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Alex shared an exasperated look with the paramedic. “Like she won’t freak when she sees that bandage?”
“I’ll wear long sleeves.”
“To bed?”
Joaquin grinned. “None of your business. And shut up.”
“You don’t go in the ambulance, you gotta sign some paperwork for me.” The paramedic stalked away.
“Hey, I promise not to sue you if my arm falls off.” Joaquin called after him. His laugh faded into a grimace.
Alex followed his line of sight. Samuel and Ray approached. It was hard to tell whose face was surlier. Alex had given Ray the bare minimum over the phone. He’d rather Ray tell Sarge these things. Samuel Martinez was a fair man, but when it came to family, he was worse than a cornered rattlesnake.
Joaquin threw up a hand. “Don’t worry,cuñado. It’s already taken care of.” A look passed between Samuel and his brother-in-law and the emotion on Samuel’s face eased.
“Suarez?”
“They’re still searching the neighborhood. I suspect he’s long gone.”
“Left a nice stash, though,” Alex chimed in. He nodded toward the couch. “And a girl.”
Ray took Joaquin to his doctor, leaving Alex with the Blazer. Alex was glad he wouldn’t be at the Santos house when Lily discovered why Joaquin had come home early.
In the time it took a uniformed officer to find a soda andtacos de picadillofor the girl, Marta didn’t say one word. She sat at the table, silent, her eyes red, her expression flat. Alex set the food in front of her. She grabbed a taco and wolfed it down. She kept looking at him as if she were afraid he’d steal her food. The paramedics said she was dehydrated, malnourished, and had bruises in a number of places aside from her face.
Sarge sat across from the girl, his hands clasped in front of him on the table.
His face exuded patience, but Alex knew better. They needed answers and quickly. Benny’s kidnapper would be calling later in the day, and they still didn’t have a solid lead on him.
“Marta, how long have you been in señorSuarez’s house?” Sarge’s Spanish sounded like pure Mexico, unlike Alex’s broken Tex Mex.
The girl swallowed the bite of taco and took a sip of her soda. “Three day, I think.No sé.”
“Did Suarez have any visitors during that time?”
She nodded before taking another bite and chewing. She swallowed hard. “Did you callLa Migra?I go back toMejico, now?¿Sí?I want mymama y papa.”
“After the doctors take a look at you at the hospital.”
Alex pulled up a chair and sat down, close to the girl. He took a shot at it. “Was it a man? Did you hear what they talked about?’
Marta rolled the second taco up in the foil, the look of fear on her face deepening. She said the two men talked loudly, arguing sometimes. “The man said he would get the drugs back if he had to kill a man named Juice.” She frowned as if trying to figure out why a man would be calledJugo.“He said the man had called him. Said he was working on getting the drugs from a woman. He said he knew where to find man named Juice. Then he left. He didn’t come back.”
Alex and Samuel exchanged glances again. Juanita Piedras had said a man namedJugohad visited Shawna at the donut shop.
“Marta, did you hearseñorSuarez say the man’s last name?”
Marta studied the taco in front of her for a few seconds. “I think he say Morin. Yes, Morin.”
Juice Morin. A Jorge Morin had visited Shawn Garza in jail. Jorge and Juice were one and the same man, and he was a suspect in Benny’s kidnapping. Connected to a vicious drug dealer. Alex didn’t know whether to be happy they had a name or scared sick for Benny.
“What happened after the man left?”
“SeñorSuarez paid attention to me. He said he liked me. A lot. I told him I wanted to get a job and send money home to my parents. He laughed. He said I had a job. My job was to make him happy.”
Marta started to cry. She shoved the remaining taco across the table toward Alex.“Ya no tengo hambre.”
Alex tossed the taco in the wastebasket. He’d lost his appetite, too. They had a name. Jorge “Juice” Morin.
