Читать книгу As the Eagle Flies - J. D. Oliver - Страница 8

Chapter Three

As I closed the door quietly behind me, Faith said, “I’m not asleep, but Alita is, would you put her in her crib? Lay her on her back, not her tummy.”

I laid her on her back and covered her up to her chest with a light flannel blanket. She stirred a little bit, but didn’t wake up. I heard the bed squeak as Faith got up and went to the bathroom, I glanced around, all I seen was her naked backside as she padded away.

I sat down on the bed and pulled my boots off. One of my socks had a hole in the toe. I was setting there contemplating that, when Faith came back.

“What’s the matter, how come you’re not undressed?” She said, standing there with her hands on her hips, with her head cocked to one side looking at me. I looked back, she sure was pretty. I think she was the first natural blond that I had ever seen.

“Uh, no reason, I guess I was just waiting for you to tell me, I didn’t want to assume anything.” I said, as I started to unbuckle my belt.

“Land sakes, you sure are something, what do you mean you don’t want to assume anything? We’re getting married tomorrow, here let me do that, you’re all thumbs.”

Alita slept all night, it must have been just after daylight when I heard her whimper, I got up and got her, I changed her diaper before I woke Faith and put Alita in her arms. Then I went and got in the shower. As soon as I was dried off, Faith handed me the baby. And she stepped in the shower. I laid Alita in the middle of our bed, she just giggled and smiled at me; I think she liked me.

I got my bag out and was looking through it for clean underwear; I couldn’t find any. I was still rummaging when Faith came out, drying herself, she said, “What are you looking for?”

“It seems I don’t have any clean underwear.” I said, standing there in my all-together.

“No problem, on the right side of the dresser, top drawer, it’s full of men’s underwear. You don’t mind do you?”

“Huh? You mean they were his?”

“Yeah, but I threw away all of the used ones; these are brand new, they have never been washed. I don’t know why I kept them, sort of a hope chest I guess. Anyway, were my hopes realized?”

“Well, I would say so, that is if I fit the bill?” I said, walking toward her, she met me half way, jumping up, she put her legs around me and one thing led to another; as I backed her toward the wall. Alita wasn’t paying any attention to us, she was busy playing with her toes.

We had a late breakfast with Dad and Felicia. It was just the four of us; everyone else was already about their chores, including Jake and Alona. Gail showed up before the noon hour, she had all of the needed paperwork.

We had the wedding at two PM, in the yard under the big cottonwood tree. There were about forty people there, some from town, Gail had told them about the wedding. And of course all of the people from the Ranchos de Chama.

The rest of the day turned out to be a big fiesta. Everyone had brought some kind of food dish; plus of course the Ranch had supplied enough to feed an army. Some of the ranch hands played on their guitars and whatever. It was the best wedding that I had ever been to; of course I guess because it was mine.

The next day Dad and Felicia left for a short honeymoon. They said they were going to Mazatlan. Miguel drove them to the airport in Santa Fe. Faith and I decided to stay right at the Ranch, what could be more romantic than here?

The Rodeo in Santa Fe was a week long affair. There was four days left, Jake had called and he could still compete. Alona was entered in the barrel racing anyway. So we went to the Rodeo. I didn’t have a roping partner, but I did sign up for saddle bronc.

We took the quad cab with a horse trailer behind for Alona’s horse. It sure was nice that Faith was nursing; we didn’t have to take bottles along, but of course the diaper bag was a necessity. We got rooms at the Holiday Inn. Yeah, Jake and Alona had separate rooms.

That horse of Alona’s was a good one, she took second place money the first day. Jake was in top form, he placed third in the bull riding, second in bareback. I got bucked off, I don’t think my mind was on my riding. Besides it sure was nice having Faith to assuage my wounds.

The second day though, I did better, I took second place money. I had to show my wife that I wasn’t a complete duffer. Of course she knew that I wasn’t. She liked my riding capability.

I don’t know why we got rooms for Jake and Alona; cause they slept in the stables with her horse. Turns out someone was messing with the horses. I guess it was the sign of the times when a horse wasn’t safe anymore. But they did come back to their rooms to take showers; so I guess the cost wasn’t a complete waste.

The second night there, we were laying in bed talking, right after we put Alita down for the night. Faith said, “You know, you haven’t told me much about yourself?”

