“What?” She spun around, knocking into a chair.
“Pink Lady is the meth I was telling you about, the meth that’s connected to those dead bodies. Do you know what this means?” He grabbed the plastic and shook it.
She nodded once. “The cartels are using Yaqui land to smuggle drugs.”
Chapter Fourteen
Jolene sank to the chair. “Maybe the Pima County Sheriffs were right all along. Maybe my dad’s murder was related to the cartels, but he did more than stumble across a few mules, didn’t he?”
“This connects a lot of dots.” Sam slammed the packaging back on the table and paced to the corner of the room and back, Chip trotting at his heels. “You know how I was looking at that ridge and the landscape with my binoculars before the gunfire?”
“You mentioned you noticed something about the land out there, but never finished the thought.”
“We got our hands on a map of tunnels the Las Moscas cartel was using to smuggle drugs into this country. The agents in this region have been going out to each tunnel to close it and destroy it. I had the chance to study all of the tunnels, and they shared some common features.”
“A ridge, some brush.”
After watching Sam’s back-and-forth, Jolene pushed back her chair and grabbed Chip’s collar. “Get on your bed, Chip.”
The dog gave Sam one hopeful look before slinking to his bed in the corner, fluffing it up with his paws and plopping into it.
“Good boy.” Jolene gripped the back of a kitchen chair. “Pink Lady? Didn’t you tell me the pure form of meth that accompanied the disappearances in San Diego was pink in color?”
“Yeah, that’s it. On the street, they call it Pinky.”
“Pinky?” Jolene dug her nails into the chair. “That’s what Tucker called Melody.”
“Sad coincidence.” Sam tripped to a stop. “Melody hadn’t added drugs to her other bad habits, had she?”
“Not that I know of, but what do I know?” She picked up the chair and settled it closer to the table. “I had no idea she was drinking again. I was a terrible cousin and friend, and on the very night she died, I was romping it up in bed—with you.”
“Great, now you’re adding guilt to the myriad reasons why you shouldn’t have slept with me.”
Jolene clenched her jaw to keep it from dropping open. Was that what he thought? That she regretted hooking up with him? Didn’t she?
Casting her eyes down, she said, “Doesn’t it feel wrong now?”
“Being with you would never feel wrong to me. Look at it this way.” He folded his arms and wedged a shoulder against the sliding door. “Melody introduced us. She wanted us to get back together. Maybe she was leading us to each other.”
She blinked. Sam had a fanciful side? “One thing I am going to do is try to make sense of her death, and I’m going to start by searching her apartment tomorrow.”
“Then you’d better get to sleep tonight. I’m going to figure out a way to search for a tunnel on that property.”
“Wade would never allow that.” She ran her hand over the plastic packaging. “You think the cartels have a tunnel from Yaqui land on the Mexican side of the border to our land, and they’re smuggling drugs...or were smuggling drugs through this tunnel?”
“I do think that. The group that’s manufacturing this pink meth and putting it on the street requires such anonymity they’re willing to kill off their mules to make sure they keep secrets.”
“That’s what happened in San Diego?”
“All the bodies we found and identified matched up to suspected mules. Someone met them when they made it across the border, and then murdered them to keep them quiet.”
“Why do that? Cartels have used mules for ages. Sometimes they do go rogue, but the cartels have always been able to deal with those people.”
Sam tugged on his earlobe. “This particular group...or person wants to lay low. I wonder if Melody knew El Gringo Viejo was behind Pink Lady. That would explain a lot. He wouldn’t want the cartels to know he was infringing on their business.”
“How would she know that, Sam? Melody didn’t hang out with that crowd.” She put two fingers on her lips.
“What? Did you remember something?”
“That relationship she had, the one Wade broke up. The guy was bad news. I think he may have been involved with the drug trade. Maybe she learned something from him.”
“Do you remember his name?”
“Gabe, Gabe Altamarino. I think he’s in Tucson, now.”
“I think we need to pay him a visit and tell him the sad news about Melody.”
“And the casino? What does this all have to do with the casino?”
“I’m not sure yet. It has to do with the land, doesn’t it? Maybe the cartel is holding something over the investors.” Sam rubbed his eyes. “I’m done. I don’t even want the Chinese food anymore. I just want a soft bed and sleep.”
“About that...” Jolene wrinkled up her nose “...I need more time to think about that, about us. I’m sorry if I led you on last night.”
Sam bent over and scratched Chip behind the ear. “Don’t worry about it. It’s all good, no expectations. Can I have the spare room, or should I leave?”
She’d hurt him, disappointed him. “Of course, you can stay here. I’m not going to kick you out to your truck with no headlights, especially since you saved my life tonight.”
“I couldn’t have gotten that truck out of there without you.” He held up his hands. “And I promise I won’t even use your washer and dryer this time.”
“Have you seen the spare room? I turned it into a combination office and gym. There’s no bed in there anymore.”
He eyed the couch with Chip now curled up on one end. “The sofa’s fine. Not much left of this night, anyway.”
“You don’t have to sleep out here...with Chip.” She walked into the kitchen to hide her warm face. “I mean, you can share my bed, if...you know.”
Inviting a man like Sam Cross
