Deadly as the Driven Snow

by Agnes Alexander

  Guy smiled and said, “At first, I was stunned, but then I figured J.T. wasn’t going to take any more of his crap, so I came over to help. I took the old man’s arms and held him while J.T. put the orange rope they use in construction around his pa’s neck. The old ma screamed and yelled, but he couldn’t get away from us.” Guy nodded at J.T. “Back to you, Boss.”

  “As Guy said, he cussed and fussed and fought us hard. He was a strong man, but there were two of us. I decided then and there I’d had all of his bullying and berating me I was going to take. I’ll never forget the words I said to him. ‘This is it, old man,’ I said. ‘I don’t care what you think, I’ll get June March back someday, even if it takes me a hundred years. Too bad you’ll not live to know about it, because I’ll never take another beating from you.’ Then I pushed him off the side of the building. Guy and I broke out the beer, sat there and watched him kicking and dangling until he quit twitching and started swinging gently in the wind.”

  “Yeah,” Guy interrupted. “When he didn’t kick anymore, we toasted him and finished off the six pack.”

  I was shocked, but I didn’t let them know. I just shook my head and moved to the table. “That must have been when you decided you liked to kill people.”

  “See, Guy? I told you she was smart.” He reached over and thumped Jason on the shoulder. “How could somebody with no more guts than you have end up with a babe like her?”

  I began putting silverware on the table without speaking.

  “What the hell are you doing?” J.T. grabbed my wrist.

  “I’m setting the table. What does it look like?”

  “Yeah, and you’re using sharp knives.”

  “How do you expect to cut your meat if you don’t have a sharp knife?”

  He eyed me, and I gave him my most innocent look.

  “I guess you’re right, but why did you put silverware down for Jason? How’s he going to eat with his hands tied?”

  “I figured you’d untie him to eat.”

  “He doesn’t need anything. Take his silverware back.”

  As I picked it up, I fumbled and let it drop to the floor. “Oh, how clumsy of me.” I bent down and began to pick it up.

  “Watch her, Guy. Make sure she gets the sharp knife. Be just like her to slip it to Jason.”

  I straightened. “I’m not a fool, J.T. Here’s the sharp knife.” I held it out for him to see.

  He nodded. “Maybe you’re smarter than I thought you were.” he grinned. “I’m not so sure I want to get rid of you after we have our fun. You might be nice to keep around for a while.”

  “Now, J.T. you promised me I could have a turn at her.”

  “Shut up, Guy. I can change my mind if I want to.”

  “But I was looking forward to it.”

  “So, maybe I’ll let you have Gwyn back. She’s getting to be more trouble than she’s worth.”

  “I don’t want her. I’ve had her before and she whines.”

  “She’s been good about keeping us informed of what was happening with these two, hasn’t she?” He shook his head. “Too bad I didn’t kill her husband like she wanted. She stands to get a pile of insurance with him dead.”

  “We could’ve used that.”

  “Could we ever. You get in good with her and maybe we’ll get some of it if he dies.” J.T. looked at me. “That way, I’ll keep this one all for myself, at least for a while, anyway.”

  “But I don’t want Gwyn.”

  “Cool it, Guy. Talk about whining. You do enough of that yourself. How about Sadie? How do you like the looks of her?”

  “I don’t want her, either. She’s kind of fat, and besides, she’s my cousin, and she has three kids. I don’t like kids.”

  I moved back to the stove and hoped they would keep yammering so they’d be distracted. I knew Jason was making good use of the sharp knife I slipped to him.

  It had been easier than I thought it would be. I took five knives to the table. When I had to pick up the place setting from the floor, I’d put the fifth knife into Jason’s hand.

  Our eyes met, and I knew he would let me know as soon as he’d cut the rope binding his hands. I forced myself to look away. I didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that we were trying to give messages to each other.

  “You know, June,” J.T. said. “I’m glad you didn’t burn up in the fire. At the time, I wanted you dead; but now I’ve changed my mind.”

