Nothing but Trouble_ A Kevin Kerney Novel - Michael Mcgarrity [116]
The ingenue, a striking redhead with a thousand-watt smile, did several run-throughs before Usher was satisfied. Kerney couldn’t see the necessity for it and wondered what he was missing. They all seemed pretty much the same to him.
Just as filming started, two Hidalgo sheriff’s units with lights flashing came into view on the ranch road and wheeled to a stop at the cattle guard.
“Cut!” Usher hollered, looking totally pissed.
The ingenue froze on the porch step, and all eyes turned toward the police cruisers. Kerney, who’d stayed within striking distance of Hoover Grayson, stopped him with an armlock as he scrambled out of the truck, and put him facedown on the ground.
“Shit,” Grayson said.
Kerney put his knee down hard on Grayson’s back to pin him. “Don’t move,” he ordered.
“Good work, amigo,” Valencia said as he reached Kerney with his chief deputy at his side. “You’re not over the hill yet.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Kerney pulled Grayson upright. Leo cuffed him, fished out Grayson’s wallet, made the ID, and read him his rights.
“Mind if I stick around and watch for a time?” he asked as his chief deputy led Grayson to his unit.
A red-faced Usher arrived before Kerney could respond. “What’s this about?” he demanded. “What did he do?”
“Residential burglary,” Leo answered. “Two counts.”
“Are you planning to arrest anyone else?” Usher asked sharply.
Over Usher’s shoulder Leo scanned the faces of the cast and crew. “I don’t know. Does somebody else need arresting?” he asked innocently.
Usher stared at Valencia for a long moment. Leo had a round face and a walrus mustache that made him look like Pancho Villa—an asset with both Anglo and Hispanic voters, he’d found. He gave Usher a toothy, election-day smile.
Usher glanced at Kerney, who was trying hard to keep a straight face. “No,” he said as his irritation vanished. “That’s enough reality for one day.”
“Sorry for the inconvenience,” Leo said.
Usher returned to the shoot and the two men stood at the fence by the cattle guard and watched Hollywood magic being made.
“Aside from trying to intercept drug shipments and chase coyotes smuggling migrants across the border, are the feds up to anything else in the Bootheel?” Kerney asked.
“There’s been a big upswing in cigarette smuggling,” Leo replied. “Counterfeit brands out of Asia. They cost two bucks a carton wholesale and get sold for ten times that. The feds had an investigation going for a time in El Paso, but it petered out.”
“Who ran the investigation?”
“Hell if I know,” Leo said. “Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, I’d guess.”
“That’s all you know?”
Valencia gave Kerney a sideways glance. “That’s it. Are you onto something?”
Kerney hitched his boot on a fence railing. “Just trying to stay well informed.”
“That’s a good thing to do.” Leo eyed the production crew as they set up equipment for the next shot. When they finished, Usher reminded everyone how the scene had been blocked out, and then watched it on the monitors as the young actress did a run-through. Just as they were about to start filming, the drone of an airplane overhead interrupted the take. Everybody relaxed and stood around, waiting for the plane to pass by.
“So this is how it’s done,” Leo said.
“It’s not very glamorous, is it?” Kerney replied.
“Maybe if they blew something up, it would be more interesting.”
“I’ll pass along your suggestion.”
Leo laughed, thanked Kerney for his help, and left. After filming ended for the day and everyone returned to Playas, the arrest of Hoover Grayson had people buzzing. For a time Kerney’s popularity soared as he answered questions about the bust. When he finally broke away and went to get Patrick, he found his son playing cheerfully with his new companions. They had dinner with the cast and crew, and much to Kerney’s relief, Patrick’s good mood held throughout the evening. Long after Patrick had gone