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Bodie thought back to some of the more intense subjects Cane had spoken to her about when he was
in his cups. She blushed when she recalled the more intimate ones.
So he does, doesn t he? Morie persisted.
I don t know. Maybe he does. But I don t have the experience to deal with all that, she replied
worriedly. I don t know what to tell him, how to help him.
What if I got you in touch with a psychologist I know? She might be able to give you some advice
on how to deal with it.
That might be helpful. But I don t want to make things worse for him by saying the wrong thing.
I m sure she won t advise you to psychoanalyze him. Morie laughed. But she can tell you some
things that might help.
Bodie nodded. Okay, then. I think&
Morie s phone went off, with the theme of a popular movie. She pulled it out of her jeans and
opened it. Morie, she said into the receiver.
Mrs. Kirk, can you send somebody over here to get Cane? the worried bartender of a nearby
establishment asked plaintively. He s wrecking the place!
Bodie, overhearing the plea, grimaced.
I ll send someone right over, Morie promised. And we ll make it all right financially, okay?
Okay. But please hurry!
That s your cue, Morie told Bodie. She grimaced again. Sorry. I ll get Darby to drive you.
Get him to hide the tire tool, Bodie advised grimly. The temptation just might be too much for
me!
CHAPTER NINE
IT STARTED TO SNOW AS Darby pulled up in front of the country bar and grill with Bodie.
Now, don t hit him, Darby advised as he opened the door for her.
Chance would be a fine thing, she muttered.
She strode into the bar. It was very late, and only a couple of men were still there. On the bar was a
shattered display of glasses and bottles.
But Cane was nowhere in sight. She frowned and went to speak to the bartender. Isn t Cane Kirk
here? she asked tentatively.
He glowered at her. Come and gone, he said. He waved his hand around the room. Hundreds of
dollars worth of damage, again. Listen, Bodie, you tell his brothers if he does this one more time, I m
calling the law. Enough is enough. I sympathize with the man, I do, but we re going to lose customers
if this doesn t stop. Besides that he sighed maybe a few days in jail will turn him around.
She grimaced. I don t think so, she confessed. He s totally out of control. Do you have any idea
where he might have gone? she added, worried now, because if Cane was that drunk and driving, he
could kill himself or somebody else.
No idea, the bartender replied. Except that he started north, toward Jackson Hole.
Thanks, Sid, she told him with a wan smile.
Hey, no problem. I m sorry about your grandfather, he said gently. He was a good man.
Yes. He was.
That stepfather of yours, he muttered. There s talk of an investigation. They say he s operating a
porn site and using underage girls.
Her eyes widened. Will? she stammered, horrified. She d known he filmed things for his own
amusement, but she had no idea he was capable of something like that.
He s denying it, of course, but one of the girls was forced to come forward by her mother. She was
sixteen when she was posing for Will, although she said she never told him her real age. Not that he
asked. Damned shame. Sweet, innocent girl, now her body s plastered all over the internet, thanks to
Will, in some shameful ways. Or at least, that s the gossip, he elaborated. I don t visit websites like
that. But plenty do. Even around here.
Can t they take the pictures of her down? Bodie asked. She was worried in case Will doctored the
film he had of her and put it out in some obscene fashion on the web, to get even with her for
involving the Kirk brothers.
Not really, Sid replied. They ve spread around too far, or that s what the sheriff told me. He said
he didn t know what she could do about it, except her parents could sue Will. But it s going to make
things really hard on her around here. Her mother said she guessed she d send her to college up in
Oregon, where hopefully nobody will recognize her. She s changed her hair color and all. He
shrugged. Maybe it will help.
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