Hermit's Peak (25 page)

“I'm shutting it down,” Garcia said. “Go home.”

“I still think Sarge is right,” Thorpe said. “Alarid has got to be warehousing the stolen merchandise somewhere.”

“Not in this town.”

“Maybe he's storing it in the countryside somewhere, where he won't draw attention to himself.”

“Possibly. But that covers a lot of territory.”

“I'd like to come back tomorrow morning and take another look around.”

“We're out of our district. Let the Santa Rosa substation handle it.”

“Then they'd get the bust.”

“If they find anything.”

“Just give me the morning.”

“Don't be so gung-ho, Thorpe.”

“Come on, Art.”

Garcia decided there was no reason to squash Thorpe's enthusiasm. “Okay. But I want you to work with Abe Melendez. He's the sergeant in charge of the Santa Rosa substation. If you strike out, I want you back in Las Vegas by thirteen hundred. Now, go home.”

Garcia watched Thorpe turn his unit around and drive down the empty street. He flicked on the dome light, made an entry in his daily log, and informed dispatch he was off duty and proceeding home.

 • • • 

Her name was Jessica Varela, and over the past six months Bernardo had learned a lot about her. She was thirty, divorced, had no children, and lived alone on the second floor of an old house that had been converted into two apartments. She worked as a cashier at a hardware store and took night courses at the university.

When Bernardo first saw her at the hardware store he got really turned on. She hid her face behind long blonde hair, kept her head lowered when she spoke, and only looked up to give quick, shy glances. She had a smile that seemed like she was keeping secrets, a small, skinny body, slightly rounded shoulders, and a nice set of tits.

He went into the store a lot to get stuff for the ranch, and he used each visit to talk to her at the register, asking one or two calculated questions. He'd been surprised to learn how old she was; he'd figured her to be a lot younger. He found out she was a gringa who'd kept her married name, that she'd grown up in the Midwest, and had moved to Las Vegas from Albuquerque after getting divorced.

Bernardo sat in his car across from the hardware store and watched the lights inside the building go out. The store stayed open late three nights a week, and Jessica worked on those nights when she didn't have an evening class.

He watched the employees leave and waited until Jessica reached the traffic light at the corner before pulling onto the street to follow.

She always took the same route home, so Bernardo didn't have to worry about losing her. He passed by as she pulled into her driveway, made a U-turn at the end of the block, turned off his headlights, and coasted to a stop in time to see her unlock the front door and step inside. He waited until the upstairs lights came on before getting out of his car.

Usually he just drove away after she got home, but
tonight something about the house was different; the downstairs apartment was dark. Always before the lights had been on at night.

Bernardo walked down the opposite side of the street before crossing, then strolled past Jessica's house. There was a
FOR RENT
sign in the downstairs window. That made him smile. The house only had one front and back entrance, and the rear door opened directly to the first floor apartment. He'd been looking for a way to get inside without being seen or heard. Trying to break in on a morning when she went to work late had always been a risky idea because of the downstairs tenants. Now that problem was solved.

He wondered what the inside of her apartment looked like. He couldn't wait to see it.

Bernardo got back in his car and drove away, thinking he'd have to move fast before the landlord found new renters. He arrived home to find his grandfather leaving his parents' house.

“
Jito,
” Nestor said. “I've been looking for you.”

“What is it?”

Nestor held out a business card. “That policeman, Kerney, wants to speak to you.”

“Me?” Bernardo took the card.

“Yes, you. Your uncle Roque said that you've already spoken to him once, about some girl. What is this all about?”

“I don't know,
Abuelo.
What did he ask you about me?”

“Nothing really. He wanted to know if I let you use my truck.”

“I already talked to him about that,” Bernardo said. “I have nothing more to tell him.”

“Be polite and respectful, Bernardo. Speak with Señor Kerney, answer his questions, and be done with it.”

Bernardo nodded abruptly, got back in his car, and slammed the door.

