Poverty Hill
Copyright© 2026 by Asa Strong
Chapter 23
When I walked into the squad room at the Sheriff’s Office, Lisa were sittin’ at a desk, doin’ paperwork.
“Hi, there,” I said, walkin’ up behind her.
She turned around, gave me a smile and then said, “Hi, you ready to talk to Dave?”
“Sure, let’s get it over with.”
We walked into Dave’s office and took a seat. He was on the phone, so we waited til he were done with his call.
Dave hung up the phone, and then said, “Judge McCarthy will be here in a few minutes. I’m going to grab a cup of coffee before he gets here.”
He then got up and left the office. When he returned, the judge were right behind him.
After everyone got comfortable, Dave started in.
“Amos, Lisa, I’ve got a problem, and the judge thinks you two can help me out.”
I didn’t say anythin’, but were thinkin’, “It sure sounds like his problem is gonna create a new one for me.”
Lisa asked, “What’s going on, Dave?”
“Well,” he answered, “I just lost Marty Carter to the Pueblo City Police Department. He’s been offered a job as Deputy Chief of Police and has accepted it. I want to ask Mark if he’s interested in becoming my second in command here in Steamboat Springs.”
“OK,” I answered, “what’s that got to do with us?”
Dave paused a moment, and then said, “I’m already two officers short here, and if Dave moves down here to take Marty’s job, I don’t have anyone to replace him with up in Hahn’s Peak.”
“Yea, I understand that,” I said, “but I still don’t see how that affects me.”
The judge broke in, “Amos, we were thinking that maybe you could kind of help out up there.”
From the start of this conversation, I were expectin’ something like this, and I weren’t too happy about it.
“Judge, I ain’t interested in bein’ no lawman. I helped out here cause you asked. Besides, I ain’t trained in all this sheriff business anyhow.”
The judge shook his head and then said, “Amos, winter’s coming on and you know as well as I do you ain’t going to be doing much when it gets here—quit being so damn obstinate!”
“Judge, I ain’t gonna do it. I ain’t cut out to be no lawman, and you know it.”
I could hear the exasperation in his voice when he answered.
“Amos, I can’t think of anyone better to uphold the law up your way. You know the people, you know how they think. Also, the people up there respect you. They’ll listen to what you say. We send someone up there they don’t know and it will end up being a real mess.”
I still weren’t happy with the way this was goin’.
“That may be so, but it still don’t address me not knowin’ how to sheriff. Hell I’d pro’lly get myself in all kinds of trouble.”
Lisa didn’t help my cause when she said, “Amos, I can help you there. I still have all my books from when I went to the State Police Academy. We can go over them together.”
I were gettin’ pushed into a corner and didn’t like it one bit.
“I ain’t wearin’ no sheriff outfit. Them damn thin’s make a person look like Smokey the Bear.”
I paused a moment, and then continued, “I still don’t know how you’re gonna do this. Isn’t there some law or regulation says you have to be trained to be a lawman?”
The judge thought for a moment, lookin’ like he were deep in thought.
“Amos,” he said, “you’re right about that. That’s something that we hadn’t thought of.”
We sat there while the judge went back to thinkin’, none of us sayin’ a word. Finally the judge must a figured it all out.
“I could expand my appointment declaration for you as a court appointed investigator, but that might not stand up in court. But, there is another way. The County Attorney General can appoint you as a Special Agent and then assign you to the Sheriff’s Department.”
I groaned, I could see it now; there weren’t no way to get outta this without pissin’ off the judge.
“Just how long I gotta do this?” I asked.
Dave spoke up, “Amos, I promise, I’ll try and get some more people hired. But, it’s hard to get a trained officer up here. Most of them are more interested in working in the bigger cities, they pay a lot more than the county can afford.”
I still didn’t want to be a part of this, but I looked at Lisa and she nodded her head at me. It was clear, she wanted me to do it. For the life of me, I couldn’t come up with a reason not to.
I turned to the judge, and then said, “I still ain’t gonna wear no sheriff outfit.”
Dave breathed a sigh of relief, and then said, “Amos, thanks. This will really help me out.”
I nodded to him, and then turned to the judge.
“Judge, I’ll do this, but you and me are gonna have a sit down talk, private like.”
The judge had a wry smile on his face as he answered, “Let’s go over to the court house. I’ll call the County Attorney to get the ball rolling and you and I can talk.”
The judge and I left Dave and Lisa at the Sheriff’s Office and walked across the street to the court house.
When we got to the judges office, he called the County Attorney General and let him in on what he wanted. As I listened to the conversation, I realized just how much power the judge had in the county. From the sounds of the conversation, the guy didn’t even put up a whimper when the judge tole him what he wanted.
After the judge finished his call and hung up the phone, he turned to me and said, “OK Amos, it’s your dime. What you want to talk about?”
I thought for a moment, and then said, “Judge, I’ve known you most of my life. I’m a wonderin’, just why the hell you been pushin’ me with this lawman business. You know damn well I ain’t interested in doin’ this shit.”
The judge looked at me for a moment with a pensive look on his face. He then opened up his bottom, right desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. You could a knocked me over with a feather, I’d never seen the judge take a drink in my life. The whole time he didn’t say a word.
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