bellows, and a great deal of rhythmic hammering. An anvil was required, and a trough of water. But he had never actually touched a horseshoe. He had seen them occasionally, nailed up over doors as a superstition. He knew some cultures nailed them upward, and some downward, all to achieve the same good luck. But that was all he knew about them.
"We'll talk about him later," the woman said. "Other things to talk about first."
Then she remembered her manners and sketched a wave across the table.
"I'm Rusty Greer," she said.
"Like the ballplayer?" Reacher asked.
"I was Rusty Greer before he was born," the woman said. Then she pointed at Bobby. "You already met my boy Robert Greer. Welcome to the Red House Ranch, Mr. Reacher. Maybe we can find you work. If you're willing and honest."
"What did the sheriff want?" Carmen asked for the third time.
Rusty Greer turned and looked straight at her.
"Sloop's lawyer's gone missing," she said.
"What?"
"He was on his way to the federal jail to see Sloop. He never got there. State police found his car abandoned on the road, south of Abilene. Just sitting there empty, miles from anywhere, keys still in it. Situation doesn't look good."
"Al Eugene?"
"How many lawyers you think Sloop had?"
Her tone added: you idiot. The room went totally silent and Carmen went pale and her hand jumped to her mouth, fingers rigid and extended, covering her lips.
"Maybe the car broke down," she said.
"Cops tried it," Rusty said. "It worked just fine."
"So where is he?"
"He's gone missing. I just told you that."
"Have they looked for him?"
"Of course they have. But they can't find him."
Carmen took a deep breath. Then another.
"Does it change anything?" she asked.
"You mean, is Sloop still coming home?"
Carmen nodded weakly, like she was terribly afraid of the answer.
"Don't you worry none," Rusty said. She was smiling. "Sloop will be back here Monday, just like he always was going to be. Al being missing doesn't change a thing. The sheriff made that clear. It was a done deal."
Carmen paused a long moment, with her eyes closed, and her hand on her lips. Then she forced the hand down and forced the lips into a trembling smile.
"Well, good," she said.
"Yes, good," her mother-in-law said.
Carmen nodded, vaguely. Reacher thought she was about to faint.
"What do you suppose happened to him?" she asked.
"How would I know? Some sort of trouble, I expect."
"But who would make trouble for Al?"
Rusty's smile thinned to a sneer.
"Well, take your best guess, dear," she said.
Carmen opened her eyes. "What does that mean?"
"It means, who would want to make trouble for their lawyer?"
"I don't know."
"Well, I do," Rusty said. "Somebody who buys them a big old Mercedes Benz and gets sent to jail anyhow, that's who."
"Well, who did that?"
"Anybody could have. Al Eugene takes anybody for a client. He has no stan-dards. He's halfway to being plain crooked. Maybe all the way crooked, for all I know. Three quarters of his clients are the wrong sort."
Carmen was still pale. "The wrong sort?"
"You know what I mean."
"You mean Mexican? Why don't you just come right out and say it?"
Rusty was still smiling.
"Well, tell me different," she said. "Some Mexican boy gets sent to jail, he doesn't just stand up and accept his punishment like we do. No, he blames his lawyer, and he gets all his brothers and his cousins all riled up about it, and of course he's got plenty of those come up here after him, all illegals, all cholos, all of them in gangs, and now you see exactly how that turns out. Just like it is down there in Mexico itself. You of all people should know what it's like."
"Why should I of all people? I've never even been to Mexico."
Nobody replied to that. Reacher watched her, standing up shaken and proud and alone like a prisoner in the enemy camp. The room was quiet. Just the thump and click of the old air conditioner running somewhere else.
"You got an opinion here, Mr. Reacher?" Rusty Greer asked.
It felt like a left-field question in a job interview. He wished he could think of something smart to say. Some diversion. But it wouldn't help any to start some big clumsy fight and get himself thrown off the property inside the first ten minutes.
"I'm just here to work, ma'am," he said.
"I'd like to know your opinion, all the same."
Just like a job interview. A character reference. Clearly she wanted exactly the right sort of person shoveling horseshit for her.