The Territory A Novel - By Tricia Fields Page 0,78

behind the jail by eight o’clock this evening. A driver will be in the back. It’s already received clearance from the jail. You get the prisoners to that van by midnight tonight, and you’re a wealthy man.”

* * *

Gutiérrez was escorted back to his cell by a sheriff’s deputy. Otto, Josie, and Escobedo remained in the conference room.

After the door shut, Josie leaned against the wall, bent over at the waist, and stretched her fingers toward the floor. Her back cracked and the relief was instant. She stood and unhooked her five-pound gun belt, then laid it on the table, her attention on Escobedo.

“I don’t feel good about this,” she said. “We’re setting up a sting in the sheriff’s jail without informing him. He’ll be furious, and I don’t blame him.”

“You don’t worry about Martínez,” Escobedo said. “This isn’t about a courtesy call; it’s about saving lives. I’ve got two case agents on their way. From here out, I take over. It’ll keep you out of hot water with the locals.”

Josie narrowed her eyes at Escobedo, annoyed at his condescension. “You know me better than that. I didn’t call you to get cut out of the investigation. I don’t make decisions based on how much hot water I might get in. I’ve worked hard to see Hack Bloster in handcuffs.”

“This is a federal investigation. I’m looking at a law officer who sold guns illegally across a national border. He’s in serious trouble, and I suspect your mayor is culpable as well. You have too much on the line to let emotion get involved.”

Josie’s face flushed. She knew she could be called a lot of things; emotional was not usually one of them.

“I’m not asking to be there when you take him in, but I’ve got knowledge of this jail, of operating procedures.”

Otto cleared his throat to cut her off, and gave her a single shake of his head. He obviously thought she was pushing too hard. She looked away and said no more, angry that she hadn’t set up parameters with Escobedo when she called him. The loss of control was always the risk in calling in other agencies. Bottom line, the feds held the trump card.

* * *

Josie and Otto left the jail, basically dismissed from the investigation. They walked outside into the warm evening air, and Josie let out a long sigh. Otto said he would follow her home.

“What for?”

“So you can pack a bag. One night, Josie. Stay at our house until those prisoners are out of our jail.”

Josie stood at her car and closed her eyes, so tired, she could have laid her head against the door and slept. “I’m going home. I’m tired. I’m angry, and I hate the world right now. I’m in no shape to see Delores.”

“Delores doesn’t care about your mental shape.”

“No, Otto. Thank you, but no.”

“Damn it! You’re acting irrationally. Stop playing the martyr! Does this really prove you’re tougher than them? That you can’t be bullied?”

“It doesn’t prove anything! They have invaded my home, shot up my bedroom, and could have killed the man I love. If I don’t fight back now, I lose all self-respect.” She lowered her voice, the fight gone out of her. “And at this point, that’s about all I have left.”

At sunset, Josie left her house to walk Chester back to Dell’s place. Following the dog’s meandering path, she watched him sniff and ignore a hundred different scents. She searched the sky, hoping to catch a glimpse of a pair of aplomado falcons Dell claimed were nesting on the property. She’d been searching unsuccessfully for several months. She tried to turn her focus outward, to get out of her own head, but the tension and anger that pulled at her muscles did not ease on the walk.

Dell immediately recognized the look on her face when she approached him outside his barn. “Trouble?” he asked.

“I need you to keep Chester tonight.”

“You staying at your cop friend’s house tonight?”

“Most likely.”

“Liars go the same place as thieves.”

She smiled. “For a person who has no family around here, I sure have a lot of people giving me advice on what I need to do.” Dell said nothing, just stared at her patiently and waited for her to come clean. “I’m going to the watchtower. I’ll be able to see our houses as well as the crossing the Medranos have been using across the river. If they so much as approach my house…” She let the thought hang in the