by David Bishop
Ryan ignored the sheriff’s comment. “Did you hear that Judge Merkel has resigned, effective Monday?”
“Yeah. I heard. Man, was that a surprise. Billy’ll need to get a replacement.”
“Not up to Billy. No special election will be held. Merkel got the Kansas Supreme Court to approve his temporarily appointing local attorney Denton Austin to fill Merkel’s term until the next election. So, for a few months you’ll be dealing with Judge Austin.”
“Billy ain’t pleased about that.”
“Quit thinking in terms of Billy Cranston. His days are numbered. What you need to decide is if you want to go down with him or find a way to keep yourself out of prison.”
“Are you the law?”
“No. And that’s the good news and the bad news.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“The good news is for us. We aren’t constrained by the rules on law enforcement. The bad news for you is: We aren’t constrained by the rules on law enforcement.”
Ryan unexpectedly jerked the hood off Sheriff Reginald Blackstone’s head. Fast. His eyes got big as it slipped over his hair wet with sweat. He took a big breath and looked about the small space where he was being held. He rattled his cuffs against the back of the chair.
“I’m naked,” the sheriff exclaimed. “Holy shit. Why the hell am I naked?”
“All in good time, Reggie.”
“What the hell are all these wires for?”
“See the carrot hanging on the wire directly in front of your face?”
Reggie nodded spasmodically. Sweat dripped from his nose. “What’s the carrot for?”
“I built this just for you, sheriff. Made my first one a few years ago, but this is the new and improved model. Been working on it off and on for over a week. I’m really eager to show off my handiwork. Watch the carrot. Now keep your eyes on it, Reggie.”
The sheriff stared at the carrot.
Ryan stayed quiet, motionless, for several seconds, letting the tension build. Then he extended his hand in front of Reggie, opened it and let the sheriff see the remote control he held. “This slide bar does one function. This button does another.”
“What the hell are you talkin’ about? It’s a fucking carrot.” the sheriff said, his voice revealing his growing fear.
“Keep watching the carrot, Reggie.” Ryan pressed the button on the face of the remote. A sharp crunch and snapping sound came. The lower portion of the carrot dropped onto the tray positioned over the waist of the sheriff.
“Cool isn’t it, Reggie. I built it myself. The world’s smallest guillotine. I’ve been eager to give it a try. You’re my guinea pig.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just use a small kitchen knife to cut your carrots?”
“I like that, Reggie. Here you sit, naked, handcuffed, with your life on the line and you can still work your smart mouth.”
Ryan picked up the two-inch carrot stub from the tray and stuck it in his mouth. After chewing and swallowing, he spoke. “See the other three wires, the ones that disappear through holes in the tray?” Reggie looked down at the holes where the wires passed through the tray. He nodded.
“Well, Reggie, my man, those wires aren’t attached to carrots. Those three are attached to your privates.
“Holy shit!”
“Well said, Reggie. Let me show you.” Ryan reached out and clutched one of the three wires between his thumb and index finger. He wiggled the wire. The sheriff inhaled. His body stiffened. “I thought you’d feel that. That wire’s around your penis, as it is called in polite circles.”
“Don’t be joking like that.”
“No one’s joking. Those other two wires are attached to your testicles, but not to worry. I’ve read a man can live without a testicle, without either testicle for that matter. That is, if he gets prompt medical care. Don’t know of any cases where a fellow has lived without testicles or a dick. Would your voice change? Would you want to live without your dick?”
“What the hell do you want?”
“We want you to cooperate like Judge Merkel is doing. The judge played it smart. His dirt will stay under the carpet. He’ll take his pension from the state and enjoy his grandkids and go fishing. Now it’s your turn. If you want to save your cock-a-doodle-doo, you’ll cooperate. If you don’t, well, I guess you’ll find out if your voice will change or not. So, whatdaya say, Reggie? Are you ready to play let’s make a deal? Or is protecting Billy Cranston worth losing your pecker?”
“You must be fucking nuts, mister. No man would do that to another man.”
