Part 28 (1/2)
Anderson held up a finger for him to wait.
”Keith?” Margie said.
Anderson took a deep breath and said, ”Yeah, Margie, it's true. Somebody, a group of people, we think, killed three Medical Examiner's Office investigators last night and took all the bodies from the Morgan Rollins crime scene.”
”Including Ram?”
”Yes, including Ram. Raul Herrera, too. The other detective who was with Ram.”
”Oh my G.o.d,” Margie said. ”Why? Why would anybody do that?”
”We don't know.”
Levy was standing next to him now. He said, ”What happened? Does she know?”
Anderson nodded.
”f.u.c.k! How? Who told her?”
”Margie,” Anderson said. ”How did Jenny find out?”
”What difference does that make? You should have told me, Keith. She deserves more than that, Keith?”
”Margie, please. I know. Just tell me. How did she find out?”
”Steve Garwin called her an hour ago. Keith, you knew about this before that. Why didn't you tell me?”
Anderson could feel another migraine coming on, and the morning sun wasn't helping any. It already felt like it was ninety-five degrees out here. He was sticky with sweat and upset and now he had to deal with this.
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to will away the looming headache.
”Well?” Levy said.
Anderson opened his eyes. He put a hand over the phone and said, ”Garwin called her about an hour ago.”
”Garwin? Jesus, why? Why would he do that?”
He shrugged angrily. ”Why the f.u.c.k you asking me? I don't know.”
”Keith?” Margie now. Some of the volume had gone out of her voice, but none of the heat.
”I'm here,” he said.
”I can't believe you'd do this.”
”Margie, please. I'm sorry, all right? I had to get out here, and I didn't want to say anything until I had the facts.”
”Well, what are the facts?”
”I don't know, Margie. I really don't.”
”That's great, Keith. Are you coming over here? She wants to talk to you.”
”I will, Margie. Later. Chuck and I have a nine o'clock appointment up at the Comal County Sheriff's Office. I'll come by after that. I promise.”
”After your appointment? Jesus, Keith. Jenny is our friend. She needs us here.”
”Margie, come on.”
”Okay, fine,” she said. ”All right, fine. I'll see you later.”
She hung up without another word. Keith stood there, looking at the phone.
To Levy, he said, ”f.u.c.king wonderful. I can't catch a f.u.c.king break.”
They were in the car again, this time heading out to the Hill Country north of San Antonio. The suburban sprawl of San Antonio's north side fell away and became wide tracts of cedar and oak forests that went off as far as the eye could see in every direction. From the highway, Anderson saw vast clouds of dust and cedar pollen hanging in the valleys between the countless hills, and he was struck by the quiet of it, the peaceful ease that seemed to settle over him as he took in the view.
”It's beautiful, isn't it?” Levy said.
”Yeah. It takes your breath away.”
”Yeah, it does at that. You ought to think about moving out to Pipe Creek. It's even prettier than this. Land is cheaper, too.”
”We've thought about it,” Anderson said. ”But I've got three years left on my mortgage. I don't want to have to go through all that c.r.a.p again. You know? Another loan, more bills. When I retire I just want to take it easy, read some books.”
Levy nodded. ”It'd be nice to put all this behind me. No more calls in the middle of the night. No more stress. No more getting hammered in the press. You know what I can't wait to do when I retire?”
”What?”
”I am gonna buy some cows.”
”You're kidding?”
”No, I'm serious. I've been thinking. I got all that land out there. If I start raising some cattle on it, I could get an agricultural exemption on my taxes. I could save four or five thousand a year.”
”Yeah, but cows? That's a lot of work, isn't it? If you're gonna do that agricultural exemption, don't you have to butcher them?”
Levy shrugged. ”What else am I gonna do with my time?”
Anderson thought about that. He couldn't see himself butchering cattle, no way. But at the same time, he had no idea what he was going to do with his own time after his career was over. But the more he thought about it, the more he came to realize that, for the first time since it began, he was actually looking forward to the end of his career. The thought of retirement, of putting all this behind him, of shuffling off all this mind-numbing responsibility and letting somebody else worry about it for a change, suddenly seemed like the most welcome thing in the world.
”Is this us up here?” Levy asked.
”Yeah, looks like it.”
Anderson slowed the car and turned into the main gate for Smithson Valley High School. From the main road, they could see the entire campus, and it was enormous. The school itself was made up of seven large yellow brick buildings with metal roofs. The baseball fields and what looked like horse stables were off to the right. The football stadium, where they were going, was off to the left. Though school was out, there were trucks and cars parked in the gra.s.s near the field house. Levy pointed that way and said, ”Walsh said he'd meet us down there.”
”Right,” Anderson said. ”Let's hope this guy can tell us something good. After that disaster this morning, it'd be nice to come back with some good news.”