"Sarahs gone," I said. "In Lillys car."

She didnt seem to understand for a moment. Then she sat straight up. "Oh, no," she said. "I dreamed last night that she ran away."

"We better take a look around and make sure nothings missing."

"What do you think she took besides the car?"

"I dont know, but you better make sure she didnt steal anything out of your purse, and you should check your jewelry. Lillys, too. Ill check the electronics and the guns."

It was hard to think of my sister as a thief, but thats exactly what shed been in the past. Shed stolen money from me, and Ma had been a favorite target. I wandered around the house for the next fifteen minutes, checking to make sure she hadnt hauled off a computer or a television or a stereo system. When I was finished, I walked back into the kitchen. Caroline was sitting at the table drinking a bottle of water. She looked at me, and I knew the news was going to be bad.

"My diamond necklace is gone." Id given Caroline the necklace for Christmas five years ago. Shed never owned anything expensive, and seeing the look on her face when she opened the box had given me great pleasure. She kept it in a jewelry box in a drawer in the bedroom. If it was gone, Sarah must have snuck in there and stolen it during the night.

"Goddammit," I said. "God damm it! How could she do this?"

"I guess we were expecting too much," Caroline said.

"I thought she might be ready to change. I thought I might be able to help her."

"When shes ready to change, if shes ever ready to change, shell do it on her own. We cant force it on her. What do you think we should do?"

"Shes taken a ten-thousand-dollar car and a five-thousand-dollar necklace. What do you think I should do?"

Caroline sighed. "I dont know, babe. Maybe you should go out and try to find her."

"Ive been down that road before. You know shes high by now. I guarantee shes already sold the necklace for peanuts or traded it for coke. If I found her at some dealers house Id end up defending myself in court after I killed the sonofabitch. I guess Ill just call Johnson Citys finest and see if they can pick her up before she sells the car to some chop-shopper."

The phone rang. Maybe it was Sarah, ready to turn back before she crossed the line.

"Mr. Dillard?" a male voice said when I answered.

"Yes."

"Hi, this is Matthew Miller with the Johnson City Police Department. Havent seen you in a while. You okay these days?"

I knew Matthew Miller. I knew most of the cops in Johnson City.

"Im fine, Officer Miller. Tell me you found my daughters car."

"A 2001 Chrysler Sebring, maroon in color, Washington County plate number QRS-433?"

"It was stolen last night."

"Well, sir, Im afraid I have some more bad news.

We found it wrecked this morning off of Knob Creek Road. Went down an embankment and rolled across a creek. Ended up against a tree. Id say its totaled, and""

"What about the driver?"

"No driver," Miller said. "No trace. Any idea who was behind the wheel?"

"It was probably my sister. She disappeared sometime last night."

"I thought she was locked up." Sarah was infamous. Everybody knew her.

"She got out a couple of weeks ago. She was staying here."

"I guess no good deed goes unpunished," Miller said. "Were pretty much finished up here. Im going to have the car towed down to Browns Mill Chevron. You can take it from there. The air bags inflated and theres no blood, so if it was your sister, she probably made it out okay."

"Thanks. Can you send somebody out here to take a report? She took some jewelry, too."

"Probably be best if you just call 911," he said.

"Theyll send the right people."

I thanked Miller and hung up.

"She wrecked it," I said to Caroline. "She wrecked Lillys car. Im calling the cops. Im through with her."

"Ive heard that before."

"Im serious. She committed two felonies under my roof. She stole and wrecked my daughters car and stole your necklace. With her record, theyll ship her off to the penitentiary where she belongs. She wont see the light of day again for at least four years, maybe longer."

"Are you sure thats what you want to do?" Caroline said. "I dont want you beating yourself up about it later."

I picked up the phone and dialed 911.

June 9 10:00 a.m.

Two days later I got a call from a drug enforcement agent Id known for ten years. He said theyd picked Sarah up in a crack house on Wilson Avenue around midnight on Monday night. He thought I might like to know.

I drove straight to the jail. On the way, my cell phone rang. It was Diane Frye.

"The answer is yes," she said when I picked up the phone. "John Paul Tester Junior owns a silver 2005 Dodge Ram pickup." It was the same color, make, and model of the truck that had almost run over me.

"So what else did you find out about him?"

"Born December 1, 1972, to John Paul and Debra Jean Tester in Newport. His mother died of ovarian cancer when the boy was only two. Raised by his father, who was a journeyman welder when he wasnt preaching the gospel. When he was on the road, which was often, Junior stayed with an aunt.

Talked to the aunt, nice lady named Wanda Smithers who has since moved to Ocala, Florida. She said Junior idolized his daddy. She said the boys favorite thing to do when he was a boy was to go to church and listen to his daddy preach. Said hed sit on the front row and hang on every word.

"By the time Junior was ten years old, he was already studying the Bible and testifying for his father. Started preaching when he was a teenager.

