Hit List

36

Stone was taking sections of the Times as Dino finished them, then he looked up and saw the black SUV coming down Acequia Madre. Simultaneously, a car on the other side of the parking lot backed out of its space and turned to follow it.

“Okay,” Stone said. “Somebody’s on the move.

“I saw the unmarked car go after the SUV,” Dino said. “Fall in behind it but stay well back.”

Stone went out the side entrance of the lot and turned downhill as the police car was disappearing onto Paseo de Peralta. He turned that way, too. Shortly, they were on the road out of town, toward the Opera. They got off at that exit, but turned toward the village of Tesuque, instead. Stone had owned a house there, until he had traded it to the president and her husband for their Georgetown house, where his friend, Holly Barker, had been living.

As they crossed the little Tesuque River, Stone saw the SUV turn into the parking lot of the Tesuque Market, a grocery and restaurant. “Looks like somebody’s having a late breakfast,” he said.

“Go past, then come back to within sight of the place,” Dino ordered.

Stone complied and parked on the opposite side of the road, a couple hundred yards from the market. “Give me the Arts section, he said. Dino handed it to him. He turned to the crossword, refolded the paper, and started to work it, looking frequently at the market, where the black SUV waited.

An hour later, well after Stone had finished the puzzle, he looked at Dino, who was snoring lightly. “Hey, you,” he said.

Dino sat up and looked around. “What?”

“Whoever was in the SUV is taking too long in there. Time for a walk-through.”

“You mean me?”

“He knows what I look like, but maybe not you. Just walk in, check out the front porch, then walk in, buy something at the pastry counter and check out the dining room while you’re waiting.”

Dino got out of the car, crossed the road, and walked down to the market, disappearing inside. A moment later, Dino came out again and waved him over, a paper bag in his hand.

Stone stopped the car, and Dino got in. “What?”

“Neither Larkin nor his henchman is in there. They must have gone out the back door and left in another car.”

“We’ve been sitting here and all the time, they’ve scampered.”

“Maybe not out of reach,” Dino said. “The police car is gone, too.” He got on the phone said a few words, then hung up.

“They’re up the mountain, at a place called 10,000 Waves,” he said.

“That’s a Japanese-style hot bath and massage place,” Stone said, turning left toward Bishops Lodge Road. “We’ll take a run up there.”

“Wait a minute,” Dino said, getting out of the car. He ran back to the front of the market, disappeared, then returned to the car. “I wanted a look inside the SUV,” he said. “Clean as a hound’s tooth.” He opened his paper bag and handed Stone a chunk of carrot cake on a napkin.

Stone continued up the mountain, eating the carrot cake, and his ears began to pop. Twenty minutes later he pulled into the lot at 10,000 Waves. “There’s the police car,” he said. He parked next to it, and the driver rolled down his window.

“They’re up there,” he said, pointing up. “They took a hot tub, but they’ll have to come back this way. There’s nowhere to go once you’re up top.”

“That’s true,” Stone said. “I’ve been there half a dozen times.”

“Is there a road up there?” Dino asked.

“What, don’t you want to climb five hundred steps?”

“I’m the only person I know who’s lazier than you are,” Dino replied.

“Well, there is a road up there, used for deliveries.” As they watched, a van with the name of a bakery on the side came down that road and turned back toward the main road.

Dino rolled down his window. “One of us ought to follow that truck,” he said. “Who?”

“You can have it,” the cop replied.

“Let’s go,” Dino said to Stone.

They backed out and went back to the main road.

“Left or right?” Dino asked.

“The road left dead-ends at the ski resort at the top of the mountain. The right turn takes us back into Santa Fe.”

“That way,” Dino said.

Stone stepped on it until they caught sight of the van, half a mile ahead of them. Keeping well back, Stone followed the vehicle through the city to a side street on the other side of town, where it pulled into a lot and parked. One man got out.

“What is that place?” Dino asked.

“It’s the bakery,” Stone replied. We followed the wrong vehicle.”

“Well, shit,” Dino said.

Before they could decide what to do, the van started up and backed out of its parking space.

“There’s somebody still inside the van,” Stone said. “I’m following it.”

“Good idea,” Dino said, “since we don’t have another choice.”

The van retraced its steps back to the mountainside, this time driving past 10,000 Waves and on up toward the ski slopes.

“Catch up,” Dino said, “you’re losing them.”

“There’s nowhere for them to go, except to the parking lot at the ski slopes.”

“I’ve seen a couple of driveways,” Dino said.

“Don’t worry. They’re trapped.” He slowed as they approached the entrance to the slopes. A rail across the entrance to the parking lot told them the place was closed.

“Why would they be closed?” Dino asked.

“You see any snow?”

“No, and I don’t see the van, either.” They both got out of the car and walked another ten minutes to where they had a clear view of the whole place.

“Absolutely deserted,” Dino said.

“Let’s go back down the mountain and check out those driveways you saw,” Stone said, and they got back into the car and turned around. Stone checked the rearview mirror. “Did you pee in the road back there?”

“I did not,” Dino said.

“Then there are only two things that could have made the puddle.”

“What are they?”

“Brake fluid or gasoline.” The car was doing forty now, and Stone pressed the brake pedal. Nothing. He shifted into neutral, then tried for reverse; the lever wouldn’t move. “I think it was both gasoline and brake fluid,” he said.

They were doing sixty now, and a very large, very sharp curve was coming up. Dino looked out his window and saw an almost vertical drop into an Aspen forest. “Whatever you do,” he said, “don’t try to stop on this side of the road.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t ask.”

Stone hung on to the wheel for dear life, as if an iron grip would somehow help. “We’re going to have to ditch this car,” he said.

“You mean jump out of it?” Dino looked at the speedometer. “We’re doing ninety now.” He fastened his seat belt and pulled it tight; so did Stone.

“It’s either jump or come to a sudden stop,” he said. “Like against one of those giant boulders.” He looked ahead and saw a car, one going much slower than they. He turned on his flashers and started blowing the horn. The other car was approaching another sharp curve.

“How about against that car?” Dino said. “At least, it’s moving. We can use his brakes.”

“Look at the bumper sticker,” Stone said.

Dino looked and read aloud. “Baby on Board.”