Lillie patted Kenny on the shoulder and followed Quinn through the secured door and down a long hallway with linoleum floors and fluorescent lights back to his office. It almost felt like old times, when Lillie had been assistant sheriff, working with Quinn those first few years after he’d come home and taken over after his Uncle Hamp died. She’d been a good friend and solid mentor as he made the transition from the Army into law enforcement.

“I was only messing with you,” Lillie said. “Having kids is the best damn thing in the world. I don’t know what in the world I’d do without Rose. Can you believe she just turned ten? I would’ve invited y’all up to Memphis for the party, but Maggie said you’d been shorthanded around here. Do you need me to come back and get these sorry bastards back in line? I feel bad for Kenny, but you can’t let a man slide off his duties just ’cause he has a sore ass.”

“Offer is appreciated,” Quinn said. “But we’re doing just fine.”

“Boyd Hunnicutt,” Lillie said. “Son of a damn bitch. These white-collar criminals give me the damn creeps. Give me an honest meth head or moonshiner, house creeper, or car thief anytime. At least they put some sweat into it. A man like Hunnicutt isn’t even honest in his thieving. He does almost everything from his desk and behind a computer. I call that being a weak-ass coward.”

“It’s gonna be a long ride back to Memphis for Mr. Hunnicutt.”

“I’ll do my best to explain it all to him,” Lillie said. “And I’ll drive slow.”

Quinn walked over to crack his window, the office overlooking a small parking lot and a chain-link fence around the prisoners’ exercise yard. His office was simple and utilitarian: an old wooden desk, a rickety swivel chair, and locked rack with shotguns and rifles under a framed American flag. Since he’d come back on the job late last year, he’d barely had time to put everything back in its place. The interim sheriff, a full-time shitbird named Brock Tanner appointed by that criminal Governor Vardaman, had stepped into the job as if it would be a permanent position. After Tanner was arrested, Quinn had tossed everything the man owned into a dumpster out back.

“What’s on your mind, Quinn?”

“How’d you know?”

“You got that sullen, kind of quiet way about you today,” Lillie said. “Like someone pissed in your morning coffee.”

“When’s the last time you spoke to Gina Byrd?”