking his head. “Stupid idiot. I wish he hadn’t done that.”
Mason was developing an image of José in his mind. Stupid idiot was probably an apt description, but he couldn’t help admiring the kid’s moxy. It took a peculiar brand of guts to confront an illegal arms dealer on his own turf. When he’d been fourteen, he certainly hadn’t possessed it.
And yet that moxy had been terribly misplaced. It had gotten José killed.
Karina had fallen silent. She watched Alex out of the
corner of her eye, but wisely held her tongue. The clock on the wall told him they only had about five more minutes before the guard came to take Alex back to his room.
“What happened Friday night?” he asked.
A miserable expression overtook Alex’s features. “I knew Mr. Velesquez was coming back to the store around midnight to close out the week. I arranged to spend the night with José so he could go with me. We waited until his parents went to bed, then slipped out. José waited while I went into the back office and talked to Mr. Velesquez, and told him my story about my grades slipping. But he didn’t believe me.” He leaned forward and rested his forehead on the edge of the table. “He told me he had already talked to Mr. Sastrias, and he knew what José had said, and he knew we were friends. I couldn’t deny it, because there José was, waiting for me out front in the store. And Mr. Velesquez told me that I shouldn’t quit, because a smart young man like me could make a lot of money working for his bosses.”
He fell silent. Watching him, Mason could see a fierce struggle taking place in the young man’s face. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Karina’s shoulders rise as she drew breath to speak, but he warned her with a quick glance. The kid needed to work out the memory and tell the tale in his own time.
Seconds ticked away, and Mason fought an urge to remind Alex that their visitation time would soon end. Finally the boy straightened in the chair.
“I caved. I told Mr. Velesquez I’d think about what he said.” His hand rose, and fingers raked through his thick, black hair. “I wasn’t going to continue delivering packages for him, really. It’s just that every argument I had, he came up with an answer. I couldn’t think up any more reasons. I’m such a wimp.”
“You’re not a wimp,” Mason assured him. “An older man who had authority over you persuaded you.”
“José didn’t cave,” the boy said, miserably. “When we left the store, I told him what had happened, and he was angry. Said he’d quit his job to do what was right, and I’d let him down. Even though he was right, it made me mad, and we argued. That’s when the guy came up to us.”
He stopped, closing his eyes as though to shut out the memory of that night.
“The guy?” Mason prompted.
He nodded. “We’d seen him around a lot, just coming inside the store or the restaurant, hanging out. And he was—”
Whatever description the kid had been about to give was chopped off when his mouth snapped shut. Mason saw true fear in his eyes.
“Was he someone working for the ‘bosses’ Mr. Velesquez mentioned?”
“I…didn’t think so at the time, but now I know he was.”
Now they were getting somewhere. Mason leaned forward. If Alex had actually talked to Maddox, could pin him with an illegal weapons charge, that would be perfect. “Is he a big guy? Thick head of dark, partially gray hair? Wears a suit most of the time?”
“N…no, not a suit. He
wears—” His mouth closed, tightened, and he shook his head. He continued, but Mason made a mental note to come back to the description. “He told José that Mr. Sastrias sent him to talk him into not quitting. Persuade you to stay, is how he said it.” Alex shuddered. “We were in this alley, with nobody else around, and José got mouthy with him. José always did have a mouth. The next thing I knew, this guy pulled a gun out of his jacket, and I was so scared I could hardly move. But José wouldn’t shut up. Kept talking back, saying the guy had better leave us alone or he’d turn him in, send him to jail.”
The color had drained from Alex’s face, leaving his skin an unhealthy pasty color.
Karina had gone completely still, as though she were afraid to move lest she break the flow of Alex’s words. Mason waited a moment. Through the window behind Alex’s head he saw the guard glance at his watch, look up toward the door, and start to rise from his chair. Their visiting time had almost ended, and he wanted to get back to a description of the guy.
“What happened then, Alex?” Mason kept his voice low and soft.
The boy’s shoulders trembled with barely suppressed sobs. “He shot José. Right there. Just pulled the trigger, and then José was on the ground, and he couldn’t breathe.” His eyes, fixed on some faraway sight, flooded with horror. “And the next thing I knew he shoved the gun into my hands and told me to keep my mouth shut, no matter what. That his boss—our boss—would make sure everything came out okay as long as I did exactly what they told me to do. And if I didn’t—”
The guard opened the door. “It’s time, folks.”
Mason leaned across the table and whispered urgently. He couldn’t let Alex go back until he knew the whole story. “What did he say would happen if you didn’t, Alex?”
With a glance at the guard, Alex rose from his chair and angled his back toward the doorway. Beside him Karina did the same. She looked shell-shocked from the story she’d just heard. A similar expression colored Alex’s features, and the resemblance between the two of them at the moment was remarkable.
But then a determined look stole over his features. He leaned over the table toward Mason and whispered, “He said if I don’t cooperate and do exactly as they say, my sister will end up the same as José. And this guy, he can do it. You can’t let that happen.”
With a final, urgent stare, he allowed the guard to escort him from the room.
SEVENTEEN
Neither of them said anything as they collected their keys and left the building. Not until they were alone in the rental car did Mason dare to speak. He started the engine and reversed out of his parking space.
“I’m glad he finally came clean with us,” he told Karina.
“I know.” She retrieved her purse from the floorboard and pulled out her cell phone. “We’d better let Hector know what Alex got mixed up in.”
Mason slammed his foot on the brake pedal, and the car jerked to a halt. “Have you lost your mind?” He reached over and grabbed the phone from her hand.
Anger flared in her face. “He’s Alex’s lawyer. He needs to know the truth.”
