"Come on, give me your hand." "I don't think I'm gonna make it, Bobby." "Come on, Ern, the good Lord didn't bring you this far down the road just to let you die of a quart of tequila." "He wants you to hurt a little." "What's Lambasino's birthday?" "8-31-42." "Bingo." "What have we here?" "Dig here up, down, sideways, partner - what'll it be?" "Look at this." "Remember I told you about somebody stealing my buck knife?" "Here it is, son of a bitch." "Lambasino ought to be arrested." "Come on, Ernie, get dressed, man." "You don't want Brook on your ass this early in the week." "Hey, how do my eyes look?" "Like two piss-holes in the snow." "What it comes down to is that for the past two years," "Del Amo has had the piss-poorest record of any United States border patrol sector in the sovereign state of Texas." "Quiet!" "Frankly, gentlemen, the attitude of this division sucks." "It is so bad that I have been required to take steps to ameliorate the situation." "Mr. Lacy has come all the way from Washington DC to demonstrate a system, which he himself has devised." "His invention will prove a great boon to all of us in the accomplishment of our goals." "Somebody get those blinds." "Basically it's a scanning system." "This map-like matrix you're looking at represents an area of 40 square miles." "The input is generated by geo-sensors, small, electronic modules implanted in the Earth at given intervals, and so sensitive it'll pick up coins in a man's pocket." "They haven't got coins in their pockets." "That's why they're trying to cross the border." "That's enough, Wyatt." "Any activity in the neighborhood of the geo-sensors will generate a signal on the screen like this." "Here you can observe an imaginary illegal alien heading from quadrant C-5 to quadrant C-6." "Well, how do you regulate the ovulator?" "You're pushin' it." "The what?" "Well, the ovulator" " I mean, how do you keep it from malfunctioning?" "Send someone up to fix it, asshole." "That's enough." "Wyatt." "As I say... this signal is artificial, so-to-speak." "The actual geo-sensors will be buried throughout your sectors." "You mean we have to bury those things?" "That's right." "They will then transmit a signal to this console whenever an illegal alien enters the area where they're buried." "Make sure you set the scan sensitivity for two feet and up, so we don't apprehend every jackrabbit that runs across the desert." "Remember, gentlemen, these geo-sensors will only detect objects above the two-foot scan level." "I'm sorry, I've seen a jackrabbit out there in sector seven that's big enough to stand flat-footed and fuck a Shetland pony." "Yes, Wyatt." "I'm just curious, sir, as to how these geo-sensors are going to affect us." "There won't be a need for so many agents on patrol." "That means considerable savings for the taxpayer." "Well, what you're trying to say here is that once we go out and bust our asses planting those things, that about two-thirds of us are gonna be out of a job?" "Isn't that right?" "We tried them sons of bitches in 'Nam." "That's right." "It didn't work then." "It ain't gonna work now." "Quiet down." "It's working in other sectors." "Del Amo is next." "Take those blinds up." "Can I just get something straight in my head here?" "No, you can't, Wyatt." "I'd like to ask the man one question, sir, please." "Let me just get it straight that the one-third of us left that you don't fire Wyatt... are going to be sitting in some room watching some machine that's watching some other machine." "I mean, I didn't personally join the border patrol to watch television, sir." "I mean, why didn't anybody ask us about this?" "Shut up!" "How come we weren't informed?" "Shut up, goddamn it!" "Excuse me, sir." "What Ernie's trying to say is we should've been asked." "We didn't sign on with the border patrol here to mess with computers and radar screens." "A lot of us in the room here turned down promotions, because we didn't want desk jobs." "And I think it's important you know what we want, because the way it sounds is we don't have any choice in the matter." "You think I'm going to ask you for a vote?" "This is a bureau decision." "And you're right." "You don't have any choice in the matter." "Come on, man, you know he'd sell us out yesterday to score points with Washington." "Take it easy, Ern." "Don't take everything so damn serious." "Seriously?" "Jesus Christ, Bobby..." "Hey, Lambasino, do me a favor." "Do not fuck with me today?" "I was just funnin', Ernie." "Got any sign?" "Yeah, we spotted some tire tracks out by the Paseo turn-off." "Figured we'd let you boys in the day shift check 'em out." "Colder than witch's titty out there." "You pissed off by something?" "I told you to drop it, goofball." "Who you calling "goofball"?" "You, cowboy." "Your locker looks like a drugstore." "Why don't y'all just back off?" "We skim a little off the top from time to time, just like everybody else." "Yeah, we turn it in, you think Brook's gonna send it on to central office?" "That son of a bitch has furnished