“I haven’t? What do you want to know? You know my Dad and Brother, you know my mother died from a drunk driver. You know we have a ranch in the Big Horn Basin. I told you I was in the Navy, so what else is there?”

“You personally, what makes you tick? Oh, I know what turns you on. And that you’re a caring and gentle person. You said that you were in Iraq, tell me about that?”

“Are you sure you want to hear about that? I guess you are or you wouldn’t of asked. Okay, here goes. Like I said, I was a Navy Combat Pilot, our Carrier was in the Persian Gulf. I flew both daylight and night missions, pretty routine stuff, they gave you a target, you went in and dumped your load and headed back. That was all except this one time, I was on a night mission, but before I could unload I was hit with a SAM missile; you know a Surface to Air Missile. It took off one wing, I ejected. Have you ever parachuted to earth at night? No, I suppose you haven’t. Anyway it sure is different at night, sort of pretty though.

I came down on the outskirts of this little town. The first thing I did was bury my chute. I made sure my locater beacon was on. You know so they could find me. Are you bored yet?” I said, as I did a few navel maneuvers around her navel…

“Stop that, I’m not bored, I want to hear all of it.”

“Alright, well this town was controlled by Al Qaeda, I went toward some buildings, just on the edge of town, like I said it was night and I was always pretty good at playing hide and seek at night; I enjoyed flitting from shadow to shadow. I heard and seen a bunch of guys talking in Arabic in the courtyard of this one house. Now I could understand Arabic, but can’t speak it too good.

Now these guys weren’t locals, they were Al Qaeda, for sure. I got up real close, when I buried my chute, I also buried my flight suit and helmet, all I kept was my .45. With my complexion and hair color, you couldn’t tell me from one of them. Anyway, they were getting this young guy ready for a suicide mission, they were strapping the C4 to him.

There must have been about thirty of them, with more in the house. In fact I was sure this house was supposed to be my intended target. They were talking that young fellow up pretty good; telling him how he was to get all of these virgins when he got to his Valhalla or some such.

Anyway they got him all cinched up and were telling him how to set it off; turns out they had a remote control; it was nothing but a cheap cell phone that they were showing him how to use it, I was also paying attention. But to make a long story short, this young fellow put the remote in his pocket. Then they all trooped in the house, for a last drink or something. But lo and behold that remote fell through a hole in his pocket, no one noticed it but me. So after they went in the house, I picked it up and ran.

It was an hour or two before dawn. I suppose that bomber was to go to marketplace or something, anyway I got myself at least a block away, then I pushed the proper button on that phone.

All hell broke loose, there must have been more munitions in that house than you could shake a stick at. Like I said, I was at least a block away, I was knocked flat, I must of passed out for a few minutes. When I came to, the whole block was on fire. I had roofing nails sticking out of me like a pin cushion. I got up and headed away from that town.

Funny thing, as I was waiting for rescue, I got to thinking, you know about all of those innocent lives those suicide bombers were taking. Then I thought about how I dropped bombs, not knowing who was really down there. Could I be guilty of taking some innocent lives myself?

That’s when I decided to call it quits. Of course, it turned out that all of those nails in me sort of put me on the ineligibility list anyway. I couldn’t fly combat anymore.”

“Is that where all of those little scars came from?” Faith said, as she traced all of the scars with her finger, till she found the proper spot. She wasn’t the only one who could play that game, I found her proper spot too!

As we were enjoying the afterglow, I asked Faith, “So, what about you? Tell me some things from your background.”

“Well, as I already told you, I’m from the Napa Valley. My folks own a winery. I played high school basketball, in fact I got a scholarship for Arizona State. I played ball for them too. I’m pretty good, I would of went Pro, except I met Teddy. There’s not really too much more; I was about six months pregnant when their plane went down. The only thing that kept me sane was knowing that I had this little person growing in me. And of course those dreams that I kept having about you.”

“You know, I played basketball in High School too. We’ll have to play sometime.

Of course, I bet you’re better than me.” I said.

“I don’t know about that, you’re pretty good in getting the ball in the basket, yourself.” Faith said.

“Yeah, you could be right, I was always pretty good at the slam dunk.” I said, Faith countered with, “Good, you want to do some ‘one on one’?” One thing for sure she was an expert on the ‘full court press’.

When we got back to the Hacienda, Dad and Felicia still weren’t home. That was okay; they both deserved their happiness. Miguel and Ester had everything under control. Of course they had been running the ranch, more or less, since the Patron had died. One thing for sure; they sure didn’t need my input. The everyday running of the ranch was none of my business.

