The news about Zoey perked up Ree’s spirits. “What about the truck?”
“Bjorn responded to my email. She’s handling it,” Quint stated with a frown.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Ree said. “What did she say?”
“Probably not words I should repeat,” he said. “Something about hell freezing over before we get a new vehicle. She’s having the truck towed and new tires put on. She said the fastest she can get it back to us is tomorrow and that we’d just have to walk until then if we needed to get somewhere.”
“Ouch.” She stretched, thinking she should probably rest a little while before her shift tonight. At least it was Tuesday and wouldn’t be crowded at the bar. “It’s probably too early to pick up anything on surveillance. I dropped the camera in a good spot. Not sure I was able to get close enough for the listening device.”
“You did what you could considering how everything went down,” he said.
“If we keep the same truck, it’ll be hard to go back to the warehouses,” she reasoned.
Quint nodded.
“Too bad Lola isn’t working tonight.” Ree figured she’d made inroads with Lola and wanted to capitalize on the progress. “Any word about Esteban or Matias?”
“Hold on, I’ll check.” Quint refocused his attention on the laptop, turning the screen so they both could see. He checked his email first. There was nothing there from Grappell.
His cell buzzed before he could check the case file. He located it and checked the screen, sucking in a breath when he saw the number. “Hello.”
There was a moment of silence. Followed by him asking if he could put the call on speaker. The answer must’ve come quick because he glanced at Ree and gave a small headshake before standing up and moving back to the window he’d stared out during the last call with their boss. Ree had seen the number and knew exactly who was calling.
“I didn’t...” He paused. “No.” Another beat passed. “If he hadn’t have...then I wouldn’t have needed to.”
From the sounds of it, Quint was being dressed down by the boss.
He said a few “Yes, ma’ams” into the receiver before ending the call.
“I’m betting that call had to do with your run-in with Driver a little while ago,” she said, venturing a guess.
Quint issued another sharp sigh. “Apparently she got a call from Richard Magee.”
“Because you had words with Nick Driver?” Communication from the head of the DEA seemed like overkill. “Didn’t you say that happened less than half an hour ago?”
He nodded. His lips thinned, and his gaze narrowed. Anger came off him in palpable waves.
“Hold on a second,” she said. “This can’t be right. Why would Magee get involved in a case this low down the line?”
“Turns out Driver and Magee are in-laws,” he informed. “Driver married the guy’s daughter.”
“Nepotism?” she asked, but the question was rhetorical. “No wonder the man has so many accolades in his employment jacket.”
“No one wants to upset the head honcho,” Quint said with disgust. “There’s probably some truth to his abilities in the field.”
“I’m still good with taking communication lead with the other team. This doesn’t change anything for me,” she admitted. Her record might not have as many honors in it but she was confident in her abilities and her job as a top-notch agent.
“You might want to rethink being associated with me,” he said, but she could see that he was just frustrated. An agent of Quint’s caliber would take nepotism about as well as a sucker punch. In a fair fight, Quint would come out on top. Pull strings and he could end up in trouble. Any one of them could. One thing was certain. Their instincts about the DEA agent being trouble seemed spot-on.
“I’m good, Quint,” she reassured.
He caught her gaze and held it for a long moment before giving an almost imperceptible nod. “Let’s get on with the case, then.”
“Good. Where were we?” She picked up on a hint of appreciation and respect in his voice that made her swell with pride. Quint was a well-respected agent, and his opinion of her mattered. His respect was important to her, and his confidence in her gave her a boost.
Ree’s cell buzzed. She picked it up and checked the screen.
“Looks like our counterparts are calling now,” she said.
“What can I do for you?” she asked after exchanging pleasantries.
“I’m working with Agent Driver on the DEA side of the case, and I just wanted to call to apologize if my partner came across in the wrong way before,” the agent said.
“Thank you, Agent—”
“Please, call me Shelly.”
“Thanks for reaching out, Shelly. I believe our partners spoke earlier and cleared up any confusion between us,” Ree stated.
“I’ll do what I can on my end. My partner leans on his family ties a little too closely for my liking,” the agent continued. “I hope this conversation stays between us.”
“I have no reason to share,” Ree said. The frustration in Shelly’s tone sounded very real, and she was certainly saying all the right things. What legitimate agent would want to work with someone who was aided based on a family connection?
“I can share that we were brought on to this case as part of a bigger investigation into Matias Gimenez,” the agent said.
“Gimenez is a drug runner?” Ree asked.
“Afraid so,” Shelly confirmed. “We’ve been following him in Argentina, but he keeps coming back to the States. We didn’t know he was heading to Houston until very recently.”
“Because of his daughter, Lili,” Ree said.
“That’s correct. Gimenez works for a high-value target in Latin America,” the agent continued.
“So he’s powerful,” Ree stated, thinking that if he got Lili back to Argentina, he had a chance of keeping her there and away from Lola.
“Very,” Shelly said, then came, “Hold on.”
The call became very quiet for a few long seconds.
“My partner is coming back and he isn’t up-to-date on this call,” Shelly said. “I have to go now, but I hope we can all work together.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Ree stated.
The call ended.
Ree turned to Quint. “Well, that was an interesting conversation.”
“I PIECED TOGETHER that Matias is the reason the DEA is involved,” Quint stated, figuring the betrayal might have been the best thing that could have happened if it gave them an in with Shelly.