his house with stuff we've turned in." "Yeah, it ain't exactly like stealing, Bob." "What about my knife?" "What knife?" "His knife." "That was his knife?" "Well, it was laying around an awful long time, Bob." "You ain't sore, are ya?" "Fuck off." "In the meantime, either clean out your locker or change your birthday." "Be a good old boy, Bob." "What's in the box?" "Ask Brook." "Big surprise." "Unit 12 on the way to motor." "You gonna make it?" "Man, I can't believe we're gonna be dumped for some goddamn computer." "I mean, once we plant them things, what's going to happen to us, Bobby?" "I never seen a computer can track a man 40 miles." "You know, I mean, you're OK." "You got a great education." "You can get another job." "I mean, I got two options:" "Either I lose my job, or I'm going to spend my life..." "Unit two." "You there, Logan?" "In some goddamn basement... looking at blips on some goddamn TV!" "You shut up!" "Logan, are you there?" "Shut the fuck up!" "Shut up!" "Yes, sir, we're just leavin'." "We got a call from the sheriff's office." "There's report of a plane putting down on Alejanza." "Check it out." "Affirmative, unit two clear." "Let's go check out those tire tracks Lambasino found." "Tell me about it, Ern." "You know... sometimes I get the feeling that this shit really doesn't bother you." "I don't like it any better than you." "I got a longer fuse, is all." "You show me a ticket outta here, and I'll take it." "But like my daddy said, if you can't get out of it, get into it." "I thought your daddy said, "If you can't fix it, fuck it."" "He said that, too." " What do you think?" " Beats the shit out of me." "Just tire tracks." "No footprints." "Either they flew away or they're still inside." "Illegals?" "You want me to call in a 2-8, see if it's stolen?" "Brook thinks we're up in Alejanza." "Let's check it out." "No, it's all right." "It's OK." "We're here to help you." "You scared the shit outta us." "I'm awful sorry, ma'am, but, you know, we're just..." "It's about time the couple of you got here." "We could've died out here like this." "It's lucky we came along at all." "You could look at it that way." "Yeah, well, now you're here, now what are you gonna do?" "Sell us tickets to the policemen's ball?" "We're with the border patrol, ma'am." "We don't have any balls." "Howdy." "Hi." "What are y'all doin' out here?" "Well, what's it look like?" "The goddamn car crapped out." "You mind if I... if I take a look at your IDs?" "Well, if you look any harder, your eyes'll wear out." "Look, we're on the level, honest." "I mean, we worked the late shift last night." "We're phone operators over at the telephone company in San Antonio." "And we were trying to take the shortcut to Durbin." "I grew up in Durbin, but... we got lost." "Then the goddamn car..." "Car crapped out." "Yeah, that's what you just said." "Can you fix it?" "I'll see what I can do." "You'll see what you can do?" "Well, you wanna keep 'em or let 'em go?" "Are you kidding?" "What's the problem?" "Well, fan belt's gone." "The fan belt's gone." "And the water pump's shot." "And the water pump's shot." "Well, listen we can get 'em as far as Del Amo, but what are we gonna do about it then?" "I'll slip Jim a fiver at the gas station, make sure they don't get any replacement parts until tomorrow." "Which one you want?" "The mean one." "You're a sick man." "You bet." "You gonna go spin the story?" "No, you're the mechanical genius - go spin 'em the story." "Well we'll call a tow truck to come take this into the gas station, but it probably won't be ready until tomorrow." "So I'll drop you ladies off at a good motel." "Well, anything you can do, we'd appreciate it." "Crap, I'm starved." "You guys got anything to eat?" "Watch it." "Excuse me." "Let me give you a hand." "Come on, Doris." "Del Amo calling units two and three." "Do you copy?" "Logan!" "Wyatt!" "Units two and three, check in, goddamn it." "Logan, Wyatt!" "Will you leave me alone?" "You leave me alone!" "There's 40 other guys out here!" "Why don't you call one of them?" "You'd think you'd want me to get this finished." "I mean, as soon as I finish this," "I'm out of a job!" "Wouldn't that make you happy?" "Wyatt here... moron." "Where the hell are you, unit three?" "Where have you been?" "Sector seven, sir, near the Paseo wash." "Logan there, too?" "Do you copy, Wyatt?" "Say again, sir?" "Is Logan with you?" "Negative." "He headed up toward Alejanza, sir, to check out that plane that was reported by the sheriff's department." "Highway patrol just phoned in a code three from Doscados." "Get your ass over there, and cover it." "Del Amo, unit two, over." "Hold on, unit two." "Yeah, Logan." "Got a position on Wyatt, sir?" "You pick up any sign of that plane?" "Say again?" "Airplane, Logan." "The one Wyatt told me you'd gone to check out." "Yes, sir, right." "Up on the Alejanza mesa." "No question about it." "All right." "Friday you and Wyatt pull the night shift." "You can stake it out." "That's the day after tomorrow, sir." "You know