24/7 (12 page)

She had been searching for something her whole life. A new destination, a new experience. Always something new. And always just out of reach. Was Luisa who she had been searching for this whole time? Could Luisa give her everything she had been trying to find, or would she keep waiting for the phone to ring? For the next adventure to come calling. Could she stop trying to outrun the past and enjoy the present?

Finn powered off her camera and looked back to see how far she had walked during the thirty minutes since she had left the resort. The Mariposa was still in sight but several properties away. Dozens more multimillion-dollar hotels and resorts loomed in the distance. She looped her camera strap over her shoulder and kept going, though the hotels on the end of the beach seemed just as far away as they had when she’d first set out on her spur-of-the-moment journey.

After another hour of walking, she resigned herself to the fact she wouldn’t make it to the end of the spit of land curling in the distance. On foot, the trip would probably take at least two hours one way, and Mother Nature had other plans. Finn watched as dark clouds began to roll in, obscuring the hotels on the far end of the beach and sending frustrated sunbathers in search of shelter. Then she moved out of the way as the twelve camouflage-clad Federal Police patrolling the area drove their four all-terrain vehicles toward Mariposa’s end of the beach.

“Do you need a lift, miss?” one driver asked after he skidded to a stop.

“No, thanks. I’m fine.”

The two gunmen on the back of the ATV eyed her up and down before the roar of a passing speedboat forced them to turn their attention back to the water, where several windsurfers and two parasailers were continuing to play despite the bad weather slowly making its way toward them.

Finn felt a sudden sense of foreboding but attributed it to the dark skies in the distance and the ominous roll of thunder that made the sand vibrate beneath her bare feet. The storm was closing in fast.

“You’ve got about thirty minutes before the skies open up,” the driver said. “I suggest you head for cover if you don’t want to get wet.” He flashed a disarming grin. “Don’t you hate it when it rains in paradise?”

He flipped his visor over his eyes and sped off without waiting for an answer. The gunmen kept one arm curled around their assault rifles and wrapped the other around the rollover bar that had been attached to the modified vehicle.

Finn squinted as the ATV’s oversized wheels kicked up sand in its wake. The encounter with the policemen reminded her of Luisa. Luisa had the same professional manner the driver had shown, and Finn bet she’d look great in camouflage. Great. Even more fuel for her fantasies.

Not for the first time, Finn wondered when—or if—she and Luisa would see each other again. Had their encounter in Dallas been the only one they would have, or would it turn out to be the first of many?

Luisa wasn’t the first woman Finn had met while she was on the road, but Luisa was definitely the first she longed to see again. And the first she was reluctant to leave. But how could she possibly stay when leaving was what she did best? For her, saying good-bye was infinitely easier than saying hello. Or sometimes saying anything at all.

She headed to the bar as the first drops of rain began to fall. She ordered a drink as the room started to fill. When her phone rang, she was surprised to see it was Luisa calling several hours before she expected to hear from her.

“I would ask how things were going,” Luisa said, “but from the sound of it, I’d say things were going quite well.”

Finn tipped the bartender a dollar for her mojito and moved to a quieter locale so she could hear better. She slipped inside the theater, where several women were auditioning for Lovers and Friends, the game that would provide tomorrow night’s entertainment. The competition was an SOS favorite and pitted two sets of best friends against two couples to see who knew more about the other, those who were in a platonic relationship or those who were in a romantic one. Finn had read that some women couldn’t wait to enter the competition while others would rather watch others squirm than put their own relationships on the line by not being able to provide the right answers to questions such as her pet name for her lover’s lady parts or the most unusual place they’d had sex.

Finn saw Jill and Ryan in the crowd of hopefuls. Communication appeared to be the key to doing well in the game, but Jill and Ryan seemed to have a distinct lack of it, considering Jill was in love with Ryan and Ryan didn’t seem to realize it. Nevertheless, she gave them a thumbs-up to show her support for their quest to be chosen over the dozens of applicants.

“This is new,” Finn said, keeping her voice low so she wouldn’t disturb the auditions.