  “What made you change your mind?”

  “When I saw you in the grocery store that day, I was afraid I would never be able to get you away from Jason. That’s when I decided to kill you both. But now, I’m beginning to believe you might be a little interested in me, after all.”

  I ignored his statement. “Did you put that note on my windshield that day?”

  “No. I had Guy do that while I was in the store talking to you. I watched to see if you read it, but you didn’t seem too interested in it. Then I saw you change your mind, and you were reading it in the car.” He laughed. “I wanted to follow you home, but Gwyn came out and I knew I had to keep stringing her along, so I went off with her for a while.”

  “You had everything planned out, didn’t you, J.T.?”

  “I sure did. It took me a while to find you two after the fire, but when old Carl Webber complained about the big white man who said he was black, I figured you were in the apartment. I kept watching until I saw Ledbetter and the black woman officer go there a couple of times.”

  “How did you get away that night?” He seemed to be in a talkative mood, so I wanted to get as much information from him as I could. Besides, it was giving Jason time to cut the rope.

  “It was easy to slip away. I had a key that would open any apartment. We slipped into one where the tenant was out of town. When the police pulled out the next day, we simply walked out. Nobody questioned my action since I own the place.”

  “I see.” I glanced at the pot of chicken. It was boiling.

  “Finding out where you went from there was a little harder, but thankfully, Gwyn was willing to follow her husband now and then. When she told me that he was picking up Jason at the edge of March’s woods, I had the answer of how to get you both. I followed Ledbetter the next time and he led me right to the rendezvous spot. Jason was sure surprised when he started to get in the patrol car and saw me. Good thing Guy whammed him on the head from behind before he could react.”

  Guy laughed. “Didn’t get a chance to say a thing. Just bam, and he was out like a light.” He laughed again. “It was sure fun getting the best of you and your loving husband. Don’t you think it was ironic that you were staying in one of J.T.’s apartments when we shot it up?”

  “It is pretty strange.” I put coffee cups on the table and hoped Jason was almost through the ropes. “How did you find me at Aunt Nadine’s?”

  “Your cousin let that out of the bag. He mentioned at work that you had given him some good advice about his personal life. Gwyn figured the only way he’d be able to talk to you was if you were at his house. Good thing, too. I planned to raid your folks’ place after we had Jason, here, captured, but I was afraid your daddy might come after me with a gun. I like killing people, but for some reason, I didn’t want to kill your old man. Don’t know why, but it might be the fact that he told my folks he’d pay the doctor bill after you about put my eye out. My old man didn’t take it, of course. He had insurance, but he often said Bradley March was one man around here with integrity.” He looked at me. “I guess I hoped you’d respect me for not hurting your daddy.”

  I wanted to tell him that nothing he ever did or didn’t do would make me respect him, but I said nothing.

  “I’m ready for something to drink. Can I have some coffee now?”

  “In a minute,” I said as I moved to the table and placed the cream and sugar near him.

  Jason mumbled, but I was able to understand him when he said, “When I get free, I’ll see the both of you bastards pay for what you’ve done.”<
br />
  “Ah, the dummy speaks.” J.T. laughed and pointed a finger at Jason. “And just when do you think you’re going to get free, lawman?”

  “Anytime now,” came the garbled answer.

  “Right. You’re really goanna want to be free when I make it with your woman on that sofa over there right before your eyes.”

  Both J.T. and Guy burst into laughter.

  Jason started to say something, but I looked at him and he stopped. His eyes told me his hands were free. “Don’t rile them, Jason,” I said calmly. “Let me serve them now. Both the chicken and the coffee are ready. I’ll bring them to the table at the same time.”

  “See, that’s the kind of woman I want, Guy.” J.T. sat back. “She knows how to wait on a man if he just gives her the right incentive.”

  The words were barely out of his mouth, then he was screaming because I’d thrown the boiling chicken in his face. At the same time, I poured the hot coffee down Guy’s back and he joined in with his own screams.

