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  “Nope, but I hope to get an introduction real soon.”

  A small, pale cloud of dust drifted upward from the vega road near the river, and a moment later a blue Ford Ranger pickup came toward them. It was several years old, but came quickly.

  Hunter and Ike stepped into the road and waited. Ike had his pistol in his hand, down by his leg. The pickup slowed, then turned into the brush and drove diagonally across it, accelerating to pass them and going at an angle to reach the highway beyond them.

  Ike ran to his pickup and said, “Come on!”

  Hunter slid into the passenger’s seat of the big Ford as Ike turned the key. It started immediately and he spun gravel and dust from his wheels as he reversed to get out from behind the shed, then pulled the automatic shift to D and powered across the road toward the blue Ranger that bounced across the rocks, brush and cactus, raising a cloud of dust in an effort to escape them.

  Ike and Hunter buckled their seatbelts tight as the Ford crunched over brush and cactus like a black tank. Rocks and dead branches banged against the undercarriage like pistol shots as Ike increased speed.

  Hunter could tell they would reach the smaller pickup before it reached the highway, and Ike didn’t slow down as they approached it.

  He cut the wheels so his big Ford caught the rear left fender and spun the Ranger in a circle, scattering gravel and dust in a cloud of bone-pale caliche dust.

  Both Hunter and Ike were out before the two pickups completely stopped. Hunter jerked open the driver’s door as Paco scrambled across the front seat toward the passenger’s door, only to have Ike open it and pull him from the vehicle.

  Ike’s face was inches from the older man’s as he said, “Where’s Anita! Where is she!”

  Paco hesitated and Ike shook him like a terrier with a rat, bouncing his head back and forth as Paco barked, “Hah! Hah!”

  Hunter put her hand on Ike’s forearm to calm him and said, “Anita, where is she?”

  Paco said, “I don’ have her.”

  “You crossed the river with her, so where is she?”

  “In the cane, there was this car,” He pointed at the Ford, “And another pickup, big like this one.”

  Ike shook him again, “Did you put her in that one?”

  “The muscle woman, Suretta, she took the child and left in it with her.”

  Hunter said, “What kind of vehicle, what color?”

  “Was green, like a plant or weed, that color.”

  “What kind of car?”

  Paco sweated and had a hard time controlling his urine as the man gripped him so tight, “Was a…how you call it, a Chevrolet.”

  Hunter said, “Where did they go?”

  “Down river in the cane, then up to the carretera, to the highway. There are more roads than just this one that reach the pavement.”

  Hunter called Norma and passed the information to her. Norma said, “I’ll get the word out, maybe we can stop them at a checkpoint, or the Highway Patrol can spot them. Damn, Hunter, you’re in the shit again.”

  “I can’t help it. You’d have done the same.”

  Norma sighed, “I know. Keep looking.”

  Hunter hung up and told Ike, then said to Paco, “Where are they taking her?”

  “Away from the border.”

  Ike shook him so hard that Paco saw red and blue spots in his vision. “Talk.”

  “North,” Ike tightened his grip to shake him again and Paco said, “No, no, I’m thinking of it. Hard to remember right now.”

  Hunter fumed, and her voice sounded it, “Think fast, Paco. If that child is hurt or killed, you will not have a happy life, I’ll make sure of it.”

  Paco thought, do you think I have a happy life now? He said instead, “That one, they take special care of her, because of the beauty, and the eyes.”

  Ike yelled, “Where!”

  Paco jerked, “Depends on what roads you take. Maybe three, four hours from here. The place is a granero, a barn, on a ranch, with nothing around.”

  “Where’s this ranch?”

  “I don’t…I know how to get there, a few towns on the way, but I don’t know the town very close to it.”

  “Does the ranch have a name?” Hunter asked.

  “Not that I hear, it’s just a place.”

  Hunter looked at Ike and said, “You have plenty of gas?” Ike nodded, and Hunter said, “Paco, get in.” She opened the big Ford’s door and pushed him into the back seat.

