“At least you have a lot to eat on while we talk.”
Andy glanced down at the food and then back up at Nick. “This isn’t really all for me.” He lowered his voice. “There’s this Hispanic kid who goes to school here. He was born in this country, but his parents are migrant workers. They desperately want him to have an education, and he’s really smart, good grades. But they must be running out of money, because he’s come to school the last few days without any lunch or money to pay for one. So, I just tell him I don’t feel like finishing mine.”
Nick grinned. He loved people with big hearts. “That’s really nice, Andy. I like you better already.”
Andy shook his head. “Not trying to win any awards. I just remember some of the kids back in New York City where I’m from. Besides, my wife’s pregnant. I’d hope someone would do that for our kid if we couldn’t afford to feed him.”
“That’s a wonderful gesture. I don’t know if I’d have thought of it.”
“I’m sure you would. Especially if you were watching over all these kids every day.”
Nick nodded as he sank into the chair next to Andy. “Probably so. Listen, changing the subject, someone victimized the construction site where we’re going to build a distribution center outside of town. Have any idea who’d do something like that?”
Andy frowned as he unwrapped one sandwich. “No kidding? Nope, not right off hand. Didn’t even see it. What kind of distribution building are you putting up?”
Nick explained about Dazzle.
Andy whistled. “Well, there you go. It could be someone around here that doesn’t like the sounds of anything that big coming into or near our town. They’re not into a big population explosion here. In fact, some of the moonshiners may have sabotaged the site. My father-in-law would know. You need to have a talk with him. He can tell you how everyone around here ticks.”
Nick leaned his arm on the table. “I guess that’s it. Taylor did say I might run into some resistance.”
“Better watch out too,” Andy said. “These people carry guns, and they know how to shoot. Not just the men either.”
“Sounds like Texas.”
“Just as bad.” Andy grinned. “But if you fit in, everyone watches your back.”
“How do I do that? Fit in, I mean?” Nick’s stomach growled as he watched Andy take a bite of sandwich and then sip from a small milk carton. He’d better go get lunch after this.
“How do you fit in?” Andy answered. “Just be nice to people, not gruff. Ask questions, and be helpful. As for Emily, she will be more than willing to fill you in, to the point of ad nauseam. But whatever you do, don’t make any advances.”
“Why?” Nick cocked his head sideways.
“She’s clingy. The woman wants to get married really bad.”
Nick laughed. “I run from women like that. In fact, these days I run from most of them.”
Andy’s eyebrows went up. “You’re warned, buddy.”
Suddenly a little boy approached the table. Not very tall with dark brown hair, huge chocolate eyes and golden skin, he smiled at Andy and patted him on the arm. “Perdone, Señor Mann. I don’t suppose you have any sandwich you don’t feel like eating today, do you?”
Andy leaned down to look the boy in the eyes. “As a matter of fact, Carlos, my wife gave me too much again. Could you help me out?” He handed the boy the extra sandwich, the chips and an apple.
The kid’s face lit up like he’d just won the lottery. “Oh, Señor, you must want to eat some more?”
“No, take it, Carlos.” Andy rubbed his back. “You’d do me a big favor. I can’t take it home. My wife would be mad.”
“I will take it off your hands, señor.” He bowed.
Andy gestured to Nick. “Say hello to my friend Nick before you go eat.”
The little boy stared up at Nick, and his face broke out in a huge grin. It lit Nick up inside, for the smile was so genuine. “You have nice hair, Señor Nick. Ladies must like you.” He stood up straight. “I wish I had hair your color.”
Nick laughed. “I think yours is very nice. You must like yourself for the person you are.”
“Sí.” He grinned again. “I try. Mama say so too. Perdone, I go eat now.” He ran off to the end of a table by himself and sat down. Ripping into the plastic wrap, the kid began to devour the sandwich
Nick’s gut constricted. “Doesn’t he have any friends?”
