Page 95 of Deadly Evidence
The whoosh of a ventilator in the next cubicle sounded like the respirations of some prehistoric beast.
Monitors beeped, machines hummed, the phone rang, and a gurney rattled past, accompanied by several sets of footsteps.
If the poor guy wasn’t practically comatose, he surely wouldn’t have gotten any rest here.
“Hey, Uncle Gil...you’re looking mighty fine,” she murmured, reaching over the network of tubes to brush his hair away from his forehead. “I hear you had a visitor.”
He lay still as granite, his eyes closed. Only the reassuring lines squiggling across his monitors and the almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest reassured her that he was still alive.
She settled in a chair close to the head of his bed. “I just want you to know that we’re worried about you. They said prayers for you at church on Sunday. I went over and helped your foreman Alvarez brand and vaccinate yesterday, and your calves are looking good.”
The lines on the monitor gave an extra little blip, and she wondered if he was hearing her, even though he seemed so still.
Encouraged, she reached over and rubbed his hand. “I hear Brady Coleman was here to see you...I suppose he hoped to get some answers, but I’d guess you weren’t up to much conversation.
“Did he tell you that he’s a DEA special agent, and that the guys who shot you have been arrested? It’s been pretty wild atour place. A big ‘operation,’ they called it—and now it’s been on the national news.”
She glanced up at the big clock on the wall above his bed. Just eight minutes left...and then it would be another hour before she could come back in.
“Let’s see...Lacey was missing for a while, but she’s home now. Mia left for New York on the bus this morning, but she and Vicente are getting along so I’ll bet she’ll come for a visit again.”
There’d been no further word about Dante since he had been arrested with the others early Saturday morning, so she skated by that.
“You know what, you and Jonah were right,” she murmured, her thoughts drifting back to the emotional roller coaster of the past few weeks.
“You two were always saying I should find some nice guy and settle down—that I would be happier and life would be so much better. I never really thought about it because I never found the right guy. Know something funny?” She reached over and tucked the blankets a little higher over Gil’s chest. “I found the one who does make me happy—and he left with barely a goodbye. Ironic, right?”
Behind her, someone rustled the curtain and cleared his throat.
She turned—and the moment she saw Brady, a warm flush of embarrassment flooded her cheeks. Dressed in a black polo shirt and black slacks, he looked muscular, trim, and as handsome as any movie star.
“I...um...didn’t know you were here,” she stammered.
“Just got here. The nurse was sweet—she said I could come in for a minute, even though Gil had another visitor.”
“She probably has an instant crush on you.”
“No, she’s way too young.” He nodded toward the double doors leading out into the waiting room. “I thought I’d stop hereto check on Gil before going out to your ranch. I have some news for you.”
“Dante?”
“He’s been questioned extensively but not charged. He was allegedly planted at your ranch as a lookout, but he wasn’t exactly a model Garcia employee. He only cooperated to protect his sisters, and once he settled in and found he really liked all of you, he never did do what he was told.”
Anna felt a flash of almost motherly pride. “From the beginning, I was sure he had potential to make something of himself. I’ve even been talking to him about college, so we’ll see.”
“I’d better talk fast, I guess, before I get booted out of here.”
Brady glanced over his shoulder at the nurses’ station.
“The local interrogations have been successful. With kidnapping, attempted murder, and dozens of counts against them related to drug trafficking, these guys have been singing their hearts out.”
“That’s good, then.” Anna dredged up a faint smile. “You must be thrilled.”
“You might be, too. We’ve discovered that Nieto was behind your cattle thefts—probably in retaliation for your stand against drug shipments crossing your land. We have some people hauling them home for you right now.”
At that, she could smile for real. “One of my young Brangus bulls went missing, and he was a twenty-grand investment. I would have been paying on that note for years with no return. Where were they?”
He looked down at Gil, who still lay motionless in the bed with his eyes closed, then lowered his voice. “A remote area of Gil’s ranch. We think Gil has known about the trafficking situation for years. We found barns on his more distant properties that are being used as stash houses for accumulating drug shipments.”
