Killing the Secret

by Donna Welch Jones

  “That asshole goin’ to die?” Wilbur panted out the words, his chest heaving.

  “Looks like it.” Lexie leaned back against the wall and shut her eyes.

  “He deserves to be burnin’ in hell. That fool would’ve killed me if it tweren’t for you.”

  Lexie’s eyes flew open. “Is that a thank you?”

  “Damn sure is.”

  “Save your energy, Wilbur. You aren’t out of the woods yet.”

  Wilbur became quiet. He rested his head on the filthy sofa arm like an obedient child.

  Toby’s coughing stopped, as did his labored breathing.

  It seemed like hours before the helicopter arrived, but it was actually less than thirty minutes. One EMSA person pronounced Toby dead, while the other one attended to Wilbur’s arm.

  Turner arrived on a four-wheeler to work on the scene investigation. The other officer went back to the helicopter with Wilbur.

  Lexie purposely focused on Turner’s face trying to shut out the horrific crime scene. “If you can handle this, I’m going to get Flame and head back to Lulu’s.”

  “Can do. This sure is a bloody mess.” Turner’s eyes expressed his concern. “First person you ever killed?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, you had no choice,” Turner assured her. “Wilbur made that clear in his ranting.”

  “That makes it a little easier, but not much.”

  Turner waved her out the door.” You go on now. I’ll finish up here. Highway patrol is sending out an officer to help me.”

  Her shoes made scuffmarks in the dirt as she walked toward the woods. Lexie’s clothes were sprinkled with Toby’s blood, and a swipe of her tears smeared the red fluid on her cheek. She’d wounded at least a dozen people as a street cop, but none of them had died. Emptiness was the feeling it left inside her. She feared her soul disappeared when she took Toby’s life.

  Flames’ head turned ever so slightly at the sound of her steps. She reached in her saddleback and let him eat hay from her hand. Straddling him, she was a silent passenger trusting Flame to get them back to the highway.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  After four hours on the plane, Tye’s body revolted against the cramped quarters. He tried to straighten his legs in order to relax his muscles, but it didn’t help. He tried to will himself to sleep, or to think about Jamie and Adam. Nothing eased the feeling of being squashed into a can. Max seemed to be fine in the world inside his head and didn’t offer any conversation. Walking among the snakes and lizards was sounding better and better. He might even try swinging with the monkeys—anything for some exercise.

  “See that clearing below?” Max asked as he pointed. “That’s where we’re landing. It’s outside a village where we can find you a guide.”

  “Good, my muscles are so stiff.” Tye massaged the back of his neck. “I’m ready to chase lizards.”

  “I noticed a lot of wiggling over there,” Max sounded somewhat annoyed.

  “Sorry, needed to move to counteract the muscle spasms.”

  “You big guys don’t always have the advantage,” Max stated.

  “I can’t argue that.”

  The plane went downward with a wide smooth swoop. When the plane hit the rough ground, Tye lunged forward with his head stopping two inches from the window. He noted Max’s white knuckles that matched his pale face.

  “Quite a landing.” Tye laughed.

  Max was immediately defensive. “Rough surface, you know. Impossible to put it down gentle.”

  Tye didn’t care if Max thought he was critical. It was what it was—a near head smashing.

  The two walked from the plane to the front of an old house where half a dozen men had gathered. They each stared with dark eyes as the out-of-place pair walked toward them. Tye noticed that two of them had their right hands strategically located near their hips.

  Max greeted them in Spanish, “Ola.”

  “Ola,” Tye repeated.

  The men were silent.

  Max continued, “Mon amigo has one hundred dollars for the man who will guide him to the burial plot that’s marked on this paper.”

  Two men turned and walked away.

  A third said, “Los rebeldes se captura y la tortura Que.”

  The fourth man nodded his head in agreement.

  “What did he say?” Tye asked Max.

  “They’re afraid to go into the jungle because of the rebels.”

  “Not afraid,” the fifth man corrected in English. “I don’t die for one hundred dollars American.”

