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but you’ll probably want to talk to them again yourself.”
    She was right there. Deputy Wynn was an example of just how hard it normally was to fill law enforcement positions in Benteen County. He was a foul-up whose regular misadventures had christened him Wynn Some, Lose Some. Deputy Wynn wouldn’t have passed muster for the county’s force but for the fact that his father was Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. The kid’s tendency to offset regular screw-ups with occasional acts approaching the heroic helped a little too.
    â€œNobody else was available?” The sheriff was virtually sure nobody was. He did the scheduling, and it was tough to keep even one officer on duty twenty-four/seven.
    â€œNo, sir. That’s what Wynn tells me, and I haven’t been able to reach anybody at the office. It’s just turned eight. Mrs. Kraus isn’t in yet.”
    The sheriff rolled his eyes, but not before turning his head so Parker couldn’t see. Wynn had been assigned to the office and told not to leave it for anything until Mrs. Kraus came. With Wynn out and Mrs. Kraus not yet on duty, there would be nobody to field calls at the sheriff’s office. Armed robbers could be knocking over the Texaco or the Dillons. A latter day Dillinger could be blasting his way into the Farmers & Merchants Bank. Terrorists could be invading the town and taking hostages. There would be no way for the sheriff to know, not unless someone happened to contact Judy and she called his cell phone. Well, there was nothing he could do about that now.
    â€œYou got a feel for what happened?”
    She shrugged, but she snapped it off as if she’d already prepared her testimony for cross examination. “Kid’s naked. Girl was, too, when she got back to the village. Out for a predawn quickie, I suppose. She says some guy with a dog jogged by, then the arrow came from their direction. Be a hell of a shot, and there doesn’t seem to be any motive, but she’s convinced he’s the one who did it.”
    The sheriff nodded. “She have any idea who the runner was?”
    â€œWell, sir…” She paused for a minute. “When I asked for descriptions, the girl said the dog looked like a wolf. And the guy had a shaved head. I guess you know who that would be?”
    The sheriff did. That would be his brother, Mad Dog.
    ***
    Mrs. Kraus didn’t believe in cell phones. She did believe in her Glock 19. She pulled it from her purse before the echo of the blast began to fade. No terrorists appeared, ready to charge the courthouse doors and seize the building, or give her the opportunity to defend it at the cost of their lives. In fact, no one else seemed to have noticed. Even the Mexican laborers were going about their business, apparently unaware that the seat of government for Benteen County had just been attacked. Their lawn mower had roared to life at the same moment as the bomb detonated, and they were concentrating, now, on a thick stand of weeds at the edge of Oak Street.
    Mrs. Kraus marched down the walk and examined the crater. It wasn’t large, nor was there much of a hole in the edge of the concrete where the walk bridged a drain pipe that allowed water to flow freely in the direction of Calf Creek. Still, the damage was sufficient to engage Mrs. Kraus’ imagination. The manner in which the thing might have vaporized her legs, had it gone off moments earlier, was clearly etched in her mind.
    She entered the courthouse, Glock preceding her. Either no one was about or they were remarkably hard of hearing.
    Wynn was supposed to be manning the radio and the phones in the sheriff’s office. She wasn’t surprised to find him missing. In her experience, Deputy Wynn more often botched his duties than fulfilled them.
    She headed straight for her desk. The sheriff needed to know about this immediately. She stopped well short of her goal when she realized another piece of pipe