Page 23 of Desert Angel

“The bootheel region of New Mexico.”

“Oh.” Her home region, in other words. She was practically in the sole of the bootheel. The prime area for protests and activities. “What is the gossip or chatter?”

“There is regular patrolling by some groups along the border. They generally ride along the border, flashing lights, and so on.”

She nodded. She’d seen evidence of the patrols on her weekly excursions. “Scare tactics.”

He nodded. “They want to send a more serious message. They’re planning on more aggressive activities this time.”

She took a breath. “Is there a time for this activity?”

He shook his head. “No. But Hank also said they may visit some of the more compassionate people in the region while they’re at it.”

“Meaning me,” she said.

“Meaning you.”

12

Nikki turned over and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. Five minutes after two o’clock. She sighed and sat up, giving up on the idea of sleep for the night. As she gathered her robe, she wondered if Dylan was awake.

She entered the kitchen to find the stove hood light on dim and a pot of coffee still hot. The laptop glowed in the dimness on the other side of the room and she approached it.

Dylan was away from the table but he’d left the computer on. Nikki sat down and touched the shift key, waking the screen. She’d gone through the current screen a couple of times before she sensed him watching her. Looking up, she saw Dylan leaning against the door frame separating the kitchen from the mudroom.

“Everything okay outside?” She asked, sure of where he’d been.

“Quiet as a mouse, except for the coyotes in the hills.” He went to the coffee maker and reached into the cabinet overhead, extracting two mugs and filling them. After bringing them to the table, he retrieved sugar and cream for her.

Nikki doctored her coffee then sipped it, hoping the caffeine would do its work. “When do you sleep?”

“I get plenty of sleep. I’m trained for interval sleeping on the job.”

“But you weren’t sleeping tonight, were you?”

He shook his head. “Couldn’t. So I thought I’d do some studying on our friends, the border guards.”

“Is that their name?” she said, automatically thinking of Mark and the unknown man she’d overheard.

“Probably not. Mostly, they don’t have names, don’t have official groups. It’s just the name I assigned them.” He glanced at the computer. “Generally, they’re just men and women with set views on the illegal alien issues. Some are more vocal about it, more extreme than most.”

“And are those the ones focused on us right now?” She said, laying her mug aside, her stomach suddenly queasy.

“Seems so.” He looked at her then. “I understand your convictions, Nikki, and I admire them. But I have to ask you. Are you willing to die for them?”

She swallowed, took a deep breath, and met his gaze squarely. “I don’t know.”

They sat at the table for an hour or more, talking. Nikki told Dylan of finding the bodies in the desert when she was younger, of her grandfather, and of her deep belief that what she was doing was right. When he didn’t urge her to give up her actions she asked him why.

He didn’t answer for a minute then he reached out and took her hand. Before, he’d done so to comfort. Now, he entwined their fingers and she wondered where her flesh stopped and his began.

“I want to. I want to ask you to stop anything that could put you in danger of getting a scrape or a paper cut. I want to wrap you in bubble wrap and keep you safe. But I didn’t fall in love with that woman. I fell in love with the woman who wears her heart on her sleeve. The woman who lives the faith she believes in. I fell in love with the woman who takes chances and puts herself at risk for people she’ll never meet. And who cries for a man who died in the desert.”

She felt her eyes fill with tears now. These tears, though were those of joy that his feelings were the same as hers. She sniffed and looked down at their joined hands. “And I fell in love with the man who’d never think of asking me to give it up. Who joined me.” She looked up at him. “And the man who’ll join me in trying to stop the group who’ll harm the migrants.”

He drew in a sharp breath. “Nikki—”

“I have to, Dylan.”

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