Dodge the Bullet (31 page)

Farley rubbed his temples and tried to
think. What the hell had happened? Miguel said they’d been on the
lookout for someone they expected to cause trouble. Said Dodge had
shot him, but in his arm and not enough to kill him. Then Miguel
had heard another shot before the car exploded. The only thing for
sure was that the stiff couldn't fill in the gaps.

“Sheriff, take a look at this.” His deputy
held what looked like a charred cell phone. “One of the firemen
found it about twenty-five feet beyond the dead guy.”

Farley placed a glove on his hand and took
it from the deputy. “Looks like it’s time for the dead guy to get a
new phone.” He sighed as he dropped it into an evidence bag. “We’ll
run it for prints, send it to the crime lab and see if we can get
something. Anything else before they bag him?” He pulled his cell
from his belt when he felt it vibrating. His deputy shook his head
no as he turned away. “Sheriff Farley.”

“Sheriff, this is Sarah Woodward. Do you
have any information about the fire or the trespasser?”

“I should ask the same of you. You shouldn't
have left before I'd cleared you.”

“Does that mean you don’t know anything, or
are you going to hold the information over my head until I answer
your questions?”

Farley sighed and rubbed at the throbbing
nerve in his neck. “It would be in your best interest to answer my
questions, Mrs. Woodward. We don't have much beyond an unidentified
body, a burned out car, and attempted arson.”

###

“So you don’t know anything,” Sarah said.
She felt the extra weight added to her already burdened shoulders.
“I’ll be happy to answer your questions, Sheriff, when Dodge is
conscious and I’m sure he’s going to be okay. Until then, nothing
else matters.” She closed the phone, shrugged her shoulders and
handed the phone back to Tommy before taking her seat again.

“Sarah Woodward?” A nurse came around the
entrance to the waiting room.

She bolted from the chair. “Yes.”

“Mr. Dodge is awake. He’s asking for
you.”

Sarah gave Tommy a hopeful smile before
following the nurse around the corner and down the hall. When she
paused near a closed door, Sarah reached out and touched her arm.
“Before I go in, what can you tell me about his condition?”

The nurse looked over the chart. “He’s
conscious and appears lucid. We’ve stitched up his head and the
gash on his leg. The leg needs to be watched for infection. He had
some minor burns on his arms, but nothing bad.” She took a deep
breath and smiled. “All in all, I’d say he’s pretty lucky from how
the paramedics described the scene.”

Sarah nodded and cautiously pushed the door
open. Dodge had four stitches over his brow. His eyes were closed
and his bandaged leg, elevated over a pillow, lay under the thin
white blanket. Her chest constricted at the sight of him, pale in
the light of from halogen bulb. An IV dripped into his arm. She
moved to the chair closest the bed, but couldn’t sit down.

She stood beside him, watched his chest rise
and fall in a steady rhythm and finally eased her hand between the
bed and the rail to touch his fingers. They felt cold and she
adjusted her arm so that her whole hand covered his. Why didn’t
they give him warmer blankets, she wondered. She felt his fingers
move beneath hers and watched raptly as his eyes opened to
slits.

“Hey.” His voice sounded groggy. “Are you
okay?”

Sarah’s breath hitched. “Am I okay?” She
squeezed his hand and brushed a patch of hair off his forehead.
“Are
you
okay?”

“I’ve been better.” The corner of his mouth
tilted in a feeble attempt at a smile. “What happened?”

“Miguel said some guy tried to torch the
barn and that his car exploded.”

Dodge closed his eyes, rolling his head from
side to side on the pillow. “Someone tried to torch the barn. I
shot him.” He opened his eyes and looked at her. “I don’t remember
an explosion. Miguel?”

“He’s fine. Apparently you shielded him from
the blast.” She sat in the chair when she noticed his eyes
struggling to look up at her face. “Do you know who he was?”

Dodge tried to clear his throat, motioned
for her to retrieve a cup of water from the side table. “No and I
didn’t recognize his voice.” He took a long sip through the straw.
“Did the sheriff take him in for questioning?”

“He’s dead.”

“Damn.”

Just when she thought he’d drifted off to
sleep, his eyes opened and he grasped her hand. “But you’re
okay?”