where the plane puts down, don't you?" "Yeah, sure, absolutely." "Where you say you sent Ernie?" "Doscados, got a code three." "That doesn't give us much lead time." "Del Amo calling units two and three." "Do you copy?" "Unit two." "Well, you're not gonna have any more problems." "There's no gas out to the left over there." "All we have to is, once they clear up all the mess over there, fix and knock out the fire." "I figure we're lookin' at about an hour before the street's clear." "Well, if I can be of help, just let me know." "How ya doin'?" "Hey." "What happened?" "The driver of the water tanker said the van run right through the stop sign." "Said he saw him comin'." "He was comin' pretty fast." "He figured he'd stop at the intersection, but he just hit him broadside and bowled the damn thing right over." "Driver of the water tanker's in the hospital, and the van driver's dead." "How many were in the van?" "21, all total." "Eight dead, five bodies been removed, three still in there, 13 various injuries." "Do we know who it belonged to?" "Fellow over there by the Lincoln." "Pedroza." "You understand, Sheriff Wells, that my client is under no obligation whatsoever to answer your questions at this time." "That fact, Mr. Henshaw, is one of the greater sorrows of the state of Texas." "But since this here van is your client's property," "I'm gonna question him anyway." "Look, the van is mine, but if you will check the records, you will see that I reported it stolen from my ranch several days ago." "No doubt the man behind the wheel was the one who stole it." "It is him you should be questioning." "As the Lord would have it, as you damn well know, Mr. Pedroza, the driver of that van is dead." "How unfortunate for justice, señor." "You always drive around with your lawyer?" "That question's irrelevant, sheriff." "And I'd be careful not to intimate anything that you can't prove." "Mr. Pedroza is a respected man in this community." "Mr. Pedroza is a..." "Mr. Pedroza is scum." "That remark is noted, Officer..." "Wyatt, Ernest Wyatt." "Wyatt." "W-y-a-t-t." "Be cautious, my friend." "Don't you ever call me your friend." "You stand here, lying to our faces with that white piece-of-shit lawyer in your pocket, while they pull your people outta here in plastic bags?" "Careful, son." "Now, that van was no more stolen than that school bus was stolen last month." "You pick up wetbacks in Chihuahua and you pack 'em in anything on wheels." "You promise them freedom and you sell them death." "You are a fucking assassin." "You are a fucking butcher!" "Your own people!" "You got a dirty mouth, kid." "Come on." "You got a dirty job." "Come on, come on." "Come on." "You OK?" "Man, I-I've had it." "That scumbag, Pedroza..." "Brook and his little radar boxes..." "I don't know." "Maybe Brook was right." "Maybe we don't have any choice in the matter." "What the hell happened to you?" "We got a choice." "Remember that ticket outta here we were talking about this morning?" "I found it." "It looks like he drove it straight into the wash and probably slammed into the wall over here and the bank caved in on him." "And then there was more rain and more mud." "Covered him up for a while." "The light switch is on." "He was traveling at night." "Is that wiper switch on?" "Yeah." "Gear shift's in third." "I tell ya somethin'." "He was making good time for desert driving at night in the rain." "Open it." "$800,000." "Looks like it came straight from some bank." "Well, what if it did?" "So what?" "I mean, if this guy pulled off some heist, he's gotta be long-forgotten now." "Nah, this stuff's gotta be phony." "Bullshit, we'll keep these, run some check on 'em, but they're good, Ernie." "I can smell it." "What the hell you doin'?" "I'm gonna find out who this guy was." "He's a bag man from the mob who decided to go independent;" "He's a pusher who just paid off for a dope shipment." "No respectable civilian's gonna be driving around the desert with all that cash." "Piece of paper with some phone numbers." "Texas driver's license." ""Michael..." "J. Curtis;" ""1113 Blithe Street, Apartment D," ""San Antonio, Texas;" ""Caucasian, brown hair, brown eyes;" "Issued '62;" "Expires '66."" "You check the plates?" "Yeah, Texas, "M-S star 6-4-7-4," 1963." "I'll have the sheriff's office run a check on it." "Somethin' else in here." "Can you gimme a hand with this?" "Rods, reels, a rifle..." "hunting and fishing shit." "Well, what do you think?" "It's just not right to take it." "What's not right?" "As far as the rest of the world's concerned, this money's gone..." "for 20 years." "Shit, Ernie, an hour ago, you were so hot about the Brooks and Pedrozas, you were ready to walk." "Now we got a ticket outta here, first class, and you're worrying about whether it's right or not?" "It's only money, man." "Come on, I'll tell you what we'll do." "We'll cover this up." "We'll camouflage the jeep." "We'll cover up our tracks and stash these cases at the coffin place." "And we'll check out the money, and if it's OK... then