Wrecked (Josie Gray Mysteries #3)(78)

“What the hell are you doing out here?” She shoved his chest with her empty hand and the baby started crying. “I told you I had to leave ten minutes ago. Get your ass inside and watch these kids so I can leave.”

Tim took the baby from her and they both started toward the house.

“Excuse me, sir,” Josie stepped in. “I’d like for you to stick around a minute. We have a few questions for you.”

“He don’t have time to stick around talking to you! You can talk to the rest of them.” The woman was wide-eyed, as if she couldn’t believe Josie’s audacity.

“Ma’am, we’re in the middle of a murder investigation.”

“I don’t give a good goddamned what you’re doing. And you don’t know what I’m going through either!”

“He’ll be right in, right after we’re done talking with him,” she said.

The woman left with a flip of her head and an angry grunt. The baby stopped crying but puffed out her lip in protest. Tim absently patted the baby’s back as his brothers glared at him in silence.

Otto had gotten nowhere with Bea, so Josie hoped the three men would offer more.

“I understand you’re in partnership with Wally Follet?” She picked up where she had left off, looking at all three men in hopes one of them would take the lead.

Tim continued to pat the baby’s back and looked down the line at his brothers but said nothing. Finally, Daryl, the largest of the three said, “Not partners. We just ship cars for him sometimes.”

“How often do you ship for Wally?”

“We don’t do nothing illegal,” Mrs. Conroy said, her tone defensive. “We got permits and all the border boys know us. We’re good legit business operators. They see us coming through the border line and pass us on through ’cause they know we got good clean shipments.”

Josie knew enough about the border-crossing agents to know that was untrue but let it go. “How often?”

The woman shrugged. “Whenever he’s got a load. Every few weeks.”

“What do you ship?”

“Mostly wrecked cars. Drive ’em down to Del Rio and across the border. It’s all above board, nothing illegal.”

“Why didn’t you tell Otto about your involvement with Wally when he was here before?” Josie asked.

“He never asked.”

Josie turned and faced Tim to throw them all off. “What’s inside the wrecked cars?”

His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open slightly. Josie looked to Daryl, who kept his poker face, and finally to Rich, who had been bouncing from foot to foot.

Josie repeated her question. “What’s inside the frames of those wrecked cars, Tim? Answer me.”

“I don’t know what you mean. They’re just cars.”

Josie switched brothers. “Daryl. What gets packed inside the frames of those cars before you ship them?”

“I don’t know what the hell Wally puts in there. All we do is drive the hauler.”

“You do know. Wally packs those cars full of cash. Then you and Wally make a nice fat profit off that shipment for the Medrano cartel.” She paused and looked at the three brothers, and then at Bea, who were all staring back at her, unflinching. “Problem is, Wally took off with a nine-million-dollar shipment and left you all high and dry.” She jerked her thumb back behind her shoulder to indicate outside the barn. “That’s why your hauler’s empty.”

No one moved. Even the baby remained quiet.

“We need access to Wally Follet,” Josie said, her tone still hard and unflinching.

“Well, hell yes. We do too. Everybody wants Wally,” Daryl said.

“Why do you want him?” she asked.

“Because he screwed us over!” he said.

“Because he stole the load of cash you were supposed to ship to the Medrano cartel. And now you don’t get paid. Isn’t that right?” Josie said.

Daryl pointed to the empty car hauler outside. “I don’t know about no cash he’s been shipping. But we missed two loads of cars now. We got no money coming in and we got eleven heads to feed. Wally screwed a whole lot of people over.”

“Have you had contact from the Medranos?” Josie asked.

Silent stares from all of them. Josie looked at Otto, who nodded.

“Let me be clear. We have phone records that link you to the Medranos and to Wally Follet. Your best bet right now is to cooperate and give us whatever you can to help us find Wally.”

Josie noticed Bea was motionless, watching her boys intently. Tim and Rich both looked to Daryl, who took some time before speaking up. “Our boss, one of the Medranos, called Mom and talked to her. They told her we was next.” He sniffed deeply, trying to hold back the emotion from his voice. “If we don’t find Wally, they’ll take us one by one just like they did the accountant.”

Josie looked to Bea, who stood with her arms crossed, her hands under her armpits, her expression now revealing the fear that she was undoubtedly living with from moment to moment. Josie noticed that Rich had stopped bouncing and now stood still, watching his mother for her reaction.

“What exactly did your boss say to you?”

Bea finally spoke up. “Emilio, my boss, he calls every day, asking where Wally is. Every day he calls and every day I say the same thing. We haven’t heard from the son of a bitch. I keep calling Hec and the kid tells me nothing, says he don’t know where his dad is. Emilio says if the money isn’t returned, that we pay. He says they’ll kidnap my boys, one by one.” She had the fierce protective look that Josie had seen in mothers young and old. “And I’ll warn you right now. I’ll put a bullet hole through that son of a bitch myself if I ever catch him.”