The Bootlegger’s Legacy (14 page)

Las Cruces, New Mexico / T or C, New Mexico / Mesilla, New Mexico / Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico

The next morning they made a quick stop at the downtown office, where Pat met with Emerson just long enough to read and sign the papers. During this time Sally walked down the street a short ways and bought an assortment of Pan Dulce—Mexican sweet breads—at a bakery she’d been lured into by the enticing aromas that leaked out into the street.

Bringing the breads back to the office, she sampled some while she waited. The meeting was over in less than an hour, and they headed out to T or C. Once in the car, Pat had some of the sweat bread and, giving Sally a kiss as a reward, declared them to be delicious. Located about sixty miles north of Las Cruces, the town of T or C wasn’t much. Pat tried to make it more interesting by passing along some of the history.

The name had been changed in 1950 when a radio quiz show ran a contest looking for a town that would be willing to change its name to match the show’s name:
Truth or Consequences
. Apparently the town leaders were willing to be bought, or maybe they didn’t like the old name, which was Hot Springs. Anyway, they got a lot of publicity and a new name. Seemed kind of stupid to Pat. The publicity dried up real quick, while the town was stuck with a nonsensical moniker. He figured they’d change it back to Hot Springs pretty soon. At least the old name had referenced the town’s main attraction—other than the lake—which had drawn tourists for many years, coming to soak in its warm waters. Sally loved it when he took the time to make her feel a part of whatever they were doing.

After a quick spin down Main Street, they headed north of town a few miles, toward the lake. Pat gave Sally some brochures about the area he had picked up at the hotel and she began to tell him some of the tidbits of information she found.

“Elephant Butte Lake was created in the early 1900’s when a dam was built on the Rio Grande River. At the time, the dam was considered an engineering marvel. The reason for building it was to be able to harness a year-round water supply for agriculture in the Mesilla valley below. The lake grew and shrank over the years as water was siphoned off for agricultural use in the valley. The reservoir allowed much of southern-central New Mexico to irrigate, and thereby grow water-intensive crops in the desert. From this area came the area’s world-famous chilies and equally famous pecans. There was great agricultural dependence on the water from Elephant Butte. Hey, I’ve turned into a tour guide.”

“I always had a thing for tour guides,” Pat said, reaching over and squeezing her leg.

“Pay attention to where you’re going,” Sally said, smiling.

The area around the lake was hilly, with rocky outcroppings and some areas of trees and scrub bush. While it wasn’t exotic, there was an outdoorsy quality to it that made the area feel different from Las Cruces, as if you were far away from everything.

Following a rough map that Pat had gotten from Emerson, they quickly found the road to the cabin. It led to a slight hill, with an impressive view of the lake below. Pat liked what he saw and felt better having bought the property sight unseen. It had a private, unobserved feeling.

The cabin itself was rustic, but in a good way. It was built from hewn logs, and its two-story structure gave an impression of great size. The logs were impressive and obviously had been hand-worked by skilled craftsman builders. Sally marveled at the grandeur of such a simple structure. There was an impressive wrap-around porch that gave it a very welcoming feel and that came ready with a couple of rocking chairs. After a quick search they found the key hidden where it was supposed to be, below the second step leading up to the porch, and went inside.

The cabin needed a little airing out, but had a majestic two-story layout with a bedroom loft. The massive stone fireplace—which soared to the full height of the cabin, dominating the room—promised a very impressive show once it was fired up.

Pat and Sally unloaded the cleaning supplies they had brought with them and found brooms and mops stored in a closet. Pat thought Sally might not be too enthused about cleaning, but Sally—always a surprise—jumped right in and began sweeping the main room. He might even have heard her humming. Pat opened windows to let in some air, and between them they had the place looking pretty good in a fairly short time. The electricity was working, and the kitchen had all of the necessary appliances, which also worked. It was a great place.

Pat took a walk around the outside perimeter, inspecting the cabin’s condition, then came back inside. “Sally, I think I may have bought a bargain without even knowing it.” He was very pleased with his purchase and happy to be able to share it with her.

They had brought some groceries along with the cleaning supplies, which they now stored in the kitchen. It was only a little cool, but Pat decided to light a fire for the atmosphere. They had brought overnight bags as well as sleeping bags, just in case they decided to stay, and after examining their handiwork they brought them into the cabin. Pat had an ice chest with some beer and offered one to Sally. They settled down in front of the fire, satisfied with their work and with their surroundings.

Darkness set in. They nibbled on some cheese and crackers that Sally had packed. The fire gave off plenty of heat and before long they were feeling a little drowsy and extremely comfortable.

“Pat what’s going to happen with us?” Well, there went the good mood. Pat knew he’d have this conversation with Sally, but he’d been very comfortable doing it sometime in the future—not right now.

“You’re very important to me, Sally. Being around you has been one of the greatest things that’s happened to me in a long time. But—you knew there was going to be a
but
—my world is getting ready to change and it could be dangerous.” Pat was rambling.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Sally wasn’t going to make this easy.

“No, it doesn’t. Sally, it is hard for me to talk about my feelings. It’s just not in my nature. If we could just go on as we have been forever, that would be great with me—I want to be with you and take care of you. The world isn’t going to let that happen. Giovanni wants me out, and I don’t have too many options other than to give him what he wants. That’s one problem, but the bigger problem is us. I’m thirty years older than you. There’s no future for you with me. You know that, and I know that. We’ve had some great times—and without a doubt I love you.” Sally listened intently, but didn’t react. Pat was starting to feel like he was not real sure what was happening—his words were coming out without a lot of thought.

“Every day we’ve been together has been a gift I’ll never forget. But it has to end. You need to be with people your own age—not some ancient bootlegger. You need to be around good people, not hoodlums. You’re smart and beautiful and your life is all in front of you—not like me, with everything in the past. I want you to be happy.”

