“Thanks,” Winnie said again.
“It’s why I’m a doctor,” Coltrain said, grinning as he left them.
Winnie tried to phone Boone, but he didn’t answer. She was about to try again when Sheriff Hayes Carson came into the room, his brown-streaked blond hair shining in the ceiling light. His dark eyes were turbulent.
“Have you been trying to reach your brother?” he asked Winnie. “Sorry, but they don’t allow cell phones in detention.”
Winnie groaned. “Oh, no.”
“Oh, yes,” Hayes replied. “Don’t worry about calling anybody. I went and bailed him out myself while I was off duty.” He put a hand to his ear. “I swear to God, the guards were writing down the words as he ripped them out. I’ve never heard such language in my life. At least the detective isn’t pressing assault charges, however…”
“He isn’t? Thank goodness,” Winnie exclaimed. “But why?”
“He ran for his life. His employers weren’t so fortunate.” He actually smiled. “Detective Rick Marquez and I have been doing a little sleuthing of our own, after office hours, and with a little help from some friends. It turns out,” he said in a low tone, wary of eavesdroppers, “that Boone’s girlfriend, Misty, and her father are up to their necks in the regional drug traffic network. They ran for it when Marquez sent a DEA agent to their detective agency with a search warrant to have a look around. Last I heard,” he added with a chuckle, “there was a statewide BOLO for them. I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again anytime soon.”
Winnie was almost breathless. “Poor Boone. He and Misty were dating… .”
“I asked him to do it,” Hayes said quietly. “He was mad as hell, too. He said it was interfering with something very personal. I hated to strong-arm him into it, but he was the only person who had any sort of access to her.”
Winnie’s eyes lit up. “He didn’t really care about her, then?”
“No. He couldn’t stand her. He did it to help me cut off one of Jacobsville’s top drug suppliers.”
And Boone didn’t want to because of something personal. Could it be Keely? She thought about the photos Misty’s father’s detective had dug up for him…
“They faked the photos,” she burst out.
Hayes frowned. “What photos?”
“Never mind.”
“How’s Keely?” Hayes asked gently. “I heard about the snakebite from Boone.”
“She’s going to be fine. I still can’t get him on the phone,” she added worriedly.
“By now, he’s made it to the nurses’ station,” he said. “He didn’t stop cursing until we got to town. He’s in the hospital somewhere. He’ll turn up directly.”
Even as they spoke, Boone walked in the door. He was disheveled, red-eyed and bruised.
“I know,” Winnie said when he held up a bruised hand. “The other guy looks worse. Are you okay?”
He shrugged. “A little ragged, that’s all. I called Coltrain. He says she’ll be fine. The minute she can be moved, she’s coming home with us,” he added.
Winnie hesitated. “She’s not going to want to do that.”
“She’s doing it anyway. Has anybody called her mother?” he asked.
Clark came in from the soda machine with two Cokes. “Do you want something to drink?” he asked the two men. He frowned at Boone. “What in hell happened to you?”
“A slight altercation,” Boone said nonchalantly. “I’d like a black coffee, if you’re taking orders.”
Clark grinned. “Anything for my big brother,” he murmured, and left again.
“I’ll drive by Keely’s house and speak with her mother,” Hayes said. “I’m going back in tonight because we’ve got a case pending, but I’m off tomorrow.” He wagged his finger at Boone. “You go home and wash your mouth out with soap.”
Boone put an affectionate arm around his shoulders. “You’re the only man I know who thinks ‘Crackers and Milk’ is a curse.”
“I give talks to little kids about drugs,” he pointed out. “What if I slipped in front of a classroom of kids?”
