The Law and Dan Mesa (18 page)

“Major, I see a car coming in the distance. Should we go into defensive mode?”

“Sergeant Mesa, stay where you are. We will scatter.”

Mesa is standing poised for trouble as the truck pulls into the yard. The door opens, and out steps another Texas ranger in the person of Sergeant Thomas Ryan.

“Hello, Dan, how the heck are you? What are you doing here?”

“Hello, Thomas, it is good to see you. My captain sent me down to work with you guys. I am temporarily attached to the rangers here.”

Major Huerta and the rangers walk out.

“Hello, Thomas, my boy,” Huerta says. “I was hoping they’d send you. I see you know Mesa, and you already know the other guys. Dan, Thomas is my godson and the best son I could ask for.”

Thomas smiles and gives his godfather a bear hug.

“Pop, it is good to be here,” he says. “Say, I’m hungry. When do we eat?”

“Son, there is coffee inside and some bear claws on the table. They are homemade and darn good. Let’s go inside.”

Everyone stands around talking. Slowly, Mesa works his way outside toward the corral. He saddles a roan horse and rides around the corral. He walks the horse back to the bunkhouse. He goes inside and approaches the major.

“Major, how about letting me ride out to scout the area, just to make sure we aren’t being watched. I have this feeling that someone is watching us.”

“Okay, maybe you are right. Go ahead and scout the area. If you aren’t back in three hours, we’ll come looking for you. Be careful, because these characters don’t like you.”

Mesa straps on his revolver, takes his Winchester and one hundred rounds of ammunition, and rides out. He checks his canteen for water and moves out at a trot. The roan has staying power and is somewhat playful. He sidesteps his way along for a while and then straightens out. Mesa takes a trail that heads into the foothills in a westward direction. He skirts the foothills, staying in the shadows so as to never reveal himself. The roan is a surefooted horse that seems to know that he is on a scouting mission.

Mesa is ever alert, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Sure enough, he notices a broken branch that is still damp with sap. He stops and examines the ground, looking for tracks and traps. He notices ashes from a cigar, which he collects in a small plastic bag. He climbs back into the saddle and slowly rides on. After riding for a mile or so, he notices a small smoke trail. He sniffs the air and smells coffee and, faintly, a woman’s perfume. He loosens the rifle and moves out slowly, constantly looking about. The aroma becomes stronger.

He stops the horse and climbs down, tying up the horse. He moves out on foot. This reminds him of the jungles of Vietnam and a different time. It is amazing how an individual takes on the trappings of his surroundings. Mesa feels at home when he is on the hunt or, as Sherlock said to Watson, “The game is afoot.”

As he walks, Mesa thinks,
Whoever
this
person
is,
they
know
the
woods
quite
well.
There
is
something
about
the
smell
that
is
familiar
to
me.
Now
where
have
I
run
into
that
smell
before?

Suddenly, a chill runs through his entire body. He remembers where he has smelled that fragrance before. It was on the plane on his trip back from Baltimore. The flight attendant, Monica Saint Jacque, wore that fragrance. Mesa stops suddenly and hits the ground. At that moment, an arrow barely misses him. He lies very still for minutes, just listening and testing the air. For some unknown reason, he is not afraid. It seems as if this is what he has trained for all his life. After thirty minutes, he crawls slowly and checks the entire area, looking for whoever shot the arrow. He finds a trap that someone set. It was aimed about chest high. Whoever set the trap was familiar with his height and weight.

He finds the campfire and the smell of perfume is even stronger. As he turns to leave, his foot strikes a rock, and something white draws his attention. He stops and picks up a piece of paper. It is a note with very distinctive handwriting. It reads:

They are looking for you, and they are here in the woods. Be careful and know that I am watching over you. Don’t try to find me, because I am not ready for you to find me. You have much to do, and thinking about me will distract you. One day, I will find you again. Keep your eyes open and your head down.

It wasn’t signed, but Mesa knows who wrote it. It is Monica’s handwriting; he is sure of it. He walks back to the roan and climbs up. He knows he is being watched but by friendly eyes. He raises his hand in a farewell salute and rides away.