Andy shook his head. “The other children call him chico. They can be prejudiced at any age, but don’t tell me that’s not coming from their parents. I’ve been trying to work on bringing some education in here regarding diversity.” He exhaled. “It takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Andy glanced back up at Nick. “How about coming over to my father-in-law’s house tonight? Cindy Merriman, a friend of the family, is bringing over dessert, and my mother-in-law is a fabulous cook, now that she’s been practicing. One more is always welcome.”
Nick smiled. “Maybe I will.”
Andy shook his hand. “By the way, Emily’s invited. Just don’t let her think she’s coming as your date.”
Nick’s phone rang and he answered it. “Hey, Grady. What’s up?” He stood up suddenly. “You’re kidding. Jesus. We don’t need that kind of trouble, or the publicity that goes with it. I’ll be right over.”
“What’s wrong?” Andy asked.
Nick stared at him, in a daze. “The guys just cleaned away those bags and the trees. There was a dead body underneath.”
CHAPTER THREE
Police cars, both county and state, were parked all over the road next to the construction site. Nick jumped out of his rental car and ran over to where Grady stood. “What’s the story?”
Grady shook his head. “We’re not sure what the deal is. The guy had ID. He’s a migrant worker. Which means they need to notify the Mexican Consulate.”
“Damn it!” Nick raked his fingers through his hair. “I’m surprised this place isn’t swarming with media.”
“Oh, some of ’em are already on the scene.” He pointed. “See the video camera? More will be here. On a regular basis the press doesn’t have any reason to care where this place is.”
Nick paced. “What did Taylor say before I left? ‘Keep it under the radar. We don’t need any press about this.’ So what happens? We’ll probably be on The News Channel.”
“Keep your shirt on.” Grady slapped his shoulder. “They’ll investigate. We may get delayed or have to change the location of the building slightly. Taylor did say if we ran into problems with the site, we could move it over some. He bought a huge parcel out here.”
“It’s times like this I wish I smoked.” Nick watched as a state police officer came over to him.
“Are you Nick Troy?” the guy asked.
“That’s me. What can I do for you, Officer?”
The uniform pointed at the spot where the people were crawling. “We need to cordon off at least a few acres. See if there’s anything else we missed.” He stared into Nick’s eyes. “I know you all weren’t even in Virginia when all this happened. The body was fairly decomposed. Coroner couldn’t tell for sure. Looks like he may have died of blunt trauma. Can’t tell if it was from a person or a tree. Moot point, really, at this stage. Can you tell me where the trees came from?”
“Weren’t they cut or blown up or something?”
The officer shook his head. “No, sir. They were brought here.”
“You’re kidding?” Nick stared back at the land in disbelief.
Grady nodded. “He’s right, boss, no stumps out there.”
Nick exhaled sharply. “Look, I really feel bad for the poor dead worker. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to go that way. But, I have a job to finish. How long do we keep it cordoned off before we can excavate?”
The officer shook his head. “Probably months. We have to clear everything with the Mexican government.”
Nick exhaled sharply. “Okay, I know there’s no room for negotiation.” He turned t
o Grady. “Get with corporate. See where an alternate site is available.”
****
“So, where is tall, blond and handsome?” Millie smiled down at her niece as the girl sipped on a glass of tea.
“At the site, I guess.” She shrugged. “He doesn’t check in with me. I do like him a lot better after last night. I’ve decided he’s glum since he’s doing this only because my brother called in a favor. I hope he takes me up on my suggestion to talk to Andy. Andy’s one of the most positive people I know. Maybe he’ll rub off on the old bear.”
“I thought the guy started to thaw out.” Millie leaned her elbows on the counter. “You were certainly right about Grady. He’s a mighty fine specimen of a man. I could stare into those pale gray eyes all night. Sorta like a hazy summer night with a few stars peeking through. Said he might come over to my house for dinner.”
“Waxing awful poetic, aren’t you? You didn’t waste any time.”
Millie stood back up and crossed her arms. “When you’re my age, you don’t wait around. You find one who has a job, isn’t hooked and then it’s time to throw out the baited line.”
Emily frowned. “You’re not catching a catfish.”
“I sure as hell hope not.” Millie cackled. “One of them’ll eat anything.”
