Shallow Grave-J Collins 3 (44 page)

she’d gotten home okay, only I know Julie hasn’t been home all fucking day.”

Heavy silence.

“What? Spit it out, Wells.”

“Did you have a fi ght?”

“No, we didn’t have a fucking fi ght. What does that have to do with anything?”

“Don’t deny you two haven’t been having problems.”

“How the fuck do you know that?”

Kevin counted to ten. “A) Julie is my partner. B) I’ve known her a lot longer than you have, Martinez. I know when she’s upset, I know when she’s hurting, and she’s been messed up by whatever shit is going on between the two of you.”

“Damn.” Deep breathing, followed by a sigh.

“Th

ings were fi ne this morning when I left.”

“Did you call Kim?”

“Yes. And Jimmer. Neither one have heard from her. I even called out to her dad’s place and talked to her 515

little sister. Nada.”

Christ. If Martinez had been calling all over the county, including the Collins ranch, he really was losing it.

But the other scenario Kevin came up with was one sure to piss off El Presidente, big time. “Does anyone in your organization have a reason for wanting to hurt her or make her disappear?”

No answer.

But when Martinez spoke, his words dripped ice.

“Has Julie been talking to you about Hombres business?”

“No, Jimmer has. He didn’t go into the details; he’s concerned about Julie being used as a pawn or caught in the crossfi re of Hombres politics. As am I.”

Another moment of silence.

“Martinez? You still there?”

“Yeah.”

“Is that a possibility?”

“Maybe. I’ll have my guys check into it.”

“In the meantime, I’ll have the cell phone company put a trace on her phone. Th

en I’m calling Sheriff

Richards.”

“Why do we need to bring in the cops?”

“Because that’s the way I do things. You can sit on your ass and protect your fucking secrets and your organization, Martinez, but I guarantee if Julie is anywhere in Bear Butte County, the sheriff will fi nd her.”

516

Martinez sighed. “All right.”

Kevin said, “One other thing. If anything’s happened to her, and I fi nd out any of your guys were involved? I won’t call the cops. I’ll fucking kill them all
.
”

Martinez laughed softly. “You’ll have to beat me to it.”

Th

e dial tone buzzed in his ear. Kevin tamped down his panic and started making calls.

M M M

Jimmer sat silently in the passenger seat, staring out the window into the darkness. It was scarier than shit, seeing his stealth military training kick in. Wearing monochrome night camo, he blended into the shifting shadows. If Kevin turned his head just right, Jimmer wasn’t there.

Th

e sheriff had gone on instant alert after Kevin had explained the situation. He’d promised to send out a deputy to Julie’s usual haunts: Dusty’s, and Th e Road-kill Café, and out in the county proper to see if she was having car trouble on some off road somewhere with no cell service.

Kevin’s eyes kept straying to his cell phone, willing it to ring.

Two Cadillac Escalades, one silver, one black, were 517

parked in Julie’s driveway. No sign of her truck. Kevin and Jimmer tromped inside.

Martinez paced in the living room, phone glued to his ear. Th

e bodyguard, Big Mike, was perched on the

sofa arm, training a Sig on them, which he dropped beside his thigh after Jimmer scowled at him.

“Anything?” Martinez said.

“Not yet.”

Jimmer and Big Mike talked guns. Too agitated to sit, Kevin leaned against the wall. Another bodyguard poked his head around from the doorway to the kitchen.

Martinez clicked his phone shut, mirroring Kevin’s position on the opposite wall. “All my guys check out.

None of them have been anywhere near Julie today.”

“What exactly did Abita say?”

“She met Julie in the park. Th

ey talked about Jeri-

cho. Th

en Abita gave her some kind of necklace that’d belonged to Ben and Julie started throwing up.” He shrugged. “Mean anything to you?”

“Was she sick this morning when you left?”

“Slightly hungover, but besides that, no.”

“Any other messages on her machine?”

“Just the half dozen or so from me.”

Th

e tension in the room heated the air to an un-breathable level.

Kevin’s cell phone rang. “Wells. No, that’s fi ne. You’re 518

sure? Okay. No. Keep the trace on. Call this number if anything changes. Yeah. Th

anks.”

“What?”

“Th

ey traced Julie’s cell phone to Bear Butte.”