  Ike went to his small canvas bag in the front seat and pulled out a long, plastic flex-cuff and put it on the older man’s wrists, cinching it tight. He looked at Paco, letting his anger show, and said, “Which direction.”

  “We are going there?”

  Hunter said, “Damn straight, Skippy.”

  Paco thought he missed something and asked, “Who is Skippy?”

  “Tell us which way and shut up.”

  “Toward the Sonora town.”

  Ike said to Hunter, “Every minute counts here, plus we’ve got an illegal in the truck with us, and he’s cuffed. I’m taking some back roads so we aren’t stopped.”

  “Whatever we need to do. I’ll tell Norma what’s going on.”

  “You sure you want to do that?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay.” He sounded doubtful.

  Ike drove while Hunter called Norma and told her, and as always, Norma scolded her before saying she would see what she could do on her end to fix their situation so they weren’t considered in the same league of criminals as Dillinger and Baby Face.

  Hunter smiled at that as she hung up, but she was worried.

  Ike drove on highway 377 for only a short distance before seeing an open ranch gate and turning into it. Well maintained caliche roads that snaked through the ranch like bone-colored rivers ran in every direction, and all of them ending at large caliche pads for oil and gas well drilling.

  Paco said, “I don’t know the way you are going. We must go to the Sonora town.”

  Ike said, “We are, only a different way so no one sees us.”

  Hunter said, “Paco, will they stop for anything while they’re driving? Food, gas?”

  “Sometimes, but not always. This time, I think they will stop. In Sonora. I know they’ve stopped there several times in the past.”

  Ike accelerated, but not so fast he lost control. The small hills and mesas dotted with mountain cedar and cactus slid by as they pushed north. Hunter noticed sparse grasses in the clearings, but they were going so fast she couldn’t identify the types.

  Several miles further brought them to a gate, and Hunter hopped out to open it, lifting the latch and pushing the gate to the side until the black Ford passed, then she closed and latched it. She checked the ground near the road as she walked to the passenger door, spotting buffalo grass, sideoats grama grass, and the spiny-tipped lechuguilla plants that reminded Hunter of a miniature maguey.

  Ike sped off as soon as she was inside, but they hadn’t gone far before an oil field pickup stopped them and a glowering, bull-shouldered man of about forty walked to Ike’s window. “The hell y’all doing on this property? It’s private. Wait here till the local deputy arrives.”

  Hunter thought fast and pulled her Border Patrol credentials from her pocket and pushed it in front of his face. “We’re undercover out here,” she nodded her head in Paco’s direction, “Finally found this one. He’s been stealing from rigs and locations from Del Rio to Ozona. We got lucky this time and found him up here.”

  The man hesitated, “We’ve been missing some stuff, you think he took it?”

  “Could be. We’re taking him up the road so we can have a long talk in a private place, if you know what I mean.” She winked at the man.

  He lifted his chin in understanding as a faint smile formed, “Ah, you bet. You all go ahead. I’ll call and let the others know. And thank you all for doing such good work.”

  Hunter gave the man a small wave as they passed, and Paco said, “You lie very well,
senorita.”

  Hunter looked at Ike and said, “It’s a gift.”

  Paco hoped to gain favor as he said, “I said nothing, did you notice? I was helpful.”

  Ike kept his eyes on the road, “I know your partner almost burned those kids alive in that van, so don’t expect anything from me, you understand? If we didn’t need you to find Anita, you’d already have a bullet in your head and be rotting in a ditch somewhere.”

  “I did not light the fire, and you would still do that?”

  “Guaranteed.”

  Hunter said, “You get us to Anita and we rescue her, that’s your only chance, Paco. Your only one.”

  Paco licked his lower lip with his tongue. “I will get you there.”

  Ike said, “You’d better.”

  They made good time on the roads, and after an hour, Ike took a road that went straight toward Highway377. As they approached it, Hunter said, “We’re going on it now?”

  “No, that one goes to Carta Valley and on to Rocksprings. There’s a ranch road in this area that goes under it and we can continue going north for a while longer. It should help keep us out of sight.”