He is loping along when he sees riders approaching. It is the major and Ryan. When they see him, they slow down. He tells them what happened, and they look at him as if they have seen a ghost. When they arrive at the bunkhouse, Mesa sits down and tells them the entire story.

Thomas looks at Dan and says, “If anyone else told me a story like that, I’d say he was crazy, but from you, it sounds truthful. How do you explain all this?”

“There are some things on this earth that you just accept as truth and don’t question,” Sergeant Schmidt says. “If the airline acknowledges that this woman existed and was killed, then some power greater than us is in control of the situation. Dan, it seems like you have your own personal angel looking over you.”

“Yes, it does seem like someone or something is watching over me. I think I will get some air,” Mesa says.

Mesa walks outside to the corral. He lights a cigar and stands watching the sunset.

Major Huerta walks to the door and looks at the shadowy figure standing at the corral. He sees a slight shiver in the frame of the man standing alone and knows what he is going through. He turns back to guys and says “That man is facing tough times and I don’t ever want to go through what he is going through. This case is one of the strangest ones I have ever dealt with. Not only do we have criminals to deal with, now we have something unexplainable. Boy, I love this job” and he smiles.

Thomas walks out to the corral where Mesa is standing.

“Dan, are you okay?” he asks. “I don’t mean to intrude, but you worry me sometimes. Seems like you could use a friend.”

“Thomas, sometimes it seems like all this is a dream, and lately, it is getting awfully strange. Now you take this lady Monica Saint Jacque. Thomas, if I didn’t know better, I’d say she was Sonia. Everything about her is a replica of Sonia. She knows things that passed between Sonia and I, and the only way she could know it is if she was there. You must think I’m nuts, but it is all true. I can’t explain any of this. Read this note I found today. I didn’t mention it to the major.”

He hands the note to Ryan, who reads the note and sniffs the perfume. He turns toward Mesa with the strangest look on his face.

“Dan, when I was on my way here, I stopped at a store outside of El Paso, and there was a woman in there who wore the same perfume.”

“Thomas, can you describe this woman you saw?”

“Well, she was probably part African American and maybe French or Hispanic. She was very beautiful. She said she had a friend who was an Arizona ranger. At the time, it didn’t dawn on me that she was speaking of you. But now I know she was speaking of you. It seemed like she knew me, and the crazy part is it seemed like I knew her.”

“Thomas, the woman you described is Monica Saint Jacque. She was killed in a plane crash about ten years ago. I talked to the office of personnel records for the airline and I sent them a drawing of her, and they confirmed that the picture was of Monica. I don’t have a clue as to what is going on. Maybe I do have an angel watching over me, or maybe this whole thing is a trick.”

The supper bell rings, and they walk back to the bunkhouse to eat. The food is simple ranch fare consisting of steak with potatoes and gravy, string beans, corn on the cob, and salad. The cook also made a delicious apple pie. Everyone, even the Davis family, joins in for supper. Mesa eats only a small amount but loads up on coffee and a large piece of pie. He excuses himself and makes a phone call to Yuma, where the phone rings at the home of Matilda Osborne.

“Hello, this is Matilda.”

“Matilda, This is Dan.”

“Oh, hello, Daniel. It is so good to hear your voice. Alana and I were just speaking of you. How is San Antonio?”

“It is absolutely great to hear your voice. San Antonio was great. I’m at a ranch in the Big Bend country. We set up headquarters here. We believe the people in question are here in the Davis Mountains. Matilda, did Alana tell you about Monica Saint Jacque?”

“Yes, she did, and I have to admit that it’s hard to believe.”

“Matilda, have Alana get on the phone as well. Earlier today, Monica showed up here.” Dan tells them the story.

“Dan, this whole thing is starting to sound very weird. You be sure to watch your back. This could all be a trick to get you killed.”

“Alana, do me a favor and called the lady in Dallas and find out if there is anything new in relation to Monica. And Alana, don’t forget someone here cares about you.”

