Walking Woman (Gratis Book 2)

by Jackson, Jay

  Curious, she crept thirty more feet, finally giving herself an unobstructed view. There, attached to the golf cart, was a baby’s car seat. Draped across it was a small blue blanket. This was the clue she was looking for.

  Child, I am coming to get you.

  She sat there for fifteen minutes, trying to determine what to do. Should she go back to her house and call the police? Her cell phone was among the items found in her carriage the day she was arrested, and was still being kept in evidence at the sheriff’s office. The nearest phone was at her house. To get there, she would have to be careful. If she was seen, something could happen—something bad—before the sheriff could arrive. She would have to move slowly, and it might take more than an hour to get home. Still, that wasn’t so long. The odds were that nothing would happen in that hour.

  But what if something awful does happen?

  Claudia was unsure of what to do. Take the hour and call, or try to get the child herself? She had no idea whether the child was even in the house, whether the homeowner had a gun, nothing.

  Okay, let’s start by going up to the window, let’s see what going on inside. Let’s get more clues before we make any decision.

  She started toward the side of the house, crouching the whole way. The wide-open yard was not her friend, so now she moved quickly. Finally at the side of the house, she knelt on the pine straw newly spread under the azaleas’ fierce blooms. It scratched at her hands as she made her way to a large window. The curtains inside weren’t completely drawn; a small opening was left between them. Claudia peeked in.

  Her heart quickened. There, in front of her, was Ted Johnson. He was wrapped in a blanket, sitting in a playpen in the middle of the room. Beside the playpen was a man in an easy chair. He appeared to be reading a newspaper, but something about him struck her as odd. At first, Claudia wasn’t sure what seemed wrong. Then it hit her.

  That man hasn’t moved at all. I can’t tell if he’s even breathing.

  She looked toward the other end of the room and noticed a woman sitting in a rocking chair. The chair, however, wasn’t rocking, and the woman also seemed frozen in time.

  Claudia moved her head away from the window. Slowly, it dawned on her what she saw, what must be happening. She didn’t know her neighbor well, but she did know his history. Her mind was made up. There would be no phone call. She had to get that child now, before it was too late.

  Standing up, she readied herself to go inside the house. She would try one of the doors, to see whether it was locked. Whatever it took, Claudia was going to get Ted.

  She walked around to the back and found a kitchen door. Its windows were uncovered, and she saw no one. This would be her entry.

  What that baby must have gone through.

  She reached for the doorknob. Grasping it, she heard the pine straw rustle behind her. Claudia started to turn, but a blinding pain erupted in the back of her head before she could do so.

  Then, everything was dark.

  48.

  Delroy awoke around eight that morning, intent on hitting the road within the hour. He wanted to be in Atlanta by lunchtime. Once there, he would go to Racey Bridges’s office, or try him at his condo. Either way, he was going to confront him—hopefully today.

  I’ll just bring the fight to his backyard. He likes to shake people up, to scare women in their own homes. I’ll just go kick around his neighborhood until I find him.

  Without acknowledging it, Delroy knew he had another reason to go to Atlanta. His last date with Amy was done before it started. He would find some reason to call her. If he was lucky, he might even see her.

  After a hot shower and shave, he came down the steps, ready to get started. Before he could go out the front door, Toots called to him from the office.

  “Delroy, I need you in here.”

  “Can’t right now, Toots. Going to Atlanta and I’ll be gone all day . . . maybe all night.”

  Toots yelled this time.“Delroy Jones, I need you in here right now! It can’t wait!”

  Delroy turned from the front door and saw Toots standing just outside his office. He took a few steps toward her.

  “Seriously, Toots, I have to go. What’s all the yelling?”

  “All the yelling? That wasn’t yelling. The bounced paycheck? Now that was yelling. That Bloody Mary you spilled all over that white fleece I bought for your waiting-room couch? That nice gift you evidently thought was a bar towel? That was yelling. This is me telling you, loudly, that you have someone in your office you really need to see.”

