Down by the River by Robyn Carr Page A

hallway floorboards squeak. He put his hand on his sidearm just in case, though being ambushed in his office was the last thing he expected.
    At last Jim Post stood in the frame of the door. He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder. “What’s his story?” he asked.
    “His wife put him out,” Tom answered.
    “I can see why. Listen to that. Sounds horrible. Sure am glad I don’t sleep that loud.” The noise came again. “Jesus, how long has he been doing that?”
    “Since I brought him in here at 4:30 a.m.”
    Jim shook his head. “You must have nerves of steel.”
    “I don’t get nearly the credit I deserve,” Tom pointed out with some humor.
    Jim took another step into the office. “Got a minute?”
    Tom threw down his pen and indicated one of the two chairs that faced his desk. Tom had only just met Jim, but in many ways he felt that he was an old friend. This was June’s man, for one thing, and Junewas the closest thing to a best friend Tom had, excepting his wife, Ursula. Being the town cop, he did a lot of business with the town doctor. Additionally, they had grown up together. In fact, if Tom recalled correctly, they were blood brothers. That would have been before June realized she was a girl. The memory caused him to smile to himself.
    “Something funny?” Jim asked.
    “I was just remembering that once, when we were kids, June Hudson was my blood brother. We cut our hands and everything. And now she’s your… What is she? Your fiancée?”
    “At the least,” Jim said.
    Tom considered it a stroke of luck that he took to the guy June had chosen. Add to that, Jim Post had spent his career in law enforcement. Once they knew each other better, there would be stories to trade. Tom looked forward to that.
    “There are a couple of things I want to talk to you about. Are we alone? Except for what’s-his-name in there?”
    Tom nodded. “As long as you can hear him, he’s not listening to you.”
    “Gotcha. Okay, number one. Confidentially, if you don’t mind. I’m retired DEA.”
    “I know.”
    The surprise registered on Jim’s face. “No, you don’t. You just guessed.”
    He shrugged. “Have it your way. You were part of the raid last summer.”
    More surprise. “Did June tell you that?”
    Tom rested his elbows on his desk and leaned forward. “What do you think?”
    He rubbed his chin and pursed his lips. “She told you about the gunshot wound. The late night visit to the clinic. And from there you made assumptions.”
    “Actually, I have one or two reliable sources.”
    “That makes me uncomfortable,” Jim admitted.
    “Well, relax. We’re on the same side, after all.”
    “I was mixing it up with some real badasses,” Jim admitted.
    “Mostly behind bars now, thanks to you and a few others. The DEA brought in the army, for God’s sake. And those that slipped away aren’t going to hang around here.”
    “Yeah, well, this is what we hope,” Jim said.
    “I keep a pretty close watch on things,” Tom said, trying to reassure him. “See if you can relax. You have other matters to—”
    “One more thing,” Jim said. “Did you happen to notice a pickup loaded with household goods parked at Sam Cussler’s gas station?”
    “When?” Tom asked, which made it obvious he hadn’t seen it.
    “When I was leaving the café with June to drive out to her aunt’s house, the truck was parked outside the garage. When I brought her back to the clinic just now, I noticed the truck in the garage. June and I happened upon that truck out on the road. It was disabled. The man’s wife was in laborand June delivered her in the back of her own pickup. There are also two little girls. John Stone brought the ambulance and took everyone but the husband to the hospital while I bought him a new tire from Sam.”
    “You had a busy morning,” Tom observed.
    “I changed the kid’s tire and told him not to hang around. He tried to give June a couple of twenties for delivering the baby. He had a