Hunter nodded, “Let’
s get out of here before any police come.”
“Let’s.”
She helped him to his feet, saying, “My truck’s right up this path. Go ahead and I’ll be right behind you.” She double-checked the cane for any sign of the man, but saw nothing.
She started up behind Ike and he said, “Stop staring at my butt.”
“Kinda hard not to with it out there like that.” She grinned as she said it, aware he wasn’t watching.
He shook his head in a what am I going to do with her motion and said, “First thing, let’s get me some pants.”
She said, “You want to go to the hospital, get your clothes? We’re not far.”
“I don’t want to go in there looking like a drowned rat.”
“I’ll get them.”
“Deal. I’ll lay low in the truck.”
She drove to the hospital parking lot, and found a space out of the way at the edge of the lot so Ike wouldn’t be as easily seen, and walked into the hospital. It only took a moment to take the elevator to the second floor and go down the hall to Ike’s room. Ike’s clothes and a pair of Merrell hiking boots were in the closet. His valuables were in a drawer, such as they were: five twenties, another two thousand in pesos, a MasterCard, his Texas driver’s license, a concealed carry permit, and a white handkerchief, neatly folded.
Hunter put them in a spare plastic bag made for the small trash can, and returned the way she came, letting the bag dangle from her right hand. As she walked out the front of the hospital and into the lot, she glanced to the left and spotted the muscular woman getting into her car. When she saw Hunter, her eyes widened.
Then she accelerated, straight toward Hunter.
Hunter drew and aimed at her face behind the windshield, which made the woman slam on her brakes. The two women stared at one another, and Hunter waited for the muscular one to make her next move. Hunter was ready, any way it went.
The woman cut her wheels and squealed the tires as she accelerated out of the parking lot. Hunter watched her until the car turned on East Harris Avenue and disappeared behind the buildings, then she went to the vehicle and handed Ike his clothes.
“Do you know that woman with the athlete’s body?”
Ike said, “Suretta Salas. I’ve seen her around, but we haven’t talked. She’s a killer, at least that’s what I’ve heard.”
“She was just here.”
“I’m sure she’s involved in the kidnappings. Suretta is smart, too, they say. I’ve never met her, but I’ve heard about her for a year or so.”
“She was talking to Paco, the boatman and some other women I saw in Mexico.”
“Makes sense, then.”
“We’ll keep our eyes out for her and her friends.”
Hunter said, “If I thought we could catch her and make her talk about Anita and Kelly, I’d hogtie her and see what she had to say.”
“That’s a big if.”
“I just feel like time’s running out.”
“I know. Now, don’t peek, because I’m going to dress here in the truck.”
“I’ll try not to.”
Chapter 12
Suretta made sure she was away from the woman called Hunter. That one looked ready to shoot. Parking on Chadbourne, she called on her phone. “We had trouble.”