“So we’re good?” Beth asked just to be sure it was all systems go. She resisted the urge to jump up and throw her arms around his neck and plant a kiss on his cheek. Over her tenure with the DEA, Jessop had played many roles in her life, mentor, father figure, cut-throat boss. Things weren’t simple or cut and dry, but nothing in her life was.
Jessop looked over his desk at her. “You want to tell me again how you tracked down Zayat to Monaco?”
Beth looked straight at him, not blinking. She wasn’t about to incriminate Jessop, the fewer people that knew, the better. “I followed the money. It was all in the bank transactions.” Beth pointed to the file on his desk. It was partly true, once she knew where he was; it was easy to highlight transactions that placed him in Monaco.
He nodded, clearly unconvinced, but he did not question her further. They had both been in the game long enough to know there were some things you just didn’t want to know.
“So you have everything in place with the authorities in Monaco? I want to be there when they pick him up.” Beth left nothing to chance. She would have preferred to liaise directly with Interpol and the director of Specialized Intervention Unit but there were only so many hours in a day so she had to rely on Jessop that everything was in place.
He nodded. “You’re flight is Friday. That will give you enough time to get your bearings before you pick him up on Monday.”
Friday. The day rang a bell. She shook her head when she remembered the test Torres scheduled. “I have an appointment on Friday. With my allergist.” The lie flowed a bit too easily. Somewhere in her mind she registered her displeasure at becoming such a skilled liar but there was no way Beth was going to tell Jessop she was pregnant. She was hoping to hide it with bulky sweaters until she went into labor.
“OK. I’ll change it to Saturday. That should be fine.”
Beth stood up. A shot of adrenaline buzzed through her, electrifying every nerve. She was almost there. Six years chasing a ghost but it was almost over. Everything was going to be OK. Her mom and Torres were right, everything was always right in the end. She was starting to believe it again, things could be OK. She would always grieve for Paige but she was going to be happy again.
“Thomson, one more thing.”
She held her breath waiting for him to speak.
“You’re a good agent. We’re lucky to have you.”
Beth shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. She was far better at receiving a punch than a compliment.
“Thanks.”
“But, you need a partner.”
Beth’s eyes widened. She held her hand up. There was no way she could bring somebody up to speed on the case, she didn’t have time to train someone, develop a rapport. A partnership took time. Jessop could not expect her to let someone come in at the end after she had put in so much time. All the sacrifices she had made… “No.” She could not say anything else, if she tried to articulate her feelings she would end up swearing.
“Thomson, hear me out.”
Beth held up her hand. “There is no one I trust to bring in so unless you want to join me in the field, I think I’m better off flying solo.” She had trusted Patterson and Torres paid the price for that.
“There is someone we both trust. You need a partner.”
Beth knew where he was going. “No,” she pre-empted him.
“I trust him. You trust him. He would protect you with his life. You know I’m right, Beth. Torres is the only person who can do it.”
Beth’s mouth went dry. Not Torres. He was separate now, that was how this worked. She had to keep her life compartmentalized. Torres didn’t belong in this world any more. The dynamic…no…it just wouldn’t work.
“I know you were close.”
Beth let out a stream of air. They had been lovers four years ago; that was all Jessop knew because that was all she wanted him to know. She shook her head. “No, we’re not just close. We’re married.”
Jessop’s mouth dropped. It was the first time she had seen him shocked. He usually had an excellent poker face. “What? When?”
“After he escaped from Colombia. We got back together. We’re married so he can’t be my partner. It won’t work.”
Jessop clenched and unclenched his hands several times as he thought. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because it’s my private life.”
“Beth, he is an agent, this was never going to be a private matter.”
“Was, he was an agent.”
“He still is. He’s not undercover any more but he is still an agent and a damn fine one.”
She was losing the argument. “Would you want to be partnered with Andrea?” Jessop’s wife was a lovely woman, he adored her but she doubted he would want to work beside her.
“My wife is not a decorated officer. If she had a Purple Heart and an exemplary service record, I might consider it.”
“No, you really wouldn’t.” Beth rubbed frantically at her temples. She had a headache but didn’t want to take anything until she looked online to see which over-the-counter painkillers were safe for her to take. “Jessop, I need to do this alone. There will be a support team in Monaco. I’m just there to interview Zayat. I don’t need Torres or anyone else there with me.”