“I would. If you don’t give me what I want. It’s your pecker. It’s your decision. To what extent are you Billy’s boy?” As Ryan said it he moved the slide bar on the remote a short distance.
“Yeoooow.”
“Don’t worry, Reggie, just tightening it a bit. To let you know the way this conversation is going to go if we don’t get what we want.”
“Okay. Okay. Back off. Give it some slack.”
“I’m so sorry, Reggie. I haven’t got all the bugs worked out. I can tighten it like I just did. Even tighten it to the point of severance of your member, to say it proper like. But I haven’t yet figured out how to loosen it. I can slide the bar back up,” Ryan let Reggie watch him move the slide bar on the remote upward, “but, as you can feel, the wire doesn’t loosen. I’ll get it perfected, but unfortunately that won’t help you now.”
“I can’t roll over on Billy. He’ll kill me.”
“You might want to look at it from the other side. If you don’t play ball with us, no pun intended, you’ll be dragging your sorry ass around town without a dick or any balls. Maybe then you’d want Billy to kill you.”
“Oh, man. Holy shit. Oh, man. How did I get myself into this fix?”
“That’s easy, Reggie. You sold out your responsibilities as sheriff to become Billy Cranston’s lap dog.”
“Who’s this us you keep referring to?”
“Oh. How rude of me. Let me introduce you to my partner.”
The blanket on one side was pulled back. The sheriff shook his head to clear the sweat. He looked. He squinted. “Ms. Benson, what are you doing here?”
Ryan said, “Billy keeps insisting Carol Benson isn’t her correct name. Billy’s right. Meet Linda Darby, Cranston Unified School’s graduating class the year before you.”
Sheriff Reggie lowered his head to reduce the light in his eyes.
“Hi Reggie, how you doing?” Then Linda looked down under the tray at the sheriff’s naked body. “Those wires down there look pretty scary.”
Linda leaned down again. “Does that thing come in an adult size? Something that might interest a grown woman?”
“Oh, that’s cooold,” Ryan said, drawing the word out. Then he used the remote to drop the second severed carrot onto the sheriff’s lap tray.
“Take the wire off. . . . I’ll cooperate. Whatever you want.”
“I’d hate to have to wire you up again. Wash my hands again. Yuck. Let’s leave the wires where they are. If you change your mind back, we want to be prepared—the Boy Scout motto, you know.”
The sheriff sat still. The sweat on his forehead did not. It ran down into his eyes. He violently shook his head. Sweat flew from his hair. The sweat worms on his face turned in another direction. Then he came around some.
“I remember you, Linda, ah, Ms. Darby. And you,” he said, turning toward Ryan, “you’re the dude who caused the commotion out at the casino the other night, right?”
“Reggie, we’re here for you to confess, not for us to do so. After tonight, you’ll either be working with us or be dickless and dead. Either way, you won’t be disclosing Linda’s identity. That’s part of the bad news I mentioned when we discussed my not being the law.”
“I don’t wanna die.”
“Neither do I, Reggie. The way I figure it, guys like us, we’ll both end up in Hell. So, if it comes to it, I’ll send you on ahead to sort of check the place ou
t before I get there.”
“Can I stay sheriff?”
“If you start doing your job correctly, I don’t see why not. Of course, come election time you’ll need to convince the people of Cranston to reelect you. The chances of that will be better if your actions between now and then show you’re no longer Billy’s stooge.”
“What can I do?”
Ryan stepped behind the sheriff and pressed the record button on a recorder. For the next two hours, Linda and Ryan asked Sheriff Blackstone questions and were satisfied with the answers they received. They had the full details on the drug smuggling that passed through Cranston. That the sheriff didn’t know for certain who killed Carlos Molina. But that he still believed Billy had shot Carlos, despite his having denied it.
Suddenly, the third carrot dropped onto the tray in front of the sheriff. The sheriff reacted like a bowling ball had landed instead of a carrot.
“Just kidding, Reggie. That’s the last carrot. I couldn’t leave it uncut. After we let you go, if you back up on us, we’ll wire you up again and we’ll skip the carrots. Understand?”
