"When did you last see Orlando?"
"Early yesterday. About an hour before he went to the bank."
"Did the two of you talk?"
"Yeah. He said you'd questioned him about Bernardo's friends. He asked me what was up. I told him you were investigating the mesa homicide."
"How did he react to that?"
"He seemed okay with it."
"Did you talk about anything else?"
"I asked him why he was leaving early. He said he had to meet some guy from school who wanted to borrow his lecture notes. He didn't say who it was."
"Is that all?"
"Pretty much. He got a phone call while I was in the shower."
"Who from?"
"Orlando said it was from the kid who wanted to borrow his notes."
"Does Orlando have a steady girlfriend?"
"No."
"Would he tell you if he was planning to cut classes and meet some girl or go camping with friends, like Captain Garduno suggested?"
"Not necessarily. He'd know I wouldn't approve," The search and rescue team had mounted up. Four riders crossed the river, moved through the bottom land, and disappeared into the forest.
"So, it's possible Orlando decided to play hooky," Kerney said.
"Don't feed me crap," Gabe said.
"Something stinks here. You know it, and I know it."
"Let's assume he came here to meet someone. Seven hundred dollars could buy two ounces of very good pot."
"Orlando doesn't use drugs," Gabe said.
Gabe was reacting like a parent, not like a cop. Kerney dedded not to push the point.
"Who would he come here to meet?"
"I don' trucking know," Gabe said.
"Okay, we'll talk to all his friends. But first let's see if we can find out who called him." Kerney opened his pocket notebook, tore out a page, and gave it to Garduno.
"What's that?" Gabe demanded.
"The names and phone numbers of everyone I talked to about the mesa homicide." Kerney looked at Garduno.
"Call dispatch and have them request phone company records on any calls made to Gabe's phone. Start with Bernardo."
"You're fucking crazy to think Orlando had anything to do with that."
"You wanted me to cut the crap, Lieutenant.
Bernardo works twenty miles from here. He's the only person I know with a legitimate reason to be anywhere near this place during the day."
"You're way off the mark."
"Let's hope so," Kerney said.
Garduno reached inside his unit to pick up the radio handset. Gabe gave Kerney an unpleasant look, walked to the river, and stood alone with his back turned and head lowered.
Garduno finished up with dispatch, glanced at Kerney, and nodded in Gabe's direction.
"He knows it could be bad, Chief."
"I understand that."
A pickup truck with three dogs in the bed stopped next to Garduno's unit, and a stocky woman with short brown hair got out.
"I'm Martha Owens. Where do you want my dogs?" she asked.
Before either could answer, the dogs started barking, straining against their leashes.
Owens went to the dogs and tried to calm them. The barking continued in spite of her efforts.
"They smell something," she said.
"What?" Garduno asked.
"Either a body or blood."
"We've searched," Garduno said.
"Nothing's here."
"My dogs say otherwise."
"Where?" Garduno asked, spreading his arms.
"Anne will show us. She's the best of the lot." Martha unsnapped the leash of a female hound, and the dog jumped out of the truck before Owens could drop the tailgate. The hound made for a spot just off the road and started digging while her companions in the truck kept up a steady howl.