“Nobody is calling the sheriff on you,” I said.

“Clean out your locker inside, and I’ll drive you over to the house on Junius Street.”

“I’ve got two hours left on my shift,” she said, glancing back at the kitchen doors.

“Your shift ended eight months ago,” I said.

“Go get your coat.”

She went in through the service door, and I waited in the alley until the back door latched again.

By four o’clock, the sun was sinking behind the tall granite columns of the Dallas County Courthouse downtown.