'Ow, that hurt,' he said, shaking his hand, but he was laughing at the same time.

'I felt that,' Juan said and grabbed her by the arm. He pulled her roughly towards him, shook her and pushed his face into hers. 'I ought to slap you around a bit,' he told her, 'make you tell us where the cash is, but I can't even be bothered.'

'Even though she deserves it,' José added from behind her. She didn't need to look at him to know he'd have given it a go. Just to pass the time, if nothing else. Sick little pervert.

'Even though you deserve it,' Juan agreed, nodding.

She looked back and forth between the two of them, but had the sense to not say anything. There's a time and a place for a smart mouth and this wasn't either.

'It's not a problem, though,' Juan said and took hold of her cheek between his thumb and forefinger. 'Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to see Chico you go,' he sang, not caring that the meter was all wrong and it just didn't sound right. Stupid beaner.

José jumped up off the bed and sniggered. 'Hey, Juan, you wanna bet she tells Chico where it is,' he said.

Juan laughed. 'No way, man—it'd be like throwing money away.'

Chapter 13

Dixie had only met Enrico Alvarez once before and that was enough to last him a lifetime. He also knew the current meeting was a pointless exercise—he was only going through the motions to keep Chico happy but obviously Chico didn't know that.

Alvarez was built like a medium-sized outhouse and didn't smell much better. Dixie drew in a deep breath to stop his chest from collapsing completely as Alvarez clamped him in a hug and pounded on his back as if they were long lost brothers. It made him feel a little light-headed and he was pleased he'd skipped breakfast. Crispy stood just inside the door and one of Alvarez's men, Miguel, leaned against the wall behind Alvarez eyeing them carefully. It seemed to Dixie that Miguel was paying a lot of attention to his hands as he hugged the big man back. Maybe he was watching in case Dixie tried to grab his boss by the throat and throttle him. He'd have had a better chance trying to strangle a utility pole.

Alvarez released him and Dixie drew the air gratefully back into the whole of his lungs. Alvarez held up a finger and Miguel hopped to it and produced a bottle of Tequila and a couple of glasses. Dixie shook his head and waved it away.

'I forgot, you don't drink,' Alvarez said and got Miguel to pour him a glass of water.

'We've got a small problem, Enrico,' Dixie said, sipping his drink, wishing it was Tequila or even a beer, anything with some alcohol.

Alvarez smiled and opened his hands wide. It hadn't crossed his mind yet that Dixie might be suggesting he could be that problem. 'We're happy to help, whatever it is.'

Dixie swallowed nervously. 'A three million dollar problem . . .' he said.

The room was suddenly very quiet, the only sound a rhythmic lip-smacking as Miguel chewed gum with his mouth open.

'Ah,' Alvarez said, nodding mechanically as the implications began to sink in. The smile had faded although it hadn't mutated into anger yet.

Dixie took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. 'Somebody hijacked our people at a gas station. The woman you gave the money to has disappeared. With the money.'

The last remnants of Alvarez's smile had disappeared. 'And you were wondering if I'—he touched his chest—'know anything about that?'

Dixie cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He felt as if his skin were two sizes too small. Alvarez watched him, his eyes bright and mean, his breath exiting noisily through his nostrils as his anger started to build.

'Is that what you are asking?' Alvarez repeated with more of an edge to his voice.

Dixie showed him his palms in apology. 'Absolutely not,' he said and shook his head vigorously. He forced a strained it's all a misunderstanding smile onto his face, although he knew it only made him look as if he was constipated. 'We just want to start at the beginning and take it from there. Can you tell me exactly what happened?'

Alvarez raised a single eyebrow and looked at Miguel. They gave each other a he serious? look. 'What about that ret . . . I mean Ricardo? He was there. Has he disappeared too?'

No, much to Chico's regret.

'No, he was in the bathroom at the time,' Dixie said.

Alvarez grinned at that and made a gesture with his hand as if he was shaking a charity collection can. Miguel sniggered from the other side of the room. Ricardo's washroom habits were obviously well known. 'And the other guy?'

Dixie shrugged in a resigned, you can't get the staff way. 'Somebody laid him out with a baseball bat. When Ricardo came back from the bathroom, the woman, the car and the money were gone. That's all we know.'

Dixie swallowed. His throat was dry and scratchy. He picked up his glass but it was empty. He wished he'd saved some for now, even if it was only water. Nobody offered him a top-up.

Alvarez gave a small shrug of agreement, one employer to another, as if to say such are the trials and tribulations of your everyday drug dealer.

'They gave us the merchandise, we gave them the cash and they left. I assumed they were driving straight back to you or Chico or whoever.' He gave a dismissive flick of the hand and leaned back in his chair, his dark eyes drilling into Dixie, daring him to contradict him.

Dixie wasn't sure what to say. He options were, one, say okay, great, thanks for that and get up and go, or, two, say I think you're a lying wetback bastard and see where that led.

Alvarez took the decision out of his hands. He leaned forward suddenly and slammed his open hand on the desk, rattling the glasses and making everyone in the room jump. Dixie braced himself in his chair, ready in case Alvarez launched himself across the desk at him.

Instead, his face split into a massive grin. 'Miguel, make yourself useful and get us another drink,' Alvarez shouted with a wave of his arm.

Dixie relaxed his shoulders and noticed he was holding his breath. He let out a slow exhale and grinned back. It seemed the right thing to do although he had no idea what he was grinning about.

'Luckily for you, we're not as stupid as you think we are,' Alvarez said, getting up and walking around to Dixie's side of the desk. 'Or as stupid as you are.' He jabbed Dixie hard on the shoulder with a meaty finger.

Dixie sighed and put the rest of the water on the desk and waited for him to continue.

'We put a GPS tracking device in the lining of the case containing the money. Simple, eh?'

The look of expectation on Alvarez's face made Dixie think he was expected to clap or cheer. He nodded instead. That was good to know. The thing that he wasn't so happy about was why had Alvarez done it? So that he could send his men after the money later?

Alvarez still had the grin plastered all over his big face. He drained his drink and swirled the ice cubes in the bottom of the glass. He was enjoying the fact that Dixie looked an idiot. Behind him, Miguel was smirking too.

'Have you got a Smartphone?' Alvarez asked.

Dixie got his phone out of his pocket. Alvarez turned to Miguel.

'Miguel, have you got that number?'

Miguel fished a slip of paper out of his wallet, unfolded it and passed it over. Alvarez leaned over Dixie's shoulder and laid it on the desk in front of him. Dixie smoothed it out.

'Put that number into your phone,' Alvarez said, tapping the paper with his finger 'and don't call it money.'

He slapped Dixie on the shoulder and roared with laughter. Miguel laughed too. Dixie would have laughed if he hadn't been the butt of the joke. Crispy didn't get it. He had a look that was a mix of confusion and suspicion that people get when they're not sure if they're the butt of a joke. Dixie sat and waited until Alvarez stopped laughing. In the scheme of things, he felt he'd got off pretty lightly if all he had to worry about was this beaner drug dealer laughing at him.