The Territory (Josie Gray Mysteries #1)(59)

“Dell called this morning and said he would come down this afternoon and patch the plaster in the walls from the bullet holes. It looks pretty bad right now,” Josie said.

Josie took the pie into the kitchen as Delores wandered back into the bedroom with her bag of cleaning supplies. Otto motioned to the couch and Josie sat down. She noticed him staring at her and she realized how bad she must look. She hadn’t showered since the day before, and her eyes and nose were still red and swollen.

“You holding up okay?” Otto asked.

She shrugged and smiled. The answer was obvious.

“Dillon called me. He said you were staying by yourself at Manny’s. I told him not to worry, that I had plans to cart you home with me.”

“Let me ask you something. If I were a man, would we be having this same conversation?”

“Absolutely. Except I would probably tell you to quit acting like a hero, to pack your bags, and get your ass over to the house. I can turn up the language if it makes you feel any better.”

She smiled and tipped her head to acknowledge his point.

“So you’ll come with us?”

“I’m worried about tonight,” she said. “It’s not about having a place to stay; it’s about what’s going to happen with the Medranos. I don’t think the mayor understands the magnitude of what’s happening. I’ve called him twice today about the prisoner transfer. He told me he was working on it the first time. When I called back, he claimed Monday is the earliest he could arrange it.”

“Which probably means two days from now, once the paperwork gets jammed up some bureaucrat’s hind end. Who’s taking the prisoners?”

“Houston. The federal detention center takes pretrial inmates. Moss has supposedly arranged everything, but I don’t know if I trust him enough to follow through on the details. At this point, I don’t know if I trust him on anything.”

Otto’s expression was fierce. “Don’t you know the warden at the detention center?”

Josie nodded. “Remi Escobedo. I worked with him a few years ago on a federal indictment. He’s a good man.”

“Have you talked to him?”

“Chain of command? Moss would stroke out if I went around him to check details with the warden.”

“So, let him,” Otto said. “You’ve got good instincts. You need to start there. Clean up the politics later.”

After a few calls, Josie tracked down Escobedo at his home in Presidio. As soon as he discovered it was Josie on the phone, he said he was sorry for her troubles and asked about her safety.

“I’d like to ask you a question in confidence,” Josie said.

“Of course.”

“It’s about the prisoner transfer. You’ve talked to Mayor Moss about the four prisoners moving to the federal prison?” she asked.

“Yes, I spoke with him by phone this morning. You’ve got the shooter from the Trauma Center, and the three guys you stopped at the river with the explosives. Right?”

“That’s right. Did he also explain that two more gunmen came to my house yesterday, shot up my house, and threatened me? Said that if the prisoners weren’t released by tonight that I would be killed?”

Escobedo paused. “He did not.”

“Is there a reason why the prisoners can’t be moved today?”

“I specifically offered to set transfer up myself this morning, as soon as I heard from the mayor.” His voice was measured and steely. “He told me he was working in tandem with the sheriff. The mayor did not tell me anything about the threat to your life. He explained the shooting and said we needed the prisoners moved to a more secure location. But he set up the transfer for Monday at four P.M. He chose the time. He said local law enforcement had the jail secured tonight, and a National Guard contingent was scheduled this weekend. I offered to have a transport van there by two o’clock today.”

Josie rubbed the back of her neck and sat down on the couch. She stared at Otto as she spoke, trying to make some sense of what she had just heard. “It’s not just my own safety; it’s every officer at that jail. Medrano has a personal score to settle with his cousin, and he intends to take care of it on his own terms. This won’t end until Gutiérrez is dead.”

Josie heard Escobedo breathing heavily on the other end of the phone. “I don’t like this. What do you know about Moss?”

“He’s arrogant. He doesn’t like women in authority. He’s either loved or hated by everyone in Artemis, no in between. He’s a control freak with designs on a senator’s seat. This, though?”

“Think he’s in with Medrano?”

“I don’t know. There’s a deputy I have my doubts about. He’s scammed money from the department. Probably ten to twenty thousand from the county, and there is a fair chance it’s connected to La Bestia. Gun sales.”

Otto threw his hands up in the air and gave her a look that said, Why the hell didn’t I know any of this?

“You don’t suppose the mayor is playing La Bestia against Medrano, do you? There’s serious cash to be had there,” Escobedo said.

“La Bestia’s been silent through this. I think their concern is in Piedra. It’s the drug route they’re after. They couldn’t care less about losing Gutiérrez to a jail cell. He’s a throwaway pawn. They’ve already got any information from him they were going to get. Now he’s just leverage against Medrano and not much else.”