“You’re going with Torres or you’re not going.”
Beth’s pulse hammered in her ears. “He might not want to come back to work with us. Have you ever thought of that?” Jessop could give her orders but no one could give Torres orders.
“I’m fairly confident that he will want to join his wife. In this line of work, you need someone who has your back.” Jessop’s ice-blue eyes pinned her in place. “That man would give his life for you.”
Beth closed her eyes. She wanted to scream or cry or hit someone.
Well played, point to Jessop. Torres’ Achilles heel was his loyalty. He would do anything to protect the ones he loved. She had used his loyalty against him once too, when she recruited him. Then it was his best friend Moses Archila, now Beth was the bargaining chip.
“What about Alejandra? Who will stay with her? She needs some sort of stability.” It was a pathetic argument and she should have been above it, but she wasn’t above much any more.
“She can stay with Andrea and I. She will be safe with us.”
Beth bit into the side of her cheek. There was nothing left to say, it was as good as done. She left his office without another word.
Beth sat at her desk with a jar of peanut butter. Her fatigue had given way to hunger, or maybe she was just angry. She found feeding anger was usually the best course of action.
She jumped when her cellphone rang. Carly Simon belted out “You’re so Vain”. It was the ringtone she has assigned to Patterson years ago.
“I told you not to call me.”
“Hello to you, California.”
“What do you want?”
“Border Authority picked up a Treinta at the Santa Teresa checkpoint.”
“So, and what’s your point?” She didn’t mean to sound like a bitch but she still got alerts whenever a Treinta was picked up. The question was, why was Patterson? He had been off the task force for more than six weeks. “I’m past tracking down foot soldiers.”
“We ran his prints. He is wanted in an open homicide investigation in Texas.”
“OK thanks for the heads up. I’ll interview him when he is transferred.”
There was a long pause. “Beth, it’s your sister. His prints were found at the scene of her murder.”
Beth’s heart stopped. For a moment the room went black. It was hard to breathe. Oh God. The mention of her sister’s murder was enough to push her over. Oh God, why couldn’t she breathe?
“Beth, you still there?”
She could not speak. She concentrated on taking slow deep breaths; filling her lungs until they burned and then slowly letting it go. “Yeah, I’m here. What’s his name? Where’s he at?”
“Ignacio Chavez. He’s at the PNM. I’ve already called. They know you’re coming. It’s been cleared.”
“OK. Thanks, Patterson. I’m coming tonight.”
“I know. I knew you would”
Beth nodded even though he couldn’t see her.
“Text me your flight number. I’ll pick you up.”
“No, I can’t let you do that.”
“Beth, you were my partner for ten years, I can’t let you face this asshole alone.”
“Fine…yeah you’re right. I don’t want to go alone,” she admitted. Beth could best be described as a loner, she preferred doing things by herself because she hated being dependent on anyone. But she didn’t want to face this alone. For a fraction of a second she considered calling Torres and asking him to go with her, but it didn’t feel right. She needed him separate from all the ugliness; dragging him back in would only make it worse.
Patterson met her at the airport in Santa Fe. The penitentiary was only a thirty minute ride from the airport. It was almost 10pm so there was only light traffic on the freeway. Patterson knew better than to try to speak to her so they listened to classic rock in silence.
The penitentiary was in the middle of the desert. The surroundings were completely flat and barren, not so much as tumbleweed grew. There was nothing else on the horizon, just a series of one-story prison buildings behind an electric fence. She remembered from before that the main building was a red stucco hacienda design that was in style when it was built over a hundred years ago.
A graying guard met them at the gate. His gut spilled over his moss-coloured polyester trousers. The badge on his belt was partially covered by the excess flesh. Beth tried to smile, the guard was doing her a favor, letting her interview an inmate at this hour, but her muscles would not cooperate.
Patterson took the lead, a quick flash of their badges and a search of her bag and they were through. The guard led them to an empty interview room. “Where is he?” Beth expected Ignacio Chavez to be there waiting.
“He’s in the infirmary, we’re bringing him down.”
Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “He’s sick?” He hadn’t been in prison long enough to be shanked or raped so he would only be in infirmary if he were unwell.
The guard shrugged his shoulders.
