In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

190 TWENTY-SEVEN herschel gandy was not a big man. He was perhaps an inch taller than Ricky, and slender, with soft features and an unshaven jaw. Both of his eyes, Ricky noticed, were blackened, and his lower lip was swollen. He wore starched jeans, a cowboy-style shirt, alligator-hide boots, and a straw Stetson on his head. He seemed out of place in this sleek, modern conference room. A tall man—middle-aged, blond, in a gray suit—had preceded Gandy into the room, and a younger man in a blue suit followed behind. Peter Wynn rose from his chair and amiably greeted the tall man, who was named Brent Nielsen. Gandy’s lawyer. It appeared that Wynn and Nielsen knew each other. Then Wynn introduced himself to the younger man, who was named Kyle. Probably also a lawyer. Then Wynn introduced Nielsen and Kyle to Ricky and Tomás. Everyone was friendly but cordial. Ricky noticed that nobody introduced Gandy, who kept his distance, standing several feet away from the group. Nielsen offered coffee, which Wynn declined, then everybody sat down—Ricky, Tomás, and Wynn on one side of the table, Gandy and his lawyers on the other. Ricky noticed that Gandy was staring at Tomás. Not just staring, glaring. Tomás was avoiding his gaze. Brent Nielsen said, “I appreciate y’all driving over.” “Not a problem,” Peter Wynn said. “My client wants to get this wrapped up as quickly as possible. I’m sure yours does, too.” They were speaking English. Ricky could keep up, but Tomás wouldn’t be able to understand what was happening. Perhaps that didn’t matter. Nielsen said, “Let me start with something that could have an impact on the proceedings today, if you don’t mind.” “By all means,” Wynn said. “After our meeting this morning, my client and I plan to sit down with the sheriff and make a formal statement about the incident on the ranch. In case you didn’t know, Herschel has a former lifelong friend named Clayton Dupree.” “Yes, I was aware of that,” Wynn said. Was he really? This was the first time Ricky had heard that name. “I say former friend because Herschel has disassociated himself from Dupree . Dupree used to live in a small cabin on the ranch, but I’ve drawn up eviction papers as of this morning. They will be posted on the cabin door this 191 afternoon. I’d serve the papers directly, but my client hasn’t seen Dupree since Saturday.” “What does Dupree have to do with this?” “Bear with me,” Nielsen said. Ricky noticed that Tomás had both hands in his lap. He was forgetting to rest his bandaged left hand on the tabletop. Gandy was still glaring steadily at Tomás. Ricky tried to glare equally hard at Gandy, but Gandy was oblivious. Tomás would meet Gandy’s gaze for a moment, then look away, obviously intimidated. The lawyers didn’t seem to notice any of this. Nielsen continued. “The reason for the eviction, well ... the truth of the matter is, Dupree might have been responsible for your client’s injury.” Ricky was surprised by the admission, and he assumed it would greatly help Tomás’s case. But he couldn’t tell from Wynn, who was pokerfaced. Wynn said, “He fired the shots?” “It looks that way. Last Tuesday evening, Dupree was hunting feral hogs on the ranch. When he came back to the house afterward, he told Herschel that he had fired several warning shots at three trespassers—after giving the required verbal warnings in both English and Spanish. I should also mention that the property is fenced and properly posted on all sides with no trespassing signs. My client was, of course, very concerned about the situation. He asked Dupree if he’d hit anyone, and Dupree said no, absolutely not. Then Herschel told Dupree he could no longer hunt or even carry a weapon on the ranch. If he’d known that anybody had been injured, he most certainly would’ve called it in immediately.” Wynn was taking notes. He said, “Dupree said he warned the men before firing the shots?” “He did, yes.” That’s a lie! Ricky wanted to shout. Tomás would have mentioned that. “And the men did what?” Wynn asked. “They ignored the warnings of an armed man?” “They kept coming forward, yes. Dupree told them to turn around and...

Share