Thirty Five
A harsh shaft of sun from a skylight burned red through his eyelids, and Joe awoke covered in sweat with a screaming headache on a metalframed cot in the Teton County jail. He turned his head to the side, away from the light, and the movement created a wash of nausea that rose in him. He staggered to the metal toilet in the corner of the cell, threw up, and leaned against the cold cinderblock wall, breathing deeply. His mouth tasted like he’d been sucking on pennies.
“Morning, sunshine,” a Secret Service agent said, standing outside his cell. Joe recognized him as the one he had first seen in the sheriff ’s office.
Joe looked at his wrist, but saw a pale oval of skin where his watch should have been.
“What time is it?” he croaked, noticing they had also taken his belt, boots, and everything in his pockets.
“Noon.”
“Man,” Joe said, “my head is killing me.”
“You took a few lumps,” the agent said. “By the way, you popped your stitches last night so the doctor sewed you up again.”
Joe raised his arm and saw the dried bloodstains on his clothes, then raised his shirt and looked at the new bandages. There was no mirror in the cell, but when he rubbed his unshaven face he felt several cuts and bruises, and his bottom lip was swollen and sore. Boy, he thought, if Marybeth could see me now, she’d be so proud.
“I’m Agent Cameron,” the man said, “and you, my friend, are in a shitload of trouble.”
Joe looked over at Cameron, the the words setting him back.
“What do you have against the vice president?”
Cameron asked bluntly.
“Jeez . . .” Joe moaned, “I’ve got nothing against him.”
“Then why’d you go after him that way?”
“I didn’t go after him,” Joe said. “I went after Don Ennis.”
Cameron shifted, peering at Joe through the bars.
“Yeah,” Cameron said, “that’s what we thought. But Mr.
Ennis tried to make the case that you were attacking the VP and he stepped in front of him to protect him from you.”
Joe said, “You were there, weren’t you? You know it didn’t happen that way.”
“We wouldn’t have let it happen that way,” Cameron said. “But maybe you were swinging for the VP and hit the wrong guy?”
“I hit who I was trying to hit,” Joe said.
Cameron showed a slight smile. “Yeah, it was obvious you were after him and not the VP. I was just testing you. But Mr. Ennis seems to call a lot of the shots around here, and I think he would like you to stay in this jail cell a lot longer.”
Joe reached up with both hands and smoothed his hair back. There were lumps on his scalp too, and he winced.
“Have I been charged with something? Can I talk with the sheriff ?” Joe asked.
“I don’t think the sheriff is back yet,” Cameron said. “He had to leave early this morning because there was some kind of accident on the river. Apparently, someone drowned in the whitewater.”
Joe almost didn’t make the connection, but when he did he said, “Oh, God.”
“They’re looking for her body downriver, I guess,”
Cameron said.
Joe closed his eyes tight and slid to the floor.
“Was she worth punching her husband and landing in jail?” Cameron asked.
Yes, Joe thought, yes she was.
Joe sat at a conference table in the sheriff ’s office with Randy Pope, Trey Crump, and Tassell. His hands were handcuffed and on the table in front of him. The skin on his knuckles, where he had hit Don Ennis, was peeled back and scabbed over.
Trey was seated next to Joe. “I came over as soon as I heard. Mr. Pope called me last night.”
“Does Marybeth know?” Joe asked. “I haven’t been allowed to make a call.”
Trey raised his eyebrows sympathetically. “I called her this morning.”
Joe looked down. He could not imagine what Marybeth must be thinking. “How did she take it?”
“Not well,” Trey said, “but I told her we’d figure a way out of this.”
He leaned into Joe. “I heard about what happened with Smoke Van Horn. I know you’re not pleased about what you had to do, but I’m damned proud of you, Joe. After that bear, you had me worried.”
“Me too,” Joe confessed.
Tassell cleared his throat. He looked wrung out and angry. “I’d like to remind everyone here that Mr. Pickett is under arrest for assault, so I’d appreciate you not having side conversations. Letting him out of the cell to talk with you is a courtesy.”
“Thank you,” Joe told Tassell. He looked at Trey, said, “Thanks for telling Marybeth that, but I did hit the guy. My only regret is that I didn’t shoot him—”
“Joe,” Trey cautioned, interrupting, “watch what you say here.”
Joe was struck by the wisdom of that and went silent.
“We might have a way to get you out of this,” Pope said.
Joe turned to him. Pope sat on the other side of the table with Tassell.
“I talked with Don Ennis an hour ago at the hospital,”
Pope said. “He was very distraught, as you can guess. The poor guy lost his wife this morning. But he did say he’d consider dropping the charges if we would transfer you out of here.”
“Was he in the boat when it happened?” Joe asked.
Pope looked back, confused. “What difference does that make? Didn’t you hear me? He said he’d consider dropping the charges.”
“Who was in the boat?”
Pope angrily slapped the table and addressed Joe’s supervisor. “Trey, we have a terrible situation here, as you know.
We could have one of our game wardens charged with aggravated assault—the second employee in this same district to get arrested. If that happens, it will look like the governor has completely lost control of this agency. I risk my reputation to get this guy out of it, and he doesn’t seem to care!”
Trey sighed heavily and leaned toward Joe. “Joe, what’s going on? We could both lose our jobs over this.”
“His wife drowns but he has the presence of mind to negotiate my transfer?” Joe asked. “Does that sound like a grieving widower to you?”
“Shock affects people in different ways,” Pope said weakly, again talking to Trey as if he couldn’t deal with Joe.
“Don Ennis has a direct line to the governor, Trey. He’s not somebody we can fuck around with anymore. We let you give Will Jensen a long leash, and then Joe here. Things couldn’t have gone worse under your watch. Now we’ve got to think of our survival, and I’m talking about the whole agency.”
“What did you offer him?” Joe asked Pope. “Did you tell him we’d approve Beargrass Village?”
Pope flushed red but didn’t answer.
“You did,” Joe said.
“I’m trying to keep you out of jail!” Pope shouted.
“Why can’t you get that?”
Joe stood up, and he noticed that both Trey and Tassell pushed back from the table in case they needed to restrain him.
“Don Ennis caused Will Jensen to break,” Joe said. “He started to do the same to me. He probably killed his wife this morning. And you”—he pointed awkwardly across the table with his handcuffs at Pope—“just gave him what he wanted all along.”
The room was silent, until Pope asked, “Can you prove a single thing you’re saying?”
Joe hesitated. “Some of it,” he said. “But you’ll need to give me the rest of the day to nail it all down.”
Trey looked from Pope to Tassell. “Let’s give Joe a chance here. Is that all right with you, Sheriff ?”
“I don’t think I like where this is headed,” Sheriff Tassell said, shaking his head. “I don’t think I like it at all.”