“You OK, Beth?”
Beth didn’t turn to look at him. She hated when he used her first name. She was California or Thomson to him. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Her heart was about to break her ribs and she had to concentrate on her breathing to keep from vomiting but she was fine. This is what she did. This was who she was. She interrogated suspects. Ignacio Chavez was just another drug dealer…who killed her baby sister. Paige’s face flashed in her mind…her beautiful smart sister. Beth pushed the thought away. She couldn’t think about Paige now if she was going to get through this.
When the door opened Beth’s eyes narrowed in confusion. Was this a mistake? “Ignacio Chavez?” Beth asked. The kid nodded.
Beth laughed. She tried to stifle it but she couldn’t. “Are you kidding me? Is this a joke?” she mumbled under her breath. He was a kid. Just a fucking kid. And he was disabled. His left leg was missing from just above the knee. He was pathetic looking. He was so small, shorter than her, and slighter. He was just a fucking kid. She laughed again.
Patterson put his hand on top of hers and gave a gentle squeeze. Why wasn’t he laughing? How did he not see the perverse humor in this? They had faced down the most ruthless violent offenders and it was this scrawny piece of shit who had killed her sister?
Beth laughed again; she couldn’t stop. This was a joke, a great big cosmic fuck you.
“Beth,” Patterson said softly. “Can you do this?”
Beth nodded her head. For a second she could not speak. There were no words. “He killed my sister. I could snap his neck in two seconds and he killed her.” She laughed again. Why wasn’t he big and scary, covered in scars and tattoos? She expected to face down someone who scared her, not this. He was small and weak and pathetic…but he had taken the most important person in her world.
Beth took a deep breath. She could do this. She could get through it, she always did.
“¿Como te llamas?” Beth asked his name again. This couldn’t really be the man who had stabbed and decapitated her sister.
“Ignacio.”
“Chavez?”
“Si.”
“¿Hablas Ingles?”
“No. Solamente Espanol.”
Only Spanish. Beth took a deep breath. That meant Beth would have to conduct the interview on her own. Usually that was her preference. She liked that Patterson could not speak Spanish because it left her in complete control, but this time she wished he understood what they were saying so she wouldn’t have to translate.
“My name is Beth Thomson,” she began in Spanish. She waited a moment to see if the name meant anything to him. When there was no evidence of recognition, she continued. “I’m an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration.”
At that, Ignacio’s head jerked. It was a small movement but she noticed. Beth glanced down at the scorpion tattooed on his hand. The ink was still pure black, it had not had time to fade or mottle, it was new. “You just became a full member of Los Treintas,” she said, indicating the tattoo. Treintas earned their ink with a kill. He had earned that tattoo by murdering her sister. She ground her teeth together until her jaw ached. She clenched her fists to keep from punching him. Her nails cut into the soft flesh of her palms. She sucked in a sharp breath. She could do this.
“I can see that you are profoundly disabled.” She pointed to his leg. “You are safe in the infirmary. There are enough staff there to make sure you’re not hurt. Answer my questions honestly and I will make sure you stay there for your entire sentence. You fuck with me, and you’ll be in the general population tonight. You won’t survive there. And if you do, your life will be so hellish you will wish you were dead. You understand what I’m saying? You will be raped, tonight and every night for the rest of your sentence. You are too easy a target. Your ass will belong to everyone in the prison.” It was the same speech with the same threats she had given a hundred times before, protection for information, but this time the stakes were higher for both parties. “You can’t get away. You can’t run. You can’t fight. Do you understand? Someone will hold you down while man after man fucks you in the ass. You are the best thing that happened for them. You are the easiest target they’re going to get.”
Ignacio nodded his head. He reminded her of a bobble-headed puppy on a dashboard. He was scared. She could feel it. She had him exactly where she needed him to be. It was almost too easy.
“On October 1st of this year two women were murdered at the Oakdale Veterinary Clinic, in Laredo Texas: Yvonne McDougall and Paige Thomson.” Beth slid a glossy photo across the table. She could not look at it; she could not see her sister’s face right now. This had to be work, nothing more, nothing less. She was doing her job.
Ignacio pointed at the picture. Beth glanced down just long enough to see he was pointing at her sister. “I remember. That was a message from El Capitan.”
