Hunter rubbed her forehead, “When I talked to him, he was in El Paso, that area.”
“When was this?” Lincoln asked, and Hunter told him. The line was silent for several seconds before Lincoln said, “I wish we had known.”
Hunter sat straighter, “You did know. I called. Didn’t Ashton tell you? Art wanted me to let you know his location and what he was doing.”
“I’ll call you back.” He hung up and Hunter sat in her vehicle, thinking of Art. She cried for a bit, then wiped her eyes and pulled on the road to go south and work the border area near Terlingua, where her friends, Buddy and Brandi McFarlen, told her they’d seen a few things down on the river that had them spooked. Buddy thought it was dope dealers and he wanted Hunter to know so she didn’t walk into something unprepared. All the way down, images of Art smiling filled her mind.
Buddy and Brandi sat inside the Starlight Theater holding the table and a chair for her. Hunter hugged Brandi first, and then Buddy before they sat down.
Brandi said, “We ordered chips and salsa and antelope burgers with the roasted green chiles and swiss cheese on ‘em. Got you an ice tea, too.”
“Perfect.” The chips and salsa arrived and each one dipped a chip in the salsa. After a few chips, Hunter said, “So tell me about what’s been happening.”
Brandi said, “We like to go out in the evening and park somewhere with a good view of the stars and sky so we can watch the satellites going over. A couple of nights ago, we drove out of town, then down by the river and parked on a low hill.”
“There were lots of shooting stars and satellites that night,” Buddy said.
Brandi nodded, “While we were there, we saw three people on the bluff above the river, and they were flying something in the air. It looked as big as an ironing board, kind of a long rectangle.”
Buddy said, “We watched them playing with it, and they flew it across the river to the Texas side and made that thing do all kinds of acrobatics. Then they sent it on a straight line toward the highway.”
Brandi said, “We thought it was gone, maybe landed somewhere else, but in about fifteen minutes it came back south and re-crossed the river to the three men.”
Hunter asked, “Could you see the men enough to describe them?”
Brandi said, “Average height and build, but that’s about all we could tell. When they had the drone back, they walked over the rise and we heard a vehicle leaving, going south.”
Hunter said, “I figure you heard about all the stuff happening at Buck’s?”
Buddy said, “We did. How do you get in so much trouble all the time?”
Brandi elbowed Buddy in the ribs, “That’s not nice.”
Buddy had a sheepish grin as he said, “Sorry.”
“Not a problem. I wonder about that, too.”
The burgers and tea arrived, and they didn’t talk for several minutes. Buddy finished first and said, “They were there last night, too. The same three guys.”
Hunter said, “Did they have the drone with them?”
“Uh-huh. Flew it again, too. Same route.”
“What time at night did you see them?”
Buddy looked at Brandi, who said, “Right about ten-thirty.”
“Thanks, I believe I’ll give that place a good look tonight.”
Buddy said, “I’ve got the check.”
Brandi said to Hunter, “You bought the last two times we went out, so don’t argue.”
Hunter held up her hands in surrender, “Okay, okay. But the next time’s on me.”
“Deal,” Brandi said and fist-bumped her.
Hunter found the same spot Buddy and Brandi parked, but she left her vehicle out of sight of the river. The full moon was rising and casting its light over the landscape, illuminating things as small as the cane cholla’s spines, which seemed to glow with their own pale light. Faint shadows lay on the ground below yuccas and ocotillo, and the short greasewood bushes appeared as dark, feathery clumps when the night breeze blew through them.