“What the fuck would she be doin’ up there? She hates that fuckin’ place,” Jimmer said.

Kevin looked at Martinez. “Gotta have something to do with Ben.”

“Let’s go.” Martinez slipped on his leather jacket.

Big Mike stretched tall and shrugged into his coat.

Jimmer shook his head. “No. You ain’t comin’. Th is

ain’t Hombres business. If you think Tony’s in danger then you’d better stop him from comin’ with us.”

Big Mike waited for Martinez to respond.

“Jimmer’s right. Stay here.”

He sat like a trained dog.

Kevin pocketed his phone. “I’ll drive. We’ll update the sheriff on the way there.”

M M M

Th

e silent trip to Bear Butte seemed to take an hour. Th e

moon was a silver scythe, off ering little illumination. As they rounded the last curve before the visitor’s center, the Jeep’s headlights swept the back end of a black pickup, parked at a picnic area.

519

Martinez was out of the Jeep before it’d come to a full stop. Jimmer pursued him, disappearing into the night like smoke. Kevin parked behind the Ford and climbed out.

A patrol car putted into view, the searchlight methodically sweeping the roadside. Sheriff Richards rolled down the window. His gaze zoomed to the pickup. “Any sign of her?”

“No. Maybe you should start at the top and work your way down and we’ll start down here and work our way up.”

He nodded and kept the snail’s pace up the narrow road.

At the treeline Kevin saw two shapes crouching by a gnarled scrub oak.

Jimmer said, “Follow the creekbed up to the bridge.

Keep an eye along the banks. Split up.”

No question Jimmer had taken charge. Kevin didn’t argue. Neither did Martinez.

Kevin pushed through the foliage until he balanced on the lip of the dry creekbed. Between the lack of fl ash-lights and moonlight, it was pitch black, leaving the river stones a ghostly shade of gray.

Th

e water seemed unusually loud. Th

e area felt

closed in. Tight. Angry. Frigid. Unwelcoming. Like their presence destroyed the sanctity of the holy place.

Up ahead Jimmer said, “Fuck.”

520

Kevin ran until he saw Jimmer and Martinez standing side by side over a body.

First thing he noticed was the long hair rippling in the creek waters. Th

e lips were peeled back from the

teeth in a snarl. Eyes were wide open and dulled. Th e

body was riddled with bullets.

Leticia Standing Elk.

What the hell was she doing here? Had she and Julie confronted Ben’s killer together? If so, where was Julie?

Frustrated, he looked at Martinez. Martinez looked back at him. Kevin turned to Jimmer, but Jimmer was already running to another body sprawled in the rocks about 50 feet away.

“Ah, Jesus Christ,
no
.”

Kevin didn’t know if that’d come from him or Martinez; he only knew he’d never been more afraid in his life.

He sprinted, yet felt as if he were running in molasses.

Martinez reached the body fi rst.

It was Julie. No coat, clothes covered in blood. Her face cut up. Dried blood on her cheek, her temple, her chin. Chunks of vegetation tangled in her hair. Her eyes were closed, her gun on the rocks next to where she’d fallen. A necklace dangled from her fi ngertips. No sign of her cell phone.

Jimmer’s hand was on her throat. “She’s alive. In shock and probably suff ering from hypothermia, but alive.”

521

Kevin dropped to his knees and automatically reached for her hand, a hand usually so strong looking that was now lifeless and milky white against the stark ground.

“Don’t touch her,” Jimmer warned. “She’s got a bullet in that shoulder. One in the upper leg too. Take off your coats, let’s get her warmed up.” He whipped off his fl ack jacket, gently tucking it around her seemingly lifeless body. She didn’t stir. He touched her cheek. “Julie?

Can you hear me?”

No answer. No movement. Kevin couldn’t tell if she was breathing. He leaned closer.

Martinez did too. “Come on, blondie. Talk to me.”

“Like that’s gonna help,” Kevin replied sharply.

“Back off , right fuckin’ now, both of you, or I’ll shoot you where you fuckin’ stand,” Jimmer snapped.

“She’s not a goddamn bone. Do something to help her.

Flag down the sheriff . Jesus Christ, someone call a fuckin’ ambulance before she dies.”

Martinez slanted over Julie’s body while Kevin called the sheriff .

