Chapter 2. One Mule for Marshal Brass
The next morning Jim woke up still inside his dream on the desert. The morning sun was just coming up making the landscape pink, purple and orange. He looked over and saw his horse Ellie with two more animals. A mule and a Strawberry Roan. He looked around and didn't see Juan Diego anywhere so he got up and started looking for him. Down a little from the campsite was a watering hole. He walked down to see if Juan Diego was down there. At the moment he didn't see anyone there. But he saw some clothing on a rock next to him. From last night they were the clothes of Juan Diego. Suddenly from the depths of the watering hole a person came up. Jim ducked behind the rock. On closer inspection as the person rose out of the water a little it wasn't a man at all. But a woman. She came out of the water just enough slinging her hair behind her. Her back was too him. Jim was startled it was a woman. But he watched to see who it was. She had long curly auburn hair that came to the small of her back. Her arms were muscular but not enough for her to loose her femininity. "So he is a she." Said Brass smiling. He looked at the woman she was tall and from the view he had, very built. She had a beautifully round and supple butt.
He watched a little longer and she turned around revealing her face and the rest of her. He looked at her face first of all things. "Oh my God it's Nevada!" Said Brass a bit surprised he would dream of her this early and in the state of undress she was in. It was her. Those unmistakable Topaz eyes and the freckles. The peaches and cream skin. Then his eyes wondered further down to her breasts. But as soon as he got there his cell started ringing and he woke from his dream.
"Damn it just when it was getting good too!" He yelled as he fumbled for his cell on the coffee table.
"Brass." He snorted into the phone. There was no one on the other end of the line. Jim looked at caller ID and didn't recognize the number or the name. "What a great time for a wrong number." He put the phone down.
Jim looked over at the clock over the mantle. "6am." He said to himself. "I'm going back to sleep to see if I can pick up that dream." He laid back down but it was no use. The thought of the dream he had just had kept him awake. "Ok so I don't go back to sleep." He got up and went and began looking for something for breakfast. "Oh I'll just go out." He said to himself. He went and got a shower and put on a t shirt and jeans. He pulled on his Nikes and grabbed his wallet and keys then left the house and got into his car. He drove down to a diner and went in.
Upon getting into the diner he was about to sit down and saw Nevada sitting alone drinking coffee and smoking what looked to be a little cigar. She was wearing a summer dress. A light and airy one with spaghetti straps. He smiled and thought "Thank God for sheer summer dresses." then went over to her table.
"Good Morning Nevada." Said Jim as she turned upon recognition of her name. She smiled.
"Good Morning to you Jim. Please, sit with me." She said sweetly with a smile attached.
"Thanks." Said Jim sitting opposite her at the booth she was sitting in.
"Did you sleep well?" She asked.
"Funny you should mention that……." He began. "I did and yourself?"
"Oh I slept fine. What is so funny me mentioning your sleep?" She asked same sweet smile but with a question mark attached to it.
"I was watching westerns last night and dreamed I was in one." Said Jim.
"How strange. Are you sure this is not the dream right now and you are not in a western for real?" She quipped.
Jim Chuckled. "You must be a Matrix fan."
"I am. So in this dream……..what happened?" Asked Nevada taking a draw on her little cigar.
"First of all is that a cigar?" He asked.
"Yes. Would you like to try it?" She asked. "I am trying to quit smoking all together but those patches do not do anything to help."
"Sure if you don't mind. I quit a while back but I like the taste of one every now and then." He took the cigar from her. Took a draw on it. It was mild with a small kick to it. "That's pretty good where do you get them?" He asked.
"A little cigar shop close to my apartment called Dos Amigos." He handed it back to her. She went into her purse and pulled out one. She handed it to Jim.
"Oh I couldn't." He said.
"You may." She said with a smile. It was the way she said it that got him to take it. Like he knew it wasn't an imposition.
"Thanks." He said as she got her lighter out and handed it to him. He lit it and handed it back to her but not before he looked at it. "Nice lighter."
"It was my father's." She said. From the looks of it, it was gold. It also had an inscription on it in Spanish with a coat of arms on the other side, but the name on it stood out. Juan Diego Cintrone."
"Is that his name? Juan Diego?" Asked Jim.
"Was." She said.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to pry." Said Jim.
