‘Slashing a tyre is a fool’s revenge.’ He pats down his shirt for cigarettes. ‘Kind of thing a weak person does.’

‘What about wrist-breaking? What kind of person does a thing like that?’

The match flares in the darkness of the cab. ‘I didn’t like his manners.’

‘Ah well, that’s all right then.’ I steal a look at him from the passenger seat as the truck grumbles into life, aware that I seem to be developing weirdly conflicting feelings about this man. I don’t trust him, I can’t even say I like him – all my instincts tell me he’s up to no good, yet ... I like what he did in the meeting. I liked it a lot. I had been fiercely conscious of his presence throughout the evening and now that he’s here, in the car, well the truth is, I’m glad of that too.

‘So where are we going?’

‘Temerosa. I’ll take Benjamín’s truck on from there.’

I say nothing, disappointed not to have the opportunity to see where Duval lives, but this is soon superseded by increasing anxiety about his skill behind the wheel. Duval drives like someone who simply doesn’t acknowledge the concept of traffic. He steers a haphazard line through every curve with a sort of lazy confidence, oblivious to the possibility that another vehicle might appear round these blind corners at any given moment.

‘So why did you go to the meeting?’ I ask, my eyes glued to the road ahead.

Pause. ‘Curious.’

‘And what did you think?’

‘They made their point.’

‘The people in the town?’

‘Some of the men in that room have big cattle ranches on the border. They were plagued by Apache raids in the last century and now it’s the Mexicans or the Bureau of Land Management or the government. They’re tired of fighting. I can understand that.’

‘Hogan’s no cattle rancher, he’s a dentist.’

Duval draws on his cigarette. ‘Last year a nine-month-pregnant woman shot dead an immigrant who entered her house. He was starving and unarmed, she was terrified and alone. This is an emotive issue.’

‘So who’s side are you on then?’

‘Nobody’s.’

‘But presumably you have some sympathy with people crossing?’

‘It’s not my concern.’

‘How can it not be? Your entire crew is Mexican.’

‘That’s business.’

‘I’m not really sure I believe that.’

‘Believe what you like. Mexicans are cheaper and work harder than anyone else.’

‘I see. So you’re saying you don’t care what their issues are.’

‘I’m no politician.’ He expels cigarette smoke into the night air.

‘But you live here, you must have an opinion.’