Rough country

WENDY.

"I think maybe I want a lawyer when I'm talking to you," she said.

Virgil said, "Okay. Get a lawyer. If you can't afford a lawyer, I'll arrange to have the court appoint one…"

She threw her hands up. "Wait-wait-wait. You got me. I don't want a fuckin' lawyer," Wendy said. "Ask your questions."

"When you slept with McDill the other night, was there a man around? Did you share a man? In any way?"

She looked at him for a minute, then did a reflexive grin, shook her head, and said, "You know about the boys, huh? But no, it was just the two of us, bumpin' cunts." She said it casually, no longer trying to shock him.

"Had McDill been playing with any of the other women up there? Or any of the men?"

"They're not really men-they're boys. Everybody calls them boys. And I don't know about McDill. I went up there because we'd been talking and doing some cocktails, and we were sneaking around Berni to do this, which got me kind of hot, so when Erica says, 'Come on up to the lodge,' I said, 'Okay.' It was that quick. Nothing planned. We went up there, had a few more cocktails, and got naked. I can give you the details of that, if you'd like."

"Sure, go ahead," Virgil said.

She looked at him for a moment, then said, "Fuck you."

"Do I make you nervous?" Virgil asked.

"You're not like other cops I've known-the thing that worries me is that you might be nuts," she said. "We don't need a nut. We need somebody who can clear this up, not a big cloud over the band."

Virgil said, "I'd like to talk to your father."

"Why's that?"

"Because from what I've heard, he's virtually a part of the band. And I've got this thing going in my head: maybe somebody didn't want McDill to mess with the band. Maybe somebody saw her as a threat, who'd either take you away from them, or maybe force some people out of the band… I understand from some people that your father has been pretty central to your career."

"Well, he's… I don't know what he is. He's not an official member or anything," Wendy said. "He's the one guy I know who has my best interests at heart, and I don't have to worry about that. I don't have to worry that he's up to something."

"He's got your back," Virgil said.

"That's it: that's what he does."

"Still need to talk to him," Virgil said. "I'm told he's sort of a backwoods guy. A good shot."

She didn't react to the "good shot." She said, "Well, go on out-he's around."