"He and my mother have been gone a very long time Jim." Said Nevada.
"Both your parents?" He asked.
"It is just my sister Dallas and I now. That is the Cintrone side. We have an aunt and uncle in Dallas, Texas. I know it is strange my sister's name is Dallas. But my mother's mother was from Dallas, Scotland. I have a small bit of Scot too. Father named me a Spanish name. My mother gave my sister a Celtic one." Said Nevada.
"It doesn't sound strange to me." Said Jim.
"Now please tell me your dream." Said Nevada looking very interested in it.
"Well, it was nothing really. Just what I was watching last night on TV. They had a Clint Eastwood fest. I was actually a marshal." he said.
"That is imaginative. What else?" She asked. Then the waitress came.
"Would you like to order now?" Asked the waitress.
"Yes, three eggs over medium, bacon and toast please. Oh and coffee. What would you like Nevada." He asked.
"Oh no. I pay for my own breakfast." She said.
"Not this time ok? Please?" He asked. He looked at her as if to say it's ok. She hesitated a moment but not long.
"Well, I can not refuse such a gallant Caballero. I will have the same as mi Amigo." She said. The waitress took the order and left for the moment. "Now Amigo please go on."
"Where was I…….oh I was a marshal. The whole gang from the lab and the CSI unit were in it." He said.
"So you put your friends in this dream……..was I there possibly?" She asked shyly looking at him.
Jim cleared his throat. "Well, yes you were. You saved my life actually after a horse threw me."
"How interesting that you would give me that honor. That means you hold me in high regard. I shall try and make myself worthy of it." She said.
"You interpret dreams?" He asked.
"Somewhat. Mother was very good at doing that. She taught me a lot before…..she was killed." Said Nevada.
"Killed?" He asked.
"Long story Jim. Now back to the dream." She said sadly. Then she gave her full attention to him. It was the way she did it like what ever he said mattered very much to her and he had no idea why. They had been cordial but not overly so or at least he hadn't or thought he hadn't.
"What does it mean that I put everyone I know in a dream?" He asked. He knew that talking about her parents would be a sore subject or she would have told him.
"You hold these people in high regard." Said Nevada. "Now as to why I was in there is a mystery."
"Yes it is. But I have to say you pretended to be a man." Said Jim.
"Oh, really? Well, I have done that." She said.
"How could you possibly……..I mean how could you………"
"Pretend to be a man? Easy. With a duster and a hat in the dark you don't know who you are dealing with." She said.
"True. But I would never see you as a man." Said Jim.
"Gracias Jim. I will take that as a compliment.
Breakfast got there about that time saving Jim from explaining what he had seen next. He fully intended on leaving out the watering hole business. Besides the phone had woke him up. He hadn't seen anything really. But enough to wonder if he was right. She was so beautiful sitting there the sun lighting her fine features. Her topaz eyes earnestly upon him making sure he knew she had his full attention.
"Amigo, is there something wrong?" She asked as the waitress left. He had been staring at her not meaning too.
"No, it's just that you look very pretty today. Could you pass me the salt and pepper, please." He asked.
"Gracias on the compliment." She said as she passed the salt and pepper to him.
"You look a bit different also out of that suit and tie. Less of a cop and more like a regular man. Might I add………." She leaned in a little.
"Yes?" He asked.
"You look much better in jeans than a suit. Although the suits are very becoming. You should not hide behind a suit coat." She said.
Jim felt the blush coming but he quickly recovered. "Thanks. I'll remember that."
"I hope so." She winked. The blush finished itself after her wink. He cleared his throat again.
"I am sorry I embarrassed you." She said.
"Oh not really it's just been a long time since a woman has given me the time of day let alone had an intriguing conversation." He confessed.
"Well, Amigo I am sorry for the others that do not see what is before them. Their loss." She said.
"Thanks." Said Jim.
They finished breakfast and he paid the ticket. They walked out to their cars.
"I can't believe we talked for 4 hours." Said Jim at her Mustang.
"I can. You have a lot to say and so do I. There are some things we needed to say to each other." She said.
"Your very perceptive for your age that is." He said.
"And how old do you believe me to be?" She asked smiling at him.
"Ah, well I……….28?" He asked.
"You flatter me. I'm 41 or will be the 28th of September." She said.
