Banks was thinking the same thing. He caught himself glancing at Clancey when she didn’t see him. She always looked nice, even in old clothes with faded patterns. She was neat and clean, and she never shirked work. He remembered all too well the feel of her in his arms when he took her home and kissed her to within an inch of her life. It had been a long time since he’d kissed a woman. Perhaps that was why it had affected him so deeply. It had to be that. Clancey was too young, and she worked for him. If he could just keep that in mind, he might manage to get his mind off her.

Something was niggling at the back of his mind, something about the way she played guitar. He couldn’t quite place it. But he remembered a man, an older man, playing the song she’d played at the restaurant. If he could only remember who, and where.

His phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. He answered it, his mind still on the guitar. “Banks.”

“Hello, Ranger. This is Darrell Tarley. I was wondering if you’d had any word about Morris Duffy getting out of prison? I spoke to the parole board and they said they’d cut him loose, but they weren’t sure when he’d be arriving in San Antonio. He made death threats against me.”

It took Banks a few seconds to remember who Tarley was—the assistant district attorney who’d prosecuted Morris Duffy. “I’m aware of the death threats. But why call me...?”

“Well, you’re working the cold case that involves him, aren’t you?”

“What cold case?” he asked blankly.

“The disappearance of Dalton Reed,” the assistant DA replied. “Morris Duffy was named a person of interest in the investigation. There were rumors that Reed was trying to prove that Duffy was dealing drugs.”

“Why would he have involved himself in that?” Banks asked curiously.

“He was a former deputy sheriff,” he was told. “He retired, but he never quite gave it up. He still worked as a special deputy to help with crowd control at ball games, that sort of thing.”

“I’ve heard about that.” Banks recalled Clancey telling him; she’d gone to church with Reed. He was frowning. “Do you know anything else about him?”

“Not really. One of the men who works in my office used to be a special deputy. He worked with Reed. He said the other deputies revered him. He had quite a history with the department. Not only that, he worked down in Jacobs County with their sheriff’s department for a while, as well.”