“She ain’t got no reason to know about that,” Walt said, leaning forward looking square at the younger man.
“I have no reason to know what?” Emmie asked but they were not listening to her.
“She already knows the truth. Except for you because I didn’t think that was important. But now,” Silas shrugged bringing his hands together, “now that I know you’re the asshole that dragged her into this, I think she needs to know.”
“Dragged her into this…” Walter laughed. “I didn’t drag her into nothing. She’s the one that found me… begged me… I have just been trying to protect her and get her a little money.”
“Protect her? You call having her make you apple pie moonshine protecting her?” Silas shouted. “She will not be a part of your bootlegging.”
Emmie opened her mouth to speak but Walt spoke up before she could get the words out.
“You think I want her in this? Hell, I came to pick up that ’shine to get it away from her. I don’t want her near it. Then when I showed up she had spent hours decorating them jars… turning them into some girly drink. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? But because I was tryin’ to take care of her… I took it anyway,” Walter defended himself.
“Silas, I told you that I did that. It’s not Walter’s fault,” she said, wanting to calm this discussion.
“Talkin’ about bad influences. You better look in the mirror, boy,” Walter said, chewing on his pipe.
“Yeah? Is that right?” Silas asked.
Throughout the whole conversation Gabe hadn’t spoke until now. “Watch it old man.”
“I ain’t gonna be watchin’ nothing. Ask her where she got the idea for that silly drink. It was from some speakeasy she went to. I’m guessing she didn’t find that all by herself. If there is somebody no good for her at this table, it ain’t me.” He leaned back and puffed on his pipe.
Silas said nothing.
“Walt. That’s not true either. I’ve not done anything I didn’t want to do. You both need to calm down. I made my own choices here in both cases. And I’m sorry to both of you.” she said, reaching a hand on each of their shoulders.
“Now, I want to know. How do you know each other?” she asked.
Silas looked at Walt waiting to see if he would speak. When he didn’t, it was Silas who told her. “Walt was there the night your stepfather was killed.”
Just like that, the wind was knocked out of her. She looked up at Walt, hurt and confused.
“You knew? You knew it wasn’t a car accident?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
He nodded, looking down at the table. His mouth set in a grim line.
Chapter Forty-six
“Did you do it Walt?” Emmie didn’t have to say what the it was. Everyone in the room knew. Gabe and Silas turned to take in her question as well. It was something they were initially curious about but Sheriff Drake had assured them Walt was not involved.
“No, child.” He looked up at her with his tired eyes. They crinkled up as he spoke, “I wouldn’t have killed Ronnie. Ya have to know that, right?”
She nodded, “But why wouldn’t you tell me. I deserved to know the truth.”
“I guess I didn’t want to see ya scared. Didn’t want to make you any sadder than you were. Plus I was afraid if you knew the truth you’d start sticking your nose in it. And when I saw them boys from out of town was involved.” He pointed at Gabe and Silas. “There was another one too, younger but looked a lot like him.” He pointed again at Silas.
“Trick?” Emmie asked.
“Yes,” Silas confirmed.
Walter sighed, “I didn’t want you to cross them. But I swear, girl, you got a talent for ropin’ ’em in. If there was a nest o’ snakes in fifty miles you’d jump right in it, wouldn’t ya?”
Emmie frowned at Walter. But she knew maybe he was right. She shook her head to clear the emotions that were weighing down her mind. Secrets lead to nothing but lies and shame. It’s all she’d seen over and over again. The moonshine, money, mama, Silas, Walter, her father… It was too much.
She felt Silas’s arm pull her in close. He leaned over and brushed a kiss on her forehead whispering, “We’re gonna fix this. We’ve almost got it.”
She nodded.
“Oh Lordy, girl. HIM?” Walter spit. “You were so disgusted by that shopkeeper and you pick him?”
Silas started to stand but Gabe put his hand out. He wouldn’t let him do something he would regret later.
