Dead to Rights

As Joa

Still, she felt guilty. In the first days and weeks after Andy’s death, she, too, had lived with the same kind of abject hopelessness that she had recognized in Ha

Joa

Having heard it all the years of casual and debilitating mea

Had Ha

So why didn’t I order a suicide watch for her? Joa

Did that mean it was her fault? Was it a natural outgrowth of her own lack of experience? There had been other, far more experienced, officers involved in what had happened, but Ha

She was just finishing combing her hair when Angie Kellogg drove into the yard. It should have taken a full twenty minutes for her to drive from the Blue Moon in Brewery Gulch to High Lonesome Ranch, but her Oldsmobile Omega stopped outside Joa

“What’s going on?” Angie asked. “You sounded upset.”

“One of the inmates committed suicide at the jail,” Joa

“Are you sure?” Angie asked.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Joa

“Go and don’t worry,” Angie said. “I’m glad to help out,”

A few minutes later when Joa

When she opened the car door, she was momentarily blinded by the flash of a camera. “Who the hell is that?” she demanded as spots of light continued to dance in her eyes.

“Kevin Dawson with the Bisbee Bee,” a voice said out of the darkness. “Any reason you’re sneaking in the back door, Sheriff Brady?”

“This happens to be my parking place,” Joa

“Do you have any comments about what happened in the jail tonight?”

“My comment, Mr. Dawson, has to do with the fact that this parking lot is off limits to the public. I suggest that you get back around to the front of the building where you belong.”

“Come on, Sheriff Brady. I’m just doing my job.”

“So am I,” she told him. “Now get moving.”

She stood and watched until he disappeared around the corner of the building. To steady herself, she paused long enough to take several deep breaths. She gazed up at the canopy of stars and tried to prepare herself for what was co

Using her combination on the push-button lock, Joa

“I blew it,” he said.

“You had no way of knowing,” Joa

“But it is,” Ernie insisted. “Don’t you understand? Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I’m usually a better judge of people than that-better at reading what’s going on with them. I’ve always prided myself at being able to tell in advance if someone’s going to turn violent on me or go gu

“How long had Ha

Ernie shook his head. “Not long. No more than half an hour or so. She waived her right to a lawyer, so Jaime and I stayed long enough to get the whole interview down on tape. I’d just managed to drag my ass home and crawl into bed when the call came in saying she was dead.”

“Did she leave a note?”

“No. Nothing.”

“Not nothing, Ernie. Her confession to you and Jaime, her confession to me was a note of sorts.”

“I realize that now,” Ernie agreed. “I should have picked up on it at the time. But I didn’t. That’s why I’m quitting.”

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the leather wallet with his badge in it and tossed it on Joa

“That’s right.”

“Over this? Over Ha

Ernie nodded. “If you want me to, I’ll go write my letter of resignation right now. That’s why I was waiting for you here in your office. I wanted to talk to you alone. Without Dick Voland hanging around. He’ll try to talk me out of it.”

“You don’t think I will?”

“Why should you? Look, there are other, younger, guys coming along. I’ve put in my twenty-plus years. This wasn’t a fatal error for me, but it sure as hell was for Ha

“You’re overreacting,” Joa

“The hell I am.”

Joa