The Territory (Josie Gray Mysteries #1)(33)

*

At 3:30 P.M., Josie, Otto, and Marta met around the department’s conference table with case files and notes to debrief on the Medrano and Goff murders. At least once each week, schedules were adjusted so they could meet and discuss current investigations and share information. This week, unfortunately, was not typical.

Josie opened the manila folder at the top of her stack. “Let’s start with the murder at the Trauma Center. The man I killed has been identified through DACS as Thomas Brema, a member of the Medrano cartel.”

Marta groaned. “Has the organization released a statement yet?”

Josie nodded. “What you’d expect. They released a statement in the newspaper in Piedra, saying they will get revenge. ‘The Americans have blood on their hands.’ That kind of garbage.”

Marta covered her mouth, obviously troubled by the news.

Josie frowned. “Here’s some irony: The Medranos claim we worked with La Bestia to kill Hector Medrano. We allowed La Bestia to enter our Trauma Center and shoot up our hospital in order to kill Medrano. They claim we have partnered with the devil.”

“Josie, I hope you are taking this seriously. Your life is in serious jeopardy over this. Pride alone would make them go after you,” Marta said.

“You might be wise to stay elsewhere for a week or two. Stay at Manny’s and see what shakes out,” Otto said.

Josie nodded, aware of the danger but determined to move forward. She continued, “Here’s the story on the shooting: Hector Medrano, referred to as ‘the Pope’ in Mexico, has been confirmed as the patient who was killed at the Trauma Center. His nephew, Miguel Gutiérrez, was one of the three shooters. Gutiérrez had gotten into a feud with his cousin, the Bishop, who is Hector Medrano’s son. After the feud, Gutiérrez left the family drug business about a year ago and joined La Bestia.”

“You want to draw us a diagram?” Otto said.

“What caused the feud?” asked Marta.

“Gutiérrez caught his cousin, the Bishop, in the swimming pool with his wife, naked and entangled.”

“Entangled?” Otto said.

“He came home early from a weekend business trip to Spain and caught them in the act. Gutiérrez shot and killed his wife in the pool but left Medrano to swim to safety. The pool boy fished her body out of the water the next morning,” Josie said. “This all came from a conversation with Agent Dixon.”

“Why didn’t he kill his cousin?” Otto asked.

“Killing his wife allowed him to save face. Killing his cousin, who is second in command of the Medrano cartel, would have been suicide before he allied himself with La Bestia.”

“Gutiérrez couldn’t kill Medrano, so he defected and joined the rival gang, La Bestia?” Otto asked.

Josie nodded.

Otto said, “I’m surprised somebody from Medrano didn’t pop the cousin after he left the family. You don’t do that over there.”

“That’s exactly what I thought,” Josie told him. “But they have this code of conduct. I guess the Bishop messing around with his cousin’s wife was in violation of the code, so they went easy on Gutiérrez.”

“Until now,” Otto said. “But if Gutiérrez was willing to come over and kill Hector Medrano in our jail, then why didn’t he just kill the Bishop after he was screwing around with his wife?”

Marta wagged a finger at Otto. “It’s all hierarchy. His cousin having sex with his wife? That was bad, but pardonable. He left the organization because his pride required it. Now, he’s in La Bestia, he’s showing his allegiance to the organization by killing the leader of his former cartel. This move was designed to move him high up in the La Bestia organization.”

Josie raised her eyebrows at Otto as if to ask, Got it now? He shook his head and shrugged.

“Here’s our issue. Now that the Bishop knows that his cousin was one of his father’s murderers, will he retaliate while Gutiérrez is up here? This doesn’t leave this room, but I’m concerned the Arroyo County Jail is in jeopardy of attack,” Josie said. “I’ve already talked to the mayor about getting a National Guard presence here until we can get Medrano moved.”

“I say, ship the son of a bitch back to his own country and let the Mexicans deal with him,” Otto said. “Leave him for fish bait or drop him on his cousin’s doorstep. Just get him out of Texas.”

“What message does that send? You put enough pressure, enough of a threat on the Americans, and they’ll give you what you want?” Josie asked.

Marta stood from her chair and walked away, obviously shaken. Josie stood and poured three cups of coffee from the coffeemaker in the back of the room to allow her time to compose herself.

Marta sat down again at the table. “My country is imploding, and the people who care are terrified. And now we face the same terrorists here in Artemis.” She shook a fist at Otto. “This is how they operate! They terrorize the good people of the city into leaving, and they fill in the voids with crime.”

“Marta, we’re not going anywhere,” Josie said. “They will not get the best of us. This is our town. We have rules and laws that work, and we’ll move forward accordingly.” She paused to let her words stick. Josie had no time for philosophy or politics.