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Raymond said “Yeah,” and caught up to
Hunter before she was out of the kill room.
***
There wasn’t much at the front of the building, just the dangling rope. They found large boot tracks of a heavy-set man that matched others in the back of the building, and they found sign where it looked like he had fallen to the ground, rolled back and forth, then gotten to his feet. The tracks showed he was limping. Raymond found a partial print of the small huarache, and they used it to figure out a direction of travel for Anda. Hunter found another track, then two in a row.
They worked like hounds on a scent, constantly moving and searching, making good time. Their methods allowed them to skip large portions of terrain and still keep on the trail, but not have to follow every single track. When one found a track, the other would move well ahead and cut for more, then when they found one, the one in back would move in front and concentrate on the direction the tracks indicated. Once they were a half mile away from the building and into an area of small alluvial washes and gullies, Anda was easy to follow. She wasn’t trying to hide her tracks, but moved fast over rough ground, making it physically difficult for anyone who might follow. For the next three hours Hunter and Raymond followed at a pace so fast they were almost constantly at a trot.
***
Hunter called to Raymond, who worked the trail a hundred yards ahead where three draws intersected. “Where you think she’s headed?”
Raymond cupped his hands around his mouth and spoke loudly, “I don’t know. She’s staying away from town, though.”
“Is she circling it?”
“Maybe so. Let’s work these out some more, just to be sure.” He looked at the ground, then yelled, “Got another one, up the right draw!”
Hunter left her area and loped ahead of Raymond, going where the terrain would best guarantee the next cut would turn up Anda’s tire-soled imprint. Hunter paralleled the draw for a good two hundred yards before dropping into it where the mouth began to flatten in an alluvial fan of multi-colored gravel and yellowed dust. Ten minutes later, she found the track. Anda had moved to the edge of the wash and was going through the more rock-filled areas, stepping from stone to stone where possible, but still moving in long strides. Raymond caught up with Hunter just as she saw the imprint of the heel where it touched earth behind a flat stone.
“She trying anything funny?” asked Raymond.
“I don’t think so. Looks like she’s just using what’s available, but won’t cut her speed.”
Raymond looked at the darkening sky, and wondered if the storm was going to hit or pass them by. “We need to find her quick.” He pointed at the black, roiling clouds, “This may not miss us.”
Hunter said, “I need to stay on them as long as I can. Raymond, she’s in big trouble right now.”
“I know, but I didn’t bring a flashlight.”
Hunter looked back and realized they had probably covered six or seven miles on foot. She thought a moment, then said, “Would you go back and get your car, or my pickup, then come around and meet me? I’ll use the flashlight app on my iPhone and keep on the tracks as long as I can.”
“Pick a spot.”
A mile ahead, a slender finger of black rock pointed skyward. “There,” she said, “I’ll wait for you there.”
Raymond studied the area around the finger of stone and said, “Looks like there’s a good caliche road about a half-mile past it. I can’t tell if it goes right to it or not, but it’ll get me close. If the trail keeps going and comes out on the road, wait for me there. It might give you a little more on her trail.”
“I’ll do it.”
Raymond took off at a trot and said over his shoulder, “I didn’t know physical labor was gonna be involved! I think you’ll owe me one of your Dutch apple pies!”
Hunter said, “You got it!” She turned to the trail and followed Anda’s tracks out of the wash.
***
When Raymond reached the slaughterhouse and his car, Rockman and the others were gone. He started up, leaving Hunter’s pickup as the sole vehicle still at the building. Raymond saw Wayne’s Ram Charger at a drive-in grocery and then spotted the tall Sheriff talking on a pay phone. He turned in and parked and walked toward Wayne to tell him what they’d found. Rockman hadn’t noticed him, and as Raymond got within earshot, he could hear Wayne’s end of the conversation.
“So he’s gonna wind up with it? What do you mean, ‘Not all of it’?” Wayne was red faced, agitated. He listened, then barked into the phone, “You do something before it starts, you hear?” He listened some more, “Make sure you do. Now, about this other-” Wayne saw Raymond standing five feet away and stopped talking for a second, gave Raymond the Just One Minute sign, and continued his conversation into the phone, “About this other thing. We need to get right on it, or things are gonna go to hell in a handbasket, you understand? It was your mistake, I expect you to take care of it.” He listened to the other party for a minute, then said, “So you think you know where, uh?” Wayne listened. “By tomorrow would be good. If I find out anything else, I’ll get back to you.” He hung up the phone and turned to Raymond.
Raymond said, “Trouble?”
Wayne said, “Some crap on chain of evidence problems on a case from the east part of the county. I couldn’t get through on the cell phone, you know how it is.” He saw the dust on Raymond’s pants and said, “You two do any good?”
“What I stopped to tell you., we found her tracks and followed them a ways, then I came back for the car. Hunter’s still on them. I’m headed to pick her up.”
“It would be good to find her, see what she knows, maybe who was involved.” Wayne asked, “How far’d you take her sign?”