“I’m going to let that go. But you need to watch it, old man,” Silas said.
“No, you need to watch it. You better take care of her or you’re gonna be answering to me through that shotgun over there, ya hear me boy?” Walter leaned across the table, his eyes never leaving Silas’s.
“’Cause don’t make no mistake, you’re not good enough for her,” Walt said to end his argument.
“I don’t disagree.” That’s when Silas realized for the first time that Walt really was trying to protect Emmie. He acted like she was his family. “But I’m going to spend from here on trying to be.”
Walt chewed his pipe. Then he nodded. “I guess that’s all a man can ask.”
Emmie was genuinely surprised at the turn of the conversation. It was weird and not at all what she had expected. But she did know she had a soft spot in her heart for each of those men. She felt in time they would grow to like each other.
“Well, what did you all drag an old man outta bed for?” Walter asked.
“Silas, I want you to talk to Walter about Sam Jones. Nobody around here knows more about moonshining or who does what than Walter,” Emmie said. “I’d like to hear what he thinks about all this.” She got up to pour some coffee while Silas and Walter talked.
He recounted the story from last week about the man coming in the pig saying he had some moonshine and knew they had lost their supply.
“We decided to let the jars come in just to see and as soon as he saw them, he knew right away they were Ronnie’s. They roughed the guy up, found out who he was working for, and it was Sam Jones. They just found Sam last night. Do you have any idea how he would have got Ronnie’s moonshine?” Silas asked.
“If you would have opened your eyes at the barn that night to anything but Bo you would have found your boy. He was sitting about three people to my right,” Walter said. “First things first, boy. That is my ’shine, not Ronnie’s. It’s the recipe that has been handed down for generations and that’s why your pig and speak costumers loved it. Ronnie might have been the smooth-talker but I was the maker. I’m the one that put those Xs on the jars. I’m guessing that’s how you identified them,” Walter said with pride.
Silas laughed and nodded. “Yeah. Well, you have any idea how he would have your moonshine?”
“No. I wouldn’t give him nothing. I don’t suspect Ronnie would have either. I think we was doing about all we could to keep your pig in business. Now, I didn’t know for sure who he was selling to. Ronnie didn’t give me no details much but I knew he wasn’t just selling to normal folks. He needed too much ’shine too fast there at the end.” Then Walter thought before he spoke again, “Like I told Emmie last night though, I do think he owed him money. I think he borrowed a little from him to keep your guy off his back for a while.”
“Walt, Sam came by here and dug around in the barn for some tools one day after Ronnie died. You think he could have been getting the ’shine?” she asked.
“I say there’s a good chance. The night before he died I’d just unloaded a lot of jars for him. He’d had us working overtime. It was so much I was afraid folks was gonna start noticing the white stains on the cave walls and trees from the smoke. That order would have been double or triple what you found in the pantry. I tried looking around for it a few months ago but never saw nothing of it,” Walter answered.
Gabe and Silas looked at each other for a moment. It was Gabe who finally spoke up. “That would have been our order. I think James had just told him
we were on the way to Chicago, so that would explain the rush. James gave him the Three M Ultimatum: money, moonshine, or murder.”
“So it sounds like Sam was trying to sell you moonshine that was already yours,” Emmie said.
“Yeah,” Silas nodded then looked at her pointedly, “and so were you.”
Emmie’s mouth dropped open. He was right. She took a long pull from her coffee. That’s when she realized how deep she had gotten herself in this mess. She couldn’t even say how it had happened.
She looked at him. “I had no idea. I am so sorry.”
“Yeah,” Silas smiled down at her. “You’re lucky I love you or you’d be in some serious shit right now.” Was he teasing? Did he just say he loved her?
“Walter, did he ever pay you your part?” Gabe asked.
“Never saw it. I was going to confront him about it that night too but never got the chance.” He shook his head.
“What would he have done with all that money?” Emmie thought aloud.
“It ain’t hard to go through money. He was paying on this house. He also loved to go to the tracks… and we all know he liked his ’shine.”
