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“But it’s your car?”
“Yes, he didn’t have a license or a vehicle anymore and that bothered him. I didn’t stop. I kept going because we didn’t have that far to go before we were home.”
“Then what happened?”
“He didn’t let up on the yelling and he reached over and grabbed the wheel. The car went spinning all over on the slippery road and I had to fight to keep us from going into the ditch. I got straightened out and I was yelling at him to sit still and the next thing I knew, he opened his door.”
“Uh, oh,” said Billy.
“That made me yell at him more, and of course I hit the brakes.”
“You would,” I said.
“As soon as he felt the car slow, he jumped out and he ran back towards the bridge. Garnet is an old man and he can’t run very fast, but still by the time I pulled over to the side of the road and got out to chase after him, he was long gone.”
“This was what time of night?” asked Billy.
“After the bingo ended,” said Milly. “Had to be ten or ten-thirty. No lights or houses on this road, so it was pitch dark. I couldn’t find him and I was getting really cold. I walked all the way back to the car thinking the only way I’d be able to see him was in the headlights.”
“Makes sense,” I said.
“I drove back and forth from the bridge to where the car had been stopped for over an hour and I never saw him once. I swear, I did my best to find him. By then I was crying and exhausted. I had to go home.”
“You didn’t think to call me then?”
“No, it never crossed my mind, and I’m sorry about that now. I should have thought of calling for help but I was out of my mind with worry about Garnet.”
“You panicked,” I said and she nodded.
“I sat here in the kitchen and cried but I didn’t know what to do.”
“You waited until daylight?” I asked.
“I couldn’t go to bed in good conscience, so I sat in a chair in the living room and dozed off a couple of times waiting for morning.”
Billy was listening with interest to this version of the story. Made a lot more sense than the first story Milly told me.
“As soon as it was light, I warmed up the car and started looking for him again. I drove really slow up and down the road, and that’s when I saw his boot. As soon as I knew where he was, I called and talked to Molly Swann, and I guess she sent you.”
“Uh huh. That’s right.” I turned off the recorder and put it back in my pocket. “Thanks for your time, Milly, and thanks for sharing what really happened. It makes a lot more sense. I’ll be in touch.”
On the way back to the station, Billy and I hashed over her story. “Would you say she’s accountable?”
“Not really. Garnet ran off on his own and he wouldn’t answer her when she was looking for him and calling out to him. He was the one who hid on her, not the other way around.”
“Situations like this might be trouble for me,” said Billy, “if I was to win the election. Not enough experience to make the right judgement call.”
“It will all feel more comfortable in time.” I shot Billy a line of bullshit knowing full well that the only time I was ever comfortable was when I was Dale Burden.
As I drove back to the station, my brain worked overtime. The Milly and Garnet case was just the beginning. If Billy won the election, he would have to deal with much worse. Murders, hunting accidents, drugs and robberies, domestic abuse.
It would take more than experience to make the right judgement calls. It would take a steel will and a willingness to do whatever it took to keep the town safe.
I thought about it as I parked the car. I knew Billy had potential—a lot of it—and he had energy and enthusiasm, but after I left and went back to Texas there would be no one here in Coyote Creek to guide him. Nobody like me.
Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.
On the way back to the office we stopped in at Peterson’s Garage and switched out the squads. We picked up Billy’s truck and left the sheriff’s vehicle in for service overnight.
