Dead Wrong

“Good luck,” she whispered.

There was another meaty paw swipe to the eyes. “Thanks, boss,” he murmured. “Appreciate it.”

After he left, Joa

“Did you know you’re unsanitary?” Joa

Half an hour or so later, Joa

“Congratulations, you big nut,” she said, kissing him hello. “Welcome home, but I thought I told you to stay where you were. What time is it?”

“Three,” he said. “Three forty-five, to be exact.”

“What time did you leave El Paso?” she asked.

“Better you should never know,” he said. “I’m taking the Fifth. Suffice it to say, though, there wasn’t very much traffic and zero enforcement. I left the banquet as soon as I could. I wasn’t about to leave you alone and in my mother’s clutches any longer than necessary. How are things?”

“Fine,” she said. “Come on. Let’s go to bed. You must be beat.”

“I am,” he agreed. “And I’m very glad to be home.”

Once in bed, Joa

On Sunday, Margaret and Don declined to go to church. After fixing them breakfast, Joa

Butch was putting the finishing touches on a roast beef di

“No,” Joa

“Not much,” Frank told her. “I had three deputies patrolling that northeast sector last night. Nothing at all turned up in San Simon. As far as anyone could tell, there was no unusual traffic coming and going from Roostercomb Ranch. The whole area was dead as can be. With that in mind, I’m thinking we should probably drop the increased surveillance. After all, Patrol is stretched so thin…”

“No,” Joa

“Maybe,” Frank agreed grudgingly. “But I doubt it. I can’t help wondering if Jea

“Let’s give it another day,” Joa

“We’ll see,” Frank said ominously. “We’ll know more about that come tomorrow, when the reports are in and it’s time for the morning briefing.”

Chapter 6

On her way out the door on Monday morning, Joa

“What’s all this?” Joa

“I have no idea,” he replied. “George dropped them off yesterday afternoon when he and your mother came to di

“Great,” Joa

“Want me to attempt a first sort?” Butch asked. “Good morning,” Margaret Dixon called.

The rammed-earth house Butch had designed and helped build consisted of two wings, each with its own separate garage. Margaret, who had entered through Butch’s garage, had wandered through the whole house before finding them.

“Anybody home?” she asked. “I sure hope there’s coffee. I could have made it out in the RV but I decided to come inside instead. Have you already eaten?”

Joa

Grumbling under his breath, Butch walked Joa

Joa

“So do I,” he agreed.

“Some people are a real pain,” Je

“Margaret Dixon isn’t a very happy person,” Joa

“But why does she think we should have put Lucky to sleep?”

Joa

“How long are they go

“Probably until the baby is born,” Joa

“Well, could you please hurry up and have it then?” Je

“Believe me,” Joa

At the morning briefing, Frank Montoya wasn’t any happier than Je

“Last night was the wrong time to have three cars in San Simon, especially since our people didn’t spot anything out of line,” he grumbled. “In the meantime, Border Patrol came up with at least a hundred and fifty UDAs who were all on foot and making a run for it east of Douglas. They called us for backup. Unfortunately, we didn’t have anybody to send.”

Joa

“How many did they catch?”

“Most,” Frank said. “But there’s no way to know how many got away.”

“With those kinds of numbers, an additional three deputies probably wouldn’t have made much difference,” Joa

“It would have helped,” Frank replied.

But Joa

“So I can pull the extra patrols for tonight?”

“Yes,” Joa