we'll split it in half and get outta here." "I don't know." "I gotta think about it." "You're the only man I know who'd screw up his own wet dream." "I never thought these things would come in handy." "In the right corner." "See, I think we could make magic together." "We're gonna..." "Wait, where you goin'?" "What's your name, darlin'?" "That's a pretty name." "Bobby Joe." "We're goin' from El Paso to San Antonio, about 582 miles on the hottest highway this side of hell." "Old Jim there, he says, "I guess I'll get me a tan."" "This is not..." "You told me you weren't gonna tell that story." "No, I'm gonna tell it." "No, no." "Come on." "Wait a minute, wait a minute." "I got a clean one." "This guy's drivin' along in his car." "And he's just drivin' along, and all of the sudden this cop pulls him over." "And the cop says, "What are you doin'?"" "And the guy says, "What?" "What do you mean, what am I doing?"" "He says, "What's that in the back of your car?"" "And the guy says, "What?" He turns around." "The back of the car is filled with all these little penguins." "He says, "You can't do that." He says, ,"What are they doing there?"" "He says, "They're with me." He says, "You can't have 'em there."" "He says, "I want you to take those penguins directly to the zoo right now."" "The guy says, "What, now?"" "He says, "Yeah." He says, "Right now." "Take them to the zoo."" "Guy says, "OK, all right."" "He drives off." "The next day, the cop's directing traffic." "You know, the car pulls up." "He sees it coming again." "He looks in the car, and he says, "You, pull over!" "Pull over!" "The guy says, "What!"" "He says, "What did I tell you yesterday?"" "He says, "What are you talking about?"" "He says, "I told you about..." "You can't have those things."" "He says, "What things?" He says, "Look in the back."" "He looks in the back." ""I thought I told you to take those penguins to the zoo."" "The guy says, "I did." "We had a ball." "Today we're gonna go to the beach."" "Is it always like this?" "Like what?" "Well, I mean, do you come here a lot?" "You mean you're not having the best time of your life?" "Is this as good as it gets?" "No, sometimes Ernie pukes." "Yeah, Ernie's different." "He's about 15 years younger, for openers." "He still believes in God and country and his job, his duty... the Raiders." "But he's got a lot of integrity." "He's a real straight arrow." "They don't make 'em like that anymore." "He's the best man in the unit." "And you?" "I can sight a rifle pretty good, and I direct traffic if I need to, but I haven't got what Ernie's got." "Which is?" "Which is the brave, young notion that you can still do something about it." "But if you don't believe that, then why are you still with the border patrol?" "I like it." "I like the freedom of it." "I like the fact that Del Amo's so far from anything important that nobody messes with us." "That sector me and Ernie work is so undesirable, nobody messes with us there, either." "They bend rules to keep us happy." "But it's nice just being out there in the desert." "It's beautiful." "And I like the thrill of the chase." "2-0-2 is a DC area code." "The other's probably San Antonio, but they're both disconnected." "No cards, no social security, nothing." "If the guy was a crook, you'd figure he'd have more ID than this even if it was phony, wouldn't he?" "Weird." "Well, anyway, even if somebody stumbled on that jeep, there's no way they could trace that money here to you and me." "Yeah, but we can trace it." "We got his license, San Antonio address." "OK, we'll go to San Antonio tomorrow." "You check out the address." "I'll check out the money." "Wait a minute." "Those two girls work for the phone company, right?" "Well, why don't you ask your girl to go and check out those two numbers for us?" "Why don't you ask Doris?" "Who?" "Doris, the mean one." "No, I couldn't do that." "She's all worn out." "You fuck." "I don't know." "Shit." "You think maybe we oughta tell the sheriff about this?" "Is that what you wanna do?" "This is serious, Bobby." "$800,000 is serious." "Hey, what're ya doin'?" "Can I help you?" "Yeah, maybe you can tell me something about this bill." "I won it in a poker game the other night, and I noticed it said "silver certificate"" "up there on top where it usually says "federal reserve note."" "Thought maybe it was a phony." "Whose backyard did this come from?" "There's nothing phony about a silver certificate as long as it's printed by the US of A." "You don't see 'em anymore, is all." "The government stopped issuing 'em in '62." "Now let's see." "Good background, nice lacing behind the numbers, good paper, "Smith Dylan" signature..." "Yup." "It's good?" "Sure is." "Well, what about this one?" "Federal reserve note, '63, green seal series," ""Dylan Granahan" signature..." "OK, makes it a Dallas bill." "It's as good as they make 'em." "You're sure?" "If I didn't know the difference between a good bill and a bad bill," "I probably wouldn't have lasted long in this business, now, would I?" "Thank