“Where are you going?” Nestor asked. “It is late and you have work to do in the morning.”

“I forgot something.”

Bernardo peeled rubber out of the driveway, tailpipes rumbling as he shifted into a higher gear. He cruised past the burger joint, saw Orlando's car, and made a quick decision not to bother him at work. In the morning, he would call and find out if Orlando had talked to the gringo cop Kerney and what, if anything, Orlando had said.

His plans for Jessica would have to wait for a day or two.

 • • • 

Orlando woke up from a dream where he was lost in some strange city that was impossible to leave. No matter which way he went, every route took him back to a block of windowless, silent buildings on an empty street with no cars or people.

He got out of bed thinking that if he waited until the end of the semester to move to Albuquerque, it might be too late.

He showered, shaved, returned to his room, sat at his desk, and figured out how much money he could pull together if he split. If he used his car insurance payment, the two hundred bucks he had in savings, and his last
paycheck, he could come up with about seven hundred dollars.

His stomach sank as the realization hit him that running away wouldn't change anything. His life would still be fucked. He threw the scrap of paper in the waste-basket, got to his feet, and slung his daypack over his shoulder. If he left now, maybe Dad would still be in the shower when he hit the front door. The phone rang as he reached for his jacket.

“Did a state cop named Kerney talk to you?” Bernardo asked when Orlando answered.

“Yeah, last night”

“What about?”

“You.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“We need to meet.”

“Why?”

“To get our stories straight, before the cop gets all suspicious.”

“How did he get on to you?”

“The bitch used to work at a place out near my
abuelo
's ranch. He's just talking to people who might have known her.”

“I thought you didn't know her.”

“I already told you I didn't.”

“So why is the cop interested in you?”

“He's interested in both of us, bro. He asked me about driving around Ojitos Frios in my grandfather's truck with somebody last April. Does he know that was you?”

“We're screwed,” Orlando said.

“Does he know that was you?” Bernardo demanded.

“No. What are we going to do?”

“Come up with something simple about where we were and what we did. Get our stories straight. Back each other up. He already talked to my grandfather. He wants to talk to me again.”

“Shit!”

“We gotta meet.”

“Okay.”

“Some place where no one will see us. How about down by the Gallinas River where we used to party in high school?”

“That's miles from here.”

“It's halfway to town from my grandfather's ranch.”

“When?”

“Can you make it by ten?”

“Yeah.”

“Just don't say anything to your old man.”

“I'm not stupid, Bernardo,” Orlando said as he hung up the phone.

He hurried down the stairs, saw his father sitting at the kitchen table, and stopped in the doorway.

“Hey, champ, who was on the phone?” Gabe asked.

“A guy from school. He wants to borrow my class notes. Gotta go.”

“Give me a minute before you take off.”

Orlando stepped into the kitchen. “Sure.”

“My deputy chief wants to talk to you about Bernardo.”

“He already did, last night.”

“What did he want to know?”

“Just who Bernardo's friends were.”

“What else did he ask?”

“He asked me if Bernardo was popular with the girls, 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 homicide. He thinks he has an ID on the victim.”

“No shit?”

“It might be a good idea for you to cool it with Bernardo 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 clock 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 partied 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
tío
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.

Bernardo gave him a friendly smile.

“Man, you'd better have a good story we can use,” Orlando said.

“First, tell me what the cop asked you.”

“He asked me if we went cruising together last year in Ojitos Frios. I told him no.”

“What else?”

“He wanted to know if you knew Luiza. I told him I didn't know who you were dating.”

“Did he say anything about her being missing?”

“No.”

“Then he's just fishing.”

“I think he knows who she is. My dad said Kerney has a possible ID on the victim.” A thought flashed through Orlando's mind. He stared at Bernardo.

“What?” Bernardo asked.

“How did he put us in Ojitos Frios?”

“Somebody saw us in my grandfather's truck.”

“Did you tell him we were there?”