Wyatt’s eyes flared, and for a second Joe thought the man would strike out at him.
“Pickett!” McLanahan yelled, “What are you doing over there?”
Joe stood uneasily, searching Wyatt’s upturned, tragic face for a clue to his behavior. “Making sure Wyatt’s okay,” Joe said.
“He’s not,” McLanahan said, and one of the deputies laughed. “Trust me on that one.”
Joe looked at Arlen, and Hank. Both brothers were turned toward Wyatt, but neither said anything. They simply stared at their younger brother as if they were observing an embarrassing stranger.
Joe walked over to Deputy Reed, who was holding a bandanna to his split lip.
“What do you think the deal is with Opal?” Joe asked, out of earshot of the Scarlett brothers.
“Don’t know,” Reed said. “But I do know that old woman’s just too goddamned mean to die.”
WHILE SHERIFF MCLANAHAN interviewed each of the brothers quietly and individually, Joe concluded that he was no longer needed and, by inadvertently bringing Julie, he had done more harm than good.
“I’ve got Julie Scarlett, Arlen’s daughter, in my truck,” Joe told Reed. “I don’t want her to see any more. I think I need to get her home to her mother.” Joe gestured toward Arlen.
“You mean Hank?” Reed asked.
“No,” Joe said. “I mean her dad, Arlen.”
Reed squinted. “Arlen isn’t her dad.”
Joe wasn’t sure what to say. He had dropped Julie off before at the big ranch house where she lived with Arlen, her mother, and Opal. As far as Joe knew, Hank lived alone in a hunting lodge on the other side of the ranch.
“What do you mean?” Joe asked.
Reed shrugged. “When it comes to the Scarletts, nothing is as it seems. Julie and her mother moved out of Hank’s place years ago, but from what I understand, Hank is her dad.”
Joe wondered if Sheridan knew this, if Julie had told her. Or if Reed was mistaken.
“Either way,” Joe said, “I think I should get her home.”
Reed nodded. “If you see Opal, give us a call.”
“I will. Do you really think she’s missing?”
Reed scoffed. “Do you really think those men would be out here beating each other with shovels if she was back home baking cookies? The whole damned county has been scared of the day when Opal passed on and those three would start fighting for the ranch. Now it looks like that day has come.”
As Joe turned toward his truck, he heard McLanahan shout at him. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To the ranch,” Joe said over his shoulder. “It looks like you’ve got things handled here.”
“It’s okay,” Reed told his boss. “He’s got Hank’s little girl with him.”
“I’ll need your statement,” McLanahan said. “It sounds like you were one of the last people to see Opal alive.”
Joe turned, surprised. He had talked to Opal the day before about charging fishermen access fees. One of the brothers must have told McLanahan that.
“When do you need the statement?”
“Tonight.”
Joe thought of Marybeth’s last words to him that morning. She asked him to be home on time because she was cooking dinner and wanted to have the whole family there for a change. With her business thriving, that was a rarity. He had promised he would be home.
“Can it be tomorrow morning?” Joe asked.
The sheriff’s face darkened. “No, it can’t. We’ve got to jump all over this one, and what you’ve got to tell us may help.”
Joe looked up. He saw that Julie’s head was up, her eyes on her uncles and father. He wanted to get her away from there, and quickly.
“Tonight,” McLanahan called after him.
“Tonight,” Joe said, walking away.
He opened the door to his truck and said, “I’m so sorry you saw this, Julie.”
She cried, “Please, just take me home.”
2
ON THE MORNING OPAL SCARLETT VANISHED, A MUD-STREAKED green late-model SUV with Georgia plates pulled off I-80 at exit 214 and into the parking lot of Rip Griffin’s Truck Stop outside Rawlins, Wyoming. The driver left the car running while he climbed out, stretched, and dug through his army duffel in the back seat for a clean shirt. He had been driving all night and all morning, stopping only to fill the tank and buy pork rinds, bottled water, and cashews. The floor of the car was littered with the wrappers.
