by Sue Hardesty
CHAPTER 27
July 27, 5:13 a.m.
LONI STAYED AT THE ranch all day, wandering between the cemetery, Roanie, Stonewall, and Paint's grave. All day the sun hung directly above her, boiling her skin, but she didn't care. Shiichoo grabbed her between wanderings and dabbed aloe vera on her face, neck, and hands as she made her drink large cans of warm water. "Sun will make you sick soon." Hugging herself, Loni only shook her head and wandered on.
CHAPTER 28
July 28, 9:20 a.m.
LONI MOVED THROUGH time in a daze of agony. Dressing, eating. Nothing pierced her shell. Nothing mattered. Unseeing, she stared out the window. Nothing registered until the jangling of her cell phone jarred her, intruding on her pain.
It was Carl. "I know it's your day off and this is not a good time, but I need your help. Can you come in for a few hours? I need someone to protect Rosie. She's getting threatening calls."
"Who from? I thought we were done here."
"The money's still missing. Looks like Rosie knows something after all, but won't talk. Claims it's not safe. State is moving her to a safe house tomorrow. I'll be in to relieve you later."
"Okay." Loni shut her cell phone. Sitting with Rosie or sitting where she was really didn't matter.
* * *
Rosie was in rehab, a new facility seven miles south of Caliente surrounded by new subdivisions. None of it had been there when Loni left for Oregon. Most lots were vacant and houses unfinished. Another developer who went bust.
Rosie was asleep in her room. Loni sat in a chair next to her bed and studied her. The long blond hair had dark roots now. One broken leg was in a light cast, and the other was hanging in traction.
Two hours passed before a nurse beckoned Loni outside. A Papago woman, good natured and grandmother soft, she had been in and out, checking on Rosie. With a last glance at Rosie, Loni put down the book and followed the nurse. Her name tag read "Josie."
"Admittance wants you. A call from a Carl Harper?"
"Thanks, Josie. Can you keep an eye out while I'm gone?"
"Sure."
"Guest bathroom is where?" Loni asked.
Josie pointed to the end of the hall as she hurried into another room.
As Loni came out of the bathroom, she saw the back of a man in a long white coat disappear into Rosie's room. Something about him bothered her. Loni hurried back to the room and peeked in the door.
A bearded man was leaning over Rosie with a pillow in his hands. "Where are the bank numbers?"
Rosie was whimpering. "Get out," she said weakly.
He pressed the pillow over Rosie's face. Loni yelled, "Police!" as she pointed her gun at him. He threw the pillow at her face and started to push by her. She stuck out her foot and tripped him, pulling his arms back to handcuff him. Flipping him over, she exclaimed, "Well, shit, Teag. You again? Why'd you run?"
"Figured you wouldn't shoot in here."
She called Carl. "Hey, Teag's here. He tried to kill Rosie. I'd be willing to bet Steve O'Neal is the other one we're looking for."
Loni forced the sitting man to stretch out his legs. Getting a stool from behind the nurses' station, she sat the stool across his legs, climbed on and waited, watching him.
"Loni?" Carl hurried up to her. "You all right?"
"I am." Loni stared down at the prisoner. "He's not."
Shaking his head, Carl hauled him off down the hall. "I'll be back as soon as I interrogate him."
Loni joined Rosie. "Sorry," she said. "I should have been more careful."
"I'm so tired of this," Rosie said. "I want it over." She sat a minute as Loni watched a determined expression settle on her face. "Got a tape recorder?"
"Sure." Loni took out her cell phone and opened it. "Can you hold it?"
"Yes," Rosie declared. "I don't have a lot to tell."
"I'm gonna say your rights first. Time, date, and who we both are. Then it's all yours."
Rosie nodded and quietly waited, answering that she understood her rights. Rosie's final comment was "I kept warning Rene not to crap in his own nest."
By the time Carl returned, Rosie was asleep. Loni gave him her phone.
* * *
Spending the rest of the night on her grandparent's couch, she got up and sat at the kitchen table. Her grandma sat scrambled eggs in front of her. Loni tried to eat.
"Believe in the magic, child. It will help."
Loni remembered Bahb's voice every time something bad happened. "When you walk hard road and stay true to yourself, it make magic that get you through.
"I'm trying, Shiichoo. But sometimes that road is too hard."
Shiichoo gave Loni a long hug and left her alone to clean up the kitchen. She wandered aimlessly the rest of the day, standing at the graves, talking to Roanie and Stonewall while she hung onto their necks and cried. Their warm bodies helped. She got to the loft in time to fix some soup before patrol.
FROM: Loni Wagner
TO: [email protected]
DATE: July 28
SUBJECT: Still here
It's been a bad day. The loss of Willie and Paint fills me with such pain. Losing Willie brings with it the loss of Maria. I feel like a truck ran me over then backed up and did it again.
