Ryker’s Justice

by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

  As the noise level increased, Jude leaned over to ask Adam, “Does Junior ever show up at church?”

  “Not in years, no, why?”

  “He paid me a visit last night at the house,” Jude said.

  Adam’s eyes widened. “He did what?”

  “Came over, asked me to have a drink with him to patch up things, sold me a jar of the finest moonshine, and offered to procure meth if I’d like some,” he replied.

  “Did you?”

  Jude nodded. “Yeah, reminded me why it’s called rotgut. But I learned several things I think will move the investigation forward.”

  “You still want to talk to Josh?”

  “Yeah, I do.” He watched the kid make his way toward the door. “I’ll go get him. Nicole, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Stick with Adam or any of the family, you hear?”

  Without waiting for a response, Jude trailed his nephew into the churchyard. He watched Josh head around to the rear of the building, then followed. “Joshua!”

  At the sound of his full name, Josh stopped. “What is it?”

  “I want to talk to you for a minute. Come over here.” Jude led him to a weathered bench tucked between two trees. “I couldn’t sit still much when I was little. Mama used to bring me out here to keep me out of trouble.”

  “Did it work?” Josh asked.

  “Naw, not much. Your granddaddy used to cut switches off a tree to whack me or the other kids if we didn’t sit still or if we talked too much.”

  “Sounds kinda mean.”

  “I thought so, too—then,” Jude told the teen. “But now I can see he wanted to teach me right from wrong, that’s all. His way might have been harsher than what I wanted but maybe it’s what I needed.”

  Josh glared at him, eyes bright with some strong emotion. Anger, maybe, or perhaps embarrassment, Jude wasn’t certain. After a pause of several minutes, he sighed. “So you’re trying to tell me I’ve done wrong? Are you goin’ cut a switch for me?”

  Jude snorted. “If I thought it would help, I might, but no. I want to find out what you know about the moonshine Junior Wetzel was passing around at the game. Did your dad or Uncle Adam tell you why I came home?”

  “Dad did. I don’t know a whole lot, though.”

  “Just tell me whatever you can think of because it might help.” He thought about sharing with the kid what he’d learned but didn’t. Jude wanted to trust his nephew but they weren’t well acquainted enough to know if he could.

  After another silence, Josh lifted his head. “Am I gonna be in trouble?”

  At the sight of tears in the boy’s eyes, Jude’s heart lurched. He put one arm around the kid’s shoulders. “No, you’re not. Hell, no. I’m looking for your help, not trying to make your life difficult. I want justice, that’s all. It’s what I came here to do but when David got hurt, it became personal.”

  He had meant to comfort but pain flashed across Josh’s face, swift as summer lightning. “I feel bad about the wreck,” he cried. “If I had known, I would’ve tried to warn David and Sierra.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Jude said. Damn, but he was out of his league now with an upset teenager. “You had no way of knowing Junior would be running the roads drunk and veer into David’s lane.”

  “No, but I should have done something.”

  “Kid, you couldn’t. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Help David get through this, help me, but don’t shoulder the blame. It’s not yours.”

  Josh leaned forward, face buried in his hands. The sight of his thin back arched with distress made Jude want to rock the kid the way you did a baby but he knew better than to try. Young as he was, Josh was a Ryker male. He waited and after awhile, Josh lifted his head.

  “I’ll tell you everything I know, Uncle Jude, I promise.”

  Relief washed through Jude, powerful as a cleansing flood. “Good,” he said. “But not here. Too many people are probably already curious what we’re doing back here. Wanna go fishing with me later?”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay, Nicole and I are heading to the hospital to see David, then I’ll take her out for dinner if she wants, then I’ll come get you.”

  “Can I come with you to see David? You can come back for me there, if it’s okay with my parents.”

  It wasn’t what Jude envisioned but it would do. “Yeah, let’s go.”

  With any luck at all, something he had never possessed in any quantity, the kid might have something to add to the investigation. Maybe it would be over soon.

