by Carsen Taite
Virginia had always been an outrageous flirt. Neil even joked about how no man was safe from the siren call of his beautiful fiancée, but tonight her efforts were laser-focused on Peyton.
Every time Neil’s back was turned, Virginia ramped up her efforts until smiles and nods escalated into a hand on a thigh under the dinner table and fingers trailing along her neck in a dark corner. At first, the attention was only annoying, but it quickly became dangerous. When Virginia tried to ply her with a glass of wine, Peyton gripped her arm so suddenly, the wine spilled down her shirt. Thankful for a reason to excuse herself from the evening’s events, Peyton went up to her room to change, deciding to shower away the scent of the encounter. When she finished her shower, she entered the room only to find Virginia hustling to cover her naked body and Neil looking apoplectic.
She’d left for D.C. a few days later, the decision made easy by the icy coldness that grew from Neil’s certainty that she’d once again tried to take everything he’d ever wanted.
Peyton forced her mind back to the present, but the past pushed in. “Why did you do it?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Virginia took a sip of her iced tea. “I loved Neil, but you…you have this quality about you that’s undeniably attractive. It’s like you’re outside the circle, unattainable. It makes people crazy, makes them want to do crazy things to get you to notice. I guess I thought I would see if I could get you to notice me before you left for Washington.”
“I’ve always noticed you, but you belonged to Neil.”
“I don’t belong to anyone.”
“You know what I mean. Not belong, but you’d agreed to marry him. Don’t act like that’s nothing.”
“Maybe it was just too confining. Neil’s always been the steady guy who would never leave the ranch, who would always do what’s expected. You were the exciting one. You went off to law school. You had prospects. You were the catch, the rising star. That kind of shine is irresistible.”
“I hope I never gave you the impression there was anything between us.”
“If you had, I probably wouldn’t have made a move. It was your unavailability that made me want you. And then you showed up back here out of the blue. Is it any wonder I couldn’t keep my hands off you at Cattle Baron’s? No woman in her right mind could.”
Not true. Lily Gantry obviously didn’t find her lack of availability attractive. It had only made her angry. How could she inspire such different reactions from two different women? Because you only care about one of them.
But it didn’t matter if she cared about Lily. Professionally, she had no choice but to keep her distance, and that same professionalism led her back to the real reason she’d asked Virginia to lunch. “I need you to tell me everything you know about the oil business.”
CHAPTER TEN
Tuesday morning, Peyton sat in her office, organizing her notes. Virginia’s information about the oil business had filled in a lot of the holes in her knowledge. The Taylor family had been long-time competitors of the Gantrys for North Texas’s oil and gas market, and meeting with Virginia had knocked two items off her list: helping with the case and learning more about what Neil might have planned for the future of the ranch. She began to wonder if Neil had first started thinking about drilling during the time he dated Virginia. He’d probably envisioned merging their family businesses into an empire, which only added to the ways his breakup with Virginia had dashed his hopes. Peyton shook her head. She couldn’t be blamed for Neil’s assumptions. His jealousy had always been just below the surface of their seemingly happy relationship.
God, she hoped Neil made the right decision and found a way to extricate himself from the contract, but if he didn’t, her path was clear. She had a responsibility to the rest of her family, not to mention the legacy of fortitude the ranch symbolized. Deep in her soul, she’d harbored dreams of deeding the ranch to her own daughter.
She looked back at her notes, attempting to focus on the agenda she’d come up with for the task force. As far as she could tell, before she’d gotten here they’d spent their time reacting to whatever new action the Zetas dreamed up. It was time to go on offense.
“Peyton? Mind if I come in?” Bianca stood in her doorway, posture timid, eyes looking everywhere except directly at her.
She waved. “Sure. I could use your help.”
Bianca look surprised, but walked into the room and took a seat in front of her desk. “I just got a call from Dominic Fowler. Carmen Chavez wants to talk.”
“That was fast. I figured she’d have to stew for a while before she came around. You should go see her this afternoon before she changes her mind.”
Bianca fumbled with the papers in her hand. “Actually, she only wants to talk to you. She thinks you have an in with the judge.”
Peyton set her notes aside. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to let her think that for now, but I’ll make it clear that I can’t make any concrete promises at this point.” She searched Bianca’s face, trying to read her expression. “You’re upset.”
“Yes, I mean no. I mean…well, never mind.”
“It’s okay. You’re pissed because I chewed you out about making promises you might not be able to keep and now the witness wants to talk to me because she assumes I can move mountains for her. You get the difference, right?”
Bianca hesitated before nodding, which told Peyton she wasn’t really on board. “The difference is she made an assumption about me based on my interaction with the judge in court.”
“So, it’s okay with you if we lie, as long as it’s indirect.”
“How long have you been doing this?”
“This? Being a lawyer or working at the U.S. attorney’s office?”
“Both. Give me the short version of your résumé.”
“I graduated from Georgetown and then did one year as a judicial clerk. Two years as a litigator with Harper Whitney, including six months as a lawyer on loan to the Tarrant County D.A.’s office. I’ve been here for the last three years.”