“I was following up on some leads on a cold case. My appointment ended earlier than I expected, so I decided to check in with you before I headed back to the office.”

“Did you catch the bad guys?”

“Not yet. I spent the afternoon beating my head against a wall of silence, but I feel like I may be on to something. I’ll know more tomorrow.”

Finn noticed Luisa answered the question without providing any details about where she had been or who she had gone to see. Not that Finn wanted to know. She hated the idea of Luisa risking her life over what was probably a lost cause—ending Mexico’s drug trade was an impossible task hundreds of other law enforcement officials had tried and failed to accomplish—but she admired Luisa’s persistence.

“But I didn’t call to talk shop,” Luisa said. “I called to let you know I have a dinner date Saturday night.”

Finn felt a pang of jealousy until she heard the mirth in Luisa’s voice. “So you and Javier are finally going to get together?”

“Mrs. Villalobos offered me
tamales
. How could I say no?”

“So food is the way to your heart. I’ve been going about this the wrong way. I thought all I needed to do was to ply you with beer and ironic humor.”

“That’s how you get me in bed, but it isn’t how you get me to stay.”

“No? How do I do that?” Finn held her breath, anxious to hear Luisa’s response.

“I could tell you, but that would be taking the easy way out. You strike me as someone who would rather discover things on her own than be spoon-fed the answer. That’s you in a nutshell, isn’t it?”

Finn laughed softly, remembering the way Luisa’s face lit up when she was amused and how it glowed when she made love. How could someone who could be so warm and loving in bed be made of steel at work? Was it the gun, the badge, or something inside her that helped her make the change? Finn didn’t know the answer, but she looked forward to finding it.

“How do you know so much about me, super cop?”

“I can tell everything I need to know about a woman by the way she makes love.”

Finn scooted down in her seat. She wished she had taken Luisa’s call in her room instead of a public place. Then she could have been free to steer the conversation in a much different direction.

“Is that what that was back in Dallas, an interrogation technique? If so, you are
really
good at your job. Perhaps I should plead the Fifth next time.”

“That wouldn’t be nearly as much fun, though, would it?” Luisa’s voice deepened the way it had in the bar. When she had invited Finn to follow her and Finn had done so without thinking twice. “But I’m sure I could still find a way to make you talk.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Is that a dare?”

“I would never dare someone who’s licensed to carry a gun. Consider it a challenge instead.”

“In that case, challenge accepted.”

Finn shuddered, her body awash in memories—and a fresh wave of desire. She wondered how upset Brett would be if she blew off tomorrow afternoon’s activities in favor of a day trip to Mexico City. She and Luisa had crammed a lifetime into two hours. Imagine what they could do with four or more. Unfortunately, this time the risk exceeded the reward. Luisa had to work, and if she didn’t complete her assignment, Brett might conveniently lose her number when it was time for a new one. Then where would she be? Miserable and missing a paycheck, that’s where.

“By the time I’m done,” Luisa said, “you’re going to tell me everything there is to know about you.”

Finn usually liked leaving some things unsaid to provide an air of mystery, but Luisa made her want to open up and spill all her secrets. She wanted to share herself with Luisa. In every way. But if she put herself out there, she didn’t want to do it alone.

“Do you promise to return the favor?” she asked.

“Of course. What do you want to know first?”

“Everything.”

“That could take a while.”

“That’s what I’m counting on. So when you call me tonight, start from the beginning and go slow.”

“Whatever you say,
mariposa
.”

“See how much easier life is when you agree with me?”

“I see how much easier my life is with you in it. That means something, doesn’t it?”

Finn’s breath caught. This was the point when she usually ran the other way. Fighting her instincts, she decided to move closer.

“It means everything.”

❖

Luisa didn’t like to bring her work home with her, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the trip she had made to Santa Martha Jail that afternoon. She wanted to forget the jeers and whistles that had greeted her arrival. She wanted to forget the smell of piss, shit, and sweat that assaulted her nose. She wanted to forget the fruitless interview she had conducted with Salvador Perez, a sullen teenager too caught up in the vicious cycle of machismo, fear, and intimidation to answer her questions. And most of all, she wanted to forget Director Chavez ripping her a new asshole for planning to visit Perez’s mother in Agua Dulce tomorrow without taking backup along for the ride. He had praised her dedication and investigative instincts just as he had during their first meeting, but that had come long after he had started his harangue.

