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ELEVEN

Jenna checked the clock and pushed back her chair. She collected a legal pad from her drawer and looked at Jo. “Do you want to sit in on the interview with Little?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jo stood and followed her down to the interview rooms.

After setting up the cameras and going through the usual procedure before taping an interview, Jenna looked at Little across the desk, who stared back at her with a belligerent expression. Sam Cross sat beside him flicking through notes he’d made earlier. It hadn’t been the chop shop that interested Jenna. She wanted to know just how deep Souza had infiltrated Black Rock Falls. She placed her legal pad on the table and then looked at Little. “How long have you been involved with Eduardo Souza?”

The prisoner looked taken aback and his eyes grew wide. He moved around restlessly in his chair flicking glances back and forth toward her and his lawyer. Jenna kept her gaze fixed on him. “Well, it’s a simple question.” She sighed, acting bored. “The two drug addicts who kidnapped me have spilled their guts, so why don’t you make it easy on yourself?” She stared him down. “I’m not interested in the kidnapping or the carjacking. In fact, it would be a conflict of interest as it was my car involved. Your friends have both informed the DA that they work for Eduardo Souza. The DA has been in a good mood today and it would be in your best interest if you explained your connection to Souza before we make inquiries and then discovered just how deep you are in his organization.”

“I’m not deep in his organization.” Little gripped the edge of the table. “You do know that he’ll kill us if he discovers we’ve spoken to you?”

Twirling the pen in her fingertips, Jenna leaned back in her chair nonchalantly. “Then you’ll need some type of protection, won’t you? Your friends have already given up Souza, and knowing his reputation as I do, he won’t give you a pass on this, so maybe you just need to tell us what you know. If we believe your life is in danger for testifying against him, we can place you in witness protection.”

“Testifying against him?” Little’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “Are you insane? I’d never make it to court. He has people everywhere. You don’t honestly believe that he contacted me or the others personally, do you?”

Finally getting somewhere, Jenna shook her head. “No, I don’t. He was in prison at the time. Just tell us what you know. Maybe start at the time his organization made contact with you and asked you to create a distraction, and we’ll discuss the chop shops later.”

“Stop right there.” Cross glared at Jenna. “If you continue with this line of questioning, everything my client tells you will be thrown out of court due to a conflict of interest.” He leaned forward. “The questioning was to discover how Souza was involved in the chop shops. This is starting to get personal and overlap into your case. I can’t allow it.”

“For me it isn’t.” Jo leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. “I’ve been requested to take over this case and will conduct the questioning. Start from the beginning. What is really behind everything that happened to Sheriff Alton?” She crossed her arms and drummed her fingers on her forearm and then uncrossed her legs and slammed one hand down on the table. “It’s already out that you and your pals have squealed. As an FBI agent, my word that you’re willing to testify and need protection goes a long way. We know creating a diversion is only part of the plan. What else do you know?” She eyeballed him. “Think now, what you answer could mean the difference between walking out of here unprotected with a fine, or testifying in court and being protected for the rest of your life.” She narrowed her gaze. “It would be nice to start over, wouldn’t it?”

“Maybe.” Little turned to look at Sam Cross. “Is she just yanking my chain?”

“No, she wouldn’t be able to do that in a recorded interview.” Cross shook his head. “Everything discussed here is on record. This is why it’s recorded and videoed, so it’s obvious if anyone is putting you under duress. She is offering you a way for a new life. The witness protection scheme is very safe and it has never been infiltrated.”

Biting her bottom lip, Jenna held her breath as Little leaned back in his chair thinking through the proposition. Convinced there must be more to the story than the escape, she willed him to open up. Eduardo Souza didn’t do favors for anyone. He must have another angle. Whoever contacted Little must have given up more information to make the pot sweeter. She exchanged a glance with Jo, mentally urging her to continue to push for answers. Keeping quiet was difficult. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him.

“Well, Mr. Little, I haven’t got all day.” Jo gave a frustrated sigh. “Do you have a story to tell or are we just wasting our time here?”

“I don’t have too much to tell you.” Little shrugged and cast his eyes down on his clenched hands resting on the table. “I was given the five thousand to give to Don Riley and I got the car. I would have made big bucks on the Mustang, so for me it was a good deal and worth the risk. What Riley didn’t tell you is that this was all organized on the run. It wasn’t his idea to carjack you and bring the car to me. His job was to stake out your ranch and then follow you if you left home. When you left the ranch alone, Riley made a call to his contact, who’d already paid him to stake out your place. The plan to carjack you and bring the Mustang to me was planned when you stopped in Louan.” He sniggered. “You don’t figure Don Riley is smart enough to plan that out on his own, do you?” He brushed the back of one hand under his nose and shook his head. “You’re correct, this was planned as a diversion to keep your deputies occupied and away from the county line. What you don’t know, is the only reason Souza left the other prisoners behind is so they would keep the deputies occupied and maybe kill them if the opportunity arose.”

“What else?” Jo stared at him one eyebrow raised in question.

“He needed insurance, so he wanted to get to her.” Little pointed a finger at Jenna. “It hasn’t escaped Souza’s people that she is pregnant. He figured she’d remain in town during the search for the prisoners. With all her resources used up, she’s vulnerable. Putting her in danger, would ensure her husband would come running, just as he did when Riley carjacked her. Souza would have taken him down then, but they didn’t have time to organize a chopper.” He turned his gaze slowly to Jenna. “As long as Souza is alive, your time on this earth is limited. He has a score to settle and doesn’t give up easy.”

Needing more information, Jenna leaned into Jo to whisper in her ear. “If this is so personal, does Souza plan to be there when he disposes of Dave?”

“Okay.” Jo nodded and turned her attention to Little. “Just one more question, Mr. Little. Is Souza planning to be there when Deputy Kane is murdered?”

“From what I heard, he’d like to do it himself but he doesn’t care as long as he’s dead.” Little leaned back in the chair with a smug smile on his face. He turned to Jenna. “He won’t stop until he’s murdered every one of your family.”