Sarah stood and leaned over the rail so she
could move her face to his. “Yes, A.J., I’m fine.” She kissed his
lips and rubbed the tip of her nose against his. “Get some rest,
baby. I’ll be right here until they kick me out.”

He tried to smile and let his eyes drift
closed. A single tear slid from her eye and landed on his thin
hospital gown. She watched, transfixed as the spot grew larger and
then slowly, slowly disappeared. By the time the tear stain
disappeared, Dodge was asleep. She settled into the chair and
watched him sleep.

###

Sheriff Farley nearly fell into his chair in
the tiny office of the Hailey Sheriff's department. He reached for
the mug on his desk, hoping he’d rinsed it out the day before.
“Damn” he said when the congealed goo at the base of the cup stared
back at him. He put the mug back on the coaster and gave up the
idea of having more coffee.

He’d come in to see if his team had lifted a
fingerprint from the cell phone they’d found and to make a call to
the hospital for Dodge’s status. He'd just reached for the phone
when the only woman in the department knocked on the door he’d left
ajar. “Sheriff, can I come in?” Her high-pitched octave set his
teeth on edge, especially after so little sleep.

Farley waved her in and hoped she’d have
brought him coffee like a good female employee should. He leaned
back in his chair and scowled when she stood before him holding a
single sheet of paper.

“We got two prints off the phone and we’re
running them through the database now. What we thought was charring
on the edges of the phone turned out to be soot. The damn thing
rang while we were trying to get prints off.”

Farley sat up in his chair. “Did you answer
it?”

“No sir, that would have compromised the
fingerprints, but we did get the number and a good sized call
history.”

Farley nodded his head like a damn bobble
head doll, but couldn’t seem to make it stop. “All right then.” He
took the list of phone numbers from her hand. “How soon will we
know about the prints and the numbers?”

“As soon as we hear, you’ll hear.” The woman
shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Have you heard
about Dodge yet? Is he still unconscious?”

“I was just about to call the hospital.” He
reached for the phone and began dialing. “If he’s conscious, I'll
need a ride to the hospital. Tired as I am, I'd fall asleep behind
the wheel.”

###

Kimberly sat at her desk in Senator Benjamin
Burwick’s Washington office frantically searching the internet.
She’d wanted to call Tommy that morning to see if anything had
happened at the ranch last night, but she’d dropped her cell phone
as she'd exited the small aircraft. The phone bounced down five
metal steps and suffered a quick and painful death when stepped on
by Heratio Martinez, the Senator’s press secretary. She didn’t dare
call from the office, so she searched the internet for hometown
news. Finding nothing, she walked to the cappuccino machine in the
corner of her office and contemplated calling her mom for
information. Connie Weston was as good as the morning paper when it
came to the latest news.

She heard the familiar pacing sounds from
Benji’s office along with a muffled curse. His behavior ratcheted
up her apprehension considerably.

Kimberly jumped when the senator opened his
door and poked his head into the reception area. “Kimberly? Have
you heard from Fred Saxton?”

She nearly gasped at his appearance. He
looked like a feral dog that’d gone too long without food. “No,
Sir, I haven’t.” She swiftly moved behind her desk in search of
safety. “Senator, is something wrong?”

He was so distracted, standing in the
doorway fingering his phone as if a genie could appear if he rubbed
hard enough. “Huh? No, no. Listen.” He moved into the reception
area and started kneading a pencil he’d pulled from the holder she
kept on her desk. “I’m expecting a call from Colorado. It’ll
probably come in on my cell, but if it happens to be routed through
the office, let me know. No matter what I’m doing.”

“Okay,” Kimberly said slowly. “Who will the
call be from, Sir, so I’ll know when to interrupt you?”

He hesitated a moment before answering. “An
old friend.”

“Okay, Sir. You’ve got a meeting with
Senator Manning at ten to discuss the appropriations bill and I’ll
have your notes ready in just a minute.”

Benji nodded and closed himself back in the
office.

The
ringing phone woke Sarah from a fitful sleep. She answered quickly,
hoping to not to disturb Dodge. “Hello?” She cleared the sleep from
her throat.