  Hunter nodded, and ten minutes later Ike turned onto the road. Ike stopped at a locked gate within sight of the highway. Ike exited the truck and opened the rear door, where he flipped up the rear seat and removed a small tool box from the compartment below. He said to Hunter, “I’ll take the box, in case I can’t pick the lock.”

  He walked to the gate and pulled out a small instrument that looked like a child’s small ray gun. Hunter called to him, “Is that a Brockhage?”

  “Yeah, works nice, too.” He slid the two needle-like picks into the lock and worked the trigger. The lock opened. Ike slid the hasp out of the hole and carried the tool box to the pickup, placing it back into its place under the rear seat.

  Hunter exited and waited at the gate until Ike drove through, then re-locked the gate. They were out of sight of highway 377 in less than two minutes.

  The area north of 377 became much rougher, with more hills and small, weaving valleys. Ike said, “This in here isn’t an oil field road, so buckle up.” The first rocky pothole they hit clicked Hunter’s teeth together, and fine dust drifted down from the headliner.

  “Dang,” she said.

  “We’re just getting started.”

  Ike held to the narrow, rough and rocky roads that were more animal trails than something made for vehicles. He slowed down only once, when the road travelled up a hill and traversed the spine of several of them on a path that was solid, irregular limestone. When they dropped off the north end of the last hill, Ike said, “I almost needed a mouth guard for that.”

  Hunter rolled her neck to relieve the muscle tension and nodded. Paco said, “My kidneys, they are broken, I think.”

  Ike and Hunter ignored him.

  Ike said, “I’m going to cut across this area to hit another farm to market road, 163, and we’ll take it into Sonora. It should be safe enough.”

  “I’m ready, because I need to pee after that drive.”

  “We could have stopped anywhere in the brush.”

  “I know, and I’m no stranger to it, but there’s something nice about a bathroom, and toilet paper. Rocks and grass and leaves, not so much.”

  “Oh, I forgot, you’re a girl.” Ike grinned.

  Hunter said, “Think about that when you have to do a Number Two.”

  Ike nodded, “Point taken.”

  “Just get us there, and don’t dawdle or I might turn this Ford into a lake.”

  When they reached the pavement of Farm to Market Road 163 and pulled onto it, Paco sighed in relief, saying, “Tengo que orinar, tambíen, I have to urinate, too.”

  Ike said, “You’ll go with me, after Hunter finishes and comes back to the pickup.”

  “As you say.”

  Ike drove into Sonora and passed through the small town with oil field vehicles parked in front of most of the restaurants on both sides of the street. He stopped at a Stripes convenience store on the left-hand side of the road and Hunter was out before the pickup came to a full stop.

  She returned with several bottles of water and various snacks.

  Ike said, “You want to drive for a while?”

  “Sure.”

  Chapter 8

  Kelly awoke to the sound of people walking toward her. She huddled under the rock overhang as Consuela curled up in a fetal position behind her, both aware they were hunted. The footsteps sounded steadily closer and Kelly’s breathing turned shallow and fast. It felt like small birds were fluttering in her chest as she watched the man’s legs approaching their hiding place.

  Kelly spotted the legs of two women as well, and the man bent at the waist to look at her under the overhang. He frowned, grasping her ankle and jerking her from under the rock with such force she yelped. He said in his high-pitched voice, “You little bitch. Having us out here all night, this is gonna cost you.”

  Kelly sat on the ground as he reached under the overhang and dragged Consuela from under the shelter. She kicked at him. He stood her up, holding tight to her shirt collar, then slapped her so hard that her knees faltered as spittle and pink drops flew from her mouth. The woman named Kit, and the tattooed woman, Nadine stood near the man, hands on their hips. Kit looked angry, Nadine looked tired, and the man had an erection showing in his pants as he looked at Kelly. She felt her cheeks get hot and she turned away, choosing instead to look at Nadine. Consuela moved beside Kelly, also avoiding the man.

  Kit said, “Let’s go, it’s a long damn walk back to the barn.” Consuela used the hem of her blouse to stop the blood from her nose, but it soon soaked the material and dripped like a leaky faucet as they walked back toward captivity.

