Adams shook his head and said, “It’s your funeral.”

“Have you ever worked undercover?” asked Jack.

“Never. I’ve only done backup, so I expect you to take the lead when it comes to decisions in that regard. The Cactus Sunset is on the western edge of the city, about a block south of a main highway. The Armadillo Motel is on the main highway, but a few miles farther out. I’m not familiar with the Armadillo itself, but I know it is pretty barren out there.”

“So a bunch of cops parked out on the road might look a little obvious.”

“For sure … and we can’t approach the management to put guys in a room next to you, so what do you suggest?”

“Do you have a policewoman available? Maybe book someone in as a couple? Unless you want to pretend you’re gay —”

“This is Texas! I’m not — I can get a policewoman,” said Adams quickly, before seeing the grin on Jack’s face. “Yeah, okay, wiseguy. I’ll make sure I’m in one of the rooms myself, but depending upon what room I’m given, I may not be able to listen through the walls. Are you thinking of wearing a wire?”

“Definitely not. If I get caught with one of those, I’m dead. I’ve been scanned by dealers in the past with devices to check for transmitters … and those guys weren’t as high up the food chain as these guys. I don’t want any bugs.”

“Then how will I know if something is going wrong?”

“Listen for the sound of breaking glass. If I’m in trouble I’ll toss something or someone out a window. If I’m really in trouble, I’ll throw myself out.”

“You are fucking nuts. Every undercover operator I’ve ever met is,” he muttered seriously, before nodding toward a restaurant. “Okay, we’re here.”

Lunch consisted of tamales stuffed with shredded beef, roasted chillies, and an assortment of other fillings, which went well with a cold bottle of Lone Star beer. Everyone was exceedingly friendly with Jack and did what they could to make him feel welcome, including picking up his lunch tab.

“Seem like nice guys,” said Jack, once he and Adams got back in the car.

“They’re bosses. I guess they do what they’re supposed to do,” he added begrudgingly. “Now I’ll take you to the Cactus Sunset.”

The Cactus Sunset was appropriately named. It was a two-storey building with ten rooms on each level on the edge of the desert. Adams pulled into the parking lot and asked, “Do you want to talk to the manager?”

“No, the FBI have already done that, along with searching the room. I want to get out and walk around the back to see what’s there.”

Adams joined Jack and they strolled around to the back of the motel. There was nothing to see but sagebrush, cactus, and sand dunes.

Jack walked up the closest sand dune and looked. The view didn’t change. “Okay, I’ve seen enough,” he said, looking back at Adams, who had remained at the back of the motel, watching him. “Didn’t know what I was hoping to find, anyway. I think I just wanted to get a feel for the place … and its surroundings.”

They returned to the car and headed out on the highway toward the Armadillo Motel. They drove in silence for about a mile when Adams hit the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road.

Jack looked around and saw there were no other vehicles in sight. “What is it?” he asked.

Adams pointed far out into the desert.

Jack didn’t see anything at first. Then some dots circling high in the air caught his attention and he felt his heart sink. Vultures …

chapter twenty-two

For twenty-five minutes, Adams slowly drove and wound his way around clusters of cactus and small sand dunes. In a pickup truck, the trip could have been done rapidly, but the Camaro was built close to the ground and was not meant for off-road driving.

Eventually they came upon two sets of tire tracks from a pickup truck that had tandem rear tires. It appeared the truck had driven in the same direction as the vultures were and then had doubled back.

“Let’s walk from here,” suggested Adams. “This might be a crime scene. I don’t want to drive over anything.”

Jack nodded in agreement as two vultures swooped down from the sky and disappeared out of sight in front of them. He guessed they were only about a ten-minute walk farther ahead.

Both men walked beside the tracks until they came upon a deep ravine. Marks in the sand showed where the truck had turned around and backed up to the ravine.

Jack peered over the edge. Part way down the slope was a large flock of vultures jostling each other for space as they fought for room, while other vultures flew overhead or perched on nearby rocks to await their turn.

Jack saw a limb sticking out of the feeding frenzy. Is it a leg or an arm? He swallowed to try and keep his lunch down and watched as Adams picked up a rock and tossed it toward the vultures.

The vultures were not overly intimidated by the rock, but a few did leap away long enough for them to glimpse the carcass strewn open with its ribcage exposed.

“Just a cow or a steer,” said Adams, as he turned and walked away.

Jack took a deep breath. He was relieved they hadn’t found Lily Rae, but the sight of the vultures sickened him when he thought of what might have become of her. He looked around at the horizon and was glad he didn’t see any other signs of vultures.

On their way back to the car, Adams asked, “Have you got that map you were talking about?”

Jack handed him his notebook with the roughly drawn map.

“EP-W-CR14-12-U-L,” said Adams aloud as he looked at the map. “Then a bunch of dotted lines leading out to an X mark.”

“There were more of a hodgepodge of other short lines near the one with the X,” said Jack. “I didn’t have time to copy them all down.”

“You didn’t have time?” questioned Adams. “I had presumed your … delicate situation meant you were protecting a CI.”

“I strongly believe in protecting my informants,” replied Jack, “but in this case, that is not what I meant. Do you have any ideas?”

“I would take a guess and say the EP means El Paso … and west of El Paso is an intersection to the start of county road number 14.”

“We’re west of El Paso. Is it close to here?”

“Not far. It’s slightly south of the highway we’re on. Incidentally, to get to Country Road 14 from El Paso you generally drive past a casino called the Sunland Park.”

“Which means the casino wouldn’t be all that far from the Cactus Sunset Motel where Porter moved before the Mexicans found him.”

“Same general area. My guess is these directions mean twelve miles up Country Road 14. I don’t know what the U-L is. Maybe the L is left. Let’s take a look. It could be out along the border someplace. Maybe another trail into Mexico.”

“Into Mexico?”

“Yeah, there are quite a few of them. Places are always popping up that the illegals use to enter into El Paso every day to work. Mind you, this seems a little far out for that. The other lines you mentioned … it’s hillier out there. Those could be hills or big sand dunes. Maybe the trailer is hidden amongst them.”

“Okay to try and find it?”

“Yeah, can do. We’re only fifteen minutes away from The Armadillo Motel. Want to swing past it first to see what it’s like? Then head up Country Road 14?”

“Sounds good.”

A few miles farther outside the city, a faded sign portraying the image of an armadillo hung in front of a single-storey row of motel rooms.

“Is that a rat or an armadillo?” asked Jack as they drove past.

“The one on the sign is an armadillo. The rats will be inside the place out of the heat.”

Jack glanced around. There was not another building in sight and the land was flat. “I feel like I’m in Saskatchewan on the hottest day of the year,” he said. “Except the wheat fields have been replaced by sand and cacti.”