by David Archer
Noah looked around the barn for a moment and spotted even more antiques. There were several examples of old farm equipment, and he spied a lot of boxes up in the loft. He walked back out into the sunlight and looked at the house once more, then turned to face Bob.
“They’d take $80,000?” Noah asked.
“I guarantee it,” Bob said. “Like I said, they really want to get it sold. Just paying the handyman to keep it up is quite an expense since no one is living here.”
Noah looked at the house again as if he were thinking it over, but he had already made his decision. “How soon do you think I could move in?”
“Well, if we write up an offer today, I can fax it off to them and we’ll probably get acceptance by tomorrow morning. It’ll take a couple of days at least to get all the paperwork done, but I don’t think they would object to you moving in once everything is signed. You won’t have any trouble getting financing, will you?”
Noah looked at him. “How would you feel about cash?”
Bob’s eyes got wide and lit up even brighter than before. “Oh, that would be fine,” he said. “We can get everything together while your check clears and…”
Noah grinned at him. “No, I mean cash. Greenbacks, hundred-dollar bills. Would that be a problem?”
Bob’s smile turned into an expression of shock. “Eighty thousand dollars in cash? Well, I—normally, the banks get upset when you have a really big sum of cash like that, but I think we can bypass them and work it out. What I mean is, if you give me cash, I’ll write the checks to the sellers. Okay?”
Noah nodded. “Let’s go write it up,” he said. “As soon as we get the acceptance and all the paperwork is done, I’ll hand you the money and you can handle it however you want to.”
Bob locked everything up again, and they got back into the car to head back to his office. An hour later, Noah handed over $10,000 as earnest money and signed the offer. Bob immediately faxed the offer to the attorney handling the sale for the family, then picked up his phone and called the eldest of the Howerton heirs and told him about the pending sale.
John Howerton, Charles’s son, made a pretense of being disappointed at such a low offer but finally admitted that they were ready to get the house sold. He promised to call his siblings immediately and call Bob back within an hour to give him a final decision.
Bob looked at Noah and smiled. “Rex,” he said, “I think you just bought yourself a house.”
“I guess it sounds that way,” Noah said. “We’ve got an hour to wait. Want to go grab some lunch?”
Bob agreed and they got back into the Charger and drove up the road. Noah had spotted a KFC, and the two men partook of the buffet while they waited.
John called back while they were still working on their first plates and told Bob that they had agreed to sell. John, who had power of attorney over the house, was already on the way to the lawyer’s office to sign his acceptance of the offer.
“It’s yours,” Bob said. “Like I said, it’ll take a couple of days to get all the paperwork done. I’ll give you a call when it’s ready, and we can settle up. You do have the rest of the money available, right?”
Noah nodded. “I do,” he said. “It’s in a safe place, but I can get to it at any time. Soon as you call and tell me the papers are ready to sign, I’ll dig it out and bring it along.”
They finished lunch and Noah dropped Bob off at his office, then drove back to Kate’s house. She was already at home when he walked in, and was delighted when he told her the news.
“That’s a beautiful place out there,” she said. “And if you got it that cheap, you stole it.”
Noah raised his eyebrows. “That would make me a thief,” he said. “And if I’m a thief, then maybe our friend Morgan will think I’m just his kind of people.”
Kate grinned at him. “And that’s exactly what we want him to think, isn’t it?”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Noah called Sarah and told her about the house, and she was delighted. Unfortunately, it didn’t change anything in the plan. She still had five more days to wait before she could join Noah in Arkansas, but the prospect of living in the country with him again pleased her a lot, and Noah could hear it in her voice.
Since the house hunting was out of the way, Noah decided it was time to take a step in the direction of the mission. Kate told him how to get to the Barn, the nightclub where he was most likely to find Jimmy Morgan, and he decided to make his first appearance that evening. Kate made dinner for them both, spaghetti and meatballs, and the two of them watched a movie afterward.