“Mrs. Woodward? It’s Sheriff Darren
Farley.”

“Yes, Sheriff.” Sarah stood up and stretched
her back. “Do you have any information for me?”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d have some
information for me. I understand Dodge is conscious. I’m on my way
to question him now.”

She looked at Dodge as his eyes fluttered
open. He still seemed pale, but his gaze was clear and peaked with
interest. She didn’t want him questioned until he felt stronger. “I
don’t think now is a good time, Sheriff. He’s awfully weak
and--”

“Now’s fine, Sarah,” Dodge said. “Tell him
to come on.”

“Are you sure?”

Dodge nodded. Sarah gave the sheriff his
room number and replaced the phone. “You look exhausted,” he said
and reached out for her hand. “Why don’t you go home and get some
rest. I’ll have Farley put one of his men at the ranch until this
thing’s settled.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Sarah sat down and
threaded her fingers through his. “I'm not letting Farley
interrogate you alone.” She tried to stifle a yawn. “Besides, the
nurse said you might go home this afternoon.” When he tried to
protest, she held up her hand. “Save your breath. I’m staying.”

“When did they move me? The last thing I
remember is the emergency room.”

“You got some pretty good drugs in your
system not long after they brought me back. It took about an hour
for them to move you up here. I’m surprised you don’t remember. You
made a bit of a fuss about the bright lights in the hall.”

He shook his head, rubbed his eyes with his
fingers. “My head feels like somebody’s used it as a soccer ball.”
He inclined his head to look at her. “I wish you’d go home and get
some sleep.”

“Can’t. I promised your family I’d stay.”
She thought of them, all six sisters and a few of the
brothers-in-law whose kids were old enough to be left alone during
the night, and the quiet family patriarch who’d perched himself in
the waiting room.

Dodge looked surprised. “My family’s been
here?”

“Most of the night. When they transferred
you to this room and they each got a peek at you I talked them into
going home for some sleep. I’m sure you’ll have a steady stream of
visitors once you’re released. I doubt I’ll have to cook for a
month.”

Dodge adjusted the bed to sit upright. “What
do you mean you won’t have to cook?”

Sarah stiffened at the tone of his question.
She’d discussed it with his family and they’d all understood when
she insisted he recuperate at her cabin. It made sense. The boys
were gone for at least another week and he’d be right there to
oversee the business. He wouldn’t have to drive to the ranch every
day and she’d be there to take care of him. She thought he might
object and had planned to break it to him gently. Her lack of sleep
made her tongue a lot looser than his brain. “You’re staying with
me. We all agreed.”

“Who all agreed?”

“Your family agreed you staying with me
would be best. They all have jobs and families to take care of and
I’m at the house all the time.”

“You have your own family to take care
of.”

“Not for another week I don’t. By the time
the boys get back you’ll be good as new, or at least as good as you
were before.”

“I’m not imposing on you. I’ll stay at
Dad’s. I don’t need a damn babysitter.”

She was too tired to keep the irritation out
of her voice. “I don’t intend to baby you. You need to rest, you’re
on a lot of medicine, and your wound dressing needs to be changed
every day. I'm the only one with that kind of time on their hands.
End of story.”

“Well, with such a warm invitation, how can
I refuse?”

She straightened the blanket over his chest.
She didn’t mind arguing with him, considering a few hours ago she
didn't know when or if he'd wake up. She turned at the knock on the
door and watched Sheriff Farley enter the room with a baby-faced
deputy. Farley had cleaned up from the night before but his eyes
were red and he trudged into the room like a man who hadn't had any
rest.

“Dodge,” he nodded. “Mrs. Woodward.” He
motioned toward the young man beside him. “This is Deputy Tanner.
He was present at the scene last night.”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t remember
seeing you, Paul.” Dodge’s sarcasm and his familiarity with the
young man eased a fraction of Sarah's apprehension.

“You two know each other?” she asked.

Paul smiled and the glare of his clean
shaven face made the other men appear worlds older. “I'm the
clean-up batter for the Hailey Hornets.”

“Our men's softball league,” Dodge
explained.

“Dodge almost beat my batting average.
Almost,” he added with a wink.