Desert Heat

“Shhhhh,” she said, but he ignored her, although his voice was weaker now. She had to strain to hear him over the noise of arriving emergency vehicles.

“They blackmailed me, Joa

Tears were coursing down Joa

“I hope not,” Walter McFadden muttered weakly. “For your sake and Je

And he was gone.

TWENTY-ONE

Joa

Both Tony Vargas and Walter McFadden were beyond help, so all the lifesaving activity centered around Ken Galloway. Joa

“is Sheriff McFadden all right?” Je

Joa

Bobo Jenkins turned up just then with Adam York in tow. Joa

Je

“What should I do?” Eleanor asked meekly.

“Stay with Je

Eleanor started after her granddaughter then paused. “It was him, wasn’t it,” she said. “The man with the gold in his teeth.”

Joa

Joa

“I talked to the man, Joa

“Sure he is,” Joa

As if on cue, Adam York turned and caught her looking at him. He left the officers and walked over to where she was standing. “Joa

“I’m fine.”

“Good.”

“Look,” she said, “you may have convinced my friend Bobo, here, that you walk on water, but I’m not buying it. Until I see some proof otherwise, I’m going to continue to consider you part of the opposition.”

“Your husband got Lefty O’Toole to agree to come into the Witness Protection Program,” York said. “Andy had contacted me and told me to expect Lefty within a matter of days. When it all fell apart, when Lefty showed up dead and then Andy suddenly laid his hands on a considerable sum of unexplained money,

I figured the cartel had turned him. Then,when Andy was killed as well it made sense that there was some other traitor pretty close to home.”

“You thought it was me?” Joa

York shrugged. “Why not? I was casting my net around and you turned up in it. You’re right, I do owe you an apology, and not just over the autopsy results. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that Ken Galloway was the one who typed the suicide note in Andy’s file. We’ve known for years that Cochise County was a major conduit of the drug trade and we figured there had to be someone in law enforcement working with them, but it wasn’t until Andy co

“If Lefty knew Galloway was involved, why didn’t he warn Andy?”

“Maybe he did or maybe he didn’t. It’s possible he tried to and Ken intercepted the message. Andy and Ken were supposedly good friends, weren’t they?”

“Supposedly,” Joa

“With Lefty out of the picture, I figured the whole investigation was blown, but now, with this book…”

“What book?” Joa

“Angie’s book. She’s scared to death and tired of ru

“Angie trusted you?” Joa

“Until I read that book for myself and make sure your name isn’t in it, I’m not trusting anybody “

York studied Joa

It was several hours later before anyone made a move to go home. Maria

“What’s going to happen to Tigger?” Je

And, of course, the answer to that question was no. Je

Try as she might, Joa

At home at last, Joa

She didn’t stir again until almost ten that morning. When she went padding through the house to check on things, she discovered that both big dogs were curled up on Je

In the kitchen where she went to start a pot of coffee, Joa

Steeling herself for the ordeal, Joa