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Al Past
88
From behind his seat came a quavery woman s voice: Yes, he did, but don t
slow down we ve got to be there in fifteen minutes!
You mind telling me what happened back there?
It was more people after me. They almost caught me they must have been
watching the Delbosque s house. It was horrible! I was sooo scared! I rubbed
some refried beans on my face and wrapped a shawl over my head and tried to act
like an old woman. When the cat bit the agent, all the agents jumped, and I ran
for the trees. They didn t see me.
How well I know! I d have given anything to have seen that! Like we Hispan-
ics say, tú te has hecho humo you turned into smoke, poof, like that! ¡Corriste
a quemaropas! ( You ran so fast your clothes were on fire! ) But why did you tell
me to drive up to the roadblock before turning around?
It might have looked funny if you d turned around before you reached it.
Now, they won t suspect you knew anything.
How true that is, Matt observed.
In less than ten minutes they had left the mountains behind and headed down
the long straightaway that descended into Alpine. About midway between the
mountains and the town, he turned left at the fancy wrought iron gate to the
Bar-S ranch. From his study of the local water situation he knew the ranch occu-
pied many square miles. The main house was barely visible from the highway.
This land could only be good for cattle and oil, he figured. There was hardly a
tree on the place, or even a hill.
His heart was in his throat all over again as he drove up to a sleek little corpo-
rate jet waiting on the end of the runway behind the Bar-S ranch house. Cheryl
was there waiting with Coach Pérez and a tall woman wearing pressed jeans and a
western shirt. Cheryl gave Darcy another of her huge hugs. All right, girl! Here
we go!
She stepped back and looked at Darcy. You a mess, girl! What happen to yo
face?
Oh, nothing. I got splashed with dirt, that s all. It ll wash off.
OK, no big. Let s get going, huh? Woo-hoo! She climbed up the narrow
stairs into the plane.
Coach Pérez stepped over to shake her hand. Hi, Ana. This is Rhoda Will-
iams, she said, indicating the woman at her side. This is her ranch.
Darcy shook the woman s hand. How do you do, Mrs. Williams. I m pleased
to meet you. Thank you for letting us use your landing strip.
Al Past
89
Mrs. Williams, her splashy jewelry sparkling in the sun, smiled down at her.
I m delighted to help, Ms. Darcy. Coach Perez told me you and Cheryl have a
good chance at a medal in the Olympic Games. I wish you all the best, you hear?
Thank you, ma am.
Coach Perez pointed at the modest back pack at Darcy s feet. Is that all
you ve packed? she said.
Yes, ma am. That s it. Everything I own is in there.
Bless you, Darcy. I hope it all goes very, very well. I want to hear all about it
eventually, you understand?
Yes, ma am. You will. She picked up her back pack and turned toward the
plane and there was Matt, with a funny expression on his face.
Goodbye, Darcy. There seemed to be something wrong with his voice.
Good luck. I ll be thinking about you. If there s anything I can do, please ask,
any time.
I will, Matt. Thanks for your help. You ve been a good friend. I ll see you
again, some day. She leaned forward on tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the
cheek. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her like Cheryl did. She
seemed small and fragile in his arms.
Here, he said, handing her an envelope. Open this in the air. I m gonna
miss you, he whispered hoarsely. Then he let her go.
In five minutes the plane was just a blinking light in the fast-fading eastern
sky.
It was fortunate that the plane had left from the Bar-S ranch. Fifteen miles
later, on the outskirts of Alpine, Matt had to stop at another roadblock, this time
manned by local cops he knew. Even so, they made him get out of the truck so
they could poke through it. He remembered to gripe about the feds back in the
mountains and asked again what was going on. All he received in reply was a cou-
ple of shrugs. That reminded him how lucky Darcy had been, and that made his
heart squeeze up one more time.
C H A P T E R 23
Chuck Henneke looked like what he was: a tough former athlete with a good
head on his thick neck. He was a legend among college scouts, one who, if he
bothered to collect trophies for the college athletes he turned up, would have a
whole den full of them. He was just the man that Benning, Bynum, Caxton,
Braithwaite was looking for. His services didn t come cheap, but they weren t
worried. If it turned out that he helped the firm in its pro bono altruism to enable
several deserving young athletes to earn an Olympic medal, then it would be
worth the cost to the firm, easily.
Accordingly, three of the partners (Bynum was in Washington on a trade
negotiation) were assembled in their walnut paneled meeting room to hear Coach
Henneke s report on the athletes he d spent most of the day with: Gary Lollar, a
swimmer from Arkansas, sponsored by Caxton, Cheryl Ford, the runner that
Braithwaite knew, and an unknown quantity named Darcy something or other
that Cheryl Ford insisted Braithwaite look at. Braithwaite was the newest partner
and a productive one, so if he wanted a walk-on checked out, they would gladly
humor him.
Henneke was right on time. He took a chair at the table with grace and firm-
ness, laying a notepad out in front of himself. After the necessary chatter about
local teams they got down to business. Gentlemen, he began, looking at each of
them in turn, this has been a most interesting day. Let me cover the easy parts
first, if I may. The swimmer, Mr. Lollar, and the runner, Ms. Ford, I think are [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl akte20.pev.pl
Al Past
88
From behind his seat came a quavery woman s voice: Yes, he did, but don t
slow down we ve got to be there in fifteen minutes!
