The Valley of Dry Bones (20 page)

He heard pages turning. She read off, “AWD C300.”

“Oh yeah, the all-wheel-drive Chrysler 300.”

It was the smallest vehicle in the fleet but had good power and maneuverability. Mahir had outfitted it with a fuel-injection converter that ran it efficiently on an economical hybrid blend that also allowed it to really fly when necessary. Whoever was behind the wheel apparently felt it necessary now. The car was zigzagging from the usual route this close to the compound.

“Elaine, get down to the garage and open the door, but make sure the inside lights stay off. Don't make him wait to get within range to open it himself.”

“Shouldn't you go while I keep an eye on him from here?”

“No, because I'll be able to tell if it's not the 300 and will give you two clicks on the walkie-talkie if you need to abort. You know what to do then.”

“Shut the door and hit the rally button.”

“Exactly.”

That would keep an intruder out, wake the adults, and bring them running, armed, to prearranged posts.

“You're ready, right, Elaine?”

“Of course. And despite anyone else's misgivings, you know I'll do whatever I have to do to defend myself or any of my brothers or sisters. Even Mahir. What do you do about him if we're breached?”

That gave Zeke pause. “If I thought he was behind the breach, I'd leave him right where he is. Otherwise, I'd let him out, toss him a weapon, and take my chances.”

“I
T
'
S THE
300, Elaine,” Zeke barked into the walkie-talkie. “Hurry back here so I can get down there.”

As soon as he saw her, Zeke sprinted past Elaine to the garage. He called over his shoulder, “If it's Raoul, I'll click twice and you can let Benita know we're on our way!”

Raoul and Danley had had several errands to run, including picking up the meds at the pharmacy and shopping for a car for Doc, and then Zeke assumed Raoul would drive the Chrysler back and Danley whatever they bought. But he also figured they would return together, so he couldn't be certain who was behind the wheel.

The Chrysler came sliding in, tires screeching, headlamps illuminating Zeke as he stood by the overhead door control. As soon as the back end cleared, he hit the button, and when the door hit the floor, he switched on the lights and saw Raoul emerge. Zeke clicked his walkie-talkie twice as the Mexican slammed the car door and rushed to embrace him.

“Danley?”

“I don't know, man. I lost him about twenty miles back, but we had a signal—”

“Twenty miles? We never leave a man—”

“Hear me out, amigo. First I gotta see Benita, and then I'll tell you everything.”

“She knows we're coming.”

Raoul popped the trunk and they each stacked three post office–style cartons filled with books, magazines, snacks, and pharmaceuticals to lug into the compound. When they reached the Commons, Benita came running and grabbed Raoul's boxes, slinging them on the table while jabbering at him in Spanish. She showered him with kisses and wrapped herself around him head to toe.

“Thanks for the help, Benita,” Zeke muttered.

She peeled herself away from Raoul and pointed at Zeke, smiling through tears. “You're on your own, gringo.”

“Enough welcoming, Mexicali Rose,” Zeke said. “Let me debrief him.”

“I put some food on,” she said. “Hungry?”

“
Sí!
” Raoul said. “I ain't eat since about two.”

“The
yanqui
won't like it,” she said, leading them down the hall. “But I got enough anyway.”

Zeke walkie-talkied Elaine Meeks and told her to let him know as soon as she saw any sign of Danley. “Hey, Raoul, what's he driving?”

“You won't believe it, man. A Land Rover.”

“Tell me it's not as nice as the one Doc had.”

“Almost.”

As soon as Raoul returned from the bathroom and dropped onto the couch, Zeke said, “So what happened? Do I need a search party?”

Raoul kicked off his boots. “If he's not here soon. And I'll go with you.”

“You kidding? You have to be exhausted.”

“But like you said, we don't leave people. He flash me three times about twenty miles back, our signal that he pick up a tail and he gonna shake 'em.”

“By going which way?”

“South. And he's a good driver. No way he lead 'em here. Still, I don't like leavin' him. I almost go back.”

“You did the right thing, Raoul. We can't have you both out there, not knowing where you are. When do you think he should be here?”

“No more'n twenty minutes.”

“Did you really not get there till two?”

“It took us forever, man, like almost three hours longer than usual.”

“But you still wanted your reward.”

“'Course! Makes that loco drive almost worth it, you know?”

Raoul was talking about the privilege supply runners got for their five-hundred-mile round trip: a sit-down meal of their choice, even if it meant a different restaurant for each man.

“You didn't go all the way up to that place on the Colorado?”

“
Lo siento
.”

“You're sorry. Raoul!”

“But it was the only place we went. We couldn't find one Haitian place anywhere, so Danley agree he try
Mexicano
. And Rio Cantino is—”

“The best, I know.”

“El más auténtico!
”

“Yeah, but Parker Dam is so far, and—”

“But right on the river, man, and Danley loved it. It was worth it.”

“You still think so? Even now?”

Raoul shrugged as Benita set plates before them. “
This
is authentic,” she said. “Even if the meat is reptile.”

“
Gracias, novia
,” Raoul said, then turned to Zeke. “Rio Cantino make us only a little more late. We eat fast and drive straight back to Parker, where we had left the prescriptions. But something wasn't right, man. The pills, they weren't ready.”

“How long since you'd left them?”

Raoul made a face. “More than an hour. Maybe two. Okay, more than two hours.”

“Somebody new in there?”

“No, but the guy was actin' strange. He wouldn't look at me. He say it was bigger order than usual and some different medicines. 'Course I knew that, but I didn't let on, you know?”

“Good. Did he say he had to order them from somewhere else or anything? What was the holdup?”

“No, he just say it gonna be a little longer. So while me and Danley are pickin' up supplies, an Indian comes in from one of the tribes we work with, only I don't remember which one.”

