“I doubt it,” Jaime returned. “INS doesn’t want to get dinged for anybody’s hospital bill. If they’re taken into custody, that’s what’ll happen.”
Joanna recalled the officers she had heard arguing the IT
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previous evening. Joanna had thought the medical-bill buck-passing had been limited to that one Department of Public Safety captain. Clearly the problem was far more widespread than that.
“So Border Patrol just let them go?”
“That’s right. That way the hospitals don’t get paid, and the illegals are granted free entry to disappear into the wilds of the good of’ U.S. of A.”
“What about the driver? You’d better not be telling me that somebody turned him loose.”
“Don’t worry, boss. We’ve got him and his bill both. He’s in the Copper Queen Hospital.
I’ve been assured that they’ll only release him into our custody.”
“Fair enough,” Joanna said. “If I have to, I’ll pay his bill out of my own pocket.
That guy’s going to jail.”
She studied the list Jaime had given her until she located the name of a woman. Maria Elena Maldonado had also been admitted to the Copper Queen Hospital. Then she cross-referenced that name with the list of fatalities. Finally she found a name that matched-Eduardo Xavier Maldonado.
“Eduardo?” Joanna asked. “That’s the name of the little boy who died?”
Jaime nodded.
“What about the mother? Is she going to be all right?”
“I talked to Dr. Lee about her,” Jaime answered. “Her internal injuries are more extensive than they thought. She’ll be transferred to TMC for more surgery later on this afternoon.”
“Is she going to make it?”
Jaime shrugged. “With the injuries she has, the doc tells me her chances are about fifty-fifty,” he said.
“What about the other victims?” Joanna asked. “How serious are their injuries?”
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“Five of them are still in ICUs.”
Joanna went back to studying the list. “What are your plans for the day, Jaime, and what’s Ernie up to?”
“Ernie’s back out at Silver Creek working with the DPS accident site investigation team. They’ll be interviewing locals who were on the scene. As for me, the woman you interviewed, Suzanne Blake, is due to show up any minute. After I talk to her, I’m not sure what I’ll do next.”
Joanna put down the two separate lists. “Here’s the deal, Jaime,” she said. “It sounds as though, as soon as these patients are well enough, INS will let them walk out of hospitals free as birds, just like they did the others. When you’re finished with the Blake interview and after Frank finishes with his press conference, I want the two of you to hit the trail. I want you to find and interview as many of those hospitalized UDAs as possible. Explain to them that we need their help so we can find the coyotes who did this. I want to put those guys out of business before any more people die.
Wherever possible, I want taped sworn statements.”
“I don’t understand,” Jaime objected. “What’s the point of doing interviews, boss?
As you said, once the injured UDAs are released from treatment, they’ll disappear.
None of them will stick around long enough to testify against the driver.”
“Of course they won’t,” Joanna returned. “That’s why I want you to interview them now-today!”
“But if they’re not here to testify at the trial, the tapes won’t be admissible.”
“True,” Joanna agreed. ‘And much as I’d like to nail that bastard, getting the driver isn’t the point. He’s a little fish and entirely expendable by both sides. I’m after somebody bigger
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than he is, Jaime. I want the people running this ring-the ones making the big bucks.”
“How do you plan to catch them?”
“The driver’s scared to death. That’s why he won’t give his real name. He knows he killed all those people. I’m hoping we can use those statements to put the squeeze on the driver’s cojones long enough for him to lead us to someone higher up the chain of command.”
“I suppose it could work,” Jaime conceded doubtfully, “but if his lawyer gets wind of it-“
Joanna refused to be dissuaded. “We won’t find out if we don’t try,” she said, cutting Jaime off in mid-objection and abruptly changing the subject. “Now, tell me about the autopsies on the Silver Creek victims. Any idea when those will happen?”
“Monday,” the detective told her. “Doc Winfield says he’ll schedule them pretty much back-to-back.”
Detective Carbajal left a few minutes later, and Joanna spent the remainder of the morning mowing through a mountain of incoming reports and evidence. The results of the SUV driver’s routine Breathalyzer check came back negative. That was no surprise.
Driving drunk had never been an issue. Driving crazy was. A preliminary on-site analysis by DPS officers