“Impressive.”
Bianca rolled her eyes and Peyton laughed. “I mean it, but here’s the thing. This is all I’ve ever done, so I have some nuggets of experience to share with you. You can let the fact that I’m in charge piss you off, or you can choose to learn from the mistakes I’ve made in the past. Your choice.”
Bianca didn’t say anything at first, and Peyton let her have a moment to think, since thinking before acting was one of the key things she wanted her to learn. When Bianca finally did speak, her words took Peyton off guard.
“Why did you come back here?” She frowned. “Sorry, that didn’t come out right. I mean, word is you were an up-and-comer at the AG’s office. Why come back to Dallas when you could make a name for yourself at main Justice?”
Peyton steepled her fingers while she contemplated how much to share. This conversation, right now, could be the key to her relationship with the team. She needed to make an ally if she was going to get them all to work together instead of running off in different directions. She didn’t have to share her life story, but a little honesty wouldn’t hurt. “Dallas is home for me. I have family here, and I need my family as much as they need me.” She paused and then turned the tables on the younger attorney. “You went off to Georgetown. Why did you come back?”
“Same as you, I guess. I have connections here. Staying away was never really an option.”
Peyton caught the undercurrent of implicit meaning, but now was not the time to pry. “Then let’s both make the most of the time we’re here. Get someone from pretrial services to order Carmen over from the jail under the guise of a routine check-in. Make sure nothing about the request references that we want to see her. Find a marshal you trust who can let us know when she’s here and we’ll go see her. Together.”
“Do you want to include one of the agents?”
Peyton took a moment to consider. Normal debriefs would include one or two case agents who usually took on the role of good
or bad cop, depending on the situation. It would probably make sense to include Dale at this point, but she hesitated. Dale had made it pretty clear she didn’t like her. She didn’t need to be liked, but if they were going to conduct an interview together, it would help to at least be able to read each other. No, she’d leave her out for now and make this afternoon more of a bonding exercise with Bianca. “How about we keep this between us for now? If we feel like Carmen has something solid to offer, we can bring the agents in for a second debrief. Sound good?”
Bianca smiled wide. “Sounds perfect.”
Several hours later, they were seated around a table with Carmen and Dominic. Peyton opened the conversation. “Thanks for agreeing to talk to us.” She pushed a paper across the table. “This is a document I gave to your attorney for you both to sign. Have you read it?”
Carmen nodded.
“I want to make sure you understand that I haven’t made any specific promises and I’m not going to at this time. I’ll listen to what you have to say. If you’re truthful and if your information is helpful then I will do what I can for you, but I’m not making any guarantees in advance. Do you understand?”
Carmen nodded again.
Peyton looked at Dominic who nodded as well. She knew he’d been around long enough to adequately explain to his client the Queen for a Day agreement. Basically, the form said Carmen got a free pass for whatever she told them in this meeting—they couldn’t use it to prosecute her. If she ever denied she’d said these things, they could use her statement to impeach her testimony, but otherwise it was off limits. Peyton liked to make absolutely sure witnesses knew exactly what they were getting into before they started talking. “Do you have any questions?” Carmen shook her head. “Do you want to sign the agreement and talk to us?”
Carmen flashed a quick glance at her attorney and then pulled the paper closer and signed her name. Peyton reached over and signed her name as well. “I’ll get a copy of this to your attorney. This will likely be the first of several meetings. I’m here with Ms. Cruz today, but in the future, I may include some of the case agents who were involved in investigating this matter.” She slid the paper into a folder and then launched her first question before Carmen could settle in. “When did you first meet Arturo Vargas?”
“I’ve never met him.”
Peyton heard a chair scrape and, without looking, she knew Bianca had leaned forward in her chair ready to lunge. She cleared her throat and drummed her fingers on the table. Carmen remained defiantly silent, and finally, Peyton reached into her briefcase and pulled out a manila envelope. She handed it to Carmen’s attorney but never took her eyes off Carmen.
“I’ve just given your attorney an initial set of discovery. Taped conversations. Between you and Arturo Vargas. Would you like to change your answer?”
Dominic leaned over and whispered something in Carmen’s ear, and then listened to what his client had to say before responding on her behalf. “Without actually listening to these tapes, we don’t have any way to respond to the allegations that Ms. Chavez is on them, let alone whether or not she was talking to Arturo Vargas, but my client insists she never met Mr. Vargas.”
“Let’s not pretend we need to call him Mister Vargas.” Peyton let her voice rise a bit to convey she was deadly serious. “He and his brother Sergio are ruthless killers who make their money getting children hooked on dangerous drugs. They’re Zetas, Mexican Cartel, and they will never deserve or receive respect from me, including addressing them by anything other than Defendants One and Two in an indictment designed to send them away for the rest of their lives.”
Peyton took her tone down a notch with her next remarks. “If your client would like to be named in the same indictment, all she has to do is keep lying.”
“I never met him!” Carmen shouted the words, and Dominic placed a hand on her arm to calm her down. She settled back into her chair, but her expression was sullen.
