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.

THE BIG HORN 30

roy and con turned their horses north toward the hiway they started out following the well beaten path the coyotes had used. but as they neared the dead horse tank the foot prints veered away toward the west. con pulled up and stared down at the foot prints. " now, what you think this is all about?"he asked roy. roy shrugged" i dont know. do we go check the dead horse or follow the trail?" " you go check the dead horse, ill follow the trail. when you get done at dead horse come catch up with me. it looks like these tracks are headed toward the ranch." con sounded concerned. roy peeled off and took a bee line for the dead horse corrals and water. con booted his horse into a jog trott following the trail of the coyotes.after a mile or so he was sure they were headed to the ranch. but he suddenly realized he had lost the trail. he turned back and 50 yards back he found where the trail had turned back north toward the hiway. in the distane he could see roy comming at a short lope. when he was sure roy had seen him con struck out again following the trail. in a few minutes roy loped up and fell in along side con. "nothing at dead horse. no cattle, or tracks and no back packers tracks. i dont think any one has been there in days, cattle or man." con nodded and pointed at the set of foot prints they followed." ya know i hired on here to run a cow ranch not baby sit a bunch of ruggies. we dont get some answeres soon i may just drag up. the border patrol hasnt caught anyone of importance and we have lost one half of the owners who hired us. whose to say we arnt next?" roy didnt say anything but he did note the disgust in cons voice. as they neared the hiway fence the foot prints kept on going to it. on the other side the two cowboys could see a border patrol crusier. they followed the foot prints right up to the fence. the driver in the cruiser got out on seeing them. " you boys come a long way? you looking for me?" pointing to the tracks they had been following con said" we been following them, but they must have been picked up before you got here." " i havent seen a soul since i been here. but ill keep a eye peeled." the officer stated. he didnt offer anything else even tho he seemed friendly enough. con sat there a few moments longer and nodded. "we had a long day, its still a couple hours to the barn" roy waved a careless hand and they turned west toward the ranch the officer waved back. they had ridden a quarter mile when con looked at roy" something back there stinks. i dont know what but it dont feel right. you see that pile of cigarett butts by the car door?he s been there longer than a little while and those were mexican ciggaretts like we been seeing.." " yep, i wonder if that guy is even a real border patrolman.i was getting the hee be jeebys." it was dark when they rode into the yard on give out horses. no lights shone anywhere. as the two cowboys dismounted a voice came from the dark barn " buenos noches amigos." both men froze next to their horses. con slowley looked all around but didnt see a vehicle. " que pasa amigo" he asked. a stocky mexican came out of the barn. he had no weapon they could see. but roy had pulled his pistol and held it against his leg any way. "i came for water. but i found no one here. where is the patrona?" the man asked. " she went to town be back tomorrow or the next day. did you find the water?" con asked. " yes i got water. i will go now. maybe come back another time."the mexican turnned and walked toward the hiway. roy stood quietly and watched the man walk away then returned his pistol to his chap pocket." what you make of that?"he asked con. " lets get these horses put away and fed. i want a glass of whiskey to think this over on."con went back to unsaddling his horse.