AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Were you it last night?”
“Yeah, Raymond’s on vacation for three more days.”
“Anything going on?”
“Nahh, it was quiet. I worked up toward Fort Davis, met their new deputy sheriff. Neither one of us had any calls.”
“He all right?”
“Seems to be. He’s a young guy, but talked like he knew what he was doing.”
“Shoot, Hunter, you’re young. I’d guess, looking at those dark circles under your eyes, you’re only in your early nineties.”
“Hah-hah.” She looked behind Joe and saw the Patrol Agent In Charge coming out of his office. The PAIC crooked his finger, giving her the come here sign.
Joe said, “Hell of a way to end a midnight shift.” Hunter gave him a thumbs-up sign and went into the PAIC’s office.
***
“Close the door.”
She closed it and sat down, the big oak desk between them. Carl Horton said, “I got a call from the Chief about an hour ago. We just now hung up. You want to guess what it was about?”
Hunter didn’t say anything.
“Your little run-in with Sheriff Rockman ring a bell? Seems he invited the Chief over last night for steaks and drinks and they talked for quite a while. According to the Chief, Rockman says you’re causing trouble, making it hard to work together,” Hunter started to open her mouth but Carl held up his hands and said, “I know, I know. The bottom line is, the Chief wants a smooth working relationship with the Sheriff’s office. He wants you personally to get with Rockman and patch up your differences.”
“Damn, Carl…” Hunter said.
“I haven’t finished. He wants you to go by and visit with the Sheriff this morning, before you go home.”
Hunter was mad and he could see it.
“Wayne’s going to call the Chief after you have your meeting, tell him how it went. You understand?”
“Oh yeah.”
“You’ve got it to do. You can leave now.”
***
Wayne Rockman was cleaning his .45 Colt Commander when Hunter walked in. Wayne motioned to a chair by his desk and she sat down. The pistol was disassembled, the pieces scattered on a faded blue towel covering the desktop. Rockman assembled the pistol with smooth movements that didn’t waste a single motion. He slid a full magazine in the handle, worked the slide to put one in the chamber, pulled out the magazine and slid one more fat round in the stack, reinserted it into the handle, then put the weapon, cocked and locked, into his holster. Hunter noticed the five small notches on the ivory handles.
Rockman put the towel and cleaning gear into a bottom side drawer, and then leaned forward with his big forearms on the desk and his fingers interlaced. “Nice of you to stop by, Hunter.”
“I’m real big on the spirit of cooperation. You understand.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners, “Oh, you bet.” He looked at a big map of Texas on the wall and said, “You know how large Presidio County is?”
“Bigger than a lot of states.”
“That’s right, and I’m over it. One thing I realized early was there would never be enough law enforcement people to cover it all.” He turned to Hunter, “If we all don’t cooperate, we don’t do a good job. It doesn’t have to be the hard way between us, Hunter. It could be like it used to be. We were real good for each other then, remember?”
“I remember I thought I knew you. Then you showed me a little of what was underneath. That was enough.”
“You mean to tell me you don’t miss all those nights, us making love, you saying you never knew what it was like to be fulfilled until me? Remember that?”
Hunter felt her cheeks grow hot. “I didn’t come here to talk about my personal life. This is business, nothing else.”
