“When do I go back to work?”
“Why, tomorrow, sir. I hear we have a few prisoners in the jailhouse as we speak. Let’s meet there at, say, 8 a.m., like old times.”
“Almost,” he replied, digging in his pocket for the Courthouse keys he swore he would never use again.
* * * *
James got the call on the radio from his deputy friend just before supper. “They both are meeting with all the deputies tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.,” he told James.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” James replied, with Jason overhearing the conversation. “Thanks for the heads-up. We will be there also, but I won’t tell them how we knew about it,” James added, calming his old friend’s fears of snitching on his new boss, or bosses.
He radioed David with the news, not wanting him to hear it first at Mark’s follow-up appointment.
“I don’t think it will change anything with regard to the town expansion,” James told him, adding, “only who is running the circus.”
* * * *
James and Jason waited until after dinner to discuss the news with their wives. Both Janice and Lauren admitted it was shocking news, with a litany of unanswered questions.
“Where’s the body? Are you even sure he’s dead?” asked Janice.
“How did Kate just happen to run into the Judge?” asked Lauren before James could answer Janice. “I thought they didn’t like each other.”
“I hear he’s in the lake, drowned. No body was recovered, and I don’t know how the Judge fits into it all—or Kate, for that matter,” said James, answering all questions with one statement.
“Jason and I will go to the meeting tomorrow and maybe take a drive down to the lake after and see if we can find any clues to what happened. It’s a long shot, I know, but it’s worth a few hours of our time.”
* * * *
James and Jason were the first to show up at the jailhouse at 7:15 a.m.
“They will ask, Jason, why we’re here, and I’ll tell them an old friend from town heard about what happened and radioed me about it. I’m sure half the town has heard something by now.”
“Then what?” questioned Jason.
“Then we hear what Judge Lowry’s, and I guess now Kate’s, plans are and see if we can get some info on where they were. Nobody can know, though, if we go check out the lake after. We have a ranch day, and that’s all they need to know.”
“Okay, I get it,” Jason replied. “But do you think it’s some sort of love triangle, like on those Dateline shows we used to watch?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s even more complicated this time,” replied James, “and that’s why I want us to be on the front end of this.”
Judge Lowry showed first, not hesitating to come right up and talk to James.
“Hey there, buddy,” he said, as if nothing had ever happened. “I had one hell of a ride home after leaving your house last week.”
“I heard about that,” James replied. “You gave those old boys quite a chase, I hear.”
“That I did!” he replied. “Cost me a few nights in the clink, but it was worth it. Anyway, I’m back from my fishing trip and ready to get back to work.”
“I heard you left town but hadn’t heard the fishing part,” said James, digging deeper but still in a casual tone.
“Caught a couple of beauties down off Long Canyon…well, I mean all over, really,” he backtracked quickly. “Must have fished around most of the lake. Anyway, I guess you guys are here for the meeting?”
“I don’t know about any meeting. We just heard you were back in town, and something happened to Sheriff Johnson,” said James. “Figured we would come by this morning before ranch work and get the story firsthand. Get just one or two people down the line, and the stories can change completely.”
“Makes sense,” replied the Judge with a sly grin. “I’ll let Kate tell it to you. I’m sure she will be here soon. It’s a darn shame about the Sheriff—just tragic,” he added, as straight-faced as a happy Judge could, walking inside the open jailhouse door.
“I guess someone was here before us,” said Jason, starting to get out of the truck.
“Not yet,” said James. “Let’s wait until everyone gets here.”
Ten minutes later, Kate pulled in, driving her ex-fiancé’s truck with the “Re-elect Sheriff Johnson” on the side spray-painted over in black.
“Well, that didn’t take long,” said Jason, trying hard not to point. “A buck says she’s not too broken up about the whole thing.”
“I can’t take that bet,” said James. “Can you help me get my chair?”
“Oh, sure. Sorry about that. I thought we were waiting for the deputies, unless they are already inside.”
“Either way, let’s get this done,” replied James flatly.
Jason was nervous. Not the I’m-going-to-throw-up nervous that he always had when talking to the Judge and Sheriff Johnson, but nervous, just the same.
“This is an easy meeting,” whispered James, hoping to calm Jason’s nerves. “They are the ones having to explain themselves this time, and Judge Lowry already let it slip where he went fishing, so we just have to listen is all. Ready?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” replied a nervous Jason.
Kate held the front door open for them both.
“I wasn’t expecting you here this morning, Mayor,” she said. “Isn’t