  Jason jumped to his feet and had J.T. on the floor. Through his pain, Guy tried to help his friend. He was going after Jason. I whacked him on the back of the head with the still hot pot and he crumpled to the floor. “That’s for hitting my husband on the head yesterday!” I yelled.

  J.T. bellowed for somebody to help him, but I did nothing until Jason had his hands secure. I then got a pot of cold water and poured it in his face.

  Jason tied Guy up, I then poured cold water on his back.

  I had no doubt but that both of them would suffer severe burns, but at the moment, I didn’t care. It helped save my husband’s life, and possibly my own. I knew J.T. had planned to kill Jason tonight, and I knew he wouldn’t have hesitated to do it. I realized my fate would have come later, but it would come.

  Jason held out his arms to me. I fell into them, and he kissed me as passionately as his cuts and bruises would let him. “Thank, God you’re a quick thinker, June. I thought I’d have a heart attack when they came in with you tonight.”

  “Once I saw you, I knew we’d be safe and together again.”

  “Together forever,” he whispered, and kissed me again.

  “For heaven’s sake, man. Cut out the mushy stuff and do something for my face. It’s killing me,” J.T. begged.

  “And my back hurts,” Guy said through his sobs.

  “Maybe we should try to help them,” I muttered. “Can you call the medics or something?”

  Jason found his cell phone in the pocket of his jacket which they’d thrown over the back of a chair. “After I call them I’ll let the station know where we are.” He had his arm around me as if he’d never let me go again.

  “Honey, let me go look for a first-aid kit or something.”

  “Okay, but hurry back.”

  “Don’t worry, I will. Now that I’ve found you, I never intend to get far from you again”

  “You two make me sick,” J.T. yelled. “Now, help me!”

  We paid no attention to his words. We were too thankful to be alive and together.

  • ♥ •

  “Now that we’ve done what we can for them and you’ve taken care of my wounds, why don’t we go out on the porch and wait for everyone to get here?” Jason smiled at me as I closed the first-aid kit I’d found in the bathroom.

  “Good idea. I don’t like looking at them, and I sure don’t like listening to their moans and cries.”

  “Maybe it’s because of all that gook you put on their burns.”

  “Whatever. I just want to sit where you can hold me close and kiss me all night long.”

  “J.T. should be the one holding and kissing you,” Guy yelled between his sobs.

  Jason looked down at the man on the floor and shook his head. “Where J.T. is going, he’ll never have the opportunity to hold or kiss another woman as long as he lives. Neither will you.”

  Before Guy could answer, I took Jason’s hand. “Come on, my love. We’ll leave them in their misery.”

  Jason grabbed a throw from the chair in the corner to use as cover as we went out the door. We sat on the porch in one of the rocking chairs. He had wrapped my cold, bare feet inside the blanket and pulled the excess up to our chins. Less than twenty minutes later, sirens and flashing blue lights came screaming into the yard of the cabin. An ambulance followed. We were still not through kissing.

  Epilogue

  Four months later, we had sold the lot where our house had stood and still lived with my parents, as we were building a new house on an acre of land Dad had cut off the farm for us. We thought it would be better not to rebuild beside Mrs. Goodman.

  On July the Fourth, we were gathered in Mom and Dad’s back yard for a big cook-out and celebration. We’d been hugged and kissed by family and friends and most of the people in the sheriff’s department. Our big surprise came when Charles and Natalie arrived. They came around the house pushing Allen in a wheelchair.

  I jumped up, ran to him and threw my arms around his neck. “I’m so glad to see you, Allen!”

  “Wow, Jason. I like the way your wife greets people.”

  “She can get gushy at times, but don’t get too excited about it, or you’ll never get out of that wheelchair. I have to protect what’s mine.”

  Allen laughed. “We all know that, my friend. I figure you’ll still be chasing her around the house when she’s old and gray, and you’re barely able to stand up with the aid of a cane.”

