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Miss Brittany just cried, all the while maintaining that they had forced her to hide them, and she really didn’t want to do it. “They made me do it. It was against my will, Sheriff. I’m telling you the truth.”

“Shut up, bitch,” Foster snapped at her. “You said we could hang with you. You lying bitch.”

“You shut the hell up, you asshole,” I hollered at him. “I should’ve stabbed you four times and let you fuckin bleed to death after what you did to Savanna. I’ll save that for another day. Maybe tomorrow while you’re sleeping in your cell.”

“You can’t touch me. I got rights.”

That statement struck me the wrong way. I twisted around in my seat and drove my fist into his face. Purcell ducked out of the way in case I was planning to paste him next.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to do that,” I told Foster. “You’re an asshole. It’s not a complete list of what you are, but it’s a good start.”

“You fuckin’ asshole,” Foster growled.

“Settle down back there,” Billy said from behind the wheel.

“You should’ve shut the fuck up,” I said to Foster. “You should’ve shut your mouth and taken it like a man.”

“Fuck you, Sheriff. I got rights and I’m gonna sue you for assaulting me.”

I cracked him again on the jaw. He fell back against the seat so I kept going, punching him over and over again.

“Travis,” said Billy. “Think that’s enough?”

Foster’s nose was bleeding pretty good. I saw some teeth had become loose and the last punch had split his upper lip. “Enough for now, I guess. How much is enough for what he did to Savanna and for what Purcell did to Tim Morrison? There will never be enough until those needles are jammed into their arms.

Miss Brittany screamed, “Burke is bleeding on me. You have to help him.”

Billy put his hands over his ears and tramped the gas. “I’m turning up the goddamned radio before I have a fucking accident.”

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.

It was late, dark, and snowy when we got back to the station, and Billy and I were both dead tired. We hauled Burke in first and shoved him into the first cell. Then we went back to the squad, and I brought Purcell in. Billy escorted Brittany who still hadn’t stopped crying.

Burke never shut his mouth during the whole process and I had to consider the duct tape option. After I smacked Burke a few times, Purcell had taken it to heart and gone into silent mode and it was a blessing.

I turned out the lights, locked the run and left the three of them in there in the dark to think about their situation.

“We’ll book them tomorrow morning, Billy. I want you to do it, for the practice.”

“Good idea.”

“Let’s go get a beer.”

“Even better idea.”

Dry Run Roadhouse.

We were dragging our asses by the time we got as far as the roadhouse, but I wanted to stop and tell Jack the good news. He was anxious for us to bring in the guy who had stabbed Savanna. That made two of us.

As we walked inside, the band was thumping out a Sturgill Simpson song and the dance floor was jammed.

“Wow, it’s crazy in here tonight,” said Billy. “No empty booths and no tables. We’ll have to sit at the bar.”

“Yeah, our only choice.”

Billy plunked down next to two cute girls who looked a lot alike and I wondered if they were sisters. They were sitting on the other side of him and I heard him ask their names.

“She’s Brenda and I’m Glenda. We’re twins.”