Free The Bleeding Edge by William W. Johnstone

shotgun,” Nacho said sullenly. “We tried to kill him, but—”
    Beredo silenced Nacho with a curt gesture.
    â€œBut you failed,” he said.
    Jalisco said, “We have men watching the trailer park. If Antonio tries to leave, they’ll let us know.”
    Beredo was aware that Patel was watching him closely. He set his glass aside and stood up. Clasping his hands behind his back, he walked closer to the three men. The big one who went by the ridiculous name Chuckie looked like he wanted to run.
    â€œDo you have any idea who this one man who made you flee was?” Beredo asked.
    Nacho didn’t answer, but Jalisco did.
    â€œI got a good enough look at him to recognize him from the TV news. His name is Stark.”
    Beredo stiffened. He knew the name, but he wanted to make sure they were talking about the same man.
    â€œJohn Howard Stark?”
    Jalisco nodded and said, “Sí, Señor Espantoso.”
    Stark, the man responsible for the death of the legendary cartel kingpin Ernesto Diego Espinoza Ramirez, better known as the Vulture. Stark, one of the heroes of the so-called Second Battle of the Alamo. Stark, the man who only recently had defied three very, very low-level associates of the cartel and been hailed as a hero once again.
    Nostrils flaring, Beredo drew in a deep breath, then smiled and said quietly, “Well. This changes everything.”

C HAPTER T HIRTEEN
    â€œYou’d better talk fast, Antonio,” Stark advised in a hard voice. “The cops will be here soon, and if you don’t tell me what’s going on here, I’ll have to turn you over to them.”
    â€œJohn, you wouldn’t!” Fred exclaimed.
    â€œI don’t like being shot at,” Stark said, keeping his voice flat. “Especially when I don’t know the reason.”
    He didn’t really plan on turning Antonio over to the authorities, and he would make that clear to Fred and Aurelia later on. He had sensed, though, that the young man might be stubborn about revealing the truth, and Stark wanted to shock him out of that stance. He knew he would stand a lot better chance of being able to help if Antonio would come clean with him.
    Antonio still didn’t say anything, so Stark made a guess.
    â€œThis has something to do with those heads that showed up in Dorothy Hewitt’s garden this morning, doesn’t it?” he prodded. “The men who put them there were supposed to leave them over here as a warning to your grandparents, but they got the wrong house.”
    A sigh came from Antonio. He said, “Poor Sonia.”
    â€œThat’s the girl who was killed?”
    â€œSonia Rodriguez. She . . . she didn’t have anything to do with the whole business. She just happened to be with her brother, Jimmy, at the wrong time.”
    Stark could tell that the truth was ready to come spilling out of Antonio. It would be a relief to the young man. However, before he could ask any more questions sirens sounded outside, quickly growing louder and then stopping abruptly.
    â€œStay here,” Stark told the young man.
    â€œYou’re not going to turn me in?”
    Instead of answering, Stark looked at Antonio’s grandparents and said, “It was just a simple attempted robbery. Some men tried to force their way in, I heard the commotion and hurried over, and we ran them off. Right, Fred?”
    Fred swallowed hard and nodded.
    â€œRight,” he said. “Thank you, John Howard.”
    â€œLet’s go talk to the cops,” Stark said.
    They left the weapons inside the house and stepped out onto the porch to meet the sheriff’s deputies who were crossing the lawn toward them with hands on their guns.
    â€œShow ’em your hands, Fred,” Stark said quietly. He stood with his own empty hands in plain sight. After what had happened here at Shady Hills this morning, it was likely that a report of shots fired would put the deputies on