Topaz grinned. “Me, too.”
Jan, never one to let a chance for gossip go unanswered, gleefully rubbed her hands together. “Topaz, you go first.”
Topaz shook her finger at Jan. “Oh, no, you don’t. I do not kiss and tell.”
“You kissed?”
“Not telling.”
Cholo returned before dawn, leaving Craig and Roger to bird sit until they could get the parrots back to the safety of Rancho Los Pajaros.
No matter how much we harassed him, Cholo refused to tell us anything more than that the old truck driver, Eli, was putting as many cages as was safe into his truck and making trips back and forth until the Dona Esperanza was bird free.
We left as soon as we were all on board and arrived in La Paz about the same time as Roger and Craig. They returned my pickup and Jan’s Jeep, then hopped a plane back to Arizona.
Cholo vanished, and even Rhonda, when I called her, said she had no idea where he was.
Topaz caught a flight to Mexico City, with plans to visit the girls in their villages. Jan and I suspected she was going to rendezvous with Nacho, as well.
If there is one thing we hate above all else, it’s being left in the dark. And on so many levels.
Jan left for the whale camp the day Roger, Craig and Topaz took off.
Po Thang, Trouble, and I were left to deal with a crew of worker bees, who shampooed my wool carpet well enough to save it, touched up the side of my boat where the concrete quay scraped the paint, and the boat was given a stem to stern spit and polish.
Within a few days, it was as though nothing ever happened.
And I planned to keep it that way!
Ha! When porkers take wing.
EPILOGUE
“SO,” JENKS SAID, as we lay hand-in- hand on the warm deck of Raymond Johnson, drying out after a skinny dip in shallows warmed by the sun-heated sand bottom, “have you heard from that old truck driver, Eli? I mean, since he took all the birds back to the aviary?”
“Yep. He’s in charge of the Camp Muleshoe now, and Humberto and Anna are back running Rancho Los Pajaros. Seems after that weird phone call I got from Humberto, that rat Drew actually did send the couple to La Paz to stay with family down there.”
Jenks had arrived the day before, so we beat feet out of La Paz for the islands. I’d been easing him into the story of the birds, girls, and the like, careful not to divulge anything that would prove me a liar. It wasn’t easy.
“Let me get this straight,” Jenks said lazily. “Eli, Humberto, and Anna are safe, and the birds are back at the ranch. Looks like Nacho somehow returned the girls to their villages and families after banishing the cartel bad guys?”
“That about sums it up. Except that Mrs. Doctor Washington is still planning my wedding to Craig.”
He chuckled. “You trying to make me jealous?”
“Is that possible?” Ugh, that sounded like I was fishing for…what?
“Absolutely. I’ve had the hots for Craig for ages.”
I backhanded his stomach with my wet arm. “Watch it, Buster.”
“Okay, I like you much better. Let’s get back to this adventure you guys had while I was working away in the deserts of Dubai. Seems to me the only loose thread left, then, is that mule skinner. What happened to him?”
“I have no idea. I know that Roger and Cholo were waiting for him out at the main highway. Jan, Topaz, and I watched for hours, waiting for the old man’s yellow truck, but he didn’t roll in until midnight, and he was alone.”
“Did he say where Drew was?”
“Nah, just shrugged,”
“And a master interrogator like you, couldn’t make him spill the frijoles?” Jenks joked.
“Nope. Dude is a tough one. Jan was mightily disappointed that dastardly mule skinner wasn’t with him. She was dearly looking forward to removing Drew’s huevos. Very slowly, with something dull.”
Jenks squirmed. “Let’s talk about something more pleasant, okay?”
“Chicken.”
“Ack! Bwak Bwak Bwaaaaaak!”
“Exactly, Trouble.”
My bird was perched nearby, out of the sun and tethered to his cage, but with plenty of leash-length so he could quickly escape inside the wire enclosure, just in case a seagull bully tried picking another fight. The last time he took them on, we were crossing the sea, and his defeat was clearly embedded in his little bird brain.
Po Thang, lounging nearby, opened one eye, and went back to sleep. Being free of the dock, he was back to swimming most of the day, and chasing fish and birds in the small cove where we were anchored all by our lonelies. Heaven.
“You hungry yet?” I asked, reaching over and running my hand through his damp hair.
“Only for you.”
I love a man who has his priorities straight.
THE END
Acknowlegements
Holly Whitman has been the editor of every one of my books, and she keeps me out of the ditch when I write myself into one. The last eyes on the book before I hit the "publish" button, are Donna Rich's. Thanks Holly and Donna.
AND, I have some amazing beta readers! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate these sharp-eyed readers for catching boo-boos I overlooked. And here they are, in no particular order: Lela Cargill Stephen Brown, Sybil Dean, Bonnie Julian, Karen Kearns. Mary Jordan, Frances Moore, Carmen Repsold, Jeff Bockman, Jenni Cornell, William Jones, Wayne Burnop, Lee Johnson, George Burke, Dan O’Nielle, Karen Hayes, and Krystyna Sews.
From the Author
I want to thank every one of you who take the time to read my books. You are the reason I keep writing, and I wish I could meet you all in person.
If you have enjoyed this book, please tell your friends about Hetta or post a short review on Amazon, Goodreads, heck, anywhere. Word of mouth is an author's best friend and is much appreciated.
Also, you can find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jinxschwartz.
BookBub also alerts my readers when I have book featured with them, or a new release. You can follow my author page to be notified. https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jinx-schwartz
I have great editors, but boo-boos do manage to creep into my books, no matter how many talented people look at it before publication. If you find an error, it’s all on me. And, should you come upon one of these culprits, please let me know and I shall smite it with my mighty keyboard! Thanks! You can e-mail me at [email protected]
Also, I must thank Sweet Tea Baird, our cover dog. She, like Hetta, is a Texas gal, from Amarillo. Yes, Tea is a female, but in our brave new world, we don’t want to discriminate by gender, right? Her full name is “Highmark Wingstar I’ll Have Sweet Tea.” She is the daughter of Tycho, cover dawg for Just Pardon My French. Wouldn’t you just love to live in the Baird household in Colorado, where there always seems to be a new puppy?
Sweet Tea enjoys keeping her Dad and Brother in line. Currently she’s working on her Therapy Dog skills, which come naturally. She has a hypnotizing smile and warm heart. But like any good Texas girl, she’s no pushover. She’s a bit of a Tomboy and keeps those boys in line! Atta girl.
For the fab cover art, I have Karen Phillips to thank, once again.
Books by Jinx Schwartz
The Hetta Coffey Series
Just Add Water (Book1)
Just Add Salt (Book 2)
Just Add Trouble (Book 3)
Just Deserts (Book4)
Just the Pits (Book 5)
Just Needs Killin’ (Book 6)
Just Different Devils (Book 7)
Just Pardon My French (Book 8)
Just Follow The Money (Book 9)
Just For The Birds (Book 10)
Boxed Sets
Hetta Coffey Boxed Collection (Books 1-4)
Hetta Coffey Boxed Collection (Books 5-8)
Other Books
The Texicans
Troubled Sea
Land of Mountains
t for the Birds
Just for the Birds Page 18
