order bell chimed, indicating our food was ready. I watched the waitress, hoping she would bring our to-go bag quickly. Outside, an ambulance drove by, its lights on but no siren. Josie watched it go, her expression betraying her obvious worry.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“I’m not sure I have the answer to that.” She seemed to realize she was being overly candid and straightened her posture, her demeanor shifting. “Sheriff has an ambulance on call for the next couple days. Just in case of more attacks.”
I glanced at Wilder, his cheeks reddening.
“If the sheriff thinks Hank did it, why would he call in an ambulance?” Unless he thought someone else was hurting people. Or knew someone else was going to get hurt. My suspicions about the sheriff’s involvement seemed warranted.
Josie got to her feet, slipping her glasses back on. “I’m sure Sheriff McGraw has his reasons.”
No doubt. “Nice to see you again, Deputy.” I tried to remain polite. I didn’t think Josie was the enemy here.
She was almost at the door when she turned back. “Miss McQueen? Genie?” Her voice was suddenly full of worry, and I went still, making Wilder wait.
“Yeah?”
“Y’all be careful, okay? And get out of town as soon as you can.” It didn’t sound like a threat.
If anything it sounded like a warning.
Wilder and I were in Cash’s car, parked down the highway from a charming ranch-style home set back off the main road, and I still couldn’t decide if this was a great idea or lunacy. Josie’s words floated around in my head, adding to my worry.
Wilder stuck a cup of coffee under my nose, and I took it, sipping the lukewarm bitter liquid laced with way too much sugar. My lips puckered involuntarily, but I didn’t say anything. Even gross coffee was better than no coffee.
“You sure this is his place?”
Reaching under my seat, I grabbed the slim yellow parish phonebook I’d stolen from my motel room. “T. Deerling was kind enough to be listed. Yeah, I’m sure this is his place.”
“It’d be so nice if scumbags would put signs on their lawn, you know? Dear World, a Racist Shithead Lives Here. Or if there was an online registry.”
I rubbed the bridge of my nose beneath my sunglasses and took another swig of the foul brew I was holding. I yearned for a café au lait from La Madeleine. The sandwich had been good, but not what I wanted. Too bad I couldn’t get fresh palmiers or fancy bullshit coffee in Franklinton.
That was the most princessy thing I’d ever thought.
I ignored my snobby internal dialogue to reply to Wilder. “If they broadcast it like that, little old ladies wouldn’t bring them cobbler every Sunday. And evil pricks love a good peach cobbler.”
“Shit. Who doesn’t love peach cobbler?”
The car was starting to get hot in spite of us having the windows down. I would have loved to turn on the engine and let the AC run for awhile, but it was bad enough we were sitting on the side of the road in broad daylight. Sitting in an idling car would look even more suspicious.
I wished we could turn on the radio for distraction, though. Answering every one of Wilder’s cheeky barbs with something equally witty was taking way more energy than I had to give. I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to be so on for him, but it was easier to be clever than to be honest.
Silence fell again, and this time I was brutally aware of every second of it. I wondered what he was thinking and what he thought I was thinking. And that terrible circle of pointlessness kept nagging at me until he cleared his throat.
“Sooooo. Tell me about you and Cash.”
As awful as that idea sounded, it was better than talking about what was on my mind and better than sitting here quietly torturing myself.
“What do you want to know?”
Based on the face he made, I gathered he was hoping I would declare the topic off-limits and he’d be able to get away without actually hearing about my love life. Well, tough shit for him. He’d asked, and I was desperate for distraction.
“Uh. I guess…how did you guys meet?”
“Fraternity party.”
Wilder choked on a mouthful of coffee, then exaggerated the hacking, beating his chest like he was dying of shock.
“Oh, simmer down,” I scolded. “I was trying to live a normal college life, you know. I thought about joining a sorority, ended up at the party. I kept the