Sheriff Reginald Blackstone nodded, and, for the umpteenth time struggled with the sweat coating his face, wiping his chin and lower jaw onto his bare shoulders.
Ryan took off the handcuffs and tied Reggie’s hands behind the chair back. “We’ll be leaving now. It should take you about an hour or so to get the knots loose. Then go about your business of being sheriff, but no more dirty tricks for Billy. If something serious comes up that you feel we need to know, find Linda who you shall continue to refer to as Carol Benson. She’ll be in town most of the time.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be watching. I’ll know if you stray, and I’ll be on you like stink on shit.”
Ryan packed his stuff into a black canvas duffle bag and turned to leave with Linda holding back the blanket.
“What if,” Reggie said, “Billy orders me to do something I can’t do based on what we’ve just agreed?”
“Don’t worry about Billy anymore. Monday morning, as soon as Judge Austin takes office, go see him. Tell him you can no longer stomach the things Billy Cranston does, that, with him replacing Judge Merkel, you’re resigning effective right then. He’ll ask you to stay until the next election. Agree to it. That will help the people see you as your own man.
“Judge Austin will call in the Wichita media and announce your resignation, but that you’ve agreed to stay and serve the people of Cranston until the next election. You say you like being sheriff. This will allow you to run as the incumbent and help you get reelected if you’re smart enough to start working for the voters.”
“And isolate Billy even more, right?”
“Now you’re catching on, Sheriff. We’re out of here. Nice chat, Reggie”
“You started being a good man tonight,” Linda said. “Stay the course, don’t back up.”
“Wait. Wait. Where are my clothes? How will I get back to town? Get home? Where am I?”
“You’re already home, Reggie. Take down your blankets. We’re in your kitchen. “
Chapter Twenty-eight
Again? It happened again?
THURSDAY
“Mr. Cranston, Mr. Creswell is on line two.”
Billy picked up the phone. “I told you never to call me at my office. You’re always to call Sheriff Blackstone.”
“It’s happened again. The safe, I came in and found the safe empty. It had the hundred “G’s” you brought me yesterday to replace what was stolen. I locked it up last night along with yesterday’s take from the casino. This morning it’s all gone. All of it.”
“Was it the same guy?”
“I don’t know. If it was, this time he didn’t stick around. I didn’t know anything until I opened up the safe to give money to the cashier’s cage and the pit bosses.”
“What about that extra security I okayed? Where the hell were they?”
“The additional officers start tomorrow night. The new alarm system goes in on Monday. So none of that was in place.”
Billy wiped his brow. “I told you get that done, damn it. Not to drag your ass.”
“Look, Mr. Cranston. Arranging competent security alarms for an illegal casino is not like calling in a plumber. I promised them an extra thousand to get it by Monday. You want me to cancel that now?”
“Yes. Damn it. No reason to lock the barn after the horse is out. . . . No. Shit. Don’t cancel. We have no reason to think this won’t happen a third time, next week or next year after our guard is down. I want to catch this bastard. Get it done. Until it’s installed, I want two armed guards on duty all night, every night, whatever it costs. Get men who will fire their weapons if necessary. But I’ll pay a bonus if the burglar is taken alive.”
Billy slammed the phone down and went to the bar in the far corner of his office.
* * *
After several drinks, Billy Cranston went to lunch at The Drop, telling Mud to bring him two beers and a burger with two patties. The Drop didn’t have a double patty burger on the menu, but Billy Cranston was used to getting what he wanted, both large and small, in his town.
“You okay?” Mud asked. “You look frazzled, if you don’t mind my saying so, sir.”
“The casino was hit again last night.”
“I know.”
“You know?” Billy said loudly, looking up at Mud. “How in the hell do you know?”
“Creswell called a while ago to see if I’d work night security, after the casino closes, until he gets his new security alarm up and runnin’. I agreed. I’m off work here by the time the casino closes. I couldn’t keep it up forever, but I can handle it for as long as it appears he’ll need it.”