But I was a little interested in how everything worked. I asked Alona about it. She said that Felicia kept the books, but that she let Miguel and Ester handle the everyday things.

She said, “But Mom keeps a close eye on everything, she does it without being ‘bossy’ though. I guess she has what they call ‘tact’. I try to learn from her, but sometimes I’m so impulsive.”

“Don’t feel bad about that, it’s only normal, you’re only sixteen.” I said. We were setting on the front veranda swing, the two of us. She turned and looked at me, “Can I be honest with you?” She said, as she twisted a ring on her right hand.

“Sure, why not? What’s on your mind?”

“Do you think Jake likes me? I mean, I’m having all sorts of feelings for him. But I don’t know how to react. Like you said, I’m only sixteen, but you know, I want. Is that wrong?”

“Uh, you want? Want what?” I said. Knowing full well what she was talking about; stalling for time till my brain could get around it.

“You know what I’m talking about. I can’t talk to Mom about it, or Faith either, but you seem like a big brother to me, what should I do?”

“I’ll tell you what my mother told me when I was sixteen. ‘slow down’, I know you’re hormones are racing each other to see who wins. You have to ask yourself; what do you want out of life? That is do you want a life, or do you want a baby tucked under each arm? Now I’m not saying that is what will happen to you, but it could. You see, I was ready to settle down when I met Faith, she was what I was looking for. But I’m ten years older than you are…. Now Jake, he’s a man, right now at seventeen, his brains ain’t in his head, there a little lower in his jeans. In time he’s going to be a fine young man, that’s when he will make you a good husband.”

“Yes, in my mind, I know you’re right. Thanks for being honest with me. Jake did tell me he wants to go to college, I do too. And if we mess around and have a kid, that will mess things up for sure. I guess that’s where self control comes in.”

“Yes, it helps if you have a goal and work toward it, but life is a series of goals, it takes a bunch of small ones, to get to the big one. Just remember one step at a time, Alona, one step at a time.” I said, as Faith came out of the house with Alita, she motioned for Alona to get up and move, then she handed the baby to me and sat down.

As Alona went in the house, Faith asked me, “What were you talking to her about?”

“Life. Just life. Like all teenagers, their hormones are in high gear, she just wanted to know how to slow them down.”

“Oh, and you know how to slow them down huh? What about your hormones, are you going to slow them down?”

“Oh, I know about hormones, I’ve had a lot of practice in corralling them. My hormones? Nope, I’m not going to slow them down one little bit. I’m married, I don’t have to anymore.”

“You had better not slow them down, they belong to me now.” Faith said, as she snuggled up close. Alita blew bubbles and giggled.

This was one of those moments when everything was perfect. A person doesn’t have very many of them in life. The Devil sees to that. My mother said that the Bible said to oppose the Devil and he would flee from you. I had been trying to do that all of my life, but it seems like he would come back around and bite me in the butt. This time I was going to ambush him.

How was I going to do that? They say that nature abhors a vacuum, but Mom told me that the Devil loves a vacuum. If you had a empty brain, he was sure to fill it. I guess the trick is, to keep it full. But full of what?

That I didn’t know, exactly that is. But what I did know; was that family could take up a big share of that space. And now I had one, a ready made one. Perhaps it would be enough…..

Dad and Felicia got back the next day. They both had good suntans. They had taken a Taxi from Santa Fe. Turns out they had stopped in Abiquiu to see Gail. When they had left for their honeymoon they had told Gail where they would be staying, not us. Anyway, she had called them; turns out some high priced lawyers had shown up with some papers that claimed that their clients had a claim on the Rancho.

“Gail told us that she was sure they were counterfeit. But that it was just a smoke screen for something else, she didn’t know what.” Dad said.

“Yes,” Felicia said, “my lawyers said not to worry about it. But I can’t help thinking that these people wouldn’t go to all of that trouble; if they didn’t have something up their sleeve.”

I said, “Who are these people, did Gail know?”

“Well, yes and no. It was a company, ‘Fantasies Incorporated.’ From Los Angeles. It was signed by a man named Dipper Tick.” Felicia said.

“Dipper Tick, you have to be kidding.” I said.

“No, that was the name on the papers. Gail said that she took the papers, but didn’t file them, she just put them in her desk drawer.” Dad said.

