A Dark Shadow's Kill

Anita Perez cursed herself for not putting on her shoes before coming out to find her cigarettes. She had parked her ancient Dodge Caravan on the mostly gravel parking spot near the back door, but the weeds here in the high plains of New Mexico were nothing if not tenacious. Rather than grab the pack of cigarettes and dash back in, she sat on the driver's seat, doing her best to pull a nasty sand burr out of the sole of her left foot.

While she tugged carefully at the burr, she saw the small trees off to the side of the house light up from the headlights of a vehicle. After a few seconds, she could hear the engine as the vehicle approached the front of the house.

"Not good," Anita said to herself. Both she and Xavier Perkins were trespassing. The small rundown house belonged to the estate of a rancher whose family had not yet decided what to do with it.

She didn't move or do anything for a minute or two. Xavier was a commercial truck driver who routinely stopped in Melrose on his travels. She had met him at the local truck stop over a year ago. Since then, one or two times each month, Anita would pick him up there, and they would go somewhere for the night. She liked Xavier. He was nice to her, and after their initial haggling over the price, he had never tried to jilt her.