Chapter 14

Manuel felt he’d talked way too much. Things tended to come pouring out, stuff he normally would not share with anyone. He wasn’t quite sure why except for his new knowledge that he was not the only person in the world who could shape-shift into a bird. He’d seen Alex do it several times now and, even though the other man had not actually admitted it in so many words, Manual felt sure he had not been misled by a trick or an optical illusion. Somehow, that made Alex someone he could talk to. Often he was not even sure if his partner was listening, but he talked on anyway.

The fourth afternoon found them following a scarcely visible track across the desert south of the old mining town of Ajo. This was off the reservation in part of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, some of the starkest and most desolate terrain of the border region. As usual, Alex drove the black SUV, his attention seemingly fixed on the distant horizon as if the vehicle would drive itself.