“Well is the guy still in town?” I asked.

“She thinks he is, at the Bed and Bug; it’s a bed and breakfast place on the edge of town.” Felicia said.

“Bed and Bug? You mean they have bed bugs?” I asked.

“No, it’s owned by another one of Gail’s cousins, he just named it that for a joke.” Felicia added.

“How many cousins does Gail have anyway?” I asked.

“I don’t know for sure, I think a lot of them she just calls her cousins. But most of the Navajo are closely related anyhow.” Felicia said.

I sat there thinking. For some reason I had a flash back to my younger years, on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. My Grandfather was a Medicine Man. He taught me a lot, mostly on how to be observant. That’s what a Medicine Man did anyway; observe everything around him. Especially nature. They never practiced magic; anymore than Nature itself did. Granted nature is somewhat of a miracle in itself. Again, that’s all he did was observe and practice what he saw.

And that’s what he taught me; take advantage of everything around you. Like I already told you about being shot down in Iraq, and how I was able to stay in the shadows. I looked at Felicia and said,

“Would it be alright with you if I did a little investigating of this Dipper Tick?”

“I suppose, but they could be dangerous, you might get hurt.” Felicia said, looking at my father.

Dad said, “Don’t worry about Clay, he can take care of himself; he’s hell on wheels.”

Faith spoke up, “Hey lets slow down a bit, if Clay is going to go poking around, I’m going with him, we’re a team. There is more than enough breast milk in the Fridge, Grandma can watch her for a few hours.”

Felicia said, “Are you sure Honey, you haven’t been too active lately?”

“Yes, I’m sure. You forget I was a basketball all star, plus I was also very good in gymnastics. I can handle myself.” Faith said, as she got up and started pacing the room.

The phone rang, it was Gail, turns out we didn’t have to go see this Dipper Tick this night; cause he had checked out and went to Santa Fe. Faith stopped her pacing and said,

“That doesn’t change anything, we can go to Santa Fe, can’t we?”

“Yeah sure, sweetheart, but not tonight and when we do, we’ll be gone more than overnight, what about Alita?” I said.

“Well, we’ll... we’ll, just take her with us, that’s what.” Faith said, with a stubborn set to her jaw.

“Yes, we can. All I want to do is just poke around a little anyway. What better cover than having my family with me. We’ll make it like a holiday, it’ll be fun.” I wasn’t as upbeat as I sounded, the best laid plans of mice and men always have a way of getting messed up. I guess you could call that Murphy’s Law. But in knowing that you can be forearmed.

Dad cleared his throat, “Just what kind of poking around are you planning on?”

“All I want to find out; is who’s all back of this business, ‘Fantasies Incorporated’. Is it just this Dipper Tick or are more people involved?”

“Well, can’t a lot of that be found out on the… What do they call it? I know, the Internet.” Dad said.

“Yeah, I guess, but I’m sure Gail can do that for us.” I said.

“Gail? Why her, I know all about computer’s; you forget I went to College and I like to think I’m a modern girl, or woman now, I guess, since I have a baby and on my second husband.”

“And your last husband by the way, but not your last baby, I plan on giving you several more.” I said. “But if you want to you can get on that box of transistors tonight or do you want to wait till morning?”

“I can wait till morning. I had other things planned this night, you know, I, uh, told you about it?” She nervously glanced at Felicia.

Felicia smiled, “Don’t be embarrassed, Karl and I, have the same thing planned. For every night the rest of lives; that’s the goal anyway. Of course that might change when we get old; like in our nineties.” Then she took Dad’s hand and they disappeared into their private little world; their bedroom.

Faith looked at me and smiled and crooking her finger she beckoned me to follow her. She didn’t have to ask me twice.

Alita was already asleep in her crib, we both stood there looking down at her. “Faith,” I said, “just how old is she, I figured she was about four or five months old?”

“She’s six months, in fact I think we’re going to have to start feeding her some solid food, you know, baby food in a jar.”

“Yeah, good idea. I sure don’t know anything about babies, but I guess we’ll learn together.” I said.

“Well, it’s a good thing that I did a lot of baby setting; I’m not a complete dunce about it, you know.”

“I didn’t mean to say that you were. I’m sorry if it came out that way. You’ll have to forgive me, it’s just that having a baby is so new to me, plus also a pretty wife like you. So I might make a few blunders along the way.” I said, as I picked Faith up and took her to bed.

