Endangered Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: C. J. Box
him.
“Eldon is right,” she said. “You people look down on folks like us. I see it all the time. When Eldon and Bull take their pump truck out, the property owners act like it’s their fault they’re swimming in their own feces. I saw it when I talked to your wife in the library about supporting our effort to recognize the fact that this town produced a national champion bull rider named Dallas Cates. She just looked at me and nodded her head like she couldn’t wait for me to leave and go back to whatever rock I crawled out from under. And I could see you all setting a trap for that poor kid and putting him in your jail. That’s why Eldon and I came down here. We wanted to set the record straight before you jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
She narrowed her eyes and said, “Dallas was at home when April was beat up and dumped outside of town. She fell in with the wrong crowd. That wasn’t his fault. He’d be here right now if he was healthy enough to drive into town with us. I know you’re thinking that if he drove here all the way from Houston then he should be able to drive the twenty miles from our place, but it isn’t like that. Dallas is the toughest kid you’ll ever meet. He gritted his teeth and drove all the way from Houston in terrible pain, but he didn’t let it get to him until he was home and safe. It’s like he stored up all that pain and waited to let it hit him, and it has now. With all of his injuries and maybe months of recuperating ahead of him, Dallas fought the pain and drove all the way back here to a town that refuses to appreciate anything he’s accomplished.”
To Joe, it was a tour de force of smoke and misdirection. Reed was right. Brenda had coached Eldon on what to say, but Eldon had fouled it up so she had to step in and take over. Brenda was running the show and she no doubt ran the family. Now he knew what he was dealing with.
“Even in his condition, he wanted to come into town with us and see April,” Brenda said, tears forming in her eyes. “He wanted to make sure she was okay, but I told him to stay.”
“Why?” Dulcie asked her.
“Because I know how you people could stack the deck against him,” Brenda said, narrowing her eyes again. “He’s on pain meds and you could get him to say something and twist it back around on him later.”
“We’d never do that,” Reed said defensively.
“
He
would,” Brenda said, pointing at Joe. “I saw how he railroaded Bull right out of our outfitting business.”
Joe said, “I caught him and Cora Lee with a dead six-by-six elk in the back of his pickup three days before the season opener. How is that railroading?”
Brenda Cates ignored the question, and this time Reed didn’t glare at Joe for talking.
She said, “Do you want to know what I think happened to April? I know you probably don’t want to hear it because you all have your sights set on my Dallas, but I thought you might be interested anyway.”
“What’s that, Brenda?” Reed asked. Joe could tell by the set of the sheriff’s jaw that he was trying hard to remain civil.
Brenda looked around, as if inviting everyone else in the room into her conspiracy theory. She lowered her voice and said, “I think April took up with another man—maybe another cowboy. She has the looks, she could pick anyone she wants and they’d go with her. I think she did it to rub Dallas’s nose in it, hoping he’d want to get back together with her. But she picked the wrong man to make Dallas jealous. Maybe that cowboy figured out what she was up to and lost his temper.
“Either that,” Brenda continued, raising her hand and showing two fingers, “or she was hitchhiking her way back home and she got picked up by the wrong people. It could have been just as simple as that. Didn’t I hear that she didn’t have her purse or ID on her?”
Reed nodded.
“Maybe that’s because the people who beat her, robbed her as well. And they probably left her for dead out
“Eldon is right,” she said. “You people look down on folks like us. I see it all the time. When Eldon and Bull take their pump truck out, the property owners act like it’s their fault they’re swimming in their own feces. I saw it when I talked to your wife in the library about supporting our effort to recognize the fact that this town produced a national champion bull rider named Dallas Cates. She just looked at me and nodded her head like she couldn’t wait for me to leave and go back to whatever rock I crawled out from under. And I could see you all setting a trap for that poor kid and putting him in your jail. That’s why Eldon and I came down here. We wanted to set the record straight before you jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
She narrowed her eyes and said, “Dallas was at home when April was beat up and dumped outside of town. She fell in with the wrong crowd. That wasn’t his fault. He’d be here right now if he was healthy enough to drive into town with us. I know you’re thinking that if he drove here all the way from Houston then he should be able to drive the twenty miles from our place, but it isn’t like that. Dallas is the toughest kid you’ll ever meet. He gritted his teeth and drove all the way from Houston in terrible pain, but he didn’t let it get to him until he was home and safe. It’s like he stored up all that pain and waited to let it hit him, and it has now. With all of his injuries and maybe months of recuperating ahead of him, Dallas fought the pain and drove all the way back here to a town that refuses to appreciate anything he’s accomplished.”
To Joe, it was a tour de force of smoke and misdirection. Reed was right. Brenda had coached Eldon on what to say, but Eldon had fouled it up so she had to step in and take over. Brenda was running the show and she no doubt ran the family. Now he knew what he was dealing with.
“Even in his condition, he wanted to come into town with us and see April,” Brenda said, tears forming in her eyes. “He wanted to make sure she was okay, but I told him to stay.”
“Why?” Dulcie asked her.
“Because I know how you people could stack the deck against him,” Brenda said, narrowing her eyes again. “He’s on pain meds and you could get him to say something and twist it back around on him later.”
“We’d never do that,” Reed said defensively.
“
He
would,” Brenda said, pointing at Joe. “I saw how he railroaded Bull right out of our outfitting business.”
Joe said, “I caught him and Cora Lee with a dead six-by-six elk in the back of his pickup three days before the season opener. How is that railroading?”
Brenda Cates ignored the question, and this time Reed didn’t glare at Joe for talking.
She said, “Do you want to know what I think happened to April? I know you probably don’t want to hear it because you all have your sights set on my Dallas, but I thought you might be interested anyway.”
“What’s that, Brenda?” Reed asked. Joe could tell by the set of the sheriff’s jaw that he was trying hard to remain civil.
Brenda looked around, as if inviting everyone else in the room into her conspiracy theory. She lowered her voice and said, “I think April took up with another man—maybe another cowboy. She has the looks, she could pick anyone she wants and they’d go with her. I think she did it to rub Dallas’s nose in it, hoping he’d want to get back together with her. But she picked the wrong man to make Dallas jealous. Maybe that cowboy figured out what she was up to and lost his temper.
“Either that,” Brenda continued, raising her hand and showing two fingers, “or she was hitchhiking her way back home and she got picked up by the wrong people. It could have been just as simple as that. Didn’t I hear that she didn’t have her purse or ID on her?”
Reed nodded.
“Maybe that’s because the people who beat her, robbed her as well. And they probably left her for dead out