“What about smushing bits?”
“We can talk about that when I get home.”But Tean felt obliged to add, “It is technically a work night.”
For some reason, Jem burst out laughing at that.But when he spoke again, his voice was serious.“I know last night things got…real.But I think we need to talk to Daniel.”
“But we never should have gotten involved—”
“It’s too late for that, Tean.Weareinvolved.I don’t know what’s going on, but somebody is out there, and whoever they are, they’re dangerous.”
“The police will interview Daniel,” Tean said.“It’ll take some time, but they’ll release Ammon.”
“I don’t care about Ammon.I care about the fact that there’s someone out there killing people, and those dumbasses from the SBI think we’re involved.”
“But Daniel will tell them—”
“Tean, they already think they know what’s going on.Whatever Daniel tells them, they’ll either twist it around until it fits what they believe, or they’ll ignore it because it’s not convenient.”
“Maybe not,” Tean said.“They’re professionals.They might realize they’ve made a mistake.”
“Cops don’t make mistakes.Not until somebody proves they did.Tean, Danielsawthe killer.He was face to face with them.Daniel’s the only person we know who might be able to give us an ID.And the killer knows that too.While Trevino and Van Cleave are climbing up our asses, the killer’s going to find a way to make sure Daniel can’t tell anybody anything useful.”
Tean let the conversation drop into silence.
“I want to talk to him,” Jem said.
Tean’s phone buzzed.He glanced at the screen.“My boss is calling.”
“I just want to make sure you heard me: I want to talk to Daniel.”
“I heard you.Can we talk about this when I get home from work?”
Jem grunted.“It needs to be today, Tean.This is moving fast.”
“I’ve got to go.I love you.”Tean switched calls.“Hi, Ed—”
“Dr.Leon, what is this email I’m looking at?”
“I’m not sure.What email are you talking about—”
“This email from you to Mr.Neff about—about cattle records.”Ed’s voice rose.“I had to step out in the middle of sacrament meeting to deal with this.Do you want to explain yourself?”
“There’s nothing to explain.It’s standard procedure—”
“It’s a waste of that man’s time!This is a simple job, Dr.Leon.We have a citizen whose livestock is being attacked by a pack of wolves—”
“Oh,” Tean said, “it’s a pack now?”
“It’s whatever he says it is!”Ed broke off, but when he spoke again, his voice stayed at a shrill peak.“You are making this way more difficult than it needs to be.I want that report finished and in my inbox by Monday morning.Livestock depredation, Dr.Leon.By a wolf.”
“I thought it was a pack.”
“Wolves, then!I want that report tomorrow, do you understand?”
“I understand.You’ll have my report tomorrow.”
Ed disconnected.
For several moments, Tean stared at the monitor.Then he saved the report, submitted it, and shut down the computer.He grabbed his phone and texted Jem.