  Chapter Sixteen

  In the larger town, en route to the hospital, Jude made a stop at one of the fast-food joints on the outskirts. He bought each of them, Josh, Nicole, and himself, a cheeseburger. On the way out, he bought two large chocolate malts, one for each of the teens. David sat in the recliner, half-dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt. When they entered, his focus centered on the tablet in his lap and the video game he played. Although still connected to monitors and with an IV attached to his right arm, his color had returned to normal, an improvement over his earlier ghostly pallor. When he noticed he had visitors, he grinned.

  “Hi, Uncle Jude, Nicole,” he said. Then he spotted his cousin. “Hey, dude! It’s good to see you, man.”

  “Yeah, were you playing Minecraft?” Josh asked. “Cool!”

  Jude rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I brought a malt if you want it, David.”

  “Oh, wow, thanks.”

  The two teens chattered about video games, school, and sports. Jude managed to inquire about David’s condition and share a little news. When Elijah arrived with his family in tow, Jude nudged Josh. “I think we’ll head out,” he announced. “I promised the kid I’d take him fishing and Nicole’s probably tired of my company.”

  “No way,” she said with a sweet smile.

  Her answer pleased him. “So you wanna come fishing with us?”

  “Not really,” she said “I’ll stay here awhile and visit with Abigail, if you don’t mind and she doesn’t.”

  Thirty minutes later, after a stop at the old home place, Jude and his nephew made their way to the river. En route, they didn’t talk much but once they settled down at the water, Josh spilled. Jude asked few questions and didn’t need to prompt his nephew.

  “A lot of kids have been drinking the moonshine,” he told Jude as they baited hooks. “It’s been going on for a couple of years but more and more people do it. Some of them got sick, a few pretty bad sick, but they never told their parents why or what happened. Taylor Chase missed two weeks of school after he got wasted drinking it. I never had, I swear, not until that night at the game. I just wanted to see what it tasted like, that’s all, but when I saw you, I got scared and split.”

  “Just as well,” Jude told him. “That stuff will burn a hole in your belly—I know. I took one drink that night, another when Junior Wetzel showed up at the house. It like to killed me both times. It can be damn dangerous, son, so you’re wise to steer clear.”

  Josh nodded. “Yeah and besides, some of the wilder kids are doing meth too. I’ve never done drugs and don’t plan to get started on any of them.”

  He talked more about kids who were wild, some who weren’t, and told his uncle who had parties and where. His account painted a picture of modern twenty-first century teenage life, different than what Jude experienced in the same location. Without guile, Josh told about things that curdled Jude’s digestion, but he kept his expression bland.

  “Do you know of anyone else selling the stuff, the liquor or the meth, besides Junior?” he asked. “Junior told me about a couple but I need to know who’s really behind it, not just the runners.”

  “There’s a guy at the feed store,” Josh told him. “I don’t remember his name, and then Billy, the one who works on cars and has his own garage. He drives a boss cherry red GTO, vintage, and it’s the shiz.”

  “Yeah, that’s the two he told me about,” Jude said. He thought they were about done and the single cheeseburger
hadn’t done much to ease his hunger. As he gathered up the gear to head home, his nephew spoke again.

  “One of the ladies at the donut shop will sell it to you if you ask,” he said. “The people running the shop, they don’t know. She just works there, Evelyn, but I’m not sure what her last name is ‘cause it’s not on her name tag. You can get it at the flea market, too, I think, and then Rick sells it to anyone who comes in and asks for either one.”

  Although the wind had turned sharp, it wasn’t what made Jude go cold. “Rick?” he said. “Who’s Rick?”

  It was a common enough name, he reasoned, and there had to be many. Josh shot him a look and crashed his theory. “Rick at the inn,” he said. “You know, Cockrell’s Country Inn?”

  “Yeah, I know,” Jude said. “I work there part-time, doing repairs. I thought you knew.”

  “Huh-uh,” the teen said. “Or if I did, I forgot. Yeah, he’ll sell it.”

  “Are you sure? 100 percent?”

  “Well, like yeah, totally.” Josh sounded offended.

