Emily smiled at the young woman.
'I'm pleased to hear that. Do you work at the library?'
'Yes. You did an amazing amount of research.
You must have spent a lot of time tracking people down.'
'It was a lot of work. I spent a great deal of time trying to locate people who had moved away. I had some luck, too.' Emily hesitated.
'What sort of luck?' Molly asked.
'Oh, it was very serendipitous. Once or twice I heard about the whereabouts of somebody from one of the folks I had contacted.'
'Did that happen with Louise?' Molly asked.
'Yes. Some old Pie Town residents ran into her shortly after they moved from New Mexico to a retirement community in Arizona. They sent me Louise's address.'
'Did you write to Louise?'
'I did. She sent me a short note back saying it would be better if she left the past alone. She asked me not to tell anybody where she was living.'
'I wonder why she felt the need to do that,' Molly said.
'I have no idea. I never saw her again after she moved away and married. Nobody did. That was a very long time ago.'
'If we can find her, it would be a great help,' Molly urged.
'We need to speak to her about her ex husband It is really nothing more than a family matter. Do you have her address?'
'I believe it would be best if you found her on your own.'
'There is some urgency,' Molly countered.
'Audit we can find Louise, she may be able to help her family.'
Emily Wheeler considered the young woman for a long moment before reaching for her address book from the side table.
'I hope I'm doing the right thing.'
'I think you're a dear to trust us,' Molly replied.
'She lives in Green Valley, south of Tucson. It's a retirement community.' Emily Wheeler put on her glasses and slowly read Louise Cox's address so the young man could write it down accurately.
'Thank you for your help,' Molly said.
Molly backed her car, a year-old Mustang hardtop, out of the driveway and headed for Reserve.
'You're going the wrong way,' Jim said.
She braked and pulled to the shoulder of the road.
'I have to be at work in the morning. I have a job, Jim. Remember?'
'Call in sick and go to Green Valley with me,' he proposed.
'I don't have a change of clothes or anything I need.'
'I'll use my credit cards. We can drive straight through, get a room, catch a few hours' sleep, and buy some fresh duds in Tucson.'
'Are you serious?'
'You bet I am. Besides, I may need you to sweet talk Louise Cox the way you did Emily Wheeler.'
'I was pretty good, wasn't I?'
'More than good. You were great.'
'Green Valley it is,' Molly replied, after a momentary pause.
'But it's going to cost you.'
'I certainly hope so.'
A predawn rainstorm, usually a delight to Karen, only served to reinforce her bitchy mood. She hated saddling her father with Elizabeth and Cody and breaking her promise to visit Mom at the hospital, but three phone calls-one from Omar Gatewood, one from a police lieutenant in Silver City, and one from Charlie Perry, asking her to stop by his office-made it necessary. She started with Gatewood. In the sheriff's office, she stood in front of his desk and read Amador Ortiz's sworn statement accusing Kerney of an unprovoked attack. Omar watched her from his chair with a look of satisfaction on his face, then pushed an arrest warrant across the desk.
'I'm not signing it,' Karen said, looking down at the document.
'What's the problem?'
'You went over my head on the murder warrant. I don't appreciate your little bullshit game.'
'I had sufficient probable cause,' he argued, stung by Karen's bluntness.
'Maybe so, but you still went around me.'
Gatewood waved the paperwork at her.
'This is a solid criminal complaint.'
'That's my decision to make. I want to talk to Kerney before I decide.
I want to make absolutely sure the complaint is reliable.'
'Amador has no reason to lie,' Gatewood rebutted.
'It's one man's word against another,' Karen replied, 'and it's my call to 'Whatever you say,' Omar r(^Ued forcing a compliant smile,'
'Don't even think about blind siding me Omar,' Karen said, her eyes locked on his. ^'^^ ^ She left Gatewood, his frozen smile still plastered on his face, and headed down the road to find out what Charlie Perry wanted to see her about.
Omar Gatewood sank against the cushion of his chair, stared at the ceiling, cracked his knuckles, and rubbed the back of his neck. Karen Cox was turning out to be nothing but trouble. He didn't know if she was fucking with him or just acting like a gung-ho, know-it-all rookie who wanted to do everything herself. He did know that there wasn't a damn thing wrong with the arrest affidavit.
He stood up, took his handgun from the desk drawer, and slipped it into the high-rise holster.
Maybe he'd better talk to Amador one more time, just to make sure he really hadn't told Kerney anything.
The phone rang, and he grabbed it.
'What is it?'
'What happened?' a voice asked.
'She wants to talk to Kerney first before she signs the warrant. Don't sweat it-Silver City will hold him on the murder-one charge. He's not going anywhere.'
'See that he doesn't. What does Kerney know?'
'Nothing,' Gatewood replied.
'Are you sure?'
'I'm going to talk to Amador again.'
'If Amador lied to you, get him out of town until this blows over.'
'This is turning into a real pile of shit,' Gatewood hissed into the telephone.
'Talk to Ortiz and call me when you're finished.
We'll meet at Whitewater Creek.'
'What about Kerney?' Gatewood demanded.
'I'll bring your orders with me.'
The line went dead.
Charlie Perry, dressed in a three-piece suit, sat in his office sorting papers and putting stuff he wanted to take with him in a box. It felt damn good to be closing the assignment out, and he looked forward to returning to the Beltway civilization of Washington and a headquarters job. Two years undercover in the boondocks of New Mexico had seemed like living in a nineteenth-century time warp. He was glad to be done with it.
He looked up to find Karen Cox standing in the doorway.
'You wanted to speak to me, Charlie?' she asked, eyeing his suit.
'I do.' He stood up and gestured at an empty chair. When Karen was settled, he showed her his FBI credentials.
'What's this all about?' she demanded, giving Charlie another appraising look.
