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He slipped in, knelt by the tub with a childish grace. His hands dipped under the water, rested cool on her waist.
"No trouble this time. Just a lot of talking and drinking cerveza," he said. "The Border Patrol hardly stopped me. They must be getting used to my old bug."
"They don't have much of a problem with middle-class white men with Illinois plates sneaking into Texas," A
"Not the best part," Rogelio said, his voice liquid. "You are the best part."
The Clark tape came to an end and the player automatically clicked over to the second cassette. The Chenille Sisters singing, "I Wa
She did.
A
"Rogelio, are you still awake?"
"Depends," came a slow answer and she felt the warmth of his hand at her breast.
She caught it and held it somewhere near the floating ribs- less distracting real estate. "I keep thinking about the Drury Lion Kill." Already, in self-defense-or natural callousness, A
"That's what rangers do," Rogelio replied and his smile warmed the darkness. "Go all the good places us mere mortals are shut out of. Everybody knows that."
"Seriously. Who in their right mind would drag a full pack down that canyon on a contraband lark?" Rogelio's hand was trying to wriggle free, his lips brushed her neck.
"Mmmm," he purred, "you're doing it to me again. God but I'm crazy for you, Ana."
A
"One of your pet kitty cats ate a ranger," Rogelio said and his hand slid down to her thighs. "Lions do that, querida. They're meat eaters."
"Seriously-" A
"Seriously," Rogelio replied and pulled her to him.
Even as she responded, she ached for Zachary, for some good, old-fashioned conversation.
First thing in the morning she would call Molly. First thing.
"Reality check," A
"I've only got seven minutes till Mrs. Claremont."
"I found a dead body."
"What's that sound in the background? Where are you?"
"At the pay phone by the washer and dryer in the Cholla Chateau in the Rec. Hall. That's the dryer. It squeaks," A
"Get a phone. A real phone."
"I promise."
"Okay. A body. Human or otherwise?"
"A woman. I found her up Middle McKittrick Canyon yesterday on my lion transect."
There was a moment's silence. A
"That's right." A
"Mrs. Claremont will still be neurotic in fifteen. Tell me."
A
Mrs. Claremont had been cooling her heels in the Park View Clinic's opulent waiting room for ten minutes by the time A
Another brief silence. A
"Okay," Molly said finally. "You didn't give a damn one way or another about this Sheila Drury. Right so far?"
"Right," A
"Death, darkness, vultures munching, brought back the bad old days after Zach was killed. That's pretty straightforward. But what I'm hearing through it all is an outraged sense of injustice. Am I close?"
A
"Because some of the wrong people die?" Molly was fishing.
"Ah… Nope."
"That you weren't hailed a hero for finding her?"
"Nope."
"Because you had to be the one to find a stinking corpse?"
A
"I give up," Molly said. "Gotta go. Call me when you hit on it."
There was a click and Molly was gone. Ushering in Mrs. Claremont without apology, A
Craig Eastern came in with a blue plastic basket full of uniforms and white Fruit of the Loom underpants. He didn't look at A
A
Outraged injustice.
A
Over the years she'd been introduced to "mitigating circumstances." Everything had softened, muted into the more interesting but less dramatic shades of gray.
Why outraged injustice now? A
Then it was clear, classic: the i
The lion didn't do it.