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“Umm… okay. You can come and sit with me.”

“What time should I come?”

“Come about seven.”

“See you then.”

Aw, crap. Now what have I done?

Mad at myself for getting in deeper with Glenda, I unlocked the station and ran inside wanting to pound the crap out of somebody.

The thought of spending hours with Glenda, a woman I hardly knew, in the hospital waiting room was not appealing to me. But why was I feeling this way? I've never been one to back down from a challenge, even if it was a woman like Glenda. So, why was I so hesitant about spending time with her?

I delivered the club sandwiches and fries I’d picked up at the diner and told the prisoners that would be all they were getting from me for the rest of the day. I couldn’t be in two places at once.

“Where the hell is our coffee?” hollered Burke. “Been ten fuckin hours since you said you were going to get it.”

“Yeah, well something came up and it was more important than your coffee. I had to rush up to Sunburst Acres and get a girl to the hospital. That took priority over your fuckin coffee. It’s on now and you’ll get it in the next five minutes.”

“Can I go home now?” Brittany asked between sobs. “I don’t like being in jail. It’s dark and scary in here.”

“Your arraignment is tomorrow, girl. You can tell all your troubles to the judge when you get to court.”

“Can I have a lawyer?”

“Sure you can. All you have to do is ask for one. I’ll tell Molly in the morning and she’ll get you one.”

“Thanks,” said Brittany.

I got the three of them coffee and when I took it into the run I asked Burke if he happened to know Tibor Garrison.

“Yeah, I know him. So what?”

“He beat up the kid he lives with and I’m looking for him, that’s what.”

“You best not mess with him,” snarled Burke. “He’s got it way over you, Sheriff. He’ll beat your fuckin brains out.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

Burke laughed. “When you find him, you won’t be coming back here anytime soon.” That made him and Purcell both laugh.

I locked them up for the night and went for a beer.

Dry Run Roadhouse. Coyote Creek.

Because the highway took me right past the roadhouse, I stopped in for a beer before I went to the hospital. Jack knew everybody in the county and I wanted to find out what he knew about Tibor Garrison.

I claimed my regular stool at the end of the bar and Jack quickly brought me a pitcher of Miller and a clean glass. “Kind of early for you, isn’t it, Travis?”

“Not really. I can drink beer for breakfast and sometimes I do.” I filled my glass and took a long pull on it.

“Something going on? You seem preoccupied.”

“You know Tibor Garrison?”

“Don’t know him, but I know who he is. Runs with bad people and I heard they had a regular run to Canada—like once a week. May or may not be true. Why do you want him?”

“Domestic. He beat up his girlfriend and she’s a kid. I think she’s fifteen.”