by Gregg Stutts
There were only a handful of other cars. One of them was hers. He opened the front door, quickly scanned the room and spotted her in a booth with her back to him. He joined her in the corner and sat with his back to the wall, so he could see the entire room. She knew to leave that seat for him. She was drinking chardonnay, like always. He ordered a beer and waited for the server to leave.
“Nice job today.” She took a sip of wine. “Your guys almost killed those kids.”
He reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “Keep your voice down.”
She pulled her hand away and glared at him.
“Believe me, if my men wanted to kill someone, they would have,” he said. “Of course, today wouldn’t have been necessary if you would have done your job.”
Her eyes narrowed. Her mouth was tight. “My job? Who the…”
He cut her off. “Thank you,” he said to the server who set his beer down. After she left, he continued, “So what did you learn about the guy on the jet ski Monday night?”
She looked over her shoulder making sure no one could hear. “The police don’t know anything. The official story is that Dan killed the cops and then himself. And there aren’t any leads on the mystery man on the jet ski.”
“Yes, I’m aware of the official story, Blair. What I’m concerned about is that someone else was there that night. And I don’t like loose ends.” He took a swallow of beer and stared at her. “I always tie up loose ends. Like the phone.”
“We’ve been over this. I didn’t take his phone. When I left him, I assume he still had it on him.”
“And I’m telling you, again, that we didn’t find his phone. Do you realize what that means? The cops didn’t have it on them. So someone was on that boat between the time you…” He lowered his voice. “…killed him and my men and I arrived.” The man slowly sat back in his seat and cocked his head slightly. “Unless…”
“What?” she said. “What are you thinking?”
“Now you wouldn’t be holding on to it for some reason now, would you?”
She finished her wine and wiped the corners of her mouth with her thumb and index finger, leaving only a smirk. “I should probably be offended by the suggestion, but I’m feeling too relaxed right now to let your paranoia bother me.”
He studied her, trying to read her body language. She was either telling the truth or was an even better liar than he was. He took another long swallow of beer, surveyed the room, then looked back at her. “My team will handle it. Like we always do.” He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. “We wouldn’t even be dealing with this if you’d convinced him to just go along and keep his mouth shut. We needed a seven to nothing vote, not a five to two vote. It all needs to look like a slam dunk, like any sane person would never object.”
Her eyes were fiery now. “I did everything in my power to get this law passed. Five to two is still a win. It’s still the law.”
“You know what your problem is, Blair?”
“Oh, please tell me,” she said with the slightest slur.
“You don’t see potential problems. If he had started running his mouth to the media, then this thing was over,” he said. “Same for the other guy.”
“You mean, Andy?”
He ignored her reply, drank some of his beer and set the bottle on the table. “But I took care of them for you.”
She waved to the server who brought her another glass of wine.
He finished his beer and said, “I’m ready to get out of this town. And you’re not helping.” He could see she was getting frustrated, but he actually enjoyed seeing her lose her cool, at least where only he could see it.
“You think this is easy?” she said. “You try telling a town full of rednecks you’re taking away their first and second amendment rights.” She closed her eyes and shook her head.
He leaned across the table. “It’s. Your. Job. Now get it done. And make sure these people don’t vote to overturn the law. We’ve all worked too hard and too long to let it slip away now.”
He stood up to leave and dropped a twenty-dollar bill on the table.
She turned to him as he walked away. “Are we still meeting tomorrow night?”
“Yes, and I’ll even get you out of this town for a night and buy you a nice dinner,” he said. “Call it a peace offering.”
“Hey, one more thing,” she said. “I’m curious about something.”
He stopped and came back to the table. “What?”
She made sure no one else would hear the question. “If you lived here, would you turn in your guns?”
The man laughed more loudly than he’d intended. The bartender, the server and people at other tables all turned to look. He leaned on the back of her chair and whispered, “You’re kidding, right?” And let the criminals be the only ones with the guns?” He turned and started to leave.
“But then…wouldn’t that make you a criminal too?” she said.
He turned again and looked at her intently, then slowly raised his right hand in the shape of a gun. He pointed it at her head and pretended to pull the trigger. “Good one.”
Chapter 47
Saturday, August 9th
Carrie didn’t sleep well, so Michelle didn’t either, which meant Max didn’t. He left the house at 6:30 after getting four fitful hours of sleep. The note he left for Michelle promised her an afternoon out while he watched Carrie. It might not have been his best idea though. He could hardly keep his eyes open as he drove to the high school for the meeting with his coaching staff.
