“Yeah,” he said. “I know Boom. He’s an old friend of mine.”

“If he was such a good friend, you wouldn’t set those shots in front of him. How many has he had?”

“Oh, hell,” he said. “I don’t know.”

“Idiot,” Caddy said.

“Hey,” Cooney said. “I thought your brother wore a badge. Not you.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Fine words, preacher.”

Caddy leaned in and looked at Cooney’s wide, pockmarked face and gray, thinning hair and said, “For the last damn time, I’m not a preacher. Now, how about you get around here and help me walk him out.”

Cooney just laughed and wandered down the bar, shaking his head, leaving Caddy with Boom, who’d just come alive. He looked up at her and smiled and said, “Damn good to see you.”

“Oh, Boom.”

Caddy didn’t weigh a third of what Boom Kimbrough did, but if she could get him on his feet, she might be able to offer a little support and help him back to her old truck. She could call Quinn, but that would only lead to more problems. Quinn’s patience with Boom had thinned a little lately, never understanding how some folks could get weak sometimes. Quinn the Ranger. Quinn the damn crusading sheriff who woke before dawn and lived on black coffee and cigars.

“Can you stand?”

Boom’s eyes were bloodshot and glassy. “Not really sure,” he said. “Ain’t tried it in a long while.”

“I parked right outside,” Caddy said. “We don’t have far to walk.”

“One foot in front of the other.”

“That’s it,” Caddy said. “That’s just right.”

Boom shoved up onto his feet but lost his balance and reached fast for the bar, holding himself there, wavering, until he sat back down on the barstool. The two men she’d passed on the way in had come up on them, standing off a few feet and hovering, smirking at each other. They were having a time watching the show.

“Excuse us,” Caddy said. “Y’all please step the hell back.”

*   *   *

“I don’t like this,” Toby said. “They will have surveillance cameras. They’ll see my face. Even if we get into the goddamn jail, kill that motherfucker, and get out, they will know who did it.”

“Do you have priors?” Sam Frye asked.

“Off the Rez?”

“Yes,” Sam Frye said, already knowing the answer. Already planning out every step after talking to two trusted friends who’d spent a few days at the jail.

“No,” Toby said. “Shouldn’t we wear masks or something?”