“I thought about that,” Toni replied, and licked her lips nervously. “With what I overheard on the phone—I think I would qualify, and I’d feel a lot safer with the cops watching us. No insult meant, Maria, but your people don’t know Rod, and I do. I—think he might try something really drastic when he realizes we’re gone.”

“You’re on.” Maria waved her out the door, and David relaxed a little, then joined the lawyer in opening windows and fanning smoke out of the room.

“Sorry about this—” he began, apologetically. The lawyer laughed.

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured him. “I’ve seen weirder, believe me. The worst was the time we got some poor little Haitian girl in here who was so terrified of a curse that she wouldn’t even pick up a pen until we brought in the woman that helped at the dedication. A little smoke is nothing—the obeah brought in chickens, a goat—I thought we were never going to get the goat smell out, and we’re still finding feathers in odd corners!”

David laughed as they chased the last of the smoke out the windows and opened the door to the rest of the office. Then he borrowed the office phone long enough to call in a progress report to Sleighbow and Romulus Insurance. And Mr. Sleighbow was very interested in what Toni Calligan had said before she left. Very interested.

“Thank you, Mr. Horse,” he said, gravely. “I’ll get in touch with the Tulsa P.D. and have them call me as soon as they’ve taken Mrs. Calligan’s statement. If she is that concerned—” he hesitated for a moment “—please remind Ms. Talldeer that she told me she was not Nancy Drew. Urge her to take extreme caution.”

Well, it’s a little too late for that, David thought, with heavy irony. But Sleighbow didn’t know about the past three days; the attack was the one thing that Jennie had insisted on keeping from him. She had pointed out that she could not prove that her attackers had been sent by Calligan. If, however, she could get the thugs picked up, they would very probably sing some fascinating tunes.

At least Sleighbow was concerned for Jennie’s safety. David had to respect that and the man himself. Sleighbow didn’t know Jennie personally; she was just a “hired hand.”

So David made sure to thank the man, and promised him another update as soon as they had any information at all.

The rest of the Shelter volunteers were clustered around a television set as he came out of the little office, and it did not look as if they were watching soaps. Not with the expressions of shock on their faces. “My God!” said one, “Isn’t that Jennie Talldeer?”