That’s when the note popped back in her mind. He’d said he’d taken some of her money to live and paid it back a little at a time. She bet some of that money went to her secret stash. She would never understand why he was keeping it from her. What could he have been waiting for? It was probably something she would never know. At least she didn’t have to feel bad about having Silas’s money. She’d already given it back to him anyway.
“Thanks for your help, Walt,” Silas said, holding out his hand to the old man. “I think I can take care of the rest if I find the money and the ’shine. I’ll try to be sure you get what was coming to ya.”
Emmie was pleasantly surprised to hear that last part.
“Yeah, well you just remember what I said, boy,” Walter said, grabbing his shotgun and pointing at Emmie. But she knew him well enough to see his eyes sparked with humor.
Gabe walked outside with Walter, asking him a technical question about his shotgun. Apparently Gabe was a gun enthusiast, who knew?
“I’m going to use your phone to call Trick and James. It’ll just be a minute.” Silas walked into the living room to make his call. Emmie could tell he really didn’t want her to hear whatever it was he had to say. And truth be told, she probably didn’t want to hear it either.
The cuckoo clock chimed, announcing it was eight-fifteen. That’s when it hit her. She had to work today. How could she forget? She ran upstairs, put on a little powder, grabbed her extra apron, and thumped down the stairs. She could hear Silas was still on the phone. If she walked, she would be late for sure. She saw Walt was just getting in his car; he could give her a ride. Flying out the door she called to Gabe, “I’ve got to go to work. Tell Silas, okay?”
Chapter Forty-seven
Emmie literally ran through the door of the shop right at eight-thirty. She had barely told Walt thank you as she flew out the door. She tied her apron around her waist and dropped her purse in the drawer behind the counter. That’s when something out of place caught her eye on the counter. A small black box barely as long as a dollar bill and a few inches thick sat on top of a large white envelope. It was sitting right in the middle of the counter. It was really odd considering how obsessive Mr. Thomas was about things being in their place.
Emmie recognized it as the box that had been delivered to Mr. Thomas. It was the one he was so enthralled with. He carried it around for days. She picked up the box and turned it over in her hand. It was heavier than it looked. She opened it up and pulled out the smallest camera she had ever seen. Expo Police Camera was written in bold silver letters.
“It’s interesting. Isn’t it Emma?” Mr. Thomas startled her.
“Yes, sorry. I just was trying to figure out where it goes,” she said, dropping the camera back in its case.
He stepped up behind her close, too close. She could feel his shirt on her back. She froze like a deer in the headlights.
His long willowy arms reached around her and pulled out the envelope. He pulled out a small desk calendar. It was the kind that looked like a book with spots for notes on each day. “Take a good look at that, Emma dear.” His voice calm and collected.
Finally, he stepped back giving her a little more space. “Turn around and face me Emma,” he said.
She turned around and leaned her back against the counter confused. She opened the calendar. The first several months were blank. Most of it made no sense, it was names, dates, and times entered/exited.
She scanned through several pages until she found names she recognized.
March 28 – Alexander DeCarmilla Entered: 8:45 p.m. Exited: 11:57 p.m.
“I think you know Ava’s father.” Mr. Thomas smiled. “But look at May 2… that’s when things will be more interesting for you.”
May 2
Patrick McDowell, Silas McDowell Entered: 7:35 p.m. Exited: 12:05 a.m.
Gabriel Del Grande, Vincent DeCarmilla Entered: 8:55 p.m. Exited: 11:43 p.m.
Emmie looked up at him, still confused. What ever this was, it wasn’t good. She didn’t want to see anymore. She handed him back the book.
“No, Emma. You really need to see October 22nd. Trust me.” He smiled.
“Yesterday?” she asked.
He turned the pages and handed the book back to her.
October 22
Silas McDowell – Entered: 6:45 p.m. Exited: 11:52 p.m.
