“We saw the aftermath of all the excitement, Sheriff. I’m really sorry we missed it.”
“We’re sorry you missed it, too.”
“Your house is a crime scene, but we didn’t put tape across your front door. Wade and some deputies boarded up the window Beau broke in. My people are finished up inside, so you can go back in. As for the van, it’s still smoldering and the fire chief roped it off. Is Savich all right?”
“He will be, but he won’t be doing push-ups for a while. Thank God his wound wasn’t deep, just really painful. He’ll be in the hospital overnight, just to make sure. Give him a week or so, says the doctor, and he’ll be able to sleep on his back again.”
She listened to Glen Hodges sing Savich’s praises, then he laughed. “We’ve got a three-way bet going here as to what time Sherlock will show up in the morning, if it takes her that long.”
“Really,” Katie said, “there’s no way for her to get here that fast, even driving.”
“You’ll see, Sheriff. We’ll come over and visit Savich tomorrow. We’re doing paperwork here, and then Deputy Osborne will take us to the local B&B—what is it called? Mother’s Best?”
“Mother’s Very Best,” Katie said. “Mrs. Beecham’s grandmother named it that back in the forties. It’s a nice place—on the frilly side—and the food is to die for. If you’ve never had grits before, you’re in for a real treat.”
“Excellent. Oh, Sheriff,” Agent Hodges paused a moment, then said, “I’m, er, really sorry, but there’s something else that you need to know, something you might not be expecting. You know I told you the truck was roped off? Well, that was after it was checked over real good. We decided not to bother you with it right away, what with your heading off to the hospital with Agent Savich, and Wade agreed with us.”
Didn’t need to bother me with something?
Keeping her voice mild and easy, she asked, “What didn’t you think was important enough to notify me about, Agent Hodges?”
“Well, it’s not exactly that it’s not important . . . it’s like this, Sheriff: There was no body inside the van.”
11
W hat?”
“It looks like Clancy—big gut and all—got out before the van blew,” Agent Hodges said. “Of course, he had lots of motivation. Wade called all the county sheriff’s offices and all area police departments, and the state police. He gave them all the particulars and a description of Clancy. We figure he’s got to be in bad shape, I mean, he did crash the van hard into that tree, and Wade told me you’d shot him in the arm or shoulder, so he’s got to be in pretty bad shape.
“As I said, we’ve already got a manhunt going. Any stolen cars will be reported directly to us. We’ll find Clancy.
“I’m really sorry we’ve got to add this to the mix, Sheriff. As for Beau, the coroner has his body. There’ll be paperwork for you to do, but I guess you know that. And I’m sure you’ll be getting a call first thing in the morning from the TBI.”
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation—oh yeah, she’d get lots more than a call. But that was tomorrow. At this moment, she was so mad at Agent Hodges that if she’d been within arm’s reach she would have clouted him in the head, really hard. She told herself keeping calm was her forte and she used that now, her voice still smooth and mild. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight. You decided not to bother me with this small detail, Agent Hodges? It didn’t occur to you that since I’m the sheriff I should be called immediately?”
“Well, ma’am, we’ve got a lot going on here—”
“You just made a big mistake you will not repeat, Agent Hodges. I’m the sheriff of Jessborough, I run things here, you don’t, regardless of anything my deputy might have said.”
“Now wait a minute, Sheriff. I’m sorry about the delay, but it is our case.”
“I don’t need to speak to you any longer, Agent Hodges. Put Wade back on the phone.”
“Yo, Katie. Come on now, don’t be pissed.”
She pictured driving her truck over him, maybe letting the back tires with their cast-aluminum wheels sit on him, really settle in and get comfortable. Savich was right. She should boot his butt to the Tennessee line and hand him over to North Carolina or Virginia or Georgia—she had lots of choices. Hey, Kentucky sounded good. She said, “You should have called me immediately, Wade, not agreed with the Feds.”