Dead Wrong

“Maybe not,” Millicent said. “I just had an idea.”

“Dr. Ross, we don’t have the manpower or the facilities to take on that many-”

“Hear me out,” Millicent interrupted. “I’ve been reading about how various prisons around the country have been using prisoners to care for abused and abandoned animals as a way of turning around the prisoners’ lives and the animals’ lives as well.”

“What are you proposing?”

“I’m suggesting that we talk to the inmates in the Cochise County Jail. I’ll be glad to do it if you want me to. We’ll let them know what the problem is and that the only chance these dogs have to survive is if they can be cared for and nurtured back to health so that they can be placed in adoptive homes. I’ll also be glad to help out with this,” Millicent added. “I can come to the jail and show the inmates how to feed the puppies as well as how to handle, care for, and train them.”

“You’re suggesting turning my jail into an extension of the dog pound?” Joa

“A temporary rehab facility,” Millicent said. “After all, desperate times call for desperate measures. Temporary and entirely voluntary. Only inmates who genuinely want to be involved should be allowed to participate. Each one would be given responsibility for a single dog. If an inmate breaks any rules-any rules at all-their dog would be taken away. I can’t help but think that having one person fostering each animal would be good for the individual dogs because what these animals need is personal attention. I’m guessing that being responsible for raising and training a puppy would be good for your inmates, too.”

Across the table, Frank was watching Joa

“Do it,” Frank said immediately.

“Do it?” Joa

“No,” he said. “I’m not. Think about it. Putting down even vicious dogs is political suicide. Saving poor puppies is a PR dream- everybody’s best bet for a touchy-feely feature. It’ll turn you into a folk hero. Look at the guy up in Maricopa County. When the health department condemned one of his jails as ‘unfit for human habitation,” he stuck his inmates in tents and turned the air-conditioned ex-jail into an animal shelter. You’d be doing him one better, since both the dogs and the inmates would be inside.

“And think about the results Ted Chapman has been getting with some of these guys,” Frank continued. “Sometimes expecting inmates to do the right thing makes them do exactly that.”

“But what about the mess?” Joa

“Dr. Ross is right,” Frank interjected. “Cleaning up the messes puppies make is part of the responsibility of taking care of them.”

The waitress showed up with their food just then. “Let me think about this,” she said into the phone. “Frank Montoya and I will talk it over, then I’ll call you back.”

“I think it’ll work,” Frank said.

Joa

“Let’s get Tom Hadlock on the speaker phone,” Frank suggested. “Since this would affect his operation and his people, let’s see what the jail commander thinks.”

To Joa

“About that,” Joa

“So it’s not forever. I think it’s an interesting idea,” Hadlock added after a moment’s reflection, “especially considering the sticky situation we had here last week. Having a group of bad-boy puppies around for a while might help to resolve some of the tension that’s built up in the jail. I agree, of course, that participation would have to be on a totally voluntary basis. If there are prisoners around who don’t want to have anything to do with the program, we’ll move them into separate units from the ones who do. What kind of equipment do you think we’ll need?”

Joa

“Lots,” Joa

“Why don’t I talk to Dr. Ross and get back to you?” Tom Hadlock returned. “Maybe between the two of us we can get a better handle on everything that’s involved.”

“Go ahead,” Joa

After that, Joa

“What’s the matter?” Frank asked. “Food’s no good?”

Joa

“The dogs are in jeopardy because the people were killed,” Frank returned. “And we all know they weren’t nice people to begin with. Our department is in charge of cleaning up a problem someone else created, so don’t go around giving yourself a hard time feeling guilty about it. What you should be doing is patting yourself on the back. If it hadn’t been for you and Deputy Thomas, one or both of those kids might be dead right now.”

“You’re going to have to keep reminding me of that,” she told him.

After leaving the Triple T, Frank drove directly to the DPS office on South Tucson Boulevard. Deputy Thomas was leaving the building as Joa

“How’d it go?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I did like you said, Sheriff Brady. I told them the truth.”

“That’s all you needed to do.”

“But I’m not sure they believed me. Especially the part about you shooting him under the car.”

“Maybe they’ll like it better if they hear the same thing from me,” Joa

Newton and Unger were waiting for Joa

“You and Deputy Thomas expect us to believe that you supposedly jumped out of his vehicle, threw yourself flat on the ground, and then shot the suspect by aiming under the parked Dodge Caravan?” Newton asked.

“Yes. That’s what happened.”

“That would have taken a hell of a good shot.”

“I am a good shot,” Joa

“In your condition?”

Joa

“Well, yes,” Newton admitted sheepishly “That does seem highly unlikely.”

“I’ll tell you what, Detective Newton,” she said quietly. “Let’s you and I take a trip out to your target range. We’ll both use semiautomatic rifles. I’ll lie on my stomach. You lie on a soccer ball. We’ll see which one of us can hit a moving target. Twice.”