Pipeline (26 page)

"Everything
okay in here?" an accented voice asked.

"Go
back outside, Ernesto," Camarena ordered. "Bring my car around. We're
almost through. Don't be surprised if you hear a couple more gunshots."

I
watched through barely half-opened eyes as Susan began pacing between my body
and where Camarena stood. Loss of blood had begun making me dizzy, creating
ripples of nausea in my stomach.

"That's
a nice souvenir," Camarena said. "Derringer, isn't it?"

"I
guess so."

"Good
thing we slipped that revolver to you."

"Well,
if it weren't for you and that idiot cousin of yours, we wouldn't be in this
mess. All you had to do was get rid of Kyle and that would have been the end of
it. But no, you had to get cute and send some kindergartner to do it."

"Rico
said it was the best way."

"Rico
was wrong, Felix!" Susan seethed. "The junior hitman fucked up and
brought her into it."

"But
we got all the evidence and we'll find the kid. You worry too much."

"One
of us has to worry. When there's that much money at stake, you can't be
screwing around playing Pancho Villa."

"Don't
talk to me like that, Bradley, or..."

"Or
what, Felix, you'll tell the police about Julianne?"

"No
statute on murder, my friend."

"Well,
there is a statute on blackmail, and I'm pretty fucking tired of paying for a
dumb mistake."

A
moment later I heard two gunshots, followed by the dull thud of a body falling
to the ground. Blinking to clear my blurring vision, I saw Camarena's dead eyes
looking at me and watched as blood from his body quickly pooled and moved
across the floor to mingle with mine. The thought of it made me feel even
sicker. Footsteps were moving away from me, and I managed to turn my head to
follow them. Susan still carried the revolver as she approached Cate. She knelt
down next to her and removed the gag from her mouth. Cate gulped for breath
through her mouth as tears ran down her face. Susan reached up to wipe them
away, but Cate turned away from her.

"I'm
sorry, Cate. I never intended for it to end this way," she said.

Cate's
head jerked back toward her. "Why, Susan? I don't understand. You have
everything. What could you possibly hope to gain from all this?"

"Felix
has been blackmailing me for years. While I was in law school, I got drunk and
a girl died, accidentally. He knew and helped cover it up in exchange for
money. He was scum, but what choice did I have?"

"You
could have gone to the police. If it was an accident..."

"And
throw away everything I had worked for? No, thanks."

"You
were covering up what he was doing at ABP, too, weren't you?"

"He
forced me to, Cate. I wish you could understand."

"I
understand you tried to have my son murdered. If he had exposed Camarena, you
might have been able to get out from under. You're a respected attorney, Susan.
No one would have believed him."

"You're
right, but I needed Camarena as a middleman with Escobar." She laughed and
stood up. "You can't believe that he was the brains behind the illegal
smuggling," she said as she pointed at Camarena's body. "Shit, I
practically had to tell him how to set it up. It's worth millions every year
and is virtually risk free if it's handled right. But then Kyle had to start
poking around. I couldn't take the chance he would stumble onto something.
Camarena and Escobar would have turned on me in a heartbeat to save their own
asses. Now I only have to worry about Escobar since your dear, departed ex
killed Camarena for me."

"You'll
be caught eventually. You know that."

"Yeah,
but by the time the police sort all this out, I'll be relaxing on a Caribbean
beach somewhere. Now you're the only witness. This part I hadn't planned, but
good old Jo there didn't leave me any other way out except through you. You're
good, Cate, but not good enough to give up millions for."

"And
who will get blamed for my murder, Susan?"

"Does
it really matter now?" Susan asked as she raised the revolver toward Cate.

Mustering
all the strength I could, I hoarsely called her name. She spun around and saw
me looking at her.

"Well,
you're tougher than you look, Jo," she said as she moved a couple of steps
toward me and took aim.

A
loud noise assaulted my ears, and I thought she had fired and missed. The noise
was followed by the sound of voices yelling. I couldn't keep my eyes open any
longer. The last thing I heard was Cate calling my name.

Chapter
Twenty-Five

MY
EYES FLEW open, and I felt drenched in sweat. I looked around, trying to help
my brain figure out where I was. Then I smelled the scent I hated most in the
world and knew instantly. Another fuckin' hospital. My hearing caught up with
my sight, and I heard a beeping sound. As I scanned the room, the rate of the
beeps increased. I took a deep breath and listened as they slowed. A few
seconds later I was blinded by a light and clamped my eyelids closed. Fingers
began poking at me, and I heard a strange voice.

"She's
awake," a woman said.

"Turn
off the goddamn light," I croaked.

The
light went off, and I felt warm fingers enclose my right hand. I would have
known that touch anywhere and was glad I was still alive to feel it. Warm,
sweet breath flowed over my ear.

"Welcome
back, Jo," Cate said. "Where have you been?"

"Dreamin'
about you and groundhogs, baby," I said.

Her
laugh was better medicine than whatever they were pumping into my right arm. I
would have given anything to wrap my arms around her and hold her but even
small movements made me wince as the tape securing a bandage on my right side
pulled against still-tender skin. A dull, throbbing pain assured me that the
cast I saw engulfing my left arm and hand wasn't going to allow much mobility
for a while either.

"They
got anything to drink in this joint?"

She
held a straw to my mouth, and I have never tasted better water in my life. The
nurse left the room, and we were alone for about ten seconds. Cate left my side
and opened the blinds partway to let a little light into the room. Just then
the hospital door flew open, and the bulk of Wendell Pauli filled the opening.
He came to the side of the bed and patted me hard enough to make me clench my
teeth against the pain. "You scared the shit out of us, Carlisle," he
said.

"I
see you survived," I said.