  The sixth man towered above the others. His words came out in broken English, “I go for four hundred dollars American.”

  Tye wanted to negotiate the offer but Max answered, “It’s a deal.” He then reached out to shake the man’s hand.

  Tye’s new guide backed up two steps. Max was left with a hand in the air which he dropped quickly, as if to negate the man’s shun.

  “Name?” Tye looked at his guide.

  One of the other men answered, “El Hombre Grande.”

  Tye looked at Max for an interpretation. “They call him Big Man.”

  Tye handed Big Man the map. It looked like a note card between his huge hands. One eye followed the directions on the sheet. The other eye peered off to the left. His face appeared to be chiseled out of brown stone, and only three teeth were visible when he curled his lip in thought. A shaved head revealed a red rash and a couple of bloody scratch marks.

  Kind of a scary-looking guy, but just exactly what I need. Big Man looked like a wild animal that belonged in the jungle terrain. At least six inches taller than Tye’s height of six-foot-two, he felt like a teenager beside Big Man. Three hundred pounds of muscle was Tye’s best bet on Big Man’s weight.

  “How many hours will it take us to get in and out?” Tye asked Big Man.”

  “Diaz,” Big Man grunted.

  Max retrieved the two backpacks from his plane that held the essentials for the adventure. Even though it cost Tye another hundred dollars, he was glad not to waste time looking for supplies.

  Max threw the bags toward Tye. “I’ll be back at this spot in twenty-four hours to pick you up. If you don’t show up within a couple of hours, I’ll assume they caught you, or killed you. Either way, I’m heading home without you. You sure you want to be left here?”

  Tye’s mouth said, “I’m sure,” but his head didn’t believe it. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  The roar of the plane sent birds flying that Tye had never seen the likes of before. He watched as the plane disappeared and wondered if he’d made a mistake. High tailing it back to civilization with Max would’ve been a sign of a high IQ. Oh, well, too late now. At the moment, being crunched in the plane seemed more forbidding than the jungle ahead.

  He threw Big Man a backpack then followed his new partner across the clearing into the jungle. Their heads were constantly colliding with the leaves on the trees.

  Big Man’s strides were long and every few steps he let out a grunt that seemed to indicate it was taking a little effort. Tye stayed behind him, not worrying about keeping up as long as he could hear the grunting sound in front of him. It felt good to walk. The canopy over the jungle was so thick that he frequently became encased in greens and browns. Occasionally, Tye heard the swish of Big Man’s machete as he cut down vines that blocked their way. The leaves on the canopy enclosed parts of the jungle so the sun was unable to reach the ground. Much of what Tye walked on was the earth’s woody floor. The insects, birds and frogs offered a backdrop of noise.

  Tye crunched his face in disbelief, stopped, and stared as he watched what appeared to be a line, yards long, of leaves marching on the path in front of him. With close scrutiny, he saw that underneath each leaf was an ant. The leaves were a hundred times bigger than the transporters, which made it look like each one was carrying a sail.

  They had walked over two hours when the familiar grunt noise in front of him lapsed. Tye continued walking forward hoping he
hadn’t lagged so far behind that he’d missed a turn.

  “Snake,” the word shushed in front of him.

  Tye looked above his head to scan the treetops. A few yards away was Big Man pointing upward. The snake slivered down toward Big Man. With one swing of the machete, it became half the snake it once was.

  Big Man continued his walk and grunt parade without comment.

  Tye’s clothes stuck to him like plastic wrap. The humidity was probably ninety percent. Sweat dropped down to his eyelids and pooled in his eyelashes. He continually blinked to clear his vision.

  Without any warning, the rain started pouring. Its intensity slowed Tye’s forward movement to less than half the speed. He was afraid to stop. Big Man didn’t seem the sort who would let a shower keep him from trudging onward. Tye couldn’t hear the familiar grunt due to the threshing of the rain. Maybe the guy will come back and get me for the other two hundred dollars I owe him.