I think about Rosie, another life destroyed along with Rene, Larry, Chief, Jenny, Steve, and Chui. But the most painful were the children. Tragic deaths and rapes. And so much suffering in the many people connected to them. I'm not even counting the loss of illegals. Too many. It's too much.
I didn't know how much family meant to me until now. No matter what happens around me, I know they have my back. Shiichoo keeps reminding me there is grace in the world. When I make myself forget about what's out there and think of her, then I have to agree. She is my grace. So is Lola. So was Maria. All in all I am glad to be back in a small town. I had forgotten how much easier it is to help people get out of trouble. Seems like in LA it was already too late by the time we got to them.
And thanks to you for being family. And for calling to see what was wrong when I stopped emailing. And really, thanks for understanding.
Take care of you and yours.
Loni
CHAPTER 29
July 29, 4:15 a.m.
MISERABLE AT THE LOSS of Willie, Loni watched the nearly full moon fall toward the horizon and wash the desert with black. Aching from rolling and tossing, she got up and dressed. She wasn't due to guard Rosie until eight, but she called Coco into the truck and headed toward the hospital early. She needed to do something. Anything.
Rosie was sitting up with a Kindle in her hands as James lightly snored in a padded chair. His long body was stretched across the door, and Loni bumped him pushing her way in. He didn't stir.
"How long's he been asleep?"
"All night."
"I have not," James defended himself as he finally stirred in the chair. "Just resting my eyes."
"Go home, James.
Grumbling about long nights, James yawned and struggled out of the chair and through the door.
"Coco, guard," Loni told her, and Coco took James' place across the door.
"James doesn't talk much," Rosie commented, watching Coco. "Hope you have more to say."
"Not much, Rosie. Carl put out a warrant for Larry's arrest. They've been at the O'Neal ranch most of the night flipping the place and looking for Steve O'Neal. I don't know any more, but Lola did promise to call if anything happened.
"Do you think I'm safe yet?"
"I do. If you told us everything. You said the money is all you knew about and State collected that. Should we know anything else?" Loni asked.
"What about the Mexican connection? I told them about the Mexican cops we dealt with. Did they get picked up?"
"I don't know. Maybe that's the reason State is moving you to a safe house."
"It's been four weeks. The doc said I could travel now."
"I know. The helicopter will be here at ten o'clock." Loni tried to sound reassuring.
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The room began to fill up with nurses and a doctor to get her ready to travel. Loni and Coco sat outside and watched people come and go, questioning each one carefully. By the time Rosie was signed out and ready, they could hear the wap-wap-wap of the helicopter. A male nurse used a gurney to keep Rosie's legs elevated. Loni watched as they loaded Rosie, gurney and all, and belted her in. The helicopter slowly disappeared on the horizon.
Pushing Coco into the truck ahead of her, she drove to the hangar, hoping to hang out with Daniel. She spent the morning putting his tools away and hosing out the hangar as she listened to Daniel and Uncle Herm argue about who was going to fly the plane they were repairing. It was a Cessna Caravan, a lot like the one Rene crashed in.
Coco entertained herself by attacking the water spray with her turkey drink until both she and Loni were soaked. After a trip to a patch of dead grass, Coco followed Loni up the loft.
Loni warmed up some stew Shiichoo made her and joined Coco for lunch. Falling asleep on a full stomach, she did not wake up until it was time to get ready for work. Finishing the cold stew, she called Coco and headed into the night.
CHAPTER 30
July 30, 1:56 a.m.
BACK ON PATROL, Loni drove aimlessly, not know where she was.
"Anybody listening?" Bobby's voice sounded stressed. "Accident on freeway. Fatalities. Need help rerouting traffic."
"What happened, Bobby?"
"RV pulled out from a side road. Said he got antsy."
"He said what?" Loni exclaimed.
"Antsy! The little bastard got antsy."
Loni arrived at the scene in eighteen minutes. Three cars and a pickup were scattered in a patchwork of pain down the wide dirt meridian. Five emergency vehicles flooded the area with lights. Loni pulled up and said, "Coco, stay." She grabbed a handful of flares and blocked off the right lane. Somewhere she heard a child crying. Lu came out of the dark and ran up the bank to her ambulance with a small bundle.
Loni found Tully with a young man sitting on the embankment. "Hey! What can I do?"
"Just control the traffic. Back down where you parked is good."
"My. God." Loni stared around at the cars scattered everywhere. "Bobby said an RV did all this." Large crumpled sheets of RV metal siding and splintered two-by-fours were scattered among and on top of cars that twisted around each other in the middle of the highway. The cab of the demolished RV lay on its side down the embankment, separate from everything else.
Tully pointed to the cab. "This kid pulled straight into traffic." Tully pushed at the kid with his foot. "Hey! Tell her why?"
Dark head down, the boy said nothing. His face hidden by long black hair spilling over his forehead, he sat cross legged, rubbing his torso with wiry arms.