Jim was stunned at her age. Here she was gorgeous, looking very much like a woman in her late 20's. "That's amazing actually. I thought you……..that I might……"
"Be too old for me. Oh no, I bet your not much passed 45 yourself." She said.
"I passed that a while back. I'm 51." He said chuckling a little.
"You wear it well mi Amigo." She said.
"Thanks. You do too." Jim was breathing a small sigh of relief at the moment. He was one for looking and not touching especially if the lady was as young as he thought she was.
Jim looked at her for a moment. Then the words came spilling out of his mouth. "Would you like to go out sometime to a movie or show or something?"
"I would enjoy that very much." she said smiling. "If you do not think I am too young for you that is. I see apprehension."
"Oh no. Not anymore. So would you, ah, like to go out this evening?" He asked he didn't know where the courage was coming from but it was there to ask her out.
"I would." She said without hesitation.
"May I call you later and see what you are doing? I have the weekend off." He asked.
"I would love that." She said smiling at him. "My weekend is also free."
"Then I will say about 5pm?" he asked the faintness of a smile creeping on his lips.
"I'll be waiting." She said as she went to open up her car door.
"Allow me." Said Jim as she moved a little to get out of his way to open her door for her.
"I was right you are a caballero." She said.
"What's that?" he asked.
"A gentleman." She said still smiling at him.
"I try." he said and shrugged a little. She got into her car and he closed the door.
"Hasta la wago." She said. "See you later."
"See ya later Nevada." Said Jim. With that she put the key in the ignition and started the car. She smiled at him and he smiled back. She pulled away from the diner parking lot.
"That went well. So much easier than I thought it would." He said as he got into his car.
When Jim got home from his Breakfast date of sorts with Nevada. He turned on the TV and put it back on the western channel. Then he began wondering what he didn't read in her file. Jim went to his computer and turned it on. Then he accessed her file. He read over the parts he already knew. Then he came to her parents. Juan Diego and Molly Bailey-Cintrone. Juan Diego had been the Ambassador from Spain to Great Britain from 1963 until his death in 1978.
Then he read further. Juan Diego and Molly Bailey killed when they went to bargain with kidnappers of their daughters, Nevada Marie 14 and Dallas Antoinette 13 for their release.
"Oh God! Nevada lived though being a hostage?" Asked Jim. "Fourteen years old?" He got on the internet to a English translated Madrid newspaper and started looking though papers that were online. He didn't like what he found either. June 19,1978 Ambassador and wife killed after hostage negotiations failed. Whereabouts of their two daughters unknown but presumed dead.
He read further and found that two million in Cintrone gold was missing. It was suspected that the kidnappers who at that point were unknown had killed Cintrone and his wife and the girls and took the money.
"But she's not dead." Said Jim as he stared at the pictures of her family and herself. "I shouldn't be doing this. It's not my business. She will tell me when she is ready." He said to himself. But his cop intuition kicked in and he read further on the page that a Captain Fernando Escobar Estrada was missing from the Madrid Police force. He had been tracking the Cintrone case and the day the Cintrone's died he had come up missing. He looked at the words and began to piece what he believed to be the truth together.
"Captain Estrada was the instigator and the hostage taker I bet." Said Jim as he finally made himself close down the files. "Since the girls were missing they had no way of knowing who it was. I wonder if she and her sister were…….raped?" He asked himself. "I sure hope not. That I would have to get into myself with out her permission." He went out to the sofa and started watching what was on. He had a little time to nap and see if that dream came back into play. He set his watch for 4:30pm so that he would be awake when he called her. He wasn't going to hesitate not too. She said she would be waiting. He knew she wasn't a woman to be kept waiting. Why she wanted him for at least a friend he had no idea. But one thing for sure was "She did." He thought to himself as his eyes got heavy and he drifted back to sleep. His thoughts were on Nevada and what he had found out about her. Picking up the dream that he had had the night before.
She had just turned around. His eyes wondered down to her breasts. From the look of them they were not implants he thought. By then he was loosing his heart but also his footing. As she got out of the water the sand he was standing on gave way and he tumbled down at her feet.
"Oh Deios Mio!" She yelped. She jumped behind the rock opposite her clothes.
"Ah, sorry about this." Said Jim still on the ground looking up at her.
