'West,' she answered.

'Virginia? It's…' Hammer's voice pushed through static.

'Chief Hammer?' West said loudly. 'Hello?'

'Virginia… You there?' Hammer's voice scattered more.

West pressed a hand over her other ear, trying to hear.

'… That's bullshit…' a male voice suddenly broke in.

West started walking, trying to get into a better cell.

'Virginia…?' Hammer's voice barely crackled through.

'… can do it anytime… usual rules apply…' The male voice was back.

He had a southern drawl and was obviously a redneck. West felt instant hostility.

'… time to… kill… Got to… or score…' The redneck spoke in distorted blurts.

'… an ugly dog not worth… lead to shoot it…" A second redneck suddenly answered the first redneck. 'How much…?'

'Depends on… Maybe a couple hundred…" '… Just between us…" '… If… body… finds…'

'… not invited…'

'What?' Hammer's voice surfaced and was gone.

'… Use a… cold nose… Not your piece… shit…! Blue…'

'Chief Hammer…" West started to say more, then caught herself, realizing the rednecks might be able to hear them, too.

'… coons…" The first redneck came back. '… not one born too smart for… Dismal Swamp…" '… Got that right, Bubba… We covered… a blanket…" 'Okay, Smudge… buddy… early morning?'

West was silently shocked as she listened to two men plan a homicide that clearly was racially motivated, a hate crime, a score to settle that involved robbery. It sounded as if the murder would go down early in the morning. She wondered if a cold nose was slang for a snub-nosed revolver and if blue referred to a gun that was blue steel versus stainless steel or nickel-plated. Clearly, the psychos planned to wrap the body in a blanket and dump it in the Dismal Swamp.

Static.

'… Loraine…' Bubba's fractured voice was back. '… At old pumps… cut engine… headlights off so don't wake…'