Outlaw Mountain

“I’m sorry to tell you this, Mr. Hogan. I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

Rex Hogan’s face crumpled. “Not Dena. There’s been some kind of an accident, hasn’t there! Please, God, don’t tell me something’s happened to Dena. I couldn’t stand it. She’s not hurt, is she? Not dead?”

“Your wife’s not dead,” Joa

“Arrest? Did you say under arrest? For what? You can’t be serious. This has to be some kind of joke.”

“I can assure you, Mr. Hogan, it’s no joke. Your wife is under arrest on suspicion of murder-for the murder of a woman named Alice Rogers. There may be other charges as well, but for right now, that’s how things stand. She’s waived the right to an attorney and insists she wants to represent herself.”

Rex Hogan staggered backward and rested against the fender of Joa

“She’s in that car over there, Mr. Hogan. If you want to, I suppose you could exchange a word or two, but once we take her away, you won’t be able to talk to her again until after she’s been questioned and booked into the Cochise County Jail. At that point, you’ll be able to speak with the jail commander and make arrangements for visitation.”

Taking Rex by the arm, Joa

“I’m sorry, Mr. Hogan,” he said. “Your wife refuses to speak to you.”

Rex walked up to the car, bent down, and put his face directly in front of the window. “Please,” he mouthed. His plea was answered by another adamantly negative response.

“Why?” Rex asked. He turned back to Joa

“I don’t think she’s mad at you,” Joa

“But I don’t understand,” Rex Hogan said. “I don’t understand at all. You said Dena murdered someone-someone I’ve never even heard of. How can that be? Won’t someone please tell me what’s going on?”

Joa

“You’ll have to ask your wife,” Joa

“I can call my daughter, I suppose,” he said. “She’s married and lives up in Tucson, but I’m sure she’ll come down.”

“I hope so, Mr. Hogan. Come on, Frank,” Joa

She didn’t mention that one of the reasons she needed to leave right then was that she couldn’t bear being around Rex Hogan’s pain for even a moment longer. Gratefully Joa

“What is it now?” she asked wearily, expecting the caller to be Tica Romero.

“It’s me,” Butch said. “I came by your office a few minutes ago and found out all hell has broken loose. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I’m not so sure I’m proud to be a member of the human race at this point, but I am alive.”

“And lucky to be so, from what I’ve heard,” Butch said grimly.

“Yes,” Joa

“I don’t believe there was any we involved,” Butch said. “People tell me you took it all on yourself-single-handed. Are you-”

“Butch, please. I did the best I could, and I kept two murderers from getting away. I’m not hurt, although I must say my clothes have seen better days. So let’s not fight. Let’s just be grateful that we’re both alive. Is that why you called me? To chew me out? Or to tell me that you love me?”

“Well, not exactly. I do love you, of course, but that’s not why I called.”

“Why did you then?”

“Ellen Dowdle,” Butch replied.

“Who?”

“Dowdle,” Butch said, then he spelled out the name. “D-O-W-D-L-E.”

“Who’s that?” Joa

“Junior’s mother,” Butch said. “She lives in a nursing home in Rapid City, South Dakota.”

“So Frank found her!” Joa

“Frank, nothing,” Butch said irritably. “He may have called a few law enforcement agencies looking for a missing person, but no one back there knew Junior was missing because no one had bothered to report it. I’m the one who found her, and I demand full credit.”

“You did?” Joa

“I called the Special Olympics headquarters in Yankton. They keep track of special athletes by both first and last names. Once I got hooked up to their database, I had what I needed in less than sixty seconds.”

“But how did you even know to look there? Did Junior tell you about Special Olympics?”

“Well,” Butch said reluctantly, “I suppose I have to give some credit where it’s due. Jim Bob and Je

“So have you talked to her?” Joa

“We can’t,” Butch said.

“What do you mean, we can’t? Maybe Junior isn’t capable of flying home by himself, but one of us could travel with him.”

“He doesn’t have a home,” Butch said.

“How can that be? You just said-”

“I said I found his mother. Ellen Dowdle is in a nursing home. She had a stroke and is totally incapacitated. Long before that happened, she sold off all her assets, including a family farm, and put them in trust so Junior would be properly taken care of. A niece and her husband, Chuck and Irene Johnson, agreed to take Junior in and look after him.”

“And where are they?”

“Supposedly in Mesa somewhere. The nursing home gave me their name, address, and phone number, but when I tried calling I found out that the phone has been disco