Devil’s Claw

“Bisbee, I guess,” Joa

“You don’t think you should call him yourself?” Montoya asked.

“Are you kidding?” Joa

Ernie Carpenter and Jaime Carbajal were her department’s two homicide detectives. Ernie was an old hand-a burly veteran with more than twenty years under his belt. Jaime, in his early thirties, had been promoted from deputy to detective early on during Joa

“Ernie’s out of town this weekend, so Jaime’s up. He was in the middle of coaching his son’s T-ball game when I paged him, but he’s on his way.”

“If Jaime’s on his way,” Joa

“You don’t have to do that, Joa

At the time of her election to the office of sheriff, Joa

In order to quiet the talk and counter those assumptions-in order to put to rest all speculation that in her tenure as sheriff Joa

Joa

“I’ll leave here as soon as I go inside and put on my vest,” Joa

Butch walked up just as Joa

Joa

Jim Bob and Eva Lou Brady, Je

“Don’t bother,” Butch said. “I can stay here until you get back. That way so can she.”

“You don’t mind? You took care of her last night, too.”

Butch nodded. “And there’ll probably be a whole lot more nights just like that in our future. But no, I don’t mind. The only thing I have waiting for me at home is to clean my own house, and I didn’t much want to tackle that anyway. Besides, this way Je

“Well, then,” Joa

“I’m sure.” He leaned over and kissed her. “Now get going,” he added, giving her an encouraging pat on the butt. “The sooner you leave, the sooner you’ll be able to finish up and come back home.”

Feeling guilty and relieved both, Joa

Grabbing her purse, the keys to the Blazer, and her recharged cell phone, Joa

“I have to go,” Joa

Je

“I didn’t say watch,” Butch corrected. “I said keep you company.”

“It means the same thing.”

Joa

“All right,” Je

And don’t be such a sourpuss about it, Joa

In the Blazer, she started the engine. Before she could back out of her parking space, Butch came over and knocked on the driver’s window. Joa

“Just because the women in my life are feuding doesn’t mean I don’t deserve a good-bye kiss, does it?”

“No,” she returned, smiling and giving him a peck on the cheek.

“Drive carefully,” he added.

“I will,” she said.

Fifty yards from the wash and out of sight of the limo, Joa

“Still no tow truck?” she asked.

The driver shook his head. “No such luck. According to the dispatcher, it could be more than an hour before they send somebody out.”

“As I said before, I have a winch on this thing,” Joa

“Thanks, but no, thanks,” he returned. “Madame made it quite clear that she didn’t want any help from you. She’s using my cell phone right now to tell the American Automobile Association exactly what she thinks of their service, and that’s all to the good. If she’s yelling at somebody else, at least I’m not the target.”

“Ms. Singleton did strike me as a little prickly,” Joa

“That’s an understatement if I ever heard one. Just because she flew into Tucson International on somebody’s private jet, she seems to think the whole world is supposed to bow and scrape before her. I’m hoping that Triple-A tow truck takes a long damned time to show up. As long as the battery in that cell phone doesn’t run out of juice, it’s no skin off my nose. After all, I’m being paid by the hour.”

Joa

“By the way,” she added, handing it over to the driver. “This is the key to Ms. Singleton’s father’s house. Under the circumstances it’s probably better if someone besides me gives it to her.”

The driver nodded. “I’m sure you’re right about that,” he said. “See you,” he added with an offhand wave.