you." "I appreciate it." "Come again." "What'd I tell ya?" "Satisfied?" "That stuff's gotta be stolen." "That guy in the jeep probably knocked off a Dallas bank." "So what?" "I swear to God, man, you act like an old woman." ""Well, I don't know." "It might not be right."" "Well, it might not be right." "At least not for me." "Look, I didn't ask you to bring me in on this in the first place." "Is that it?" "It's OK for me then?" "OK, I'll tell you what we'll do." "Let's go back, dig up all the money, and you can turn it in to Brook." "And he might not even punish ya." "Look, I'm willing to take the money." "I am." "That's so big of you, Ernie." "I wanna take it as long as we prove that we got as much right to it as anybody." "Now, look, the guy in there said that they stopped making the silver certificate in 1962." "The federal reserve note was issued in 1963, the same year as the plates on the jeep." "Now, what if we went to the library and we just checked out to see if there was any kind of a robbery or heist pulled off in that year?" "Anyway, I still gotta check out the address on that guy's license." "Well, since you're not gonna find his house, just drop me off at the library." "Pick me up when you're finished." "Any luck?" "A couple $75,000 armed robberies, some mail fraud." "How about you?" "That house doesn't even exist anymore." "Tore everything down years ago to make a parking lot." "So then I checked Motor Vehicles, and their records only go back for ten years." "So e are back at point A." "Well, let's get out of here." "I've had enough of this place for a day." "Can we take the money now?" "You said 24 hours." "We still haven't heard from Ellen yet." "We gotta see if they traced those two phone numbers." "Crap." "The plane." "What plane?" "The air strip I was checking out in Alejanza yesterday." "No, no, that's just a lot of horse shit I told Brook." "No, it ain't." "We're staking it out tomorrow." "Well, who found it?" "I found it." "You told Brook you found it?" "What was I gonna do?" "Tell him I was taking the girls to a motel?" "I told him I found it when I went lookin'." "Tomorrow morning he's gonna wanna know where the son of a bitch is." "There goes our day off." "Come on in." "Sheriff Wells, Agent Logan." "Yeah, met you at Doscados." "Hi." "Ernie Wyatt." "Good to see you again." "You any kin to Matt Logan?" "He's my daddy." "Son of a bitch." "Let me show you something here." "Top row, third from the right." "That's me." "Who's that standing next to me?" "That's my old man." "Yeah." "Y'all sit down." "Yeah, them is Texas Rangers, boy." "Me and your dad and all the rest." "We was the best there was." "They call it the Department of Public Safety now." "What do you say to a shot of sour mash?" "We got... a report about a plane setting down over on Alejanza Mesa." "It's about 30 miles east of here." "Hell, boy, don't you think I know where it is?" "I know this territory better than anybody except God." "And sometimes I wonder about Him." "Here you go." "Thank you." "Yeah." "We've had reports about a plane landing on Alejanza." "Comes in pretty regular." "This old desert rat over there..." ""Amarillo" they call him." "He's seen it." "He calls in to complain." "He says it spooks his mule." "Here's your dad." "God bless his soul." "To better days." "Amarillo?" "Who's askin'?" "This here is Agent Wyatt;" "I'm Agent Logan..." "Border patrol." "Just come up from Sheriff Wells' place." "He says you reported a plane setting down on Alejanza Mesa over there." "So?" "You can put up that old Sharps." "It's the folks in the plane we're interested in." "Have you actually seen the plane set down on the mesa, sir?" "No." "But it lands there regular." "Tuesdays and Fridays." "Well, how do you know it lands on Tuesdays and Fridays if you've never really seen it set down, sir?" "There's a seismic fault;" "Runs across the top of that mesa... running west-by-northwest, cutting it in two." "This side's the brush-covered." "The other side is flat and clear for about 225 yards." "At 5:00 a Cessna 175 comes in 60 knots, just short of stalling speed, throttle cut back, flaps down, rudder working hard into the wind." "How'd I know it was a 175 Cessna?" "How'd I put it all together?" "I pissed away 40 years of my life as an aeronautical engineer for a company called Conveyer, that's how." "Did you ever hear of Conveyer, son?" "Yes, sir." "Thing spooks my mule." "Don't be surprised if we show up here tomorrow afternoon with some boys to stake it out." "Our guess is they're flyin' in dope from down south." "We're much obliged to ya." "You boys better step on it." "Get off the desert, on the blacktop." "Why's that?" "Gonna rain." "Crazy old fart." "I heard that." "What's the problem?" "Nothing adds up..." "No leads on the money, the phone numbers, the license." "I feel like we oughta get outta here, man, right now." "This is a beautiful bust-'em-up, Bobby." "OK, what if we make the bust, and as soon as we done that, we clean out our lockers, pick up the money, and get outta