  Kelly asked Nadine, “Do you have a rag, something to give her for the bleeding?”

  Nadine looked closer at Consuela, at the amount of blood still coming from her nose, and said, “I don’t, but come here.” Kelly stepped closer and Nadine pulled out a wicked looking black knife and pushed a button. The black blade shot out of the front and clacked when it locked in place. Nadine grasped the bottom of Kelly’s blouse and cut the bottom third off, leaving the girl with an exposed waist almost to her breastbone. Nadine handed the piece of cloth to Kelly, “Give it to your friend.”

  Kelly folded it like a handkerchief and handed it to Consuela, who nodded her thanks and put the fresh cloth to her nose. Kelly felt violated by Nadine’s action, but she didn’t speak about it. The man stared at her exposed skin as he ran the tip of his tongue over his lower lip. His stare made her feel dirty, creeped out, and nervous, like something bad was going to happen.

  Kit led the group from ten yards in front. She stopped and checked her phone’s GPS, then said, “Damn.” She turned and looked at Kelly and Consuela, “You two better be worth it when the time comes.” Nadine, who walked beside the girls said, “She’s mad, so you two keep up, and keep quiet, you understand?”

  Kelly nodded, and Consuela did the same. The group trudged on in silence after that for the next three hours.

  As they walked into the small canyon that housed the barn, Kelly spotted a red Jeep near it, and people she didn’t know standing beside the vehicle.

  The man said in his high-pitched voice, “Looks like they brought the big money player with them.”

  Kit nodded, “It won’t be long now.”

  Kelly moved beside Nadine and said in a whisper, “What does she mean?”

  Nadine looked at her a few seconds before saying, “

  “Before you go on a big trip.”

  “Where?”

  Kit turned, “Shut up. Say anything more and I’ll tape your mouth shut, you got it?”

  “Yes ma’am, I’m sorry.”

  Kit seemed mollified, “Okay then. Let’s get down there.”

  They walked another fifteen minutes to reach the barn, where Kit shoved the children into it and locked the door. The lights showed the scared faces of the other g
irls huddled in the corner. Another child, smaller, sat alone across the barn. She looked up at Kelly and Consuela, and Kelly felt awed by how beautiful she was, like no one she had ever seen before.

  The child appeared cowed, but unhurt. She glanced at the group of girls, then at Kelly, as if waiting to be hit. Kelly walked to her, smiling, and said, “I’m Kelly, what’s your name?”

  The child hesitated several seconds before saying, “I am Anita.”

  “Nice to meet you, Anita. Why don’t you come over and sit with me and my friend, Consuela.” She leaned down to the child, “My friend was hurt, and I think if you talked to her, it might make her feel better. Want to go over there?”

  Anita nodded, got to her feet, and followed Kelly to Consuela, where they sat some ten feet apart from the other girls.

  After they introduced themselves, Anita asked, “Did you hurt your nose?”

  “Yes, I did.” Consuela added, “Where are you from?”

  “Acuña.”

  “So am I.”

  “The bad women took you, too?”

  “They did, and took Kelly, too.”

  “Why did they take us?”

  Consuela glanced at Kelly, who said, “I think they want something, but I don’t know what it is.”

  Anita nodded. “Quiero mi mamí, I want my mommy.”

  Kelly said, “We have to be patient and brave, can you do that, Anita?”

  Anita nodded, then looked up at Kelly as a shaft of sunlight fell across her face, highlighting her violet eyes as if a light was behind them.

  Kelly said, “You have pretty eyes.”

  “Mamí says that, too.”

  Ten minutes passed before Kit and the man came inside. Kit said, “You’ll be leaving soon, so be quiet and don’t cause any trouble, you got that?”

  The man looked at Kelly for a few seconds, then ran his tongue over his lips as his eyes mimicked satisfaction. He smirked and followed Kit out the door. Kelly almost cried, but held it back.

  Anita said, “I don’t like that man.”

  Consuela said, “He scares me, Kelly.”

  “Me, too.”

  Consuela said, “The way he looks at you, he wants to hurt you and…do other things, too.”