  Jude stared at the river’s surface and watched the ripples as it flowed. A hundred small things flashed through his mind, little bits and pieces which had meant nothing when he noticed them. Now, they had significance. Images rolled by in memory, a woman standing in the shadows, beckoning Rick to her with a secretive air, a man with face hidden by a broad-brimmed Western hat leaving with hands wrapped tight around a brown paper bag, and two teens, expressions furtive, carrying something glass because Jude had heard it clink. He believed his nephew and the truth packed a hard punch. He’d known the Cockrells all his life and Mary had been his mother’s friend.

  “Son-of-a-bitch!” he cried. “I’m gonna nail that bastard.”

  Right under my fucking nose, he’s been handing moonshine out the door and meth too. I’ve sat at his table, eaten his food, and considered him a friend. If he had any idea why I came back home, I’d be in danger. His inner rant slammed short when he thought of the person who mattered most—Nicole. If Rick and his cohorts were to learn Jude’s purpose and goal, she would be the one in peril.

  “You believe me, right?” Josh said.

  “Hell, yeah, I do. I gotta go get my woman,” he told the kid. “I don’t want Nicole going back there. It wouldn’t be safe.”

  “It would unless they know who you really are,” Josh said.

  True, but Jude preferred not to take the chance. Concern banished his hunger. “Let’s go,” he said. At the house, he dumped the rods and tackle on the back porch. Jude dialed Nicole’s cell phone but she didn’t pick up. Cell reception could be spotty in the hills but he worried anyway. He tried Adam’s phone but got no answer. All the way out to the main highway and north to the county seat, he kept trying without success until he rolled into the hospital parking lot.

  “Hello.” Nicole’s voice poured into his ear, more welcome than springtime after a hard winter.

  Relief came so swiftly, his head whirled in a dizzy moment. “Hey, honey,” he said. Jude forced his voice to sound ordinary. “I’m in the parking lot. Are you ready to go?”

  “Sure,” she replied. “How did it go?”

  “I learned a lot.” Jude hoped she wouldn’t pick up on his concern, not yet. He hadn’t decided whether or not to tell her about Rick.

  In the background, he heard a babble of voices, mostly women. “Good. I’ll be down in a minute.”

  “No, wait. I’ll come up. I need to talk to Adam if he’s still here.”

  “I don’t think he is.”

  “I’ll find out. See you in a minute, honey.”

  Adam, who worked fifty-hour weeks as his normal schedule, had gone home to rest, so Jude retrieved Nicole from the waiting room. She flew across the room to meet him and he wrapped his arms around her, glad to see her, assured of her safety for now. “I missed you,” she whispered. “Let’s go home.”

  “How about we grab a bite to eat first?” he said.

  “Let me get my purse and jacket.”

  Jude had a few brief words with Noah, spoke to his cousin Sam, and kissed Aunt Tillie’s cheek. “Where can I get a decent steak?” he asked.

  His brother shook his head. “Good question. You might have to head up to Joplin or down into Arkansas because I don’t know of anywhere these days. Asian, Mexican, fast food, or deli sandwiches is all there is to choose. There’s a couple of sit-down restaurants but I don’t know if they offer steak or how it would be if they did.”

  Nicole linked her arm through his. “I have an idea, Jude.”

  “Tell me on the way, then. See you all later.”

  In the truck he pulled her close and kissed her hard. Her lips melted beneath his and he swore he could sense the electrical charges pulsing through her body. “Ah, God, I needed that,” he said. He sat up, turned the key, and took off down the street at a breakneck pace. “Where’s this steak place?”

  “Noah’s probably right. I haven’t heard about any steak houses or a café serving a decent cut of steak, although Rick could probably scrounge one up if you asked.”

  “Not an option,” he said. His voice came out gruff and she shot him an inquiring look.

  “Well, okay. Is everything all right?”

  Jude resisted an urge to beat the steering wheel with his fist. He had never been this transparent to anyone and it irked him more than a little. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  Her small hand rested on his thigh. “You’re so edgy. I’ve never seen you so uptight, Jude. Won’t you tell me why?”

