“I would, kid,” Lillie said. “But I’d be lying. How about I tell you I’m doing my best?”

“Are you going to shoot those kids?”

“I’d never shoot those kids.”

“What if they try and shoot you?”

Lillie didn’t answer, the question broken up by the sound of Jerry Lee’s barking and Florencia coming back on the phone. Lillie told her to go ahead and cash that second check. She also told Florencia she didn’t know what she’d do without her. Thanking her for being there for Rose when she couldn’t.

Lillie set down her phone.

“Ain’t easy,” Charlie Hodge said.

“How’d you do it?”

“I lied to my kids and told the truth to my wife,” he said. “I never held anything back. Even when I went undercover.”

“I don’t have a wife.”

“Maybe you oughta get one.”

“I don’t need a wife or a husband,” Lillie said. “That’s what I pay Florencia for.”

Charlie Hodge smiled. He sat across from her at a borrowed desk. The remnants of their fried catfish dinner sat between them, both of them working on daily reports for the Old Man. A marshal couldn’t use the damn bathroom without having to log every damn detail.

“Do you date much?”

“Charlie.”

“Don’t mean to be nosy,” he said. “Just hadn’t seen you slow down much these last few years. Longest amount of time I’ve seen you take off is after what happened down in Tibbehah.”

“When I shot Fannie Hathcock.”

Charlie didn’t answer, knowing it was a sore spot for Lillie. She knew she’d done everything right. Reacting a second slower could’ve gotten her killed. But knowing that she’d shot a woman armed with only a silver-plated cigarette case was something that continued to haunt her. Why couldn’t Fannie have just been her damn self and come up with a pistol. She’d been wanting to shoot Lillie since they’d first met.

“She’d nearly beat that Fed to death,” he said. “If you hadn’t killed her then, she would’ve sent someone for you.”

“I know.”

“Maybe hurt your family, too.”

“That had crossed my mind.”

“Maybe some time off,” Charlie said. “After this. Take Rose down to Disney World or something. Go over to Branson and see Donnie and Marie.”

“You must be shitting me,” Lillie said. “Donnie and Marie?”

“Hell, Tony Orlando then,” he said. “Don’t tell me you don’t like Tony Orlando. Everybody loves that song ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree.’ ”

“I’d rather have a lobotomy.”