Page 49 of Shelter for Sharla

“I guess da money. Dat guy, he don’ ever care nothin’ ‘bout his kids or ol’ lady. He was a user, man. Use you up and throw you away. Dat’s all he ever do.”

“Uh-huh. So if he was calling that his insurance policy, how did he expect them to collect it?”

Estevez shrugged. “He say he had numbers in a book, man. You know, satellite stuff.”

“You mean GPS coordinates?” Carter asked, stunned.

“Yeah, man. GPS coordinates. But dat money was for da crew.”

“You mean the gang,” Cruz corrected.

“I don’ like dat word. Sounds so fuckin’ negative, ya know.” Estevez was grinning as he said it, and Carter wanted to knock that grin right off his face. “But he said we gonna divide it up and be for us, ya know? He say not to tell da Italian, ya know? Because dat dude, he be like wantin’ to kill us for it.”

“Well, fourteen million dollarsisa lot of money,” Carter pointed out.

“Yeah, but there was more. Dat money, dat not da only thing Kent buried there.” The minute the word “buried” popped from Estevez’s mouth, it was obvious he’d said something he hadn’t meant to.

Carter watched as Cruz leveled his gaze at the prisoner. “Two months off bathroom duty. Spill.”

“Well, see, ya know dat ring da Italian wear? He tell Los Lobos, he say he the new leader, dat DonEduardo turn things over to him an’ go underground. But nobody believed him. He say DonEduardo give him the ring. Dat’s not what Kent say.”

“And what did Kent say?”

“He say DonEduardo is dead.”

Carter and Cruz glanced at each other. “And who killed him?”

“Kent. For da Italian.”

Now we’re getting somewhere, Carter thought. “So are you saying Eduardo is buried with the money?”

“I think so. I mean, dat make sense, ya know? An’ da Italian, he don’ want dat body showin’ up.”

“Because they’ll know DonEduardo is dead and not hiding out?” Carter asked.

“No. Because dey dig up dat body, dey see dat ring finger missing where da Italian cut it off an’ take dat ring.”

It hit Carter like a ton of bricks. The Italian had DonEduardo killed to take over LosLobos, but it hadn’t worked the way he’d planned. They were resistant, and they were right to be. If the members of LosLobos ever found out DonEduardo was dead and the Italian had taken that ring, the bloodshed would be immediate and never-ending until all the members ofLaTana delLupowere dead.

“Does McCutchen know about all of this too?” Cruz asked Estevez, breaking into Carter’s thoughts.

“Oh, yeah, but that mofo, he crazy, man. I stay away from him, man. I don’ want nothin’ to do wif dat boy, knowwhatI’msayin’?”

Cruz nodded along as he spoke. “Well, okay then. And you have no idea where he wrote down the coordinates for the burial site?”

“Nope. But it gotta be somewhere in da stuff wif his wife and kids. No other place it could be.”

“And did they know where the wife and kids were?” Carter asked.

“Nope. Dey been lookin’ for ‘em all dese years, but I hear dey found ‘em. Ain’t dat funny, boy? I hear dey inKen-tu-cky,” he said, emphasizing each syllable in a way that made Carter want to punch him. “Dat girl of Kent’s, she got a birthmark on her face. Dey lookin’ for her. Say she a college kid. Who ever guess Kent’s girl go tocollege?”

The sheriff felt sick.That’swhatLaTana delLupowas doing?looking for those coordinates. They’d been looking for a while, and they’d finally found the kids. So many things were running through Carter’s mind that he couldn’t speak. He just wanted to get out of the prison and in the car with Cruz so he could voice everything he was thinking to see if he could be right about any of it.

His thoughts were interrupted again by Cruz. “I think we’re done here. Thank you for your time, Mr.Estevez. I’m going to the warden right now to talk about your bathroom duty, and I hope I can get that for you.”

“You’d better, FBI man. Nothin’ in life is free. Don’cha know dat?” Estevez laughed loudly at his own joke and Carter was sickened again. All he could think of in that moment was Sharla, the kids, and getting some fresh air into his lungs. The stale air in the prison interrogation room had become stifling.

As soon as Estevez was led out, Cruz turned to Carter. “You okay?”

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