“What? We don't work with any tribes there.”

“Right there in the drugstore, but from one of the tribes here.”

“No. How'd he get there?”

“That's what I'm sayin'. I don't know. That's all.”

“I'm not following. Somebody from one of the California tribes, there in Parker? You're sure?”

“That's just it, Zeke. It make no sense to me. I didn't want to talk to him, but every time I glance at him, he look like he watchin' me and he look away. I told Danley to go around the other way and see what he think, but . . .” Raoul shook his head.

“What? He didn't recognize him?”

“Sorta.”

“Meaning?”

“Well, he say think he kinda look like someone we might know from one of the tribes, but—”

“But what, Raoul?”

“See, this guy was wearin' pants and a shirt and a hat kinda like you wear, and he had long hair like mine.”

“So?”

“And he was stocky, strong-looking, like about Katashi size.”

“Okay.”

“I thought Danley was bein'
loco
.”

“Why, about what?”

“He thought it might be a woman.”

“What? Well, it either was or it wasn't, Raoul.”

“You know the
Luiseños
we had all that trouble with last spring?”

“In La Jolla, sure. They let us tell stories to their children and they traded us vegetables for water, but then they told us not to come back.”

“They had some ugly women,” Raoul said.

“Well, was it one of them or not?”

Raoul shook his head. “I don't think so, man. Anyway, they was so poor, how would any of them ever get that far from La Jolla? They didn't have no cars even.”

“So are you sure it was someone you've seen before? Or maybe it just reminded you of someone.”

“Yeah, maybe. I don't know.”

“Raoul, there are a
lot
of Indians in Arizona! In fact, tens of thousands displaced from California, lots of 'em related to the tribes we worked with here. Man or woman, this could easily have been a relative to someone we've seen here. It doesn't have to mean anything.”

“Well, hold on. That's not the last time we saw him, or her, or whatever.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but listen to this. There's two guys wearin' suits in the drugstore too, just standin' around watchin'.”

“Watching what? You?”

“I think so.”

“Were they watching anyone else?”

“Maybe, but they were still there when we got back from the car dealership, and they made us late. Just like two other guys at the car place.”

“Okay, wait. You need to tell me this in order. The prescriptions still weren't ready?”

“Right. So we go to gas up the 300 and to look at cars.”

“So by now this is what time?”

“Late afternoon. And I remind Danley what we're lookin' for and that we don't wanna take a lotta time. In fact, I tell him we don't even gotta come back with nothin' if we don't find what we want.”

“Good.”

“I think we were followed.”

“To the dealership? Why?”

“I didn't see nobody behind us while we drive over there, but as soon as we get there and a salesman comes out, a government car pull up and two guys get out and pretend to look at cars too. I tell the salesman I'm
gonna look on my own and Danley is the guy to work with, so I circle around and pretend I'm lookin' at cars near the
federales
.”

“How'd you know they were government?”

“I can read English, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I memorize it. On the front window, a little sticker. It's got a eagle and it say 1824 and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs.”

“Can't be clearer than that. And they were watching you?”

“They weren't shoppin' for no cars, I know that.”

“How do you know?”

“No salesman. We get there, salesman come out. They get there, no. Like they knew they were comin'.”

“Hmm.”

“And you know how fast we can usually buy a car, Zeke?”

“Sure. Pretty fast with cash and a cashier's check.”

“Danley find a Land Rover a couple years older than Doc's, good shape, take a test-drive, say we want it. Take 'em
two hours
to get the deal done! Then they want to prep it. We say no, and they still stall.”

“What was going on?”

“I don't know. I finally tell 'em we're leavin' in five minutes with our money or that car, and if they think I'm kiddin' they'll find out. Five minutes later we stand up and start movin', and that guy hand Danley the papers and the keys. You ready for this, Zeke?”

“I don't know, am I?”

“We get back to the pharmacy, the Indian still there and those two other guys in suits.”

“What was the Indian doing?”

“Sittin' by the cashier, like waitin' for a prescription. All that time? I don't think so.”

“And the guys in suits?”

“They show us IDs from DEA and say they got questions about our prescriptions. I told 'em they weren't for us, that we're just drivers,
couriers for doctors.”

“Good.”

“One of 'em say, ‘So you don't even know what you're ordering?' I say, ‘No, sir. I can't even read his handwriting.'”

“That was good thinking, Raoul.”

“Good thinkin'? It's true! I don't know what Doc orders and I don't care. And you seen his handwriting? Can
you
read it?”

“Ha! No.”

“English is my second language, man! Anyway, this guy ask me if I knew the doctor I worked for was also a mortician. I say I don't even really know what that is, and he say I was probably lyin'. I said, ‘Well, I can guess it has somethin' to do with funerals, but I don't like to think about stuff like that and like I said, we don't really work for him as much as we just run to the drugstore to pick up prescriptions for him.'”

“What do you think he was talking about, Raoul?”

“No idea. Maybe Doc order somethin' for Jennie you get only for people just before they die, I don't know.”

“That's such a strange question,” Zeke said. “I'll have to ask Doc.”

“But then, you know, when we finally leave there it's already late and we got that long drive ahead of us, and I see that same car that was at the car dealer's and I just know it gonna follow us. I don't know how these guys connect. I mean, DEA and Indian Affairs, and then that Indian—man or woman, whatever—it just don't make no sense, man.

“So I tell Danley to drive around while I make the grocery store run and see which one of us is followed. Then I gonna drive west of town and wait where I can see him from maybe a half mile away. I tell him to flash me once if he alone and not bein' followed, and we head back here but still stay far enough apart to keep from kickin' up too much dust. Then if he ever pick up a tail and have to shake 'em, give me three flashes and I know that's what he doin'.”

“So that's what happened?”