The captain racked the little slide and set the gun down, satisfied. "You wish her to be arrested?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Where is she?"
"Somewhere in Puerto Vallarta. She ran from my partner."
The captain nodded, reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a two-sided form. He asked Cupie an interminable list of questions, laboriously entering the information in the spaces provided, then asked Cupie to sign it.
Cupie signed. "If you find her, I'll take her off your hands," he said. "And my client would be very grateful to you, personally."
"How grateful, senor?"
"I might be able to persuade him to be grateful this much," Cupie said, holding up five fingers. "Big ones."
The captain nodded. "Where may I reach you?" Cupie gave the man his cell phone number, shook his hand and left.
Outside, Vittorio was waiting in a dusty taxi. Cupie tossed his bag into the trunk and got in.
"You think the policia will be of any use?"
"I promised him five grand," Cupie said. "He knows the town better than I do. How about you?"
"Better than me, too."
"I take it you had no luck at the banks."
"Oh, I did, in the third bank I visited. She closed her account and took twenty-five grand in dollars and the rest in thousand-dollar cashier's checks."
"So much for Eagle's getting his hands on the three hundred grand. He told me to tell her he'd do that, if she didn't sign. I take it she didn't sign?"
Vittorio tipped his hat down over his eyes and ignored the question. "She rented a Jeep Grand Cherokee and asked for a map and directions to Acapulco."
"You think she actually went there?"
"She left a ten-thousand-dollar deposit and was told she could get a refund of her change at the firm's Acapulco office. I don't think the lady is the type to go somewhere else in those circumstances, do you?"
"I guess not," Cupie said. "Driver, the airport."
"That's what I figured."
"We'll beat her there," Cupie said, resting his head against the seat back and sighing deeply. He got out his cell phone and reported to Ed Eagle.
Seventeen
EAGLE HUNG UP THE PHONE AND TURNED TO WOLF Willett. "She got away from them in Puerto Vallarta, and she's apparently headed for Acapulco."
"Hitting all the high spots, huh?"
"It's like her."
"Well, at least she didn't kill you."
"Oh, she's already planned that."
"How do you mean?"
"She's paid some guy twenty-five thousand dollars of my money to take me out. Fortunately, he's in jail for another couple of weeks, but he's hired another guy, a sort of sub-hitman, who gets out tomorrow. Client of mine overheard them talking about it in the can."
Wolf sighed. "I'm so glad my life isn't as interesting as yours."
The phone rang, and Eagle picked it up. "Yes?"
"Russell Norris on the phone."
Eagle pressed the button. "Russell?"
"Hi. I just left the bank, and we got really lucky. The balance in the Mexico City account is being wired back to the Santa Fe account from which it was sent, less a few hundred dollars for the investigator and administrative fees."
"Russell, you're a jewel. Take a couple of days in Mexico on me, then send me your bill."
"Thanks, but I've gotta get back to my office; I'll fax you a bill tomorrow."
"You have my gratitude; if you ever need a reference, use my name." Eagle hung up. "Now there's some good news: I'm getting seven hundred and something thousand back from the Mexican bank."
"That's terrific. Now all you have to do is not get killed tomorrow, divorce your wife and you're in great shape."
Eagle looked at his watch. "I've got a hearing in half an hour."
Both men stood up and shook hands. "Call me for some golf, if you're still alive," Wolf said.
"I'll do that."
EAGLE ARRIVED in the courtroom, and the bailiff told him his client was waiting in a holding cell.
"The judge is going to take a thirty-minute recess in a few minutes, and then he'll hear your motion," the bailiff said.
Eagle nodded and took a seat in the front row. Bob Martinez was questioning a witness and, apparently, getting nowhere.
A man came over and sat down next to Eagle. "Mr. Eagle, I'm Tom Cartwright, your witness."
Eagle shook his hand, got up and led the man out into the hall.
"Mr. Cartwright, I really appreciate your coming, and so does Joe Big Bear."
"The guy did a good job on my car; it's the least I can do for an innocent man."
"Let me ask you some questions, now, the same ones I'm going to ask when you're on the stand."
"Shoot."
Eagle took him quickly through his testimony, then sat him down on a bench in the hallway and went back into the courtroom as Martinez finished questioning his witness.
"Mr. Eagle?" the judge said.
"Ready, Judge. He took a seat at the defense table, as Joe Big Bear was led into the courtroom, wearing an orange jumpsuit.
"Mr. Martinez?" the judge said.
"Ready, your honor."
Eagle had Big Bear sworn and took him through his testimony, establishing his story, then he called Cartwright, who was duly sworn.
"Mr. Cartwright, are you acquainted with Joe Big Bear?"
"I certainly am. He fixed my car; did a good job."
"Did you ever know him before that day?"
"No, I got his number off a bulletin board at Pep Boys parts shop."
The mention of Pep Boys jogged something in Eagle's head, but he couldn't place it, so he continued. "Mr. Cartwright, on the day in question, what time did Mr. Big Bear arrive at your house?"
"Around one-thirty."
"And what time did he finish his work and depart?"
"Four-thirty, quarter to five."
"Was he there for the entire time?"
"He was."
"How do you know?"
"Because I was in my home office all afternoon, and I could see him out the window, working on my car in the driveway."
"Your witness," he said to Martinez.
Martinez stood up. "Mr. Cartwright, you said you didn't know Mr. Big Bear before that day?"
"That's right; never set eyes on him before, until he came to my house that day."
"Are you related to Mr. Big Bear by blood or marriage?"
"No, sir."
"Were you acquainted with Mr. Big Bear's girlfriend?"
"Didn't know he had one, until I read it in the New Mexican."
"No further questions." Martinez sat down.
"Mr. Eagle, you have a motion?"
"Yes, your honor." He reached into his briefcase and removed the coroner's report. "Judge, the coroner has established that the murders in Mr. Big Bear's trailer occurred between two and four in the afternoon. Every minute of Mr. Big Bear's day has been accounted for-I'm sure the district attorney's investigators can confirm that-and, in particular, Mr. Cartwright's testimony has confirmed that Mr. Big Bear could not possibly have committed these murders. Therefore I move for dismissal of all charges and the immediate release of Mr. Big Bear."
"Mr. Martinez?" the judge said.
"No objection, your honor."
"The charges are dismissed for lack of evidence. Mr. Big Bear, you'll be returned to the Santa Fe County Correctional Center and processed out today."
Joe Big Bear pumped Eagle's hand. "Thank you, Mr. Eagle!" he said.
Eagle took him to one side of the courtroom and spoke to him quietly. "Joe, let's talk about my fee."
"I'd like to work it off, or pay you overtime," Big Bear said.
"There's an easier way," Eagle said. "Do you own a gun?"