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“He’s gone under. Probably at a ranch his family has north of Laredo. Suarez is running the south side for him, from what I’ve heard. I’ve got an address on the donut shop where Garza and Piedras worked, if you want to start there.”
Daniel’s empty stomach heaved at the word donut, but he managed to keep his voice even. “It’s open on Sunday?”
“Twenty-four hours a day seven days a week. Shawna worked the nightshift. Locked the kid in the apartment alone.”
Daniel already knew the details of Benny’s life with his mother, but he let Katz drone on, thinking of Benny’s scared, bruised face the day Daniel had picked him up from the group home. He’d squeezed into the corner of the backseat in Daniel’s car, his emaciated arms crossed tight against his undersized body, a defiant look on his face as he stared out the window.
It had taken weeks to get him to trust Daniel enough to touch him. A quick pat on the back first, then a small hug at bedtime, until finally, Benny had thrown himself into Daniel’s arms for a full-fledged hug over an infield single.
The ring of his phone broke the reverie, forcing Daniel to abandon the memory of Benny’s grinning face.
“Daniel, it’s Samuel. I’m on the road to the station. Find anything?”
Daniel reeled off names. “Ask Joaquin about Suarez. Maybe he can track him down through his gang unit contacts.”
“Right.” Samuel paused. Daniel heard a horn blare and tires screech. “So we don’t have Shawna and we don’t have the drugs. We need to come up with a strategy to keep this guy from going ape on us.” His brother’s inflection hadn’t changed.
“Agreed.” Daniel flexed his free hand in a fist, hoping his brother had some ideas. “I’m thinking we offer to pay him the value of the drugs in cash.”
“Who comes up with the cash?”
“Katz is talking to his guys, see if they might want a stake in it. The DEA might be interested if they think they might get Barrera out of it.” They would get access to key information that might break Barrera’s operation, and Daniel would get Benny back alive. Everyone benefited.
“Está bien.What’s your ETA?”
“We’re going to stop for donuts before we meet you guys.”
“Donuts? I guess you’re feeling better.”
Daniel wished that were true. Nausea and a pounding headache were his constant sidekicks. “Shawna Garza’s last legitimate place of employment was a donut shop. We’re hoping to get a lead on her stash. Maybe somebody else was in the game with her.”
“Be safe.”
Benny wasn’t safe. Until he was, Daniel didn’t care about being safe. “You, too.”
Light traffic and Cooper’s lead foot put them in San Antonio a mere two hours later. Daniel’s fingers slid down the greasy handle of the donut shop door. A wave of warm air hit him in the face, bringing with it the smell of fried dough. Donuts. Old grease. Coffee. He tried to keep his breathing shallow, not sure how his stomach would react to the aroma of food. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten.
Cooper slid onto a stool at the counter, Katz next to him. Daniel paused for a moment, eyeing the area behind the counter. Two waitresses pulled pan dulce from long trays and stowed them on shelves in a huge display case. The one with the long platinum blonde hair glanced his way and returned to her task.
The one with the red hair that screamed bad dye job stared at him a second, looked away, and then at the two men at the counter. She leaned in and whispered to her coworker as she wiped her hands on a semi-white apron. She trotted the length of the counter to where Katz and Cooper sat. “Coffee, gentlemen?”
“Sure,” Katz spoke first. “Coffee and a side order of information.”
“Coffee’s a buck, free refills. Information will cost you more.”
“How’ve you been, Juanita?”
Juanita Piedras’ bloodshot gaze sharpened. Her lined face, cankered lips, and stained teeth revealed hard living despite her youth. She had the skinny frame of a habitual user. “Fine, until now. You narcs?”
“Some of us. Don’t you remember me?” Katz smiled.
Her face darkened. “You arrested Shawna. What do you want?”
Daniel picked up a menu. They served breakfast as well as donuts. The words swam in front of him. He dropped the menu and gripped the counter. “We want to talk about Shawna.”
Juanita slapped her order pad on the counter. “Her again. You put her away. What more do you want? Let the poor woman do her time in peace.”
“We would. Except we think she arranged to have her son kidnapped.”