  The rain stopped as quickly as it came. Tye did a slow run forward looking for the sight of Big Man’s red flowered shirt and listening for his potentially life-saving grunt. There he was in front of him, obviously holding back until his weaker companion caught up.

  Big Man’s pace speeded up as soon as he caught sight of Tye.

  The rain cooled Tye off for a few minutes, but within half an hour he felt like he was walking in a sauna. “Big Man,” he called. “I need to stop for a couple of minutes.” He continued going forward until he saw his guide standing stationary against a tree. Tye sank down to the ground and retrieved his water thermos from his bag. He drank without stopping, feeling like every ounce of water in his body was sucked out.

  “Come on, Girl,” Big Man’s words shot out.

  Tye felt his already red face grow ruddier. Any other man and he would’ve downed him, but even if he could flatten Big Man he sure as hell couldn’t find his way back without him. This once, he’d let his life take precedence over his pride

  The steady grunt and occasional squish continued for another two hours. Tye didn’t make the mistake of asking Big Man to hold up again.

  Finally, the path opened to a riverbank and Big Man paused to let Tye catch up.

  “There,” Big Man pointed to the ground.

  Tye didn’t see anything until he bent down and explored with his hands. There was a flat tombstone with the name “Michael Sean Haverty” carved into it.

  He searched for the trowels inside his bag and tossed one near his guide’s feet.

  The digging was going to be long and tortuous, and it wouldn’t be long until dark. Big Man stood and watched without moving.

  “I’d appreciate some help,” Tye coaxed, trying to sound friendly.

  “No say dig up grave.”

  “How much will it cost me?”

  “Two hundred American.”

  “Okay,” Tye answered and continued his digging.

  Big Man moved quickly to the other end of the grave and started digging like a mole trying to make a home.

  The light of the day was waning as the two men pulled the casket out of its hole.

  Tye slid his knife under the edge of the wooden lid, then forced a branch into the opening trying to leverage the lid up. His clothes were soaked with sweat. The heat and exhaustion left him light headed. He looked up to see Big Man backing away from the casket. “Why aren’t you helping?”

  “No touch dead body—evil.”

  Tye wanted to call him a girl, but decided it wouldn’t be a good choice given the circumstances.

  Big Man was yards away when Tye finally opened the coffin.

  A skeleton inhabited the box, which wasn’t expected, based on Sean’s story. Tye scraped a bone for a DNA sample then looked carefully at the remains. He didn’t know much about forensics, but he did know that the back branch of a man’s jawbone tended to be curved, while a female’s was straighter. And he knew that the pelvis of a female is formed for childbirth, unlike a male. He didn’t know who the person was who ended up buried in Michael’s grave, but he knew the skeleton was the remains of a woman. Tye wondered if this was the person Sean’s son was accused of killing.

  Tye lowered the lid.

  “Come on, Big Man. Let’s put her back to rest.”

  Big Man moved cautiously toward the coffin.

  Tye suppressed the urge to yell “Boo!” when Big Man came close, for fear the guy would freak out and Tye would end up in the hole underneath the casket.

  By the time they finished, their lone lantern was the only light. Big Man started moving back toward the jungle. Tye didn’t think he could handle any more activity. Every muscle in his body hurt. Much to his relief, Big Man stopped at a small hut secluded among the trees. He sprawled on the ground and ate the food in the backpack that Max had packed. He consumed the filth on his hands with the sandwich.

  Tye thought about rinsing his hands with some of the water from his thermos, but decided against it. Water was too valuable to waste on cleanliness. So he, like his partner, consumed part of the days’ residue with his supper.

  It was a tight fit in the hut for the two big men. Tye wasn’t sure which of the two smelled the worst as he crunched on his side of the hut. Big Man’s snoring was almost overwhelmed by the chorus of insect, bird, and monkey calls outside the hut. The jungle wasn’t a peaceful place at night, but the racket that entered Tye’s head didn’t keep him from thinking about the woman he’d dug up earlier. He wondered how Lexie would respond to this new piece in the puzzle.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Three hours of sleep didn’t exactly make Tye eager to take another trip through the jungle, but he knew the sooner they started the better.