  “You got that right, buddy.” Jason shook Allen’s hand. “It’s sure good to see you coming along so well, but you’ve got to hurry up this healing process. I’m short-handed, and it doesn’t look good if the sheriff’s chief deputy doesn’t soon get over those two broken legs among all his other injuries.”

  “I’ll see how quickly I can recover.”

  Roberta came next. She was on the arm of a handsome African-American man about the same size as Jason. A banker, she said. They made a good-looking couple. Henry Thompson arrived, and I noticed Aunt Nadine smooth her hair. She’d told Jackson if he wanted to date Melba Warrick, she wouldn’t object. I knew she needed someone in her life. I was surprised when Jackson said he thought he’d give up women for a while and enroll in a four-year school. He was thinking about going to State, since he knew Toby was there.

  Of course, April and her date, the Reverend Larry Smithers, were there, as were her twins, Ryan and Rachel. Toby, who was home for the summer and working at the Bank of Edison, was happy to have only a year to go to finish his degree since his Tech school credits had transferred. August also called and said he and Teresa would bring the children a little later because he was working on some big case and couldn’t get away.

  May and her husband, Bert were there, and everyone was enthused about the coming event. May’s tummy was really protruding since it wouldn’t be long until the baby arrived. She looked content and happy. So did Bert, and I knew Mom and Dad were thrilled to have another grandchild on its way.

  Jan had a year of college behind her and was home. I got a little nervous when I saw her hovering over Allen and bringing him food and drinks.

  Jason noticed my frown and whispered, “She’s a woman now, June. Don’t interfere.”

  “But she’s so young and she’s…”

  “Honey, he’s twenty-seven. Jan’s nineteen and isn’t a little girl any longer. Don’t start trying to pick out men for your sister.”

  I knew he was right, but I guessed I’d always think of Jan as a little girl.

  When we saw Jan move away and Allen was alone, we went over and sat with him.

  “Nice party, Jason. You and June deserve it.”

  “Thanks, but it was all my in-laws’ idea. They love having the company.”

  There was a silence. Finally, he said, “I’m sorry Gwyn was part of your problems, and I was too dense to see it before it came crashing down on us.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for, Allen.”

  “June’s right. There was no way you could’ve known what was go
ing on with her.”

  “I knew Gwyn didn’t love me, but I never dreamed she was having an affair with J.T. Goodman.”

  “J.T. was a disturbed man,” I patted Allen’s arm. “He was using Gwyn for his own plans, and she fell for his lies.”

  “June’s right. He really had problems. When he finally confessed to everything, he said he killed the men he threw out of cars because he liked killing, and he thought it was one way to keep the sheriff’s department confused. He did say it helped rid the world of people like them. Seemed he picked most of them up in and around Mark’s Pool Hall where they’d wandered in from the homeless shelter, or from their spots on the streets.”

  “Are you okay with what happened to Gwyn, Allen?” I looked into his eyes.”

  “I am, June. It’s not so hard to grasp that she’d want me dead when I think back on some of the things she said to me at times. My whole marriage to her was one big mistake. I’ve filed for divorce.”

  “At least that’s a mistake you can remedy.”

  “You’re right, Jason. And I’ve often said that the next time I marry, I want a woman like June.”

  “I hate to tell you this, buddy, but there’s not another woman out there like June.”

  Allen chuckled. “Doesn’t hurt for a guy to have high hopes, does it?”

  “Maybe I’ll see if I can find you a woman that deserves you, Allen.”

  “Now, June. Don’t start that matchmaking again.” Jason put his arm around my shoulders.

  “Why not? I’m batting a thousand so far. Look over there at Charles and Natalie. It wouldn’t surprise me at any time for him to give her a ring. And then there’s Henry.”

  “Henry?” Jason and Allen said, almost together.

  “Sure—Henry. Look how he’s being so attentive to Aunt Nadine. With just the right shove, it wouldn’t surprise me if something were to happen there.”

  “June,” Jason said again.

  I laughed. “If you’ll excuse us, Allen, I’m going to take my husband for a walk and explain to him how good I’d be running a matchmaking service.”