He didn’t look at Hunter or Raymond as he left the room. Ashton led the accused from the room, taking them down the hall and out a back door to a waiting car. He ushered them in the back seat and drove them onto the base, stopping at the Intelligence building. He parked as Hunter said, “What now?”
“This is the meat of it. That other was a publicity op for the Mexican Consul. Come on.”
They followed him through the trail of cubicles and side rooms to the large meeting room, where Lincoln and Art waited, along with several other suited men, none of them smiling.
Ashton took a seat beside Lincoln and folded his hands on the table before saying, “Forget the circus at the Mexican Consul’s office, we want to know how you two warned Pasqual Osorio and his people we were coming.”
Hunter said, “We didn’t warn anybody. We were lucky to get out of there with our hides.” Raymond glanced at her and saw the hurt and anger in her eyes.
Lincoln started to speak when Hunter put up her hand and interrupted him, “Where’s Maria? She knows we didn’t spook anything.”
“Maria is still being treated–,”
Hunter interrupted him again, “Maria hid out for a week in there, watching and listening to all of it. Get her down here if you want to know the truth. That’s not too much to ask, is it?” She looked at Lincoln and did not blink. After ten seconds, Lincoln averted his eyes.
One of the other suited men opened a manila folder and slid the photos inside to Hunter and Raymond. “These were taken on the raid.”
Raymond went through them, with Hunter looking over his shoulder. When he finished, he said, “You fellas have a major problem on your hands.” The photos showed no drones, or any other equipment inside the mine. “Whoever tipped them did it right after we left; only way they had time to remove everything. So I figure you have a hole about the size of a battleship in your security. You know we didn’t have anything to do with this, so you’re looking for a scapegoat. Well gentlemen, we aren’t it.”
Lincoln said, “Yes, you are. You were careless. They saw you at Osorio’s ranch, and in the mine. That’s why they moved everything out. You’re the reason the mission failed.”
Raymond said, “You’re very fast to accuse people, Mr. Jones, especially those working their hardest to do the job you asked them to do.”
Lincoln said, “The truth will out.”
Hunter said, “It will, and you’ll realize it too late. I’m going home.” The men started to say something as Hunter continued, “I’m sorry for your son, Mr. Jones, but I’m glad we rescued Maria. You should listen to her, to what she says, but you first need to pull your head out of your ass so your ears are open. Goodbye.” Ashton let out a small gasp.
Hunter rose, followed immediately by Raymond. Art escorted them out of the building and into a waiting vehicle. He said as Hunter entered the rear passenger area, “So this is probably it, then. See you around sometime.”
“You can call, you have my number.”
Art smiled and nodded. “Take care.”
Raymond said, “Retirement’s looking better and better.” The driver returned them to the hotel, where they packed up and checked out for the return to Marfa. Neither one said much.
~*~
The next day, Sam Kinney called Hunter’s cell, “You workin’ today?”
“Not today, my day off.”
“You think you could meet me and Buck at the White Buffalo in Marathon, say about five?”
“So you two got together? Yeah, I can meet you there. What’s up?”
“We’ll tell you then. You want something cold waiting on you when you get there?”
Hunter chuckled, “Only if you two are drinking.”
“Huh! See you there.”
Hunter wondered what the two men had up their sleeves, but put it in the back of her mind and got to work gathering dirty clothes and doing the wash.
The White Buffalo bar had a vacant parking space near the door when Hunter arrived a little before 5PM. Inside, Buck and Sam sat at a table near the buffalo head, with the extra chair pushed back for her and the draft beer in the schooner in front of it.
“Thanks, guys,” Hunter said as she sat and took a sip.
“We’ve been digging around.” Buck said, “Found some interesting things we thought you might want to hear.”