Night of Shadows Read Free Page B

for
the required fee, collected her luggage, and marched through the airport.
    As she threaded her way through the
parking lot to find her car, she ran into her companion from the plane. He was
following along behind her, apparently intent on finding his own vehicle.
    "I hope you have a good
stay," he said pleasantly. "Where you headed? To see the
sights?"
    "Oh, not really." She
tried to keep her voice friendly yet coolly distant. One never knew about
strangers. "It's a strictly business matter. I need to visit Sacramento
Ranch. Have you ever heard of it?"
    By that time, Melinda had spotted
the white foreign compact described to her and paused with the key poised to
unlock the door.
    The man was frowning now. "I
know where it is. But, lady, you'll never make it in that. We've had some rough
weather these past few days. The back roads are torn up by all the flooding."
    Melinda's fist tightened around the
keys. "You can't mean that!"
    "I'm sorry, ma'am. You just
can't get there right now in a car — at least, not that car. Or in any of the
cars they rent around here. Until they get the roads fixed back up, you might
need a four-wheel drive. At the very least, you need a pickup."
    He squinted up at the sky at a
squadron of dark clouds gathering in the distance. "In fact, I'd advise
you not to go at all. This is a bad time of year. We've been having a lot of
afternoon storms."
    He paused, interrupting his gloomy
forecast. "You're not from around here, are you?"
    "No."
    "I thought so from the accent. Southern,
isn't it?"
    Melinda thought this an interesting
observation from someone with such a marked drawl.
    "Anyhow," he continued. "A
desert thunderstorm is none too pleasant. If you have to go, I suggest you find
someone to take you."
    Despite her misgivings about
strangers, Melinda found herself eyeing him hopefully. He shook his head with a
slow, apologetic grin.
    "I wish I could help, really. But
I have a farm near here, and I have some urgent business of my own I need to
tend to."
    Finally, she found her voice. "But
surely I could rent something somewhere?"
    "Well...Gosh. I don't know. My
brother-in-law has an old truck he's been trying to sell. It don't look like
much, but it runs good. That's about all I can say for it. I'm sure he'd rent
it to you..."
    He scanned her doubtfully, as his
eyes rested on her expensive travel suit and heels.
    But Melinda was a desperate woman. An
hour later she was perched high in the seat of an aged, dented Chevy truck she
dubbed Old Blue. It whined in protest every time she mashed on the accelerator,
and groaned each time she shifted a gear. But — as the farmer had assured her —
the motor seemed to be in good shape. She only hoped that the rest of the truck
would hold together long enough to reach the ranch.
    She was headed west on a narrow
highway that obviously was not one of New Mexico's major thoroughfares. As the
pickup hit some of the numerous potholes that defaced the pavement, she was
jarred and bounced painfully against the overhead. She rubbed her scalp and,
with the other hand, hung onto the gyrating steering wheel. It didn't help that
Old Blue also was equipped with bad shocks.
    More than an hour had passed when
she started to watch for a sign that marked the turnoff onto County Road 38. She
wondered how its condition would compare to the so-called highway she already
was on.
    The western horizon was ablaze with
a mixture of purplish, orange, gold and yellow hues that reached up like
fingers and caressed the clouds. But the descending sun radiated intense heat
as it converted the pickup cab into an unwanted sauna. Perspiration soaked
Melinda's clothes, causing them to cling to her body.
    Occasionally, as she shifted
positions, she found herself almost glued to the uncomfortable vinyl seat. She
fiddled with the dials on the makeshift air conditioner, but it no longer
worked.
    She encountered so little traffic
on this off-route that it was no problem to relax a little and take