Page 15 of Lawless Ride

“Yeah, I do. I’ll talk to her later. For now, we have to get our prisoners to the courthouse. Focus on that.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to think about the girls anymore this morning.”

I chuckled. “Hard not to think about girls when you’re sixteen.”

“Can you remember being sixteen?”

“Vaguely. All a bad dream.”

Harlan snorted.

Sheriff’s Office. Coyote Creek.

Molly had already given Josie, Grant, Art and Jonah Hacking their breakfast. Only two of them were being arraigned. Art Andrews hadn’t even been booked yet. Saving that for Harlan when we came back from the courthouse.

Ted wasn’t at the station when we arrived, and he hadn’t called in.

“Molly, try to get ahold of Ted and see if he’s sick. Check up on him. He’s always here early.”

“I’ll do that right away, Travis.”

“See if you can find an address for him too,” I said. “I’m not sure where he lives.”

“I’ll find out,” she said.

“And see if you can get me in to talk to a Doctor Albert in Ethridge. Josie’s shrink. We won’t be long at the courthouse,” I hollered to her as Harlan and I hauled Josie and Grant to the squad and secured them.

Harrison County Courthouse. Coyote Creek.

At the back door of the courthouse, Harlan and I got rid of our prisoners. “Both of them are going to make bail.”

“We’ve got the blonde suspect now,” said Harlan.

“And a shitload of interviews to do.” I shook my head thinking about it. “Zero fuckin evidence. We don’t even know what kind of poison was used.”

“Do you think Doctor Olson will come up with it?” asked Harlan. “He seemed pretty upset that he didn’t know what the fuck it was.”

“I hope he digs into it a bit more. Help us out.”

The cases were called fairly quickly, and Harlan and I hardly wasted any time at all waiting for the results. Just like I figured, Josie Masters and Grant Andrews both made bail and we were free of them until trial. Or until they made another stupid move and had their bail revoked. Either or.

Doctor Carl Albert. Ethridge.

As soon as we were free of the courthouse, I drove to Ethridge for the appointment with Josie Masters’ shrink. Molly’s call had got us in to see him right away.

Doctor Carl Albert didn’t fit the mold of a typical psychiatrist. Short, chunky, and bald, he seemed more like a jolly guy you’d picture running a place like Chuck E. Cheese.

“Good morning, Sheriff Frost. How can I be of help with yourcurrent case?”

“Josie Masters. I’m not expecting any details from you, sir. Just an overview and your opinion on whether she would be capable of killing her husband.”

He laughed. “I can’t give you an opinion like that, but I wouldn’t classify Mrs. Masters as a dangerous individual at all. She’s addicted to drugs, as I’m sure you already know, and that’s the problem we’re currently working on.”

“And you don’t believe during one of her drug-induced states she might have been capable of poisoning her husband?”

“No. I don’t. I’m sayingnoto that scenario, Sheriff. I encourage you to look elsewhere for your murderer.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

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