"Bobby told me," Loni said. "Said he got antsy."
"Can you believe it? I always said no one under twenty-five should ever be allowed to drive." Tully toed the kid's ass with the tip of his boot again. "Here's why."
Trotting back to her SUV, Loni spent the rest of her shift rerouting traffic and clearing the scene. Three dead. Another in serious condition.
"Hey," Tully said to her as he left. "Last task force meeting today. You gotta be there cuz you're in charge."
"What the hell, Tully? Where's Carl?"
"He's in Phoenix getting sworn in as interim chief." Tully saluted Loni and walked back in his rolling gait to his car.
* * *
Her stomach tied in knots, she reached the station just in time for the meeting.
James looked great this morning, relaxed and at peace. But the biggest surprise was Tully. His suit was clean and pressed, his face close shaved. Tall and thin, he had lost his gut. He winked at Loni when he came in. Reaching over, he shut her mouth for her as he sat down.
"Holy shit!" Loni couldn't help herself and ducked her head, embarrassed. He was grinning at her when she looked up. "Who the hell are you?"
"Just your everyday cop."
"Jesus, Tully." Loni said sarcastically. "How long did you have to go to school to learn to say that with a straight face?"
"Nobody pays attention to a fool, right?"
James was laughing. "Where'd you leave your belly, Tully?"
"Fat falls. Didn't you know?"
"Not your fat." Loni was trying not to laugh. "It went up. It's called fathead."
"Nah," James jumped back in. "He had the baby. What was it, Tully? Boy or girl?"
"What I got was a bad case of skin rash." Tully paused. "It's good this is our last task force meeting," Tully began to explain. "By now I'm sure you figured I'm from State. Carl suspected drugs were going though his ranch so he called us in, but we didn't want to raid his ranch until we found all the players. It was big. We raided his ranch last night, so now I can tell you what I know."
Tully didn't sound a bit ashamed as he grinned at Loni. "Sorry we stuck you in the middle of this, but we needed to feed information to someone we knew was clean."
"You were my secret admirer." Loni started laughing. "Why did you send me on so many shit jobs?"
"Carl and I were afraid that between your work and your grandma's illness that you'd be too tired to be careful. Don't get too mad. I did get Rebecca's fingerprint for you. You owe me twenty-eight dollars, too. I had to take her to lunch."
"It's worth it." Loni picked the money out of her billfold and dropped it in front of Tully, who shoved it in his pocket. At least I wasn't in the way, right?"
"No, but it's a good thing I read your reports. You didn't pass on much in the meetings."
Loni ducked her head.
Tully stretched out his long legs. "We had lots of requests for permits to grow and sell sex enhancement plants in residential areas, but when we busted a dealer selling cocaine to kids, he led us to one of these home businesses. We found cocaine packed in the bottom of the plant containers. Seems the dead coach and his wife helped finance the deal and hired O'Neal. They knew him from Fresno, where he ran a nursery."
James shook his head in amazement. "Who would have believed it? Anybody checking these plants were so curious about what it'd do for them sexually, they never bothered to search any further."
Tully scratched his chin. "Thing is, the drugs were added where the plants were actually grown. But we couldn't locate it."
"On Carl's ranch!" sputtered Loni.
Tully shrugged. "So we staked out the home for the next delivery and followed the truck to the other homes with permits and back to the airport where it met Larry's plane. It was easy to follow him back to Caliente, but then we hit a dead end. We knew when he booked trips to his drops in different cities, but we couldn't find out where he picked up the plants. About that time we got the call from Carl."
James picked it up from there. "Once you caught onto Chui, Loni, I kept an eye on him until he led us to Carl's ranch."
"That's why you were arresting that coyote at the bar? He was one of Chui's?" Loni said to James.
James nodded yes. "Both Rene and Larry brought illegals when they flew plants for the different home businesses. The residue you found in Rene's plane, Loni? It matched one of the cocaine batches. But we still hadn't found the source of the bad meth."
It was Tully's turn again. "When you stirred up the O'Neals, Steve and Teag went after you, which gave us cause for a warrant. Seems Steve was a meth head and decided to make and sell a little on the side since he had plenty of illegals to help him, thanks to Chui." Tully turned to Loni. "Remember the report I gave you about castor bean growers?"
"Sure. You told me they grew seedlings on Carl's ranch."
Tully nodded. "It was their main crop." A somber expression crossed his face. "Seems one of the workers accidently swept ricin dust left from castor bean seed sacks stored in front of his lab. Or so Steve claims. He said when he heard about the deaths, he intended to dump the bad meth and clean up the lab but he was so fried, he never got around to it."
"So Rene was part of the cocaine trafficking, not the meth."
> "Right," Tully answered.
"What about the money?"
"We don't know. The Feds took that over. As you know, Rosie gave us the account numbers, and we got the names of the people who had the accounts from Rene's little book you sent to the lab."