How do you survive being shot and left for dead in the Chihuahuan Desert? By being found by a beautiful wildlife photographer willing to risk her life to save yours.
A bitter ex-cop fights for his life after he runs to the sound of gunfire on the Ri...
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Mendocino gave his official statement sans the drug smuggling.
Amos was waiting for him in the lobby. "Let's eat."
"Man, I can't eat." He wanted to lie down.
"Then watch me eat."
Mendocino followed Amos to Jalapeño Loco, ordering a soda with a straw.
"You look like hell," Amos said. "Is your jaw broken?
"Nothing broken. I think he cracked a rib, though."
"Gashed the hell out of that eye, too." Amos dipped a blue corn chip into the salsa. "Story's thin, Mendo. Why would Sartain kill his own boss? Makes no sense."
Mendocino shook his head slightly, speaking softly, slowly. "Frazier said John David confronted Sartain at the line cabin. Rogers hit him from behind and knocked him out. They carried him inside and killed him. Listen, Ed Sartain should have had a bullet between the eyes a long time ago. By the way, I think it was Enriqueta who gutted John David."
Amos gave Mendocino his hard, cutting, knowing glare as he dove into a taco.
"They were running migrants. Bringing them across the border in produce trucks. At the line camp, they got into Bar W security trucks, were driven to the truck stops, got into waiting vehicles, and moved on."
"How'd Frazier die?"
"I killed him. He had a Glock aimed at Hank's head. Had no choice."
"What are you leaving out?" Amos pressed.
"Nothing." That was a flat-out lie. But he made a promise.
"What about Tillie? Why send Rogers after Tillie?" Amos asked.
"That surprised me. I've got to ask her when she gets back," Mendocino said. "Frazier said Sartain saw her in the park the day they shot me. Sartain got paranoid she might have taken pictures that would expose them after he saw her pictures in that gift shop. Said Rogers was sent to destroy her studio and equipment, wasn't supposed to hurt her." He squinted. "Frazier said Rogers just liked to kill."
"Damn!" Amos leaned back in his chair.
Mendocino's gut churned. Amos had to be told about the drug doll.
***
Tillie walked down the steps of the Watson jet in the last light of day into Mendocino's outstretched arms. He held her tight against him, flooded again by relief. Constant fear was behind them. Her eyes widened as she assessed him.
"Oh, my God, what happened to you?"
"Ed Sartain."
She looked up, searching his face, her gaze settling in on his eyes. "Did you go to the hospital? Is your jaw broken?"
He smiled through the pain. "Nothing broken."
"Mendocino, your forehead is red, your jaw is swollen, and your eye is black." He saw pain in her eyes, for him.
"I'm fine, baby."
"So, it's done? It's finished?" she asked.
He drew her close against him, stroking her hair. "Yes. Ed Sartain is dead, and all his men. Finally, we can have a real life."
"I'll get an icepack on your face when we get home."
"That'd be nice. Are you hungry?" He talked through his teeth, moving his jaw as little as possible.
She nodded. "But you don't look like you can eat."
"I've never bought you that dinner I promised a long time ago. And neither of us feels like cooking. I can eat a bite or two. I could actually use it. Haven't eaten since yesterday."
He told her everything over their meal at a small Italian café. He nibbled and chewed slowly. "Were you in the park the day I was shot?" he asked. "I mean, not the morning you found me but the day before when I was shot?"
"Yes. I didn't have any clients, so I drove there early, scouting. That's when I picked out the place I was headed to when I found you."
"Did you take photos?"
"Some. Nothing great, but I snapped a few," she said. "The sky wasn't special. They'd forecast a big storm to come in the night, so I didn't waste a lot of energy on it." She smiled. "I call those storms nature's vacuum cleaners. They suck pollution and dust out of the air and wash it away, leaving the atmosphere pristine. I knew the next morning's sky would be perfect for pictures. Why do you ask?"
"Frazier said that's why Rogers was sent to your studio. He was supposed to destroy your equipment and photos, not hurt you. Said Sartain saw you taking pictures that day and found out who you were from your license plate. Later, when he saw your pictures in that shop and saw how much they were enlarged, he got scared that maybe you got them on camera. Like maybe you didn't even notice them, but if you blew it up, it would put them in the park at the time of the murders."
"Wow. I need to see if I did get them on camera," she said. "Everything's dated. I just never bothered with those." She smiled. "I got distracted."
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