  Man, I got her all worked up. It’s gonna be past lunch before she settles down. Good thing I’ll be on the road.

  Delroy smiled. “I’m sorry, Toots, I’m just in a hurry. I’m not trying to be ugly to you at all. Would you please tell the person in my office that I’ll have to reschedule?”

  Toots cocked her head and answered.

  “Sure, I’ll tell him. Watch this.”

  Toots opened the door, and Delroy saw the back of a man’s head in one of his client chairs.

  “Mr. Racey Bridges, looks like you’ve come all this way for nothing. Mr. Jones has a more pressing appointment. I’d take your number, but that jackass would probably lose it.”

  Toots smiled at Delroy, then made her way to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Delroy heard her mumbling to herself, loudly, all the way. The words “idiot” and “dumbass” stood out.

  Delroy walked into his office, closed the door, and sat down at his desk. There, in front of him, was Racey Bridges.

  The two men studied each other for a moment. Racey broke the silence.

  “Delroy, how are things here in Gratis?”

  Delroy considered his answer before replying.

  “Well, let’s see. I have a client who got shot a number of times because she ran into town with a big old knife. Seems she waggled that knife at some folks with badges. Not only is she all shot up, but she’s also charged with aggravated assault on a police officer. So that’s pretty bad, but here’s what’s worse.”

  At that, Toots came into the room without knocking. In one hand was a cup of coffee. Delroy smiled at her, touched that she would come in to give him a peace offering. After last night, he needed it.

  Toots handed the coffee to Racey, saying, “Here’s your coffee, like you asked, black with one sugar. Let me know if you need more.” She then turned and left the room, loudly closing the door behind her.

  Racey smiled at Delroy. “Hell of a secretary you got there. I like her.”

  Delroy grimaced and continued. “Like I said, seems my client was scared out of her house by a couple of real charmers from Atlanta. A couple of gentlemen hired to come down here and talk her into selling her land. Seems they were hired by a real piece of work—some disbarred asshole who wants to make money off the fears of a very fragile person. Too bad that same asshole doesn’t know how deep he is into it. Hell, I got one sheriff right now who would lock him up for me, and one very pissed-off cousin who could make him go away somewhere else, and I mean for good. You know, we got a big swamp down here. Folks get lost out there all the time. They get in a boat, float away, and we never see them again.”

  Delroy heard himself talking, sounding rougher than he intended. His mind flashed to the Jerry Reed character in Gator.

  Bama McCall could be my new nickname. It has a ring to it.

  Racey kept smiling. He came knowing that he was going to catch hell. He deserved it.

  “Well, Delroy, I imagine you could do all of that. I know you got all kind of police and family types you’d like to get after me. Before you do that, though, let’s ask ourselves a few questions.”

  Delroy started to say something, but Racey continued. He thought about what he would tell Delroy the night before, staying at the Old Blue Boy Motor Lodge. With only a broken television for company, he had plenty of time to think about what he would say.

  “Question one: Why would this person come all the way down here, all the way to a place th
at might not be too friendly to him? Seems to me that maybe the answer is that this man wants to help.

  “Question two: How does this man know he’s gonna do what he wants to do, help-wise, and suffer no consequences from anybody in this little old town? I betcha he’s got an ace up his sleeve, and can get a local attorney to assist him, that’s how.

  “Question three: Why would this local attorney play dirty with this same man, this man who is totally unfettered by little worries like keeping a law license? I gotta say, I get to play a little loose and sleazy because they already took my license away. You don’t have that luxury.

  “Question four: Actually, this isn’t really a question, but more of a fact. I’m here to help Jewel Peters out with her current legal difficulties. I am going to need your help. You will make sure that, once we’ve taken care of her charges, that’ll be the end of it. You do that, and there will be no reason for me to go to the State Bar about the Bloodsaw brothers and their methods. It’s just that simple.”

  Delroy studied the man in front of him. This was the type of person he always detested. They could justify anything and believed they could leverage themselves out of any situation.

