communication

Sam benders eyes fluttered open. turning his head on his pillow he glanced at the battery clock on the night stand. 3 a m .   he had a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach.  getting out of bed he dressed in the dark as quietly as possible. when he opened the door to his bed room he could hear sissy breathing in her sleep across the  hall. padding down the hall way to the kitchen . in the dark house he knew where everything was. he stepped around a chair at the table and turned the stove on under the coffee pot. setting down at the table in the dark he absently minded rubbed the small lump on the side of his head. what was the reason for the uneasy feeling he had? the crease on his neck from Santiago s bullet was almost healed, the head achs had diminished and were only a issue when he was realy tired or stressed.  without thinking he got up and returned to his room and picked up the clip holster holding the pistol then returned to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. still the uneasiness nagged at him. placing the pistol on the table in front of him he sipped the hot, black brew. he usually took his coffee to the porch and watched the daylite illuminate the yard. he had a pet covey of quail who would come by in the early morning lite to visit. but this morning  he stayed at the kitchen table. while pouring another cup of coffee he heard a whisper of movement  on the porch. stepping to the table he felt for the pistol and turned toward the door. all became still . he stood motionless for a few seconds that seemed like a eternity.  in one long step he reached the door. still no sound of movement outside. was it his imagination? he listened a second longer then shaking HIS HEAD HE RETURNED TO THE TABLE, LAID THE PISTOL DOWN AND TOOK UP THE CUP. MAYBE HE WAS OVER REACTING.
    a few hours later after the sun came poking over antelope peak eppi s waggoneer pulled into the yard in a cloud of dust. the big indian got out and shook himself  and looked around. sam and coalie were at the barn.  coaly  was wiping grease from his hands as sam and he walked out to meet the chief of the desert wolves.
 " it looks mighty peaceful here.  you all  staying out of trouble?" eppi asked
  " as much as possible I guess " coaly answered
   after asking about sams health and recovery they stepped up on the porch and plopped into chairs in the shade.
  " hello brother " sissy spoke to eppi through the screen door.
   smilling eppi turned to look at her and answered " hello sister"  the two had become close friends.
     sam reported the activity of the past week explaining about the old pickup with the short driver. rigsby had picked up another bundle  but hadn't returned . " when you guys gonna nail these clowns? ime tired of keeping my pucker string pulled down tight."
    " the feds are watching them like hawks, but we cant find out what rigsby does with the pack after he picks it up. he carries it around for days then one day its gone. the tail checks his suburban every night. we cant figger it out. then, none of the funny money is showing up. who ever is getting it isn't using it. but then the quality is so bad anyone would pick up on it right away. we cant figure the whole thing out . " eppi was scratching his head.
   " well I hope you come to some kind of a conclusion soon. let me have rigsby. ill rattle his teeth and I bet after he wets his pants he will sing like a juke box full of quarters!" coaly was adamit
   " you know that wont do. none of that will get us what we want. we don't even think he knows what happens to the pack after he drops it. he goes to his office once a week, he hangs out at the dive on old main and that's about it. some times he just drives around town, goes to the automatic car wash  and is seen with no one but a chippy who goes to his apartment twice  a week.  he has no set pattern and you never see him with his hands on the pack. its in the back seat all the time until it disappears.  sneaky little bum. " eppi grinned
     after admonishing the ranchers to not  stir the pot the chief drove  back to the vekhol road and headed south into the desert.  he would make a circle  and then return to the headquarters in Sells, the capitol of the reservation. at the ranch sam and his friends returned to the daily chores, but still nervous about the activity. that's when sissy found the envelope.