“You haven’t made any blunders so far,” Faith said with a moan.

While Faith was getting things together the next morning, I went out and checked the pickup over. The ranch had their own gasoline tanks, so I filled it up. The pickup box was covered with a metal cover, with a lock at the back. When you unlocked it, it raised by itself on pneumatic arms, pretty neat, all kinds of room to store stuff out of the weather, plus you would have to have a cutting torch to break into it.

Faith came out of the house with two suitcases, all of the clothes the three of us would need for awhile. I stored them in back, Faith said, “Honey, the stroller is in the hall closest, would you get it please.”

The stroller was where she said it would be. Plus on the back closet wall, there were gun racks; there must have been ten rifles, plus five pistols. I picked up a compact 9mm, it had a ten shot clip. It fit right in my inner jacket pocket, not even a bulge. I looked around for extra clips, I found three of them. Why I took that pistol, I really couldn’t say, just a hunch, besides it didn’t weigh all that much.

When I got back to the truck Faith was waiting for me, “Uh,” I said, “aren’t we forgetting something?”

Faith looked around, “I don’t think so sweetheart.” She said with a straight face. Then she smiled, “don’t worry Grandma is changing her; they’ll be right here. Did you actually think I would forget Alita?”

“No, I guess not. But you know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer.” I said, giving her a hangdog look.

She snuggled close and kissed me on the cheek, “don’t you worry Baby, you’re sharp enough for me.” Now that perked me up, right smart. Now there’s one thing I had found out about women when I was just a little squirt; ‘don’t act any smarter than you need to be’. Of course that doesn’t work with all women; just those that love you.

Felicia came out with Alita on one arm and the diaper bag in the other, Dad was right behind her. I really don’t think that they were going to let each other out of sight.

Dad said, “Now you kids be careful; we don’t know if this Dipper Tick is dangerous or not. Do you need any money?”

Faith said, “No, we don’t need money; I’ve got plenty.” I added, “Don’t worry, all we’re going to do is just try and find out who this guy is; personally. Plus, I think we’ll make this a little vacation for the three of us, just have fun.”

Faith took Alita and buckled her in the built in car seat. We said our goodbyes to the folks. I don’t know where Alona and Jake were; probably off doing chores or something. I hoped it wasn’t something.

I sure like this truck it handled like a dream. I was finding more out about it all of the time. Turns out it also had an electronic stabilizer system built in; to keep it from rolling over. Teddy must have been quite the engineer or just spent a lot of money getting someone else to do it.

I looked over at Faith, “Say Honey,” I said, “you said that you had plenty of money. Just what did you mean?”

“Just that, you might say that I’m rich. You see Teddy had a life insurance policy, the face value was two million, but it had a double indemnity rider; for accidental death it doubled. Four million, tax free. I haven’t touched any of it. It’s just drawing interest. But I do have an ATM card.”

“Well I guess that’s good. I have about a hundred thousand in my bank account, plus about three thousand in cash in my billfold.” I said.

“Yeah, I know what’s in your billfold, I looked. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t carrying any condoms in there. I was happy to see that there weren’t any. You can feel free to look through my purse anytime you want to.” Faith said.

“Now that’s a funny thing. My mother told me when I was just verily walking; you don’t ever get in a woman’s purse. That’s one thing I will never do, unless it’s an emergency.”

“I don’t have any secrets to hide from you.” Faith said.

“That’s not the point, a woman’s purse is more personal then seeing her naked. A man has no purpose in a woman’s purse.” I said.

“Do you have that hang up about your wallet?” Faith asked.

“No, of course not, a man doesn’t carry any secrets in his wallet, they’re all in his head. And a smart wife can dig them out of there with no trouble at all. You might say, what you see is what you get.” I said.

“Is that right? Can I get what I see anytime that I want it?” Faith said, with a sly smile.

“Yep, anytime. But tit for tat, that goes for me also.” I said, right back.

“Of course, sweetheart, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Faith said, licking her lips.

We got on Route 84, which ran through Abiquiu and then on to Santa Fe. We didn’t stop in Abiquiu, just slowed down so we wouldn’t get a ticket. The next town of any size was Espanola, we did stop there, Faith had to use the facilities. Would you believe they still had a full service gas station?

