Joe sighed. Etbauer was clearly a vicious, petty bureaucrat who lived for opportunities like this.
'Department policy states that you can challenge the suspension at the next Game and Fish Commission meeting, which takes place at the end of next month, by submitting a written appeal to the director. You've got three days to journal your area. Your duties will be turned over to an interim warden in an adjacent district who will be assigned on Monday.'
Joe discovered that his mouth was too dry to swallow.
'You're dismissed,' Etbauer said. 'There's not much more I can say right now.'
Joe stood. He knew it would all hit him later, but at the moment he felt both angry and oddly calm.
'At least give the Saddlestring district to Wacey Hedeman,' Joe said. 'He knows it pretty well, and he's a good hand.'
'We'll consider it.' Etbauer said, fingering the name badge Joe had snatched. 'You're dismissed.'
Before Joe opened the door, he turned to Etbauer.
'Have you ever done this before?' Joe asked. 'Suspended an active field warden for this kind of first-time violation?'
Etbauer flushed again and looked away. Joe followed Etbauer's sight line. He was looking at a digital clock on a credenza behind him. It was 4:58 P.M.
'Anybody tell you to do this now?' Joe asked.
'Of course not,' Etbauer replied, still looking at the clock.
'Nobody called you and said, 'Les, I need you to move this Pickett gun thing to the top of the pile'?'
Etbauer wheeled around in his chair. 'Of course not.' He was defensive. 'This conversation is over.'
Joe opened the door. The receptionist who had been standing outside, listening, quickly gathered herself together and escaped down the hallway, her shoes clicking like an old Royal typewriter.
'It was never a conversation,' Joe said to Etbauer. 'A lynching maybe, but not a conversation.'
He slammed the door so hard behind him that he stopped in the hall to make sure he hadn't cracked the glass.
He found an unoccupied, unlocked office and called Marybeth at the Kensinger house. Joe still felt strangely calm, but the need to talk to his wife was urgent. He wanted her thoughts after he told her what had happened. When she answered the telephone, he asked her how she liked the new place.
'Oh, it's nice,' she said, but he could tell from her voice that she was completely enraptured.
'Five bedrooms, four bathrooms. A beautiful deck that overlooks the Twelve Sleep River, a Jacuzzi, a kitchen the size of our house and a dining room the size of a stadium. All of the closets are walk-in and so is the refrigerator. A breakfast bar and three fireplaces, one in the master bedroom. Mom and Lucy just love it. Right now, they're out walking Maxine and the Kensinger dog around the golf course.'
Joe felt better just hearing her voice. After what he'd just been through, he needed to hear it.
'You didn't mention Sheridan,' Joe said. 'What does she think?'
Marybeth paused before she spoke. 'I don't know for sure. She doesn't seem real excited for some reason. She didn't eat any lunch, and she didn't want to go out with Mom. She's just sitting in the living room staring out the window.'
'Is it just the change of scenery?' Joe asked, thinking about how much they had moved Sheridan around from place to place in the last few years. The consistency and routine of the Saddlestring house was something Sheridan obviously enjoyed. Maybe she thought they were moving again.
'I hope that's all it is,' Marybeth said. 'I hope she isn't coming down with something.'
Joe agreed. Then he said it: 'Marybeth, the department has suspended me without pay as of Tuesday because Ote Keeley took my gun. They also suspect me of somehow being involved in the outfitter murders.'
She gasped. 'Oh my God, Joe.'
He said nothing and neither did Marybeth. Finally, he asked if she was still there.
'Joe, what does this mean?'
'Two things, I think,' Joe said, with as much confidence as he could muster. 'The first is that there are some pretty powerful people who want me out of the field. The second is that it looks like you're talking to the newest employee of Inter West Resources.'
'Are you sure?' she asked.
'Joe, is this something you really want to do?' Her concern was genuine, and he loved her for it.
'I don't see a lot of options,' he said. 'I've got a family to support.'
'What about the house?' Marybeth asked. 'We can stay in it through an appeal, if we decide to appeal.'
'Joe ...'
'I've got three days before I'm officially relieved,' Joe interrupted.
'I want to spend those three days following up on a few things I was thinking about on the ride down here. Then I'll let Vern know what the decision is. Is that okay with you?'
'Of course.'
'I'll be home tonight,' Joe said. 'But don't wait up for me.'
'I love you, Joe Pickett,' Marybeth said.
