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“We’ll be driving slow. There’s too much snow to do any speeding.”
Smith Residence. Ethridge.
I didn’t call ahead to see if Pauline was at home for fear she did happen to know where Burke was and she would alert him. Better to take our chances.
Pauline lived in a small bungalow on one of the backstreets in Ethridge. A compact car buried under a ton of snow was parked in her driveway.
Billy and I trudged up the three steps to the front door and the small porch had not been shoveled. This obviously wasn’t the door Pauline was using.
She pulled back the curtain covering the front window and waved us around the side. She was waiting there bundled up in a heavy sweater to let us in. “I’m not using the front door. It’s frozen shut and I can’t get it open.”
“Do you want it open?” asked Billy. “I can give it a try.”
“Don’t bother. I won’t use it until spring.” She smiled at Billy. “Thanks for the offer.” To me: “You’re the sheriff, right?”
“I’m Sheriff Frost and this is Deputy Johnson. We’re looking for Burke Foster.”
Pauline pointed to chairs in the kitchen and Billy and I sat down. Pauline stood facing us leaning on the kitchen counter. “I heard he might’ve had something to do with the robbery at the feed store in Coyote Creek.”
“He had everything to do with it. He and Roger Purcell killed the store manager and wounded the owner.”
Pauline shook her head. “To think I used to like him because he tipped me big. What a fool I was.”
I could see the pain in Pauline's eyes as she spoke about Burke. It was clear that she had trusted him and had no idea about the monster he was capable of becoming.
Billy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, clearly not used to seeing emotions displayed so openly. But I had seen enough pain and heartache in my time as Sheriff to be able to read people pretty well.
“Do you have any idea where Burke might be?” I asked gently, trying to ease some of the tension in the room.
Pauline shook her head. “I haven't seen him in weeks. He used to come around the Palace pretty often, but then he stopped coming by altogether.”
I frowned, thinking about what our next move should be. “We need to find him, Pauline. Burke is dangerous and he’s already hurt innocent people.”
“I can’t picture that,” she said.
“Savanna Larson was stabbed four times and she’s still listed in critical condition.” I tried to prod Pauline a bit.
Pauline raised an eyebrow. “Burke stabbed her?”
“I’m betting on him for the knife. It’s in his police record that he carried one.”
“Burke always asked for me at the Palace but it was strictly business. I never knew him outside of work.”
“What about Roger Purcell?” asked Billy.
“I don’t know who that is. Sorry.”
Cut Bank Hospital.
After a lengthy wait while Savanna’s doctor examined her, I was allowed to go into the ICU to see her. Her eyes were open and she was more alert than the last time I had seen her. She had improved a lot from the previous day. I sat down next to her bed and gazed at her pale face. “You seem better.”
“Compared to what?” Her voice came out in a weak whisper and she tried to smile. “Find them yet?”
“Not yet. No sightings on the pickup. I keep checking.”
“I don’t know of anything else that could help you, Travis.”
“How much was in the safe?”