By the time the movie was over it was almost 7:30, and Noah decided it was time to make his move. He drove off alone toward Eureka Springs, and the chance to put all their plans into action.
Noah walked into the bar and immediately spotted Jimmy Morgan. The man was sitting at a table with someone who could only be Jimmy’s son, Ralph. He made a point of ignoring them and walked up to the bar, then heard Morgan ask someone, “Any idea who that might be?”
A moment later, another man sat down beside him and ordered a beer of his own. “Hey, man,” he said. “Ain’t seen you around here before. You new, or just passing through?”
Noah shrugged. “That all depends,” he said.
“Yeah? Depends on what?” asked the man beside him.
Noah turned and looked him in the eye. “Depends on whether or not I find work. My sister lives here, and she seems to think this is the ideal place for me.”
Forney grinned at him. “Really? And who is your sister?”
“Katie Madison,” Noah said. “Well, Kate is what she goes by around here, but I’ve always called her Katie. I’m Rex Madison, by the way.” He extended a hand, and the other man shook it.
“Scott Forney,” he said. “Kate Madison, huh? I didn’t even know she had a brother. Don’t think she ever talks about you.”
“Yeah, well, there’s a reason for that. See, up until about a month ago, I was a guest of the federal government down in Beaumont, Texas. Black sheep of the family, you might say. Katie always tried to keep me under wraps—I guess it doesn’t do a girl’s reputation much good to have a brother doing time in a fed joint. I’ve been out a month, but I can’t deal with all the probation crap back in Ohio, so Katie suggested I come give it a try here. Just got in yesterday.”
“Federal time always has probation attached to it,” Forney said. Forney watched his face carefully while he was talking. “Bloody Beaumont, huh? Is it as bad as they say? I heard stories about somebody dying there every week.”
Noah shrugged. “Ain’t really like that, but it’s bad. I’ve seen both guards and inmates end up dead in the riots, and I saw a guy get his throat slit just for looking into another man’s cell. You learn real quick to keep your eyes on the floor right in front of you all the time. Somebody thinks you’re looking at him, it’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull.”
Forney nodded. “So why was you there?”
“Because Uncle Sam doesn’t like it when one of his DEA boys gets his head blown off. We had one who got into a little operation we had going back in Cleveland, but he slipped up and got found out, and then he got dead. They couldn’t prove who did it, so they just wrapped us all up, conspiracy bit. I did most of five years over that.”
“Man, that sucks. What kinda dope?”
Noah laughed. “You name it,” he said. “Meth, crack, X, heroin, pot, and anything else you can imagine. As long as there was a market, we were selling it.”
Forney leaned close so that their shoulders were almost touching. “So, tell me,” he said in a stage whisper, “you have anything to do with that fed? Him getting his head blowed off?”
Noah had his bottle up to his lips, but he turned and glanced at Forney out of the corner of his eye. “Now, come on,” he said. “If I did, would you really expect me to admit it to somebody I just met? And would you even believe me if I said I did it?”
Forney shrugged and chuckled. “H
ey, man, ’s just you and me talking. I ain’t gonna say anything to anybody else.”
“Cool,” Noah said, “and I’m not gonna be stupid enough to tell you anything that could possibly send me right back to Bloody Beaumont, dig?”
Forney laughed and sat up again. “So what kinda work you looking for?”
Noah turned and looked him in the eye. “Kind that makes me a hell of a lot of money.”
“Oh, yeah? You looking to get into the same kind of business again?”
“Wouldn’t scare me,” Noah said. “You know of any openings?”
“Maybe, maybe,” Forney said noncommittally. “Of course, I’m kinda like you. I don’t trust anybody I just met. For all I know, you could be a fed yourself.”
Noah chuckled. “Bet my probation officer would love to hear somebody say that,” he said.
“Yeah, probably. Who you got?”
Noah lowered his eyebrows as if thinking, then reached for his wallet and pulled out Craig Roberts’s business card. “Roberts,” he said, “Craig Roberts. He’s out of Fayetteville.”
