She laughed. She turned back to her husband. “I made you some chamomile tea, sweetheart. It’s not as good as a pain capsule, but it will help a little. Come on, now.”

“Torment,” her husband teased. “All right, I’ll drink it.” He glanced at Colter. “Any leads?”

“In fact, I’ve got a good one. I can’t mention where I got it, but it’s something I’m going to check out.” He moved closer. “Did Clancey’s grandfather ever mention an old church, by any chance...?”

“Well, yes,” Mr. Martin said after a minute, frowning. “He was baptized there when he was a boy. He said he liked to stop there once in a while and walk around. It was a peaceful place. His wife was buried in the cemetery. I think he went there to visit her.”

Colter’s heart leaped. “Do you know where it was?”

“Somewhere down around Jacobsville, is what he said,” Mr. Martin replied, wincing as he moved. “On a farm road. I think he called it the Victoria Road. It ran by a roadhouse where he liked to stop for a beer after work.”

“Shea’s,” Colter said, nodding.

“That sounds like what he said,” the older man agreed.

“If you’re going out there, better take backup,” the fed said quietly.

Colter turned, curious.

“They told me about the boy and his family.” He indicated the Martins. “If he’s got the cajones to threaten an assistant DA and kidnap a small child, he won’t stop at murdering a lawman.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

“I lost a partner who thought it was going to be perfectly safe to check out a potential crime scene. It was broad daylight. He walked into an ambush. There were three of them. He was shot twenty times.”

Colter grimaced. “I lost a partner in a similar fashion some years back. It never hurts to be cautious, I agree.”

The big man nodded. “Meanwhile, I’m going to teach Mr. Martin here the finer points of draw poker.”

“I don’t need teaching, young man. I’ll bet I can beat you,” he added with a grin.

“Not likely.”

“I could draw a royal diamond flush,” the older man chuckled.

“Yeah? Well, I could match that with two deuces and a .357 magnum,” he replied, stone-faced.

They all laughed. Even the fed.

Colter hadn’t planned to take anyone with him to look for the old church, and Mrs. Kirk hadn’t even suggested it. But he thought the fed might have a point. He made a call before he left the city.