  Big Man was waiting outside the hut. As soon as he saw Tye, he headed back into the jungle.

  Tye hollered behind him, “Wait up. This girl needs to go pee!”

  What might have been a muffled laugh was heard in the distance.

  Tye quickly did his business then returned to the trail. His partner was a few yards in front of him as they tromped back toward the clearing.

  He didn’t actually see any monkeys, but he constantly heard their calls in the distance. It was a fascinating place, Tye thought, as he visually took in all the plants and animals that crossed his path. He felt like his mission was finished. He knew who wasn’t in the coffin and that was his purpose. Now he could appreciate all these sights so foreign to a country boy.

  A couple of hours into their trek, he veered off the path to take care of bodily urges. Why Big Man didn’t have any personal elimination needs was beyond Tye. He crouched pondering his dilemma of which of the various vegetation leaves he should risk using to wipe his behind.

  The sound of a loud angry voice sucked the air out of Tye’s lungs. He breathed in with all his might to put some oxygen back into his body. Standing quickly, he pulled up his jeans then slumped back down. He carefully went forward staying off the path. Soon he saw Big Man on his belly. His hands tied behind him. A small man stood over him yelling loudly in Spanish. A long leather whip was in the captor’s hand. He intermittently hit Big Man between loud Spanish ravings. Three other men watched with grins as the whip met its’ target.

  Tye didn’t hear a word from Big Man. He was like a huge lump on the ground. Is he dead? No, there’s foot movement. These must be some of the rebels Max warned me about. Max’s words reverberated in Tye’s brain: “Men who’d kill you, or hold you prisoner, for the rest of your life.” The alternative didn’t seem that great to Tye either. He could easily get past them and make his way back to the clearing. It wasn’t like Big Man would risk his life if things were reversed. But it wasn’t Tye’s nature to be a coward and abandon someone in need.

  The next time Tye looked, one of the men was putting a rope around Big Man’s neck and pulling him up. A huge dog on a leash was being led deeper into the jungle. The others pointed their guns at Big Man’s head.

  Tye kept his distance as he followed them. After a few minutes they stopped and tied Big Man to a
tree. Finally, they sat down on a patch of jungle floor that didn’t have much vegetation and ate lunch, constantly interrupting each other in Spanish.

  Sneaking around to the back of the tree, Tye loosened the rope around Big Man’s neck. The knot on the loop was so tight that Tye had to cut the rope with his knife. Big Man quietly got up and followed Tye back through the underbrush where he took the lead to rush them away from the enemy.

  The grunt was gone now. The constant thump of their feet against the dirt floor of the jungle, and the insects in the distance, were the only sounds. They must have run at least twenty minutes before Big Man slowed his pace.

  Tye would like to have seen the rebels faces when they went to get Big Man. Hopefully, the prospect of ghosts in the jungle would keep them awake all night.

  The rest of the journey was a rapid walk. Big Man made no comment about his life being saved by a “girl.” Tye thought a “thank you” or “gracias” was in order, but apparently jungle manners were a little different.

  Max had already landed when the two arrived.

  “Am I late?” Tye slowed to a stop in front of Max.

  “You had a whole fifteen minutes before I left you here to rot.”

  “The old timers used to say, ‘all’s well that ends well.’ I’m here with time to spare and I’m still alive, so I’ve had a good day.” Tye pulled four hundred dollars out of his wallet then headed toward Big Man. The two met halfway. Big Man reached two bills toward Tye, as Tye reached four bills toward him.

  “No want,” Big Man said as he crushed his two bills in with the four that were still in Tye’s hand.

  “You earned this money,” Tye insisted.

  “No, for my Amigo.”

  “Amigo, yes!” Tye slapped Big Man’s back as he pushed part of the money in his back pocket.

  “No girl,” Big Man smiled, showing his three teeth.

  “Damn right,” Tye laughed.

  “Gracias, Amigo!” Big Man hollered as Tye lifted himself into the plane.

  “What’s all that about?” Max questioned after the plane was in the air.