Best Kept Secrets(128)

door and was on the threshold to greet Reede when he came

barging in. "What happened, Nora Gail?"

"There was a dispute over one of the girls," she informed

him. "A man's been shot, but he's alive."

' 'Where is he? The paramedics are--" Reede stopped short

when he spotted Alex. At first he just gaped at her with patent

disbelief; then, his face turned dark with rage. "What the

hell are you doing here?"

"Conducting my investigation."

"Investigation, my ass," he growled. "Get the hell out

of here."

The wounded man moaned, drawing Reede's attention. "I

suggest you tend to your own business, Sheriff Lambert,"

Alex said tartly.

He cursed as he knelt down beside the man. When he

noticed the amount of blood, however, his concentration

switched immediately from Alex to the victim. "How're you

doing, cowboy?" The man moaned. "What's your name?"

His eyes fluttered open. He comprehended the question,

but didn't seem able to answer. Reede gently moved aside

his clothing until he found the source of the blood. The bullet

had pierced his side at about waist level. "You'll live," he

told him. "Just hang in there a few more minutes. An ambulance

is on its way."

He came to his feet and walked toward the man still in the

bouncers' custody. He was standing with his head bowed.



"What about you? Got a name?" Reede asked, jerking the

man's chin up. "Well, howdy, Lewis," he drawled.

"Thought we'd seen the last of your miserable hide. Didn't take my warning seriously, did you? Can't tell you what a

pleasure it's gonna be to have you residing in my jail again."

"Go f*ck yourself, Lambert," the man sneered insolently.

Reede hauled back his fist, then reached for the man's

spine through about a foot and a half of abdominal tissue.

Lewis doubled at the waist, but only until Reede's fist connected

with his chin, bringing it up with a powerful blow.

He was then lifted by the lapels of his jacket and shoved

against the wall.

"You've got a big mouth, Lewis," Reede said calmly,

barely winded by the exertion. "We'll see how smart you

talk after a month or two in a place where the bad boys will

make you eat their dicks for breakfast every morning."

The man whimpered helplessly. When Reede released him,

he slid down the wall to form a pathetic heap on the floor.

Two deputies stepped into the room, gawking at their plush

surroundings.

' 'He resisted arrest,'' Reede calmly said, pointing at Lewis, then curtly ordered him handcuffed, Mirandized, and booked

for attempted murder. He consulted with the paramedics who

had come in behind the deputies and were dealing with the

injured man.

"He's lost a lot of blood," one of them reported to Reede

as he slid a needle into the victim's arm. "It's serious, but

not critical."

Satisfied that everything was being handled properly,

Reede's attention reverted to Alex. Taking her upper arm in

a firm grip, he hauled her toward the door.

"Let me go."

"Unless Nora Gail hired you on, you've got no business

here. Nora Gail, shut down for the night."

"This is Friday, Reede."

"Tough. Don't let anybody leave, either. Somebody'll be

along soon to start the questioning."



He roughly shepherded Alex down the steps and into his

Blazer, nearly cramming her into the seat before he slammed

the door shut. He climbed in behind the wheel.

"My car is over there," she told him stubbornly. "I can

drive myself back to town."

"I'll have one of the deputies pick it up later." He ground

the key in the ignition. "What in God's name possessed you

to come here?"

"I didn't know what it was until I arrived."

"Well, when you figured it out, why didn't you leave?"

"I wanted to talk to Nora Gail. She's a very old and dear

friend of yours, I understand," she said with phony sweetness.

At the intersection with the highway, they met one of his

patrol cars turning in. He signaled the deputy to stop and

rolled down his window. "Give me your keys," he told Alex.

She passed them to him because he wasn't going to give her

a choice, and because, in spite of her brave front, she was

trembling.

Reede tossed her keys to the deputy and instructed him to

have his partner drive Ms. Gaither's car to the Westerner

Motel when they were finished with the preliminary investigation

of the shooting. With that taken care of, he zoomed

onto the highway.

"Don't you feel the least bit guilty?" Alex asked him.

"For what?"