Callahan pricked up his ears at the name and hurried through the file. “Son of a bitch!” he declared. “Thanks buddy,”
And the other detective walked away.
Callahan fumbled in a hurry for his cell phone. Dialling Jerry’s number he jogged to the bathroom. Checking no one was in there he opened the file and began babbling.
“Hey buddy,” Jerry sounded pleased to hear from him.
“I got news! Your Mr. Reiner just turned up. Call just came in from an anonymous young woman who reported him for murdering her father, Thomas Martin,”
“Holy shit!”
“Yuh… but you better book the next flight south. He’s hiding in Corpus Christi,”
“Sometimes you’re alright, Callahan. Regards to your wife,” and Jerry hung up.
The detective shimmied back to his desk feeling like a disgraceful human being.
~
Jorge was still lying on the bed as the sunlight spilled onto his lithe body through the blinds. He blew smoke up into the air and watched it dance on the ceiling. He was listening in on Jerry’s phone call and it sounded like good news.
Jerry hung up the phone and grinned. “Get your shit. We’re goin’ to Texas,”
“Ah fuck,” Jorge couldn’t be bothered getting up from his bed let alone fly to the other end of the country. “Do I have to? I already put in overtime with old man Reiner,”
“Stop being a jerk Jorge and move,”
“Urgh…” and he stood up like a petulant teenager and pulled on his boots.
~
Anna was still in tears as the bus approached the Mexican border. Gripping hold of her fake passport she mentally pleaded that no one be suspicious of it. She wasn’t an expert on these things but as she looked at it she was certain it looked real. Plus she had her looks on her side and knew that counted for something.
She couldn’t take her mind off Carl though. What was he doing? She’d replayed the moment a thousand times in her head. He was definitely kissing someone she was sure of it. But who was she and how did he know her? Was it just someone who looked just like him? Or was he falling prey to a moment of weakness? She cast her mind back to seeing his tall stature with the blonde buzz cut. And the way he stood with confidence. She even remembered seeing the way he slanted his posture to one side because of his back injury. It was him alright. The jerk.
As she handed her passport over to the border guard she held her breath for what seemed like an eternity. But he seemed barely interested in it compared to looking at her body. He smiled adoringly at her as he handed it back.
“Have a lovely day Miss Martin,” and he winked
She smiled back falsely and hoped her tears hadn’t puffed up her face too much. Then she watched as the bus pulled away as they crossed the border. Her stomach lurched as they entered Mexico and she felt a peculiar anxiety within her that signalled both excitement and fear.
Where she was going she didn’t know. All she knew was that the idyllic sun streaming through the window warmed and comforted her. Still clutching the briefcase she opened it while making sure none of the passengers could see inside. There was still thousands in there and she figured it would carry her a long way in Mexico. As long as no one robbed it from her...
Then it hit her. She was a single teenager with a case full of cash in a foreign country. She didn’t speak any Spanish and she’d never left her home town until this week let alone know how to move abroad.
“Fuck,” she cursed herself.
The first thing she was going to figure out when the bus stopped was how to protect herself. She’d buy a handgun or some pepper spray. It was gonna be a steep learning curve.
CHAPTER 25
It was dark when the plane arrived in Corpus Christi and Jerry had a stiff neck as it landed. He hated travelling at the best of times. Meanwhile Jorge was fast asleep and snoring loudly beside him. Jerry nudged him.
“Hey pal, we’re here,”
And the little Puerto Rican woke up looking dazed. “Urgh…..”
“I hear ya,” Jerry sympathized with his discomfort. “Hey I’ll rock paper scissors you for the price of the rental car?”
“Sure,”
And as people began to stand up and grab their suitcases all around them, the two men shook their fists. Jorge showed Jerry scissors and he simultaneously threw rock.
“Ah fuck. Fair enough,” Jerry chuckled. “You can buy me breakfast,”
“It’s always with the food with you,” Jorge yawned as they stepped down onto the tarmac.
After travelling through the airport they hired themselves a bland, dark green sedan. Jorge slid into the passenger seat and lamented the aesthetics.
“What is this? A car or a God damn electric shaver? No shape, no soul. I miss my Buick,” and he thought back to where he left it.