THE BIG HORN 31

later that night both cowboys sat in the steps to their trailer house. each had a glass half full of bourbon. roy ha been sipping on his but con only stared at his as the little bubbles rose to the top. " this deal is getting worse all the time. everyone we come in contact with is connected to the cartel. with my luck some honest law dog will tie me to them. i came here to work cattle. not deal drugs. i cant speak for you but ime going to ave a little talk with fawn when she gets back. if i dont like what i hear ime outta here."con was only talking just above a whisper. roy didnt look at him but took another swallow of whiskey." ime with you, what ever you decide." the next morning the moralis crew drove into the yard and announced the water improvements at the paradise well were done. normally happy and smilling they were sullen and quiet. the old man handed con a peice of paper stateing the were going home they needed to be paid the amount on the invoice. soon! con watched as the whole crew with their camp out fit pulled out onto the hiway and left. roy walked up" well that was a bit sudden. what do they know that we dont?" " i dont know but lets go to the paradise well and see what we can see." con folded the invoice and put it in his shirt pocket. it was a long way to the paradise. it sat in the farthest corner of the ranch. instead of horses the two men took the truck. the road wasnt to bad and they could drive at a fair rate for a desert road. mid morning they rolled to a stop at the paradise wind mill. there were two big , tall concrete water storage tanks. the new water lot would hold no telling how many cattle. the wind mill was a good forty feet tall with a fan of twelve feet in diameter. it rurned slow makeing a trickle of water from the discharge pipe into the closest storage tank. in one corner of the water lot a good size set of corrals built from stacked mesquite stood. there were lots of cattle tracks comming and going but as of yet this morning no cattle were seen. the two cowboys got out of the truck and were walking around takeing in all the improvements when on the far side of the mesquite corrals they came upon a bed roll. it was rumpled but it was plain to see it had been used the night before. no one was in sight. con grunted " we cant get away from this crap no matter where we go on this outfit!" roy nodded in agreement. just then a mexican dressed in the ckothes of a peon working man steped out from around the corner of the corral " HOLA! BUENOS DIAS! he said in a loud voice. roy slapped his leg where his pistol would have been had he had his chaps on. con nodded to the man" buenos dias. you speak english?" " yes i do" the man dug in his pants pocket and produced a wallet and handed it to con. when he opened it it held a badge for the mexican national police." are you the cowboys ive been told about?" the man asked. " we are the only cowboys here so i guess so. what can we do for you?" con asked. " my goverment wants to break up the cartel that is sending the drugs here. it appears nearly everyone here is on their payroll. except you two. they can be deadly. we think even the border patrol are being paid. as we speak we have men in washington meeting with the head people there. i and one other man have been sent here undercover to learn what we can. the other man would be at the head quarters."the man explained. con and roy bothed breathed a sigh of releif. " i think we may have met your partner last night. . there was no one there but us. he left but said he would return. we thought he was a cartel man." roy said. " can you give me a ride to up close to the pick up point on i 8? we believe there is a caravan comming through today. we want to record their delivery?" the agent asked. " load up, we will take you where ever you want to go." con stated. as the trio approached the dead horse tank from the south they could the popping of gun fire. then mexicans came out of the brush everywhere you looked at a run, headed back south. some slowed down as they passed the truck but didnt stop they kept running. roy looked to the agent with a question on his lips. the gaent smilled " i think maybe a honest law enforcement group might have met the caravan. lets drive closer and see" at the fence line a group of trucks and cars were pulled up on the gravel area where the drop was always made. a border patrol truck sat at one side a body laying o the ground with the drivers door open. just as con stopped the truck it was surrounded by men with long guns. their vest were marked as FBI.con held his hands up away from the steering wheel. the agent handed over his badge to the closest officer. "we been looking for you sir. " the officer handed back the wallet. " i think we got their pick up man and the contraband. our other force is raiding the border patrol check station on back east." the mexican agent grinned big " our people in mexico are attacking the cartel head quarters today. this should bring all this to a halt. these men driveing me are the cowboys we were told about." with that statement the agents with the long arms lowered their guns. roy let out the breath he was holding.