Jesse was drinking scotch at the counter in his tiny kitchen when Jenn called.
“Is it later there or earlier,” Jenn asked.
“It’s eight o’clock where you are,” Jesse said, “and eleven o’clock where I am.”
“Are you drinking?”
“I’m having one scotch before bed,” Jesse said.
“Just one?”
“Funny thing, Jenn. There’s a lot of pressure here all of a sudden, and it seems like I don’t need a drink. I haven’t had more than one since the pressure began.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“There is trouble,” Jesse said. “I don’t know yet if I’m in it.”
“Can you tell me about it?”
“The trouble? Sure. The guy I replaced in this job got murdered in Wyoming. A woman got murdered and I think it’s a way of getting at me.”
“Was she close to you?”
“No, I didn’t know her. But I know who did it, and I think he did it to challenge me.”
“Are you scared?”
“Yes,” Jesse said. “It’s probably why I only have one drink.”
“So you’ll be ready?”
“Something like that.”
“Can’t you arrest the man?”
“I can’t prove anything,” Jesse said.
“Is the man in Wyoming part of this?”
“I don’t know. It’s crazy that a town like this, where there hasn’t been a killing in fifty years, suddenly has two in a month. It makes you want to think they’re connected.”
“But you don’t see a connection.”
“No. There’s some kind of militia group in town. Not like the National Guard, the other kind, and there’s something funky about them.”
“Do you like the men you work with?”
“I like them, but I don’t know who I can trust.”
“No one?”
“Well, I’m sort of forced to trust one of them. My guess is he’s okay.”
“What about that woman. Weren’t you seeing a woman?”
“Abby. She’s mad at me.”
“Have you broken up?”
“I don’t know. The last time I saw her she walked away in a huff.”
“What is she mad at?”
“I wouldn’t tell her about this.”
“ ‘This’ being the stuff you’re telling me?”
“Yes. She said it meant I didn’t trust her.”
“Does that mean you trust me?”
“Yes.”
“Even though...?”
“Even though,” Jesse said.
The phone line made phone line noise while both of them remained silent.
“You should come home,” Jenn said after a time.
“I don’t know where home is, Jenn.”
“Maybe it’s with me.”
“I got too much going on, Jenn. I can’t walk down that road right now.”
“Even if you don’t come home, why not get out of there? I’ve never heard you say you were scared before.”
“I can’t leave it, Jenn. You know when they hired me, I was drunk? Why would they hire a guy to be police chief who was drunk in the interview?”
“I don’t know,” Jenn said. “Maybe they didn’t know you were drunk.”
“They knew,” Jesse said.
Again the cross-country silence broken by the low voltage sound of the circuitry.
“I’m scared, Jesse.”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“Will you call me soon?” Jenn asked.
“Yes.”
“I mean tomorrow, every day, so I’ll know you’re okay?”
“Yes.”
“I still love you, Jesse.”
“Maybe,” Jesse said.
“I do, Jesse. Do you still love me?”
“Maybe,” Jesse said.
After they had hung up he sat looking at the half-empty glass with the ice cubes melting into the whiskey. He picked it up and took a sip, and let it slide down his throat, warm and cool at the same time. His eyes felt as if they would fill with tears. He didn’t want them to, and he pushed the feeling back down.
Jenn, he thought. Jesus Christ!