HACKBERRY WASN’T SURE whether there was a thread of resentment or jealousy in Pam’s voice. He had given up dealing with the mysteries of eros and was sure that at some linguistic juncture in ancient times, the words “error” and “erotic” had sprung from the same root. The truth was, he could not define his own feelings about either Anton Ling or Pam Tibbs. One reminded him of his dead wife, Rie, who would always remain the love of his life. The other woman, Pam Tibbs, was as brave as Rie had been and equally protective of him, even to the point of causing him public embarrassment, and the look in her eyes always told him that she saw the young man inside him and not the man who was almost eighty. Also, she gave no quarter in either love or war, and her level of loyalty was ferocious. No man could have a better companion as a lover or friend. He could have worse problems, he thought. But damn it to hell, an old fool was still an old fool.
Anton Ling walked past Maydeen and R.C. and Felix and a bail bondsman and Pam Tibbs and a drunk cuffed to a D-ring as though they were not there. “I just heard about Ethan Riser on the radio,” she said.
“Chief Deputy Tibbs and I were just about to come out to your place,” Hackberry said.
“Agent Riser called me this morning on his cell phone. I wish I’d gotten ahold of you.”
“Called you about what?”
“He apologized for invading my privacy. He told me to be a friend to you. He sounded like a man making his peace. I asked him if he was all right. He said if I heard from him again, that would mean he was doing just fine. Why are all these people standing around here?”
“We work here,” Pam said.
“Do you want to sit down, Miss Anton?” Hackberry said.
“No.”
“How do you know Ethan was on a cell phone?” Hackberry asked.
“He was breaking up. Jack Collins just called me.”
“Wait a minute. I don’t understand. Collins called to tell you Ethan was dead?”
“No. He didn’t mention anything about Mr. Riser. He asked me if I had given the FBI his location. I told him I didn’t have any idea what he was talking about. He asked if I had learned of his whereabouts from the illegals who come to my house. When I told him I had no interest in either him or the FBI, he told me I was a Jezebel. On the way into town, I heard the news report about Agent Riser on the radio.”
“Sit down,” Hackberry said.
“No. I have to go.”
/> “Where?”
“Home. Collins is insane. I have people coming tonight. He’ll take his revenge on them.”
“I doubt it. Come in and close the door, Deputy Tibbs.”
“You’re holding me?” Anton Ling said.
“The sheriff in Brewster County found Ethan’s cell phone inside the ashes of a bonfire that Collins set. Collins probably threw the phone there after he recovered the list of calls Ethan had made in the last few days. That’s why Collins associated you with Ethan discovering his whereabouts. He also has a way of blaming women for most of his problems.”
“Why were you coming out to my house?”
“We want Josef Sholokoff in a cage,” he said.
“Then talk to the government agencies that have let him run loose all these years,” Anton said.
“You recognized a man outside your hospital room. He was connected with smuggling guns into Nicaragua and introducing cocaine into the United States. He was with the guy whose face you put a screwdriver in. You’ve worked intimately with Sholokoff’s people, and you have information about them that we don’t. You have to give us some leads, Miss Anton.”
“I don’t have any.”
“What you mean is you don’t want to give us any,” Pam said.
“Do I look like a professional informant?” Illogically, Anton said, “Most of the people I knew years ago are probably dead.”
“This isn’t Cambodia. We’re sick of people working out their problems at our expense,” Pam said. “It’s time to get your head out of your ass, Ms. Ling.”
“Why don’t you get your head out of yours?” Anton said. “The electorate in this area puts people in office who belong on chain gangs.”
“I guess that includes the sheriff,” Pam said.