“We’d never do that,” Reed said defensively.

“He would,” Brenda said, pointing at Joe. “I saw how he railroaded Bull right out of our outfitting business.”

Joe said, “I caught him and Cora Lee with a dead six-by-six elk in the back of his pickup three days before the season opener. How is that railroading?”

Brenda Cates ignored the question, and this time Reed didn’t glare at Joe for talking.

She said, “Do you want to know what I think happened to April? I know you probably don’t want to hear it because you all have your sights set on my Dallas, but I thought you might be interested anyway.”

“What’s that, Brenda?” Reed asked. Joe could tell by the set of the sheriff’s jaw that he was trying hard to remain civil.

Brenda looked around, as if inviting everyone else in the room into her conspiracy theory. She lowered her voice and said, “I think April took up with another man—maybe another cowboy. She has the looks, she could pick anyone she wants and they’d go with her. I think she did it to rub Dallas’s nose in it, hoping he’d want to get back together with her. But she picked the wrong man to make Dallas jealous. Maybe that cowboy figured out what she was up to and lost his temper.

“Either that,” Brenda continued, raising her hand and showing two fingers, “or she was hitchhiking her way back home and she got picked up by the wrong people. It could have been just as simple as that. Didn’t I hear that she didn’t have her purse or ID on her?”

Reed nodded.

“Maybe that’s because the people who beat her, robbed her as well. And they probably left her for dead out there.”

Reed and Dulcie looked skeptical.

Brenda pressed on. “I hope you don’t go at this thing with blinders on. You’ve got to consider other possibilities.”

“We’ll consider them all,” Reed said. “But it just seems more likely she was with someone she knew.”

“It wasn’t Dallas.”

“We get that,” Reed said.

“It could have been anyone,” Brenda said fervently. “It could be someone you’d never suspect. It could’a been those other buckle bunnies she was with. Or it could’a been someone local who picked her up on the highway and offered her a ride to town. I’ve seen some strange people driving around on the highways. Who knows what they’re looking for. Maybe a young, pretty girl wearing cowboy boots?”

Convinced she’d made her point, Brenda said, “There’s another reason why I didn’t want Dallas to come here with us.”

Reed arched his eyebrows and said, “Yes?”

“There’s nothing more vengeful than a woman scorned,” Brenda said. “If she regained consciousness, I wouldn’t put it past her to say Dallas was responsible. That way she could get back at him once and for all.”

At that moment, the room seemed to turn red to Joe. He bit his lower lip with his teeth and looked away so that he wouldn’t go after both Brenda and Eldon.

“You have interesting theories,” Reed said. “And don’t think we don’t appreciate you coming in on your own to talk with us.” His words sounded hollow.

Dulcie said, “I hope you don’t mind if I come out and talk with you again and ask some follow-up questions. Plus, I’d like to meet Dallas. I’ve heard a lot about him.”

Joe said, “Like this isn’t the first girl he’s been around who ended up beaten and dumped.”

Eldon’s face went white while Brenda rotated her bulk in the chair and stabbed a finger toward Joe.

“My Dallas had nothing to do with that Tibbs girl. Nothing!”

She turned back to Reed. “He has no right to say that to us.”

“You’re right,” Reed said, looking witheringly at Joe.

“This is what I mean,” Brenda said, gathering herself onto her feet. “We try to do the right thing and this is what happens.”

Eldon stood in a single motion, but never took his cold, dead eyes off Joe. Joe stared right back.

Dulcie moved quickly and stood between them.

“We’re sorry,” she said to Brenda. “I hope you can understand that Joe is upset right now. If something like that had happened to your daughter . . .”

Brenda nodded. She said, “If you need to talk to us, just make sure to call first. Out at our place, we’re always on the watch for poachers and trespassers. Eldon and Bull are known to shoot first and ask questions later.”

Eldon gestured toward Joe and said, “If you bring him with you, there’ll be trouble.”

“I won’t. And I’ll call first,” Dulcie said, looking down at her notebook. Joe could tell she was angry.

—

AFTER THE CATESES HAD LEFT, Sheriff Reed said to Joe, “That was real smooth.”

Joe shrugged and waited for more. Instead, Reed wheeled over to his window and parted the blinds. His office overlooked the parking lot.

Eldon and Brenda were in the cab of their huge SUV, Eldon behind the wheel. The vehicle was old enough that it still had the name SUBURBAN on it, and not the revamped YUKON XL that Chevrolet had taken when they rechristened the exact same vehicle with a less controversial brand. The man stared blankly ahead while Brenda reamed him out, jabbing him in the arm with the same finger she’d pointed at Joe.

“I’d give my right arm to hear what they’re saying,” Dulcie said.

After five minutes, the truck backed out of the lot and pulled away.

“They’re gone,” Reed said.

“There are so many holes in their story, I don’t know where to start,” Dulcie said. “Is it possible for a man with cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder to drive fifteen hundred miles across the country?”

“It was obvious Brenda wanted Eldon to tell the story,” Reed said. “She coached him and set him loose. But he’s too damned dumb to keep his days or his story straight. I don’t know whether to believe that rattlesnake story or not.”

“They’re lying,” Joe said.

Reed said to Joe, “I know how it looks. But we’ve got to build a box around Dallas. It shouldn’t take too long to establish if and when he was injured and when he got back. There’s obviously a video of his ride, and we should be able to find credit card receipts for fifteen hundred miles’ worth of gas. We’ll see if he’ll consent to a doctor going out there. Plus, we don’t have any of April’s lab results yet or the tech report on the samples taken from where we found her. We might even find Dallas’s DNA on her, which destroys their story.”

Dulcie snapped her notebook closed. She said, “What is it with their attitude toward us? The county is filled with rural people. We don’t look down on anyone.”

“That’s the way they are,” Reed said. “Brenda, especially. She’s got a chip on her shoulder and always has. Something about a land deal her father got screwed out of. I don’t know the details.”

“I don’t care about the details,” Joe said. “Dallas Cates is guilty as hell.”

“But you are not to get any further involved in the investigation,” Dulcie said, pointing her finger at him. “You already made them mad. If this looks like an angry father going after an innocent kid, it blows up the prosecution.”

Joe looked over at Reed. He didn’t need to say it again.

“We’ll nail the bastard,” Reed said. “And maybe we’ll charge Eldon and Brenda with obstruction and being accessories to the crime. And if April dies . . .”

Joe cringed.

Reed said, “Sorry. You know where I was going with that. This is why you need to step aside.”

—

AS JOE AND DULCIE left Reed’s office, she put her hand on his shoulder.

“How is Marybeth holding up?”

“Better than can be expected,” Joe said. “I’m waiting for her to call from Billings.”

“Give her my best.”

“I will.”

“We’ll get him, Joe.”

He looked at her and said, “You better.”

“I wasn’t kidding about you staying out of this,” she said. “If I need to go all the way to the governor, I will.”

He nodded, but he didn’t commit.

“And you shouldn’t get Nate Romanowski involved, either. In fact, I’d suggest you not tell him until we’ve got Dallas behind bars. The last thing we need around here is Nate’s brand of justice.”