When he wasnt preaching, he spent almost all of his time in his room. Never had a girlfriend, didnt show any interest in any school activities or sports. The gospel was his whole life. The aunt says that after he got out of high school, Junior and his father started traveling together. They preached all over the Southeast. She says theyre somewhat of a legend among the fundamentalists."

"Damn, Diane, you got all that in two days?"

"Its my charm and personality. That and the fact that the aunt talked my ear off."

"Anything else?"

"The aunt said she visited last year for a weekend.

Said Junior stayed in his room and studied, just like when he was a boy. She also said Daddy Tester wasnt as committed to the faith as Junior. She said he tended to drink heavily every so often and that he liked the ladies."

"I wonder if the son knew about that," I said.

"Probably. Be kind of hard to hide for an entire lifetime. I also talked to a couple of people down at the Cocke County sheriffs department. Daddy Tester apparently had some political clout and got Junior his job. Hes been there for more than ten years as a chaplain. He counsels the officers, works with inmates at the jail, that sort of stuff. The people I talked to said everybody down there thinks Juniors a nut job. He apparently wont talk about anything but the gospel, and since his daddy was killed, he hardly talks at all."

"Anything violent?"

"No criminal record. The aunt said hes gentle.

Doesnt remember him ever even getting into a fist fight. But she said hes changed since his fathers death. She came up for the funeral and said he acted awfully strange."

"Thanks. Send me a bill."

"Its already in the mail."

A half hour after I got off the phone with Diane, a guard brought Sarah into the interview room. She looked like shed aged fifteen years. When she saw I was there, she didnt bother to sit at the table, she just put her hands over her face and slid down the wall onto the floor. The sight of her no longer made me sad. All I felt was anger.

"Have a good time?" I said.

"Fuck you."

"Fuck me? Thats great. You did a nice job on Lillys car. I really appreciate that."

"Yeah, well, tell her Im sorry. I havent driven in a while."

"Wheres Carolines necklace?"

"Gone."

"Gone where? Whod you sell it to?"

"Like Id tell you."

"Did you sell it or trade it?"

"What difference does it make?"

"Id like to get it back."

"Not a chance."

"Are you really that far gone, Sarah? Do you really not give a damn about anything anymore? That necklace may mean nothing but a quick fix to you, but it meant a lot to Caroline, and Id like to have it back."

She uncovered her face and glared at me.

"The only person that necklace meant anything to was you. It was just you showing everyone what a successful big shot you were, buying an expensive trinket. Do you really think it meant anything to her?

You tried the same shit with me. Oh, come live with us, Sarah. Come stay with my perfect little family.

Well buy you stuff if you dont get high. Well take care of you. What a crock. You cant buy people, Joey. Youre so fucking pathetic."

Id gotten up and was leaning against the block wall, contemplating my fingernails. Sarah had long ago perfected the art of the addicts vitriolic tirade.

The words floated past me like tiny ghosts. I didnt allow them to linger.

"I came up here for a couple of reasons," I said.

"The first is to tell you what youve done, in case you dont fully understand the situation. Stealing the car was a C felony, minimum three years, maximum six in your range. Stealing the necklace was another C felony, same sentence. With your priors and my connections at the district attorneys office, I think I can convince them to push for consecutive sentences at the top of the range. No more six months in the county jail and youre out to do it again, Sarah.

Youre going to the penitentiary for twelve years.

Youll be at least fifty when you get out, if you live that long. Im going to see to it personally."

Id represented her five times in the past, each time telling myself Id never do it again. Id always managed to get her sentences reduced, to get them to go as easy on her as possible. But this time was different. I felt genuinely betrayed, and although I wasnt proud of it, I wanted a little retribution.

The words Id spoken seemed to sink slowly into her addled brain. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rocked against the wall. Then she began to whimper.

"You cant do that to me, Joey. You cant. I wont survive."

"Sure you will. You always have."

"Im sick, Joey. You know Im sick. Tell Lilly and Caroline Im sorry. Ill get a job and pay you back."

"Too late. Last straw, Sarah. Im through with you."

"Youve said that before. You dont mean it. Youre the one person whos never given up on me. You cant give up on me, Joey."

"My name is Joe," I said. "I stopped being Joey a long time ago, when I grew up. You should give it a try."

The crying turned into a mournful wailing. Tears were streaming down her face and she was banging her head against the wall. The guard came to the doorway.

"Everything all right in here?"

"Yeah, I was just leaving. Mind letting me out?"

He unlocked the steel door and I stepped through.

Sarahs sobs were almost unbearable. I quickened my pace as I walked down the hall to the stairwell and pushed the door open. Just before it closed, I heard her yell.

"Joey! Youre supposed to protect me!"

June 12 2:15 p.m.

News travels fast in the law enforcement community, both good and bad. The word was that Joe Dillards sister had been popped again, only this time Dillard and his family were the victims.