“Can’t say I have.”
“Used to be a shithole. Now the place is pretty nice. Like Bourbon Street in New Orleans, but clean and less crappy jazz music.”
“Sounds lovely.”
“Right. So anyway, Holly’s bosses were sitting pretty, taking pictures for the papers and such, but he didn’t make any friends with all the local cops he made look incompetent. If he hadn’t got the collar, they’d probably have found him in a ditch somewhere. But anyway, he did, so he dipped out on the locals and made the jump to the Alabama Bureau. Pissed off a bunch of folks over there, but was getting it done, so out come the federal headhunters and it was onward and upward to better things, leaving all us state levels in his wake.”
“You said he was a golden boy around there. Was Holly GBI, too?”
“Nah, we’ve done some interagency operations that had him working out of our offices, but as far as I know, he’s never been one of ours. Listen, Clayton, if this guy is interested in Halford and what’s going on up that mountain of yours, I’d say it was worth listening to, just to see what he has to say. He’s a little squirrelly, but he seems like a smart cop.”
Clayton scratched at his beard. “Is he good people?” he asked.
“I couldn’t tell you if he calls his mother on Sundays, if that’s what you mean, but I can tell you he’s a good fella to have in a foxhole. The guy gets it done.”
“Well, I guess that’s what I needed to know. I appreciate your help, Charles.”
“No worries, Sheriff. Is there anything my office should know about what you got cooking up there?”
“According to Holly, your office will be one of the first to know if the whole thing goes south.”
Finnegan sighed heavily through the phone. “We normally are, but keep me in mind all the same. We could use a win or two around here. Our darling director has us chasing dogfighting rings of the rich and famous.”
“Dogfighting?”
“It’s a long story. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it on the news.”
“Of that I have no doubt, Charles.”
“When you gonna bring me some of that famous hooch of yours? I was the most popular man in the building when I had a jar of that Georgia Peach in my desk.”
Clayton stared down into his empty coffee cup. “I haven’t touched a drop in over a year.”
“No shit?”
“Kate says it ain’t doing our marriage any favors. I tend to agree with her.”
“I heard that. A happy wife is a happy life.”
“Words to live by.”
“All right, then, you call me if you need a few more boots on the ground.”
“I’ll do that. Be safe out there.”
“You, too, Sheriff.”