"A gringo came here on Sunday," Nestor said.
"A tall man with a limp. I don't remember his name. He was with another man in a pickup truck. He wanted to buy out my lease on the Fergurson property. He asked about Boaz."
Gabe knew of the chief's visit to Barela and decided to keep it to himself.
"Did he ask for Boaz by name?"
"No," Nestor said.
"Did either Boaz or Rudy ever give you cause to be suspicious?"
"Rudy just drank a lot," Bernardo said.
"He couldn't keep a job," Roque added.
"That's it?"
"Rumors," Roque said.
"Rumors?"
"That he was maybe breaking into some of the summer homes in the valley," Roque said.
"Who told you this?"
"I don't know where I heard it."
"Do you think he killed the woman you found on the mesa?" Bernardo asked.
"I don't know," Gabe replied. Bernardo's eager tone of voice struck him as somewhat odd.
"What do you think?"
Bernardo shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, if he was so bad, why not?"
"That's an interesting theory. Do you know who Rudy hung out with?"
"Not me," Bernardo said.
Both Roque and Nestor echoed Bernardo's comment.
"But I heard he got fired from Horse Canyon Ranch," Roque added.
"When?"
"About a year ago. He worked there a short time."
"Do you know why he got canned?"
"I have no idea. Emmet Griffin, the ranch manager, can tell you."
"Thanks," Gabe said. He shook hands with the men and walked up the gentle incline toward the compound.
Nestor waited until Gabe was out of earshot before turning to Bernardo.
"Unsaddle my horse, Jito, and put him in the pasture."
"You're not going to the ranch with us?" Roque asked.
"No, I'm going to the mesa."
"What for?" Bernardo asked.
"To see for myself what damage has been done."
"You shouldn't go alone," Roque said.
Nestor looked sharply at his son. His reaction brought a quick, acquiescent nod from Roque. His gaze moved to Bernardo, and he raised his chin to point at the trailer containing the three mounts.
"Jito, get my horse and put him back in the pasture."
Bernardo moved off.
"Well, be home before dark," Roque said, still unable to mask his concern over Nestor's plan to go to the mesa by himself.
"Stop always worrying about me, Roque. You make me feel old, and I am not ready to welcome such a judgment."
He patted his son on the arm.
"I'll be back before you get home."
On the road through Ojitos Frios, Nestor Barela found himself behind a slow-moving white van with a state government license plate. There were few places safe to pass on the dirt road, but he did so when the driver of the van opened the window and waved him around. He waved back at the woman and the passengers as he drove by. Soon the vehicle was out of sight in his rearview mirror.
He grunted in annoyance as he approached the old cabin. The gate to the property stood open and the scrap wood that had been nailed over the cabin door had been pulled off. He wondered if the police had entered the old building searching for clues.
Before he could take a look the white van appeared on the road. It slowed, turned, rattled over the cattle guard, and stopped next to his truck. Nestor approached the woman behind the wheel. Painted on the side of the vehicle was the logo of the state university.
"This land is posted," he said to the woman. The six passengers with her all looked very young.
"No trespassing."
"I have the owner's permission," Ruth Pino said.
"The owner is dead," Nestor replied.