  Unfortunately, Racey had some pretty decent leverage in this case. Delroy knew it.

  “Well, seems you got yourself a pretty good scenario cooked up, Mr. Bridges. Obviously, you think you’ve got this situation figured out. First, I’m gonna ask you a question. Do you think you’re ever going to get your hands on the sisters’ property, really?”

  Racey replied, “No, I’m past that. What I think is that this is going to be an ongoing problem for your ladies, whether I’m on the case or not. You think my guys, who at worse made a little noise, were bad? Wait until my eager buyer learns they aren’t going to sell. You think the next people who come calling will stop at creating a little stir? I don’t think so, not at all.”

  Delroy considered Racey’s response, watching as he drank the coffee that should have been his.

  Oh my lord, I hate this guy.

  “Well, Racey, you might be right about that. Even if we know who that person is, we still have the deputy who got threatened and a district attorney to deal with. What are you going to do about them? Did you factor them into your scheme?”

  Racey sipped from his cup, letting out a loud “ahhh” as he swallowed the black nectar. The smile he had worn for most of the meeting faded.

  He replied, “The district attorney won’t be a problem. I’ve got that handled. The deputy—I don’t know him. Can you give me some background on him? Pretty sure we can work that out, too.”

  Delroy was intrigued about how Broyles could be handled, but didn’t ask. Every moment he spent with Racey, the closer he felt to disbarment. The less he knew of any “handling,” the better.

  “Look, whatever you got going on with Broyles is your business, but I’m not going to help you with Deputy White in any way. He’s just a young guy doing his job.”

  “I’m not going to hurt the deputy, Delroy. We both know, though, that everybody needs something. That’s all. Don’t worry about it, I’ll figure it out. Now, we do have a final question, and think on it if you need to. Here it is: Will you help me with Jewel, to make her okay, and then let everything else drop? Like I said, think on it, but don’t take too long. My time is valuable.”

  Delroy excused himself from his desk, grunting a “just a second” as he left, and went into the kitchen. There he found Toots, sitting at the little table, a new pot of coffee percolating on the counter. T-Bone sat at her feet, eating the scrambled eggs she had put in his bowl.

  At first bothered that he came in, she softened upon seeing his face. He looked worried and too tired for this early in the day.

  “Delroy, you okay?”

  He looked at her, trying to mask his feelings with a lukewarm smile.

  “Not too bad, Toots. Just trying to figure out how I’m going to dance with this devil, that’s all.”

  “I’d say carefully, Delroy, very carefully. Sit down for a minute.”

  He did so. Toots got a cup from the cupboard and filled it with fresh coffee. She place it in front of Delroy, a saucer underneath.

  Softly, she spoke. “If you’re gonna dance with the devil, just make sure you lead, that’s all, because he’ll take you into a dark corner if he gets the chance, and you never know where he’ll try to put his hands. I know you, Delroy, so I’m not too worried. You’ll do the right thing.”

  At that, she left with the rest of the pot. Devil or not, welcome or not, there was a guest in the office. Toots wasn’t going to let him complain about poor hospitality.

  Of course, she might just forget the one sugar he requested. Hospitality was important, but there was no reason to let the devil feel too much at home.

  49.

  Three hours later, Delroy was walking to Daddy Jack’s, with Racey keeping pace behind him. The two men had spent the preceding hours making phone calls and deals. The first call was to Kero. Delroy recounted his conversation with Racey, and that he thought working with him might be the best thing for Jewel. Kero was angry at first. He wanted to see Racey in jail—or worse—but he wanted to help his cousin. They ended with an agreement to meet each other at lunch, with Racey as the guest of honor.

  “Tell him that he’ll be fine if he comes here, that I won’t do a thing to him. I’m probably telling the truth about that. I just want to see him face-to-face, to let him know how I feel about things.”