  If he did, it would stir up trouble. “I shouldn’t.”

  “You need to share, sweetheart. Something’s upset you and you’re worried.”

  For the first time, he cracked a genuine smile. “How can you tell? Are you a mind reader?”

  “Not quite,” Nicole replied. “Your worry line is back and it’s deep. You can’t stop frowning and you’re so tense. Your shoulders are tight and you walk stiff–legged.”

  “You should be a profiler,” he told her. “All right, I confess—yeah, I’m worked up and I’ve got every reason to be.”

  “Tell me.”

  He blew air though his nose. “I can’t while I’m driving. Thinking about it makes me too damn mad and I don’t want to be distracted. I don’t want to talk about it in public, so not over our supper, but when we get home I’ll fill you in. Since steak doesn’t seem to be an option, what would you like?”

  “I don’t care but if you want steak, you should have steak.”

  A headache threatened somewhere behind his eyes. “I thought no one knew of any good places to get one.”

  “Your kitchen will do just fine if you want to stop by a supermarket,” Nicole told him. “I’d be happy to cook a couple of steaks, toss a salad together, and bake a pair of potatoes. What do you think?”

  “I like it a lot,” he said. “Thanks, babe, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll stop at the grocery store in the little town. If I ask you to do something else, will you, without a hundred questions? Just do it and I’ll explain later?”

  Nicole kept silent as they passed through a series of traffic lights on the south edge of town. Once the four-lane highway narrowed to two, she sighed. “You’re scaring me to death, Jude, but yes, I’ll do anything you ask, except leave you. That’s the one thing I won’t do.”

  “That’s one thing I won’t ask,” he said. “I need you, honey. If I take you to the inn first, will you gather up all your stuff, check out, and come home with me?”

  “Yes,” she said. “If you’ll tell me why. Because you said before it wasn’t a good idea and that it might be dangerous for me to stay with you.”

  Jude wheeled out around a slow-moving car and passed it, then swung back into his lane. “It would be more risky to stay at the inn,” he said. “I promise I’ll tell you everything I know over supper or after, but Rick’s part of the ring. He’s selling illegal moonshine and meth from the inn, honey.”

  “Rick?” she cried. “Are you sure?”

>   “Yeah, honey. I hate it as much as you do, probably more. I’ve known them forever.”

  Her head swiveled from side to side. “Of course you’re certain, you wouldn’t say so if you weren’t,” she said. “Oh, Lord. Yes, I’ll check out but what should I tell them? I don’t suppose you want him to have any idea you’re aware.”

  “No, I don’t. I thought I’d tell him I’m taking you over to stay with Elijah and Tania, to help with the kids, especially Nora. He probably won’t believe it but he might. Neither of the Cockrells will like it much, but it can’t be helped. I can’t risk having you there when the shit goes down.”

  She nodded. “All right, Jude. My mama was right.”

  “About?”

  “She always said be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. I wanted to come to your house but not like this. Rick and Mary are my friends, Jude.”

  “I know, honey,” he said. “I understand. They were mine, too.”

  He used past tense, not present. There would be no looking back from here.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Steak could wait. He needed sex and plenty of it. The moment they entered his house laden with her luggage and bags from the supermarket, he tossed the perishables into the fridge and the rest onto the floor. Before Nicole had time to blink, he kissed her with impatient desire and increasing need. Her mouth yielded to him, soft as velvet with the heat of a cayenne pepper. He tasted her lipstick and the lingering flavor of something minty on her tongue. Her light rose scent wafted upward to tantalize him. When she grasped the front of his T-shirt with both hands, his cock reacted with immediate, intense interest.

  Jude lacked patience. He wanted immediate release and sought it. He deepened his kiss, then inserted his tongue into her mouth. When she wrapped hers around it, he almost came but held back. His hands fumbled to unzip her jeans and lower them. He shoved her panties out of the way and used his fingers to massage her mound. When she whimpered, Jude lost all restraint.