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“I told Foster he’d get a call on Monday and that will be soon enough. We ain’t running the Holiday Inn here, Molly, and Burke Foster is not screwing my weekend up. No lawyer is going to rush over here to talk to him until Monday anyway.”

“Probably true.”

It took Billy a couple of hours to go through the booking procedure three times in succession. By the time he finished up with Brittany, he was doing well and not having to look at the manual.

“Nice job, Sheriff,” I said to him and he grinned.

I ran across to the diner and picked up five of their burger specials. After handing three off to the prisoners in the run, Billy and I sat in the office and ate ours in peace and quiet. Molly had already gone home to enjoy the rest of her weekend.

“What’s next?” asked Billy. “We don’t have to work today.”

“Got some room on your credit card?”

“Lots of room. I don’t buy nothing. I’m pretty cheap that way.”

I laughed. “Brenda’s gonna rack up some charges now that she’s got you by the balls. I can see that happening.”

Billy shook his head. “Nope. What else?”

“We’re going to the printer in Cut Back and ordering your election material. I’ve seen posters out there already for a couple of the other candidates. You’ve got no time to fuck around.”

“I have no idea what I need.”

“Posters and some handouts with your handsome face on them. People have to know who you are or they won’t vote for you.”

“You think stuff like that will help?”

“Yep. It’s what you need. Public exposure. Let’s go. Lock the run and I’ll lock the front door.”

We exited the building through the back, and as we passed the door to the run we could hear Burke hollering at us. “That guy was a born pain in the ass. Be glad when he’s on death row.”

Wainfield Printing. Cut Bank.

We were going over Billy’s order with the salesperson helping him when Wyatt Thompson came into the print shop and started talking to me.

Thompson gave me a grin. “I saw the Harrison County squad parked out there, Sheriff Frost, and I was wondering if you could spare me ten minutes over at Katie’s to give me the story on Burke Foster and Roger Purcell.”

“Sure. I guess I can do that. The people need to know that the killers are behind bars.” I grinned when I got an idea. “I’ll give you a great story in exchange for you doing a little feature on Billy Johnson running for sheriff and putting his mug in the paper so the voters can have a look at him.”

Billy was shaking his head and saying no, but I ignored him.

“We can work out a deal like that,” said Thompson. “Great idea. I’ve featured one of the other candidates already and it’s only fair to give Billy equal billing. I’m happy to do it, Sheriff.”

“You go on over there,” I said. “We’ll be along in a few minutes.”

As Thompson left the print shop, I turned back to Billy. “You need all the press you can get, Billy. The election’s coming up fast, and you’re up against some local guys that people in the county are familiar with. Wyatt can introduce you to the voters and make you a familiar face too.”

Billy nodded, looking a little unsure. “I know what you’re trying to do, Travis, but I'm ready for the job. I’ve been working hard to learn everything I can from you, and I believe I can make a difference.”

“Course you can. Let’s go across the road and you can say those very same words to Wyatt Thompson.”

Katie’s Good Eats. Cut Bank.

Thompson had a booth for us and as soon as we sat down, the waitress brought us coffee and pie. I wasn’t hungry for pie, but Billy was usually hungry for anything.

Wyatt had a notebook and pen ready and also a tape recorder sitting on the table.

“I’d rather not be recorded,” I said, and he put the recorder away and picked up his pen, ready to take notes.