Michael McGarrity - Hermit_s Peak

"Or maybe he's camped nearby with some friends."

Gabe looked at the dense forest on the far side of the river.

"Orlando doesn't like to camp. Where the fuck is that rancher?"

"Pullerton will be here," Garduno said as he went to his unit and reached for the radio handset.

"Check around those stone walls. Lieutenant."

Gabe didn't move.

Garduno took his thumb off the transmit button.

"Stop thinking the worst and check the ruins, Gabe.

Let's go to work and find Orlando."

Garduno waited until Gabe moved off before clicking on the handset.

"I want search and rescue and every available unit at my location ASAP," he said.

"Contact Chief Kerney and ask him to get up here pronto."

He dropped the handset on the car seat and went to join Gabe.

The helicopter pilot cleared the ridgeline and dropped down to follow the river. Below, Kerney could see an assembly of police cars and search and rescue vehicles, some with horse trailers. A blue domestic coupe, cordoned off with crime scene tape, sat in the middle of a dirt road. On a small rise behind the car, several uniforms were searching the ruins of old settlers' cabins.

The pilot gained altitude to keep propeller wash from disturbing the activity on the ground and planted the bird on the road a hundred yards away from the blue coupe. Kerney jumped out. Garduno and Gonzales met him halfway.

Gabe's face had worry written all over it. Garduno's impassive expression looked forced.

"What have we got?" Kerney asked.

Garduno took the lead.

"Gabe's son left home yesterday morning. He cut his classes at the university, didn't show up for work last night, and never went home.

One of Ariin Fullerton's ranch hands noticed Orlando's car here about noon yesterday. There was nobody around.

The car wasn't reported as abandoned until this morning when Fullerton and a few of his people came back to move some cattle to another part of the ranch."

Kerney looked at Gabe.

"No sign of struggle?"

"No," Gabe said flatly.

"You searched the car?"

Gabe nodded.

"Nothing's missing. But I found over seven hundred dollars on the dashboard. Orlando cashed his paycheck and cleaned out his savings and checking accounts right after the bank opened yesterday morning.

Withdrawal slips were in the envelope with the money."

"That gives us a time frame to work with," Kerney said.

"Was the vehicle locked?"

"No, and the keys were in the ignition," Gabe said.

"Orlando would never do that. He worked too damn hard for the money to buy that car."

"Did the car break down?"

"It runs just fine," Gabe answered.

"Do you have any ideas why Orlando needed so much cash?"

"None," Gabe said.

"But it's every dime he had."

Garduno broke in.

"Ariin Fullerton said mat people park here to hike and camp in the woods or party by the river. There are several trails on the other side of the river that lead to some remote, pretty canyons."

"Orlando isn't into camping," Gabe said.

"I'm still sending the search and rescue people up there," Garduno said.

"For all we know Orlando may be with some of his friends, or snuggled into a sleeping bag with some pretty young thing."

They reached Garduno's unit and stopped.

"Have you found anything to suggest Orlando is with friends?"

Kerney asked.

"We lifted four different sets of fingerprints from the vehicle, but that could mean anything," Garduno said.

"Is there any other physical evidence?"

Garduno shook his head.

"Pullerton and his people trashed the area. They loaded the cattle on stock trucks right in the road. There's nothing but hooforints, cow shit, and heavy-duty tire tread marks."

Kerney turned to Gabe.

"When did you last see Orlando?"

"Early yesterday. About an hour before he went to the bank."

"Did the two of you talk?"

"Yeah. He said you'd questioned him about Bernardo's friends. He asked me what was up. I told him you were investigating the mesa homicide."

"How did he react to that?"

"He seemed okay with it."

"Did you talk about anything else?"

"I asked him why he was leaving early. He said he had to meet some guy from school who wanted to borrow his lecture notes. He didn't say who it was."

"Is that all?"

"Pretty much. He got a phone call while I was in the shower."

"Who from?"

"Orlando said it was from the kid who wanted to borrow his notes."

"Does Orlando have a steady girlfriend?"

"No."

"Would he tell you if he was planning to cut classes and meet some girl or go camping with friends, like Captain Garduno suggested?"

"Not necessarily. He'd know I wouldn't approve," The search and rescue team had mounted up. Four riders crossed the river, moved through the bottom land, and disappeared into the forest.

"So, it's possible Orlando decided to play hooky," Kerney said.

"Don't feed me crap," Gabe said.

"Something stinks here. You know it, and I know it."

"Let's assume he came here to meet someone. Seven hundred dollars could buy two ounces of very good pot."

"Orlando doesn't use drugs," Gabe said.

Gabe was reacting like a parent, not like a cop. Kerney dedded not to push the point.

"Who would he come here to meet?"

"I don' trucking know," Gabe said.

"Okay, we'll talk to all his friends. But first let's see if we can find out who called him." Kerney opened his pocket notebook, tore out a page, and gave it to Garduno.

"What's that?" Gabe demanded.

"The names and phone numbers of everyone I talked to about the mesa homicide." Kerney looked at Garduno.

"Call dispatch and have them request phone company records on any calls made to Gabe's phone. Start with Bernardo."

"You're fucking crazy to think Orlando had anything to do with that."

"You wanted me to cut the crap, Lieutenant.

Bernardo works twenty miles from here. He's the only person I know with a legitimate reason to be anywhere near this place during the day."

"You're way off the mark."

"Let's hope so," Kerney said.

Garduno reached inside his unit to pick up the radio handset. Gabe gave Kerney an unpleasant look, walked to the river, and stood alone with his back turned and head lowered.

Garduno finished up with dispatch, glanced at Kerney, and nodded in Gabe's direction.

"He knows it could be bad, Chief."

"I understand that."

A pickup truck with three dogs in the bed stopped next to Garduno's unit, and a stocky woman with short brown hair got out.

"I'm Martha Owens. Where do you want my dogs?" she asked.

Before either could answer, the dogs started barking, straining against their leashes.

Owens went to the dogs and tried to calm them. The barking continued in spite of her efforts.

"They smell something," she said.

"What?" Garduno asked.

"Either a body or blood."

"We've searched," Garduno said.

"Nothing's here."

"My dogs say otherwise."

"Where?" Garduno asked, spreading his arms.

"Anne will show us. She's the best of the lot." Martha unsnapped the leash of a female hound, and the dog jumped out of the truck before Owens could drop the tailgate. The hound made for a spot just off the road and started digging while her companions in the truck kept up a steady howl.

Kerney and Garduno converged on Owens and her dog. Clumps of dirt flew as the hound dug deeper.

Martha dropped to one knee, scooped up a handful of moist dirt, and sniffed it.

"It smells like blood to me.

Lots of it. The ground is saturated."

"What kind of blood?" Garduno asked.

"I can't tell you that," Owens answered.

"But something got slaughtered here recently."

Kerney felt the presence of someone at his side and looked over.