The Mexican Connection: Ted Higuera Series Book 3 Read online

  “Finding it is not the hard part, getting in is. I think that El Lobo, he won’t be anxious to give you Señor Adams. Of course, he could have his price.”

  “How do we find him?” Catrina asked.

  “This one,” Ruiz said, “I cannot help you with. I value my own life too much. You are going to go in there and get killed. I want no part of it. The rancho, it is ten-thousand acres along the coast of the San Lorenzo Channel. There is only one road in, a one lane dirt road. There are three locked gates with armed guards. They will see you coming for miles. There is a landing strip, but once again, they will see you coming for miles. There is no other air traffic there, any plane that approaches must be going to the rancho.”

  “What about by sea?” Jeff asked.

  “There’s a lot of beach, maybe eight or ten kilometers. You might be able to land at night, but El Lobo, he has just installed motion detectors everywhere. He has a video surveillance system. You will never get anywhere near his compound.”

  “FREEZE!” The kitchen door burst open. In the bright sunshine pouring in, Catrina saw two men in sloppy shooter’s stances.

  She dove for the floor and pulled the Glock from her waistband.

  Jeff did the same.

  Hope froze. Ruiz dropped behind the table.

  The men tried to follow Catrina and Jeff’s movements with their pistols.

  Catrina took a bead on the shorter man and started to squeeze the trigger.

  “TED!” Hope shouted.

  Catrina instantly let the pressure off the trigger. “Higuera? Is that you?”

  “Goddamn, Higuera,” Jeff rose from the floor. “I nearly plugged you.”

  Hope sprang forward and grabbed her big brother in her arms.

  “Hope? Cat? Jeff? What are you doing here?” Ted’s eyes slowly adjusted to the dark room.

  “Huh?” Chris lowered his .38. “What’s going on?”

  “Teddy, I’ve been looking all over for you . . .” Hope said.

  “I could ask you the same thing,” Catrina said. “We’re here to meet with an informant.”

  “José Ruiz?” Ted asked. “We’re here looking for Ruiz.”

  “He’s right here,” Hope gestured and turned to the table. “He was right here.” Ruiz was gone.

  “He was here?” Ted’s voice almost cracked. “Did you talk to him? What did he say?”

  “We’re looking for a runaway husband, a drug dealer, from Seattle,” Catrina said. “Ruiz had a lead for us.”

  “Shit, Cat. He’s the last guy that saw Papa alive. He’s the last one that saw Guillermo before he disappeared. We’ve been tracking him all over Juarez.”

  “He said he was in hiding because of two gringos,” Hope said. “I couldn’t get any more out of him than that.”

  “He’s hiding from us?” Chris said. “Why is he running from us?”

  “Better yet,” Ted looked around. “Where did he go?”

  A shocked look came over Ted’s face. “What in the hell are you doing in Juarez” he shouted at Hope. “I told you to stay home.”

  “You’re not the boss of me.” She smiled at him sarcastically. “Cat and Jeff came to the restaurant looking for you. They needed a translator. I thought if I came with them, I could find you and help.”

  “Jesu Christo, hermanita, don’t you have a brain in your head?” Ted grabbed his sister by the shoulders. “Don’t you realize how dangerous this place is? I want you on the next plane to LA.”

  “Like hell,” Hope pulled away from him. “I’m here with Cat and Jeff. If you don’t want my help, they still need me. I’ll go when and where I want.”

  Ted was defeated. He looked at Chris who just shrugged.

  The five spread out and began searching the abandoned restaurant.

  “Here, Teddy.” Hope pulled a serape from the wall to reveal a staircase leading down to a basement.

  “I’ll be damned.” Ted pulled his revolver and cautiously headed down the stairs. The rest of the troupe followed him.

  “Is there a light?” Catrina asked as they descended into darkness.

  “Here.” A small Mag light appeared in Hope’s hand. “I always have a light in my purse.”

  Ted held up his smart phone and called up his flashlight app. He and Hope swept the room.

