Broken Heartland Read Online Free Page A

in Hutchinson. The driver’s still in surgery. They said he wasn’t likely to wake up for HPD to question him before mid-afternoon. I did ask them to call back and let me know when he starts recovery. That was the guy who asked for Pastor Goodfellow, wasn’t it? You find Goodfellow? He know anything about this?”
    The sheriff was glad he hadn’t chewed Doc out. The emergency medical techs who transported the driver had known he was under arrest and in need of questioning. By the time Doc found the plastic, there was nothing more to do from Benteen County. Just call the cops in Hutch and make sure they questioned the man as soon as he came out from under anesthetic.
    â€œGreer and I had our little misunderstanding before I got to Goodfellow, so we didn’t talk much. The pastor claimed he knew nothing about the guy or the Dodge or the kid.”
    Doc leaned against the counter where his autopsy tools were laid out. The bone shears gleamed. “Goodfellow speaks Spanish. He evangelizes among the new Latin majority down in Garden City and some of the other meat-packing communities where English has become a second language. You’ll probably find most Hispanics in this part of the state know our pastor.”
    The sheriff pulled his notebook out and checked. He’d forgotten the driver had appeared to be Hispanic, though it was in his notes that way. The man hadn’t been carrying any identification and there’d been no tags on the Dodge.
    â€œRemember?” Doc said. “Goodfellow tried services in Spanish here. Didn’t work because our Latinos don’t speak Spanish anymore.”
    That was because Buffalo Spring’s last economic boom had been more than fifty years ago. People had been leaving the county ever since, not migrating to it.
    The sheriff’s cell rang. It was Mrs. Kraus. She told him about the school bus, as well as her opinion of the low-lifes who’d been tying up her phone since she got in.
    â€œJust what I need,” the sheriff said, “another mystery to solve.”
    He was feeling overwhelmed. Aside from Wynn, who was in an ICU in Wichita, the county’s financial crisis had left him with only two other deputies. One of those was on indefinite leave in Winfield, trying to persuade his aging parents to trade the house they kept accidentally setting fire to for a place in a retirement community. The other, a wanna-be chef, was home heaving his guts out after one of his recipes failed. Mrs. Kraus had said that deputy wouldn’t be in until his fever broke and he could get more than ten feet from the nearest toilet.
    â€œThings are getting complicated, Doc. That school bus had no business being out there. Now I’ve got that to look into, as well as this kid.” He glanced at the crushed and carved body on the stainless steel table. “Can you tell me anything else about him that might help? I don’t have much to go on.”
    â€œWell, there is one thing,” Doc said. He bit a lip for a moment as if searching for a way to put it. “Took me awhile to realize it,” he said, “’cause he’s so banged up and all, but this boy’s real unusual.”
    â€œHow’s that?”
    â€œHe was perfect. Other than what the accident did to him, and being tied up, this kid didn’t have any blemishes. No cavities, no fillings, no missing teeth. You’d expect some old wounds, but I haven’t even found a scar on him, to say nothing of birth marks or other defects. I mean, it’s weird. He doesn’t even have a pimple.”
    ***
    When Mad Dog looked around, Hailey wasn’t there. She’d been sniffing the grass moments ago, just a few feet away. Had she caught a scent and decided to follow it?
    He called her name, not that she usually came when wanted. She was mostly wolf, not dog. She didn’t do obedience. When he needed her, that was something else. When he needed her, she was