Page 25 of The Killing Plains

“Hi, Brenda, I’m running late. When you pick up Logan and Minnie, can you get Satchel, too?”

“I got hung up, myself. A neighbor’s picking up my kids. She’d be happy to give Satchel a ride, if she’s got room. Want me to ask?”

Colly hesitated. Satchel was such a nervous child. Having a stranger pick him up on his first day would scare him. Besides, she’d promised to be there.

She sighed. “No, I’ll figure out something.”

By the time the call ended, Avery had returned and was circling the baseball cap, snapping pictures. “Russ says to wait. He’ll be here in thirty.”

Colly ran her fingers through her hair and tried to think. The panicky feeling was familiar. The men on the force had criticized her, calling her unreliable when Victoria was little and there’d been childcare emergencies—Mrs. Newland, your daughter’s running a fever. You need to come get her. Always something with kids. It was easier for men. She’d overhear them on the phone with their wives—Sorry, honey, I can’t help. I’m on a case. Randy had been a good father and reasonably evolved regarding gender roles, by Texas standards. But even he had viewed their daughter’s care as primarily Colly’s responsibility. Like her male colleagues, he’d “help out” when he could. But if he couldn’t, it had been up to Colly to find a way.

She checked her watch again and turned to Avery. “Look, I’ve got to pick up my grandson. Let me borrow the car. You wait for Russ.”

“That’s against regulations.”

“Fine, you’ll have to drive me. We’ll be back by the time Russ gets here, if we hurry.”

“He said—”

“That hat looks like it’s been here for months—it’ll be okay for half an hour more.”

Chapter 7

When they arrived, the school’s visitors’ lot had emptied, though a handful of children still loitered on the sidewalk waiting for tardy parents under the watchful eyes of a pair of teacher’s aides. Telling Avery to stay in the car, Colly hurried inside. At Satchel’s classroom door, she stopped short. The room was empty. As she stood wondering what to do, a noise behind her made her jump. The woman who’d directed her to Brenda’s office that morning was staring disapprovingly over her half-moon glasses.

“Mrs. Newland, Mrs. Boyles sent me to look for you. She’s with your grandson at the nurse’s station.”

“Why? What happened?”

The woman shrugged. “Follow me.”

The nurse’s station was near the main office. Colly crossed the empty waiting area and found Satchel in an exam room, sitting on the edge of a padded table and wheezing raggedly into a paper bag held to his face by Wanice Boyles.

“There you are.” Wanice smiled. “See, Satchel, I told you she’d come soon.”

Colly looked at her questioningly.

“Everything’s fine. We got a little scared, that’s all.” Wanice patted Satchel’s back.

His face was white and tear-streaked. Colly could hear his teeth chattering. He jumped off the table and grabbed onto her, burying his face in her shirt.

“I’m sorry, buddy. I got here as soon as I could.” She ruffled his hair.

Satchel hiccupped but said nothing.

A bony woman in a nurse’s smock entered the room carrying a file folder. When she saw Colly, she stopped and gave her a look that Colly knew well.

“You’re Mrs. Newland? You didn’t mention on the health forms that your grandson has asthma.”

Colly felt her jaw tighten. “He hasn’t had a flare-up in ages,” she said with clumsy defiance, thinking,Having half your family slaughtered by a madman can be distracting, lady. I’m doing my best.

“Please bring his inhaler tomorrow. Breathing into a lunch bag isn’t exactly the standard of care. And since he has anxiety issues, it would help if you’d pick him up on time.”

Colly met her eyes coldly. “Thanks.” Hoisting Satchel onto her hip, she grabbed his backpack and left the infirmary.

I’m already so sick of this damn town,she thought as she helped Satchel put on his sun-sleeves and hat in the foyer. Did these people really suppose their stares and slights could mean anything compared with the hell of her own conscience?

Colly exhaled slowly. The sooner she finished this case, the sooner she could leave Crescent Bluff and the Newland tribe behind her.

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