Nothing but Trouble_ A Kevin Kerney Novel - Michael Mcgarrity [133]
If Kerney had guessed correctly, within days a plane would lock on to the beacon and land at the Sentinel Butte Ranch. He wondered what cargo it would bring.
Back in Playas, Johnny and his rodeo cowboys were sitting in the ball field bleachers, drinking long-neck beers and listening to the country music star rehearse with his band. He was one of those vocalists who strummed a guitar for show and sang in husky, testosterone-laden tones that appealed to the buckle-bunny crowd.
Kerney watched Johnny drain his beer, say something to his companions, and walk to the bandstand where Susan Berman stood with a stop-watch in her hand timing the music. He put his arm around Berman’s waist, grabbed her free hand, and tried to get her to two-step with him. Susan pushed him away, stopped the music, and gestured for him to leave. The rodeo cowboys hooted derisively and slapped their legs. Johnny returned to his pals laughing like a fifteen-year-old who’d just carried off a bold dare.
At dinner under the tent a publicist passed out an announcement about the filming of the benefit concert sequence. Free tickets to the concert had been given to area residents, and in two nights over seven hundred locals would fill the bleachers and the ballpark infield. Filming would start at dusk.
Kerney called Leo Valencia with the news.
“There won’t be a soul at home in the Bootheel,” Leo said.
“Exactly. It’s the perfect time to fly in contraband. What do you have in the works?”
“I just got back from the Sentinel Butte Ranch. We’ll have a team of eight on the stakeout, including you, me, two of my deputies, and four state police officers. Two will be in a chopper, a pilot and a sniper.
“We’ll use four-by-fours and ATVs on the ground. Two teams will be situated east and west, one at the windmill by the gate, the other in Chinaman Hills. You’ll be with me to the south in an arroyo. The chopper will be with us. All equipment and personnel will be under camouflage netting, and we’ll have a waning crescent moon that will add to our concealment.”
“When do we go on-station?” Kerney asked.
“Traveling by convoy could draw too much attention, so I’ll be moving people into position in stages, starting in the afternoon. We’ll be the first on-site, the chopper last. Everybody in place before sundown.”
“Sounds good.”
“Be at my office at two o’clock the day after tomorrow.”
“See you then.”
In the morning Kerney pulled his stint as an extra in a crowd scene of angry citizens protesting the revocation of the rancher’s federal grazing permit. It took Usher three takes to get it right. Before Kerney could leave the set, Susan Berman asked to speak with him privately. She had dark circles under her eyes from too little sleep and seemed weighed down by the thick three-ring binder she clutched in her arms. Being overworked and tired made her no less attractive.
“Normally, I can hold my own with the alley cats in this business,” she said, “and I really don’t want to impose on you, but is there some way you could convince Johnny Jordan to stop hounding me?”
“Tell me what’s been happening.”
Berman sighed. “The man simply won’t take no for an answer, and now it’s at the point where he’s interfering with my work.”
“I saw the little prank he pulled yesterday at the ball field.”
Berman winced and nodded. “It was so childish.”
“Yes, it was. Can’t you bar him from the set?”
“No, he’s an executive producer and has every right to be here.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
Berman touched Kerney’s arm and smiled. “Thank you.”
Kerney went looking for Johnny and learned he was on his way to the Duncan fairgrounds with his cowboy clients for the filming of the rodeo scenes. He arrived back in Playas late that afternoon. Kerney was there to meet him when the vans and trucks carrying the cast and crew rolled in.
With a pleased grin he slapped Kerney on the back and, in a rush of words, said, “You should have been with us, amigo. We got some really great shots in the can. Usher says that once it gets