Shaking his head, Mason gave her a pitying look. “You are way too trusting, Karina. What’s it going to take to convince you that the guy’s as crooked as a bent fork?”
“You don’t know that,” she insisted. “You’ve decided to dislike him for some reason. I know he doesn’t have much experience, but he’s all we’ve got. Maybe if we work with him instead of against him, he’ll be able to actually do his job.”
She had a point. Mason had taken an instant dislike for the weak-kneed lawyer. But something that Alex had said just now had confirmed his suspicions.
“Yesterday did you hear what Navarro said to Alex as he left?”
Karina’s face went blank. “That he’d visit with him when he could?”
“No. He said, ‘Do exactly as you’re told and everything will work out okay.’”
She held up a splayed palm. “So?”
“Didn’t you hear your brother just now? That’s what the man who shot José said when he shoved the gun into Alex’s hands. He said everything would come out okay as long as he does exactly as he’s told.”
“The same words,” she whispered, then nodded. “I remember.”
“When he said that yesterday I saw Alex’s face. It was like he’d been slapped. Like he’d been sent a message, and he got it.”
“So Hector really is working for whoever is responsible for these illegal guns?” Her face went pale. “Alex doesn’t have a chance, does he?”
“Well now, I don’t know about that.” Mason took his foot off the brake pedal and the car rolled forward. “We don’t know how high this thing goes. Maybe whoever’s in charge has control of the criminal courts, but not the juvenile courts. They might be transferring him in order to make sure they can be assured of the outcome.” Mason highly doubted it, but they had to consider all possibilities.
“But what outcome is that? Are they going to have him acquitted and released so he can continue working for them? Or send him to adult prison where he’ll be brutalized and…” She slid down in the passenger seat and covered her face with her hands.
While she sobbed quietly, he turned out of the parking lot onto the main road. The details they’d just learned rolled around in his mind, a jumble of facts with very little form. He needed to lay it all out, to talk to someone who could help him make sense of everything. He could arrange a call with Brent and Caleb, his F.A.S.T. partners. This was exactly the kind of thing the three of them were good at, talking things out and making sense where none seemed to exist. But neither of them knew anything about Albuquerque. Plus it was eleven forty-five in Albuquerque, which meant it was one forty-five in Atlanta. Brent was at work, and Mason had bugged him a lot lately. Being a top executive for a giant corporation, he probably couldn’t spare an hour or so for a personal meeting until this evening, after he left the office.
There was one person, though, who could help him.
The car glided to a stop at a traffic light, and Mason shifted in his seat to slide his cell phone out of its case on the waistband of his jeans. “I’m going to call Parker. Maybe he can help us make sense of this mess.”
He thought Karina might object, but she nodded approval of his plan. Probably too frightened to argue with him. Her eyes were abnormally large, making her look more like a vulnerable little girl than the spitfire woman he knew so well. As he punched in Parker’s number, he managed to give her what he hoped was a comforting smile.
* * *
Thirty minutes later they were seated in a corner booth with one long curved bench at a busy diner not far from the hair salon. Karina’s handbag lay on one end of the bench, which forced her to sit closer to Mason. The opposite bench was left free for Parker. She could have placed the purse between them as a barrier, but she needed the strength of his presence at the moment and the closer the better. Occasionally when he moved, his leg brushed against her and sent a comforting wave through her tense body.
The diner’s door opened.
“There he is.” Mason’s voice held a hint of relief that bothered Karina even more than his usual sarcasm. He must be really worried, which meant her own fears weren’t unfounded.
Officer Parker Harding stepped into the diner and held the door open for the person behind him. Another uniformed officer followed him into the restaurant. Karina recognized him as Officer Graham, the other man who’d arrested Alex last Friday night.
“What’s he doing here?” Mason asked under his breath before he stood and caught Parker’s attention with a wave.
Officer Graham said something to Parker and then he headed for the restrooms on the opposite side of the diner’s long serving counter. Parker came toward them.
Karina remained seated while Mason shook his hand.
“I
thought you’d come alone, dude,” Mason said as he returned to his seat beside her.
Parker slid onto the bench on the other side of the booth. “I would have, but Grierson has us tied at the hip, especially when it comes to anything about you. I don’t think he trusts me.” His head turned toward Karina. “How are you doing? Everything okay?”
The sound of his kind tone sparked a prickle of tears behind her eyes. Sarcasm she could take. Kindness, on the other hand, prodded at a tender place deep inside and made her want to weep. She blinked hard, and managed a nod and a half smile. “Last night was better, thank you.”
“I kept watch to make sure nobody bothered her place,” Mason said.
A chuckle shook Parker’s shoulders. “I know. I saw you sleeping in your car.”
An outraged expression overtook Mason’s features, and he stiffened. “I didn’t fall asleep all night.”
The chuckle became a laugh. “Dude, you were imitating a chainsaw from around one-thirty until I got off at three.”
Karina turned in the seat to give Mason a look. So much for her bodyguard keeping her safe.
He looked a little sheepish, but then rallied in typical Mason fashion. “So I might have drifted off for a few minutes. But if anything had moved, I would have been awake in an instant.”
“Right.” Parker shook his head. “What I couldn’t figure is why you were outside. If anybody broke into that apartment, you’d be able to keep her a lot safer from inside than from a car in the parking lot.”
Karina focused on unwrapping her silverware from the paper napkin, aware of Mason’s I-told-you-so look beside her.
“Long story.” He raised his head, and she followed his gaze to see Officer Graham exit the restroom and begin to thread his way through the tables toward them. “So what about your new partner? Can we trust him?”
Parker half turned to get a look at him. “I think so. He’s pretty quiet. Doesn’t say much about anything. But he didn’t narc us out to Grierson yesterday. He knows when to keep his mouth shut.”
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