The attendant was a young white man. I hadn’t paid much attention as to how Faith was dressed, but he did. Faith was wearing a light summer dress, of course in the pickup, it had worked itself up to show pretty much all of her legs. When she swung around to get out, it showed all of her legs, clear up to her panties. Then when she reached in to get Alita, that must have been quite a sight also.

I had to tell him twice, to top off the tank. Couldn’t blame him for looking; Faith was a 10 for sure. But in my eyes she was clear off the scale. He was taking his time, washing the windshield and checking the air pressure in the tires, just waiting for her to come back. I couldn’t help but smile, in his shoes I would of probably did the same. When Faith and Alita came back, he stood there with his mouth open. I reached over and pushed his jaw shut, “Careful there Pardner, you’ll catch flies in there,” I said, as I paid him. I slipped him an extra five, he didn’t even notice….

Faith said, “Would you get me a Soda?”

“What kind?” I said. “A Diet Cola is fine.” She said. I went to the machine and put a dollar bill in, out came one. Of course there was no change. The machine beside that one, dispensed bottled water, I got two of them, one for Alita and one for me. That attendant was still standing there staring at Faith.

As we got back on the road, I said. “Do you always get a reaction like that?”

“What reaction? What are you talking about?”

“You know, that attendant.”

“Oh, him. Sometimes, but usually not so overt. Are you jealous?”

“No, not really. When you have the most beautiful woman in the world, I guess you have to get used to it.” I said, patting her knee.

“Thank you Sweetheart, that was nice of you to say that. But you know you’re no slouch yourself. I have noticed how women look at you also. And yes, I am jealous, so there!

“You have no reason to be. I would never cheat on you. My Mother would rise from her grave and give me hell, if I did.” I said.

Alita was asleep in her car seat. Faith was nodding off herself. I turned the radio down low, so as not to disturb them. I was reflecting back over the past couple of weeks.

So much had changed in my life and you could say in Faith and Alita’s also. I wasn’t disappointed on how my life had changed. I don’t think Faith was either.

Alita was at that age where her personality was starting to kick in; she was a happy child. She sure smiled a lot at me anyway. Or maybe I just tickled her funny bone, somewhat like a clown would.

I seen some flashing lights up ahead. Looked like the Highway Patrol had somebody stopped. I slowed down and started to move to the left, to give them the required room. I was just about past them, when I seen a flash and the Patrolman staggered back from the window. I knew what had happened; he had just got shot.

I whipped the truck around far enough to block the car from moving. Faith woke up, “What’s going on?” She said.

“Stay down, don’t get out!” I said, as I got out and reached in my jacket pocket for that 9mm, that I had put in there from the hall closest.

There were three men in that car. The one who shot the Patrolman was just getting out when I had blocked them in. I had automatically looked at the Cop, he was hit in his right shoulder, he was stunned, but if he didn’t bleed out he would be Okay.

The shooter turned his pistol my way, I shot him through his left eye. The other two were already out of the car, a bullet whizzed by my ear. He was a piss poor shot. Another bullet flattened itself against the back window of the truck.

I took a little more time with this one, I hit him in his right forearm; his pistol flew away, he went down screaming. The other guy threw his gun down and screamed, “Don’t shoot, I give up!”

Faith jumped out of the truck with her cell phone stuck to her ear, “I called 911, their on the way.” I walked over to the guy who gave up; I clipped him behind the ear with the butt of my pistol; he went down like a rag doll. Since I had to check on the Cop, I didn’t want this Yo-Yo changing his mind and shooting me in the back. The other guy was down on his knees moaning and crying.

The officer that was down, was just coming out of it. I sat him up and took his shirt off, the bullet had passed clean through. I used some of his tee shirt and plugged the hole, it didn’t look like there was any major damage to any main arteries.

Faith had come over too, she said, “Just take deep breaths, help is on the way, they said they were only about ten minutes away, I gave them the mileage post that we are close by.” She said to the Cop, he nodded, Faith laid him back down and put his jacket under his feet to raise them up, so he wouldn’t go in shock. Then she looked at me, “Perhaps you had better put a tourniquet around that idiot’s arm, otherwise I’m afraid he will bleed to death.” I glanced over at him. “Go on Honey, if you didn’t want him alive, then you should of shot to kill.” She said, as cool as could be.

They were as good as their word, another Cruiser and an ambulance pulled in not five minutes later. They hustled the injured Patrolman into the ambulance and it took off. It wasn’t five minutes later that another one showed up, along with a Cruiser with the shift Captain in it. The first thing he did was play back the video from the Trooper’s car.

