“He’ll get over it.You can make a deal with him.”
“What am I supposed to offer?”
“It’s a two-hour drive.You’ll think of something.”
He dragged a hand down his face.
She touched his shoulder.“You’re a fine investigator, and an intelligent man.You’re persuasive.Use those strengths to your advantage.”
He swallowed past the lump in his throat.“I have to go.”
“Should I come with you?”
“No.It won’t help.”
Wade was in a hurry to leave, so he climbed behind the wheel of his truck.He left Nolan Ranch in a cloud of dust.The distance to Last Chance felt like an eternity.He passed Rocksprings, where the new water tower gleamed in the midday sun.He passed Junction, Gilchrist, and Mason.He was too distracted by his thoughts to listen to music.An hour later, his phone rang again.
It was Sheriff Nava.Wade didn’t answer.
He turned on the radio as he drove down the final stretch of highway.A breaking news report astounded him.
Cranking up the volume, he kept listening.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Meredith studied thesheriff’s face as he spoke to his son.
Hendricks appeared pleased, as if he enjoyed getting a rise out of Wade.After he ended the call, he tucked his phone away and turned to look at Meredith.He assessed her with a cool blue gaze.They were alone in the station, with vertical steel bars between them.
Sheriff Hendricks didn’t resemble Wade in the least.He was stout and barrel chested where Wade was tall and lean.He had thinning gray hair and the weathered features of an outdoorsman.His slow perusal of her face and figure turned her stomach.Refusing to be cowed, she squared her shoulders and examined him in return.
“What brings you to Last Chance?”he asked.
“I was just passing through.”
“On the way to where?”
“Oklahoma.”
“Family visit?”
“Something like that.”
His eyes narrowed at her vague responses.“What do you do for Wynona?”
“Whatever needs doing.”
“Is Wade on that list?”
She didn’t answer.
“I’m surprised by how upset he was to learn you were in my custody.It’s almost as if he thinks I can’t be trusted with you.”
She took the threat for what it was and tried not to show fear.
“You’re not his usual type,” Hendricks said.“He likes them classy and well-groomed.You’re just a backwoods wildcat, fresh from the holler.”
Meredith flushed at the insult.
