“Bronco’s lawyer left town,” the sergeant said, sitting at his desk. “Slime bucket named Kyle Garrow. I called Garrow on his cell phone, told him you wanted a meeting with his client. Garrow said he was in California, and wouldn’t be available until tomorrow morning. Personally, I think he’s lying, and was nearby. That’s why I hate cell phones. You never know where the person you’re talking to really is.”

“You think Garrow is stalling,” Valentine said.

O’Sullivan nodded. Pictures of his four kids filled his desk. Like their father, they were fair-skinned and red-haired. “I had him checked out. Garrow’s hardly spent a day of his life in court. Makes his money giving legal advice to crooks before they get arrested. Basically, he tells his clients how to stay out of jail, which in my book, makes him a piece of garbage.”

Valentine had known lawyers that did this, and agreed with O’Sullivan’s assessment of them. He said, “Governor Smoltz has given me unlimited power in my conducting this case. Is it possible for me to meet with Bronco without his lawyer?”

“Anything’s possible, “O’Sullivan said. “But personally, I’d advise against it.”

“Why’s that?”

“It would land you in hot water with the judge presiding over the case.”

“I can do hot water,” Valentine said.

“It will also compromise our case against Bronco for killing Bo Farmer,” O’Sullivan said. If you want my advice, wait until tomorrow.”

There was a window behind O’Sullivan’s head, and Valentine stared at the garish neon which defined Reno’s skyline. He was itching to get in Bronco’s face, and make him sweat; it was one of the great satisfactions of his work. But he didn’t want to ruin the case in the process. He shifted his gaze back to the sergeant.

“What about the girl? Can I talk to her?”

O’Sullivan’s expression turned blank. “Which girl is that?”

“The bride in the scam. Karen Farmer.”

“That’s not going to be very easy either, I’m afraid.”

“Why? Is Garrow also her lawyer?”

“Karen Farmer tried to commit suicide yesterday. Hanged herself with a bed sheet, only the knot came undone. She’s in the psych ward at the Washoe Medical Center under observation.”

“Can she talk?”

O’Sullivan acted offended. “No offense, Tony, but she’s in a bad way. Grilling her could set her over the edge again.”

“Who told you that?”

“Her doctor at the hospital. I talked to him earlier.”

Valentine’s eyes returned to the window. Then, he glanced back at O’Sullivan. “Here’s what I want you to do, Joe. I want you to pick up the phone, and call the hospital. Tell them I’m coming over to talk to Karen Farmer, and don’t accept any ifs, ands or buts from anyone who says I can’t. I’ll make the determination whether she’s stable enough to talk to me. Understand?”

O’Sullivan looked surprised, then mad. Just as quickly, it all vanished, and he put his professional face on. He picked up the phone on his desk, and punched in a number.

Chapter 15

O’Sullivan drove them to the Washoe Medical Center. While Gerry and Bill waited in the lobby, Valentine went upstairs to interview Karen Farmer.

Psych wards in hospitals were depressing places. Valentine’s mother had ended up in one before she died, his father’s years of abuse having finally taken their toll. Walking down the hall to where Karen Farmer was being kept, a little voice inside his head told him to turn around, and go back to the lobby. Let Bill interrogate her, the voice said.

He stopped outside the ward. There was no shame in walking away. He’d learned that from a book by Ernest Hemingway called Death in the Afternoon.It was about bull-fighting, and Hemingway talked about famous matadors who’d run away from bulls they didn’t like the looks of. He started to walk away when the door opened, and a woman in a starched white nurse’s uniform stepped out.

“Mr. Valentine? We’ve been expecting you. Please come in,” she said.

Valentine followed her through the psych ward with his eyes downcast. Out of the corner of the eye, he appraised the room. Most of the patients were strapped down, like his mother had been. A man wearing a maniacal grin hissed at him.

“We put Karen on anti-depression medication this morning, and she appears to be doing better,” the nurse said. “I told her that she was going to have a visitor, but didn’t say who you were. No point in upsetting her.”

“Thanks.”

His voice was barely a whisper and the nurse shot him a concerned look.

“Are you all right, Mr. Valentine?”

“Fine.”

Karen Farmer’s bed was in the corner of the large sterile room, and had a view of the parking lot. A metal chair had been placed beside her bed. There was an Ace bandage around her neck and a contusion below her left cheekbone. Her eyes looked sore from crying.

“Karen,” the nurse said, “your visitor is here.”

Karen Farmer glanced at the nurse, then at Valentine.

“Oh, boy,” she said hoarsely. “Another cop.”

The nurse left, and Valentine sat down, and placed his elbows on his knees. It was a neutral pose, intended to put a suspect at ease. “Want something to drink?”

“A cigarette,” she said.

“I wish.”

“You trying to quit?”

He nodded that he was.

“Me, too. Bad for my health.”

He fished the nicotine gum out of his pocket, and offered her a piece.

“Have a piece. It’s the next best thing.”

Karen mumbled okay. He leaned forward, and fed her a piece of gum. When she opened her mouth, he saw that one of her lower teeth was busted. She chewed the gum and made a face. “Ugh. You’re not trying to poison me, are you?”

“You don’t chew it for the taste. Give it a minute to work.”

“Whatever you say.”

Valentine tried not stare at her. She had soft blond hair and bedroom eyes, the kind of girl boys fought over in grade school. She didn’t have a criminal record, and he guessed her late husband had talked her into stealing the jackpot. That was how it usually happened: The husband talked the wife into joining the gang. It hardly ever happened the other way around.

“I’m not a cop,” he said. “I used to be, but these days I’m a private consultant. I help casinos catch cheaters. I took this case because I want to nail Bronco Marchese.”

Karen stared at him. “You want to nailhim? Like in the movies? Track him down and rub his face in the ground?”

“That’s right.”

Tears rolled down her face and blood rose like a curtain behind her skin. “Well, so do I. Bronco Marchese shot my husband through the heart.” She stifled a sob and brought her head back against her pillow, which was propped against the wall to protect her from hurting herself. She stared at the ceiling like it was a portal that could take her back in time, and everything in her life would be normal again. When she looked back at him, her face had grown hard. “Bo died at ten-fifty eight in the morning. We were married the day before at eleven o’clock. We weren’t married one whole day.”

“I’m —

“Sorry?”

“Yes.”

She shook her head and the tears flew off her face. “I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. We met in highschool. My first date, my first love. He wasn’t perfect, and neither am I. But, we were perfect together. Know what I mean?”

Valentine stared at the tiled floor. He’d met his own wife over a Bunson burner in an eleventh grade highschool chemistry class. It had lasted forty-five years.

“Yes,” he said.

“Bo was my future. We were going to have a couple of kids. We had it all planned out. You understand what I’m saying?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then don’t come in here and tell me how you want to nailBronco Marchese, you piece of shit cop,” she said, spitting her gum into his face.