After lunch, Billy returned to his office. When he walked in, his secretary was frantic. “Mr. Cranston, Sheriff Blackstone has called three times. I told him you were lunching at The Drop. He called there but just missed you. Then—”
“Before I get any older, can you cut to the chase?”
“Well, Sir. Some kinda federal police arrested Mr. Creswell over at the casino. It just happened. Sheriff Blackstone just said, “The Feds took Creswell.”
“Get the sheriff on the phone. No, never mind.” Billy grabbed his Stetson and headed for the door. “I’m going over there.”
Ten minutes later, Billy stood in front of Sheriff Blackstone. “Is it true the Feds picked up Creswell?”
“Yeah. They came here first. They were ready to roll and wanted me with them. Their credentials were all in order. It was the U.S. Marshal’s office. They had a warrant for his arrest for skipping out on his bail on some Federal beef. They insisted we move fast. We left right away.”
“And you couldn’t call me?”
“No, Sir, I couldn’t call. They strongly hinted they knew I knew he was a fugitive. They said, ‘Sheriff Blackstone, you shall accompany us immediately while we make the arrest or we will take you into custody.’ They didn’t want to take any chance of a leak.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. They’re gone with Creswell. They had him open his safe and were shocked it was empty. Their warrant was in order. Nothing I could do.”
“Let me see the warrant.”
Sheriff Blackstone handed Billy Cranston the warrant and stood quietly while he read. After that, Billy stormed out of the sheriff’s office slamming the door so hard it bounced back open.
* * *
At two o’clock in the afternoon, Carol Benson settled on the rock by the lake. She had signaled Ryan Testler with her hotel room drape propped out the way they’d agreed for her to signal.
When Carol settled in, Ryan came around to sit beside her. “How did the reading of your mother’s will go this morning?”
“What are you doing? You’ll be seen. Get back behind the big rock.”
“Not important. There’s so much going on now, I doubt you’re being followed. No reason for the sheriff to do it. Even if you are, he’s in our
pocket now, not Billy’s. Tell me about the reading.”
“It went fine, uneventful is a better description. I met my half-brother. He seemed disinterested. He was only there to see what Mother had left him. Her estate was small. I had a copy of the will so I knew it all beforehand. She left ten thousand dollars to help care for her sister who lives in a small Alzheimer’s facility. My Aunt Toots’s condition has deteriorated to the point where she couldn’t even remember my mother. That money along with my aunt’s Social Security will take care of her for another year or so. I doubt she’ll live much longer. Mother left my half-brother another ten thousand, those two bequests just about exhausted her liquid assets. She left me her small home. I plan to sell it as soon as possible.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“It’s sad. I’m mostly sorry I couldn’t forge a relationship with Mother. I tried to get her to move to Sea Crest, but she wouldn’t budge. Despite its problems, Cranston was the only place she ever knew. She was born in that house and she always insisted she would die there. Cranston only became a bad place after Billy took over. The prior generations of Cranston males were domineering, but not criminal.”
“Many of us don’t get to decide where we’ll die. Your mother did. Good for her.”
“Now, what the hell is going on this morning?”
“First off,” Ryan said, “Billy’s casino got burglarized again last night.”
“I suspect you know all about that. Just like you did about the first time.”
“Hey, I gotta fund our retirement plans. I’ll get you your split after you get back to Oregon. You don’t want to be found with that money before you leave here. There was actually more than the first time, enough for us to pass on twenty-five thousand to your friend Vera. The amount Billy promised to pay her when she got pregnant. You heard about that on the tapes, right?”
Linda nodded. “I didn’t realize you had Vera’s place bugged. I’m sure you enjoyed our conversations about men and everything else we discussed.”
“I was touched by what you said about Clark. You’re a good woman, Linda Darby.” Then Ryan laughed. “I never thought about whether or not women’s pubic hairs straightened in later life. That part was interesting. Look, seriously, I wasn’t trying to snoop on you. Vera is a key part of all this stuff. I needed her conversations with Billy and Martha.”