“Haven’t we already had this conversation? I need you to be a team player, Moreno, not a free agent,” he had said, conveniently forgetting he was partially responsible for isolating her from everyone else. He had chained her to a desk until she could earn her coworkers’ respect instead of their enmity. But how was she supposed to do her job when she had more shackles on her than most prisoners?

“Fine,” she had said. “I’ll take Ruben Huerta.”

“Huerta? That beanpole from Records? He couldn’t catch a cold, let alone a hardened criminal.”

“Ruben has a vested interest in helping me crack this case. Carlos Ramos was his friend. I trust him, sir. I know he’ll have my back.”

Director Chavez had eyed her for a long moment, obviously debating whether to accept her suggestion, tell her to take someone else, or advise her to use the government’s precious resources on a fresher case.

“What are you hoping to accomplish tomorrow?” he had finally asked.

“At the very least, I want to identify the four men in those pictures and help bring some closure to the family members still wondering where they are and what happened to them. And if I can tie them to the Jaguars, it could bring us a step closer to identifying the leaders of the organization.”

Director Chavez had closed Perez’s case file and pushed it across the desk. “Then go. Just make sure you and Huerta come back in one piece.”

Luisa packed a bag and placed it by her apartment door. Agua Dulce was a good eight hours away—more if the dirt roads surrounding it had been washed out by the spring rains—and she wanted to get an early start. After she conducted her interview, she and Ruben would stay in Agua Dulce overnight and head back to Mexico City on Thursday. She had barely set the bag down when someone knocked on her door.

“Going somewhere?”

As Mrs. Villalobos eyed the rucksack, Luisa was glad she had tucked Salvador Perez’s case file inside the bag instead of leaving it on top. Luisa thought the woman was harmless, but she was too curious for her own good. Not to mention she loved to talk. If she said something to the wrong person, Luisa’s investigation could end before it had barely begun.

“I’m taking a day trip tomorrow.”

“Somewhere nice, I hope.”

“It’s for work, so I don’t know how nice it will be.”

“Ooh. That sounds exciting.” Mrs. Villalobos invited herself in and took a look around the apartment. “Nice and neat. Everything in its place. You’re a definite improvement over the young man who lived here before you moved in. He was a police officer, too. Ramos, I think his name was. Carlos Ramos. Yes, that’s it. He was nice enough, but I have to say he was a bit of a slob. I’m not surprised. He kept a lot of late hours so he didn’t have time to clean or have a decent meal. I think he lived on cigarettes and coffee.”

“Why did he move out?” Luisa asked, trying to hide her surprise that Carlos Ramos had once lived in the apartment she currently occupied.

Mrs. Villalobos shrugged. “I woke up one morning and he was gone. Everyone in the building knew he had money problems. I think he was behind on his rent. He probably left before he could be evicted. I heard he’s been reported missing, but I think he’s on the lam from all the bill collectors he owed money. Unless they got to him and taught him a lesson for not being able to pay. Never buy what you can’t afford. That’s always been my motto.”

“Is there anything that goes on in this neighborhood you don’t know?” Luisa could picture Mrs. Villalobos holding vigil in front of her apartment window, binoculars at the ready.

“Someone has to keep an eye on things. It might as well be me.”

“What brings you to see me?” Luisa was enjoying the pleasant diversion Mrs. Villalobos’s presence offered, but she was planning to make it an early night and she had a call to make before she turned in for the evening.

“I was curious about something.” Mrs. Villalobos reached into the folds of her housedress and pulled out a postcard. “The postman delivered this to me by mistake. I was wondering.” She turned the card over, flipping from the picturesque scene on the front to the handwritten words on the back. “Who’s Finn?”

Luisa plucked the card from Mrs. Villalobos’s hands before her nosy neighbor could read any more of the words she’d probably already memorized.