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Wild Stallion Ranch.

Tammy and me finished the morning chores and ran into the house for breakfast. Sitting at the end of the table, Travis wasn’t wearing a happy face. He and Billy were arguing about something, and they stopped as soon as Tam and me came into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” asked Tammy. She wasn’t too good with a lot of tension circling around her. Fight or flight. Made her get ready to run. Seen it happen a hundred times.

“Nothing,” snapped Travis. “Billy and me aren’t seeing eye to eye on something. Nothing important.” He jumped up to the stove, shoveled ham and eggs onto our plates and set them on the table in front of us.

It must be important if Travis is pissed at Billy. That never happens.

I glanced across the table at Billy, and he wasn’t saying a damned thing. Best to let it lie.

Tammy was ready to jump and run just from the tension floating around in the room, but she held on and said, “I’ll make more toast.”

“Thanks, Tam. I can use more toast.” She stood behind me stroking my hair while she waited on the toaster to pop, and I could feel how stressed she was.

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.

Molly had given the juvies in the run their breakfast already, butthe container meant for Art Andrews sat on the counter in the break room.

He was still sleeping off his big druggie binge. Made me wonder if Art had been close to an overdose when I brought him in. Might have saved his life unintentionally. Not much worth saving there. Course people always did big turnarounds—some people dug in and made their lives better. Others kept on going until they buried themselves in the white stuff.

Hard to tell which way it was gonna go.

Ted and I cuffed the two paint-spraying kids and took them out of their cells and put them in the back of Travis’s squad. They had an early arraignment in juvie court.

“Don’t worry, boys. Your parents and your lawyers are gonna meet you at the courthouse and chances are better than good that both of you will be released on bail into your parents’ custody.”

“Yeah, that’s what we’re scared of,” said Todd. “Our parents are gonna fuckin kill us dead. I’d rather stay here.”

“We’ll be grounded until next year,” said Darryl Levine. “At least I will be. Todd’s parents are way nicer than mine.”

“Probably none of your parents will be in a good mood today,” I said. “Best to keep your mouths shut and your heads down. Don’t look at anybody and say nothing unless the judge asks you a question.”

Darryl sucked in a breath. “The judge gonna like…say stuff to us?”

“Uh huh. He might decide to give you a little advice about not showing up in his court again—something like that. Judges are like that. They like to give you a warning. You show up in front of that same judge again andwhammo.”

Todd jumped and I almost laughed out loud.

“Down will come that fuckin gavel and you’re off to Juvie detention in Great Falls. Enjoy your stay, boys. You might bethere for a couple of years—depends how grumpy the judge is on that particular day you show up.”

“Geeze,” said Todd. He looked over at Darryl. “We better not get caught ever again.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” said Darryl.

I closed the back door of the squad on them, and Travis slid behind the wheel.

Harrison County Court House. Coyote Creek.

When we got to the back door of the courthouse, Travis explained to the boys what was happening to them. “At the rear entrance, I’m gonna hand you boys off to the bailiff. He’ll take you downstairs to a holding cell. You wait there until it’s your turn to stand in front of the judge, and the bailiff will come get you and take you to the courtroom. Once you get there, he’ll hand you off to your lawyer. Simple. Nothing to worry about here.”

“Yep. Sounds simple,” said Todd. “I got it, Sheriff. Thanks for the stay in your nice jail. Tell Tammy I like her and me and Darryl are sorry about messing up her truck. Tell her the burgers and fries from the diner were extra good.”

“I’ll pass that along, boys. Good luck with the judge.”

“Thanks, Sheriff Frost.”

Travis and I walked around to the front of the building and inside we found out which courtroom was hearing juvenile cases.