here." "Hey, Bobby." "Hi, Bobby." "Substantial impact on my budget." "Mornin', sir." "Wyatt and I are set to stake out Alejanza." "Logan, Wyatt, I'd like you to meet..." "Inspector Carson, Inspector Hawthorne, Inspector Strunk." "Now, these gentlemen will be handling the plane, Logan." "It'll be their collar." "You and Wyatt will take orders from inspector Carson here." "I want a briefing on that airstrip, Logan." "Why'd you call them?" "This is our bust." "It's not a matter of who gets credit, Logan;" "It's of efficiency." "We do our best work when we interface with our sister agencies." "Besides, Washington likes to get involved in these matters." "And this department owes Washington all the favors it can turn its way." "Don't you agree?" "I've just been demonstrating our new scanner here." "Inspector Carson was very impressed by the transmitters that you installed out in section seven." "Good work, Wyatt." "We're staying at the Highland Tower Motel, room 103." "There's a meeting at 9:30, sharp." "By then, I'll..." "I'll want that briefing, Logan." "You boys want a minute to uniform?" "Yeah." "Yeah, we do." "Let me demonstrate something to you gentlemen here." "So, Brook's men will lead us in two platoons:" "One group from the west to establish a perimeter along this portion of the mesa;" "The second from the east to secure this quadrant here." "Agent Wyatt will lead the east group." "Agent Logan and myself will bring in the group from the west." "Get all this, Wyatt?" "Each of you will be issued walkie-talkies." "We'll operate on the number two band." "Our three vehicles and your jeeps will be in concealment at the bottom of the mesa, here, here, and here." "Where you gonna hide the Ferris wheel, coach?" "You find this a circus, Wyatt?" "What he's saying is, out there in the desert, anything that's man-made or has a regular outline is gonna stick out like a sore thumb especially from the air." "With five vehicles out there, you stand a good chance of blowing' your whole bust." "So what's your MO, Logan?" "Well, you really just need half a dozen men to stake out that runway." "Split 'em up, hit the plane from both sides at the same time as soon as it touches down." "I don't care about the plane." "I want the pickup vehicle." "He'll lead us to a warehouse full of drugs." "That's just one warehouse." "If you nail the plane, you're a step closer to the source." "Or you could let the transaction take place, let the vehicle get away, nail the plane and follow the vehicle to the warehouse, and you have your warehouse full of drugs and the source, if you're lucky." "OK, Logan." "We'll try it your way." "Stuart, all clear." "Logan, Robert E.;" "Born 6-8-41;" "Graduated Westpoint 1963;" "'Nam, green beret hero;" "Three silver stars;" "Recommendation for the medal of honor;" "Had the world by the tail at 24." "And then all of a sudden, poof..." "He ups and quits." "No record of him till '72." "And what's he doin' now?" "Sweatin' his nuts off in the desert, driving a jeep, saying "yes, sir" to assholes like Brook, who five years earlier, would've been polishing his shoes." "What's with you, Logan?" "Why the hell you wasting your life out here in the tules?" "I like the peace and quiet." "Bullshit." "You copped out." "Why?" "You don't actually believe you're doing something worthwhile down here, do you?" "Hell, when Nixon was president they found a wetback working for him in San Clemente." "Fuckin' president had a greaseball cookin' him dinner." "Made all the papers." "Anybody care?" "Hell, no." "I just do my job, Carson." "No, you ran away." "Admit it." "You were afraid you might become a big shot." "No, I was afraid I might get just like you." "You're hiding out here to get away from the pressure." "It's not the pressure, man." "It's the politics." "Come on." "Politics?" "This whole fuckin' nation is politics." "You work for the border patrol, a division of the immigration bureau, which answers to the department of justice, which is directly responsible to the congress of these United States." "Now, you don't think that's political?" "You think you've beaten the political system, because you're hiding out at the bottom of it." "I don't work for the system." "I work for the law." "Christ." "You work for the same law that pays all our salaries, the law of supply and demand." "Think about it, whiz kid." "Your fuckin' job depends on those wetbacks, and if we didn't have 'em, we'd invent 'em." "Otherwise how would your department justify the millions it gets from congress each year?" "It's the American way, pal, supply and demand, and when the supply is lacking, create it." "Shyeah..." "Every morning I get up, I thank God for drugs and murder and subversion, because without them, we'd all be out of a job." "Who are you?" "You're not some fed who's down here for a drug bust." "What are you really doin' here?" "I'm a fixer, Logan." "I fix things." "Yeah?" "What kinda things?" "Whatever needs fixin'." "We got visual contact with a van approaching the top of the mesa." "Copy, Ern, we're