“What was going on while people searched wasn’t exactly advertised,” she said. “I didn’t find out the whole story until I came on with the sheriff’s department. But your uncle bowed to pressure from the local yokels and brought Phillips in for an interview. It was enough to send Brandon’s daddy down to Tibbehah High with a loaded pistol and revenge on his mind. He dragged poor Mr. Phillips into a bathroom stall and stuck a .44 down his throat, asking him all kinds of vile questions.”

“How do you know?” Quinn said. “This is a hell of a small town and I never heard that story.”

“Fucking E. J. Royce.”

“Shit.”

“Yep,” Lillie said, tilting her head to study Quinn. “Is that old turd dead yet?”

“Unfortunately, he’s still with us.”

“Try not to threaten Royce right off,” Lillie said. “He can’t help he was born a racist, misogynist peckerhead any more than a dog can’t help licking its nuts.”

“Will do.” Quinn nodded and picked up his cigar. “You ready to talk to Wes Taggart?”

Lillie smiled. “Damn straight.”

*   *   *

“You made your people sit out here in the heat, Chief?” Ray said. “You know they could’ve come inside, had a nice lunch made for them by Miss Lucille. Vardaman wouldn’t have cared.”

“I don’t want my people to know my business,” Chief Robbie said, standing in the shade of a huge twisted oak outside the hunt lodge perched on the hill. Ray had always heard how fancy it was, but, Christ Almighty, it looked like a glorified Cracker Barrel to him. It was true. Money can’t buy good taste.

“You don’t like this part,” Ray said. “Do you?”

Chief didn’t answer, his big hairless chest sweating as soon as they got outside. With the long hair and the bare skin, he reminded him of some kind of drugstore romance novel cover. Chief Robbie in Savage Instincts.

“Mr. White says we support this man,” Chief Robbie said. “OK, then. That’s part of our agreement. But his ideas, what he stands for, what he has said on his radio stations—”

“He does love to talk,” Ray said, looking at the big Indian as he shielded his eyes from the sun. “And he may be the biggest goddamn crook this state has ever seen. But he’s our crook. And after the election, we’ll own his sorry ass.”

The Chief nodded.

Ray stuck out his hand and the Chief studied it for a moment.