Read Online Mercy Falls by William Kent Krueger - Free Book Online

Melatonin before you go to bed. It’s one of those hormones older people’s bodies don’t regulate very well.”
    “I’ll keep it in mind.”
    Jacoby reached back and squeezed Jo’s hand. “Always a pleasure, Counselor. Give me a call—you have my cell phone number, right?—after you’ve spoken with the RBC. I’m staying at the Four Seasons. You should have my number there, too. If you don’t get me, just leave a message. Ciao,” he said, and left.
    Inside Jo’s office with the door closed, Cork said, “I’ve met rabid badgers I liked better.”
    “You don’t have to like him.” Jo picked up a document and scanned it.
    Cork sat down at her desk and began to rub the back of his neck, which had developed a slight crick. “Do you?”
    “I’ve dealt with him for six months now. I’m almost used to him.”
    Starlight Enterprises, the company that employed Jacoby, provided management for casinos all over the lower Midwest and was eager to expand into Minnesota. Jacoby had been working hard for the past half year to make the Iron Lake Ojibwe one of the company’s clients. Because Jo had often represented the interests of the rez and had worked on the casino from its inception, Oliver Bledsoe, who headed the tribal legal affairs office, had retained her to handle the negotiations. The Reservation Business Committee, which oversaw all financial dealings the rez conducted as an entity, had initially rejected the idea. The casino was just about to lose its fourth manager in as many years, however, and several members of the RBC had become vocal advocates for using Starlight to supply consistent, qualified management. They’d finally authorized Jo to come up with a contract that the RBC could put to a vote.
    As light as a butterfly, she touched Cork’s wounded ear. “How are you doing?”
    “Holding up.”
    “You didn’t sleep much.”
    “A lot on my mind.”
    “You left this morning before the girls were up. They were disappointed they didn’t see you.”
    “There were things I needed to do.”
    She pressed her palm gently to his chest. “I understand, Cork, but they’re scared. Their father could have been killed last night.”
    “I wasn’t.”
    “And thank God for that. But they need some reassurance and it needs to come from you.”
    When he’d agreed to step in again as sheriff, Cork had promised himself and Jo that, as much as possible, his job wouldn’t affect his family, especially the children. Deep down he knew it was a futile pledge. He was the son of a sheriff himself, and he understood what the job demanded. He’d said yes for the most selfish of reasons. He missed the badge. He missed the camaraderie that came with it, the challenge, the feeling that he was doing something that mattered. It was also satisfying to have the Board of Commissioners come to him, hat in hand, after the people of Tamarack County elected Arne Soderberg, a man as near to being a cop as a duck was to being an eagle. They’d screwed themselves royally, and they needed Cork. That felt good. Damn good. So he’d said yes knowing full well the sacrifices it would require of his family.
    He took her hand and kissed it. “I’ll be home for dinner, promise. I’ll talk to them then. Was that all you wanted?”
    “And this.” She kissed him softly. “Take care of yourself out there, cowboy.”
     
     
    In the early afternoon, he drove out to Allouette on the Iron Lake Reservation to meet with the tribal council. Simon Rutledge followed in his state car.
    Allouette was the largest of the communities on the reservation. Even so, there wasn’t a lot to it. From one end of town to the other was just over half a mile. A few years before, the housing had been mostly trailers and HUD homes in desperate need of repair, but lately things had improved considerably thanks to the Chippewa Grand Casino that was owned and operated by the Iron Lake Band of Ojibwe. Typically, the tribal council met in the new community center,