Evasive Action (Holding The Line Book 1)

hand. “They’ve sent us messages before—just not this extreme.”
“Extreme times call for extreme measures.” Espinoza wagged his finger between him and Clay. “I’ve been up front with you. You can be up front with me. Quid pro quo and all that. I’ve heard Las Moscas is stepping up its shipments across the border, financed more tunnels. They’ve monopolized some provider in Mexico.”
“El Gringo Viejo.” Clay’s eye twitched.
“The old gringo—yeah, that’s the name I heard. Any idea who that is?”
April sucked in a soft breath beside him, and he shrugged. “We don’t know. Probably some old, white guy.”
“Brilliant deduction, Archer.” Espinoza clapped Clay on the back with a chuckle. “Why did you come in to see me?”
Clay waved the folder in front of him. “Just to tell you the woman looked familiar, but you beat me to the punch.”
“We’ll keep you posted on the drug angle if we get anything from this Camarena. That poor little lady didn’t have a chance once she joined forces with that guy.”
“And we’ll keep you up to date on any activities at the border that might relate to this case.” Clay made a half turn, putting his hand on the small of April’s back. “I’ll be out of town for the next few days. You have my contact info if something comes up.”
“Agent Dillon’s out of pocket, too. You’re leaving me with that green kid, Valdez?”
“Put him through some paces. He’ll be fine.”
Once outside, April heaved a huge sigh, her shoulders slumping. “That was a piece of luck. We just had to lie by omission. We didn’t have to flat out lie.”
“There’s a difference?” He raised one eyebrow. “Is this the world according to April?”
A pink blush rushed into her cheeks, and she turned away. “I’m glad they ID’d Elena Delgado. Do you think they’ll track down Jesus, aka Gilbert?”
“So, that was him in the booking photo of Camarena that Espinoza showed us?”
“You couldn’t tell by my reaction? I almost passed out.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” Clay grabbed the handle of the passenger door and paused. “Detective Espinoza could get an anonymous tip about a certain house in Albuquerque.”
“It’s totally possible that the cops would track down Gilbert after identifying Elena, right? Jimmy wouldn’t necessarily suspect me of dropping a dime on them. Besides, Jimmy has no idea that Elena’s head was left on my porch. Las Moscas isn’t going to tell him anything.”
“Jimmy has bigger problems than a runaway bride right now. He’s probably sweating bullets wondering if his bosses in the cartel are going to tie him and Gilbert to the two mules trying to poach Las Moscas’ shipment.”
April leaned her hip against the car door. “They’ll kill him, won’t they?”
“If what they did to those two women is any indication of the wrath of Las Moscas, I wouldn’t want to be in Jimmy’s shoes right now.” Not that he wasn’t in Jimmy’s shoes just two years ago when April had run out on their wedding. He popped open the door and held it open for her.
She started to slide in and then grabbed the doorjamb. “Are you wondering why I agreed to marry Jimmy so quickly?”
Clay clenched his jaw. “I think we established you were looking for some security and Adam had coached Jimmy into being the perfect man for you.”
Clay had always believed he was the perfect man for April, and he couldn’t imagine anyone less like him than a drug dealer.
“At the beginning...he was just like you.” She dropped onto the seat and pulled the car door closed.
LATER THAT AFTERNOON, April stood on the walkway leading to her house, squinting at Clay and Kyle Lewis on ladders adjusting the cameras.
When Clay started his descent, she lunged forward and grabbed the ladder to steady it, enjoying the view of his backside as he made his way down.
She shifted to the side, and he jumped to the ground, his tool belt clanking around his waist.
“When Meg gets home, we’ll have her test it out on her phone. I don’t expect any more body parts to appear at your house, but I think this will make Meg feel a little better.”
“One hundred percent.” She darted toward the other ladder as Kyle made his way down.
“Are you ready for that beer now?”
“Absolutely. Let me clean up the site first.”
April left Clay and Kyle to fold up the ladders, collect the packaging and put away their tools as she went into the house and got two bottles of beer and a can of diet soda from the fridge.
When Meg got home from work, Kyle showed her how to call up the security cam on her cell and they spent so much time with their heads together huddled over the phone April caught Clay’s eye and jerked her head to the side.
Clay stood up and stretched. “April and I are going outside to check the sensors again. Let us know if something’s not working.”
Kyle glanced up, a surprised look on his face as if he’d forgotten their presence. “Yeah, sure.”
Clay held the door open for her and they crowded on one side of the porch, away from where she’d discovered the head. He grabbed her hand. “Let’s wander among the cacti.”
She left her hand in his as they meandered along the brick pathway that wended through the garden of succulents. Small fairy lights cast a twinkling glow on their way.
The tears in April’s eyes blurred the lights, turning them into a shimmering river. She sniffed and Clay squeezed her fingers.
“Your mother had a lot of imagination and charm. You must miss her.”
“I do.” She flung her arm out to the side. “Especially when I’m in this place she loved so much.” She stopped and tapped the toe of her sandal against the wooden border that separated the path from the plants. “I wish I could talk to my father about what happened and why.”
Clay swung around and grabbed her shoulders. “Don’t get any crazy ideas about going south to find El Gringo Viejo. He’s not your father,