  On the far side, a tunnel led to a ladder. The grate in the street was off. Ruiz had obviously fled that way.

  “Shit.” Ted slammed his hand into the wall. “Now we’ll never find him.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Chris said. “This place gives me the creeps.”

  Chapter 23

  Seattle

  Jennifer wore a charcoal pinstriped suit that clung to her slender frame. The skirt stopped just above the knee. Diamond solitaires completed the outfit. She always looked so put together, so in control.

  Lisa, on the other hand, wore the bright orange jail jumpsuit with “King County Jail” stenciled in white letters across the back. She pulled her light brown hair back into a pony tail, there was no use trying to do anything else with it.

  Lisa couldn’t remember the last time she dressed up. She used to go out with Jimmy. He liked fancy restaurants and the night scene. He said it’s where he made his contacts. But that was a lifetime ago.

  “We will have discovery next week,” Jennifer was saying. “That’s where the prosecution has to tell us what their case against us looks like.” She took a folder out of her brief case and started making notes.

  Lisa barely heard what her lawyer was saying. She didn’t care anymore. She glanced around the interview room. There was no visual stimulus, just white walls and plain furniture.

  “They don’t have much. They have the drugs, guns and money, but they can’t prove that you knew about them. They don’t have any evidence showing that you knew about or participated in your husband’s business.”

  Lisa dropped her bombshell.

  “I want to plead guilty.”

  “You what?”

  “I want to plead guilty. I want to just get this over with. I want to go to prison, serve my time and get on with my life.”

  Jennifer stared at Lisa open-mouthed.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Jennifer put down her pen and just stared at her client. “They can’t win this. You’re going to walk out of here a free woman.”

  “I’m guilty. I need to go to prison. That’s all there is to it. I want to plead guilty.”

  “Lisa, what’s going on?” Jennifer reached for Lisa’s hand.

  Lisa pulled away. “Nothing’s going on.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “I just know when I’m beat. That rat, Petrocelli, he came and talked to me. He said that I can’t win. He offered me a deal.”

  “You can’t believe him.” Lisa could hardly control her voice. “He’s a weasel. He can’t talk to you without me. I’m going to the judge.”

  “No. Just change my plea. Let me serve my time and get on with my life.”

  “What changed? Someone got to you.”

  Lisa looked down at her hands in silence.

  The quiet was deafening. It hung in the air like a presence of its own.

  “Lisa,” Jennifer finally broke the silence. “Talk to me. I’m your lawyer. I’m here to help you.”

  Tears streaked down Lisa’s face. Her voice was broken with sobs. “Mr. Weinstein came to see me. He said if I told anyone about it, he would deny it. He said he’d say that he was here about some billing questions.”

  “Weinstein? He can’t see you. He’s not your attorney anymore.”

  “That’s what I told him. He said he had a message for me. He said that Jimmy’s boss sent him.”

  “Yes.”

  “He said that the people that Jimmy works for are not nice people. He said that they could get to me anywhere.”

  “What was the message?” Jennifer pulled a yellow pad out of her brief case.

  “He said that if I took this case to trial, that something bad would happened to me. Then he showed
me pictures of Kayla. He said that they could get to her.”

  “Oh my God.” Jennifer took her client’s hands. “Listen to me, Lisa. I can help. We can protect you and Kayla.”

  “How? He said they had people on the inside. Here and at the state prison. He said that they could get to me anytime. And he had the pictures.”

  Jennifer was writing furiously on her pad. “The first thing we have to do is get Kayla out of the foster home. We have to hide her in a safe house. I think I know someone who will help.”

  “Jennifer, no. I have to cooperate. I can’t take a chance with Kayla’s life.”

  “You can’t live your life under this threat. You’ll always be looking over your shoulder. You have to beat these people.”

  Lisa shook her head.

  “I know someone,” Jennifer said. “I can hide Kayla with a family that can protect her. She’ll do home schooling for now. I’ll go to the judged and have them isolate you where no one can get to you. When the trial is over and you get out, we’ll relocate you, give you a new identity. They’ll never find you.”

