Long Range (Joe Pickett Book 20)(75)

“Not yet. One thing at a time.”

Joe nodded. Marybeth was always better with strategy than he was, so he didn’t argue with her.

*

ON HIS WAY to the bathroom, Joe paused and eased open the hall door to Lucy’s old bedroom. Kestrel was asleep in the middle of the bed and she was hemmed in by walls of pillows so she couldn’t roll off. Her eyes were closed and gentle ocean sounds played from a speaker Liv must have brought with her. The camera for the monitor was placed on Lucy’s dresser.

Joe felt a pang. He missed a house full of girls.

*

AFTER HE RETURNED to the dining room, Joe didn’t bring up the hole in his pickup door. Instead, he pretended to himself that the incident was just a strange coincidence, a random occurrence.

There was too much happening to add another item.

*

BERAN CONTINUED to check his phone for texts from Rulon while he consulted with Liv about Nate’s defense. After an hour and two scotch and waters, Beran announced that he was tired and needed to get some rest.

“I’ve got a reservation at the Holiday Inn downtown,” he said with a grimace. “Is there a better place to stay around here?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Marybeth replied.

“Maybe I should invest in a luxury hotel in Saddlestring,” Beran said. “It looks like you could use one.”

“Please do,” Marybeth said.

“Any word from Governor Rulon?” Liv asked Beran.

The lawyer nodded and scrolled through his texts. “They’re still meeting right now,” he said. “Rulon has Panfile’s signed affadavit, although he doesn’t yet have a commitment that the man will stay around for the preliminary hearing. Rulon thinks the best we can do is get the man’s contact details and hope we can call him back when he’s needed. We’ll pay all his expenses, of course.”

Beran grinned and gestured to Liv. “Actually, you’ll pay for them.”

“I can see why Nate loves lawyers the way he does,” Liv said to Marybeth.

“What about the identification of the guy who planted the rifle?” Joe asked Beran.

The lawyer shook his head. He said, “Panfile says he doesn’t recognize the culprit in any of the photos we sent. He told Rulon he was far away and he can’t say for sure who he saw. He claims he might be able to identify the guy who planted the rifle if he saw his photo, but that these photos don’t float his boat.”

“What does that mean?” Joe asked, confused.

“I’m not sure,” Beran said. “Right now, Rulon is texting me whenever they take a break. He’s leaving out a lot of information and the man needs to learn how to text properly. He needs to go to a class, or sit down with any twelve-year-old out there. Rulon writes long sentences with proper punctuation and it takes him forever to get his point across.”

Joe smiled at that. He couldn’t actually visualize the ex-governor standing in a rest stop parking lot hunched over his cell phone.

“Anyway,” Beran said, “I’ll talk to Rulon after his meeting with Panfile and get clarification on everything. I’ll try to convince him to drive all the way up here so we can talk.”

“I’d like to see him,” Joe said.

“So would Nate,” Beran said with a sigh. “You people make me feel like sloppy seconds compared to Rulon.”

“We go back,” Joe said.

“So it’s off to the Holiday Inn,” Beran said with a frown.

“Keep me posted with any updates,” Liv called after him.

“Absolutely,” the lawyer said.

“Watch out for the moose in the road,” Joe cautioned him.

“Moose in the road,” Beran repeated as he went outside, shaking his head as if he’d never heard anything so insane. “You people live in a different world up here. Moose in the road . . .”

“City slicker,” Liv observed after Beran had left. “But a good lawyer, I suppose.”

*

AFTER A QUICK shower, Joe slipped into bed. His brain was foggy and overburdened with all that had gone on and he was too exhausted to put anything together in a logical sequence. His entire body ached with fatigue.

Marybeth was in her home office down the hall working on the courthouse logs. Liv had joined Kestrel in Lucy’s old bedroom. If Beran or Rulon called with further news, they’d be the first to be briefed. That was okay with Joe, but he hoped Marybeth would finish up soon. He longed to pull her to him beneath the sheets. He never slept well without her, but tonight, he thought, might be an exception.

*

JOE DIDN’T KNOW how long he’d been asleep when he was awakened by Marybeth jostling his shoulder.

He focused to find her standing over him with wide eyes. She seemed distressed and excited at the same time.

“I’ve found something that will blow your mind,” she said rapidly. “You are not going to believe this . . .”

*

NOW WIDE AWAKE fifteen minutes later, Joe sat on the end of the bed in his underwear and scrolled though his cell phone until he found the home number for Dennis Sun.

The producer himself answered on the second ring.

“How did you know I’d be up?” Sun asked.

“I figured Hollywood types didn’t turn in early,” Joe said.