Dead Wrong

“Who left? You’re not making any sense.”

“My parents. Overnight, they folded up their awning and took off.”

“For where?”

“Home. For Arkansas. They left a note on the kitchen table. Here it is.”

Taking the note, Joa

“Worn out their welcome? How can she say that? We all bent over backwards.”

“And walked on eggshells,” Butch added. “But that’s the way she is.”

Joa

“I guess,” Butch said. “I suppose that’s what started it, but now that she and Dad aren’t speaking, they could go on like that indefinitely. Believe me, we’re better off with them giving each other the silent treatment as far away from here as possible. I had a bellyful of that nonsense growing up, of passing messages back and forth between them for days and weeks at a time. I sure as hell don’t need it now. Actually, though, this is a real stroke of luck for Dad. Mom’s an inveterate backseat driver. With her not speaking to him, it’ll probably be the most enjoyable crosscountry drive he’s made in years.”

Joa

Butch shrugged. “They’re used to it,” he said. “They’ve been doing it for years-for as long as I can remember. Now come on. Breakfast is almost ready. I’m making omelets to celebrate. And with them gone, you don’t have to rush things with the baby anymore. He can arrive whenever he wants.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” Joa

Butch heaved a sigh, then he nodded. “Yes, I did,” he said.

“Was that just a figure of speech, or…”

“Mom opened the envelope,” he said. “The one on the refrigerator with the ultrasound results in it. I didn’t know what she’d done until she asked me what we’re going to name him. I wasn’t going to tell you, but I let it slip. Sorry.”

Joa

“Joey,” Butch said, “I didn’t let her do anything. I told you she’s a snoop. I should have realized she couldn’t leave well enough alone. I should have locked the envelope away in the office along with everything else. I just didn’t think about it. And when I found out what she’d done, I climbed all over her about it. I’m sure that’s the real reason they left. I doubt Junior Dowdle’s comment had a thing to do with it.”

Just then Je

“They went home,” Butch said.

“Home?” Je

“It’s a long story,” Butch said.

He looked so disheartened that Joa

“It doesn’t matter why they left,” Joa

“Little brother?” Je

“Yes,” Joa

Chapter 13

Joa

And, without much fuss and a minimum of discussion, the three of them had settled on an acceptable boy’s name: De

When Joa

And Butch was thrilled as well. As he had said at breakfast, he had been worried about living in a family where girls outnumbered boys three to one. And Eleanor, regardless of her likely disapproval of the baby’s name, had been lobbying for a boy all along. So she would be thrilled as well.

Frank was already on his way to the board of supervisors meeting. With Debbie and Jaime headed back to Tucson, the morning briefing had been shifted to later in the day. That left Joa

“It’s going to mean more responsibility,” she told Kristin.

“Good,” Kristin said. And that was that.

Late in the morning, Joa

“Do you still have that evidence box we brought down from the old courthouse the other day?” she asked.

“Lisa Evans?” Buddy answered. “Sure do. I was go

“Thanks,” she said. “I’d appreciate it.”

Buddy limped into her office a few minutes later, lugging the box. Buddy had started out as a deputy, but a badly broken leg from a rodeo bull-riding mishap had left him unfit for patrol duty. In lieu of disability, he had taken over as the department’s chief evidence clerk.

“This was long before my time,” he said, setting it on Joa

“Before mine, too,” Joa

“Must’ve done a good job of it. I was curious, so I read through the case file. The prosecuting attorney got a conviction even though they never found a body.”

“The victim’s husband copped a plea,” Joa

“Right,” Buddy said. “I suppose not.”

Once Joa