Wulf left the old Acura he hot-wired at a gas stop at the tip of San Diego. He’d gotten onto one of those cheap sight-seeing busses that took him into Ensenada, Mexico. From there, he’d stolen yet another car. On the long ride to Generosa, Wulf thought about how Mary Jane had transformed. The Arizona Mary Jane versus the one he grew to love in Mexico were so different. She’d become compassionate and loving. Though he’d planned on coaxing her to return when they started their lives together, Wulf determined that he could live in the world that they’d made forever.

It was midday when he found Tito, the kid Mary Jane once paid for newspapers. He was on a street corner in Puerto Vallarta, selling traditional handcrafted toys. Since the area teemed with pedestrians, Wulf slowed down and honked. Tito glanced over from a family of four and glared. Wulf honked again.

“Excuse me,” Wulf spoke out the window, so that the family could move along.

Tito hopped into the front passenger seat of the car and sniggered. “Where’s the Chica? I like her. Besides, I’ve been busting my ass on the street corner since the two of you left!”

“That’s why I’m here. Did you happen to see her leave?” Wulf drove slowly, searching for a coffee shop or somewhere else they could chat.

Tito smirked and rubbed his hands together. “I see everything.”

Wulf pulled out his wallet. He didn’t have much cash to give the little shit. He handed over two twenties. “Tell me what you know, and I need a phone.”

The boy crossed his arms, considering the deal.

“I need a smartphone, and don’t act like you aren’t sure what one is. You’ve been lifting off the tourists since you could walk.”

“I’ve been lifting off tourists since I was in my Mama’s belly.” He pocketed the money. “Oh, before I forget, when I was blindsided by you leaving without a goodbye, I had grabbed your mail with the newspaper. I have a letter from Mary Jane’s friend back at my home. Regardless of how rude you two were for not saying goodbye, I knew how happy MJ was when I’d bring by her letters. I’d hoped she might come back.”

“Okay.” Wulf nodded, aware Glenn had sent her yet another letter. “We’ll get it from you later. Tell me about the people she left with.”

“So, the guy’s name is Canelo and the woman is Soledad…fool, are you stupid? Soledad!”

“Don’t know of them.”

“The first lady of El Toro cartel. Well, one of Hector’s favorite putas.”

“El Toro cartel?” Wulf hid his concern as he bit his lip though repeating the words. He remembered some of what he knew back on the force about the El Toro cartel. Gruesome grisly murders, cocaine kings, paid-off Mexican officials… Wulf held in a sigh. “Okay, what happened on the day she went with them?”

“One of your neighbors said they came into the house. She grabbed her luggage, and she left with them.”

“Who’s the neighbor?”

“I can’t tell.”

“Tito, I don’t have time to run around asking everyone that lived nearby,” Wulf gritted out.

“And I’m telling you that I cannot tell! I mentioned El Toro cartel; you need to be glad I got that information out of the person. Since you two had so much money, at the beginning, I assumed you were rich, bad people like them.”

Wulf’s chest deflated. “Did Mary Jane appear to be upset?”

Tito put up a hand. “She was okay, I guess.”

Wulf continued on a street that headed west to the coastline. He told himself to just focus on finding Mary Jane and concentrate on the promise he made to her father.