by C. J. Box
“Tell me exactly what happened,” Joe said.
She said, “The younger man got out of the car first and started walking toward my dad. He had a gun. When I looked over at Dad’s face, I saw he didn’t know what was going on. Dad looked scared and angry, and I thought that man was going to hurt him. I had the.22 in my hands and. . I just shot him. When he fell down, the older man started to reach into his jacket and I shot him. Dad yelled at me to stop, but it was too late. I still can’t believe I did it.
“I didn’t think,” she said, crying. “I just started pulling the trigger. I didn’t want to kill them. I just wanted to make them go away.”
“They didn’t identify themselves?” Joe asked.
“No. All they said was, ‘Are you Butch Roberson?’”
Joe pulled her into him and let her cry.
“My dad was finally back with us and he was happy again,” she sobbed. “I wanted him to stay and for everything to be normal. But when those men showed up and I saw that look on my dad’s face. .”
She was clutching him and crying and Joe didn’t know what to do with his hands.
“Afterward,” Joe said, “the two of you drove out to Big Stream Ranch and you dropped Butch off and took his pickup home. Then you got in your own car and drove it here. Do I have that right?”
“He didn’t want me to get in trouble,” she said, her voice muffled in Joe’s shirt. “He made me promise I’d never tell anyone. He said he wanted me to have a second chance.”
“Does your mother know?”
“Oh God, no,” she cried. “Please, oh God, don’t tell her.”
Joe stroked her back.
“Are you going to take me to jail?” she asked.
“No. Your dad made me promise him I wouldn’t when I figured it out. He’s already confessed and he’s not going to take it back. I just told Marybeth. She’s agreed to try and help you deal with this, but you need to promise me you’ll try and that you’ll listen to her.”
“I promise,” Hannah said. “What about Lucy? She’s my best friend.”
“That’ll be up to you,” Joe said, wishing he had Marybeth’s counsel on how best to answer that question.
“Does anyone else know?” she asked.
Joe sighed heavily. “The only other person who was in a position to have seen what happened wasn’t home that afternoon.”
“So I’m not going to jail or prison?”
“I’m not law enforcement anymore.”
He looked toward the house and saw Marybeth at the window, her hand again covering her mouth. Joe feared he’d asked of Marybeth too much.
“Your dad is giving up everything for you,” Joe said. “His freedom, his reputation, and his future. You need to keep your promise to him and make him proud.”
“I will, I will,” she wailed.
Joe stayed with Hannah until she regained control of herself, then said, “Go back to the house now.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“He’s a good dad,” Joe said.
“He’s the best.”
Joe watched her slowly walk back, her shoulders still heaving. Marybeth met her at the door.
Then he dug out his cell phone. It was time to return a call to Governor Rulon.
He needed a job.
FB2 document info
Document ID: fbd-ccbb8c-8556-f143-2187-bfed-0236-b0ff2a
Document version: 1
Document creation date: 15.03.2013
Created using: calibre 0.8.56, Fiction Book Designer, FictionBook Editor Release 2.6.6 software
Document authors :
C. J. Box
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