Ann Aguirre - Blue Diablo

“It’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you,” I assured her. “Jesse is a policeman. He’ll get you some help.”

“You’re not taking me to Diego Montoya?”

Montoya. Twila had given Chance that name, Montoya, in exchange for his help, and I’d already guessed we were looking for a Montoya, based on the symbol that linked the grave I’d found in San Antonio and the astral tell Booke saw on Chuch’s house. Well, now we had a first name, which would make it easier to find him.

The girl grasped at Saldana with thin fingers. Her whole body shook, and her eyes rolled in her head as if she were a spooked horse. Her English was awkward. “If take me, they will—” Her voice broke. I heard her teeth chattering. “They told me they get me good job, then I send money to my family. Instead, put me in box, they make me do bed-work. If I don’t, they kill me.” She sobbed out, “Home. I want go home. Take me home.”

He murmured to her in quiet reassurance. Far in the distance, I heard sirens. That was our cue. “We need to go. If you learn anything from her, give me a call.”

Saldana regarded me from dull eyes. I’d broken something in him, or maybe it was simple disillusionment. “All right. I’ll see what I can turn up on this Montoya too.”

Once we patched up a bit and checked in with Chuch, we’d start looking for Diego Montoya. I didn’t care how many guards we had to wade through, or if he had a dozen more pet warlocks. We’re coming, Min. Just hold on.

Nobody said a word as we jogged to the Mustang. We all piled in and pulled onto Halstead Creek Road with a squeal of tires. Maybe a quarter mile down the road, we passed two cop cars, lights blazing. They buzzed past us and continued on to the scene, where once again we’d left Jesse a hell of a mess to clean up.

I didn’t know how he’d explain all the body parts and the disgusting smell, let alone a field full of dismembered women. Maybe the poor girl we saved would add credence to his story. But any cop who walked away from a fight that killed his partner would be in for a rough ride, let alone under these circumstances.

Even if said partner had been a corrupt son of a bitch.

I supposed the outcome depended on who actually owned the property. Christ, I hoped we hadn’t gotten Saldana fired. On the whole I had bigger worries, however. My whole body ached, I hadn’t slept in two days, hadn’t eaten since the cookies last night, and we had a war to wage.

“Are you two okay?” My voice sounded hoarse.

“I’ll live,” Chance answered. “If my head doesn’t explode.”

God’s Hand made no reply.

Putting aside my own aches, I leaned forward, anxious. “Is he...?”

Wouldn’t that be just what we needed? Another dead body. My own head throbbed like a sore tooth.

Chance couldn’t take his eyes off the road long enough to check for a pulse but said, “Doubt it. If he was going to kick off, he’d have done it already.”

I couldn’t help but agree. “Did you find anything in the hangar?”

“I’m not sure. Could be something, could be nothing. We found what looks like a cargo manifest, detailing their ‘pottery’ shipment and where it was supposed to go. It might be a dummy sheet and worthless, but at this point, it’s all we have.”

A few minutes later, we arrived at Chuch’s place. I felt bemused to see Butch standing on his hind legs, peering out the front door. God, I was glad that stupid dog was okay. I slid over and climbed out the driver’s side. Butch barked as I went around the car to check on Kel.

When I bent toward him, his eyes snapped open. Despite myself I stumbled back a step, out of his reach. His eyes just weren’t right.

“We’re here,” I said stupidly.

“Thanks. I’ll be all right in a few minutes.” He made no move to get out of the car, though, so I just left him there. I had enough to worry about.

Chuch met us at the front door, evidently alerted by Butch’s impressive watchdog performance. “ Dios ,” he said. “Look at you two. I guess you found my stash, huh?” He took in the rifle dangling from Chance’s hand. “Let me put that away for you, primo .” His eyebrows almost shot off his forehead. “Man, this is going to be some story. Why don’t you guys rinse off some of the blood and then tell me what the hell’s been going on?”

That sounded like a great idea. I took a five-minute shower and Chance took his turn next. We all met up in the kitchen, where Eva simmered some bean soup that smelled like heaven. She greeted me with a great big squeeze that hurt my ribs. “You okay, cariño ?”

Tears filled my eyes as I hugged her back. I hadn’t realized just how much I cared about her until this moment. “Yeah. I’ll be sore in the morning, but I’m all right.”

Her love hurt, though. Whatever I said, I had about a dozen wounds that needed tending. The bite on my shoulder might fester if it wasn’t treated.

Chuch took a seat at the kitchen table and drummed his fingers on top. “You want to fill me in? Why is there a tattooed dude asleep in the Mustang? Why did you need all that hardware? And where did the creepy Chihuahua come from?”

After pouring us both tall glasses of iced tea, Chance sat down and let me tell the story. Butch whined until I picked him up, and he sat with his chin on the table, overseeing the proceedings. The tale took the better part of an hour, and by the time I finished, both Chuch and Eva regarded us with astonishment.

“You mean those loco dreams were true?” the mechanic asked finally.

With a nod, Chance answered, “More or less. When we destroyed the foci that held you, your souls were free to follow the silver cord back to your physical bodies.”

Chuch ran a hand through his long, dark hair, looking grim. “What about the guy outside? What’s his deal? Did you hire a merc?”

Damn. I’d hoped to avoid discussing Kel.

“Not exactly. He, ah, showed up last night, claiming God sent him to help us rid the world of a great evil.”

Eva gave me a long look. “And you didn’t think he was crazy? Your first impulse was to arm him?”

“Well, it wasn’t my first impulse...” I tried a smile. God knew what she’d say if she found out who he was.

“Wow.” She shook her head. “So you went off with a nut job and you took out the warlock. You didn’t even have Chuch’s good stuff. He has a real cache of weapons hidden better than that. You know, just in case.”

“When you find Montoya, I’m going with you to rescue your mama and take him out,” Chuch said quietly. “You’ll need the extra firepower... and he crossed the line when he let his goon mess with my wife.”

I expected Chance to protest but he simply stared at Chuch for a minute. As if making a judgment based on something he saw that I couldn’t interpret, he simply nodded. “We need some rest. It’s been a tough twenty-four.”

To say the least.

“Eva, can you put your mad investigative skills to tracking down something about this Diego Montoya?” I asked.

She nodded. “I’ll start with the Internet and work from there.”

“Let me make some calls,” Chuch said. “I know some people who might be able to tell us something.” He glanced at Chance. “It may take some bribe money, though, primo . They won’t cross these people for nothing. We got to make it worth their while.”

“How much? I can get my hands on ten grand, maybe. It would take longer to—”

Chuch laughed. “Relax. You could get these guys to kill their own grandmothers for a thousand dollars, let alone talk some shit.”

The clearing of a throat drew our eyes toward the kitchen doorway. Kel stood there under his own power, blood soaked but ambulatory. “May I use the shower?”