Lea heard the car pull into the driveway and crept to the front window to have a look. Her heart was jackhammering as she parted the curtain and peeked out to see two vehicles and Kino and Clay heading up the steps.
Her shoulders sagged and she fell back against the solid wall beside the window. She closed her eyes and tried to rein in her galloping heart. She pretended she heard the drums from home: slow, steady and filled with the strength she drew on to keep dancing that long, long night of her Sunrise Ceremony. Yes, her heart was slowing and her energy was rising.
One of them knocked and she pushed off the wall and went to greet them, opening the door.
She couldn’t keep from smiling at their return.
Kino seemed distracted and tense. “Have you eaten?” he asked. It was past dinner but she hadn’t wanted to impose.
“No.”
“I got you some tacos. You like beef?” He handed over a bag. “I got cheese, too, and black bean.”
Kino sat with her at the kitchen table while Clay stood quiet vigil by the kitchen window. Kino told her that they had spent much of the afternoon at the drop she had found and then at another stash car.
“What’s a stash car?”
“It’s a truck, usually, hidden in the desert. Modified to carry the most amounts of drugs possible. In this one, they removed the rear seat to gain more space. It was under a camo tarp near a rocky outcropping. That’s normal. They put a spotter up there. When the coast is clear they signal the mules and they come in.”
“Mules? They use mules in the desert? Wait—you mean the migrants.”
“Yeah. Mules are what they call the smugglers.”
“Like they call the ones who lead them over the border ‘coyotes’?”
Kino nodded as Lea ate her dinner and he continued with his story. “The captain wants us spotting that site tonight. He’s hoping we weren’t seen and the drop might still happen. But I’m moving you first.”
She stopped eating. “Where?”
“Farther onto the rez. I have a friend who is letting me use his place.”
“You trust him?” she asked.
“With my life. His name is Luke Forrest. He’s my uncle. He’s FBI. I’ll tell you about him sometime.”
“So this place—it’s not border patrol or ICE?”
“Nope. And it’s not close to town and will be easier to secure.”
“Will you be there?”
Kino cast Clay a glance. Whatever the meaning of the exchange, it was silent and unreadable to her.
“Yeah, I’m staying with you.”
“Didn’t you say you had an assignment tonight?”
“My assignment is keeping you safe. Tomorrow you and I are going to that third drop. The one on your GPS. See what we find there.”
She didn’t like it. Without Kino, who would look after Clay?
“What about your brother?” she asked.
“He’s riding with the guy who lives here. Good guy. Experienced. Indian. Neither one will be alone.” Kino’s phone vibrated and he stood to retrieve it from his pocket. Then he glanced at the display and answered the call. “Uncle, thank you for getting back to me.” Kino did a lot of listening, even had one finger in his ear as he paced the room giving an occasional reply. After several minutes he wrote something down and then thanked the caller before disconnecting.
“He got a place?” asked Clay.
“Yes. He gave me the address.” Kino lifted the sheet of paper. “Also got some information about Scott. He says the chief of the tribal police has been here a few months, has a clean record, and he is engaged to a Tohono O’odham woman.”
“Well, that all sounds good.”
“Yeah.” Kino rubbed his neck. “All good except for where they met. At the annual Rattlesnake Festival in Oklahoma.”
Clay’s eyes narrowed. “Well, lots of people go there. You and I have even been there.”
“Still...” said Kino.
Lea understood his concern.
“But I saw him before we went to Moody’s place,” said Lea. “It’s not him.”
“He could be working with him,” said Kino.
“Uncle Luke have any more information?” asked Clay.
“Yes. He checked Anthony DeClay. The guy was an aid worker in Central America. He has written and received several grants to fund various organizations. He’s not married but was once engaged. He went to the University of Texas and had an affair with a fellow student who subsequently dropped out and had a child. DeClay is listed on the birth certificate but has never paid a dime in support. The mother works in Albuquerque for city government. She’s of Mexican descent. Her family is upper middle class.”
“What about Moody?”
“Dirtbag. Mostly what we know—that he repairs trucks for Oasis.”
Both Kino and Clay looked at Lea.
“I’ve never heard of him. But Margie would be the one to arrange for repairs. I just drive the trucks and fill the tanks.”
Lea had finished her meal, or rather, her appetite had left her. So they threw out the remains and the three headed to the door. Lea climbed into the passenger side of the SUV and Kino and Clay paused outside the driver’s side.
“You know he’s going to suspend you,” said Clay.
Kino shrugged. “I don’t have a choice. You’ll be all right?”
“Don’t worry about me. Worry about her. Seems like she’s found a nest of rattlers all on her own.”
“Yeah. I guess so,” said Kino.
“Hey, no calf roping tonight.”
Kino smiled and gave his big brother a quick bear hug, and Lea heard him say, “Thanks.”
Then Kino was in the SUV and they all headed out into the night. At the first fork, Clay turned his truck in the opposite direction and Lea was alone with Kino.
“Did he say you’d be suspended?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“But why?”
“For disobeying a direct order. I’m supposed to be on that hunt tonight.”
“But you’re staying with me instead,” she said, working it out.
He gave her a smile mixed with a deep sadness, and she felt a welling of gratitude. It was just gratitude, wasn’t it? Her hand on her knee twitched as she tried to resist the nearly irresistible need to reach across and touch him.
Somehow she managed to keep her hand where it was.
Lea thought of Clay’s odd words at his departure and a suspicion rose. She arched a brow at him. “‘Calf roping’?”
Kino raked a hand through his hair. “Just an expression.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s not an expression. Sounds more like code.”
Kino sighed, clearly debating something. Well, she wasn’t giving up so easily. She placed a hand on her hip and waited him out.
“We call it calf roping. It means sleeping with a woman. And before you go there, we were both in the rodeo for a while and it just seemed funny at the time.”
“Hmm. Do you always talk in code?”
“It’s common. Police radios aren’t secure. Border patrol’s, either.”
“What other code words do you use?”
“Well, if I tell you they won’t be codes.”
She cast him an irked look.
“Okay, okay. Here’s one. If we mention our mother’s name it means we’re in serious trouble. All my brothers use it.”
“What’s her name?”
“Tessa.”
“Have you ever had to use it?”
He’d never been in that much trouble. But this hunt felt different. He was certain he would find his father’s killer. But after that...he was not certain.
All he did know for sure was that he would never stop until he found the Viper and made him answer for his crimes.