Purgatory Ridge

“Word is, he’s going to make some concessions. For whatever reason, he wants to speak from the steps of the middle school. Agent Owen’s over there right now checking for explosives. And I’ve got men stationed all around there until Lindstrom’s finished speaking. It’s a pain in the butt, but he insists it’s important.”

Cork kicked at a big chunk of red cinder that had somehow migrated from the bed of the railroad tracks. There was something eating at him, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to push it. Finally he blurted it out.

“Why, Wally?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you keeping me in this thing?”

“I’m just seeking out expertise where it exists.”

“Bullshit.”

“Not entirely,” Schanno said. Then he said the rest. “I suppose you’ve heard I’m not running again in November.”

“I’ve heard. Didn’t know if it was true.”

“It’s true enough.”

“Arletta?” Cork asked. He was speaking of Schanno’s wife, one of the kindest and loveliest women Tamarack County had ever produced. And one of the most tragic as Alzheimer’s overtook her.

Schanno nodded and looked down. “I figure she’s not going to get any better, and whatever time we’ve got left to us I want to spend doing what we love. Some traveling. Visiting the girls and the grandkids. You know, before it’s too late.”

“Sure.”

“The party people, they’ve already decided they’re going to back Arne Soderberg.” He gave a dry laugh. “Soderberg, can you imagine?”

Schanno looked down at the badge pinned to his shirt pocket. He kept it polished, and in the sunlight it flashed on his chest as if on fire.

“Look, Cork, when I first took this badge from you, I figured there’d be bad blood between us. There could’ve been, real easy. But when you had the chance to nail my ass to the wall-and we both know what I’m talking about here-you didn’t. You gave me a chance at, well, redemption. I owe you. Honestly, I can’t think of a better man for sheriff. And I know I’m not alone. Lots of folks around here’d jump party lines if you were to run. Which I think you ought to.”

“Arne’s got a lot of mud he could dredge up and throw around,” Cork reminded him.

“Unless I misjudge you, you can stand up to a little mudslinging. And the voters in Tamarack County, while they’re awful gossips, wouldn’t look kindly on that kind of campaign.” Schanno reached out and opened the door to his Land Cruiser. “I’m just saying you should think about it, okay?”

“Sure. And thanks, Wally.”

Schanno made a U-turn, his wheels cutting narrow swaths in the rye grass at the edge of the road. After the sheriff had gone, Cork stood in the sun a moment, listening to the buzz of the grasshoppers in the dry heat. The sound reminded him of the sizzling of a power line that was just about to blow.

17

FOR ALMOST AN HOUR, Jo had been sitting at her desk in her office in the Aurora Professional Building, staring at the legal pad in front of her and not seeing it at all. She’d been looking over a variance for the casino that was due to be renewed on January 1. That had got her to thinking about a New Year’s Day from her own history when she was seventeen years old, during the first year her mother-whom she and Rose between themselves always called the Captain-was assigned to Fort Hood in Texas.

The Captain had seen the old year out with heavy drinking and had begun the new year in the same way. When they sat down to the ham dinner Rose had prepared, the Captain was unsteady and her face had that hard, mean look it often got when she was drinking. The television was tuned to a football game. Jo got up to turn it off.

“Leave it on,” the Captain ordered.

Jo continued toward the television, turned the sound down to nothing, and returned to the table. She had no tolerance for the Captain anymore, and she wasn’t afraid to confront her mother. By then, confrontation was the most characteristic aspect of their relationship. But for the sake of Rose, who’d worked hard to create something special for the new year, she held her tongue.

“I think we should tell something we’ve been grateful for in the past year,” Rose suggested. “And something we’re looking forward to in the new year.”