Patrick McDowell, Gabriel Del Grande – Entered: 7:02 p.m. Exited 11:52 p.m.
Ava DeCarmilla, Emma Talbot – Entered: 8:23 p.m. Exited: 11:52 p.m.
Emmie’s hands began to shake. She looked up at him shaking her head. Why would he keep a log of when people entered and exited the blind pig? Before she could find her voice to ask he cocked his head to the side. Waving his pointer finger back and forth as he tsked. Emmie tried to step back away from him but she was already pushed against the counter.
“Emmie, I warned you about hanging around with that riffraff. And look what you have done. I had to put your sweet name in my book.” He looked mockingly sad.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Because I am one of the few honorable people in this town. I’ve joined the United States Government in their fight on the evil that is alcohol. I am here to defend the 18th amendment. A few months ago my brother and I signed on as revenuers,” he said with a proud smile.
“That’s what Will meant about the money yesterday,” she thought aloud.
“Yes, and it’ll be coming to us real soon,” he said.
That’s when it clicked to her what he planned to do with the book. “Mr. Thomas, they will never believe you if all you have is some book. You cannot do this. There are good people in here.” She touched the calendar.
“Good people.” He laughed. “You are the only good name in that book. Which is why I will make a deal with you. Although, it is beneath me to do so, I do not want to turn you in.”
She crossed her arms over her chest tucking the small book firmly under her arm as she spoke. “What kind of deal?”
“You probably haven’t noticed but I have a soft spot for you Emma.” His creepy smile gave her goose bumps. “If you agree to take me as a woman takes a man in front of God and everyone, I will erase your name from my calendar before I turn it in.”
He was seriously off his rocker.
“Mr. Thomas what on earth makes you think the U.S. Government is going to believe what you wrote in your diary?” she spit.
“Oh, I’ve got more than the book.” He moved close to her again and grabbed the envelope and the small camera. “It is amazing what you can get for under six dollars. I got the camera and these twelve film negatives,” he said, holding up a tiny row of negatives. She took the negatives and held them up to the light. Was that a picture of the pig?
“They will never be able to make these out,” she said.
�
�You’re right,” he nodded his head, “it would have been challenging. Which is why for three dollars I could also get an enlarger.” Her reached inside the envelope and pulled out a stack of postcard sized photos and handed them to her. It was a series of photos showing the same people arriving at the door she’d walked through yesterday. One was the delivery she’d witnessed yesterday afternoon. Anyone who had entered that door in daylight was captured on film. When she got to the last one her breath caught in her throat. It was one of she and Silas talking yesterday on her lunch break.
“See, I knew in time you will be proud of me. Like I said, I really am the only one doing the honorable thing here. Emma, it would kill me for you to be a part of this ugly scene that is going to unfold very soon but the choice is yours, my dear.”
Emmie slid the negatives and the calendar back in the envelope. After one last slow flip through the photos she put them in, also.
“You know I cannot marry you, Mr. Thomas. My heart is somewhere else,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest, tucking the envelope in tightly as she did so.
His face darkened. “You must be talking about Silas McDowell.” He took a step closer to her. She could feel his breath on her face. He gritted his crooked teeth. “They will use you and put you out, Emma. He can’t give you what I can.”
He grabbed her hair and pulled her face to his. His face was all mouth and teeth. Emmie picked up her heel and stomped his foot as hard as she could. She held the envelope tight and grabbed the small black box that held the camera and ran across the store. She slid on the marble tile near the door. His feet were closing in behind her. She felt him grab her shoulder and jerk her back, pushing her against a display of cans near the entry.
His breath was ragged from running after her. He pulled his hand and smacked her hard. Emmie could taste the blood from her lips.
“I’m sorry,” she lied. “I panicked when you came at me.”
His anger softened. When he reached up to touch her hair she took a step toward him. He wrapped his hands around her back. All at once she jerked her knee up as hard and fast as she could. He fell to the ground screaming and cursing.
Shine On Page 24
