He glanced out the side of the copter and saw the rancher standing in the yard, his face turned toward them as they flew away. The pistol was still in his hand, Riffey noted.
***
Sam watched them until the helicopter was out of sight. Then he took a deep breath and blew it out, letting his body release the encounter’s stress.
Miguel met him as he entered the door, “Did they say wh
y they hunted me?”
“Nope.” Sam thought a moment, “We need to find a place to hide you for a while. They aren’t through.”
“I believe you are right.”
“I can wipe out any of your sign, too. If the Border Patrol is working this area, they could be our next visitors.”
“I saw them once, far behind me yesterday, but coming on foot.”
“How many?”
“Two. I think one was a woman.”
“If it’s Hunter Kincaid, she’ll be knocking on the door soon.”
“Is she a bad woman, like the men in the helicopter?”
Sam chuckled, “Not hardly. But she is good at what she does, and she doesn’t give up.”
“You sound as if you like her.”
“We’re friendly. Not friends, but friendly.”
“If she comes, will you turn me over to her?”
Sam said, “I won’t lie to her, but I don’t have to tell her everything, either.” Miguel nodded. They were quiet for a while.
Miguel sighed as he stood, “Did the small tinaja catch water from last night’s rain? I saw lightning above the mountains.”
“I think so. Take whatever you need, and come back in a few days after all this dies down.”
“Thank you Sam.”
“Do you want to take a weapon?”
“Is my knife still here?” Sam nodded, “Then I will take it, and some twine for snares.” Sam scratched his dog’s head as they watched Miguel gather things.
He was gone ten minutes later, and Sam did not watch which way Miguel went. He patted Chula and said, “I won’t have to lie to the Border Patrol about that, at least.”
***
When Hunter and Raymond guided the others to the dead man’s site that morning, the body was gone. The County coroner and sheriff’s deputies joined them to look into the arroyo. The new Chief Deputy and current Acting Sheriff, Danny Montoya, spat on the ground as he looked at Hunter and said, “Alright, what the hell is going on. Where’s the body.” It wasn’t a question. Danny was the front-runner in the campaign for Sheriff, and he wanted everyone to know he was the man in charge.
Hunter pointed at the empty grave, “Do you ever watch that TV show, The Walking Dead? Well there you go.”
Raymond said, “Let us look around and see if we can come up with what happened.”
Montoya said, “This is a crime scene, so you and your smartass partner cool your heels. My men will work it out.”
Raymond and Hunter sat in the shade in the arroyo and drank water, watching Montoya’s new deputies, the ones he hired from his old office in Dallas, search aimlessly for something that would give them an ah-ha moment. The County Coroner, Coraline Brite, sat with the two Agents. She said, “I hope they leave something out there for you two to find. Right now it looks like they’re plowing.”