Beth’s eyes narrowed. El Capitan was what the members of Los Treintas called their leader. She remembered Torres telling her that after he escaped from Colombia. The DEA called him El Escorpion because of the scorpion tattoo on his hand. El Capitan or El Escorpion, either way it was the same man.
“What’s his name? Who is El Capitan?” She didn’t need to bother asking, nobody ever gave up the information, because no one knew. She could threaten any manner of degradation and abuse and this kid wouldn’t tell her. He would cry and piss himself and sell out his own mother, but the identity of El Capitan or El Escorpion or whoever he was, was safe. He was like a ghost.
“Who was the message for? Me?” A tidal wave of nausea hit her. She was going to be sick. Beth ran to the door. She did not have time to knock for the guard’s attention before another wave hit. She tried biting her lip to keep it down but it didn’t work. Beth doubled over and heaved. Her stomach cramped again and again until it was coming so fast she could not breathe. The room was going black. Breathe! she screamed at herself. Just breathe. She could do this, for Paige she could keep going. She focused on slowly counting as she filled her lungs. She counted until the nausea stopped.
Beth stood up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Beth, are you OK? Do you need to stop?” Patterson’s brow knit together in concern. “We can come back in the morning. He isn’t going anywhere.”
Beth put her hand up. She wasn’t going anywhere either. She had a job to do, and nothing was going to stop her. “I’m fine.”
“Clearly you’re not,” he said gesturing to the pool of vomit at the door.
“I got this. If it’s too much you can leave, Patterson. But I’m finishing what I started.” She wasn’t just talking about the interview; she was talking about her work on the Treintas Task Force, her career with the DEA, all of it. She was going to finish what she had started.
She sat down again across from Ignacio. His lip trembled. He was beyond scared; he had entered a place somewhere past terror. On some level she realized that was a good thing but her emotions were too dulled to process anything. Her mind and body were on autopilot. Later this would hit her, and it would hurt like a bitch. But right now she was an agent with a job to do. “Who was the message for? Was it for me? Did El Capitan order Paige killed because I got too close?”
A look of confusion washed over his face. “What? Why would he send you a message?”
He genuinely had no idea what she was talking about. “She was my sister. Paige Thomson was my sister.”
Ignacio’s eyes widened. “Armando Torres’ woman was your sister?” His voice rose, a sign of youth and surprise.
Beth shook her head. “What?” Realization hit her like a ramrod to her sternum. El Capitan killed Paige to send a message to Torres. He thought Paige and Torres were lovers. “Why does El Capitan think Paige was Torres’ girlfriend?”
“Because he told me about her. How beautiful she was. Said the thought of her kept him going. His beautiful woman was waiting for him. She was everything to him.”
“What? Torres said he was involved with Paige?” Beth demanded. It didn’t make sense. It was impossible. Torres would not have said that. Someone had bad information. “Did he say her name? Did he say Paige Thomson?” Beth demanded. She was almost screaming now.
“No. He called her something else. What was it? Something about her eyes.” Ignacio stared as he tried to remember.
Beth’s blood froze, ice descended on her, freezing her veins. Don’t say it. Please don’t say it.
But he did...
“Gatita. He called her Gatita because she reminded him of a cat. Her eyes.”
The room went completely black. She didn’t feel herself falling unit Patterson caught her, his strong body kept her from collapsing against the concrete floor.
“Beth!” Patterson sounded scared. Her cocky sexist partner was scared. Beth took deep breaths as the room spun around her.
Beth righted herself. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. I’m calling it. You can come back in the morning if you want.”
“Fuck you, Patterson. I’m fine.”
“In the space of ten minutes you have vomited and fainted. You’re not fine. I’m taking you to your hotel.” Patterson was already up and heading towards the door. She had to stop him. She couldn’t come back tomorrow. She needed to do this now, tonight.
“I’m pregnant.”
Patterson spun on his heel. The color drained from his face. His jaw went slack.
“I’m fine. I’m just pregnant. So let’s get this done so I can get home.”
Patterson ran a hand through his thick blond hair. “Fuck me,” he muttered under his breath.
“Don’t look so panicked. It’s not yours.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you sure?”
Beth glanced over at Ignacio. Thank Christ he didn’t speak English because this conversation would be all sorts of wrong if he could understand them. “I’m sure. Unless you poked holes in the condoms.”
