Minor in Possession by J. A. Jance

about it. In case you haven’t noticed, the phones aren’t working.”
    â€œYou say someone tried to kill you?”
    Louise Crenshaw’s question was couched in a dismissively sarcastic mode, derogatory but still slyly coy, almost like her old bitchy self.
    â€œCome now, Mr. Beaumont. Surely your imagination is playing tricks on you. If you were female, I’d say you were overwrought, but men don’t get overwrought. Or do they?”
    â€œI’m not overwrought, as you call it. Somebody planted a damn rattlesnake in my cabin this afternoon. It’s a wonder I didn’t step on it in the dark.”
    Louise laughed then, uproariously, almost hysterically. Calvin Crenshaw hurried to his wife’s side, a worried frown on his face.
    â€œCome on inside, Louise. You really must sit down.”
    She pulled away from his grasp. “I’m all right, Calvin, but I want this man out of here. Now.”
    â€œWe’ll talk about this tomorrow,” Calvin said to me, turning as if to take Louise back into the house.
    â€œNo, we won’t ,” I insisted before he could hustle her inside. “We’ll talk about it now! Tonight. Don’t you understand? I’m telling you, somebody tried to kill me.”
    Calvin Crenshaw stubbornly shook his head. “Rattlesnakes are part of the natural order ofthings around here, Mr. Beaumont. They do turn up occasionally, especially when it rains.”
    â€œThat’s what I’m trying to tell you. Shorty says the snake isn’t from around here, that it must be somebody’s pet.”
    Louise came to life and spun around, her eyes wide. “Who says?”
    â€œShorty Rojas. He came to my cabin and caught the snake with a stick. It was in my closet.”
    Louise’s face went suddenly slack. “You’re right, Cal,” she said weakly. “I want to go lie down, please.”
    â€œSure, hon. Right away.” Cal turned back to us. “Wait right here.”
    As gently as if she were a damaged porcelain doll, Calvin Crenshaw led his wife into the house, closing the door behind them. He was gone for several minutes. The longer he stayed away, the longer I had to wait, the more aggravated I became. When he finally returned to the door, though, I noticed a subtle change in the man. He was grim-faced but determined.
    â€œLouise and I have talked it over. Our clients have had enough disturbances for one day. You’re to go back to the ranch, Mr. Beaumont. Tomorrow we’ll decide what’s to be done.”
    My mouth must have dropped open half a foot. “Tomorrow? Are you crazy? I’m talking attempted murder here. Homicide. I’m not going back to that cabin, and I’m sure as hell not staying there until there’s been a full police investigation.”
    â€œThen you won’t be going back at all.” CalvinCrenshaw spoke with a quiet assurance I had never seen in him before. “That being the case, Mr. Beaumont,” Calvin continued, “I suggest you have Shorty here take you back to the ranch to pick up your belongings. If you hurry, you may be able to catch the Greyhound into Phoenix.”
    â€œWait a minute. Pick up my belongings? Does that mean you’re throwing me out?”
    â€œIf you’re not prepared to do as you’re told, Mr. Beaumont, you don’t leave us any choice. We have a treatment center to run, and we must look to the welfare of all our clients.”
    â€œWhat the hell do you expect me to do? Forget that someone tried to kill me? Go back to my cabin and act like it never happened? You expect me to sleep there?”
    Beside me on the porch, Shorty Rojas shifted uneasily, but Calvin Crenshaw gave him a warning head shake that stifled any objection Shorty might have had. I couldn’t blame him. I had no doubt that if he had crossed this newly transformed Calvin Crenshaw, his job would be on the line.
    â€œIt’s up to you,