"Just who Bernardo's friends were."
"What eke did he ask?"
"He asked me if Bernardo was popular widt the girl, and if I ever went cruising with him."
"That's it?"
"Pretty much. Oh yeah, he wanted to know about somebody named Luiza."
"Luiza who?"
"San Miguel. I don't know who she is."
"That's not a common name. More Mexican than Hispanic. You gave him the straight scoop?"
Orlando shrugged.
"Sure. I really don't know who Bernardo dates. Is Bernardo like a suspect or something?"
"I don't know."
"What's this guy investigating, anyway?"
"The mesa homidde. He thinks he has an ID on the victim."
"No shit?"
"It might be a good idea for you to cool it with Bemaido for a while."
"I don't see Bernardo much anyway."
"Keep It that way until things settle down."
"Is that all?"
"Are you still planning to move to Albuquerque when school gets out?"
"Yeah."
"You don't sound so sure about it today."
"I gotta go." Orlando took an awkward step backward and his daypack banged against the door frame.
"Watch it, champ," Gabe said with a grin.
"Don't hurt yourself. Maybe we can talk about it some more tonight."
Orlando nodded and smiled nervously.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Then get out of here. I'll see you later."
"Later."
Outside, Orlando threw the daypack in the backseat of his car and cranked the engine with a shaky hand, praying that there was still a way out of the shithole he was in.
Before leaving Tucson, Sara had tried to reach Kerney by phone without any luck. She left a message on his machine, letting him know she was returning to Santa Fe, packed hurriedly, gave Susie a big hug, and hit the road. The image of Susie's approving smile stayed with her until she reached the city limits.
Sara enjoyed driving late at night. She could wrap herself in a cocoon, let her mind wander, and see where her thoughts took her.
Tonight she kept thinking of Kerney and how she felt about him.
The hours it took to reach Santa Fe felt like minutes as she pulled to a stop in front of Kerney's cottage.
His truck was there but his unmarked state police unit wasn't.
Disappointed, she looked at the dashboard dock and realized he was probably at work.
She let herself in with the key Kerney had given her, expecting Shoe to greet her at the door with his tail wagging and the sneaker firmly in his mouth. The dog was nowhere to found, and all the pet supplies were gone from the kitchen.
Shoe's absence made her worry about both Kerney and the dog. Had Shoe run off or died? Had Kerney decided not to keep Shoe in spite of his genuine affection for the animal?
The answering machine blinked and Sara played back the messages, hoping Kerney had left one for her.
Aside from her message to him and a call from a woman named Ruth Pino there was nothing else on the machine.
She went into the living room, tossed her jacket on the couch, thought about calling Kerney at work, and dropped the idea. She was too tired to think straight. A hot bath and a nap were in order. She picked up her bag and walked into the bedroom.
Without Shoe, the place felt empty.
There wasn't much left to the old settlement on the Gallinas River, just some partial stone and adobe walls, rusted pieces of tin roofing, a few sagging fence posts, and occasional piles of junk, including broken beer bottles and trash left by kids who parried at the site.
The river's floodplain had created a channel no more than three feet deep and fifty feet wide. Spring runoff filled much of the eroded streambed. Cows grazed close to the water near a locked gate on the far side where the dirt road ended.
As far as Bernardo knew the place didn't have a name. It had been settled and abandoned several times since the nineteenth century and was now part of Arlin Fullerton's Box Z spread.
He leaned against the hood of Uncle Roque's truck and watched the cows slosh their way through the water toward a low soggy bottom where spring grasses had greened up. His rio had gone to a spring stock sale in Roswell and wouldn't be back until tomorrow. That left Bernardo with the truck and all the time he needed to meet with Orlando.
He hoped Orlando would show so he wouldn't have to go looking for him.
He heard the sound of tires on gravel, turned to see Orlando's car topping the low hill, and waved as the vehicle slowed to a stop.
Orlando got out and walked to him.