“Does that mean we’re supposed to pretend that what happened back there didn’t happen?” she demanded huskily. “Or maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I made the whole thing up, and it didn’t happen after all.”
“No,” I told her evenly. “It happened, all right – it happened to both of us.”
“What does it
I wavered between what I wanted to do and what I needed to do. Between right and wrong. Good and evil. Between my mother’s long-ago admonitions and the burning present. I tried to ignore the craving I felt. And the need.
“We’re comrades-in-arms,” I said at last. “We’ve been through a tough three-day war. Being on a battlefield together makes for strong connections. They’re not meaningless, but they don’t necessarily last forever. What happened to us back there isn’t worth risking the family you already have or hurting the people you love. The war is over, Joanna. This old soldier needs to go home now, and so do you.”
I reached out, clasped her hand – the one without the wedding ring – and shook it. “You’re doing a fine job, Sheriff Brady. Best of luck to you. Keep up the good work.”
“Thank you,” she said softly. “I guess.”
I opened the car door and stepped out into brilliant sunlight. I stood on the curb and watched her drive away. She didn’t wave, and she didn’t look back.
TWO HOURS LATER A STILL-SHAKEN Joanna Brady ventured into Castle Rock Gallery, which was bustling with activity. Detective Carbajal had been dispatched to unlock the door and then stand by and observe the proceedings. Bobo Jenkins, however, had drafted Jaime into the work crew. Armed with hammer and nails, the two men worked together, busily fashioning sturdy crates from sheets of plywood and lengths of two-by-fours.
One by one, Serenity Granger and Cornelia Lester removed the framed paintings from the walls, brought them to the construction zone, wrapped the artwork in bubble wrap, and slipped them into newly made crates. As they worked, Cornelia related stories about the people pictured on the various canvases – the absent loved ones whose lives Latisha Wall had so carefully recreated with brush and pigment. Working like that while listening to Cornelia’s stories was a balm that seemed to help all three hurt and bereaved people begin to come to grips with their losses.
Banished to the sidelines and nursing her own hurt, Joanna felt let down and useless. She was relieved when Ernie Carpenter came looking for her.
“Hey, boss,” he said, peering at her face. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she said impatiently. “What’s up?”
“We finally finished scouring the San Pedro for money.”
“How much did you come up with?” she asked.
“Six thousand and some,” he answered.
“There was a lot more than that in Brampton’s backpack,” she told him. “Do you think that’s his pay for making the hit?”
“Seems likely,” Carpenter answered. “The people Jaime and I have talked to who knew Jack Brampton said he was usually dead broke. If it hadn’t been for Dee Canfield putting a roof over his head, the man would have been living on the streets.”
Joanna was struck by a sudden inspiration. “Let’s say he got paid twenty thousand,” she said. “If I’m the guy paying for a hit, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to cough up that kind of money until I was sure the job was done. Latisha Wall died on Wednesday night. Today is only Monday. So who sent Brampton the blood money, and how did it get here?”
“FedEx?” Ernie suggested. “Either that, or UPS.”
But Joanna’s mind was on that pair of pay phones that stood outside the post office – the phones Jack Brampton had used often enough to arouse Harve Dowd’s suspicion.
“The post office has next-day delivery,” she told Ernie. “Do you have any friends who work there?”
“Moe Maxwell retired.”
“Ask him anyway. He may still be able to ask around and find out whether or not any packages came in for Warren Gibson on Friday or Saturday. Tell him it’s an informal inquiry only. If it looks like a yes, we’ll get a warrant.”
An hour later, when Joanna drove into the yard at High Lonesome Ranch, Tigger came racing out to meet her. She felt a tug at her heart to see that Sadie wasn’t with him, but it was reassuring that the younger dog was picking up the pieces and going on. That was what she had to do, too. She had lost something – missed something – even if she wasn’t sure what.
Slanting late-afternoon sunlight glinted off the house’s tin roof. The surrounding trees were only now beginning to change color. Fall was definitely on its way.
Opening the back door, she welcomed the steamy warmth of a kitchen replete with the comforting aroma of baking meat loaf. She found Butch and Jenny in the combination living and dining room. Jenny was sprawled on the floor talking on the telephone while Butch worked at his computer on the dining-room table. Once inside, Tigger raced to Jenny and curled up next to her, letting her use his shoulders as a shaggy, pit-bull/golden retriever pillow.
Joanna started for the bedroom but paused long enough to give Butch a peck on the cheek as she went by.
“How’d it go today?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the screen or his fingers off the keyboard.
“Okay,” she said. “I think we got him.”
“Great,” he said. “Not bad for a girl.”
She gave his shoulder a friendly whack and then continued into the bedroom, where she removed her uniform and locked away her weapons. When she returned to the living room, Jenny was still on the phone, but Butch’s computer was closed. She saw him moving back and forth in the kitchen, carrying dishes from cupboard to table.
He brightened when she came into the kitchen. “So tell me about your day,” he said, handing her three glasses. “I’ve already heard the condensed version. Now give me the real story.”
Half an hour later, Jenny finally put down the phone and came into the kitchen, “Oh, Mom,” she said, “I almost forgot. Somebody called while I was talking to Cassie. He wanted me to give you a message.”
“Who was it?”
“I can’t remember his name now. Ron something. He said to tell you that you were right and there was something – I don’t remember that word, either – in the sugar.”
“Ron Workman,” Joanna said. “And sodium azide.”
“Right,” Jenny said. “It seemed like a funny kind of message. What does it mean?”
“That we got lucky,” her mother replied. “Very, very lucky.”
LATE THAT NIGHT – LONG AFTER DINNER was over and the dishes had been washed and put away – Joanna lay in bed. She had felt a sudden magnetic attraction to J.P. Beaumont. But lying next to the soothing warmth of Butch Dixon’s sleeping body, Joanna finally began to see that instant of connection for what it was and what it was not.
Butch’s presence in her life had blessed Joanna with a kind of calm stability she had never known before, not even with Andy. He offered her the loving creature comforts of warm meals and clean and folded laundry. He listened to her troubles and talked her through moments of self-doubt. He loved Jenny. He loved High Lonesome Ranch. And he loved Joanna.
With a cringe that made her blush in the dark, Joanna thought about that time, a few months earlier, when she had suspected Butch of having renewed an affair with an old flame. Joanna had been quick to jump in with all kinds of wild accusations. Now she herself had come close to starting something with someone who, just a few days earlier, had been a complete stranger. In both instances, nothing untoward had happened, but in Joanna’s case, it had been close – far too close. If J.P. Beaumont had been any less of a man than what he was…
It was time, Joanna decided, to pay attention to the essentials in life – to the things that were worth keeping; worth treasuring. Things people like Bobo Jenkins and Latisha Wall would never have a chance to share.
In the dark, she snuggled closer to Butch. “You awake?” she asked.
“I am now,” he grumbled sleepily. He reached over and pulled her close. “I don’t understand it. How can you
