In Desperation by Rick Mofina Page B

cartel partners.
    But before boarding his flight in Phoenix, Galviera,as instructed, went to a pay phone, deposited a stream of coins, called a temporary number and checked in with Octavio, his chief cartel associate.
    â€œThe situation has changed,” Octavio had said. “We’ve learned that a competitor is now disputing ownership of our routes and demanding payment.”
    â€œWhat? What do you mean?”
    â€œYou are likely being followed.”
    â€œFollowed? Jesus Christ! You said there’d be no complications!”
    â€œListen to us.”
    â€œNo, you listen. I’m the one holding the goddamned money. I’m the target. You guaranteed no complications. I did not sign on for this bullshit. What do I do now?”
    â€œYou shut up. You listen. And you live.”
    Galviera listened.
    â€œWe must take very specific action. We’ve made arrangements. Abandon your flight to L.A. and drive to San Diego immediately. On the way, stop at a public phone and call the number I give you, at the time I give you. Tell no one. Before you leave, get rid of your cell phone.”
    Galviera got to his pickup truck and headed alone for California. Octavio had advised him to stop in Yuma, where a “friend of ours” had exchanged Galviera’s F-150 for a Grand Cherokee, gave him paperwork for it and counterfeit ID.
    â€œIn San Diego, collect the cash. All of it,” Octavio said.
    â€œAll of it?”
    â€œAll of it. Then drive back to Phoenix. Break up the total and secure it in the locations we’ll provide. Then you will meet us in the Phoenix area at the specified address on the specified date and time we will give you. Do not deviate from our instructions.”
    Galviera followed them to the letter.
    Making the six-hour drive across California andArizona loaded with over five million in cash was unnerving, but it went OK. It was after he’d returned to Phoenix and was in the process of storing the money that the news broke of Tilly’s kidnapping and the link to him.
    Who was behind it?
    How did they know Cora worked for him? How did they know how to find Cora’s home? How did they know she had a daughter? Christ, they’d better not hurt her. How did everything turn to shit?
    Now, as he drove to the meeting place, the knot in his gut tightened.
    Galviera saw himself in the mirror, gaunt and looking like something that should be flushed. How had his life come to this? Hell, he sponsored three Little League ball teams. He’d worked hard for his piece of the American dream.
    Now he could lose it all.
    His father, a bus driver, had died, leaving his mother to support him by cleaning offices before she died from a heart attack. Galviera dropped out of college to work full-time as a bike-riding courier. Then he got a truck and started his own business delivering packages by day, pizzas at night. He built it into a major regional courier company but then married a nutcase, who preferred ferrets to children.
    When she caught him cheating with an office worker, she got an asshole lawyer and tried to steal his company. It forced Galviera to hide assets, get creative with numbers. He kept his company, but the battle left him poorer and bitter.
    He vowed to never get married again.
    The stress of his divorce led to his gambling addiction, which he’d kept hidden. It was his lame bid to try to recoup some of what he lost in his divorce settlement. He ran up heavy gambling debts but had always cleared them.
    Along the way he’d hired Cora from an agency. Shewas pretty, but unlike most of the empty-headed agency bimbos, she had brains and a mature attitude.
    He liked her. Really liked her.
    She’d had a hard life but was a strong, independent single mother. He liked being with her and he liked Tilly. She was a smart, sharp kid. He liked having them in his life.
    They made him feel whole.
    Sometimes he and Cora talked about marriage but he was