Michael McGarrity - Hermit_s Peak

"No juvenile probation?"

"Not that I know of. I think maybe he got some informal counseling."

"What kind of fights did he have?"

"Pushing and shoving matches. The usual teenage stuff."

"And the drinking?"

"Open six-packs found in a friend's car. Stopped and questioned at rowdy parties. Nothing more than that."

"Anything since then?"

"No. He seems to have straightened himself out."

"So, he's a good kid?"

"Maybe."

"You don't sound convinced."

Gabe considered his answer.

"There's an edge to Bernardo. He's respectful with me, but I get the feeling it's just surface bullshit. You know how some kids cover up their insolence by acting super polite?"

"Yeah, I do."

"That's Bernardo. Underneath, he thinks he's a tough guy" "Does he have any gang connections?"

"I don't think so."

"Do you know who he hangs with?"

"My son, Orlando, might. He's known Bernardo since high school. They played varsity baseball together."

"How can I contact Orlando?"

"He's at work." Gabe gave Kerney the name of the fast-food burger joint.

"Can I ask what you've got going, Chief?"

"I've got a possible ID on the dead woman, and information that Bernardo may have had more than a passing interest in her."

"That's it?"

"He was seen in the company of an unknown companion on the road to Ojitos Prios the day the dead woman disappeared."

"That's worth checking out. Is the victim on our missing persons list?"

"She was never reported as missing."

Gabe waited for more but Kerney remained silent.

"Orlando may be able to help you. He doesn't pal around with Bernardo all that much, but he probably knows who does."

Til stop by and talk to him."

"Captain Garduno is going to ding me for working this case. Chief. I'm getting a letter of reprimand for my personnel jacket."

"No, you're not. Garduno is going to write me up."

"You're kidding, right?"

Tm serious. In fact, I made it an order."

Speechless, Gabe watched Kerney leave. Never in his career had Gabe ever known of a commander or supervisor ordering a subordinate to write him up. Kerney's action took Gabe off the hook, big time. The chief knew how to keep his word.

He thought about calling Orlando at work to let him know Kerney would be coming around to ask questions, and decided against it. Orlando could handle the situation without any fatherly advice.

He walked toward Bema's house. It was time to sit down with the girl and take a written statement.

Although the day had not been overly hot, the cool of the evening brought many Tucson residents out on the streets. Most stores and small businesses stayed open late to accommodate shoppers, and the wide boulevards buzzed with traffic.

Susie had made dinner reservations at a restaurant located in one of Tucson's original shopping malls. Sara expected to be dining in an enclosed, air-conditioned space filled with franchised businesses and chain department stores. Instead she found herself seated on the open patio of a bistro in a single-story, block-long building that had a mission-style feel to it.

After the meal and a lot of small talk, they wandered in and out of the bookstores, art galleries, boutiques, and antique shops mat opened onto interior patios nicely landscaped with mesquites, paloverde trees, and creosote bushes.

On their way to Susie's car, Sara paused at the window of an art gallery and studied a large oil of cottonwood trees in full fall color.

She looked for the artist's signature and found it.

"That's Irma Fergurson's work."

"The woman who left Kerney the land?"

"Yes."

"It's a wonderful painting."

Sara stepped toward the gallery door.

"Are you sure you want to go in?"

"Why not?"

"You've avoided any mention of Kerney for the last six hours," Susie said.

"I'd hate to see you break your code of silence."

"Don't be so sarcastic."

"I bet you haven't stopped thinking about him since you left Santa Fe,"

Susie said as she opened the gallery door.

Sara paused.

"Would you like to see more of Erma's work or not?"

Susie smiled sweetly.

"Of course I would."

The gallery had a large number of Erma's paintings.

The owner, an older man, explained that he had exclusively represented Erma in Tucson for a number of years.

Sara lost herself in Erma's landscapes. There were pine forests climbing sheer mountain walls, barrel cactus ablaze in color on rolling desert sand dunes, pinon woodlands stretching across tabletop mesas, and fields of hot yellow wildflowers coursing through a valley.

Erma's works celebrated the light, sky, and vastness of the land. The smallest image was priced above $10,000, and most commanded three times that amount.

The gallery owner heard Sara sigh as she finished a second, thorough inspection of Erma's paintings.

"Her works are heavily collected," he said.

"I have clients who have built additions on their homes to accommodate her larger works."

"I can see why."

"These are the last, except for what is held by her estate. The prices can only go up. Are you a collector?"

"Only in my dreams."

"I have some of Erma's pendl drawings hanging in my office. Mostly studies for her earlier egg temperas and watercolors. They're quite reasonably priced. Would you like to see them?"

"I would love to," Sara said.

An hour later, Sara left the gallery with a signed, framed pendl sketch of Hermit's Peak in hand. The reasonable price had gouged a hole in her vacation funds, but Sara didn't care.

"When are you going to give it to him?" Susie asked as they walked to th e car. Her eyes were smiling.

"When I get back to Santa Fe," Sara answered.

"When are you leaving?"

"Ibnight."

Susie unlocked the car and got behind the wheel.

"I thought so. Do me a favor before you see him."

"What's that?"

"Don't try to have everyfhingfigured out. Let Kerney tell you what he wants."

"He may not want anything."

"Do I detect a note of insecurity?"

"Maybe. Until I met Kerney, I've always encouraged the men I've known to move on."

Susie cranked the engine and pulled out of the lot.

"And now?"

"I can't seem to stay that tough-minded about him."

"TeH him that."

"Those aren't words I'm comfortable saying."

"Practice. You've got all night."

"Love is scary."

"Yes!" Susie said, holding up her hand for a high five.

Sara slapped Susie's open palm.

"What?"

"You used the F word."

"I did, didn't I?"

"First time, about a man?"

"First time ever, about a man."

"Use it with Kerney."

"Youthink?"

"You'd better. Otherwise, he's fair game for the likes of me."

"No cuts. Get at the back of the line."

"Thatta girl."

Kerney studied Orlando Gonzales while he waited for the young man to finish his stint at the drive-up window of the burger joint. Orlando had his fast-food drill down to a well-oiled routine. He began filling orders as they came in over the drive-up speaker, moving quickly between drink dispenser, french fry cooker, and burger-warming trays.

Kerney saw a hint of Gabe in the boy's features, particularly the shape of his head and his chin. But his face was thinner and his eyes a bit less deeply set than his father's.

When the drive-up traffic slowed, the night manager relieved Orlando at the window and pointed in Kerney's direction.

Orlando pulled off his red company logo cap as he hurried around the counter.

"Is my dad all right?"

"He's fine, although you may not see much of him until tomorrow. He's fairiy busy right now."

Orlando's shoulders relaxed as he sat down.

"Man, you scared me for a minute. All my boss said was that a cop wanted to see me."