all set." "Here he comes." "Get ready to move." "Get ready, Bobby." "I'm goin' in." "Let's go!" "Stop it!" "Stop the plane!" "Jump, Ernie!" "Ernie!" "Goddamn it!" "What the fuck happened." "Why didn't he jump?" "You tipped 'em off!" "You wanted to let 'em get away, you son of a bitch!" "Is that why you're here?" "And you killed Ernie, goddamn you!" "I was shooting at the plane, Logan." "These are my witnesses." "Where are your witnesses, asshole?" "I knew that son of a bitch wasn't here to make a drug bust." "You don't send a fixer in a blue suit all the way down here from Washington to collar a goddamn pusher." "You send him here to protect the source." "There's somebody back there protecting the goddamn money." "Well, screw 'em." "Tomorrow we get the cash and split for Mexico." "What is this?" "It's tea." "Who is it?" "It's us, Ellen and Doris." "Hey." "Hi." "Hi." "We went by where you work, and they said you'd either be here or at the hospital." "You OK?" "Yeah, it's a little cold or something." "I hope it's OK, us just droppin' by like this." "Sure, hey, it's lucky you caught us." "We're gonna be leavin' tomorrow." "They told us we gotta take our vacation now or never." "Want a beer?" "Sure." "Where you goin'?" "Mexico." "Ernie, aren't you gonna offer me a drink?" "Yeah." "Make that two, will you, Bobby." "We traced them two numbers you gave Ellen and left a note where you work." "What?" "Them two numbers..." "We traced 'em, and one of belongs to a guy named Beck from Washington DC." "And the other one used to be the Dallas police department about 20 years ago." "You left that information with someone at headquarters?" "That friend of yours." "We met him in the bar the other night." "What's his name?" "Lambasino?" "Yeah, that's the one." "We gave him the note." "He said he'd give it to you tomorrow." "We would've brought it by here." "We really didn't know if you'd be home." "I tried to call you last night, and when I couldn't get an answer, I got worried, so we went down to headquarters." "Your boss said you were on some kind of mission?" "Sure were folks crammed in where you work." "Lamburgina was real happy for ya." "He said some federal guys found a farmhouse chocked full of cocaine and stuff." "Yeah, while we were there, they even brought in a body." "Well, a skeleton's all he was." "Skeleton?" "Yeah, I never saw so many people upset all at once." "That's when they told us to get out fannies out of there." "Can I use your powder room?" "Yeah, sure." "Hey, I gotta talk to Ernie about somethin'." "I'll be right back." "OK." "We're in deep shit, man." "Nobody knows where those numbers came from." "I wish I could explain this to ya, but I can't." "Somethin's goin' on, and Ernie and I have to get away from here." "Are you in some kinda trouble?" "I can't tell ya anything more." "I don't wanna get ya involved." "Are you really goin' to Mexico?" "Yeah." "Look..." "I wouldn't be a lot of trouble, and I speak a little bit of Spanish." "Hey, you hardly know me." "I know how I feel." "Listen, I like you a lot." "I mean it, but I can't take you with me now." "Will you at least let me know you're OK?" "Yeah." "We want what you took from the jeep." "The jeep in the Merino wash." "You reported it, didn't you?" "What if I did?" "I didn't take anything." "There was nothing there to take." "Who the hell are you?" "Hey, Max, Lambasino leave a note for us?" "It's probably on the board." "No, it's not." "We already checked." "So, what's the story with that skeleton they brought in?" "Who knows?" "Carson's handling it." "Nobody's sayin' nothin'." "Logan, Wyatt." "I'm leaving the unit, boys." "The powers that be have transferred me to administration." "I'll be working in Washington." "Congratulations." "Who's the new CO gonna be, sir?" "Well, Washington promises a decision on that within the month." "In the meantime, Inspector Carson here will be acting as interim chief." "I guess that's the old American way, isn't it, pal?" "You learn fast, Logan." "You seen Lambasino or Roget?" "Nope, must not have checked in yet." ""Probably down at Merino wash watchi" what's goin' on." "What's goin' on down at Merino wash?" "You don't know?" "Shit, go check it out." "It's a sight." "Real easy, guys." "Over to your left." "Now, towards me." "Hold over." "OK." "This is Strom." "She's on a flatbed now." "Nobody's allowed past this point." "Really?" "Orders, sir." "Come on, man." "We're all on the same side here." "Now, I'm Agent Wyatt." "This is Agent Logan." "I can see you're border patrol, but I still can't let you through, sorry." "What is it?" "Some kind of military secret?" "I don't know." "Guess so." "You got any idea what your buddies are lookin' for back there?" "Well, you'll have to ask the men in charge." "They don't look like the kinda guys" "I wanna be askin' a bunch of questions." "Thank you." "Those guys in the suits, they're Carson's men." "Yeah." "Hey, look at this." "A man leading a horse." "Or a mule." "Thought we would've heard about this." "Somebody would've seen it