Free Out of Range by C. J. Box

you name it. The only way to keep our division healthy is to practice sound fiscal management and good public relations. You never know when we’ll have to go to the legislature for money.”
    “I’m aware of that,” Joe said, not knowing where this was going.
    “Are you?” Pope asked sharply.
    “Yes.”
    Pope sighed. “I see everything, Joe. I’m the one who has to sign off on all of our expenses.”
    “Right.”
    “You don’t know what I’m getting at, do you, Joe?”
    “Nope,” Joe said. But now he did.
    “In the past six years, we’ve replaced two pickup trucks, a horse, and a snowmobile for you. Total losses, all of them.
    That’s the worst damage record in the state.”
    Joe felt anger start to rise.
    Pope continued, the cadence of his words speeding up until he was literally biting them off. “You arrested the governor.
    You got in the middle of a vital endangeredspecies issue.
    You pissed off one of the governor’s biggest contributors—
    who later got killed in your presence. Let’s see . . . what else?” Pope pretended to be pondering, then answered his own question. “That Sovereign thing up in the mountains, that was next. We are still working on repairing our relationship with the Forest Service over that one.”
    Joe crossed his arms and waited for him to finish.
    “Last year you hit a guy with your third pickup, right?”
    Pope said. “You smashed in the grille and bent the frame.
    What did that cost?”
    “A few thousand,” Joe said.
    “The actual cost was six thousand, seven hundred,” Pope spit out.
    “I’ve also lost two service weapons,” Joe said. “One got burned up in a fire, and the other got blown up by a cow.
    Don’t forget those.”
    That stopped Pope for a minute, threw him off balance.
    He recovered quickly and went on. “Now we’ve got a game warden who got boozed up and blows his head off. He’s not our first casualty lately. An outsider, or a legislator, might just think we’re an agency out of control.”
    Joe’s ears burned, and anger swelled in his chest. He tried to stay calm. Joe said, “You’re out of line, Pope. I don’t know what happened with Will Jensen yet, but you need to watch what you say. Will was never out of control. He devoted his life to the department, and maybe that’s what finally got to him. Maybe the pressure you and your kind put on him finally made him break. He lost his family, Pope, but he kept working for you.”
    Pope started to argue but Joe raised his hand to silence him.
    “That guy I hit with my truck deserved to be hit,” Joe said. “He was in the act of mutilating someone, and that was the only way to stop him. Everything you mentioned was justified. It was all investigated, and I received no reprimands from my supervisor or anyone else who mattered.”
    Pope’s eyes bulged. “But can’t you see how it looks? I’m trying to keep our costs down and improve our image. I’m trying to help this agency survive. You are not helping me very much.”
    Bitter silence hung in the air between them. Joe fought the urge to spin Randy Pope around and kick him out of the office, right in the seat of his brandnew jeans.
    Joe said, “I don’t figure it’s my job to make you look good, Assistant Director Pope. I think I’ve got a higher calling than that.”
    Pope glared at Joe. His face was flushed, and Joe could see little blue veins like earthworms pulse at his temples.
    “So,” Pope said, sarcastically, “you have a higher calling. But you’re in Jackson Hole now, Joe. If you fuck up here, everybody will know it. You’ve got to be more respectful here. That starts with showing up on time.”
    “You know what?” Joe said. “I’m already getting tired of hearing that.”
    “And if you screw up, you’re gone. Count on it,” Pope said.
    “If we do another round of budget cuts, you’ll be the first to go if I have any say in it.”
    Pope spun on his heels and was gone down the dark hallway.
    “See you at the