  ****

  Juarez, Mexico

  The Hotel Benito Juarez had empty rooms. Catrina, Jeff and Hope moved in so that they could be close to Ted and Chris. It was also much more secure than their Days Inn room.

  “It’s good to see your brother again.” Catrina unbuttoned her blouse. “I was hoping that we could work with him.”

  “Yeah, well he’s a pig-headed stick in the mud. He always has to have everything his way.” Hope had gotten so used to sharing a room with Cat that she thought nothing of changing into her bathing suit in her presence. “I’m not going home. I came here to help you and I’m going to. What are we going to do now? Head for Baja Sur?”

  Catrina slipped out of her underwear and pulled on a flattering navy one-piece bathing suit. “Let’s talk with Ted and Chris. It sounds like they’ve got a lead on your brother. Maybe we can help them while we’re here.”

  There was a knock on the door. Catrina grabbed her Glock and turned the knob. It was Jeff.

  “I’m ready for the pool.” Jeff wore a T-shirt and a pair of Speedos.

  Hope admired his trim body and thought, not for the first time, what a waste.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere as hot as this.” Jeff flipped his towel over his shoulder and headed down the corridor. “I need a cool-down.”

  The two women grabbed towels and followed him to the pool area.

  The pool was a large oval connected to a round hot tub by a skinny straight of water. The overall impression was of a giant barbell, with one side on steroids. Palm trees and thatched roof palapas provided shade for the couple of dozen lounge chairs.

  The bottom of the pool was covered with white tiles. Here and there a mosaic of a tropical fish, a dolphin, or a marlin decorated the bottom. A ring of small blue tiles surrounded the pool and formed a boundary between the water and the terracotta patio.

  All around the pool area, a two-story arcade provided a shaded walkway to the rooms.

  Ted and Chris had already staked out their claim on a couple of deck chairs under a palapa. Catrina, Jeff and Hope pulled up chairs and sat.

  “Salud,” Ted said, then held up his frosty Margarita.

  “God, that looks good,” Jeff said. “Where do we get one?”

  “The bar’s over there.” Chris pointed towards the open-air bar next to the restaurant. “They’re on happy hour right now, but you have to serve yourself. The waiters don’t come out to the pool.”

  “Not a problem,” Hope said. She turned and headed towards the bar. “You guys coming?”

  Chris watched her walk away. Ted noticed a funny look in his eyes.

  “Boy,” Chris said. “Your little sister has sure grown up.”

  “Yeah, well put your tongue back in your mouth. She’s off-limits.”

  Ted looked back at his sister. He had never really looked at her like that before. She was beautiful. She had her Mama’s looks. She was tiny, with curves in all the right places. Her long black hair hung most of the way down her back and her dark eyes were kind of gorgeous. And that swim suit. Papa would have had words for her about that.

  The white bikini barely covered the principal places. Everything else just sorta hung out.

  Yeah, if she wasn’t his sister, he’d look twice too.

  Ted looked back at Chris. Chris was enrapt, watching his sister.

  Naw, he couldn’t really be interested, could he? After all, he and Hope were from different worlds. How could they ever work out?

  Then he laughed at himself. That was Papa thinking. Of course they could work out. Look at Chris and him. He and Hope were from the same background and Chris was his closest friend in the world.

  And then there was the Meagan thing. Ever since Meagan had been killed by al-Qaeda terrorists up in Canada, Chris hadn’t been serious about any other girl. Maybe Hope was just what he needed.

  Naw, that’s crazy thinking . . . .

  “What are you laughing at, amigo?” Chris asked.

  Ted took a drink of his Margarita to stall for time.

  “Nothing. I was just thinking about my little sister. I guess she’s her own person now.”

  “Well, she’s really something,” Chris said.

  Catrina, Jeff and Hope walked back from the bar, drinks in hand. Hope sped up the last few steps so she could get to the chairs first. She sat next to Chris.

  “So what’s the plan, Higuera,” Catrina asked as she sipped from her Coke Zero.

  “We need to find Ruiz again. He’s the key to all of this.”

