Free Fire - C. J. Box [38]
Joe observed that Demming had subtly pushed her chair fartheraway from Layborn. Portenson observed Layborn as if the ranger were an amusing, exotic specimen.
“You know,” Portenson said, “I bet you guys could really run this damned park properly if you could just get rid of all of the people in it. We feel the same way about the reservation. If we could ship all those damned Indians off somewhere, we wouldn’t hardly have any trouble at all.”
Layborn turned his scowl on the FBI agent. Demming looked mortified by both Layborn’s and Portenson’s language. Joe felt sorry for her.
“Maybe we can get back to the issue here,” Joe said, and receiveda grateful nod from Ashby.
“And maybe,” Layborn said to Joe, “we can start with why you’re really here. Why we all had to show up for this damned meeting in the first place.”
“I’m a little curious about that myself,” Portenson agreed.
Joe felt his neck get hot. He had been expecting the question and couldn’t lie or mislead them. Not that he was any good at lying anyway. He felt it was his assignment to tell them the truth but leave a couple of things out. The specter of Governor Rulon stood in the corner, it seemed, listening closely to what Joe said.
"Spencer Rulon was the U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming before he ran for governor, as you know,” Joe said. “So if he still had his old job, he would have been the one tryingto prosecute this case. He’s got a vested interest in it. He’d like to see Clay McCann thrown in prison because he doesn’t like the idea of a man getting away with murder in his state, despitethe weird legal circumstances of this one. So he asked me to come up here and talk to you all and write a report summarizingthe case. If he reads something that interests him, he may go to the new U.S. Attorney, or have the Wyoming AG take a look at it. He wants to help, not interfere. That’s what he told me. He asked me to come up here and poke around, see if I can figure anything out from a fresh perspective.”
Layborn snorted, sat back, and crossed his arms over his chest. “What do you expect to find that we haven’t already gone over?”
Joe shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“This is pointless,” Layborn said. “You’re wasting my time and everybody’s time in this room.”
“Maybe,” Joe agreed.
Ashby said, “I suppose it can’t hurt. Sometimes the best thing to do is start fresh.”
Joe could tell by the way Ashby said it that he really didn’t believe what he was saying. He was playing peacemaker and he wanted to move the meeting along so he could get out of there.
“Doubtful,” Layborn said.
Ashby sighed and looked squarely at Joe. “The particulars of this case have been reviewed ad nauseum. We’ve never had a case with a higher profile, and frankly, we don’t appreciate the publicity that’s come from it. We saw more national press up here last summer than we’ve seen since we reintroduced the wolves, and it wasn’t very good press.”
“Is that why the chief ranger isn’t here?” Joe asked.
Ashby tried not to react to Joe’s question, but there was a flicker behind his glare.
“The National Park Service is funded by federal appropriation,” Ashby said flatly. “Congressmen want to feel good about the parks. We want to be the agency everybody feels all warm and fuzzy about. They don’t like this kind of controversy, and neither do we.”
Layborn shot his arm out and looked at his wristwatch. “I’ve got to go,” he said.
“I have some questions,” Joe said quickly.
“This is stupid,” Layborn said, looking to Ashby for a nod so he could have permission to leave. “He has the files. He should read ’em.”
Ashby wouldn’t meet Layborn’s eye to dismiss him.
“I read over the file more than once,” Joe said, forging ahead. “I read everything in it, but I’m not sure all of the information was in there. Not