I went upstairs. I took a long, hot shower, feeling the sting of cuts and bruises, but the soap made me feel clean again. I washed my hair, which always turned it into a bird’s nest. When I was done, I brushed my teeth and put on my uniform, and I put my gun back in its holster. Just like that, I was a deputy.

The smell of fresh coffee drew me downstairs. I took it to go, in a Thermos, and brought it with me to Darrell’s cruiser outside. We hadn’t said anything more to each other. It was early, seven thirty in the morning on Monday, with the pink glow of the horizon struggling to push away the night. I sipped coffee and felt it revive me. Darrell didn’t start the engine. He studied me the way a father would.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” he asked.

“I’m sure the gossip’s all over town.”

“I don’t listen to gossip.”

“Too bad. This one’s juicy.”

“Don’t joke, Rebecca. What’s going on?”

I could have given him the Reader’s Digest condensed version. Ajax came on to me, and I let him, and Ricky caught us, and he would have strangled me if I hadn’t gotten to my gun. What else was there to say?

“I’m getting a divorce,” I said.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

“Think you’ll change your mind?”

“No.”

Darrell started the engine. “Well, it’s about damn time.”

And that was that. That was all he had to say about it.

Of course, that was not that. Not even close. I wasn’t fool enough to think this was over. But I’d had a hot shower, and I had hot coffee, and for the moment, I didn’t want to think about anything else.

“Where are we going?” I asked Darrell, because instead of heading to the sheriff’s office, he steered out to the highway. We headed east into the rising sun.

“Norm called. He drove out to his trailer around five this morning. He was planning to get some sunrise photos near Sunflower Lake. But when he got there, he found a car parked outside. Somebody’s squatting there again.”

“Does he know who?”

“No. Given what’s going on, he figured we’d want to check it out. So he came back home and called me.”