Land of Entrapment Read Online Free PDF

come down here.” Though she hadn’t brought shit up when we were together toward the end. I sighed.
    “True,” Chris said, cautious. “So—”
    “Yes. I’ll be coming to Albuquerque.” Voicing that sent a little jolt of longing down my back. Going home. That’s what I was doing, essentially.
    “When?”
    I heard Chris’s grin, which triggered one of my own. “I guess...really soon. A couple of days?”
    “Mi mujer favorita vuelve a casa,” Chris said, laughing. “This is some good news, Kase.
    Circumstances notwithstanding. I knew you’d come back.”
    “Your favorite woman?” I teased. “Really? And yeah, I suppose I am coming home in a lot of ways.”
    “Are you getting all mystical on me? Damn. I thought Texas might have baked that out of you by now.”
    “Yep. That’s me. Mystic Chick. I’ll go find my crystals and patchouli now.” I rolled my eyes and stroked Jim’s hide.
    “Careful. Don’t make fun of shit like that. Abuelita always says what you ridicule returns to haunt you.”
    I smiled. “I love your grandma. How is Abuelita, anyway?”
    “She’ll be much better now, after I call her and tell her that her favorite gringita is coming to town.”
    Chris paused, then continued. “I am so excited to see you. It’s been a while, esa.”
    “Don’t get all excited just yet. I don’t know what-all’s involved here and I might not be in town too long.”
    “Oh, of course,” Chris said with mock seriousness.
    “Nuevomexico is in your blood. I knew you’d come back.”
    “Chris, it’s a visit.”
    “And isn’t that how you ended up here in the first place?” she asked innocently. “Just checking out Albuquerque for grad school. Not sure you wanted to be here. Two days later, you’d found a place to live and accepted the department’s offer.”
    I groaned. “All right, all right. But this is serious business and the last thing on my mind is moving back. I still have to finish out this damn post-doc, after all.”
    “Details,” she retorted smugly. Then, “And fuck, I’m about to be really rude because I have to go put in some time con la familia and I’m late for dinner. Call me and tell me when you leave?” She voiced it as a question.
    “Definitely. And say hi to your folks and your bros.”
    “Of course. Do you want to stay with me when you get here?”
    “I’m not sure how that’s going to work out. I’ll probably end up at Megan’s, since the shit I have to look at is there.” I wasn’t looking forward to that, either. Someone I considered a younger sister in a lot of ways, involved with racist crap. It made me kind of queasy.
    “If you need a break from that, just go to my house.”
    “Will do. Thanks, mujer. I’ll call you in a few.”
    “Damn right you will. Buenas noches.”
    “Yep. Catch you later.” I hung up and thought a bit more about Melissa. She’d left me alone, like I asked. Until now. I sighed. “Jim, be glad you’re a horse.” He snorted. I watched my hand moving slowly over Jim’s neck. I had the expertise to help Megan. She might not actually like me—God knows, her sister wasn’t all that thrilled with me—and she might resent me for the rest of her natural-born life if I meddled. But I had knowledge that could help her.
    And not doing so did a disservice to her, the rest of her family, and to me. I thought about the researchers Melissa said she had contacted for advice. If it was true that they politely told her to go away, then why the hell did they ever pursue their fields in the first place? Aren’t those of us who get advanced degrees and have all this excess crap floating around in our heads supposed to use it in and out of the classroom?
    I couldn’t not do this. And no matter what had happened between me and Melissa, ultimately it was irrelevant. It was in the past. Megan was in the now and she probably needed help. I patted Jim one last time and went back to the main house. On the porch, I stood holding my cell