“What are we going to do?” Angie asked.

“Once you’re under a doctor’s care, I’m going to go see Walter McFadden,” Joanna told her.

“The sheriff?”

“That’s right.”

“Are you going to tell him about me?”

“I’ve got to, Angie. It’s too dangerous otherwise. There’s no telling what they might do.”

“They?” Bobo asked attentively.

“At least two,” Joanna returned. “The one you met, Tony.”

“‘Tony Vargas,” Angie supplied.

“And a DEA agent named Adam York.”

“Thanks for telling me,” Bobo muttered. “It’s nice to know who the hell’s on what side.”

Most of the police officers in the City of Bisbee were still congregated around the Copper Queen Hotel, trying to locate two missing female guests who had disappeared in the aftermath of a minor fire. As a consequence, Bobo Jenkins sped through town at sixty or so miles per hour with no one pulling him over or raising an eyebrow. They made the three-mile drive from Old Bisbee to the Warren district in record-breaking time while Joanna quickly brought Bobo Jenkins up to speed on what had been going on.

‘When they ask who you are,” Joanna cautioned Angie as they pulled up to the emergency entrance, “give them some kind of phony name, and one that isn’t Tammy Sue Ferris, either. Tell them you’re Andy’s cousin from Tulsa or Enid, Oklahoma, and that you’re in town for the funeral. Got that?”

Angie Kellogg nodded. “Okay,” she said.

Stopping the car directly in front of the entrance, Bobo again picked Angie up and bodily carried her inside. Joanna followed. Once the emergency room nurses had taken charge of Angie and rolled her away on a gurney, Bobo and Joanna were left waiting in the empty lobby.

“Lend me your car, Bobo,” Joanna said quietly.

“So you can go see McFadden?”

Joanna nodded. “I’ll come with you,” Bobo offered.

“No, you stay here and keep an eye on her. If Tony somehow figures out she’s here, I’m still afraid he might try something.”

“In the middle of a hospital?” Bobo asked. “What is he, crazy or something?”

“Andy’s being in a hospital didn’t stop him before,” she replied.

“Jeez!” Bobo exclaimed, then he frowned. “He wouldn’t try to get to you through Jenny, would he?”

Joanna felt as though she’d taken a pounding blow to the midsection. “I never thought of that.”

“Where is she?”

“At home, out at the ranch, with my mother.”

“I’d get her out of there quick if I were you,” Bobo warned. “Have them go someplace else until this all gets straightened out.”

Joanna nodded even as she was turning in a frantic search for a telephone. She found a pay phone near the lobby. Bobo Jenkins supplied the necessary quarter. Joanna breathed a sigh of relief when Eleanor answered the hone.

“Where in the world are you?” Eleanor demanded. “It’s late. I need to get home pretty soon.”

“Is Jenny asleep?”

“Of course she is. Hours ago. And Ken Galloway is here waiting to see you. He came to pick up Andy’s uniform and take it up to the funeral home. I thought you were going to do that this afternoon. It should have been done before this.”

“Mother,” Joanna said, “listen to me. I don’t have time to deal with that right now. I want you to get Jenny up and bring her into town. Take her up to Jeff and Marianne’s. I’ll call on ahead and tell them you’re coming. Bring Sadie, too. It’ll make Jenny feel better if she has the dog with her.”

“You want me to wake Jenny up in the middle of the night and drag her into town? Hasn’t she been through enough?” Eleanor demanded. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of. And I don’t want that filthy dog in my car.”

“Mother,” Joanna said slowly, “this time, we’re doing it my way. I want both Jenny and Sadie out of that house, and I want them out now. If there’s a problem with your car, I’ll clean it up later, but I’m warning you. If you want to have a granddaughter when all this is over, one you can talk to and visit, then you’ll do as I say.”

Eleanor greeted her daughter’s threat with a moment of shocked silence. “I don’t understand any of this at all,” she said at last. “What’s going on, anyway? Where are you going to be?”

“I’ve got to go talk to Walter McFadden right away. After you drop Jenny off, you go on to your own place. When I can, I’ll stop by and let you know what’s going on.”

“I should think so,” Eleanor returned sourly.

Joanna hung up and borrowed another of Bobo Jenkins’ quarters. She dialed Marianne Maculyea’s number and was relieved when Marianne answered after only one ring.

“I’m calling to ask a favor,” Joanna said. “1 know it’s late, but my mother and Jenny are on their way to your house right now. Mother’s bringing both Jenny and Sadie. I need you to keep them overnight. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Joanna, something’s wrong. You sound funny. Are you all right?” Marianne asked.

“I will be eventually,” Joanna returned. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go along?” Bobo asked when she put down the phone.

Joanna was filled with momentary misgiving. The world outside the brightly lit hospital corridor seemed dark and dangerous. Adam York and/or Tony might be lurking out there in the forbidding parking lot, waiting for her to set foot outside. And if something happened to her and to Angie both…

Decisively, Joanna reached down and fumbled in the side pocket of her purse. Leaving purse sitting open on the floor, she located the two items she was searching for-Lefty’s puzzling letter to Andy and the note pad containing the mysterious Cora’s telephone number.

“Keep this for me, Bobo,” she said, handing over Lefty O’Toole’s letter. “If anything happens to me, I want you to turn it over to the authorities. You need to know that Vargas is really after Angie because of a book she stole from him, one Vargas used to keep track of his business dealings. It’s in the safe up at the Copper Queen. If anything happens to her, the cops need to know about that, too.”

“You really do think they’re going to try coming after her, don’t you?”

Joanna nodded grimly. “I sure as hell do.”

She opened the note pad and stared down at the page containing Cora’s telephone number. Finally, she tore it out and handed that to him as well. “You’ve heard about the money I suppose?”

“I’ve heard rumors,” Bobo conceded, “but I’m not sure I believe any of ‘em.”

“This telephone number belongs to someone named Cora. She’s most likely the woman who showed up at the bank with Andy the day he deposited the extra money in our account. Again, if anything happens to me, I want you to call this number and find out where that money came from. I don’t care if she and Andy were having an affair or not. At this point, it doesn’t much matter. But I want Jenny to know the truth about where that money came from and why. If it was from some kind of crooked dealings, so be it. Jenny needs to know that about her father. If not, she deserves to know that, too.”

Bobo handed Joanna the keys to the El Camino while his dark eyes clouded with sympathy. “They’ve put you through hell, Joanna. I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “It’s not so bad, Bobo,” she replied. “At least I’ve got friends to help me.”

Her purse had sat open on the floor. When she leaned down to pick it up, the.44 was clearly visible.

Bobo saw the gun without registering the least bit of surprise. “From what I’ve heard about these guys,” he said, “I think I’d keep that thing handy. But if you need it, you’ll be better off with it in a pocket rather than in a purse. In a pinch, it’ll be a hell of a lot easier to get to.”

With a nod, Joanna reached down, picked up the gun, and shoved it deep into the pocket of her fleece-lined jacket.

“And if the doc doesn’t want to keep Angie overnight, I’ll take her home with me,” Bobo continued. “That way you’ll know she’s safe, but you’ll also know where to come looking for her.”