Winterkill

been wronged, but we just want to be left alone, and we intend to leave others alone. We need this place to rest.”

Joe found himself staring back at Brockius. Oddly, he believed the man.

“It was nice meeting you, Mr. Pickett.” Brockius thrust his hand through the fence again. “I think I’ve talked too much. It’s a bad habit of mine.”

Joe reached out, but felt weak.

“One more question.”

Brockius sighed again. His expression was pained.

“Is a woman named Jeannie Keeley with you? And is she intending to contact the little girl she left in Saddlestring?”

“I understand it’s her daughter,” Brockius said.

“And mine,” Joe said, his voice hard and low. “My wife and I are her foster parents. Jeannie Keeley abandoned April when Jeannie cleared out of Saddlestring five years ago. My wife and I are attempting to adopt her.”

“Oh,” Brockius said. “This is personal, then. And complicated.”

“Not really.”

“Yes, it is.” Brockius looked apologetic. “I hope you understand that I have no control over the Sovereigns. They’re here on their own free will, and can come and go as they please. They have their own business and personal interests. And if one of them is involved in legal action for custody of her daughter, that is no concern of mine or any of the others.”

“Custody?” Joe repeated. His heart sank.

“She’s not in camp right now,” Brockius said, shaking his woolly head. “I’m not sure when she’ll be back. But I’ll tell her you were here.”

Joe thanked Wade Brockius and watched as the big man trudged back toward his trailer.

Joe heard his own heartbeat in his ears. He had been hit with two hard blows within a few minutes. The explanation of who these people were. And the news that Jeannie had come back for April.

Heading back down Bighorn Road, Joe was grateful for the walls of snow on either side of the road, because without them he’d be likely to drive right off it.

Was it really possible that the survivors, criminals, accessories, sympathizers, and victims of several of America’s worst events had grouped together and decided to set up a compound in his mountains? Or that one of them, Jeannie Keeley, was there to take April back?

It was too much, too fast. Then his cell phone rang.

“This is Nate Romanowski,” the voice said. Romanowski spoke with a kind of drawled sarcastic lilt. “I’ve got one phone call and I’m calling you, buddy. Can you meet with me?”

“Why aren’t you calling a lawyer?” Joe asked, stunned.

“Because I’m calling you,” Romanowski said, sounding annoyed. “Because I thought about it for two days and I’m calling you, mister.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“It sure is,” Romanowski agreed. Joe assumed Romanowski was referring to the case against him. “I’ll be waiting for you. I’ll clear my schedule.”

“Clear your . . .”

But Romanowski had hung up.

A few minutes later, his phone rang again.

Joe snatched it up.

“Please hold for Melinda Strickland,” an unfamiliar female voice commanded.

“How did you get my number?” Joe asked. He knew he’d never given it to Strickland.

“Please hold for Melinda Strickland.”

Joe held, anger welling up inside of him. He heard a click as the call was put through.

“Uh, Joe, why is Nate Romanowski calling you?” Strickland’s voice was strained, as if barely under control.

“I’m not exactly sure,” Joe answered. “But how did you know that, and how did you get my cell phone number?”

“I don’t like being kept in the dark about things like this,” she said icily, ignoring his questions.

Joe was confused.

“He just called. Just minutes ago. And why should I report that to you, anyway?”

“Because, Joe Pickett, I am in charge of this investigation. A man was murdered, you know.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. “I need to be kept in the loop. I can’t have this kind of thing happening behind my back.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Joe said, raising his voice. He felt his scalp twitch. “And there’s nothing going on behind your back.”

“He called you!” she shouted. “The man who murdered a federal employee on federal land called you, of all people!”

Joe stared at his cell phone as if it were a hyena. Then he raised it to his ear. She was still shouting.