"Well I hope you ain't feeding shells into that thing while one of the Dell monsters comes at you with a Tec-nine."
"Me too," I said.
"What are you packing for a handgun?" Vinnie said.
I pulled my T-shirt up to show him the gun on my belt.
"Same thing," Vinnie said. "Two-inch barrel, five rounds in the cylinder."
"Sometimes I carry that Browning," I said.
"You should," Vinnie said. "You can't hit a whale in the ass with that little Smith Wesson, unless you're right up on him."
"I plan to be right up," I said.
Vinnie shrugged.
I was beginning to feel defensive.
"I like it," I said. "It'll knock you down if you're close. It's light to carry, easy to conceal, and it works good. I can carry it in an ankle holster if I need to."
Vinnie nodded again. With a small camel-hair brush, he was dusting the rear sight of the BAR.
"Besides," I said, "it's cute."
"Yeah, sure," Vinnie said. "And it matches your, tie. Swell."
Vinnie's full attention went back to tending the guns. He was like a bitch grooming a puppy.
"Bobby Horse waiting on us," Hawk said, "to go look at the Dell."
"Chollo's not going?"
"Chollo says he already been there."
"Doesn't want to make the climb again," I said.
Hawk nodded. We were quiet for a time watching Vinnie fuss over the weapons.
"There's a lot going on here that we don't know about," I said.
"We used to that," Hawk said.
"And the damn woman is at the center of it."
"We sort of used to that too, ain't we?"
"Yeah but she's also our employer."
"She your employer, Bobo. You're my employer."
"You're such a stickler," I said.
"Chain of command, boss."
Vinnie had the cylinder open on one of the.357s and was studying it, using his thumbnail to reflect light into the barrel. Then he nodded to himself and gently closed the cylinder.
"Vinnie should have been a father," Hawk said.
We watched Vinnie for a minute.
"Something bothering me," Hawk said.
"Only something?"
"Mary Lou and her hubby come out here on their summers off and run this little horseback gig," Hawk said.
"Until he got fired from coaching," I said. "Then they moved out here full-time."
"Who the fuck gonna come out here for summer vacation?"
I nodded.
"That is bothersome," I said. "Maybe it was because that's the only time they had off."
"Maybe," Hawk said.
"Or not," I said. "And why here?"
"Maybe you and me need to figure out what's up out here, 'fore we charge up to the Dell and shoot everybody's ass?"
"What's the most important thing in the desert?" I said.
"Iron Horse Champagne," Hawk said.
"Next to that," I said.
"Water."
"Our client was a geologist whose job it was to find new water sources."
"And she was boffing the chief of police."
"Yep."
"And Ratliff the producer."
"Yep."
"And she had enough money to hire you to find out who clipped her hubby."
"And they all come from L.A.," I said.
"Where some bad man tries to chase you off the case."
"And back in Potshot, I prevail over a couple of stiffs from the Dell, and the town fathers treat me like Charlemagne."
Vinnie had the magazine out of the BAR and was feeding shells into it.
"Costing a lot of money," Hawk said. "Support you and me and five tough guys."
"They could get the Sheriff's Department to clean out the Dell for zip," I said.
" 'Cept they afraid to testify."
"So why aren't they afraid to hire us? You think the Dell won't know?"
"So maybe they ain't so scared," Hawk said.
"Or maybe they are," I said. "But there's something at stake that's worth the risk."
"Which they couldn't get if the cops came in," Hawk said.
Vinnie put the full clip back in the BAR, worked the action once, caught the ejected shell in midair, took the magazine out, and reloaded the shell.
"Works good," he said.
Chapter 43
BOBBY HORSE TOOK Hawk and me slowly up the back slope of the hill behind the Dell. It was steep and littered with shale and spiky with dry desert growth. We took two and a half hours to get to the top and another half-hour to reach the rim where the hill dropped off perpendicularly and formed the back wall of the Dell.
Flat on our stomachs, screened by the scrub growth that hung onto the canyon, we could see the Quonset huts of The Preacher's crew straight below us, and beyond, where the canyon dropped off again as it stepped down toward the desert, the town clustered on the otherwise empty flat land. To our left was the ravine that led into the canyon, through which I came to visit The Preacher. It was the only way in, which made the place secure. It was also the only way out.
"Hard to go in there," Hawk said.
I said, "Un-huh."
"Hard to get out of there."
"Un-huh."
The heavy dry heat was battering. Sweat dried at once.
"Dumb," Hawk said. "All they saw was how hard it was to get in."
"They didn't choose the site," I said. "It was just sort of there, where the mine was, and I don't think they ever thought they'd have to get out."
"Probably didn't think there'd be anyone willing to make the fucking climb," Hawk said to me. "You be the only one I can think of."
Bobby Horse passed around a big canteen and we all drank some water. The water was hot.
"It's not boiling," I said, "so the temperature must be less than 212."
"What temperature you suppose ammunition start exploding?" Hawk said.
We were all silent, staring down at the Dell.
"Put some people up here," Bobby Horse said, "and some people at the ravine down there and we can shoot them to pieces."
I was going to say something about fish in a barrel, but the imagery didn't seem quite right for the parched furnace below us.
"We'll keep it in mind," I said.
"Why not just do it?" Bobby Horse said.
"He too sweet-natured," Hawk said to Bobby Horse.
"Besides," I said, "means we'd have to climb down, get people together, and climb back up here with rifles."
"I be one of the folks at the ravine," Hawk said.
"If it comes to that we'll draw straws," I said. "Except me. As you pointed out, I'm your employer."
"I believe you discriminating racially," Hawk said. " 'gainst me and my Native American sidekick."
"You were the one said we needed to know more before we started shooting." I said.
"I didn't mean it," Hawk said.
Bobby Horse paid no attention to us, as he stared down at the Dell.
"Looks like a generator shack over there," he said.
"Yes," I said. "You can see the hookups to the other buildings."
"Where's the fuel?" Hawk said.
"Barrels," Bobby Horse said. "Other side of the building. They set one on a high stand and ran a hose into the generator. Works on gravity."
"You got a look at the other side?" Hawk said.
"Me and Chollo," Bobby Horse said. "We went over to that little jut at the end of the canyon."
"No wonder Chollo didn't want to come again," I said.
"Mexicans tire easy," Bobby Horse said.
We looked at the Dell some more. There was a large body truck parked near the generator shack. It was probably used to haul the fuel oil.
"Might be good to take that generator out," Bobby Horse said. "No lights, no television, no a/c."
"Water be pumped up from a well," Hawk said. "So no running water."
"How we going to take it out?"
"I go down," Bobby Horse said.
"You could get down there?"
"Sure."
"And back?"
"Sure."
"We'll keep it in mind," I said.
We lay for awhile baking at the top of the cliff looking at the Dell.
"When I went in to talk to The Preacher, when I was here before, nobody stopped me. I didn't see any sentries."
Bobby Horse pointed toward the ravine. Hawk and I looked. I saw nothing.