It was all on there. He came over to me. “I want to thank you for stopping to help, I’m sure they would of finished him off, if you hadn’t of intervened. May I see you’re I.D.?”

“Sure.” I said, I pulled out my billfold and showed him my Wyoming Driver’s License and my Military I.D. card. “Navy huh?” I nodded. “Well, again thank you Lieutenant. I see you’re driving a New Mexico truck, is that your wife?”

“Yes, we’ve only been married for a little over two weeks. She’s from the Ranchos de Chama, she was married to Teddy Cortez, he was killed a little over a year ago in a plane accident.”

“Yes, I remember that, I was the first one on the scene. Him and his Father were both killed. Well Son, you’ve married into one of the oldest family’s in New Mexico, you realize that don’t you?”

“I don’t know, I guess.” I said, when I heard a moan. “Oh Yeah, don’t forget that guy down in the ditch there, I had to put him out, he’s not shot. But I didn’t want to get it in the back while I was seeing to your trooper, so I just clipped him behind his ear.”

“Yeah, I seen him down there. They’ll get to him. Have you ever seen these guys before?” He asked me.

“No, I haven’t, I don’t think Faith has either or else she would of said something. We were heading for Santa Fe, is it Okay if we leave? Our baby is asleep in the truck.”

“Sure, I guess. As long as you stay there for a couple of days; just in case I need to get more details. But that video pretty well tells the tale.”

All of the while all of this had been happening the traffic hadn’t stopped; they just slowed down to rubber neck. Faith was waiting beside the truck, as I walked up I noticed where that bullet had hit the rear window of the truck. I reached out to touch the spot. The residue wiped away at my touch.

“I’ll be dammed, that’s bullet proof glass; did you know that?” I asked Faith.

“No, I didn’t, but Teddy was always a nut for details. Look Alita is still sleeping; all of the shooting didn’t even wake her up. Where did you get that pistol?” Faith asked.

“In the hall closet; when I went to get the stroller. I don’t know why I picked it up; premonition maybe?” I said.

“No, more like dumb luck, wouldn’t you say?” She said, as she pulled me close and kissed me, “you saved that guys life, I bet his wife would like to thank you.”

“Yeah, I suspect, but I didn’t do anything special it was like instinct just took over; I wasn’t even thinking. I said, as we both got in the truck and went on our way.

Faith looked over at me, “Did you notice that he didn’t ask you for your gun?”

“Who didn’t?”

“The Captain, you’re supposed to have a permit for a concealed weapon in this state.”

“Knowing Cops, I bet he will get around to it. Why do you think he wants us to stick around in Santa Fe, for?” I said. Then Alita woke up, hungry of course. By the time she had her fill, we were on the outskirts of Santa Fe.

We drove around a little while; till we found the most expensive looking Motel. I didn’t want to stay in a Hotel. I liked having my vehicle close at all times. The place had all of the amenities of a Hotel anyway, plus I could park right in front of our door.

This place had a four star restaurant too; anyway that’s what the ad on the dresser said. After supper, on the way back to our room, I noticed the swimming pool; it was also close by our room. “Did we bring any swimming suits?” I asked Faith.

“Sure, I have my Bikini, I tried it on before we left, I can get back in it since I lost all of the baby weight. I even have a small one piece for Alita, I got it when I had a baby shower. And yes, I have one for you too.”

“I guess that answers the rest of my question; do you want to go swimming?”

“Yes, of course we do. And don’t worry Alita won’t pee in the pool. She never does pee in her bath water; she did once in awhile till she was about three months old; but one time I told her not to do that and she hasn’t since.”

“Well I wasn’t worried about that, it didn’t even come to mind. But it’s good to know.” There was only one other couple in the pool; maybe because it was mid-week. I don’t think they appreciated us coming in. The women had her top half off; she hurriedly pulled it up as her cheeks were turning red. Faith smiled at her and nodded, I think that made her feel better, her husband or friend swam away to the other end of the pool.

When Faith got in the pool with Alita, the woman swam over. That’s one thing about a baby; she’s an ice breaker. “Oh what a pretty baby, she looks just like your husband,” she cooed.

“Why thank you,” Faith said. “I thought so too. Your friend seems a little shy,” Faith added.