  Racey made the next two calls—both out of earshot of Delroy—the first being to a friend of his in Atlanta. This friend went to law school with District Attorney Broyles at Emory. Racey told him the deal was struck, and to make the call they’d discussed the previous night. The friend owed Racey, who helped him when his own marriage went to hell two years before. His wife used a personal trainer. Racey discovered that their sessions got very personal. The pictures he took of the pair, during one very enthusiastic workout in an airport Hilton suite, guaranteed the friend a favorable divorce settlement.

  His second call was to a private investigator who specialized in research. She was an unassuming lady, graying and a little plump, but she could dig. She would quickly find out everything about Deputy White worth knowing. Racey was sure that, like everyone else, the deputy needed something. He just had to find it.

  The two walked into Daddy Jack’s. Kero was waiting, sitting in a back booth. Newt was there, too, wiping off the bar and eyeing the stranger who came in with Delroy. Carefree as he usually was, the look he gave Racey was chilling.

  Delroy and Racey sat down with Kero, and for a moment they all just stared at each other.

  Kero broke the silence. “I understand that you have been visiting some of the ladies in my family.”

  Racey interjected. “Well, technically, only one was an actual lady.”

  Kero continued, “No matter how smart your ass is, these two ladies, as I was saying, are my family. I’m not sure how things usually go for you, but you need to know that visiting women in my family in an unkind manner is just plain dumb. Some would call it suicidal.”

  While Kero was speaking, Newt walked up behind Racey. At the word “suicidal,” he put his hands on Racey’s shoulders, his fingers touching the side of his neck. His grip tightened, as if he was readying to massage one of his many dates. Racey, however, wasn’t a date, and this wouldn’t turn into a rubdown.

  “Any of y’all want something to eat? How about you, stranger, you think you could choke down some barbecue?”

  By this time, the tips of Newt’s fingers were digging into Racey’s skin. They tightened, seeking to reunite around the man’s throat.

  Kero looked up and smiled. “Well, thank you, Newt. Tell you what, how about bringing us all a sandwich and some of the potato salad Garo made up this morning? We’ll have sweet tea with that, too.”

  Newt loosened his grip. He then slowly started toward the kitchen, cracking his knuckles as he went.

  Kero turned his
gaze toward Racey and continued. “Lunch is on me.”

  His threatened strangulation behind him, Racey acted as if it never happened. He was sweating, but he wasn’t going to show his lunch companions how much.

  “Thank you, Kero. I hear you make a mean pulled-pork sandwich. Now, in case you weren’t sure, I got your message loud and clear. Here’s what I got. First, I’m sorry about the whole damn thing. It’s unfortunate.” He cleared his throat, with renewed appreciation of its fragile nature, and continued. “One thing you have to know, though. You can’t tie a thing to me, nothing. There are no investigators, at the present moment I wager, to connect me with this. There is no paper trail. That being the case, I’m still here. I want to help your family. Otherwise, I sure as hell wouldn’t put myself in a place where the world’s worse masseuse just gave me the unhappiest ending I’ve ever received.”

  Despite himself, Delroy smiled. He hated the guy, but he gave Racey credit for being calm under pressure.

  Too bad he’s such a sleazebag.

  Racey continued. “I think I can make it so everybody is happy and Jewel is okay. On top of that, I can sweeten the deal.”

  “Happy?” Kero responded. “How can we make a woman happy who’s been shot up and lies in a bed all day? What the hell you gonna do to sweeten that? Tell you what, though, we can give you that happy ending you’re looking for. It’ll be your last one, and you won’t forget it. I can promise you that.”

  Hearing the anger in his friend’s voice, Delroy spoke. “Look, the one thing we can all agree on is that we want to get Jewel out of this mess. It wouldn’t have happened without Mr. Bridges’s impetus, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean for anything bad to happen, not like this. Kero, we don’t have to like the deal, but it’s the best option for helping Jewel. Also, as for a sweetener, Mr. Bridges is going to tell us who’s so intent on getting the sisters’ land. That’s going to be a long-term help to them. If we know who wants it so bad, we can make sure that person knows we are watching them. To tell the truth, it might help me get a bigger dollar amount if they ever decide to sell.”