You mind telling me what happened back there?
It was more people after me. They almost caught me they must have been
watching the Delbosque s house. It was horrible! I was sooo scared! I rubbed
some refried beans on my face and wrapped a shawl over my head and tried to act
like an old woman. When the cat bit the agent, all the agents jumped, and I ran
for the trees. They didn t see me.
How well I know! I d have given anything to have seen that! Like we Hispan-
ics say, tú te has hecho humo you turned into smoke, poof, like that! ¡Corriste
a quemaropas! ( You ran so fast your clothes were on fire! ) But why did you tell
me to drive up to the roadblock before turning around?
It might have looked funny if you d turned around before you reached it.
Now, they won t suspect you knew anything.
How true that is, Matt observed.
In less than ten minutes they had left the mountains behind and headed down
the long straightaway that descended into Alpine. About midway between the
mountains and the town, he turned left at the fancy wrought iron gate to the
Bar-S ranch. From his study of the local water situation he knew the ranch occu-
pied many square miles. The main house was barely visible from the highway.
This land could only be good for cattle and oil, he figured. There was hardly a
tree on the place, or even a hill.
His heart was in his throat all over again as he drove up to a sleek little corpo-
rate jet waiting on the end of the runway behind the Bar-S ranch house. Cheryl
was there waiting with Coach Pérez and a tall woman wearing pressed jeans and a
western shirt. Cheryl gave Darcy another of her huge hugs. All right, girl! Here
we go!
She stepped back and looked at Darcy. You a mess, girl! What happen to yo
face?
Oh, nothing. I got splashed with dirt, that s all. It ll wash off.
OK, no big. Let s get going, huh? Woo-hoo! She climbed up the narrow
stairs into the plane.
Coach Pérez stepped over to shake her hand. Hi, Ana. This is Rhoda Will-
iams, she said, indicating the woman at her side. This is her ranch.
Darcy shook the woman s hand. How do you do, Mrs. Williams. I m pleased
to meet you. Thank you for letting us use your landing strip.
Al Past
89
Mrs. Williams, her splashy jewelry sparkling in the sun, smiled down at her.
I m delighted to help, Ms. Darcy. Coach Perez told me you and Cheryl have a
good chance at a medal in the Olympic Games. I wish you all the best, you hear?
Thank you, ma am.
Coach Perez pointed at the modest back pack at Darcy s feet. Is that all
you ve packed? she said.
Yes, ma am. That s it. Everything I own is in there.
Bless you, Darcy. I hope it all goes very, very well. I want to hear all about it
eventually, you understand?
Yes, ma am. You will. She picked up her back pack and turned toward the
plane and there was Matt, with a funny expression on his face.
Goodbye, Darcy. There seemed to be something wrong with his voice.
Good luck. I ll be thinking about you. If there s anything I can do, please ask,
any time.
I will, Matt. Thanks for your help. You ve been a good friend. I ll see you
again, some day. She leaned forward on tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the
cheek. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her like Cheryl did. She
seemed small and fragile in his arms.
Here, he said, handing her an envelope. Open this in the air. I m gonna
miss you, he whispered hoarsely. Then he let her go.
In five minutes the plane was just a blinking light in the fast-fading eastern
sky.
It was fortunate that the plane had left from the Bar-S ranch. Fifteen miles
later, on the outskirts of Alpine, Matt had to stop at another roadblock, this time
manned by local cops he knew. Even so, they made him get out of the truck so
they could poke through it. He remembered to gripe about the feds back in the
mountains and asked again what was going on. All he received in reply was a cou-
ple of shrugs. That reminded him how lucky Darcy had been, and that made his
heart squeeze up one more time.
C H A P T E R 23
Chuck Henneke looked like what he was: a tough former athlete with a good
head on his thick neck. He was a legend among college scouts, one who, if he
bothered to collect trophies for the college athletes he turned up, would have a
whole den full of them. He was just the man that Benning, Bynum, Caxton,
Braithwaite was looking for. His services didn t come cheap, but they weren t
worried. If it turned out that he helped the firm in its pro bono altruism to enable
several deserving young athletes to earn an Olympic medal, then it would be
worth the cost to the firm, easily.
Accordingly, three of the partners (Bynum was in Washington on a trade
negotiation) were assembled in their walnut paneled meeting room to hear Coach
Henneke s report on the athletes he d spent most of the day with: Gary Lollar, a
swimmer from Arkansas, sponsored by Caxton, Cheryl Ford, the runner that
Braithwaite knew, and an unknown quantity named Darcy something or other
that Cheryl Ford insisted Braithwaite look at. Braithwaite was the newest partner
and a productive one, so if he wanted a walk-on checked out, they would gladly
humor him.
Henneke was right on time. He took a chair at the table with grace and firm-
ness, laying a notepad out in front of himself. After the necessary chatter about
local teams they got down to business. Gentlemen, he began, looking at each of
them in turn, this has been a most interesting day. Let me cover the easy parts
first, if I may. The swimmer, Mr. Lollar, and the runner, Ms. Ford, I think are [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]