  “You think he knows what happened to Guillermo?” Hope asked.

  “I guess he’s some kind of pimp,” Chris said. “He took Guillermo and the other boys to the cat house. He’s the last one that saw them alive. Maybe he knows what happened.”

  “I wish we’d known that.” Hope reached out and touched Chris’s arm. “I would have sliced his balls off until he told us where the Raton was. Ruiz was just a lead to get us guns and find Adams.”

  Ted watched his sister’s gesture and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, well we’ve been chasing him all over Juarez. We need to find him again.”

  “We can help,” Hope said. “We’ve got his phone number. Cat’s contacted him a couple of times.”

  “If he’s gone into hiding because of us,” Chris said. “He certainly won’t come running when we call.”

  “No, but he’s a man. He might come running if I call.” Hope gulped the last of her Margarita, flounced to the pool and dove in.

  Catrina watched Hope. “You know, Higurea, you and Chris might want to lay low and let us handle this. If there’s really a contract out on you it’s not too healthy to be wandering around the streets.”

  Anger flared in Ted’s eyes. “He’s my brother. I came here to find him and I’m not going to let anyone stop me.”

  “Yeah, well I’m too hot to just sit here and talk.” Jeff got up and joined Hope in the pool.

  ****

  Juarez, Mexico

  Chris tossed and turned all night long. He couldn’t get to sleep. Finally, after a couple of hours, he gave up. He got up, pulled on his shorts, grabbed his lap top and headed out to the pool area.

  Night lights gave enough illumination for him to get around, but the palapas and deck chairs were lost in the shadows.

  Chris headed towards a chair under the palapa.

  “Can’t sleep either?”

  Chris almost dropped his lap top. The last thing he expected was to find Hope here at this time of night.

  “Naw. I’ve just been tossing and turning. I thought I’d catch up on my email.”

  As his eyes adjusted to the dark, Chris looked Hope up and down. She was wearing a white T-shirt and boxers. She had a headlamp on her forehead and held a book in her lap. He long black hair curved around her shoulders.

  God, she looked good!

  “I don’t know what it is,” Hope said. “Whether
it’s the excitement of the chase, finding you and Ted, knowing that we have to find Ruiz or what, but I just couldn’t get my mind to shut off.” She beamed a huge smile at Chris.

  Chris sat on the lounge chair next to her. “You know, Ted’s not happy that you’re here.”

  “Yeah, well he can kiss my ass.” Anger flared in Hope’s eyes. “I need to be here. I need to help find Guillermo. I need to find out what happened to Papa.” A tear streaked down her cheek. “And Chris, I need to help Ted, to take care of him.”

  “I think your big brother is pretty good at taking care of himself,” Chris said.

  “And how about you?” Hope looked into Chris’s eyes. “Are you good at taking care of yourself too?”

  “Yeah. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time.”

  “Guys are so clueless. I think you both need a woman to look out after you. You need someone to watch your back.”

  There was a long silence. Chris looked at his lap top, fiddled with his position in his chair, then looked back at Hope.

  She sat still in her chair, almost like she was expecting something. What did she want from him?

  “Finding someone to watch your back isn’t all that easy.” Chris set his laptop on the chair next to him. “There are a lot of women out there who would like my money, but I haven’t found anyone who just wants me for me.”

  “Maybe you haven’t been looking in the right places.”

  Chapter 24

  Juarez, Mexico

  Chili Pete’s was off-limits for Ted and Chris, but Catrina, Jeff and Hope were still welcome there, at least they thought so. Hopefully the Los Norteños gangsters hadn’t connected them yet.

  The three took a pigskin table and ordered drinks. The big bartender brought two cervezas and a tonic water with a twist.

  Catrina handed him a twenty dollar bill. “We’re looking for a gringo. He might hang out here.” She handed the bartender a picture of James. “I understand that he works for Los Norteños.”

  “You don’t want to mess with them, señora.” The bartender dropped the picture like it was on fire. “They are very bad people. Finish your drinks and go.”