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“He was beaten up. Yes. Badly beaten for just grabbing his wallet. Seemed a bit much for a mugging.”

“Could we have a copy of that report, sir?” I asked. “We’re trying to find a trail for these kids. They’ve done a lot of damage in our county.”

“There was one other stolen car before that one, and I can dig that report up for you too, if you want it.”

“Thank you. That would be helpful.”

“The kids you’re looking for have names?” asked the sheriff.

“The first two who broke out of detention in Great Falls were Danny Burridge and Stuart Dickinson. Those two beat up our undersheriff and put him in the hospital. He just got back to work this week.”

The sheriff shook his head. “Bad seeds. I don’t recognize their names. Sorry. But I’ll keep an eye out and if anything related happens, I’ll give your office a call.”

I gave him one of our cards. “Thanks for your help, Sheriff. We appreciate it.”

“I’ll have Doris send those reports to your office too as soon as she gets around to it.”

“Thanks.”

We went back to the squad and headed north to Coyote Creek. “What did you think of that sheriff, Tammy?”

“That old guy wasn’t too ambitious. But he’ll help us if he can or said he would.”

“I wouldn’t count on it.” Ted was a bit of a pessimist.

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.

Ted and I got back to our own office and shared what we had found out with Billy and Molly. “Sheriff Grant, down there in Fairfield County will be sending you reports of their stolen vehicles, Molly. One of them included a robbery like ours and the victim was beat up really bad. Had to go to the hospital for a few days.”

“So those kids aren’t exclusive to our county,” said Molly. “I’ll watch for the emails and send a thank you note back to Sheriff Grant.”

“That would be nice, Molly. At first, he didn’t want to help ustoo badly. Ted said he seemed lazy and liked to sit on his butt in his office.”

“Kind of like Billy,” hollered Ted. That made Billy holler and made me and Molly laugh.

“Tomorrow when Harlan comes back to work, we’re going back down to Glenroy to knock on doors until we find somebody who lived there when these kids lived in that town.”

“Might be a lot of door-knocking,” said Molly. “I don’t think I’ve ever been there. How big is the town?”

“Small. Smaller than Coyote Creek.”

Wild Stallion Ranch.

I picked up chicken and side dishes on the way home and took dinner with me. There was no time to cook anything for Travis, Harlan, and Billy. I had to do the chores and feed the dogs right after we ate.

I ran into the kitchen and plunked the bags from Delia’s Deli on the table. “Chicken, potato salad and coleslaw. Best I could do in a hurry. Are you guys starving?”

“Sit down and have a beer, Tammy,” said Travis. “You’re doing everything yourself and it’s too fuckin much. Before we eat, we’ll have a beer with you and you can unwind a little, girl.”

“I’ll be going with you tomorrow, Tam,” said Harlan. “I want to go to Glenroy and knock on doors until my knuckles fuckin bleed. We have to get a lead.”

“Yep. That’s what Ted and I want to do too. We went to the old addresses today and the kids and parents had moved away. New people didn’t know where they went.”

“Check the local real estate office,” said Billy. “You might find a forwarding address from them or from the county registry office. The sale would be registered when the property changed hands, and you can get info from that. It’s free and the clerks there will help you find what you need.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Harlan. “We’ll try that. We have to find those bastards. My worst feeling tells me that Virgil knows the kids in the gang, or even worse, he might be with them.”

“On the way through Conrad East tomorrow, we’ll look in that crack house again,” I said. “Don’t know why he’d be stupid enough to go back there, but he might.”