Emily shook her head. “Honest to God, you’re bawdier than people my age.” Her iPhone beeped. “Hold on.” She popped up her text. “Jeeze, get a load of this. Cal says something’s going down at the Dazzle worksite. A body was discovered under all that trash.”
Millie nodded. “I’ll start the phone chain. You go investigate.”
Minutes later, Emily entered the sheriff’s office and walked nonchalantly to her desk. She smiled, knowing that, over the years, she got the best information by being quiet and helpful. Thankfully, Cal had happily volunteered to be her mole. A green deputy, he came to her with every little incident, even a parking violation. Cal sidled over to her desk, buzz cut and all.
“Check it out, Em.” He leaned down in secret agent style. “The guy was from Mexico. Working on that tobacco farm north of town. Pretty good info for just a short time, eh?”
“So?”
He grinned, exposing stained teeth, still chawing on his tobacco. “Fella had a load of crack in his pocket. Won’t be surprised if he wuz stoned when it happened.”
She shook her head. “Honest to God, I hate to see that stuff come in here. Seems like most every day here lately I see somebody spacing out, and I wonder if they’re just absent-minded or they’ve gotten hooked on something. You think a drug drop was coming off?”
Cal stood up, puffing out his chest. “ATF was called. ’Spect so.”
She shook her head. “We won’t see a moonshiner for weeks. Which means pretty much half the town. They’ll be laying low. Keep invisible yourself and see what else you can discover. Now, let me live up to my side of the bargain. What do you want me to make you?”
The guy chuckled. “How about one of them mouthwaterin’ lasagnas.”
Emily sighed. The most time consuming and expensive item. “Okay, Cal. I’m on it.”
****
As Nick and Grady walked through the front door of Emily’s house, Grady took a deep whiff. “Man, that smells good. In fact it smells lip-smackin’, nose-tinglin’, driving-me-out-of-my-mind wonderful. Maybe I won’t go over to Millie’s.” Nick watched his friend follow the scent toward the kitchen.
“Uh, uh, Grady,” Emily said from the other room. He heard a whack. Probably smacked his hand. “That pan of food’s off-limits. Besides you have a dinner date, and I have somewhere to go too.”
“Aw, Emily! Lasagna’s my favorite.”
Nick couldn’t help himself. He had to witness the scene, even if he were in a bad mood. He turned the corner to see Emily barricading Grady’s path to the steaming pan.
“Your favorite and a whole lotta other people’s,” Emily said. “This one’s, eh, for a sick friend.” She laughed. “You look like you haven’t eaten in days, and I know better. I tell you what. I’ll make another one tomorrow.”
Grady grinned from ear to ear. “Good enough for me. I can wait a day. Is your aunt a good cook?”
Emily’s eyes twinkled. “Where do you think I learned? My mom died quite a while ago.”
“Sorry, Emily,” Grady said, his mouth turning down in sincere reverence.
“I know how that feels,” Nick said. “In reverse, anyway. It was my dad. So your aunt raised you?”
She shook her hand. “Sort of. Dad’s still alive, but he’s pretty reserved, very old military. Anything I wanted to know that was woman stuff came from Aunt Millie.” She bustled over to the fridge, opened the door, and pulled out a closed plastic container. “Deviled eggs. Excuse me, but I need to get this stuff together to take to my friend. He, uh, has been very helpful to me, and I have to pay him back.”
“I see.” Nick stared at her. “A boyfriend?”
She shook her head and giggled. “No, not hardly. He’s a deputy, real young. Even though he didn’t feel good today, he got the inside track on something that was going down.” She stopped and sighed. “Look, truth is, this guy checked into that whole thing going down at your site, okay? First, he told me about the guy found at the site and the fact he had crack in his pocket.”
Grady’s head jerked up and he looked over at Nick in surprise. “Police didn’t tell us anything about that.”
Emily nodded. “Yeah, pays to work for the sheriff. Do me a favor and keep it to yourself. I like my job. That info earned my friend the lasagna.” She took a deep breath. “But he came back right before work was over and told me something else.”