Peyton rolled a hand to keep her talking. “I’m listening.”
“I called the number. I talked to the man on the other end, but I didn’t know who it was.” She lowered her eyes and whispered, “Not for sure.”
Peyton decided not to get bogged down in the details for now. “Where did you get the phone number?”
“From my father.”
“What’s his name?”
“My father?”
Peyton shot a look at Bianca who looked like she was about to boil over with frustration. “Carmen, this is going to go a lot more smoothly if you will just assume that I’m going to want to know everything. If I have to drag every detail out of you, it’s going to be painful for both of us and not at all helpful to your case. Why don’t you start by telling me your father’s name, when he gave you the phone number, and why.”
“His name is Enrique Chavez and he’s at Allred,” she said, referring to one of the Texas prison units. “He called and said he needed me to do him a favor. He said it was for the family.”
“Was it a collect, prison call?”
“No. I thought it was strange and I even asked him about it. He said he got a cell phone from someone else in there.”
Cell phones in prison, usually brought in by corrupt guards, had gotten out of control. The feds had managed to crack down on the epidemic, but the state prison system, where the guards had less pay and benefits, was a breeding ground for corruption. “What was the favor?”
“He gave me a phone number. Told me to call and talk to the person on the other end. He told me exactly what to say. Said to do whatever was asked, that we would make some money that he needed for his appeal, and his actions would help pay a debt. He said if I did this, the family would be safe.” She looked up from her monotone story and met Peyton’s eyes. “I have a little boy.”
“Did someone threaten your boy?”
“He didn’t say so, not right out, but he kept saying we needed to do this to be safe.”
“You say he told you exactly what to say, tell me more about that.”
“I wrote it down and memorized it. I was supposed to call the number and talk to them about car repairs.”
Peyton mentally checked off a box on her list. The taped calls were all about automotive repair, each word part of a carefully crafted code for drug buys. Since the operation was run out of a body shop, the plan was brilliant.
“But you knew you weren’t really calling about car repairs, right?”
Carmen looked at Dominic who nodded for her to answer. “Yes, I knew.”
“Why did you think you were calling?”
“To buy drugs. Crystal.”
“I appreciate your honesty. Now, describe the call.”
Carmen described how she called several times to arrange the buy. She didn’t know for sure who she was talking to, but she was passed along to several different people, which led Peyton to believe she was being passed up the chain of command. Carmen’s father, Enrique Chavez, was doing time on a drug distribution charge, and he had been a top lieutenant of the Zetas on the outside. No doubt he was still doing their bidding even while he did time for them. But why involve his daughter?
“How many times have you done favors like this for your father?”
Carmen shook her head vigorously. “Never before.”
“I find that hard to believe. Your father gave you direct access to a very powerful man. Why would he do that if he didn’t know he could trust you to get the job done?”
“Who else was he going to ask? My brothers are either dead or in jail. My mother is too scared of him to even visit the prison. I’m the only one he has left. In the eyes of the law, he is a horrible person, but he was always good to me. He loves me.”
Could her motivation be as simple as a daughter’s love for her father? Had that love driven Carmen to put everything she’d worked for at risk? Was that so hard to believe? Wouldn’t she do anything for her own family?
Of course she would, but she’d make better choices because she’d been raised to
do so. Carmen had been raised by gangsters. It was amazing she’d achieved what she had, but she might always be limited by loyalty to blood relatives who were nothing more than thugs.
Was Lily just as loyal to her family? She didn’t have blood to unite her to her father’s empire, but maybe being adopted by rich and successful parents made her ties to their fortunes stronger. She tried to imagine Lily sitting in Carmen’s place, but the thoughts didn’t compute.
Peyton looked closely at Carmen and saw no signs of deception, only resignation. What she’d done had been misguided, but it was entirely possible this was indeed the first time she’d broken the law, her actions motivated by a sense of duty. If she was a pro at this, she’d be much better at gaming the system by giving up something more helpful than a vague understanding of the dangerousness of the Vargas brothers. Time to stop wondering and put Carmen to the test.
“Are you willing to make contact with Arturo again?”
Dominic stopped his client from answering and said, “You can’t be serious. First of all, I’m sure he’s the first named defendant in the indictment you’re presenting to the grand jury. Second, you’re asking her to put her life and the lives of her family in jeopardy to essentially do your job. No way.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Peyton said. “But like I said before, her life is already in jeopardy and her liberty is too. I’m not stupid. I’m not asking her to call him on the phone. I have a different idea and I need to run it by someone else, but I need to know up front if your client is willing to cooperate.”
She turned her attention back to Carmen. “All I need you to do for now is keep an open mind and keep your mouth closed. Everything you say, every phone call you make, every letter you write, you should assume someone is seeing and hearing every word. Do you understand?”
Carmen nodded.
Peyton stood up. “I’ll be in touch.” She looked at Bianca who began scooping her things into a bag before they left together. Bianca waited until they were back in Peyton’s office before saying a word.
