Page 84 of The Texas Murders

“Being able to shoot a gun isn’t the most important part of being in law enforcement,” I say. “I’ve seen that time and again working with Carlos and Ava. I’m not half the cop they are. Or you,” I add, earnest in my compliment. “I know we’ve had our disagreements, Ryan, but I respect all that you’vedone with this task force. There are a lot of women being reunited with their families because of you.”

He nods his appreciation, but I can see my words don’t cheer him.

I want to warn him that the situation we’re heading into is likely to get bloody. I want to ask if he’s ready, but I know he might see that as disrespectful. And, given the respect he’s just shown to me, I don’t want to insult him.

Before I can figure out what to say, Carlos and Ava return.

“Just got off the phone,” Carlos says. “Our plan should work.”

“Someone want to tell me what’s going on?” Ryan says.

Carlos points to the Google Earth image of Garrison Zebo’s property.

Zebo’s acreage abuts the foothills of the Franklin Mountains in an upscale area of El Paso. The property includes a large mansion and several other buildings on a campus thick with trees and other vegetation. A large blue pool sits behind the house, so close it looks like you could dive from the deck into the water. One of the large outbuildings looks like a garage, and considering Zebo owns a car lot, we suspect that he probably has some nice automobiles stored there. Another building, near the back of the property, looks like it could be storage, or perhaps even a guest house for visitors.

We assume the women are held there.

A thick wall—probably concrete or flat rocks concreted together, a popular style here in El Paso—runs around the perimeter of the property, topped with razor wire.

There is also a gate out front, with a small guardhouse.

“If he’s got women there,” Ryan says, “then he’s going to have armed men guarding them.”

I’m afraid Ryan is going to call off the operation, but then Carlos speaks.

“There,” Carlos says, pointing to the screen. “That’s our way in.”

Behind the property, an aqueduct runs through the foothills, carrying steel-gray water along a path that people probably use for running or horseback riding. These kinds of acequia trails are common in this part of the Southwest, where every ounce of water is precious.

On Zebo’s property, we can see a small drainage creek running down a hill, passing right behind the building where we think the women are housed and toward the back wall. The streambed is dry in the picture, but when there’s a rainstorm, it probably fills up. It’s hard to tell exactly how, but the streambed leads under the wall, where it intersects the main waterway. Without some kind of outlet, the back of his property would flood.

“Just got off the phone with the water company,” Carlos says. “The pipes they use in that area should be big enough for us to crawl through—although it might be a tight fit.”

“Should we wait for nightfall?” Ava asks.

“No,” Ryan says, surprising all of us that he’s the one to endorse this seat-of-the-pants mission. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

“Not just yet,” Carlos says, and all eyes turn to him. “Ava, you’re not going to like what I have to say.”

“What?” she asks.

“I don’t think you should go with us,” Carlos says to her. “It should just be the three of us.” He points to himself, then to Ryan and me.

I’m shocked. I don’t know why he’d want to leave her behind.

Ava visibly bristles.

From her face, I can tell she feels betrayed.

CHAPTER 75

RYAN, OF ALL people, comes to her defense.

“She saved your asses back there at that fire,” he says to Carlos. “We shouldn’t leave her out.” He turns to Ava. “I was wrong to exclude you before, and he’s wrong now.”

Carlos says that his recommendation for her to stay behind is not meant to be a slight about her abilities in the field.

“It’s not that at all,” he says to her. “You need to stay behind to interview Isabella Luna.”

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