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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As soon as Kristin had left her office, Joa
“Slowly,” he replied. “Very slowly. Junior slept so much in the car that by the time we made it home, he was wide awake and wired. Now he’s asleep again, and I wish I were, too. But I’ve got to get going today. I’ve spent days without touching my computer, and it’s time to get back on the horse. If I’m ever going to finish my book, I’ve got to sit down and work. Otherwise, I’m going to remain what Marliss Shackleford calls unemployed forever. The word’s out that unpublished novelists are worth a dime a dozen.”
Joa
“Maybe I could bring Junior to the office for the day,” she suggested. “He’d probably get a kick out of it. At least it would give you some time to work.”
“He’d get a kick out of it right up until you got called out on a case,” Butch replied, “on something where he couldn’t go along. He’d end up being stuck in your office all by himself. No, that’s already happened to him once, and it’s not going to happen again, not if I can help it.”
“Speaking of that,” Joa
“Good.”
“And I’m sitting here admiring my ring,” she continued. “I still can’t quite believe it, Butch. I said ‘yes.’ We are actually engaged.”
“I’ll believe it more when 1 can corral you into setting a date,” Butch replied. “But don’t get me wrong,” he added quickly. “I’m not pushing.”
Joa
Without even putting down the phone, Joa
“Good morning yourself,” Eva Lou returned. “How are you today?”
“Engaged,” Joa
“Did you think I didn’t know? Jim Bob and I had already discussed it with Je
Now that word was out, Joa
“Fine as frog’s hair. She and Jim Bob are out back raking leaves.”
“Has she told you about Junior?” Joa
“She certainly has. Bubbling over with it. She seems to like him a lot. And it’s so nice of Butch to lend a hand that way. Most men wouldn’t.”
“But it is keeping him from doing any of his own work,” Joa
“If we’d take him for a while?” Eva Lou asked. “Of course. I know Je
“I believe that’s the whole idea of a school suspension,” Joa
“Well, I still think having Junior for the day will be fine. I’ll call Butch a little later and make arrangements. Come to think of it, maybe the whole bunch of you could come to sup-per tonight. I might even ask George and Eleanor. We could have a little engagement celebration. It’ll give me a chance to see your ring.”
Joa
“What a perfectly lovely thing to do,” Eva Lou said at once. “I know Andy paid an armload for that ring. Of course I understood why you put it away, but it seemed like such a waste to me to have a beautiful piece of jewelry like that hid den away in a dresser drawer. This makes far better sense.”
“You don’t mind then?” Joa
“Disloyal? The only way you could be disloyal to Andy, Joa
“Thank you for saying that,” Joa
“Don’t mention it,” Eva Lou said. “I’m hanging up now. I need to call Butch and let him know about di
“One more thing,” Joa
“What’s that?”
“Don’t tell my mother where the ring came from. She’ll never understand.”
“She’ll never know then, will she?” Eva Lou said. “At least not from me.”
Holding the receiver after ending that call, Joa
“Joa
There was a noticeable chill in his voice when he replied. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Pleasure, my foot! Joa
“None,” he replied.
“You ran them through AFIS?”
“Sure did.”
That meant Farley Adams’ prints weren’t there, because they would have come up with a hit. That also held true for the three young men still sitting in the Nogales, Sonora, jail, as well as for Joaquin Morales, the boy who had aided searchers in finding Alice Rogers’ body.
Sitting on his end of the telephone line, Detective Lazier must have been reading Joa
“It could mean they didn’t do it,” Joa
“Right this minute, Detective Hemming is out tracking down some search warrants.” Lazier told her. “We’ve ID’d the three suspects now and we’ll be executing those warrants as soon as we have them. In the meantime, stop sticking your nose in where it isn’t wanted or needed.”
“You have a nice day, too,” Joa
But it was too late. By then Hank Lazier had already slammed the phone down in her ear.
Joa