“Yeah, I know who he is. I’ve known a couple other guys who did fed time. He had one or two of them a while back.”
“Cool. So, you really think you might know of some work? What do you need to check me out?”
“Oh, nothing. I know your name, I know you say you did time at Beaumont. It shouldn’t be too hard to find out if you’re telling the truth.” He turned and looked down the bar to where the deputy was still sitting and caught his eye. He motioned with his head for the deputy to come closer, and the man got up and moved to the stool beside him.
“What’s up, Scotty?”
“Wanted you to meet somebody,” Forney said. “This is Rex Madison. He’s Kate’s brother.”
The deputy reached around Forney to shake hands with Noah. “You’re Kate Madison’s brother? Kate from the radio?”
“Yep,” Noah said, “but don’t hold that against me. She and I don’t have a whole lot of use for each other. She’s letting me crash at her place right now, but only till the paperwork is done on my house.”
“Your house? You renting a place around here?” Forney asked.
“Hell, no,” Noah said. “Renting is just another way to throw money down the toilet. I made a deal this morning to buy this little farm. The old Howerton place, they call it.”
The deputy’s eyebrows rose. “You bought Lonnie Howerton’s place? Man, that’s a sweet old place.”
“Sweet?” Forney quipped. “I always heard it was haunted. You do know the old man killed himself out there, right? Stood right there in the kitchen and blew his own brains out with a .45.”
Noah looked at him. “You know, the broker never mentioned that little detail. Not that it worries me, you know, just would’ve been nice to know.”
The deputy was grinning. “Scott’s just playing with you,” he said. “Lonnie died in Mercy Hospital of complications from pneumonia.”
“Yeah, sure,” Forney said. “That’s the official story, anyway. The Howerton family had enough money to cover up the truth, that’s what happened. The old man killed himself because it was about to come out that he was behind some of the murders that happened back forty years ago.”
The deputy simply shook his head and chuckled. Noah looked from one to the other, but then he shrugged. “I ain’t afraid of no ghost,” he sang, and both men burst out laughing.
“Anyway,” Forney went on, “I just thought you might want to meet Rex. He’s moving here to try to start over, on account of he just got out of the federal prison down in Texas.”
The deputy kept smiling, but the humor went out of his eyes. “That so?”
Noah looked him in the eye. “Yep. Did five years on a conspiracy rap. I’m sure my probation officer will be letting your office know about me.”
“Rex Madison, right? Is there anything in particular I should know about you?”
“I don’t know what it might be,” Noah said, “other than the fact that I did five years for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute narcotics.”
The deputy nodded, and his eyes softened a bit. “But you’re here to try to go straight, right?”
“Absolutely,” Noah replied. “Let me tell you, one stint in Bloody Beaumont is more than enough. I don’t ever want to go back.”
“That’s good to hear. By the way, Scott told me your name but didn’t tell you mine. I’m Billy, Billy Martin. You run into any kind of problems around here, feel free to look me up and let me know. Oh, and tell your sister I said hello, would you? If you put in a good word for me, maybe she’ll let me take her out again one of these days.”
Noah put a wide grin on his face. “Billy, I’ll be sure to do that.”
The deputy swallowed the last little bit of his beer and said good night, then got up and walked out the door. Forney watched him go and then turned to Noah.
“Well, we’ll know soon enough if your story is true,” he said. “I can flat guarantee he’s on his way back to the office to check you out.”
Noah rolled his eyes. “Which is exactly what you had in mind when you called him over,” he said. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind. The way the world is nowadays, you’ve got to be really careful who you’re dealing with. Maybe after he reports back to you, you might tell me more about that possible job opportunity, yeah?”
“Yep,” Forney replied with a smile. “And that, my new friend, is why I really called him over. You sound like you might be a useful guy to have around. Anybody who can live through five years at Beaumont is probably pretty tough, and the people I’m thinking of like having tough guys working for them.”
