Desert Heat

This time the sharp but unmistakable intake of breath was on the other end of the line. “How do you know about that?” Tammy Sue managed. “Maybe I was wrong. I never should have called.”

Joa

“But if you know about the money…”

“That doesn’t matter. You’re right about me. There’s nothing I want more than putting this Tony, whoever he is, away. Where are you? Let me come see you. We’ll talk. I do know people around here. If you can help me find Andy’s killer, if you can help me put him where he belongs, then I should be able to help you with your problem.”

“And you won’t tell the cops about me?” There was something vulnerable and plaintive in the way Tammy Sue asked the question, something that reminded Joa

“Were you ever a Girl Scout?” Joa

“No.”

“I was, and I give you my word of honor that I won’t tell the cops. Where are you?”

“At a place called the Copper Queen.”

“You’re here in Bisbee? Why didn’t you say so? I can be there in ten minutes. What room are you in?”

“Four twelve.”

Joa

She slammed down the phone and leaped to retrieve her shoes. Just then there was a tentative knock on the door, and Je

“Grandma Lathrop wants to know if you want some cocoa and toast.”

‘“No. I’ve got to go back uptown.”

“Can I go along?”

“No. I’ll have to go alone. Ask Grandma if she can stay here with you until I get back.”

“I’ll go ask.”

Je

All her life she had lived in a small town, insulated from some of the harsher realities of life in other places. But this past week violence had touched her life and home. Her husband was dead, murdered, and she was going to meet with a woman, a stranger, who claimed to know Andy’s killer. Clayton Rhodes had given her a gift, a weapon, an equalizer, that could help deal with any number of unexpected contingencies. Could she, in good conscience, afford to thumb her nose at his gift?

Shaking her head, Joa

The gun had no more than disappeared into the purse when Je

The house was one of the old Sears Crafts-man homes, a Somerset, that had come West by rail in the early teens-precut and premilled, ready to be assembled. By current standards, the two-bedroom house may have been small, but it did have both a front and back door. The front door was seldom used on a day-to-day basis, but it was available. Maybe the rules between Joa

Slinging the purse over her shoulder, Joa

DESERT HEAT

Joa

Je

Joa

“But what does it mean?”

“It means that where I’m going is none of Grandma’s business.”

With that, Joa

The absolute irony of the situation wasn’t last on Joa

Rushing to her appointment, Joa

She didn’t notice, but she should have.

EIGHTEEN

Melvin Williams, although a relative newcomer to Bisbee, had made it his business to meet as many of the townsfolk as possible. He and his wife, recent purchasers of the Copper Queen Hotel, were able to eke out a respectable enough living from that aging dowager of a place only so long as they did most of the work themselves. Melvin handled the front desk, Kitty managed the restaurant, and Gary, their son, ran the bar.

As a result, Melvin himself was ma

“Can I help you?” Melvin asked.

Joa

Halfway up the first flight of stairs, however, she looked up in time to see Adam York coming down. She stopped short, trying to conceal her confusion and dismay.

It shouldn’t have been that much of a shock to find him there. After all, if the DEA agent was in town conducting an investigation, there weren’t many places to stay in Bisbee besides the Copper Queen. But how could she maintain any kind of composure in the presence of someone she was almost sure was a crooked cop and possibly a murderer besides? Not only that, if Tammy Sue became aware of York’s presence and identity, she might erroneously assume Joa

“Hello, Joa

Hardly, she thought. “An old friend came to town for the funeral,” she replied, thinking on her feet as she continued on up the stairs. “With all the other people around, this may be the only chance we’ll have to visit by our-selves.”

“You still haven’t told me how you happened to know about those autopsy results,” York said from behind her. “Do you maintain some kind of private information line in and out of the sheriff’s department?”

Joa