Dan hangs the phone up and walks outside into the night air. The desert gets cold at night, even in the summer. Mesa puts on his jacket and checks his pistol. Then he walks into the night, moving very carefully. He walks softly and stops every hundred yards to listen. This procedure continues for an hour.

Suddenly, Mesa sees a light in the distance about a half mile away. He walks toward the light. As he approaches, he hears voices. He recognizes Mandy’s voice and slows down. He moves to within yards of them. They have tents and sleeping bags. A fire is going, and someone is cooking meat.

“I’m tired of waiting,” Mesa says. “I want to face Dan Mesa and get it over with. He killed Jose, and I want to make him pay for it. It is time to act, not just sit here drinking coffee.”

“Mandy,” Carlos says, “if you go into this situation without thinking or planning, I promise you that you will be dead within minutes. These people are rangers, and they will kill you. I know Mesa, and so do you. He will shoot you without any remorse. He wants me badly, because of his lady friend’s death. I have no illusions about Dan Mesa—he will kill me if he gets the chance, and he will shoot you if you force him to. I don’t like the man, but I do respect him. He is honest and probably the best friend you could ever ask for. I just don’t want him for a friend.”

There is laughter and another voice says “Boss, what about me? Dan Mesa knows what happened to that woman and his friend, Savalas. He has me pegged as the one who is responsible. He will never stop unless we stop him. I don’t want someone telling me that Mesa is dead. I want to see it myself, even if I have to pull the trigger.”

“Antonio, you aren’t fast enough, nor are you smart enough to kill Mesa. It will take all of us working together to get the job done. We will have to kill more than Mesa. We will have to kill some Texas rangers too.”

Suddenly, it gets very quiet.

Then an unknown person says, “I don’t know about this. Those Texas rangers make their own laws. They will follow you to hell and back if you kill one of them. Mesa is in good company. He belongs with them, because he thinks like they do. Killing Mesa is bad enough, but killing a Texas ranger is pushing your luck. I suggest you kill Mesa and leave the rangers alone.”

“I want Mesa dead.
Dead,
do you hear me? I will kill him myself,” Mandy rages. “I don’t need you. I am going after him tomorrow, with or without your help. I promised Jose’s parents I would make him pay, and I plan to keep my promise.”

Everyone just stares at her and backs away, leaving her to sit and stew. Suddenly, she gets up, packs her belongings, and leaves in her Jeep. Mesa takes a pad from his pocket and writes down the tag number and color. Then he backs away slowly and heads back to the ranch.

“Where is Sergeant Mesa?” Major Huerta asks. “He was here, and then he was gone. That man is like a ghost. I would not want him following me. I have a feeling he would be a tough person to get away from.”

As the Major finishes speaking, Mesa walks in. He relays what happened to the major and the others.

“Sergeant Mesa, can you lead us back to where you were?”

“Yes, sir, I can, but we need to leave immediately, because they will be moving to another location. I believe Mandy’s behavior scared them all. They know she is a loose cannon. I may have to kill her, and that is something I don’t want to do. We were close at one time, but she changed, and now there is no turning back.”

They all mount up and head out. They arrive at the camp and find it abandoned. Each ranger takes a section of the camp and goes over it carefully, looking for a lead. They find cigarette butts and matches. Everything is bagged and labeled. Finally, Ranger Schmidt finds what looks like a map.

“Major, this looks like a map of this entire area. I do believe we may have gotten lucky. If this map is correct, we know where they are headed.”

“Everyone, saddle up and head back to the ranch,” Major Huerta says. “We’ll collect the supplies we need and head out again.”

The crew head back to the Ranch to pick up all supplies needed, including several hundred rounds of ammunition.

Dan Mesa selects a Winchester repeater and takes his .357 Magnum revolver. He stops and packs his derringer. He walks outside and selects a vest and then climbs up on the horse. He is alert to every sound, knowing that there is always the possibility of an ambush. Mesa is slowly reverting to the soldier he was in Vietnam. There are so many places to set up an ambush. He stops and puts on his vest. The major, who has been watching Mesa, calls a halt.