Even if Carrie and Michelle had slept through the night, he wouldn’t have. Not an hour went by that he wasn’t thinking about what happened at the marina or about the Freedom Protection Act or about Blair Morgan.
His mind needed to be focused on football, but the minute he got to his office, he typed, “Blair Morgan Lakeside, Arkansas” into his phone and scrolled through the results. There was very little that looked like it belonged to her. Her Facebook profile looked new and contained only a few posts and pictures, almost like a spam account.
He set the phone down and removed his legal pad from his briefcase. He still had a long list of unanswered questions. He read the list and stopped on number five.
5. Four cops are dead, killed by four men in a black SUV. The cop who was shot and dumped in the lake wasn’t scared of them and was cooperating with them before he was killed. He was even bringing them to the The Integrity when they killed him.
He closed his eyes. He saw himself in the water under the dock. The men stopped right above him and then shot the cop without warning and shoved his body into the lake. Then they killed three more cops. Before leaving, they told someone on the phone that it would look like Dan Jenkins had done it. And that was the exact story Blair Morgan told at her press conference.
Dan was already dead though. So who killed Dan? He put his feet on the desk and folded his hands behind his head. What did Dan know? And was whomever killed Dan also connected to the four men who came later? That didn’t make sense though. Why kill Dan then come back again?
He could feel a twinge of pain behind his right eye. It was the beginning of a migraine. His thoughts were getting stuck in an endless loop with too many variables and not enough answers. He closed his eyes, rubbed his neck and tried to relax. He had to think about something else, something to get his mind off things he couldn’t figure out.
After a few minutes, he reached for his phone and typed a text to Michelle.
Dinner out tonight after your alone time this afternoon? Willy and Rose won’t mind watching Carrie for a few hours. Let’s go to Eureka Springs. Sound good?
Chapter 48
Max started the coach’s meeting on time at exactly 8:00. He efficiently worked through the agenda he’d written out on his legal pad. He couldn’t help thinking if he flipped back a few pages, there were more critical issues to be concerned with, like who stood to gain from killing Lakeside cops and city council members, than who was starting
at quarterback. But he was paid to figure out whom to play at quarterback, not to solve crimes. Trying to find out who was killing the citizens of Lakeside wasn’t in his job description.
After walking through the practice schedule for the first week, he asked for an update from each position coach. Ninety minutes into the meeting, he began to feel like an actual football coach again. At least for a couple of hours, the outside world was on hold. Inside the meeting room, life was simpler. Not always easier, but simpler to comprehend. It was about X’s and O’s and having a plan to beat the other guy.
After all the position coaches reported, Max turned it over to his offensive and defensive coordinators to give the overall outlook on their units. Larry West, who had coached the receivers the previous two years, was the new offensive coordinator. Dave Turner was back for another season as the defensive coordinator.
“I feel good about the guys up front,” Larry said. “Helps having four seniors and a junior. We’re young at running back, but I really like the talent and experience we’ll have at the receiver positions. And quarterback is going to be a battle. AJ showed me a lot this summer during the seven on seven tournaments and Kyle is solid. He rarely makes mistakes.”
A few of the coaches had questions for Larry. When he was done, Dave gave his update on the defense. “We gave up a lot of points last year, but I feel good about our senior leadership, especially at linebacker. I don’t think you’ll find a better group in the conference. Our D-line looks like mostly juniors. And we’re going to have a couple sophomores playing in the secondary.”
“They better grow up fast,” Max said. “Bergen Catholic is coming in with one of the best quarterbacks in the country.” He stood up and went to the whiteboard. “In between diaper changes and 2:00 a.m. feedings, I’ve been watching some film on them and I know some of you have been, too. What are you seeing?”
For the next forty minutes, they listed strengths, weaknesses and tendencies each of them had observed as they watched three of Bergen Catholic’s games from the end of last season, a season in which they’d won another state championship and sent six kids to major colleges, including Penn State, Rutgers and Notre Dame.
What became clear was the need to get to their All-American quarterback early. When he got rattled, he sometimes let his emotions get the best of him. But getting to him wouldn’t be easy since an offensive line that averaged 6’4” and 275 pounds protected him.
“What’s our D-line average?” Max said.
“Maybe six-foot and 220 pounds,” Dave said. “We’re not going to be able to go head-to-head with them. We’ll have to get creative. We’ll come off the edges. Give them different looks. Lots of disguises.”
While several of the coaches discussed what Dave had said, Max sat down and turned to a fresh page on his pad. There was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on about the night at the marina. He stared at the blank page and tried to recreate the events in his mind. He didn’t like thinking about it, but he pictured himself entering the cabin on Dan’s boat.
