Free 24/7 by Yolanda Wallace

watched her—some openly, some surreptitiously—as she followed Director Chavez to his office and he closed the door behind them. Exactly the kind of lukewarm welcome she was expecting.
    “Before we begin, I apologize for being late, sir, and I assure you it won’t happen again.”
    “I’m sure it won’t.” Director Chavez leaned back in his leather chair, his dark eyes examining her face. “I’ve spoken to several people about you, Officer Moreno. Some sang your praises. Others were rather harsh in their criticisms. Tell me whom I should choose to believe.”
    “Let your eyes be the judge. I wouldn’t be on the force if I couldn’t do the job. And I wouldn’t be sitting here in front of you if I didn’t think I could excel at it.”
    His deep rumble of a belly laugh sounded like a yawning grizzly bear waking up from hibernation.
    “I’ve seen your file, Moreno. I know what you can do. You don’t need to prove yourself to me. But you do need to prove yourself to the people outside that door.” He pointed toward the officers who had eyed her with a mixture of suspicion and distrust. “They want to bring down the narcos as much as you do, if not more, but they need to know you’re willing to be a team player, not a one-woman army. I advise you not to let your dedication lead to recklessness. Doing so could get you or someone else killed. I trust my people. If one was dirty, I would know it even before they did. Understood?”
    “Yes, sir. I’m not looking to point fingers at anyone. I just want to do my job.”
    Director Chavez nodded in apparent agreement. “That’s why the narcos are gunning for you. None of them have officially ordered a hit on you, as far as I know, but it’s too dangerous for me to put you on the street until I know for sure.”
    “Are you asking me to chain myself to a desk?” Luisa couldn’t think of a worse punishment.
    “I’m asking you to put your investigative skills to work so you can do what your predecessor couldn’t: help me identify the leader of the Jaguars so I can put him away and rip his organization apart before he takes over the whole country.”
    Carlos Ramos was the man whom Luisa had been hired to replace. He had disappeared under mysterious circumstances several months ago, but his body had never been found. Some said he had taken a payoff from the Jaguars and gone into hiding. Others theorized he had been kidnapped and murdered for getting too close to uncovering the Jaguars’ secrets. Luisa didn’t know him well enough to ascertain which scenario was more likely to be true, but she did know one thing for sure: she didn’t plan on following in his tragic footsteps.
    “Will you help me bring down the Jaguars?” Director Chavez asked.
    “Sir, it would be my honor.”

    ❖

    Finn squeezed past the dancers and mariachi singers warming up for tonight’s Cinco de Mayo celebration and headed to the front desk in the lobby so she could open a resort account. The gift shop, spa, and excursion office didn’t accept cash or credit cards. Everything had to be paid for via an internal account guests set up by tying a credit card to their key card.
    Finn handed her credit card to Sebastian, the resort employee on duty, and watched as he ran a four-hundred-dollar authorization.
    “Sign here, please,” Sebastian said after he returned her ID, credit card, and key card. Finn balked when she saw five thousand dollars printed on the receipt until she realized the authorization had been run in pesos instead of dollars. “Thanks. You’re all set.”
    Finn slipped her cards into her pocket. She’d stash her ID and credit card in the safe in her room later. She needed to get to the excursion office before it closed. She had missed out on today’s trip to Chichén Itzá because she had gotten dragged into a welcome luncheon for first-time SOS Tours travelers. Thursday was the last day the trip would be offered this week. If she didn’t make it to the office