Page 19 of Desert Angel

She nodded, took a breath then stood. “I need to check in with the guys in the pecan grove. You want to come?”

He closed the laptop and stood, his hands at his side. “I’m there.”

They finished the day’s work in the groves then in the pepper fields and then headed back to the house. Dylan was beginning to believe that things were calming down when they pulled into the drive. Nikki climbed down from the truck with a sigh. “I need a shower after all that dust.”

He agreed and followed her into the back entrance, thinking of the cool water that he’d appreciate, both in a glass and in the shower. She went to the phone set where a light was blinking and pushed a button. Several sales calls later, a man’s voice, gravelly and abrupt came across the speaker. “Quit your do-gooding or you’ll be sorry. I ain’t talking burning neither. I’m talking shooting.”

10

Nikki’s breath caught in her throat and she looked at Dylan. He gathered her in his arms, uncaring if it was the professional thing to do or not. As he held her he felt the faint tremors roll through her body and vowed nothing nor no one would hurt her, not if he could help it.

Nikki finally pulled away and gestured at the phone. “Do I call the state police or do you?”

He squeezed her shoulder. “You go ahead and get your shower. I’ll give them a call.”

As he expected, the state police said they’d be a while responding to the call. It wasn’t an immediate injury and they were responsible for patrolling and covering a vast area. He assured the officer he’d not erase the message and then hung up, going for his sat phone instead.

A call to Hank revealed what he’d expected. Both Wayne French and Mark Williams were involved in groups that outwardly campaigned for tightening the borders. That wasn’t unusual in a border state. What was more disturbing was the fact that Mark Williams in particular had been involved in a para-military group in the past that patrolled the border areas of the county. That, in and of itself, wasn’t enough to point a finger, but with his discomfort at the mention of the house burning, Dylan had a feeling Mark knew more about the situation than he was admitting. A good enough reason to talk with him more.

And Nikki had said Wayne French called her a do-gooder. Coincidence? Maybe so. Or maybe not. Maybe Wayne was tired of waiting for her to see his attraction and had decided to do something about her charity work.

Dylan took a breath and stared out the window toward the distant mountains. What did he do next?

Nikki insisted on doing things the way she’d normally do them. She spent her time bottling lotion, mixing and molding soaps, and filling out business forms for her small endeavors. She ignored Dylan’s attempts at small talk, almost to the point of ignoring him as well. Finally, he took himself off on a ramble on the grounds and tried to come up with a plan of his own.

They found out about the poisoned water when they went to the desert that night. Dylan had idly thought about preventing Nikki from taking a trip with her jugs but decided he couldn’t justify it. Nothing had happened so far, despite the threat and the subsequent state police visit. They’d done nothing other than record the threat for their records and caution Nikki to stay away from the water project. She’d been polite but Dylan knew by her expression, as the police probably did as well, that she’d go out again.

They’d just placed the first jug in a small depression when Nikki uttered a small sound of surprise. “That’s odd.”

“What?” Dylan glanced into the darkness, mentally cursing himself for not bringing night vision glasses.

“There’s still a jug out here.” She started walking toward a smudge of lighter gray and Dylan followed her, stopping her from picking up the jug when he saw it lying on its side, the cap off. “Wait.”

“What?” she looked at him in confusion then back at the jug.

He pointed to a damp patch of ground and said, “Take a whiff.”

She leaned closer to the ground and sniffed then straightened. “It’s bleach.”

He reached into his pocket and came out with a square of cloth. With it between his hand and the jug handle, he picked up the container and glanced around the ground. “Do you see the cap?”

Nikki found it a couple of feet away and stooped to pick it up. “Don’t touch it with your bare hands. We’ll need prints.”

She stared at him for a second then headed back to the truck. “It’ll have the migrants’ prints on it.” Her tone was flat, she knew but anger and hurt were boiling up inside her. If she let anything out, she’d start sobbing right now.

She found a gas receipt and plucked the cap from the ground, taking it to Dylan. When he gestured toward the jug, she twisted the cap on and they secured it in the rear of the truck. “Let’s check the other sites.”

Sure enough, all ten of the sites she’d routinely placed jugs of water were littered with bleach-tainted containers. Some were empty, others had dregs in them, as if they’d been tried and found lacking in their life-giving missions. The jugs were loaded into the truck. Those with lids were sealed for testing, Nikki assumed, since Dylan insisted on keeping all of them, and the others were tossed into the bed of the truck without lids.

They drove back to the house, Dylan driving and silent. Nikki cried the entire way back, trying without succeeding for soundless tears.

By the time they’d parked in the compound, the eastern sky was a lighter gray. Each trudged to the house deep in their thoughts. Dylan headed to the office to call Hank and, for once, Nikki didn’t insist on being a part of the conversation. She didn’t need to, did she?

She sank onto her bed and put her face in her hands. Please, God, don’t let anyone be harmed by the tainted water or as a result of my actions, she prayed. For the first time since she’d started leaving the water, in her teens on rare occasions and then weekly after she’d moved back to the ranch, she was unsure of herself. Was she willing to give up the early morning trips to the desert? And was she doing the job for the right reasons? Had the events of the last several days resulted in her pride becoming involved?

How many minutes she sat and dwelled on the subject she didn’t know but she finally shook herself and went to the bathroom to wash her face. Afterwards, she headed to the kitchen and coffee.

Later in the day, the state police came by. No leads on the phone threats, as expected. When Nikki mentioned the tainted water the officer grimaced. “Ma’am, if we report that, we’ll have to report your actions, too.”

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