He tripped and dropped his phone.
Picked it up.
Clothes on the floor.
Dan’s face.
He closed his eyes and pictured Dan’s face.
What was he missing? What was he forgetting? It felt like waking up from a vivid dream that you couldn’t remember just seconds later.
“Max?”
“Max?”
“I’m sorry. What is it, Dave?”
“I was just asking what you thought about working on corner blitzes? Let’s turn these young guys loose off the edges. If we can get a good bump on their receivers, we might throw off their timing and get to the quarterback,” Dave said.
“Oh, yeah, I like that.” Max looked at the clock. “I know we’re scheduled for another fifteen minutes guys, but I didn’t get much sleep, so let’s call it a day. I’ll see you guys back here at seven on Monday morning.”
Except for Dave, the coaches left in a hurry to try and enjoy one more Saturday afternoon with their families before the start of practice. “Do you have a minute, Max?” He closed the door and sat across from him at the conference table.
“What’s up?” Max said.
“You okay?”
He wasn’t. For lots of reasons. He’d just hoped it wasn’t showing. “You mean me zoning out.”
“You’ve been through a lot. Plus, I know what it’s like having a newborn in the house.”
Dave didn’t know half of what he’d been through, especially lately. “Well, actually I…” His phone buzzed. It was Willy. It stopped ringing, but then started again. It was Willy again. “Dave, I better take this.”
“Sure thing, Max. I’ll see on Monday.” Dave turned to leave. “If you need someone to talk to…”
Max gave him a thumbs-up and Dave closed the door behind him. “What’s up, Willy?”
“The police just left my house.”
Chapter 49
“The police showed up again?” Max went to the door and made sure it was shut tight. “What did they want this time?”
“They’re still talking to anyone who had recent contact with Dan Jenkins. They wanted to know what he and I talked about and if I knew of anyone who might have wanted to hurt him.”
“Didn’t they already ask you that?” Max sat down again. He was afraid to ask his next question. “Did they ask where you were that night?” He held his breath and waited.
“Fortunately, no. And it’s a good thing the officer who pulled me over that night after I left the marina didn’t give me a ticket. Then there would have been a record of me speeding, a few miles from the marina, right after the murders.”
“Do you think we need a story for where we were that night?”
“I think my answers satisfied them and they don’t know anything about you, so I think we’re safe.”
“If you say so, Willy.”
There was silence for a moment.
“Willy?”
“Sorry, Max. I was just thinking about something.”
“What?”
“I assumed they were detectives,” Willy said. “I’d just gotten home from running some errands. Rose let them in before I got here. I never actually saw their ID’s. Rookie mistake.”
“Who else would they be? And anyway, who else besides the police would have access to Dan’s cell phone records?”
“Both good questions,” Willy said.
Before hanging up, Max asked if he and Rose would watch Carrie for a few hours. Willy agreed, but sounded nervous. For someone who always seemed sure of himself, he was secretly delighted Willy was finally nervous about something.
Chapter 50
Max was home by noon. Carrie had nursed and was already sleeping. Michelle said she’d probably wake up around two-thirty and want to eat again. He kissed her goodbye and made her promise to not come home until six o’clock.
It was 12:15 when Michelle drove off. And it was nine minutes later when he heard Carrie stirring. He prayed she’d go back to sleep, so he could lie down on the couch, watch a few minutes of baseball and take a nap himself. A minute later, the stirring turned to whimpering. A minute after that, she was crying.
He went to check on her and saw she’d spit up on herself and the sheet, so he got her cleaned up and into a new outfit. He had no idea where the clean sheets were for the basinet, so he turned her around to face the other way and put her back down and tip-toed from the room.
He turned the television on and found the Cardinals game. By the time the third batter in the top of the first inning came to the plate, Carrie was crying again. Several minutes passed and she was only getting louder. He checked on her at the end of the first inning, patted her back a few times and closed the door.
The next thing he knew, the baseball game was in the seventh inning and Carrie was screaming. It was 2:30, right when Michelle said she’d want to eat again. He got her up and set her in the baby carrier on the table while he got her bottle re
ady. After heating it to the proper temperature, he took her to the couch and fed her.
The bottle was empty in less than five minutes, but she was already starting to fuss again. He put her back in the carrier to heat up another bottle, but realized if he did then there’d be nothing to give her at 5:30. Michelle had only pumped enough for two feedings, so it could potentially be a very long thirty minutes of screaming if Michelle stayed out until six o’clock like he’d encouraged.
