“Did you get her name?”
“No. She said her husband liked to ride the pickup through the wash, so I bet that is who you saw inside.”
“And?”
“If Guereca made a hand-delivered drop, it would have probably been to that guy in the pickup. Otherwise why would he be wearing a rain slicker?”
Danny sighed, “But other than suspicions, we have nothing criminal to arrest anybody for, not even Guereca.”
“You never saw him when he attacked you?”
“Not even a glimpse.”
They stood there in silence as the hot sun dried them, pushing its heat into their shoulders and backs. Danny said, “All we can do is keep a lookout down in our country and hope something pops.”
Hunter said, “At least we know Guereca’s involved, plus I know what the woman and man look like.”
“And I can recognize the man.”
“So what now?”
Danny said, “
I’m going home, and probably to bed. I’m whipped.”
“Are you going to tell the El Paso PD or SO about this?”
“There’s nothing to tell.” Danny walked to his sedan and drove away.
Hunter watched him leave the lot, then said to herself, “I guess it’s shopping time.” She walked to her pickup and left the scene.
Crystal put the camera with the telephoto lens in her lap as she and Samir watched Danny and Hunter drive away, “I’ve got plenty of images.” They had their pickup well hidden between two others, and facing across the crowded parking lot of a Wing Daddy’s to the car wash.
Samir said, “I recognize the man. He’s the new Presidio County Sheriff.”
“They haven’t had the election yet.”
“He’s got it in the bag. His main opponent was the young Deputy that Holland killed. Nobody else is running against Montoya, so it’ll only be write-ins against him.”
“His name’s Montoya?”
“Yeah, Daniel Montoya. Hasn’t been down there long.”
“What about the woman?”
Samir said, “I have a hunch about her, but we’ll need to reconnect with Holland on it. He keeps track of law enforcement in the area.”
“The good thing is, we have our package.”
“Yeah, but somebody knew about this meeting, and that worries me. There should have been no way for anybody to find out about it, but they did. We need to be extra careful from here on out.”
“It’s time for a fast run to Ojinaga. We can’t risk calling them.”
Samir put the pickup in gear and drove south on Montrose, then east on Interstate 10, pushing it. They stopped in Fort Hancock and hid their package in the sandy desert, knowing they had to pass through the Border Patrol Checkpoint in Sierra Blanca.
Two hours later, they crossed the International Bridge and drove through Ojinaga to the ranch on the Rio Conchos. Holland was in the yard when they arrived. They told him what happened, and he motioned them to follow as they went into the enormous barn that doubled as an aircraft hanger that housed the helicopter and the twin-prop Cessna.
Rooms lined both sides, and Holland opened the first door on the left. Inside were two men sitting before a large bank of electronics equipment. Holland said, “Tell them.” Crystal did, and the men typed rapidly on computers. The room was hot from all the electronic equipment, and Samir wiped sweat from his forehead.