Page 21 of Battle Mountain

Like he did every night now, Joe launched Kestrel into the air almost to ceiling height and caught her on the way down. And like she did every night, Kestrel squealed.

—

The three ofthem sat at the table eating pizza, and Joe realized how natural the situation had become. Years after their three daughters had left them an empty nest, they were caretakers of a toddler once again. He told Marybeth what the governor had said about why grandparents and grandchildren got along so well.

“But Kestrel isn’t our grandchild,” Marybeth said.

“She sort of seems like one. She’s ourpracticegrandchild. I think Liv would approve and Nate would be pleased.”

“And speaking of our common enemy,” Marybeth said with a sly grin, “I spoke to Sheridan today. She said Geronimo Jones came by looking for him yesterday. She steered him in the direction of Hole in the Wall Canyon.”

“Smart,” Joe said. “That’s where I’d look.”

“So why haven’t you?”

“You know why.”

It was a sore subject between them. Marybeth didn’t dispute the fact that she felt both safer and more comfortable when Nate was around. It had nothing to do with the added responsibility of seeing to Kestrel’s well-being, which Marybeth had taken to easily and naturally. Joe quietly bristled at the fact that Marybeth felt that way, even though he knew she had a point. After all, it was his duty to keep his family safe and secure, not Nate’s.

“Tell me again why you haven’t gone after him,” Marybeth said.

“I know Nate,” Joe said. “He’s gone to ground for a reason. He’ll come back when he’s ready.”

Just as Joe had conceded Marybeth’s point, Marybeth quietly conceded Joe’s.

She turned to Kestrel, who was in the process of removing each round of pepperoni from her pizza and eating them individually. “I’ll miss this little one when he does come back for her.”

“I think we both will,” Joe said.

“And if for some reason he never shows up, I can see her becoming part of the family.”

Joe had been waiting for Marybeth to voice it. April had become a part of their family in roughly similar circumstances.

“He’ll come back,” he said.

—

“How long doyou expect to be away?” she asked.

“A few days, I think. If it takes longer than that, we’ll have to start up a full-fledged search and rescue operation. The governordoesn’t want that to happen because if it goes public then his family would have to know. But it might be unavoidable.”

“I hope you don’t plan to try and do this all on your own,” she said. “I know how you are.”

He smiled and said, “I’ll need some help down there. I spent some time in the Sierra Madres, as you know, but I’m not familiar enough with the country to do this solo.”

Tube, their half-Lab and half-Corgi mix, had come from Joe’s brief assignment to southern Wyoming years before.

“Who is the game warden down there?” she asked.

“Susan Kany. I met her last year at the Wyoming Game Wardens Association meeting. She’s a rookie.”

“Does she know the district well enough to help you?”

“I hope so. She seemed pretty with-it,” Joe said. “No doubt she’s met Spike Rankin at some point, so she might know where his camp is and where he hunts elk.”

“Are you going to tell her why you’re down there? The real reason?”

“I’m not sure yet. I think I can massage it so I don’t necessarily have to mention the governor’s name.”

---