and called Dana with the latest news
Eventful in unexpected ways. Mr. Boyette was already gone. According to a nurse, when they checked on him at 6:00 a.m., they found his bed empty and neatly made up, his hospital gown folded next to his pillow, and the IV wrapped carefully around the portable stand next to his bed. An hour later, someone from Anchor House called with the message that Travis Boyette was back home and wanted his doctor to know all was well. Keith drove to Anchor House, but Boyette was not there. According to a supervisor, he was not scheduled to work on Wednesdays. No one had any idea where he was or when he might return. As Keith was driving to St. Mark’s, he told himself not to worry, not to panic, Boyette would show. Then he called himself an idiot for placing even the remotest bit of confidence in a confessed murderer, a serial rapist, and a compulsive liar. Because he habitually tried to see the good in every person he knew and met, he realized, as he began to panic, that he had been much too gentle with Boyette. He had tried too hard to be understanding, even compassionate. Hell, the man had murdered a seventeen-year-old girl just to satisfy his lust and was now seemingly content to watch another man die for the crime. God only knew how many other women he’d raped.
Keith was angry when he entered the church office. Charlotte Junger, back from the flu, greeted him with a cheery “Good morning, Pastor,” and Keith was barely civil.
“I’m locked in my office, okay? No calls, unless it’s a man named Travis Boyette.”
“Yes, sir.”
He closed his door, ripped off his coat, and called Dana with the latest news. “He’s loose on the streets?” she asked.
“Well, yes, he’s in the process of getting paroled. He’s served his time, and he’s about to be a free man. I guess you could say he’s loose.”
“Thank God for the tumor.”
“I can’t believe you said that.”
“Sorry. I can’t either. What’s the plan?”
“There’s nothing to do but wait. Maybe he’ll show up.”
“Keep me posted.”
Keith called Matthew Burns in the prosecutor’s office and told him there was a delay. Matthew had first been cool to the idea of meeting Boyette and videoing his statement, but he came around. He had agreed to make a call or two to Texas after he heard Boyette’s story, if, in fact, he believed what he heard. He was disappointed to hear the man was missing.
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