"He can't talk with a gun in his mouth, Gabe," Kerney said.
"He can move his fucking head," Gabe said.
"Is my son alive?"
Bernardo didn't react. Gabe cocked his weapon.
Bernardo gurgled, choking on the barrel.
"Don't kill him with the gun," Kerney said. He picked up Bernardo's butcher knife and held it out.
"Use the knife. Open him up from his balls to his neck."
Gabe shook his head and jammed the gun barrel to the back of Bernardo's throat.
"Puck the knife. Is Orlando dead?"
Bernardo's eyes grew wide and he nodded.
"Did you kill him?" Gabe asked.
Bernardo nodded again.
"You pissant little fucker."
"Take the gun out of his mouth, Gabe," Kerney ordered, pulling on Gabe's arm.
"Puck you, Kerney." Gabe's eyes bored into Bernardo.
"Where is he? Where s Orlando?"
Bernardo gurgled some more.
"The gun, Gabe," Kerney said, pulling hard on Gabe's arm.
Gabe yanked the barrel out, busted Bernardo across the nose, and kneed him hard in the groin.
Blood spurted down the front of Bernardo's bare chest as he sank to the floor. He sat holding himself, gasping in pain.
Gabe bolstered his weapon and held out his hand.
"Give me the fucking knife, Kerney."
He took it, knelt down, and pulled Bernardo's hands away from his groin.
When the point of the butcher knife pricked Bernardo's balls, he started spilling his guts.
Arlin FuUerton brought the bulldozer out to the ranch road and started stripping dirt at the spot where Kerney had told him to start digging.
Four officers, including the lieutenant who had come to the ranch with Kerney earlier in the day, stood nearby. Police cars were lined up on each side of the road, all with headlights and spotlights on.
Fullerton trenched two feet down until the blade hit a buried granite boulder. That's how Bernardo gouged the dozer's lip, he thought, as he skipped over the obstruction and started scraping away broken shale and sandstone on the other side.
The twin spotlights on the cab roof lit up the excavation as he pushed the earth into a mound at tile end of the trench. It would have been faster and neater to use a backhoe or a front end loader. But Pullerton knew he could do the job. He'd logged countless hours on the 'dozer and could peel an inch of dirt away with each pass and have it be almost dead level.
The men on either side of the trench stood like statues as he worked, not talking, just staring and beaming their flashlights into the ever-deepening ditch.
Pullerton didn't want to mangle the body so it took a while to get three feet down. Even then, nothing showed. He backed up, got out of the cab, and adjusted the 'dozer spotlights to shine directly into the trench.
Then he climbed down, walked to the back of the machine, got two long-handled shovels off a jerry-rigged rack, and approached Kerney.
"Two more feet and I'll hit bedrock," he said.
"Best to dig by hand from here."
Kerney and the lieutenant climbed into the hole and started digging.
The three other officers stood at the edge of the pit and watched. When Kerney exposed the body, the lieutenant sank to his knees and started retching, his head turned away from the crushed face.
One of the officers, a sergeant, dropped into the trench, pulled the lieutenant to his feet, and hauled him out. Kerney slammed his shovel against the side of the pit and joined the men standing around the lieutenant, who quickly broke away from the group and walked into the darkness.
Kerney followed him while the other men stood fast.
One by one, their flashlights went dark.
Wisely, Arlin cut off the 'dozer's spotlights and retreated into the shadows to wait.
Gabe didn't cry as he walked down the road but his breath sounded ragged. Kerney stayed a few steps behind, keeping his distance. When Gabe stopped, a long time passed before he spoke.
"I wanted a good life for him. Chief," he said dully, his face turned away.
"College, a decent job, meet the right girl, start a family. Make me proud. You know what I mean?"
"I do."
"I always thought he'd be a great father. Better than me.
Kids just seemed to take to him. He had a way with kids."
Kerney didn't respond.
"Jesus, his mother is going to flip out. I need to call her. What do I say?"
"Do it later."
Gabe's back stiffened.