Then she began yelling in Spanish about him scaring her to death and he should be ashamed watching her take a bath. Then he realized she had thrown in a few choice curse words.
"Now please Miss. I don't mean you any harm. I came looking for a man named Juan Diego. But from the looks of those clothes over there. You're the one that is going to have to explain how you changed sexes so fast." Said Brass.
"Culo, give me my clothes!" She demanded calling him an ass hole. He got up from the desert floor.
"I don't think so unless you explain what is going on." He said crossing his arms. "I have been known to be the biggest ass hole this side of the Mississippi. So don't push me and be demanding things when you haven't got a leg to stand on or as this little scenario is playing out, clothes on your back or within reach for that matter."
"I save your life and I see how thankful you are Marshal." She snorted.
"Why didn't you just tell me you were a woman?" Asked Brass.
"Because…………" Her eyes were taking on fear at the moment. Something Jim hadn't meant to happen. He relented a little. He got a softer tone in his voice.
"Here." Said Jim handing her the clothes on the other rock. "I don't like the look in your eyes after I said that. I'm sorry."
"You should be." Said Nevada angrily. She was still cursing him in Spanish.
"Hey, listen quit the cursing. I know it's cursing there is no need for that." Said Jim. "You were afraid to tell me you're a woman. Am I right?"
"Si." She said.
"I take that as a yes. I don't know much Spanish but what I do know you have been ranting at me for the past few minutes." Said Jim. She got dressed and came out of the bushes. Her eyes were angry but still held fear.
"I did not expect you to follow me here." Said Nevada.
"When I woke up I was alone. I went looking for Juan Diego the man that fed and took care of me last night." Said Jim.
"Juan Diego Cintrone was my father. I took his name for a purpose." Said Nevada. "I am Nevada Cintrone."
"That's better. Now that I have guessed the reason you didn't tell me you were a woman I also have to ask if you are bandit." Said Jim.
With that she started running back to camp.
"I'll take that as a yes too." Said Jim to himself taking off after her.
When he finally managed to catch up with her. They were back at camp. He caught her by the arm and she started fighting him. It was going to be hard to get a hold on her. She was strong and moved quickly. He wrestled her to the ground finally having to get her on her stomach. He had his boot on her hand against that supple butt.
"You're a wild cat. I'll give you that. Now, that I have you where I want you, tell me the truth. The truth is going to be what makes me turn you loose from the position you are in. I know you have to be the one that killed Isley. As to why you had too…….I want to hear your side on things. Stop struggling or I'm going to have to tie you up!" Said Jim.
"All right let me loose and I will tell you the whole thing." Said Nevada.
"No running away, no bad language and no lying." He said bending down and getting her wrist. He pulled her up.
"Marshal, I had business dealings with Isley. He was the one that got me the guns to take over the boarder. But money is not what he wanted as payment for the guns." Said Nevada sheepishly.
"You mean he……that he wanted favors for the guns?" Asked Brass.
"Yes. Sadly I said no and he protested." said Nevada.
"But how were you able to kill him?" Asked Brass.
"While he was busy trying to rape me. I managed to get my stiletto out and I stabbed him." She said shame had taken the place of defiance in her eyes.
Jim looked at the beautiful woman in front of him. The look of shame mixed with fear and anger told him she was telling the truth. He had seen it too many times in the past not to recognize it. He let her go.
"So…….it was self defense. I know you are telling me the truth. I've seen this before in so many others over the years. I recognize it." Said Jim as he let her go.
"You are the first person to ask me my side of things Marshal. For that I thank you. I am sorry that I gave you so much trouble but you were watching me bathe. I did not know what to believe." she said.
"Well, unfortunately I'm a curious person. When I got there I suppose curiosity overwhelmed me and I stayed to find out. For that I'm sorry. I not only interrupted your peacefulness but your privacy. However……..you are a beautiful woman. I do want to state that. I'm sure men have told you that over the years." Said Jim. "I ask your forgiveness for the intrusion."
"Yes but not in such a positive way. You are forgiven Marshal." Said Nevada calming down a bit from all the activity earlier.
"Good now that we are friends………."
"I would hardly call us that Marshal. It seems the old story. I have what you want. You have what I want." She said. She crossed her arms. "Plus you have knowledge of my shame and other things. You have the advantage here."