“What was that?” Nick asked.
“The guy had a scrawled note in his pocket. Looked like a to-do list. On it were the words, ‘Entregar la cocaina para Kingpin’.”
Nick whistled. “Deliver cocaine for Kingpin.”
“How do you know Spanish?” Grady asked.
Nick chuckled. “I’m from Southern California, aren’t I? I just wonder who Kingpin is.”
****
“What do you mean he had a note in his pocket?” Kingpin rubbed his forehead and grimaced.
“I heard it from my source,” Lieutenant said. “Guy keeps his ear to the pulse of what the authorities are up to.”
Kingpin smiled to himself as he saw the man’s knees wobble. Good. Ruling by fear worked the best. He glared into the guy’s eyes. “What am I paying you for, anyway? You’re here to make sure nobody makes any mistakes. Writing down my operative name is forbidden, as even an amateur knows.”
The flunky nodded. “I understand. That’s why I don’t understand why you hired that big guy, Monstruo. He’s trouble. People in town already have the grapevine buzzing about how lewd and unruly he is. He just about got into a fight over at Good Ole Boys last night, all boozed up and letting loose with foul language about women.”
Kingpin drummed his fingers on his armrest. “The man gets the job done. He’s ruthless, yes, but not one Mexican’s gonna cross him. He has a reputation.”
Lieutenant fidgeted from foot to foot. “I think Monstruo is responsible for putting the body there. I think he caught wind about us trashing the construction site. My bets are he decided it was a good place to dispose of the body.”
Kingpin nodded. “Maybe. Maybe not. If he did do it, you’re right. Not good. I don’t want my boys thinking for themselves. They’re supposed to carry out orders. One thing I do know. Whoever is responsible for the snafu also absconded with a half mil in cocaine and crack. The mob’s not gonna like that. They like our deliveries.” He leaned forward, staring into the flunky’s pupils. “The Mafia is our best customer. These individual druggies are just gravy, got it? I don’t want to lose the contract.”
Lieutenant mopped his forehead with a handkerchief. “I understand. Let me see if my guy can dig into this some more. Anything else you want me to do?”
Kingpin scowled. “Make sure you get some good press cove
rage surrounding the fact Dazzle’s coming here and how it’s already ruining the community. We sure as hell don’t want anybody putting a distribution center in the middle of all that lovely undisturbed land where we can hide our goods. And secondly…”
“Yes?” Lieutenant stared at him, wide-eyed.
“Kill that damned grapevine.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Breaking News from Central Virginia.
The announcement scrolled across the screen. Then, well-known newscaster Zachary Almond stared somberly into the camera.
“All is not what it seems just outside the village of Climax, a small town known for its illegal moonshine and not much else. That is until now. A dead body found under trees on a construction site has stirred up a hornet’s nest between the Mexican government and the US, the Mexican Consulate telling American authorities this is just another instance of the lack of respect for Mexican nationals lawfully abiding by the rules to seek employment in the US.”
Almond smiled sarcastically at his viewing audience. “Tied to this whole scandal is the giant wholesale business, Dazzle Mega Centers, with principle holdings by Taylor Franklin, known on Wall Street as Tightwad Taylor. According to former workers, Taylor is a tightwad to his employees so he can live lavishly on his earnings. Can this whole ordeal be just another way of making the little men bow to Franklin’s desires to expand his empire? News Channel America insider tells us, ironically, this is Taylor Franklin’s hometown, one he left in bitterness more than ten years ago.”
Carolina, Andy and her parents sat in the cabin living room gaping in horror at the early evening telecast. Carolina switched off the power. “I’ve had just about enough. That’s the biggest load of horse manure I’ve ever seen dumped on national TV.”
Carolina watched as her father, Daddy Blue Moon, grinned. “Then you don’t watch TV much. I do agree, however, it’s a mite to take when you live in the seat of the mockery.”
“I think they could be sued,” Maggie said, patting Blue’s knee. She turned to her daughter. “Why don’t you help Taylor, sweetheart?”
Unforgettable Heroes II Boxed Set Page 129
