Over Chugwater in southeastern Wyoming, Joe leaned over in the passenger seat of the governor's Cessna Citation Encore small jet - dubbed Rulon One - and chanced a look outside the window.  His stomach was in knots and his fingers gripped the armrests so tightly he was afraid he was leaving permanent impressions.

The terrain below was a sea of taupe and white: high prairie and patches of snow as far as he could see.  There were a few skeletal trees choking the riverbeds, and the occasional lonely ranch building.  Herds of cattle and pronghorn antelope dotted the terrain.  If it weren't for the commas of snow, the vista looked almost African, like documentary footage he'd seen of the Serengeti Plain.  He was less than a half hour from Cheyenne.

The accordion door for the cockpit folded and the copilot looked back at Joe with a mixture of amusement and malice.  He looked too young and fresh-faced to be at the controls, Joe thought.

"How's it going back there, partner?"

"Dandy," Joe said sourly.

"Don't like flying much, do you?"

Joe glared his response.

The copilot said with a smile, "There's wind in Cheyenne - imagine that.  It might be a little bumpy on the approach.  Just pretend you're riding a bull."

"No thanks," Joe said, thinking of the bull rider that had infiltrated his household.


DALLAS CATES hadn't stayed for dinner the night before, despite April's begging him.  He'd mumbled something about "knowing where he wasn't wanted" and said good night to Mr. Pickett and Mrs. Pickett and thanked them for their hospitality while he gathered his NFR coat.  April went outside with him to say good-bye.

"You remember that character Eddie Haskell on Leave It to Beaver?" Joe asked Marybeth.

"I was just thinking the same thing," she said, moving a steaming casserole dish of lasagna from the oven to the range top to cool.  "What is it between you two?"

"I don't like him."

"That was obvious."

"Good."

"I'll go let Lucy know we're ready to eat," Marybeth said, trying to stifle a smile.  After she passed Joe, she paused in the doorway and looked back.

"There's something else, isn't there?"