“He’s powerful, Quint. If he takes Lili back to South America, Lola might never see her daughter again.” Ree exhaled, and her shoulders rounded forward.
“We have to figure out a way to protect Lola and her daughter,” he said without much internal debate. From what he could tell so far, Lola was a decent person who’d gotten wrapped up in a bad situation. He’d noted the phenomenon of intelligent women allowing men who were bad for them to slip past their radars. It happened more than it should, and he reasoned the men were usually charming, a common personality trait among narcissists. They could slide right in and break past normally guarded walls. He’d watched it firsthand with Tessa, who didn’t put up with a whole lot of nonsense. Her baby’s father had slithered around her carefully constructed walls, and Tessa had beaten herself up over allowing it.
“I’d like that very much,” Ree stated. She paused a moment before shifting gears back to the agent and her phone call. “She didn’t give me the impression she was thrilled to be working with Driver. I didn’t have to read between the lines to pick up on it.”
Quint nodded. “It hadn’t occurred to me how awful it must be to get stuck on an assignment with him.”
“It seems to be part of the reason she reached out to me,” Ree said.
“When the call ended, I noticed you didn’t say goodbye. In fact, your forehead wrinkled like it does when you’re confused about something.” He probably shouldn’t have just admitted how well he knew her habits, but there it was.
A hint of pink colored her cheeks as she nodded. “She had to go because he was coming back. She didn’t say from where, and she ended the call abruptly.”
“You think we can trust her.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes,” Ree said, answering anyway.
“I agree,” he said. “Reaching out to you put her at risk. She took all the chance in that exchange. She also gave you information we didn’t have before and isn’t showing up in the report.”
“I’m guessing that was her way of extending an olive branch,” Ree stated. “I just hope she’s given due credit when this is all said and done. I have a feeling she’ll be the one who deserves it between the two of them.”
Quint nodded.
“Did Bjorn come down pretty hard on you?” she asked, wincing a little bit.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” he said, which was true. He didn’t know how it might affect the case, and that bothered him. Could he have handed the DEA a reason to keep their cards close to their chests? Driver was already.
Quint’s cell dinged. It was the sound attached to email notifications.
“Let’s hope for some more good news,” he said, moving to his laptop. The news about Matias sat in the back of Quint’s mind as he powered up the device and then opened his email. Ree joined him.
“What does it say?” she asked, her back toward the kitchen.
“There’s no record of Esteban entering this country legally, according to Agent Grappell,” he informed.
“Which doesn’t necessarily mean he’s doing something illegal or came here to commit a crime,” she pointed out.
“No, it doesn’t. He could be here to support his sister,” Quint reasoned. He’d been an only child, but Ree, on the other hand, came from a large family. As much as she’d talked about her brothers smothering her at times growing up, she’d also made it clear any one of them would walk through fire to save another. Was it the reason Esteban was in the country? To protect his sister in some way? Or his niece? The last thought resonated with Quint. Even though he’d never met Tessa’s baby, he would have gone to any length to protect her after learning about the pregnancy. He’d felt an instant bond with the child, born out of his brotherly love for the baby’s mother.
“Esteban is most likely here because of Lola and Lili,” he said. “I can’t prove it. Yet. But I’d bet my life savings on it.”
Ree sat for a long moment before finally nodding in agreement.
“It makes sense when I really think about it,” she said. “If I was a single mother, my brothers would want to protect me.”
“Doesn’t rule out criminal activity, though,” Quint continued. “We don’t know how he makes his living while he’s in the States. Whatever he’s doing, he must be getting paid under the table, because there’s no IRS record of a salary.”
“The IRS is the first place Grappell would look for employment records,” Ree agreed.
“There’s no Social Security record, either,” he said before looking at her. “See if you can find out from Lola why they relocated to the US a few years ago.”
“I can already tell you it coincides with having the baby,” she said.
“Interesting,” he noted.
“Isn’t it?” she responded. Then added, “I haven’t gotten Lola to talk about what brought her here, or met her brother, but I’m guessing it has to do with having the baby and not wanting her brought up in Argentina.”
“Have you been there?” he asked.
“No.” She shook her head. “Why?”
“Beautiful country in many respects. Beautiful people, too,” he said. “Still a little too machismo for my taste, if you know what I mean.”
“I can’t imagine Constantin would be thrilled to know Lola’s ex was in the country,” Ree pointed out.
“I can’t imagine it would go down well between the two of them,” he agreed.
“Matias would get custody even if he wasn’t tied to a powerful person.” She caught on fast. Her sharp mind was one of her many incredible qualities.
“Unless she had connections, which I’m doubting in this situation,” he said.
“Is there any chance Matias is the one who put the spyware on her computer?” Ree asked.
“Good question.” He stopped to think about it. Would Lola ever allow Matias to be alone in the room with any of her personal items? He highly doubted it. “My first thought is no. Maybe you can get close enough to her to find out.”
“She is still a puzzle to me,” Ree said on a sigh. “I just keep going back to the fact that she doesn’t give me any vibe that she would be involved in criminal activity.”
“And yet it seems to be all around her,” he pointed out. “We already mentioned the whole birds of a feather flock together saying. There’s a certain amount of corruption in every country, and South America is no exception. She’s either part of it or running from it.”
“That’s what I keep coming back to,” Ree stated. “If she wasn’t part of it, why does she seem to be surrounded by it all the time?”
Quint compressed his lips in a frown. Birds of a feather?