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Seven cars before Erainya Manos reached the drop-off point

Wil thought about the first ti fields

It had been one of Diroup of il egals out of the truck just before the Border Patrol checkpoint, let thearcane fields, then pick the season

Next thing, he was cal ing Wil in a panic Dials weren’t there He saw sroup was supposed to as on fire Far their crops as part of the yearly harvest

Fortunately, Wil had been working a deal down in Harlingen, only a couple of ot there in under tenAnd if he could hear it, he figured the farmers and the Border Patrol could, too

He ran into the fields, toward the fire, and a young wo, s froht into his arht in there!"

Wil heard a aphone in the distance Border Patrol: instructions in Spanish, warning the il egals to get out of the fields

"No tiera"

He started to pul her toward the truck, but she fought hiet them!" she ordered

Wil looked at her seriously for the first time She could have been a special order She was that beautiful

Maybe seventeen Mayan co black hair She wore a man’s denim work shirt and tattered jeans She was barefoot But Wil could i her north would be enough to turn a profit froht," he said "Wait here"

He plunged into the fields The Border Patrol ra found Wil , or Di in his truck up the road, they would start asking questions Wil would be screwed

He found two older woet the, and together they got away froet theirl asked

Wil looked at her, ready to hit her, but he restrained himself "They are dead, or taken If we don’t leave now, you wil be, too"

He could tel she didn’t like it, but she let hiot in back, too He wasn’t sure why He let Ortiz do the driving

As they were heading north, the two older woirl asked hio in San Antonio?"

Wil was about to give his standard lie, but her eyes stopped hi women were placid They did what they were told They were too terrified not to

He said, "What’s your name?"

"Soledad"

Loneliness He liked that nale piece of jewelry--a silver Saint Anthony charo rarely wore jewelry They rarely had any left to wear, after they’d paid hioing to have to work in San Antonio," he told her "Work for men Do you understand?"

Her eyes bored into him He started to feel unco to let me"

"Why is that?"

"Because of the fields," she said "You owe me a debt"

"Sorry," he said

She slapped him across the face

He was too surprised to react

They sat there in silence, sweating in the heat and the s at her, and the

In San Antonio, he let Direed that Soledad would fetch a good price Wil didn’t like the way Dihts, Wil showed up at the auction and paid Soledad’s price himself He outbid his own clients Five thousand dol ars

So in her eyes told hirabbed his hand and started pul ing him toward the door, as if he was the one who had been purchased

When he hesitated, she said, "Wel ? Are you scared of me?"

Wil had paid for a lifetime with her Soledad had lived just over a year

For that, someone owed Wil a debt

There were now three cars in front of Erainya Manos

Wil could step outside, calet in the back seat, press his gun against the kid’s spine, tel Erainya Manos to pul out of line and drive That would work--simple and clean

Two cars in front of her

Wil hated that Fred Barroas dead The fact this woman had shot Barrow didn’t make Wil fond of her

On the contrary, she had cheated hie

The other PI, Sam Barrera--Wil kne to handle hiotten the video by now He would fol ow instructions He’d think he could control the situation without going to the police, and his overconfidence would kil him

But Fred Barro--she was a wild card Wil didn’t know her wel enough He couldn’t kil her until he was sure he would get what he needed

One car left in the drop-off line