Dead Wrong

No, Joa

She picked it back up a moment later, however, and called home. “Did anyone ever tell you you’re a very smart man?” she asked Butch when he answered.

“Not recently,” he said.

Hurriedly she explained what George had done. “So it’s a very good thing you didn’t let your mother get her hands on any of those boxes.”

“George was acting fu

“And how are things on the home front?” Joa

“Quiet. Mom and Dad unhitched their Tracker and went out sightseeing this morning. They told me not to plan on cooking di

“Where to?”

“Someplace nice was what I was told, so I’ve made reservations at the restaurant at Rob Roy Links.”

“Sounds good,” Joa

With that she went back to work. She stayed glued to her desk until almost two o’clock dealing with a slew of end-of-the-month reports.

Finally Kristin showed up in her doorway. “I thought you had a doctor’s appointment,” she said, pointing at her watch.

With a dismayed glance at the clock on her office wall, Joa

While sitting in Dr. Tommy Lee’s waiting room, Joa

“Sheriff Brady. Sheriff Brady. Are you all right?”

Embarrassed, Joa

“I’m fine,” she said impatiently. “It’s nothing a good night’s sleep wouldn’t fix.”

“Well, it’s time for you to come in now,” Sugie said. “The doctor’s ready to see you. Come on in and put on a gown.”

With people still staring at her, Joa

“I’m tired,” she said. “I’m tired and cranky and ready to be done carrying this baby. Other than that, I’m fine.”

“I’m sure you are,” Dr. Lee agreed.

His examination was perfunctory. “A few more days,” Dr. Lee said at last. “It won’t be long now.”

That’s easy for you to say, Joa

“You can get dressed now,” the doctor added. “Then we’ll talk-Stuffed back inside the confines of her maternity uniform, Joa

“You seem a little stressed,” he said. “Are you all right?”

“Butch’s parents are here,” she said.

Dr. Lee studied her face. “Is that all?”

She remembered her panicked call to Maria

“Tell you what?”

“If something was wrong with the baby,” Joa

“Of course I would,” he assured her with a smile. “I would have told you long before this. Whatever would have made you think I wouldn’t?”

“I don’t know,” Joa

“We doctors call it third-trimester paranoia,” he said with a smile. “Believe me. That kind of thinking is completely normal.”

Chapter 8

Joa

Joa

“Looks like she started out as an associate and ended up marrying the boss,” Joa

Debbie nodded. “I believe it’s called marrying up.”

“In every sense of the word,” Joa

“At least,” Debbie agreed. “He could be even older than that.” Joa

“Do Jaime and Ernie know about this?” Joa

“I’m glad to know about it, but they’re your partners on this,” Joa

“Right,” Debbie said. “I’ll see if I can locate them.” She left Joa

“Look who I found,” she said. “They were just pulling into the parking lot.”

Ernie was sca

“Maybe she’s both,” Joa

“What do you mean?” Ernie asked.

“First, tell me. What did you find out down in Douglas?”

“Nothing bad,” Jaime admitted. “All the guys at the prison, the ones Brad Evans was working with on a regular basis, thought he was a great guy. For one thing, he evidently learned to speak Spanish-fluent Spanish-while he was in prison. So when he was counseling the guys, he could do it in English or Spanish, which isn’t nearly as common as you’d think. And he’s evidently stayed in touch with a couple of the guys who were local after they were released. They told us that they saw him at AA meetings, in Douglas and in Agua Prieta. But none of them mentioned Brad having a girlfriend. Nobody hinted that he might be gay or anything like that. It’s just that if he had relationships with women, he never told anyone.”

“Did anyone mention a pen-pal situation?” Joa

“Nope.”

“So here we are then,” Joa

“I see where you’re going with this,” Ernie said. “Somehow she gets wind that Brad Evans is still sniffing around. Leslie doesn’t want to rock the boat with her husband, this Markham guy, so she takes Evans out of the picture permanently.”