Two phone calls about dogs came through in ten minutes. After a few questions I determined neither was Mix-up. Cherry arrived twenty minutes later. “Are you converted yet?” I said, stepping from my truck and handing back the borrowed briefcase, empty now. She pushed open the door and we went inside. “I’m a believer, Ryder, but on my own terms. Fact and reason shouldn’t negate faith, but enhance it. Why does religion have to be four hundred years behind everything else?” “I’m not the one to ask about theology. I just finished whipping an elderly man into a sexual frenzy.” “Was it worth it?” she asked. “You be the judge. Coggins ran with Powers for about two years, coupling like ferrets on Viagra. On back roads, in local motels, now and then grabbing a hot weekend at one of the casino boats on the Ohio River.” “We knew that from before.” “Powers also liked money a lot and spent it fast when she got it. Plus she had a thing for cockfights and dogfights. She loved the noise and action and being one of the few females in the crowd, a hundred men eyeballing her.
