"He's all yours."
Sara put the coffee cup down, covered the receiver with her hand, and glanced at Kerney's crotch.
"You look very sexy in boxer shorts. What's that thing that's poking out?"
"A surprise."
"I like surprises." She took her hand off the receiver and sat on Kerney's lap, facing him.
"Dale, can I call you right back, in about twenty minutes?"
"Sure thing," Dale said.
"Talk to you then." Sara dropped the phone on the floor.
Kerney and Sara arrived at the old stone cabin at the foot of the mesa to find the gate open and a dozen or so vehicles neatly parked in front of a cardboard sign stapled to a wooden stake that read volunte bbs park here.. Another similar sign at the ranch road read shuttle
VAN AND DELIVERY TRUCKS ONLY.
Kerney had filled Sara in on the weekend project underway at the Knowkon cactus site, and the demand Ruth Pino had made that he meet with a Nature Conservancy staffer.
"It seems she has everything well organized," she said.
"I don't think Professor Pino leaves much to chance.
I'll bet she's working her volunteers like an infantry squad on bivouac."
"She's not your favorite person."
"Maybe you can relate to her."
"Are we hiking in on our own, or taking the Ruth Pino-guided nature tour?" Sara asked as she reached for her backpack and slipped her arms into the shoulder straps.
"We'll hike," Kerney said.
He slung on his backpack and made a beeline up the side of the mesa. At the top, Sara tried to slow Kerney down. She stopped to take in the view, examine wild 5 flowers, and adjust the harness on her pack. Each time, Kerney waited impatiently, looking preoccupied and withdrawn, before striding off again.
When they reached the windmill and stock tank, Sara tugged on Kerney's shirtsleeve.
"Want to talk about it?"
"About what?"
"Your silence. This forced-march pace we're on. The fact that you haven't said five words in the last hour."
"Sorry."
"What's bothering you?"
"I can't get Gabe Gonzales out of my mind."
"You're worried about him," Sara said.
"He's a damn good man, and his life has been ripped apart. He has to live with the fact that his murdered son was a rapist."
"That can't be easy," Sara said.
"It's a hundred times worse if you're a cop."
"Can Gabe cope?"
"I hope so. I don't know."
"What about you?" Sara asked.
"Me?"
"You don't seem very happy."
Kerney looked at the high flanks of the mountains that dominated the skyline and the soft green spring grass that rippled across the mesa.
"I've been trying to enjoy myself," he said, "but it isn't working. I can't hold on to this land, Sara."
"Sell it."
Kerney smiled sadly.
"That's what Dale said. I've got no choice in the matter, anyway."
"Do it."
"Erma wanted me to have it."
"Erma wanted you to be happy. That was her gift to you." Sara stroked Kerney's face.
"Use it to make her wish come true."
"Think she would understand?"
"Of course." Sara pulled Kerney by the collar and kissed him on the lips.
"What's that forF Kerney asked.
"Luck. Let's go hear what kind of deal the Nature Conservancy has to offer. Just don't give the place away."
"I'm not that stupid."