Jimmer tested her pulse again. “Julie? Can you hear me? Darlin’, if you can, squeeze my hand.”

No response.

“Her breathing is too shallow,” Martinez said.

Kevin couldn’t see her chest rising and falling at all beneath the coats.

522

“Come on, little missy. Stay with us. Prove that tough girl act ain’t an act.”

A cough, then Julie croaked, “Ben?”

“No. Jules. It’s Jimmer. Don’t talk.”

“Ben, don’t go.”

Silence.

“It’s okay. We’re here now.”

Awareness seemed to settle on her. “Ben isn’t really here. He’s dead.”

Jimmer answered, “Yeah.”

Pause.

“She killed him.” Julie attempted to move and gasped,

“Hurts.”

“I know. Stay still.”

“I shot her. I—”

“Ssh. Don’t move.”

“I hurt.” She whispered, “Everything hurts.”

“We got an ambulance comin’. Stay with us, little missy.”

“I’m tired.”

“I imagine.”

“Wanna let go. Just let me go.”

“No, goddammit, I will not let you go,” Martinez said, his face hovering inches above hers.

“For Chrissake,” Jimmer hissed, “Give her some fuckin’ space, Martinez—”

523

“Th

e fuck I will.” He dragged the back of his knuckles down her cold cheek, back and forth. “Come on, blondie. Stay with me.”

“Tony?”

“I’m here.”

“Don’t leave.”

“Not ever again.”

Julie calmed when Martinez continually smoothed her hair from her bloodied face, and murmured in Spanish.

Kevin remembered the last time he’d felt this helpless, when he’d watched Lilly die.

Th

e sound of sirens grew louder.

Despite the fear gnawing his innards, Kevin pushed to his feet. “I’ll direct them this way.”

Th

e crew had Julie loaded on a stretcher, covered up and in the back of the ambulance within minutes.

Martinez clambered in beside her and Kevin swallowed his fear, watching the blue and red lights swirl until darkness engulfed him again.

It was like a punch to the gut, the realization that Martinez
was
the perfect fi t for Julie. He was strong enough to be the type of man Julie needed, and he wouldn’t balk at the demons that dogged her, because it appeared Martinez had plenty of his own. Maybe Julie would let Tony be the one to fi nally help her heal now that her crusade to fi nd Ben’s killer was over.

524

Instead of feeling resentment, Kevin felt a heavy weight slip off his shoulders. Julie could move on. It was time for him to move on too.

525

Everything behind my lids was dreamy. Floaty.

Ethereal.

Weird damn dreams. Weirder than usual.

My body went rigid. Were they dreams?

What if they weren’t?

What if I was dead?

Did I dare peek and see if I’d ended up in heaven or hell? I slowly opened my eyes. No fi ery red pits. Th e

light was dim, and soothing, not divinely bright. Soft music played in the background. I blinked away the grit coating my eyes. Looked to the left. And saw him.

Defi nitely heaven.

Martinez’ rough fi ngertips caressed my jawline. “Hey.”

My lips parted but no sound came out.

“Don’t talk. I’m glad you’re awake.” He briefl y 526

squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his mouth to the back of my hand. “Jesus, Julie,” he whispered hoarsely, “I’m glad you’re alive.”

I looked around. Industrial wallpaper. A rolling tray table with a Styrofoam pitcher. Th

e constant hum and

beep of machinery. Antiseptic scents. A hospital. Again.

It all came rushing back to me. Th

e climb up Bear

Butte. My terror-fi lled trip down with a bullet lodged in my shoulder. Bleeding. Beat up. Scared. Hiding from Leticia along the creek as I tried to make it back to my truck. Th

e simple understanding that it boiled down to her or me.

And I’d chosen me.

I’d watched as she died with an ugly sneer on her face that matched her black soul.

From that point on things had gotten blurry. I’d been in a dream-like state talking to Ben. Th en nothing

but coldness and pain. Faint voices. Everything hurt.

Yet, I felt hollow. I felt the fi nality of what I’d done.

How had I ever thought killing would be easy?

I looked at Martinez.

As he looked back at me,
into
me, he knew exactly what I’d done, what I was feeling, and he was still here.

I started to cry.

He let me, crowded into my narrow bed and held me. When my tears ran dry, he whispered, “We’ll get 527

through this. I swear, we will get through this.”