Wrecked (Josie Gray Mysteries #3)(93)

“You don’t think you’d have stood a better chance making it out alive if you’d left without taking their nine million dollars?” Josie asked.

“You ever heard of a dead man walking? The Medranos were going to kill me whether I took the money or not. Not much to think about. At least with the money I stood a chance of making it somewhere safe. You think I couldn’t buy a fake identity with a million dollars? That could hide me a hell of a lot better than the witness protection joke.”

“So why are you still here? In Artemis?”

Wally leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling a moment. When he looked back at Josie his eyes had welled up. “I tried to get Hector to come with me. He wouldn’t. The kid wouldn’t lift a loaf of bread if his life depended on it. The kid’s got an ulcer as it is. He drove me crazy over it all. Tried to get me to turn myself in. He didn’t get the danger we was in. And I couldn’t force him. He wouldn’t leave that damned dog. I finally took off.”

Josie glanced at Charlie, who was listening intently, jotting notes on his legal pad.

“I took the money and drove north. I got as far as Idaho and started worrying what might happen to Hec. Then I called the trailer a couple days in a row. Got no answer.” Wally shook his head and pressed his forefinger and thumb into his eyes. He sat for several minutes, gritting back tears. “Come to find out, I finally get ahold of Hec and find out the bastards took him.”

He looked at Josie as if still shocked at the way the Medranos had treated his son. Josie said nothing and he finally continued.

“So I came back to get him. I brought the money with me ’cause I didn’t have anywhere else to hide it.”

“Why not do what the Medranos wanted? Exchange the money for Dillon, and Hec is out of danger?” she asked.

Wally laughed. “How stupid you think I am? There’s no even trade with them. I might give them the money, but you think Dillon goes free? You might be that na?ve, but not me.”

“What was your plan then?”

“I hid out in the barn, biding my time. I knew they wouldn’t kill Hec. If they did, they’d know I’d never come back. I figured they’d use Hec as bait, and that’s exactly what they did. I called and called and Hec wouldn’t pick up the phone in the trailer. When he finally answered the phone, he said he’d been taken by the Medranos and they wanted their money back. So I came back to watch and wait. I knew I’d get my chance. They’d take off and I’d get up to the trailer and take my boy. We’d leave this filthy town for good. But then you showed up and took him.”

“And you couldn’t exactly drive into Artemis to retrieve your son.”

Josie sipped at the cup of coffee and decided to change her line of questioning. “I don’t understand why you bothered with your records. You admitted you’re screwed. Why care about your business records at this point?”

Wally’s expression changed, his face growing more animated. “I got indicted for selling stolen cars, not shipping cash for the Medranos. When Dillon Reese got kidnapped I figured the feds would eventually figure me out. My boy’s got nothing to do with this business, not with the Medranos or the stolen cars or any of it. I didn’t want him to get busted just because of me.”

Josie frowned and said nothing, hoping he would continue.

Wally scooted his chair up to the table and folded his hands in front of him. Josie wondered if he was trying to appear earnest. “Those feds were after me hot and heavy, and I figured they’d take my boy as a consolation if they could link him to me in some way. I couldn’t risk it.”

“But you said you were coming back to get Hec. Why would the records matter if you were both leaving?”

“He’d already told me no before. But he’s my only kid. I had to try to make it right.” Wally made a dismissive face. “At least if I had the records it would slow things down.”

“So do the right thing for Dillon. He’s being held in Mexico, because of your decisions. You get that, right?” she said.

He looked angry, then frustrated, and Josie wondered if it was actually a reaction caused by guilt. “I know I did this to him. I screwed over everybody. It wasn’t like I sat down and planned all this out. I’m sorry about what’s happened. But I told you what I know. That’s it. A house on Espinoza Street. The Medranos got him locked up, waiting on the money. And they got no idea where the money is. But when they find out you got me, and you got the money?” He shook his head. “They don’t bargain. They find out you’re not giving the money back? They just kill him.”

*

As soon as the paperwork was completed and Wally was escorted to his cell, Otto and Josie walked outside into the cold night. She was thinking about her conversation with Dell the night before. What had he told her? You cross that river and you do what needs to be done.

Josie stopped under the outdoor light on the jail’s front entrance and faced Otto. His face was in shadow, his expression unreadable. He may have been lead investigator, but it no longer mattered. She had a clear plan in her mind. “I’m going to Piedra Labrada. I’m going to be there when Nick moves in on that house.”

Otto nodded slowly. “I expected as much. But we go together. I won’t let you do this alone.”

“Not a chance. You have Delores. You have—”