Страница 53 из 72
Joa
Concerned that something might go wrong, Maria
The sulkiness went out of Je
“It’s the thought that counts,” Joa
“I’ll be ready,” Je
True to her word, Je
In the Blazer, Je
“I’ll bet she is, too.”
At the parsonage up Tombstone Canyon, Maria
“See?” Je
Laughing through her tears, Maria
Crying too, Joa
“Have you named her yet?” Je
“Not so far. Sarah’s always been my first choice,” Maria
“Oh,” Je
“Promise you’ll call the minute you get back to town,” Joa
“I will,” Maria
The two women hugged once more. “It takes a friend to have one,” Joa
She and Je
“I’m sorry I’ve been so busy,” Joa
“It’s all right,” Je
“No,” Joa
They were almost at school before Joa
“What friend?” Je
“Butch Dixon. Remember the man you met up in Peoria?”
“The one with the restaurant with all the toy trains?”
“That’s right,” Joa
“I love pizza,” Je
Joa
She walked into her office right on time, only to be greeted by the sound of raised voices. Out in the other room, Dick Voland and Frank Montoya were going at it hot and heavy. She opened her door and walked directly into the melee.
“All right, guys,” she said. “What seems to be the problem? And how about if we come into my office to hash this out over three civilized cups of coffee.”
Stiff-legged, like squabbling little boys separated by a school principal, the two men came into Joa
“Chief Deputy Voland has deputies stationed in every damned hospital from here to Phoenix,” Frank began. “I keep trying to tell him, we can’t pay for that kind of staffing without blowing the budget come the end of the year.”
“And I keep trying to tell Mr. Montoya that these U.D.A.s are our responsibility. The two that are on life support-one at Tucson Medical Center and the other at University-aren’t much of a threat for taking off. But that’s not true of most of the others-the ones who weren’t so badly injured. The hospital administrators expect some help on this one. They’re worried about the safety of their other patients.”
Joa
“Right,” Voland agreed.
“Not an ax murderer in the bunch?”
“Probably not,” Voland allowed. “At least not as far as we’ve been able to ascertain up to now.”
“So why would they pose a threat to any of the other patients?”
“What if they just walk out?”
“What if?”
“Then we lose whatever case we have against the driver.”
“No, we don’t,” Joa
“You’re saying I should pull the guards?” Voland asked.
“Dick, Frank is right,” Joa
“All right,” he said. “I’ll pull them, every last one of ‘em, but I’m going to lodge a formal, written protest. I’m going to say in writing that I disagreed with that decision.”
“You go right ahead and do what you have to do,” Joa
“And if one of them disappears, or if there’s any other problem., it’s on your head.”
“I accept full responsibility,” Joa
He stood up and stormed off to the door, meeting Kristin Marsten, who was on her way into the room with three cups of coffee,. Voland graphed one of them and hulled off to his own office, leaving Kristin to bring the others inside for Joa
“What the hell’s the matter with that guy?” Frank Montoya demanded. “He’s been a complete jerk all week long.”
“Give him a break,” Joa
“If you ask me,” Frank Montoya said, “he’s always having a tough time of it.”
“Let it go, Frank,” Joa
Without Dick Voland present, Frank went ahead with the morning briefing. “Nothing much,” he said, checking the printed contact sheets himself. “We had so many deputies dragged out of their cars and standing guard duty in hospitals that coverage was a little light county-wide. That’s why I was trying to tell Dick…”
“Don’t beat a dead horse, Frank,” Joa
“Naturally the press is waiting for me to make some kind of statement about this latest incident. As of today, Cochise County is two ahead of Pima in terms of homicide victims for the year. That’s an unwelcome statistic, especially in view of the difference in population. So far this morning I’ve had several calls from Tucson and Phoenix stations, radio and television both, asking what’s going on down here. Everybody seems to think we’re wallowing around in a pool of murder and mayhem.”