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“Got it,” he said when I stopped talking and opened my eyes.
“You are aware the K19 team received intelligence suggesting known traffickers would be in attendance this evening?” said Tryst.
Vader nodded. “And you know we’ve been trying to nail Crosby for years.”
“What for?” I asked, looking between the two men.
“Back then, the term human trafficking wasn’t as widely used as forced labor and sexual exploitation, but it all means the same thing.” Vader looked at Tryst. “Me and the boys have been tryin’ to catch the fucker for years.”
“Your instincts were sound, my love,” Tryst said after Vader walked away.
Two weeks later,when Harry Crosby died from sepsis brought on by an infection in the area where my bullet hit him, I wasn’t so sure my instincts had been.
26
TRYST
Jaicon and I returned toEl Lugar de Curacióntwo days after the Wicked Winemakers’ fundraiser. When we got the news of Crosby’s death, she received a request from the sheriff to return to California. Since the investigation had transitioned from a shooting to murder, Jaicon would be deposed by the county’s district attorney. No one believed she’d be charged. However, she still faced the inquisition.
Now,for the second time in a year, an emergency meeting was called, requesting the Los Caballerosviejosgather at the wine cave.
Brix and I stood at the head of the table, waiting for the current and past members to take their seats.
“I have gathered all of you together this evening to request the help of both the youngcaballerosand the old.” I looked around the room, meeting the eyes of each person seated, then those standing. They nodded in response.
“As you are aware, Harry Crosby was shot at the Wicked Winemakers’ Ball held on the twenty-first of October. Yesterday, he passed away.”
Brix read the coroner’s statement for the cause of death.
“Crosby has been on our radar for years,” said Malcolm Warwick, shaking his head in disgust. “We’ve never been able to pin anything on him.”
“That is the reason I’ve asked all of you to be here tonight. This has become personal to me. Together, I believe we will find the proof we need to prove what we’ve all known for decades. Los Caballeros, we must.”
“What about Varilla?” asked Press. “You and Jaicon visited him in prison, yes?”
“He was uncommunicative.”
“Perhaps he’d feel differently now Crosby is dead.”
I studied Press. Maybe he was on to something. At the very least, he might have a reaction we could catch before he masked it.
“Why don’t you let Kick and me talk to him?” said my nephew Salazar, who everyone called Snapper, pointing to his brother Rascon. “You and Jaicon could observe.”
It was a good idea, and I said so. “I will talk with her about it and see what can be arranged.”
“I’ve been thinking about this,” said Charlie Jenson, who’d allowed Jacy and me to stay in his seaside cottage both for the ball and now. “What do we know about Crosby? He had open access to high-school-age kids for almost thirty years. That included the families of vineyard workers.”
Martin Barrett raised his head. “I overheard someone talking about him after he was shot. They said something about how the man tutored children of migrant families.”
“Who was it?” Brix asked.
“Robert Mancini.”
I recognized the name. He’d purchased a vineyard property and winery located on the south side of Paso Robles only three or four years ago.
“I’ll see what I can find out from him,” Brix offered.
“I’ll go with you,” said Ridge.
