Desert Heat

Melvin Williams looked around uneasily, hoping none of his other guests would overhear. This kind of conversation wasn’t exactly good for business.

Adam York, however, didn’t seem the least concerned if the whole world listened in. “I Understand your mother may have something to tell us in that regard, but I haven’t been able to locate her. You wouldn’t happen to know where we could find her, now would you?”

Joa

Either way, Joa

“I’m not my mother’s keeper,” she said frostily and stalked on up the stairs. She listened for footsteps on the stairway behind her, but Adam York made no move to follow.

With no further difficulty, Joa

“Whadyya want?” he demanded.

Joa

“You were told wrong,” the man returned. “Nobody named Tammy’s in here,” and he slammed the door shut in Joa

Stu

Discouraged, she started back down the hall. As she walked past the next room, the door swung open and a woman stepped into the corridor. “Joa

Joa

With the makeup scrubbed off her face and with her mane of blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, Tammy Sue’s looks didn’t at all match up to Joa

“No one followed me,” Joa

The golden tan on the woman’s face faded to white. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”

“No, I didn’t tell him,” Joa

“What’s he doing here then?”

“Actually, he’s trying to find a way to pin my husband’s murder on me. You and I both know that’s not true, so let’s get down to business. I f you want me to help work this deal, as you put it, then I’ve got to know what’s going on.”

Joa

The woman Joa

Joa

“Cora?” Angie echoed. “Who’s Cora?”

“And while we’re at it, you’d better tell me about the money as well. I want to know where it came from. Otherwise, I’m walking out the door this very minute and calling Adam York. You can work out your own deal with the DEA.”

Tammy Sue Ferris/Angie Kellogg sank down on the edge of the bed. This wasn’t the way she’d expected the meeting to go. She had thought Joa

“Where’d the money come from?” Joa

Feeling trapped, Angie decided to quit lying. There didn’t seem to be any point. “I stole it,” she answered. “I stole it from Tony.”

“I thought you told me you had evidence, something the cops wanted.”

Angie shrugged. “I have that, too, but I took the money because I need a way to live until I can a job. If I go to the cops and they find out about it, they’ll take the money away from me the same as Tony would.”

How much did you steal?”

“Fifty thousand, I guess.”

“And why’d you give ten of that to Andy?”

“I didn’t give any of it to your husband,” Angie insisted forcefully. “How many times do I have to tell you? I never even met the man. How could I give him money? Besides, didn’t steal it until after he was already dead”

Joa

“Angie,” the woman replied. “My name’s Angie Kellogg.”

“Not Cora?”

“Not Cora.”

“And where does this Angie Kellogg live?” Joa

“Tucson,” Angie replied dully. “At least that’s where I lived until yesterday.”

“You’re lying. You live somewhere in Nevada”

“I’m not. I swear to God. What good would it do me to lie? I’ve been in Nevada only once in my whole life. Tony took me to Vegas. Walt, I’ll show you.”

Angie got up, dragged a beach bag out of the closet, and rummaged through it until she found a small, worn book, a bird book. Opening it, she took out what appeared to be a post card. It was a picture of two people standing in front of a horseshoe-shaped container, the inside back wall of which was covered with money.

“That’s us,” Angie said, “Tony and me. We had our picture taken in Vegas at the Horseshoe.”

She handed the picture over, and Joa

“May I keep this?” Joa

Angie shrugged. “I don’t care. Anyway,” she continued, “I lived with Tony in Tucson until yesterday. And now he’s after me. He would have caught me, too, if some nice truck driver hadn’t given me a ride here.”

“And why exactly did you come here? Was it just to see me?”

Angie nodded and hung her head. “I thought we could figure out a way to catch him,” she said. “A way to put him in jail without me having to testify against him. And I have this book. Sort of a record book that Tony kept. I thought maybe somebody would want II “

“Show it to to me,” Joa

“I can’t,” Angie replied.

“Why not?”

“I left it in the safe at the desk, just in case,” Angie answered.

“I’ll go down and pick it up,” Joa

Angie shook her head. “No, I told him to only give it to me. If you didn’t tell the DEA guy about me, he won’t know who I am.” She got up and reached for the beach bag.

“Oh, no,” Joa

Tony Vargas had run into a stumbling block. Following the speeding Eagle into town, he was primarily concerned with closing the distance between the two vehicles as he came around a long, flat curve by an immense, dark hole in the ground that was actually an abandoned open-pit copper mine. Tony Vargas had no way of knowing that Bisbee locals had good reason for calling this particular stretch of Highway 80 “Citation Avenue,” but he was about to find out.