“How far along are you?”
“I said it isn’t yours. Relax.”
“I’ll relax when I know that for sure. How far along are you?”
“I’m due at the beginning of May,” she admitted.
Patterson’s eyes went to the side as he worked back. “You got pregnant in August.”
Beth shrugged her shoulders.
“You did. You just said you were due in May. We had sex in August.”
“What, did you write it in a calendar or something?” Agitation was brimming in her but she was grateful because it gave her something to focus on other than the nausea and pounding headache.
“The last time was memorable.” A sadness pulled at his mouth.
Beth nodded. That was one way to put it. The last time was after Torres escaped from Colombia. She could not handle having Torres back in her life, for four years she had thought he had betrayed her and left without saying goodbye. She has built a life based around that lie. When Torres came back she tried to push him away but the pull was overwhelming. They ended up having frantic needy goodbye sex. It was their ending. It was the goodbye they never had. They were supposed to be over…and just to be sure, Beth had gone to Patterson. It was supposed to be the final nail in the coffin, but she cried when she had sex with him. Patterson was on top of her, inside her, but all she could see was Torres. That was when she knew things would never be over between her and Torres.
Beth took a deep breath. “It’s not yours. I remember that time too. You were wearing a condom and you didn’t come. So I’m positive we can rule you out as my baby daddy.”
“Does Torres know?”
“That I’m pregnant?”
“No, that it could be mine.”
Beth shook her head. “It’s not. Go celebrate, cowboy. You dodged a bullet. Now sit down. I have work to do.”
Patterson’s mouth froze in a grimace.
Beth sat down and trained her gaze on Ignacio. “How do you know Torres? Did you meet him when he was a Zeta? Or when he came back?”
Ignacio shook his head. Beth could feel Patterson’s stare on her but she did not take her gaze off Ignacio.
“In the jungle in Colombia. We were together.”
Confusion pierced her thoughts. “You were a prisoner too?”
Before he could answer she realized what he was talking about. It was an initiation! Ignacio was treated like a prisoner to break him down. She had seen it before, well something similar with Los Zetas. The Zetas tortured their recruits, burning them, beating them, removing teeth…all to break them down so the gang could scrape them back together and produce a killing machine completely loyal to the group. “How long were you kept beside Torres?”
“For a year. It was only supposed to be for two months but he refused to speak. He never said anything until the end. And then he only ever spoke of his woman. Gatita, he was going to get out for her.”
Pain stabbed at her heart. Paige was dead because they thought she was Beth.
Beth rubbed her temples. The pieces still were not fitting together. “How did you find her?” Beth was the only connection between Paige and Torres. They had only met once in passing. There was no way Ignacio would have put them together.
“I got an infection.” Ignacio pointed to his stump. “Torres took me to her for antibiotics. I knew it was her as soon as I saw her. She was beautiful, just like he described. He didn’t have to tell me it was her. I knew. I could tell.”
Beth closed her eyes. Hot tears pricked behind her lids. Paige was beautiful, far prettier than Beth ever was. Of course Ignacio thought Paige was Torres’ lover, because that is how Torres described her, as beautiful. No one else saw Beth as beautiful, because she wasn’t, but Torres thought she was beautiful. She squeezed her lids tighter to keep the tears from falling.
Torres had led them to her. Paige was dead because he had led them to her door. The room went dark again but this time she fought it. She clung on to the anger that burned in her belly, the fire kept the blackness from pulling her under.
Beth stood up. She had heard enough.
“I didn’t kill her. It was Hector Rodriquez, I just brought him to her.”
Beth turned to face him, something in her snapped, she felt it, her boundaries, her morals, her ethics, her humanity, all of it gone, in an instant. The only thing left was her need for retribution.
Blood burned in her cheeks. She held up both hands. “Do you think that matters? She’s dead. My sister is gone. And I lied. Best you know that now. As soon as I leave here I’m going to speak to the warden and I’m going to make sure you are in the general population by tomorrow morning.” She bit out the words. “Your days are numbered, but mark my words, every single one will be filled with suffering and pain. That’s my message to you. And one more thing: you got the wrong sister, asshole. I’m Torres’ woman. I’m his wife.”