Page 81 of Cowboy's Last Stand
“Howdy, Sheriff,” she said to Wade, giving him a sarcastic salute.
“Deputy Hendricks,” he corrected.
“What’s the problem?”
Neither of them replied.
“Let me guess,” she said, gesturing at Jason.“This innocent man was minding his own business, not bothering a soul, and you swooped in to shake him down because he’s an outsider.Is that right?”
Wade rested his hands on his hips and stared at the ground.He looked like a man who’d been working overtime and getting nowhere.
“He’s not shaking me down,” Jason said with patience.“Natalie called him.”
“For what?”
“Someone let the air out of her tire.”
“You’re here for a flat tire?”she asked Wade, incredulous.“My mom’s car got broken into at the hospital last year, and the cops wouldn’t even come out.The sheriff said it wasn’t worth making a report over and hung up on me.”
“He hung up on you?”Wade asked.
“After I cursed at him, yes.”
“Thanks for your concern,” Jason said with a tight smile.Then he pointed at the house.“Go inside and take care of Marcus.”
She lifted her hands in the air and walked away.
Wade didn’t comment on the interruption.He flipped open a notepad.“Your current address is in Montana?”
Jason recited his father’s address, though he didn’t live there anymore.
“What’s your full name?”
“Jason Falcon Reed.”
“Can you spell that?”
He spelled it.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m working for Natalie.”
“What brought you to Last Chance?”
“The highway.”
“You said you hiked across five states.”
“That’s right.I was on the Continental Divide Trail.”
“We’re nowhere near that trail.”
“I took a detour.”
“Why?”
Jason shrugged.Natalie hadn’t told Wade that Jason had come to pay his respects.Jason wouldn’t mention it, either.
