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“Okay. You need anything else?”
“Naw.”
“How about the pain? You handling it okay?”
“It would have killed a lesser man, but I’m hanging in there.”
“Any problem with the medication?”
“Nah, no urges I can’t control. Feels pretty good though, I have to admit. I guess once an addict, always an addict.”
“Stay strong. I’ll be checking on you.”
Truman hung up the phone as a pretty Hispanic nurse came in. “Mr. Fortis, you’re awake!” She smiled sweetly and handed him a pill. “For the pain,” she said.
Truman said, “Keep feeding me these and we’re gonna wind up married.”
***
Wayne Rockman was in a fury. The phone calls started coming to his hotel room in Presidio on Friday and had continued through this morning, and none of them were bringing good news. He was finding out about things in Ojinaga that he hadn’t known, that pertained to everything, and could blow all this work sky high. And then, to top it off he gets this call.
Pepper Easton was in Marfa with her camera and sound crew, questioning anybody who would hold still about Bobby Mata and his death and why a Sheriff of the United States was in Mexico investigating the murder. She intimated that something underhanded took place, and she had a number of locals stating the same thing for the cameras. Pepper left word at the Sheriff’s office that she would be in Marfa until noon, if the Sheriff wished to go on camera and answer these questions. After that, she was returning to El Paso to run the story tomorrow night, Sunday, at six and ten PM, prime time. He had one shot.
Wayne drove his Ram Charger hard, and his speed as he topped out on the Big Hill was over ninety miles per hour. He almost lost it on the next curve and finally slowed down, deciding it was better to be alive and a little late rather than dead and not make it at all. Wayne’s Chief Deputy sounded worried, telling him about some of the things said by the locals when Pepper talked to them. One surmised that Rockman murdered Mata, and that the Sheriff was behind all the smuggling of farm equipment into Mexico. Another said Bobby and Wayne were partners, and Wayne went to Mexico after hearing his partner had been murdered. The speaker suggested Wayne was taking retribution on his enemies in Mexico, making Rockman sound like a Mafia godfather taking revenge. The Deputy said it seemed like Pepper wasn’t interested in anyone who said the Sheriff was doing the right thing.
Forty minutes after leaving Presidio, Wayne came to the Border Patrol checkpoint south of Marfa. As he approached, he flipped the overhead lights on and off twice, and the Border Patrol Agent stepped back and rolled his arm in a circle, signaling go on through. Wayne slowed a little and went through the covered area at fifty. Five minutes later, he was in town and saw Pepper filming in front of the courthouse.
Wayne parked at the curb, got out and walked toward the news crew. Several citizens saw him coming and hurried away. Pepper saw him and said something to the cameraman, who turned and filmed Wayne as he came toward them.
Rockman felt the anger and frustration building to flashpoint. All the work he’d put in on everything, all the months of planning and days and nights working information, and now it was unraveling and these people were helping it come undone. Wayne was so mad he quivered. The cameraman made the big mistake of trying to film too close and accidentally pushed the camera lens into Rockman’s face. Wayne jerked the camera off the man’s shoulder so hard the power cable that went to the battery on the man’s belt broke off and snapped through the air like a whip. The Sheriff threw the camera at the stone wall of the courthouse and it broke apart.
“Hey!” Pepper yelled, “That’s a twenty-thousand dollar camera!”
“Bill me,” Wayne said.
The sound man grabbed Wayne’s forearm and said, “Listen here, buddy-”
Rockman grabbed him by the shirtfront and tossed him to the side. The flailing man bumped into Pepper, and knocked her sprawling on her back in the grass, feet in the air. Wayne noticed she wasn’t wearing panties under her miniskirt. He walked to Pepper and held out his hand to pick her up. She hesitated, then grabbed his hand. He lifted her to her feet as if she weighed nothing. She straightened her skirt a
nd blouse, felt of her hair and tried to compose herself. Bright spots of color showed on her cheeks. The cameraman and sound man moved behind her, out of reach.
Wayne said, “The hell are you doin’, asking leading questions and insinuating that I’m involved in a known criminal’s death?” He glared at her. “I’m listening.”
Pepper was good, and cool. She moved close, until there was no more than six inches between their bodies. “I was going to give you equal time to answer those questions. I was even going to show you all the taped interviews we had so you could formulate rebuttals for each one. I thought it could help you clear the air, and there’d be no doubt about your intentions. Then you blow up like this and destroy the very equipment that you could have used for your benefit.” She looked up at him, giving him the full impact of her green eyes and red hair, her big, firm breasts and killer body in the skin-tight dress. “I guess we’re in a mess now, aren’t we?”
Rockman said, “You better try rubbing up against somebody else to get your story.”
Pepper’s mouth formed into a wry smile, “I thought it was worth a try. Most men respond.” She stepped back a foot and said, “So, how about you tell me your side. No strings, nothing out of context, just me reporting on your story. Tell you what, I won’t even bat my eyes.”
“Why should I talk to you?”
“To make sure that what hits the news isn’t one sided. Sheriff, there’s a lot more going on down here than anybody back at the station in El Paso realizes, and I’ll bet you know it all. You tell me, and I’ll make you look good, plus it’ll be my breakout chance. There’s nothing fancy here, just a business deal that’s good for both of us.”
Wayne thought about it for a minute, then said, “You don’t have a camera.”
“I’ll do it the old fashioned way, I’ll write it down.”
“I’ll want to read it before you leave.”
