Dead Drop by James L'Etoile

Author:James L'Etoile [James L’Etoile]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Level Best Books
Published: 2022-06-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” DeRosa said.

Parker was certain the body in Billie’s trailer was Cardinale. The man he found was bloated and disfigured, but he was a match to the shotgun-wielding Cartel enforcer who could end his life with three pounds of pressure on the trigger.

“You Americans.” DeRosa shook his head. “You think all brown people look alike. Fortunate for us, we have a constant flow of workers coming in. It was a matter of finding a stand in. Then, you all saw what you wanted to see.”

“It won’t take long for the truth to come out,” Parker said. He received a jab in the ribs from Cardinale in response.

“I would not be so certain. Tomas has no DNA, or fingerprints on file with American authorities. The body has been identified by you and others as Tomas.”

“You won’t be able to tell them anything different,” Cardinale said as he brought his finger across the trigger once more.

“Tomas. El Halcon wants him.”

“El Halcon can have his head,” Cardinale said as he pressed a shotgun barrel harder into Parker’s chest.

DeRosa shoved the barrel away. “He wants him alive, for now,” he said.

Cardinale gritted his teeth and returned the 12-gauge barrel hard against Parker’s sternum.

DeRosa’s voice remained calm. “You’ll do as El Halcon says, or the head he’ll receive will be yours.”

Cardinale grunted, pulled the shotgun away, and spit on the floor at DeRosa’s feet. He slung the shotgun over his shoulder and swaggered away, his bloodlust unrequited.

DeRosa looked down on Parker and said, “You were warned, Mr. Parker. What happens now is out of my control. You’ve become an irritant to some very powerful people. You may wish that Tomas had finished with you.”

“Why’s El Halcon want me?” Parker asked.

DeRosa pulled Parker to his feet. “You’ll find out soon enough. Come with me.”

Parker hesitated until a rifle butt to his spine prodded him forward. There was no sign Billie was caught with him. A glance to the side revealed a man dressed in black tactical gear, Kevlar vest, and night vision optics perched on his head. The man looked more mercenary than Cartel gun-thug.

“Eyes forward,” the man said. His movement and demeanor were efficient and professional. This man carried none of the fiery emotion of the shot gunning Cardinale.

Parker followed DeRosa between a pair of Sun Valley Solar service vehicles. Beyond them were three road-weary white vans, covered with thick dust deposits from a trip across the desert. Another large Sun Valley Industry truck loomed in the far corner of the building. From the exterior, it looked like a water tanker, but the container was modified so the rear end opened outward, on hidden hinges, exposing the hollow interior tank. A line of wooden pallets rested on the floor of the cylinder, each holding dozens of plastic-wrapped bricks of currency.

“Business looks good,” Parker said.

“El Halcon takes his commission, but yeah, business on this side of the border is an expanding market.”

“Does El Halcon’s plan include killing people on train tracks?”

DeRosa put his open hands out.

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