“That’s my husband, we’re newly-weds. You know how it is when your on your honeymoon and there is no else in the pool. He didn’t want you to see that he was aroused; he is sort of shy.” Then she called to her husband, “Frank, can you come back over now?”

He swam toward us, his face was starting to lose its red blush. The woman said, “My name is Fern Blake, this is my husband Frank Blake.”

I said, “My name is Clay Bronson, this is my wife Faith and our daughter, Alita. We’re on a little vacation. We’re from Abiquiu. We ranch there.” I said, shaking his proffered hand. “Are you from close by?” I asked.

Fern answered, “Yes, we’re both from right here in Santa Fe. Frank is the clerk and recorder. I work in the office also, or I guess I should say I did; I had to quit when we got married. He didn’t want anyone to think he was playing favorites; you know how office politics can be.”

Fern bent over a little and started talking baby talk to Alita. I didn’t want to mention it, but when she pulled her top up, the back hook must of come unlatched; her bra top was floating free, exposing her breasts. I caught Faith’s eye, she seen what I was trying to tell her.

“Uh, Fern. Would you like me to fasten your top? It seems to be a little loose.”

Fern looked down, “Sure, can I hold Alita while you do that?” She didn’t bat an eye. Faith let her take Alita then Faith fastened her bra. Fern said, “You know I used to teach swimming at the Y, we used to teach baby’s this young to swim, would you like me to show you?”

“I suppose so, is it dangerous?” Faith said, with a little trepidation in her voice.

“No, of course not, mostly it involves showing you how to teach her.” They, the three of them moved to the shallow end of the pool. I looked at Frank and said…

“Well Frank, how long have you been the clerk and recorder?”

“Let’s see, I am 35 now and I got the job when I was 25, so ten years I guess. You say you Ranch around Abiquiu, what’s the name of your Ranch?”

“Ranchos de Chama.” I answered.

“I’ve heard of that ranch, it’s a Spanish Land Grant isn’t it?” Frank said.

“Yes, it belongs to my mother-in-law; Felicia Cortez. How come it rang a bell?” I asked.

“Strangest thing, yesterday was my last day of work; that is before we took two weeks off. Anyway there was this guy came in and he wanted to look at the plats of all of the Spanish land grants in New Mexico, especially those of the Ranchos de Chama.”

“Would his name happen to be Dipper Tick?” I asked.

“Why yes, that was his name, how did you know?”

“He’s been poking around Abiquiu also. Did he want to know anything in particular about them?”

“Yes, he was interested in the mineral rights, I told him that most all of the land grants kept there own mineral rights. I suppose a few of them have been sold off.” Frank said.

“Let me ask you this; is there anyway any of these Spanish land grants can be contested?”

“I suppose anything is possible, but to my knowledge none of them have been overturned. But there are a lot of crooked lawyers out there. Like I said, anything is possible these days. Just look at how this administration is twisting the constitution.”

“Yes, I know, all of these illegal phone taps for one thing.” I said. “Did you let him see those plats?”

“No, I did not. He even offered me a bribe, I just laughed in his face. I like to think that I’m a good judge of character. He struck me as a pompous egotistical ass of low moral fiber.” Frank said with a sniff. I had to smile to myself, here he was just about to put it to his new wife in a public pool. Well, can’t say as I blamed him much though, they were alone, at first.

“Thank you Frank, for that heads up on him. Do you know where he’s staying in town?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.

“Why yes, at the Plaza; it’s the biggest Hotel in town.” Frank said.

I looked over at the women, Alita was swimming under water between the two of them. I did hear at one time; that if you got children young enough they took naturally to the water. I glanced back at Frank, he was staring at his wife, licking his lips. I called to Faith, “Perhaps we had better get out; I think Alita has had enough for one day.”

Faith glanced at me quizzically. I looked sideways at Frank, she understood. “It’s bedtime for Alita,” Faith told Fern. “Perhaps we will see you at breakfast, that is if you get up that early,” she added.

Alita really didn’t want to get out; she just made one small protest, then acquiesced, she was a bright child. As we were walking back to the room, I said, “So you think Alita looks like me?”

“No, I did not say that; Fern said that she looks a lot like her father, I just agreed, that yes she does. I just didn’t tell her that you were not Alita’s father. It was none of her business. I think she is the type of person that likes to gossip, I just didn’t give her any.” Faith said, as her off hand slipped down the back of my swim trunks.