The Territory by Tricia Fields

Author:Tricia Fields [Fields, Tricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Westerns, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 0312613784
Amazon: B0050IEQO8
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Published: 2011-10-25T05:00:00+00:00

NINE

At noon on Friday, Pegasus stood, draining a can of off-brand tuna fish that smelled like metal into her kitchen sink. Tuna and split pea with ham soup were the only cans left in the cupboard. She planned to slip a couple cans of stew and a better-tasting soup into her purse that night at work. Shoplifting went against her moral code, such as it was, but she had to eat.

She scraped the tuna into a bowl and squeezed a fast-food package of mayonnaise on top of it. She heard cars coming up the gravel drive and stepped quickly to the window in the kitchen door to watch three black cars buzz by her trailer on their way to Red’s. Through the haze of dust they left in their wake, she watched them park in front of Red’s house. One man in a suit, white shirt, and tie got out and appeared to bang on Red’s door, even though it was still crisscrossed with yellow police tape. Several similarly dressed men stood and faced her trailer, where she watched from her living room’s back window.

She opened the coffee table drawer and pulled out the Smith & Wesson and the fully loaded magazine lying beside it. Keeping her eyes on the men, she slid the magazine in the gun and forced a bullet into the chamber. She practiced extending her arms, raising the gun, and slipping her finger down onto the trigger, aiming at the door, where she had hung a red piece of paper at exactly five feet from the ground, the approximate height a man’s chest would be if he came through her front door. She had listened to the cop and had begun locking her door at all hours, although a swift kick would gain a man entrance.

Within a few minutes, the man banging on Red’s sliding glass door quit and the convoy left without stopping at her trailer. Pegasus wondered where her brother was. She had not seen him since her last gun lesson and wasn’t sure if he was even still in town. Maybe this was what he was preparing her for.

* * *

Josie fed and watered Chester and let him outside to run while she caught a few hours of sleep in her own bed. She logged on for duty at noon to work a second shift with Otto. They drove a half mile past the watchtower and parked. Under a steamy noonday sun, they walked a path covered in scrub grass and salt cedar, scouting out vehicle access to the river. About a quarter mile from Josie’s jeep, they spotted fresh tire tracks coming straight out of the river, near where Josie had seen the boat.

Thirty minutes later, Jimmy Dare, a twenty-year veteran with the Marfa Border Patrol, responded to Josie’s call. Josie and Otto met him by the edge of the road, where he parked his white and green SUV.

“How the hell are you, darling?” Jimmy smiled wide and came at Josie with an arm thrown out for a handshake.

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