“No.” I took the feather and stuffed it back in my jacket.
He waited quietly. “There is more?”
I weighed my options and decided to clear the air. “How come you were late going running yesterday?”
He sat his coffee cup down, and a mischievous glint shaded his eyes. “I was out shooting white boys.”
“I’m serious.”
He turned and looked at me, square. “I know, and it is starting to piss me off.”
Moment of truth. “Where were you?”
He turned on his stool, straightening his body and trailing a hand down to rest lightly on his leg. The smile was gone, and his eyes had flattened. “Are you going to hit me?”
My voice sounded mechanical. “I’m through hitting people today. Where were you?” It was a long pause.
“Sleeping with Dena Many Camps.”
Two steaming plates of Canadian bacon and eggs, sunny side up, with grits, were slid under our noses. I glanced over and then looked again. “That’s the usual?”
She looked at Henry. “Told you.” With this, she freshened our coffee and moved down the counter to take care of the other customers. You had to hand it to her, she could tell when her clients wanted peace, if not quiet.
I started to work on my usual, but he was still watching me, and I was starting to feel ashamed of myself. “She’s half your age.”
He laughed. “Are you going to jail me for that now?” He turned and began eating.
“You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“It is only premarital sex if you are planning on getting married.”
I spoke out of the corner of my full mouth. “You should be even more ashamed.”
He kept eating, finally replying between bites, “You are such a prude.”
“Pervert.”
“Jealous.”
I told him about Al’s description of the shooter, and we were through it, but he remained quiet for a while. I continued with the story of the two fishing vests, the flies, and Al Monroe. He agreed with the theory that George was probably up there somewhere. He asked if I’d checked the Forest Service sign-in sheets. I told him we had. He was thinking, “Largish with long maybe dark hair?”
“Um-hmm.”
“Interesting.” He ate some more of his breakfast. “Were they hand-tied or store bought?”
“What?”
“The flies. If they were new and store bought, then maybe they mentioned to someone where they were going?”
“I’ll radio up and ask Ferg.”
We finished breakfast, and I asked Dorothy to fix up a usual for an occupant. She put it in one of the Styrofoam containers and handed it to me with a worn smile but with no questions. I tried to mend some fences. “I’ll probably be back for dinner.”
“I’ll set the name cards.”
We climbed the stairs behind the courthouse; the weather hadn’t changed, and I was beginning to think we’d gotten a reprieve. When we got back to the office, Lucian was gone, but Ruby was waiting for me. I handed her Bryan’s breakfast.
“His nose is shattered.”
“I’m feeling bad enough, you don’t have to add to it.”
“You’re not feeling anywhere near as bad as he is. They patched him up, but they say he’s going to have to go up to Billings to get it properly set.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I waited for more, but there wasn’t any. “Could you see if you can raise Ferg on the radio?”
She flipped the toggle switches on the console and reached for her headphones, holding one side up to her ear. “Why, you want to beat on him, too?”
I continued into my office with Henry close behind. He occupied the seat in front of my desk and was smiling. I sat in my chair. “So, you wanna be a deputy?”
He looked at the accumulated clutter on my desk and the general disorder of the place. I had to admit, it didn’t look all that inviting. “I think I might work better outside the framework.”
“Well, we do have a moral turpitude clause.”
The little red light on my phone began blinking, and I was starting to get an idea of how angry Ruby was with me; she never used the intercom, she always came to the door. I picked up the receiver and spoke cautiously, “Yep?”
“Ferg, line one.” And she was gone.
I hit it. “Ferg?” The connection wasn’t great, but I could hear him. “Where have you covered?”
Static for a while. “I started with Crazy Woman, middle fork of Clear Creek, and I’m headed up to Seven Brothers.”
“I’ve got a question for you. Were those flies hand-tied or store bought?”
“Store bought, definitely.” He paused. “I think they’re from the Sportshop.”
“That is good news. Thanks.” I hung up the phone and looked at Henry.
“Do you want me to go out to the Espers and see who shows?”
“They also serve who stand and wait.”
“Yes, but the pay is shit.” He looked around the office. “Have you got any books around here?”
“I think I’ve got a paperback copy of Crime and Punishment ”-I scouted out the bookshelves-“and I’ve got Lolita around here somewhere.”
“I will pick something up.”
As he left, Ruby appeared at the door, and I noticed he gave her a wide berth. “I need to talk to you.”
I did my best to look repentant, but I had the feeling contrition wasn’t suiting me. “Yes?”
“You need to talk to Bryan. I don’t think he fully understands why it is he’s here.”
I thought of all the things I had to do. “Okay.” She stayed there, leaning against the doorway and looking at me. “What?”
“You’re a sheriff. You’re supposed to stand against such things, not for them.” I made the mistake of smiling. “It’s not funny.” She was really angry now, the blue in her eyes was neon. “You could have called him in and talked to him, you could have fired him… There’s no end to the options that were open to you, but no, you waited, you planned, and you executed. Your actions were deliberate and with forethought.”
I waited, then sighed, and continued on toward my doom. “Are you through?”
“No, I’m not.” She was off the doorway in an instant and stood directly in front of my desk. She looked like she was about ten feet tall. “I’m thinking I should hand in my resignation.”
“Ruby, I’m sorry.” She glared at me, still not giving an inch. “I was sorry when I did it.” I leaned back in my chair, just trying to get a little distance between us. “I’m mortified. It makes me sick.” I sighed again, looking out my window to avoid those eyes. “How is he?”
“He looks horrible, both his eyes are black and his nose is… He has tubes in his nose.”
“Ruby, please…” I got up and went around the desk, but she backed away, and the response was ferocious.
“Don’t touch me.”
I went ahead and stepped forward, opening my arms and pulling her in. She didn’t struggle, and I wrapped her up. “I’m sorry. I really am sorry.” I could feel how thin and fragile she was; her shoulder blades stuck out like sparrow wings.
“I am so ashamed of you.”
“I know, I know.” I held her there for a while, just listening to her breathe.
“You know this could be misconstrued as sexual harassment?”
“I hope so… How’s Lucian doing?”
I felt her stiffen a little. “Don’t make your problems worse by asking.”
I let her go and held her out to look at her. “Yes, ma’am.” The bell on the front door sounded as somebody pushed it open; we both looked toward the doorway. “You see to that, I’ll go talk to Bryan.” I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and headed for the holding cells. When I got there, he was lying on his bunk, the remains of breakfast sat on the floor beside him, and the door still hung open. I went in and sat on the opposite bunk again. “Didn’t like your breakfast?”
His arms were folded behind his head, but his face turned to me as I propped my Sorels up on the edge of his bed. “I’m just not hungry.”
“I’d take advantage of the good stuff, we switch over to potpies on the weekend.”