“Hey, as long as the pay is there, I’ll be as tough as I need to be.”
“That’s good to hear,” Forney said. “Why don’t you let me get your phone number? If things work out, I might be able to give you a call in the next day or two, get some money coming into your pocket.”
Noah gave him his phone number, and Forney walked away. Noah went back to nursing his beer but took a look over his shoulder and saw Forney leaning down to whisper in Jimmy Morgan’s ear.
Noah finished his bottle and ordered another, then sat and sipped at it just as he had the first one. People moved around him, and a few said hello. One girl who looked to be about sixteen sat down beside him and tried to strike up a conversation, but Noah waved his wedding ring at her. She huffed at him and moved down the bar to an older man who seemed more appreciative of her youth and company.
He had just about finished the second bottle when the girl suddenly yelled an obscenity and jumped off the barstool. Every head in the place turned toward her and the man she’d been talking to, as she loudly called him every name she could think of.
“You dirty mother—you piece of crap, I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last man on earth! You need to learn to keep your filthy hands off a woman, at least until she lets you know it’s okay.”
The man appeared to be mildly intoxicated, as he sat there laughing at her. “Screw you, bitch,” he said. “Everybody in here knows you’re nothing but a whore—why you getting all high-and-mighty? Just like any other business, baby, you want to sell your wares, then you’ve got to allow the customer to examine the merchandise.”
A number of men were getting to their feet and looking at the fellow, but Noah noticed that Morgan’s people were staying in their seats. The girl started to turn away, but one of the men who had risen grabbed her arm and spun her back toward the man she had insulted.
“You need to apologize to that man,” he said, but the girl spat at him. Before she even realized what was happening, the man holding her arm had punched her in the face. Her head reeled back, and blood began running from her nose.
The man on the barstool had stopped laughing, and he held out a hand and said, “Hey, stop. Leave her alone. She ain’t worth it.” He turned away and picked up his drink.
“What the hell you mean, leave her alone?” asked the man holding her arm
. “This bitch got you scared or something, Cory? You can’t take that kind of crap off these whores, man—get up and slap the snot out of her!”
Cory knocked back what was left of his drink and turned to face the girl, now being held by two men while four others stood around them. Noah thought that the man didn’t seem all that drunk anymore, nor did he seem nervous or frightened. He kept watching, curious about what was going to happen next.
“Look,” the drinker said. “Apparently, I thought things had progressed a little further than the lady did. Now, I don’t care if she called me a few names—that doesn’t hurt me any. Just let her go so she can go home and clean herself up or something. I think you’ve already handled the situation well enough, Philip.”
The young man Cory had named as Philip cocked his head to the right and stared. “So that’s it? You’re just gonna let this go?”
“Philip,” said a new voice suddenly, “Cory already said to let it go.”
Philip turned his head to see Jimmy Morgan’s son, Ralph, on his feet and staring directly into his face. “Ralphie, come on,” Philip said. “We can’t take shit off whores in this town, right? They got to learn their place, right?”
Ralph Morgan looked at the girl’s face. “Well, I think you sure taught her. You’ve done enough damage to her already—she’s going to be off her beat for a week or two. Now, you know what the problem is with that?”
Philip looked at the girl and screwed up his face as if confused, then looked back at Ralph. “So she takes a couple weeks off, so what? Booty girl like her can probably afford it, right?”
Ralph nodded slowly. “Yeah, she won’t go hungry, nothing like that. Hell, come tomorrow she might even be ready to say thanks to you, giving her a little vacation like this. But, you see, that means two weeks she ain’t making us no money, which is why we don’t allow anybody to beat up on our girls. Now, here’s what’s about to happen. Cory, there, he’s going to turn around and pay attention to whatever he’s drinking. You and your boys are going to let go that girl, and she’s going to walk out of here and go on home. After that, your boys can decide just how stupid they want to be tonight.”