There was a long pause. Pat had no idea what was going to happen next.

“Pat, you are so full of shit. I see: you’re dumping me for my own good. Isn’t that just wonderful. We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere and you’re saying
adios
. Thanks a lot. You didn’t mention your wife and kid. Are you dumping them too?” Sally stormed out, slamming the heavy front door as best she could.
Well, that went well.
Pat sat in front of the fire in a daze.

After a while, Pat realized Sally had gone out into the dark and went out to find her. He found her sitting in one of the chairs on the porch and felt immediate relief that she hadn’t wandered off. She was smart as well as beautiful.

“Sally, please forgive me. I should have never gotten you involved in my life. I know you don’t want to hear it now—but I love you. I only wish that things were different, but they aren’t. We can’t ignore the real world. And, yes, that does involve my wife and my son, Mike. I’ve messed up a lot, and now I need to try to fix some things. You can’t imagine how much I’d rather have you in my life—but it can’t be that way. For me and also for you. I’m sorry.” Pat turned to go back into the cabin.

“Don’t go. I shouldn’t have yelled at you for just telling me the truth. Pat, you know, most of the time I don’t even think about our ages—but you’re right, it’s there. You’ve been good to me. You make me feel good about myself. I hate this, but I knew it was going to happen. Just not now.” Sally was crying, but just a little. She was sad, but no longer mad. They sat on the porch for a while, saying very little.

It was incredibly dark away from city lights. After a while they started to hear the sounds of birds, mostly owls, as well as other movements further away from the cabin. They didn’t feel threatened, but they became increasingly aware they were not alone.

Pat stood up, gently took Sally’s hand, and led her back into the cabin. Their time was almost over. They both knew they loved one another. That night the cabin was full of love and caring—and also dread and fear of what was going to happen next. Once Sally fell asleep, Pat sat down in front of the fire and wrote her a letter. He’d said a lot to her that night, and he wanted her to have something from him that made it clear this wasn’t just a fling, but something very important to him—and, he hoped, to her. He wasn’t sure when, but he wanted her to have this letter from him.

They returned to Las Cruces the next morning and went to the hotel. They made plans to leave the following day for Oklahoma City. Pat told Sally that he had to go to Juarez to meet with his suppliers for the rest of the day. She decided she would just hang out at the hotel, or go shopping on the plaza, until he got back.

The mood was subdued. They now knew how much they each cared about the other, but also knew that it was coming to an end. Sally was still a little weepy, but hadn’t let Pat see her cry since the night before. She knew that once he left for Juarez she would lie down and cry her eyes out. Pat had become more important to her than anyone else in her life—she couldn’t imagine how she’d ever fill that void. It made her terribly sad and it frightened her. Sally’s sister lived in Chicago now, and, of course there was her brother in Dallas. Maybe she would go see one of them and start over. But her brother wanted to tell her how to live her life—that had been the reason she’d left Dallas for Oklahoma City in the first place. It would probably be better to go to Chicago and see if her sister would let her stay with her a while. She missed her sister and wanted to be sure she was okay.

As predicted, once Pat left she had a good cry and tried to take a nap. She hadn’t felt this blue in a long time.

Pat stopped by the bank on the way out of town to add some papers to his new lock box and to withdraw some cash. He was sad and happy at the same time. He knew this was for the best and, after the initial blast, things had gone well with Sally. The trip to Juarez was uneventful. He crossed the bridge and entered Mexico without having to interact with anyone official. He supposed it must be normal, but it seemed odd to have an international border that was so loosely guarded.

There were parts of Juarez he was definitely not going to visit, but the area he was headed for was very upscale. The buildings, cars, and people all looked upper class and very happy. Pat hadn’t thought too much about Mexico until he had started to buy some of his liquor there, but it was an odd mixture of very poor and very rich people who seemed to get along without conflict. And by very rich, he meant superrich. His destination was an office building that was classier than any he’d ever seen. He hadn’t been to many places outside of his little world, but he couldn’t imagine a more expensive building than the one that housed Altos Internacional de Mexico. Everything was plush.

Feeling a little like an intruder, Pat entered the posh building, went straight to the receptionist, and gave her his name. Within seconds his two contacts—the brothers, Juan and Francisco Martinez—appeared and greeted him like a long-lost relative. Both gentlemen were impeccably dressed, making Pat feel somewhat shabby. But their greeting was warm and seemed sincere. Pat joined them in a huge conference room to begin their meeting.

Meanwhile, Sally felt better after a sort of short nap. She had gotten dressed and was ready to head to the Plaza to do a little shopping, when there was a knock on the door. Not expecting anyone, but without any reason to think she should be concerned, she opened the door.

“Hey, how you doin’, Sally?” John Giovanni seemed out of place and frightfully sinister. If she could, she would have slammed the door and run, but he was already partially inside. Sally backed away.

“Pat just left, but he’ll be back in a little while if you need to see him.” Sally knew in her gut that something was wrong and that Giovanni wasn’t here to see Pat.

“Sally, I need you to stay calm. I’m not going to harm you. I have a disagreement with your boyfriend and, unfortunately, you’re caught in the middle. So you just stay quiet and everything’s going to be fine.”

As Giovanni finished his speech, his two goons entered the room and shut the door. Sally realized she was in real danger. She began backing toward the sliding door to the outside, but before she could make a move one of the ugly gorillas grabbed her arm and pushed her down onto the bed. The other pulled out duct tape and put it over her mouth, and then they tied her hands behind her back. She started to panic. What the hell was happening? Why were they doing this to her? They flipped her over onto her back on the bed. Oh, my God, were they going to rape her? Oh shit, this was too much. She felt faint.