Joe looked over his shoulder at his pickup truck, to see if Julie had heard. Luckily, the windows were up and she was still being held by Sheridan.

“Mind if I stand up now?” Arlen asked the sheriff.

McLanahan thought it over, nodded his assent, and told Deputy Reed to help Arlen up but to keep him away from Hank.

Joe squatted down a few feet from Wyatt.

“Are you okay?” Joe asked. “Are you hurt?”

Wyatt just continued to sob, his head between his knees, his back heaving, tears spattering the ground between his boots. Joe asked again. Wyatt reached up with his cuffed hands and smeared his tears across his dirty face.

“Where’s my mom?” Wyatt asked, his words mushy. Joe noticed Wyatt had missing teeth. “Where did she go?”

“I don’t know,” Joe said. “She can’t be far.”

“But Hank says she’s gone.”

Joe said, “I’m sure we’ll find her.”

Wyatt’s eyes flared, and for a second Joe thought the man would strike out at him.

“Where’s my mom?” Wyatt howled.

“Pickett!” McLanahan yelled, “What are you doing over there?”

Joe stood uneasily, searching Wyatt’s upturned, tragic face for a clue to his behavior. “Making sure Wyatt’s okay,” Joe said.

“He’s not,” McLanahan said, and one of the deputies laughed. “Trust me on that one.”

Joe looked at Arlen, and Hank. Both brothers were turned toward Wyatt, but neither said anything. They simply stared at their younger brother as if they were observing an embarrassing stranger.

Joe walked over to Deputy Reed, who was holding a bandanna to his split lip.

“What do you think the deal is with Opal?” Joe asked, out of earshot of the Scarlett brothers.

“Don’t know,” Reed said. “But I do know that old woman’s just too goddamned mean to die.”

WHILE SHERIFF MCLANAHAN interviewed each of the brothers quietly and individually, Joe concluded that he was no longer needed and, by inadvertently bringing Julie, he had done more harm than good.