"Sorry
we were a little late gettin' in there. You've missed a bunch since then."

I
looked at Cate. "How long?"

"Five
days."

"And
thanks to that new metal rod holdin' your arm together you can look forward to
bein' stopped at every airport security checkpoint in America. You've got a lot
of catchin' up to do, girl. You uncovered the ass-kickin' story of the
year," Pauli said with a smile.

"Kyle's
story."

"Yeah,
whatever. Anyway, there are so many people duckin' for cover, you'd think it
was huntin' season."

"Just
give me the Reader's Digest version."

Cate
took my hand again, and I barely heard what Pauli was saying. I hadn't ever
seen him so excited. Retirement didn't become either of us.

"We
got Lopez and Escobar for attackin' Sarita. We got Lopez for bringin' illegals
in and Escobar for sellin' phony documents. Escobar rolled on Camarena's part
in the deal, but Camarena already received his sentence. Man, I haven't seen
this much finger-pointin' since the last time I went to the symphony. Escobar's
talkin' so fast they had to hire an extra stenographer to get it all. He's
pointin' all ten fingers at Lopez for Lena's murder, but Lopez ain't goin' down
alone. He's takin' Susan Bradley with him on that one. She's gonna wish she'd
been killed at the warehouse instead of gettin' a measly flesh wound."

"What?"

"Bradley
was in the car with Camarena in Mountain View when you and Lena were talkin' to
Juan Doe. Lopez says she ordered you killed, but they got Lena instead. Also
chargin' her for conspiracy to kill Kyle. Cate here has turned over all of
Bradley's records on ABP to the Feds, and there ain't enough toilet paper in
the universe to wipe all the shit off the company managers. They're swearin' on
a stack of Good Books that they didn't know nothin' about it, of course.
They'll probably get a humongous fine, minimum. Kyle was right about the
Reagan-Contra-type thing."

"He's
a smart kid," I said. Cate squeezed my hand and smiled.

"Oh,
and here's the killer. You ready for this? Susan didn't have a goddamn thing to
do with the McCaffrey murder."

"But
she said she killed her."

"It
was Camarena," Pauli said, shaking his head. "Escobar, during one of
his nonstop confession sessions, said Felix told him that he killed the girl.
It seems that Susan was drunker than the proverbial skunk that night. When the
girl's boyfriend returned her early to her apartment building, Susan made a
serious pass at the girl. McCaffrey rejected her and threatened to tell the
sorority about Susan's sexual indiscretion. So Bradley smacked her, the girl
fell, hit her head, and was out cold. Unfortunately for Bradley, Camarena had
finished his shift at the party and was walking home when he saw the argument
between Bradley and McCaffrey in front of the building. Being the Good
Samaritan and upstanding citizen that he was, he told Susan the girl was dead
and offered to dispose of the evidence in exchange for a financial
consideration. It turns out the girl wasn't dead until Camarena raped and
strangled her."

"Susan
paid all those years for something she didn't do," Cate said.

"Correctimundo,"
Pauli said in triumph.

"I
promised to call Mr. McCaffrey," I said.

"Already
taken care of. Kyle called," Pauli said with a wave of his hand. He looked
at me and smiled. "I got a few things to do, Jo, so I guess I'll let you
get back to restin'. Let me know when you're ready, and I'll sneak in some
enchiladas and a Corona for you."

"Thanks
for everything, Pauli," I said as I shook his hand.

After
he left, Cate picked up a newspaper. She helped me hold it up with my good hand
as I read the headline "Feds Bust Illegal Smuggling Operation."
Beneath the headline the byline read: "Kyle Hammond and Joanna
Carlisle."

"It's
not my story," I said.

"Don't
tell him that. He fought like hell to get your name on the byline since you're
not an employee."

Kyle's
story recounted the pipeline operation from Mexico to Texas and detailed the
involvement of Camarena and Susan Bradley in Lena's death. In a statement
issued by the federal prosecutor in San Antonio, managers in five states would
be indicted for hiring illegal workers for ABP production lines and attributed
the scheme to a "corporate greed-driven, national conspiracy." As
expected, a spokesman for American Beef and Pork denied accusations that the
company had conspired to recruit and smuggle illegal workers into the United
States. If such actions had occurred, however, they were done without the
knowledge of the executives at the Nebraska-based Corporation.

"He
was asked to hold to story until today to give authorities a chance to
act," Cate said, giving my free arm a gentle squeeze. "It was just
released today."

I
wanted to say how proud I was of our son, but the muscles in my throat
constricted as the unfamiliar emotion overwhelmed me. Finally managing to clear
my throat, I asked, "Where is he?"

"He
spent every night here for the first four days. He left this morning to pick up
Sarita in Dallas. They're flying back tonight."

"They're
moving to Colorado, you know."

"He
told me, and it's probably for the best. But don't worry. I'm sure you two will
work out your differences. He does love you, you know."

"What
will you do now, Cate?"

"I
haven't decided, but as long as the federal agencies are going over our files,
Bradley and Hammond is closed for business."

I
wished she would take my hand again.

"You're
going to be in here a few more days. What are you going to do after the doctor
releases you?"

"Go
back to the ranch, I guess. Try to put my life back in order again."

It
wasn't just the tubes in my body that were making me uncomfortable. She was
making me uncomfortable, and I felt like the rest of my life depended on saying
the right thing. The trouble was I didn't have a clue what the right thing was.

"You
know," I finally said, "it seems like every time we're together I
don't know what to say to you, Cate. But I don't know why."

"Maybe
you won't let your mouth say what your brain wants it to say."

"Probably,"
I said with a chuckle that made my side ache beneath my bandage. "I've
never had a way with words."