"Look Miss Cintrone……I'm not going to arrest you. I could. I could tie you up and put you on your horse and haul you back to Red Rock but I'm not. However; you are going to have to come and give your statement for the judge. You did kill a federal officer on duty." He said.
"I killed a dog, Marshal. He was not a man, I assure you." Said Nevada her topaz eyes becoming almost red as the shame and fear turned to anger. Jim looked at her and stood back a little. He was becoming a little unsure he had done the right thing by letting her go.
"I take it there is a warrant out for my arrest." Said Nevada.
"There is and for your……..sibling also." he said.
"I see. So you are in a rock with a hard place." She said. Jim chuckled.
"You mean between a rock and a hard place." He said.
"Si." She said. "My English is good just sometimes the sayings do not translate well."
"Maybe we should sit and have some coffee and eat something. It's what about 10 miles back. I have no idea where the men I was riding with went off too." He said.
"Two men, one black the other white and kind of…….how you say…..squirrelly?" She asked.
"Yes. That's Gil and Warrick." He said.
"Well, I had no idea if they were friend or foe last night. I hid you from them. They passed this way a little before you woke up." She said.
"That's great they are going to think I'm dead and you killed me." He said. "Actually the people of Red Rock are kind of grateful you killed Isley."
"They should be. He was like I said a dog." She spat after she said dog and ground her heel into the spit. It was an insult to Isley and he knew it.
"If I had any sense at all I would deputize you." Said Jim.
"If you had any sense you would let sleeping or in this case dead dogs lie." Said Nevada.
"I'm sorry but I can't. I promise you nothing will happen to you, you have my word on that." said Jim.
"Well, all right but I am not so sure about a man that would watch a woman bathe without her knowledge." She said still angry about that situation.
"I apologized so let it be………ok?" He asked. "I really didn't mean to watch I'm not in the habit of that."
Nevada looked at Jim and decided he was telling the truth. A man like him never engages he is harmless." She said to herself. "Well at least to me he is."
They ate some breakfast and got their gear packed up. Jim reluctantly looked at Ellie. Still defiant with the look of "If you get on me you wont stay long."
"I see you have come to loggerheads with your horse. I still wish to buy her." Said Nevada.
"Oh I will most defiantly sell her to you. Thing is how are we to get back with me not riding her?" He asked.
"Guillermo is gentle." Said Nevada of her mule. "I can put the packs on Ellie and persuade her to carry them if you wish to ride him."
Jim turned around tipped his hat back and scratched his head a little. "The Mule." He said.
"Yes, Guillermo is very tame and used to people on his back. Ellie is what they call green broken. She will not mind unless someone works with her. Who in the world would sell you such a horse?" She asked.
"Me ride a mule back to town? Are you nuts?" He asked.
Nevada started to giggle but saw the look on Jim's face. He had twisted it into almost a pretzel. He didn't like this idea at all. But it was either that or walk. He took down the pack from Guillermo and put his saddle on him.
"Nevada, I'm wondering if I should either thank you or spank you at that moment." He said.
"Humm, a thank you would do fine but if you insist on the other you will have to catch me for that." She said.
"Are you deliberately trying to embarrass me?" He asked.
"Oh no Marshal. Now why would I do such a thing as that?" She asked grimacing back a smile and giggle.
"Payback is a real mother." He said shaking his head looking at the mule.
"It can be. However; I did not plan this. This was providence." She said. "I am a big believer in it."
"Humm." He grumbled getting on the mule. The mule didn't buck or bray he just allowed Jim to get on and get comfortable. "Well, at least you were right about the mule."
"Trust me Guillermo is a real good animal." She said getting on her Strawberry Roan.
"Does she have a name?" he asked.
"Selma." Said Nevada.
"I guess I'm going to have another name too. You threw a few choice one's at me before." He said.
"Now, now Marshal, Let us forget the nasty business of earlier. Since you wish to help me I see no use in such negative behavior. You listened to my side of things. Something no one has done in this matter. Something that no one has done in a long time for me. I thank you." She said. "By the way, you and Guillermo look very good together." She said bringing her wit out a little. She was trying to embarrass him for the bathing incident but she figured he would learn from it.
Jim just looked at her with his toughest cop look.
