"But Dad has to get back to the clinic…" Jonathan protested.
"No. If he can spare the time to run all over the desert chasing criminals, he can find the time to do some sight-seeing."
Señor Medena's eyes twinkled with humor as he turned to the children. "Everyone get into the helicopter. Your mother has made a decision and we have our orders."
Carmen watched the lights of the helicopter as it headed for Tucson with their children. They would be safe and comfortable with Señor Medena until she returned with Alex.
She mounted her horse and looked at Jose. "First, I'm going down to that town to get tanked up on food and water. Then I'll get some supplies and go find Alex. Can you take me to where you last saw him?"
He nodded. "Yes, but you need some sleep."
She couldn't deny that, but she probably couldn't sleep. "How about you?"
He straightened in the saddle. "I'm not sleepy."
He wouldn't have admitted it if he was. She felt guilty about dragging him into the situation, but she didn't ask him to go and Alex had not instructed him to do so. In fact Alex had no authority to instruct the man to do anything. That was the thing about Alex. He gave orders and people obeyed. Why was that? She should know. She'd been doing it for the last nine years.
She turned her horse toward the lights of town, grabbing the reins of the spare horse. Well, she wasn't going to follow his orders tonight. In any case, he hadn't ordered her to go to Tucson with the children and Señor Medena. Maybe it wasn't the smartest thing for her to go out into the desert after him, but she certainly wasn't going to leave him out there either. At the moment she wasn't concerned about what he thought she should do - not any more than he had been concerned about what she wanted him to do when he lit out after those men. He said he was following them to make sure they didn't go after his family, but was that the truth? Was revenge actually his motive? Was he acting emotionally? Alex didn't do that…at least he hadn't in the past. Was she reacting emotionally? She was angry, and not only with Alex. They had come out here to get some rest and relaxation, not run all over the desert hungry and frightened. Now the tables were turned and they were chasing those men. Frankly, it felt a little rewarding.
After a good supper with Jose at a local Mexican restaurant, she bought some supplies, including appropriate clothing. She bought a new cell phone - one of those cheap ones that minutes could be added to with a card. She added the minutes and checked to make sure it worked. When they got back to the horses, she packed the supplies on the spare horse and they headed back out into the desert.