He asked it but he knew. He knew men like Shift. He knew. That piece of shit would do it and still cry at the funeral.
“That’s the word on the street, according to Peña. Murder never solved but that shit spread wide and Martinez moved up the ranks. You gotta be one cold motherfucker to take down your brother in order to take over his stable. He recruited soldiers and got a different kind of protection. But Peña says there’s more. Says Martinez was resentful of Rodriguez’s success on the basketball court then his respect on the street and his way with his girls, especially seein’ as he hit the game late, after he came back from Indiana and Martinez had been in the game for years by that time. Says Rodriguez was blind to that shit. Wouldn’t hear a word against Martinez and that was what Peña was using to sever the ties and get him to go straight. Peña is convinced Rodriguez stayed in the game to have his brother’s back. Rodriguez never explained why those were ties that bind and why they bound him so tight he’d risk losin’ his woman and family but he figures something in their history connected them and Rodriguez was the kind of man who took loyalty seriously. Unfortunately, Martinez was not.”
Walker watched Lexie push through the door, juggling two, white plastic bags filled full with what he suspected was not apples and bananas and a cardboard container holding two huge-ass beverage cups at the same time flicking the arms out on her shades and shoving them on her face.
“Lexie’s comin’,” he warned Tate.
“Right,” Tate replied.
“Fast, tell me if I got a problem with either Peña or Martinez.”
“Shits me to say it but yes to both. First, Peña says that he’s got the feeling that Martinez has got some hold on Lexie and he’s been in contact with her the last few years after Rodriguez went down, offering help, keeping an eye on things. She’s been, he reports, uninterested and Peña thinks she’s got her head in the sand and just wants to move on with her life clear of that shit. He’s worried about it and he’s in the position to know if he should be worried. Now, whether Martinez’s reach goes outside Dallas, that’ll take me makin’ a few more calls.”
Peña was right. Shift f**ked Lexie. Huge. The question was, setting up Lexie for what she was doing for Walker, did he think he was done with her?
Walker would have to explain to him that he was.
Lexie was halfway to him, smiling bright, her h*ps swaying as she walked not having any idea just how much and for how long her world had been controlled by a piece of shit motherfucker. And now that she was free, he hoped she’d die not knowing it.
He jerked up his chin to her and muttered into the phone, “The cop?”
“Wasn’t in the same room with him but gotta say, his interest was borderline unhealthy. It magnified when I told him she was tyin’ the knot. Though, she’s in Colorado with you and he’s not on her radar so there’s f**k all he can do.”
That wasn’t true and Walker knew it. You got on the bad side of a cop, the reach was long. He knew it because six years ago, he experienced that reach stretching from Colorado to California.
Lexie was at the passenger door looking over the roof at him and aiming the straw of one of the drinks to her mouth. She captured it between her lips and sucked as her head tipped to the side.
“A second, baby,” he murmured to her, watched her release the straw as her mouth got soft, she nodded then juggled her shit as she opened the door and started to fold in. To Tate he said, “He seem frustrated or pissed at this news?”
“Nope, just interested. Maybe relieved but I couldn’t tell. I don’t know dick about this guy, still, he’s holdin’ a torch and that torch is burnin’ bright. Since I don’t know him, don’t know if he doesn’t give a shit he gave that up or if he’s also not the brightest bulb. Could make a few calls, get some inside information and do it on the quiet. See what you got on your hands.”
“Run with that.”
“Right. You want me to look into Martinez?”
“I’ll deal with him.”
Silence then, “Ty –”
“That time I spent in Dallas?” he asked then didn’t wait for an answer. “Became acquainted with him.”
“Right,” Jackson said making guesses that were probably not accurate.
“It’ll be cool,” Walker assured him.
“Okay, brother.”
“Lexie’s back and we gotta hit the road.”
“How much shit she buy?”
“We’ll hit Carnal next week,” Walker answered and Jackson chuckled.
Then he muttered, “Full of shit,” and finished, “I’ll see you tonight at Bubba’s.”
“Bubba’s,” Walker agreed. “And Tate?”
“Yeah?”