or reported it." "Look at this." "Here and here." "Two men, street shoes." "And this here." "These tracks look familiar?" "Standard 18 by 40s, heavy duty, no offset, probably a jeep." "Lambasino and Roget?" "City vehicle, two-inch offset, front ends out of alignment." "Well, what now?" "Check the entire state for every car that needs a front end job?" "Looks like Lambasino and Roget took off after 'em." "Without reporting this?" "Bobby, I rode all the way here with my radio on." "Nothing." "What is it about that jeep that Carson's got the entire fifth army out there?" "How come the guy that was driving didn't have anything on him but a license?" "Where did he get all that money?" "How come the only guy that reported it is lying there dead?" "Why didn't Lambasino and Roget call this in?" "Where's the city car?" "Looks like it's already come and gone." "Overturned vehicle on Highway 51." "Please assist the state police." "Unit 10, come on in, unit 10." "Unit 12, unit 12 please assist unit 5." "You two found the tracks heading here." "Am I correct?" "It was a city car, front end's out of alignment." "Picked it up at an old desert rat's place, about ten miles from here." "He was killed, and his place had been burned." "Lambasino and Roget had been there." "They followed the city car." "We picked up both sets of tracks and they led us here." "So, that's your story?" "What do you mean "story"?" "You had no idea what they were up to." "Am I right?" "Did you?" "Did I what?" "Did you have any idea what they were up to?" "What who was up to, Logan?" "Del Amo, this is special unit one." "Come in, please." "Hawthorne here." "I copy." "I'm at the scene, and there are no problems." "Yeah, I copy." "We've got an informant's word here that a Mr. Pedroza is sending up a truckload of wetbacks." "Supposed to cross the border in the vicinity of Balancing Rock, and we have a sighting of an unidentified car located somewhere near a place called Soledad Mountain." "Good, that'll give these two something to do." "Well, you heard the man, hotshot." "Get your ass in gear." "You check out that car." "Pedroza's mine." "I'll meet you at Soledad in two hours." "Let's get outta here." "Let's go get the money and split." "No, sir, not while I've got a chance to steam out Pedroza." "To hell with Pedroza and to hell with the car." "Goddamn it, I'm tellin' ya, Ernie." "We should go now." "Don't do it, Bobby." "This is special unit two." "We're at Soledad Mountain." "No sign of Logan." "Del Amo unit two, copy." "Logan, I told you to check out the mountain." "Now, where the hell are you?" "I did." "That's where I am." "Soledad Mountain." "I sent you to Soledad Mountain." "Now, where the hell you been?" "How the hell do you know where the hell I am?" "Just get your ass back here, Logan." "Now." "Where's Ernie?" "Wyatt's been back for over an hour." "He caught Pedroza red-handed." "He's probably home celebrating by now." "He wouldn't do that." "Come on back, Logan." "You're tired." "He said he'd be here." "There's unit one." "Special unit one, this is headquarters." "Target subject sighted 500 feet south by southeast." "Approaching on foot." "We'll transmit as soon as we confirm the kill." "We lost the target." "They got him?" "Logan!" "Logan!" "What the hell's happening?" "Who the hell is that?" "Why?" "Fuck you, pal." "Who were you?" "Who were you?" "Who were you?" "Let's see your hands, please." "Why'd you boys go diggin' where you had no cause to be?" "Well, Lord, look here." "They gave me a license number and said that Curtis would show up afternoon, night of the 22nd." "Get out there and wait for him." "I was to give him his money;" "Give him a fishin' rod case with room for a rifle;" "Direct him to the border." "I done what I was told." "Out of the blue, you boys lay that license number on my deputy, and the nightmare started all over again." "Come on." "You might as well do it here." "I ain't letting' you take me back." "I ain't taking' you back." "I want you to get in this jeep, go south," "Mexico." "Change your name;" "Change your looks." "I'm givin' you this chance, because you're Matt's boy." "If I get in that jeep, I ain't running'." "I'm goin' back and tellin' what I know." "Well, I guess you haven't heard, have ya?" "You're a mad dog killer, son." "You knifed your own partner for that box of money." "Hell, it's been on this radio for over an hour now." "Poke your nose around there, you're gonna get shot on sight." "They'll give 'em a medal for it." "They're sayin'... they're sayin' I killed Ernie?" "They got you, Matt's boy!" "Same as them others." "Do you wanna die?" "Go on back there." "You wanna live?" "You go." "Take the money." "What about you?" "They'll be comin'." "You can bet on that." "I'll wait here for 'em." "Buy you some time." "Whatever happens should've happened years ago." "Go on, son!" "Don't be a martyr." "We already got enough of them." "Go, be different!" "Be the one that got away!" "Yeah." "I'll be back." "You get a chance, you might tell 'em that." "I'll tell 'em."