“We’ll never know,” Kerney replied.
“I need to reach out to Renee Gleason in Duncan,” Sara said. “Her son, Vic, worked for Earl Page and went missing over three years ago.”
“What are you going to say to her?” Kerney asked.
“I don’t know. Life isn’t very tidy, is it?”
“I’ll settle for a long stretch of uneventful,” Kerney replied.
“Me, too.” Sara sighed. “Three good men died.”
“Yeah.”
“Not our fault.”
“Still.”
Sara reached for Kerney’s hand. “I know.”
Clayton and his family showed up at the lodge the next morning. Whatever uneasiness there had been in the past between the two families seemed to have evaporated. Wendell, Hannah, and Patrick appeared perfectly comfortable with each other, Grace and Sara chatted like best friends, and Isabel whisked Dean and Barbara off for a private tour of the Mescalero Apache Cultural Center & Museum.
In some ways, Isabel remained a marvel to Kerney. Seeing her always reminded him why he’d fallen in love with her long ago in college. He delighted in her friendship.
Clayton, in good spirits, with his police officer certification intact, had two possible job offers. In the kitchen, he talked to Kerney about them. A tribal conservation law enforcement officer position was vacant, and the Doña Ana County sheriff had approached him about signing on as an investigator.
He was still mulling it over with the family, but Kerney could clearly see his first choice was the rez job. But the reality of a Las Cruces house hours away, a wife with a career, and two kids in college could easily cancel out that option.
“You and Grace will make the right decision,” Kerney predicted. “You always have.”
Clayton shook his head. “I never want to go through what you did.”
“I wouldn’t have made it without you.”
“Not at first.”
Kerney smiled. “We can forget that part.”
“You sure?”
“You’re my son, we’re family, and that’s what really counts.”
“Guzhuguja,” Clayton said in Apache. “Then all is in balance between us.”
Kerney nodded. “I like that notion a lot.”
Late that night when everyone was asleep, Clayton left Isabel’s home and drove to a ceremonial mesa with a clear view of the Tularosa Basin and the San Andres Mountains. Once before, he’d come here to help a fallen comrade move from the Shadow World of life into the Real World beyond. Tonight, he’d do the same for Paul Avery. He placed one large rock to mark north, and a second to mark west, the direction the dead took when beginning their passage. Between the rocks, Clayton buried a photograph of Paul, surrounding it with stones to separate the image from the living world, and covered it with handfuls of dirt. In four days, when Paul was safely in the Real World, he’d return and remove all traces.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
During a time of sudden transition in my writing career, Marcy Posner, of Folio Literary Management, gave me support, guidance, and, most importantly, her friendship, for which I am truly grateful. My editor, Amy Cherry, brought me back home to W. W. Norton, and with her enthusiasm, attention to detail, and considerable skills, made Residue a better book.
How lucky can you get?
OTHER BOOKS BY MICHAEL MCGARRITY
The Kevin Kerney Novels
Tularosa
Mexican Hat
Serpent Gate
Hermit’s Peak
The Judas Judge
Under the Color of Law
The Big Gamble
Everyone Dies
Slow Kill
Nothing but Trouble
Death Song
Dead or Alive
The American West Trilogy
Hard Country
Backlands
The Last Ranch
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 by Michael McGarrity
All rights reserved
First Edition
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Book design by Daniel Lagin
Production manager: Lauren Abbate
JACKET DESIGN BY KAPO NG
JACKET PHOTOGRAPH BY FLAVIO VALLENARI / GETTY IMAGES
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Names: McGarrity, Michael, author.
Title: Residue / Michael McGarrity.
Description: First edition. | New York : W. W. Norton & Company, [2018]
Identifiers: LCCN 2018019194 | ISBN 9780393634358 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Kerney, Kevin (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | Murder—
Investigation—Fiction. | GSAFD: Mystery fiction. | Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3563.C36359 R47 2018 | DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018019194
ISBN 978-0-393-63436-5 (e-book)
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Residue: A Kevin Kerney Novel Page 32