"Oh you are a mean Hombre are you not?" She started to giggle again.
"I can be. I think I'm going to do both. Thank you and spank you. When is going to be up to me on the spanking." He said as they started riding toward the town.
"You had better be careful teasing a woman with such things. Who knows if I might just enjoy that a little." She said.
Jim rolled his eyes and shook his head. Then he changed the subject. "I'm taking you in to keep you breathing Miss Cintrone." He said truthfully yet with some frustration.
"Your taking me in to what?" She asked.
"There is a bounty out on your head. Dead or Alive. I would rather it be alive and I am sure you agree with that." He said.
"For the dog I killed?" She asked.
"For the Marshal you killed. However; since he was trying to take your innocents…….." Jim had tried to make her into the virgin Nevada Cintrone. That of which she wasn't actually.
"Innocents?" She broke out into a laugh.
"Well, at least I thought………"
"Think what you wish Marshal." She said. "I see that your ribs are better must have been just bumped a bit since you ran so fast after me." She stated.
"Yes it was just a bump. I'm fine now and able bodied so don't think……."
"Oh I would never think." She interrupted him.
"That's good." Said Jim as they rode back toward town. On the way they met up with Grissom and Warrick who upon seeing him on the mule broke into laughter.
"So I see you found someone." Said Grissom.
"Yes and it was who we were looking for. But she isn't who we thought she was." Said Jim.
"I like your ride." Said Warrick. "Very…….you Marshal."
"Yeah, yeah. If you think I'm going to get on that crazy horse again and your nuts. Nevada was kind enough to offer Guillermo here. Actually we kind of like each other don't we pal?" he asked patting the mule. No real answer there. Guillermo wasn't the smartest of mules but he was one of the most stubborn. When he decided to stop in the middle of the road and Jim couldn't get him to move Nevada cooed at him and he started walking again.
"Guillermo, come on mi amore. Let us go and get some dinner." She cooed heavily with the other men there.
Warrick whispered to Grissom. "If that was aimed at me I would do anything the lady wanted me too."
"I'm in agreement with that Warrick." Said Grissom. "Where did he find this woman?"
"Well, who knows. But he sure looks dandy riding that mule. Reminds me of Yosemite Sam." Chuckled Warrick. Jim looked behind him to Warrick's chuckles.
"No, more of New Jersey Jim. The fastest, meanest mule rider in the west." Grissom quipped.
"I heard that." Snorted Brass.
Nevada clicked her tongue at Guillermo to continue. "Mi Amore dinner is waiting." She said.
"If she says that one more time………." Said Jim under his breath.
Nevada took the reigns from Jim about that time. "I apologize, Guillermo is used to being lead." Jim narrowed his eyes at her but she kept leading the mule with Jim on his back.
"Boy she has him hen pecked already." Said Grissom. "However; with a woman like that it's not going to last long. She will eat him and swallow him."
"Oh you got that right." Said Warrick.
About that time the buzzer alarm on his watch went off. He woke up happily to do so since he was being lead into town by Nevada him riding her mule.
"I hope I don't have that dream again. Nevada is nothing like the one in my dream." He said out loud to himself shaking off the nap. "Time to call the real Nevada and see what she is doing."
Jim got his cell phone and hit her saved number in it.
"Cintrone." Came the lovely voice.
"Hi Nevada." He said.
"Hello Jim." She said almost like she had been asleep too.
"Were you asleep?" He asked.
"Afternoon siesta." She said.
"I see. I had one of those too. Are you free this evening to go to the Mirage for their show?" He asked.
"Oh yes I am. I have been wanting to see it. They say it is the best they have ever done." Said Nevada.
"Ok then, say 7 pm. The show starts at 9pm that way we can have dinner if you would like." He said.
"That would be lovely Jim." She said. "Should I dress up?"
"If you want too." Said Jim.
"Then I shall. I guess you will be hiding behind a suit coat tonight." She said.
"Not all night." He chuckled.
"That is good." She said giggling a little.
"I'll pick you up. But I'm going to need the address." He said.
She rattled off the address of her apartment.
"Ok see you at 7 then." Said Jim.
"I am looking forward to it Jim." She said.
"Bye." said Jim.
"Adios Amigo." Said Nevada. They hung up the cell phones and started getting ready for the night.