All I can think of is Henry standing in my office today, looking flustered by Caitlin’s offer to hire him at the Examiner. “Is he conscious?”

“In and out. They were gonna chopper him out, but Henry kept mumbling that he wanted to stay where he was, and now the doctor thinks they can probably handle it here. The bone doctor’s on his way to the hospital.”

“Who’s staffing the ER over there?”

“That new doctor, Waheed-something. Foreigner. Henry doesn’t have a doctor of his own. His mother doesn’t think he’s been to see one since your father treated him as a boy.”

Typical male. “Walker, I’m going to ask Drew Elliott to drive over there. Tell the ER doctor that Drew is Henry’s doctor of record. Unless they have a board-certified ER doc, we want Drew in charge of Henry’s care.”

“I hear you, buddy. And thanks. I’ll take care of it.”

“Do you have any idea who attacked him?”

“Just a vague description. Three white males between twenty and thirty.”

“That young?”

“That’s what Lou Ann Whittington said. She’s the secretary over there. It was just luck that she walked outside to leave for the night. She carries a .38 in her bag. She told the bastards to stop hitting him, and when they didn’t, she started shooting. She hit one, and they took off. That lady saved Henry’s life, no question about it.”

“I thought Henry was going to call you for an escort at quitting time.”

“He was supposed to. The dispatcher was waiting for his call, and I had a man ready to go at a moment’s notice. Apparently Henry went out to his Explorer to get a computer drive, and they jumped him. He managed to Mace them, and that stalled things enough so that Lou Ann came out in time.”

“Did Henry recognize any of them?”

“He thinks he might have known one of them, but he couldn’t give me a name. Seems like they meant to kidnap him, but when he resisted they decided to kill him. I’ve got to wait to question him again. Poor guy’s out of his head.”

Annie reaches out and takes my hand. Her skin is cold. I squeeze tight.

“They stole a bunch of Henry’s files, too,” the sheriff adds. “Busted out his back window.”

“What files?”

“Mrs. Whittington thinks it was all his old Klan stuff. He was going to take it all over to his girlfriend’s house. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Anyhow … tell Dr. Elliott to hurry. I’ll let you know if they decide to medevac Henry down to Baton Rouge.”

“Okay,” I say dully. “Thanks.”

When I set down the phone, I realize Annie is scared to death.

“What happened, Daddy? Your face looks white.”