Colt tugged at his mouth, clearly trying to make sense of this new information. “I don’t know. Does he have the password to your computer or phone?”
Aunt Pam nodded. “Yes. Both. Same as I have the passwords to his.”
“Where is he now?” Colt asked.
“I don’t know. Either at home or work probably, why?”
“Where does he work?”
“He’s the Marketing Director at Lone Star Fitness.”
Dad’s gaze flicked looked between Aunt Pam and Colt. “You think it’s him?”
“It’s another link in the chain.”
“What part of don’t fucking tell anybody didn’t you understand?” Dad growled at his sister.
“They said the leak was here! Alejandro doesn’t work here!” She glared at her brother. “And you need to get off your fucking high horse. They suspected you as well.”
“Cut that shit out,” Colt snapped, cutting off Dad’s response. “You can point fingers at each other when this is over.” I guess he felt a bit of pity for Aunt Pam because after a moment he continued. “Remember, we told you not to tell anyone either,” he said as he stared at Dad. “If you hadn’t, she wouldn’t have known, and then Alejandro couldn’t have known. Remember that when you two start blaming each other.”
Both Dad and Aunt Pam looked guilty as they glanced down, effectively ending the brewing argument, at least for the moment.
“I can’t believe Alejandro would do such a thing. He wouldn’t hurt a soul!” Aunt Pam finally said as she looked up, her voice soft. “Why don’t I call him and ask him if he told anyone? I didn’t tell him to keep it quiet because I didn’t think it was necessary. Who would he tell and why would they care?”
“No, don’t do that. That’ll only tip him that we’re onto him,” Colt said, his voice thoughtful. He was quiet for a moment, clearly thinking, before he continued. “Okay, here’s what I want you to do. When you get home tonight tell him someone made another attempt on Willow’s life last night, but they missed. Tell him we were out and discovered the broken door when we returned, and that scared us. Explain to him we’re leaving tomorrow for Rio Lago, and we’ll be there only a couple of days, just long enough for me to get my affairs in order, then we’re disappearing.”
“And if the hit men show up in Rio Lago,” I guessed.
“No. Then I want you to break his phone. Drop in the toilet or something, then leave. Have an emergency at work, anything that requires several hours at least, to give him a window to act.”
“Act?” Aunt Pam asked.
“I want to try to make him contact somebody in person. I’ll be watching. If he does, then we’ll have the next link in the chain… but listen to me Pam… I need you to sell this. I need you to make him think he has one more chance to get her before we’re gone forever.”
“I don’t know if I can do this.”
“If you want to keep Willow safe, you have to do this, understand? If it wasn’t you, and you told nobody but Alejandro, then it has to be him.”
She nodded. “Okay. I’ll try.”
He nodded. “If he doesn’t take the bait, I don’t know what we’ll do. We may have to actually disappear.”
“Couldn’t we go to Rio Lago, to see if they take another swipe at me there?”
“No! Absolutely not! They’re not getting another shot at you.”
“But how will we know otherwise?”
“We won’t, but it’s not important enough to risk your life.”
“You said it yourself. I don’t want to go around with a target on my back. If he doesn’t take the bait, we may no have any choice but to give them another shot, but if we know when and where, we can be ready for them.”
“It doesn’t matter how ready we may be if twenty men with machine guns show up. Forget it,” he said, making a slashing motion with his hand.
I pursed my lips but held my tongue. We weren’t done discussing this. We’d continue it later, in private.
“Colt’s right,” Aunt Pam said. “Too dangerous. What do you need from Larke Oil?”
“Besides you to sell this? Willow’s Jeep. When you get ready to leave, call me. I’ll show up right after and watch to see where he goes. Willow, I want you to stay here and then go home with your dad.”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“I mean no. You want to use my Jeep, I’m going, too.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes, I am. Do you know what Alejandro looks like?”
“No, but–”
“I do. You need me.”
“How many men do you think will be leaving Pam’s house? Go home with your dad. You’ll be safe there.”
“I’ll be safe with you if all you’re going to do is follow him. You want to use my Jeep? I’m going.”
Colt looked at Aunt Pam. “I also need a rent car.”
“No! I’m going! How are you going to stay awake all night?”
“I’ll figure something out,” he said, his tone making it clear there would be no debate. I didn’t say anything, but he only thought we were done discussing this.
.
.
.
COLT
“Colt! Wake up! He’s leaving!” Willow hissed, shaking me awake.
I sat up and lifted the setback from the reclined position. “What time is it?” I asked as I blinked myself awake.
“Almost ten.”
“Shit,” I muttered as I rubbed my face with both hands.
After the meeting in Pam’s office, Willow and I had tense but soft argument in the parking lot over her sitting in the Jeep with me. I had no idea she had such a stubborn streak, but I’d discovered it yesterday. She’d started out picking holes in my plan, pointing out all the ways it could go wrong with only one person watching. After almost an hour or me saying ‘no’, and her saying ‘yes,’ I’d finally given in.
In hindsight, she’d been right. I expected Alejandro to bolt as soon as Pam left, but he hadn’t. I didn’t think Pam had confronted him because she left about nine and hadn’t returned until almost two, following the plan we’d agreed upon. That meant she either hadn’t sold the story, or there was something more going on I wasn’t aware of… and I had no way to find out.
We changed places, so I was in the driver’s seat, about midnight, and she’d dropped off and slept until the sun began peeking over the horizon about six. We’d changed placed again, and I’d dozed until now. Even if I’d managed to stay awake all night, I wouldn’t be worth a shit now. I was still a little groggy, but getting four hours or so of sleep helped.
“Did Pam leave?”
She nodded as she started the Jeep. “About seven.”
“Not too close,” I muttered as she slipped the Jeep into gear and pulled away from the curb to follow the vibrant red Jaguar F-Type.
“Why didn’t he leave last night before Aunt Pam came back, I wonder?”
I shrugged. “Afraid of getting caught, maybe?”
“Maybe… or maybe it isn’t him.”
“It’s either him, your aunt, or he told somebody.”
She squirmed in her seat. “I have to pee so bad.”
Now that she mentioned it, so did I, but there was nothing for it now. We should have gone last night, after Pam returned home, but I didn’t have to go then, and didn’t think about it. We followed Alejandro until he stopped at Verizon. Lucky for us, Verizon shared a parking lot with a McDonalds.
“Park over there,” I said pointing as our quarry walked into the store. “Go. I’ll keep watch.”
“What if he leaves?”
“Then I’ll follow.” She frowned at me. “Should I let him give us the slip?”
“I’ll be fast,” she said as she opened the door and almost trotted into the lobby. I moved over to the driver’s side and settled into the seat. A moment later, she was back. “God, that’s better. You need to go?”