Long Range (Joe Pickett Book 20)(93)
THIRTY
TWO WEEKS LATER, JOE AWOKE FROM A NAP IN HIS HOSPITAL at Billings General to a commotion outside in the hallway. The matronly nurse he’d come to dislike said, “Sir, our visiting hours are over.”
She was strict about enforcing the rules. She was strict about everything. Joe got the distinct impression that she felt she could really run an efficient hospital wing if it weren’t for all the patients and visitors in it.
“We’ll only be a minute,” a male voice said. It was Nate. Joe smiled in anticipation.
Nate entered his room first, followed by Liv holding the baby and Marybeth behind her.
“Don’t get up,” Nate said to Joe.
“Very funny.”
*
THE .338 LAPUA round Arthur had fired had hit Joe on the inside of his left thigh and exited out the back. It missed his thighbone, but it had nicked his femoral artery on the way through.
Although he was unconscious at the time, he learned later that Martin and Smith had performed field first aid on him by elevating the leg and applying a tourniquet above the wound so he wouldn’t bleed out. Dr. Arthur had not been so fortunate. He’d been hit eight times by Martin and Smith and he’d likely died before he hit the ground.
Joe had been taken to Billings by a Life Flight helicopter straight into surgery and then the intensive care unit. He learned that despite his fellow game wardens’ care, he’d lost so much blood that he’d been minutes away from death. For the first week, he and Marybeth had been warned by the doctors that he might lose his leg.
He was recovering, though, and ahead of schedule. A year of physical therapy lay ahead of him, he’d been told, and maybe more.
Marybeth had been with him every day. He felt embarrassed to be so weak and useless. When he was awake, she kept him abreast of developments in Twelve Sleep County via Facebook, the online Saddlestring Roundup, and texts from friends and library patrons.
An arrest warrant had been issued for Nate Romanowski by the sheriff’s department for assaulting a peace officer, escaping from jail, and several other charges for good measure.
Deputies Woods and Steck had been reactivated, but when they’d refused to apprehend Nate, they’d both been suspended from duty again.
Sheriff Kapelow, who had cruelly been dubbed “Sheriff Van Gogh” because of his missing ear, castigated by the community for pursuing the wrong shooter and suspending his men, had quietly packed up his house and vanished.
Judge Hewitt had announced that he was retiring from the bench to found and administrate a Sue Hewitt Foundation to provide grants and mental health assistance to the families of violent crimes.
Wyoming governor Colter Allen had announced his intention to give commendation letters to game wardens Mike Martin, Eddie Smith, and Joe Pickett for their actions in apprehending the killer. He’d also had his office send a bill to the Game and Fish Department for the cost of the bodywork on Joe’s pickup due to high caliber bullet holes.
Missy had slipped away back to Jackson with her illicit medication and she’d called Marybeth to say that Marcus Hand seemed to be recovering.
Candy Croswell was participating in a true-crime podcast about unscrupulous doctors who defrauded both patients and loved ones.
Martin and Smith had both been placed on administrative leave by the Game and Fish Department pending an investigation because of their roles in the officer-involved shooting of Dr. Arthur. They’d spent at least some of their leisure time telling others about Joe’s foolhardy but effective horseback run at the cabin that was now dubbed “Pickett’s Charge.”
Loren Hill had turned herself in to authorities and admitted her role in the scheme in order to protect herself after her brother was found hanging by the neck from a bridge in South Dakota, left there by his cartel-associated captors.
Marybeth had been elected chair of a new search committee to find a legitimate doctor willing to move to Twelve Sleep County and take over at the clinic.
*
JOE HAD BEEN deeply touched when he’d awakened during the first week to find April and Lucy in his room. They’d carpooled from Wyoming when they heard the news and had waited at his bedside. Seeing them and grasping their hands brought tears to his eyes.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” he’d said to them. “I just feel very emotional right now. It’s got something to do with getting hurt.”
“Don’t apologize,” Lucy said, tearing up herself. “It’s okay.” She’d always been the most open with her feelings.
“Just don’t get shot anymore,” April said with faux-ferocity. She’d always been the most intense.
“I’ll try not to.”
“Try harder,” April said. And for a second, her mask slipped.
He asked them about how things were going at their respective colleges and if they had plans to come home for Thanksgiving.
“Will you be home by then?” Lucy asked.
“Yes. But I won’t be hopping around yet.”
*
NATE AND LIV approached Joe, and Liv handed Kestrel to him. Joe cradled the baby and nuzzled her head with his chin.
Nate said, “You probably heard. I’m going back off the grid for a while.”
“We’re going back off the grid,” Liv corrected.
Joe nodded. “I’ll do what I can to get the charges dropped when I’m up and around. Maybe Rulon can help.”