“You don’t think Kuffel is selling the guns himself?” Durango asks.
“No, I don’t. He’s clean. Too clean. Not someone you’d expect to be running in these circles. But that’s why the three of us are going to watch his warehouse. There’s another ongoing investigation regarding guns being sold by the cartel. We have reason to believe these are related. We need to gather enough evidence to connect the two.”
I read the tip sheet over a second time. There isn’t much information other than the name, address, and what the person suspects about the guns.
“Once we know Robert’s schedule at the warehouse, we can get inside for a closer look. Fortunately, I was able to make a deal with the owner of the place across the street. We have full use of this building for three days.”
“Sounds good,” Durango says. “When do we get started?”
Stevens grabs the photos and paper and tucks them into the folder. “Meet me in two hours. I’ll send you the address. Reed, can you check with any contacts you have with the cartel to see if they are involved?”
Reed frowns. “Contacts?”
She holds up her hand. “I don’t need to know any details. The Bureau appreciates your help.” Then she nods at each of us. “And Axel, I’ll text you shortly for an address where I can question Savvy.”
Once she’s out of the office, Durango stands and stretches.
“She’s quite formal,” Durango says. “Reminds me of Harding a little.”
“Formal is good,” Reed says. “It means she’ll want to get in and get out. I gave her your numbers, so expect her text. In the meantime, you should probably have lunch and leave time to grab your bags.”
Each of us has a bag ready to go at home in case of a last-minute assignment. It contains clothes and a few toiletries to get us through for a couple of days.
“Oh, don’t you want us to check in with the cartel first?” Durango asks.
Reed shakes his head and chuckles. “Yeah, sure. Have at it.”
Durango and I laugh as we walk out of Reed’s office.
“She really thinks we have contacts,” I say.
“Yeah, crazy. Hey, want to eat at the deli down the road?” Durango asks.
I grin. Durango gets on kicks with food. For a long while, he only wanted to eat pizza. Lately, it’s been a local deli where every day he orders a club sandwich.
“Sounds good. Let me call Savvy first.”
I go to my office and call Savvy. It goes to voicemail. I ask her to call me back. I don’t have time to wait for a call back, so I call my sister.
“Hey, what’s up, brother?”
It’s great to hear Maria happy. “About to head out on an assignment, and I need to talk to Savvy. I called her but got her voicemail. Can you grab her?”
“No, I can’t. She’s not here.”
A pit forms in my stomach. “Where is she?”
“She texted me last night that she’s fine and hiding out of state right now.”
The pit turns into dread. I stand up fast. “She’s out of state? How do you know someone didn’t take her against her will?”
“Relax, she said more, so I know she’s fine.”
Dammit. “What else did she say?”
Maria groans. “Well, if you must know, she asked me if you are difficult with everyone you meet or if it’s just her.”
“I’m not difficult,” I say, a bit too defensively.
