Desert Heat

Suddenly she was bristling with fury. “Sure, he shot himself and threw the gun under the truck. And who the hell do you think locked the car doors?”

Sanders seemed taken aback by the sudden transformation. “I don’t know anything about locked doors,” he said placatingly.

“Well I do!” Joa

“What does that have to do with it?”

Erupting in anger, she stood up, violently crashing her chair into the wall and leaving a dent in the plaster.

“I’ll tell you what it has to do with! Andrew Brady locked his keys in his car one time in his whole life. He did it once and only once, the first time he ever drove a car by himself, and it never happened again. Including yesterday! Somebody else locked those keys in his truck. When Dick Voland finds out who did that, he’ll have the right killer.”

Setting her shoulders defiantly, Joa

Joa

“Andy?” Maria

“Dr. Sanders isn’t kidding, and neither is the Sheriff’s Department. They’re investigating what happened to Andy as a possible at-tempted suicide.”

Maria

“I told him,” Joa

“Wherever did he get such a crazy idea?” “From the Sheriff’s Department. From Dick Voland. And he’s wrong. I swear to you, no matter what Dick Voland says, somebody tried to kill my husband, and that’s attempted murder in my book.”

Maria

“You know what will happen, don’t you?” Joa

“But when Andy comes around, surely he’ll be able to tell someone what really happened.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” Joa

“Then you’re right. Whoever did this will literally get away with murder, won’t they,” Maria

The waiting room suddenly seemed to fill up and grow smaller as two other families arrived to keep their own separate ICU vigils. The newcomers talked in hushed, worried voices, waiting for the time when one or two of them would be ushered into a room for a five-minute visit.

Just as the new arrivals were settling in, the door to the waiting room slammed open again and Je

Breathlessly Je

Joa

“But…” Je

Maria

“I brought this from the hotel,” he explained. “As soon as he heard what had happened, Melvin Williams from up at the Copper Queen called and left word for me to call him. Evidently Andy dropped this off at the hotel late yesterday afternoon and asked Melvin to keep it in the refrigerator until you two came in for di

“What flowers?” Joa

She had been staring at him, but she must not have been listening to a word he said. McFadden shook his head impatiently as though wanting her to pay closer attention.

“These flowers, Joa

“I don’t give a damn about flowers,” Joa

Walter McFadden’s shoulders sagged. “You heard then?”

Joa

McFadden left the box on the table and moved closer to her. “I’m sorry, Joa

“You think you’re sorry? I want to know who came up with that crackpot idea,” she insisted. “Tell me.”

“Dick Voland, Ken Galloway, the detectives who worked the scene. Don’t take it personally, Joa

“Consensus my ass!” she said, her eyes narrowing. “Whoever says that is dead wrong.”

“You can’t argue with the evidence, Joa

“If it’s Andy’s gun, of course his prints are on it. Whoever else used it probably wore gloves.”

Their raised voices caused the other families in the room to turn away from their own concerns in order to watch the drama unfolding in the middle of the room-an older man using soft, placating words while he argued with a visibly angry red-haired woman who seemed ready to tear him apart.

“Look, Joa

Joa

“You’re not listening to me, Walter.”

Of all the people in the room, only Je

“Somebody tried to murder my husband,” Joa

Oblivious to the danger signals, Walter McFadden raised both his hands. “Look, little lady, I don’t know what…”

He never finished the sentence. With a lightning grasp, Joa

“Don’t you ever ‘little lady’ me again, Sheriff McFadden,” she hissed. “And don’t tell me to shut up and mind my own business, either. This is my business. Somebody tried to kill my husband last night. According to the doctor, whoever it was did a pretty damn thorough job of it, too. Liver damage, intestinal damage. Even if Andy lives, he may be paralyzed from the waist down.”

She let go of McFadden’s thumb and stepped back two paces before turning her back on him and walking away. One of the men in the room made as if to come help him get back up, but McFadden motioned him aside. “I’m all right,” he grunted sheepishly. “Let me be.”