Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

by Jackie Lynn

  “Right,” Rose said.

  “That means you’re saying that if you can find this guy again … wait, did Chariot know his name?” Thomas asked. “Snake,” Rose replied.

  “Of course,” Ms. Lou Ellen responded. “What else would the name of a pillaging stranger be?”

  Rose smiled.

  “That means,” Thomas continued, “that if we can find Snake, he could corroborate Chariot’s story about Jason and perhaps clear her of these murder charges.”

  “That’s what we were thinking,” Rose replied.

  “Any idea of what the stolen property is?” Thomas asked.

  Rose shook her head. “That is the part we can’t figure out.”

  The three of them thought about what the man could have been searching for in Chariot’s tent.

  “So, tell me what you found?” she asked.

  “Well, I did read some things about the drug scene in Pierre, South Dakota. Apparently, they have as much of a problem with substance abuse in the Great Plains states as we do down here.” Thomas was looking through his papers.

  “I made copies of some of the articles. Most of them just talk about meth labs, how the drugs are made, how rampant the issue is in South Dakota. There’s one senator from Mitchell who’s really hot on this subject. It’s her main political issue. Her name is Dilliard, Maxine Dilliard. There were a few people mentioned in arrests that have been made.” He pulled out one page.

  “Anyone named the president?” Rose asked, still trying to understand this reference that Chariot said Jason made before he died.

  Thomas shook his head. “Nobody by that title in the articles. There are a few quotes referring to a drug king in Pierre. Do you think that could be the president?” he asked.

  Rose thought about that possibility. “I don’t know. The president, the king, I guess they could be the same person.”

  “Does it say who this person is?” Rose asked.

  Thomas read the article he had copied. He shook his head. “Doesn’t look like they have a name, just that title, the king.”

  Rose leaned forward. “Well, maybe Lucas can get a name. He apparently has some connection in South Dakota who knows who the drug dealers are. Somebody knew about this robbery,” she added.

  “What about you, Ms. Lou Ellen? Did you uncover any information about robberies in Pierre?” she asked.

  The older woman shook her head. She was closing up a file and opening another one. “It appears thieving and robbing are not very popular in the capital city of South Dakota,” she replied. “Other than a few television sets stolen from a pawn shop, a report of some money taken from a fast-food restaurant, and a robbery at some storage buildings near the interstate, there were no break-ins reported in the last couple of months in the entire city of Pierre.”

  “Was anyone arrested for these crimes?” Rose asked.

  Ms. Lou Ellen appeared to be reading the articles on her computer screen. She had saved all of the information she had found.

  “The fast-food robbery was apparently an inside job. The pawn shop hit was pinned on some poor Lakota Indian trying to get his dead brother’s property and—” She stopped. She was scrolling down and reading what she had saved from her research. “The storage facility break-in is apparently a mystery.”

  Rose thought that was interesting. “What does it say about it?” she asked.

  “Just that a break-in occurred sometime last month, but that the people renting units had not reported any items stolen from their spaces.”

  “That’s odd,” Thomas noted. “How did they know there was a break-in?” he asked.

  “It looks like a witness reported seeing a man scaling the fence and two more coming in the gate after it was opened. He called the police, but when they arrived the men were gone and no one has come forward to report anything missing.”

  “Three men,” Rose commented.

  Thomas nodded. “You think it could be the robbery that Jason was involved in?” he asked.

  Rose shrugged. Since hearing Chariot’s story, she had assumed the theft was related to an individual, not to a facility that involved the property of more than one person. She thought about what a thief might find in the rental spaces. “I never thought anybody kept anything valuable in storage buildings,” she said. “I thought it was just holiday decorations, old sentimental stuff, outdoor equipment, stuff like that.”

  “Maybe the three guys knew about one unit that had some valuable stuff in it,” Thomas guessed.

  “Makes sense, I guess.” Rose thought he was right.

  “Is that all that’s reported in the article?” Thomas asked the older woman still studying the computer screen.

  “There’s a name,” she said, surprising the other two in the office.

  “What name?” Rose asked.

  “The name of the owner of the storage facility,” she replied.

  “Well?” Thomas asked.

  “Robert Lincoln,” she said.

  “Lincoln,” Rose repeated.

  “Yes, dear,” Ms. Lou Ellen responded.

  “Just like the president,” Thomas noted.

  The three of them were quiet for a minute considering this newfound information. They wondered if it was possible that the drug king, the one that Jason referred to as the president, could be the owner of the storage facility.

  “So, if Mr. Lincoln, also known as the president, owned this storage facility—” Thomas began the possible explanation.

  “And the thieves knew that he used one of the units himself—” Rose continued.

  “And they just broke into that one facility and got his stuff, stuff that he wouldn’t report to the police—” said Thomas, concluding the theory.

  “Then this could be the robbery that got Jason and Chariot into their trouble.” Ms. Lou Ellen added the finishing touch.

  The three of them made a collective sigh. They thought they had solved the mystery. Ms. Lou Ellen started typing on the computer. She was researching something else.

  “So, if we can find Snake again and get him to confess to this, corroborate Chariot’s story, then we can find Mr. Lincoln and have Jason’s murder cleared up, Chariot released from jail, and help make a huge drug bust for the city of Pierre.” Rose seemed quite pleased with herself.

  “I’m not sure it’s going to be that easy to find a guy who apparently is hiding from murderers,” Thomas noted.

  “And is a thief,” Ms. Lou Ellen added.

  “And get him to confess to anything,” Thomas surmised.

  “Yeah, I get your point,” Rose said.

  “Is the only name we have for this guy, Snake?” Thomas wanted to know.

  “No,” Rose replied. “I had a reservation for him. His name was James Booker and he was in a—”

  Suddenly, Ms. Lou Ellen interrupted her. “A tan pickup truck with South Dakota plates.”

  “How did you know that?” Rose asked.

  Ms. Lou Ellen turned around to face her friends. “It was involved in a one-car accident on Interstate 40 early this morning,” she reported. “It’s listed on the city news section on the home page of my Internet browser,” she added.

  Rose and Thomas moved over to where she was sitting to see the headline on the computer screen.

  “Looks like your Snake is dead.” Ms. Lou Ellen shook her head and leaned back so the other two could read the report for themselves.

  NINETEEN

  The three friends looked up when the office door opened. It was Rhonda and Lucas.

  “What?” Rhonda asked, noticing right away the strange looks on the faces of her friends.

  “The guy last night,” Rose replied.

  “The South Dakota one?” Rhonda asked.

  “Snake,” Ms. Lou Ellen added.

  Lucas shut the door and the two of them stood next to Thomas. “Why would you call me that, sister?” he asked. The name seemed to hurt him.

  “Not you, Lucas,” the older woman noted, shaking her head. “That was th
e young man’s name who was rousing up the tent area.”

  “Oh,” Lucas said. He nodded and the features on his face softened. He walked over and squeezed Ms. Lou Ellen on the shoulders.

  “What about him?” Rhonda asked. “Although I must say, the name suits him. He seemed kind of wormy.”

  “There’s a news report that says there was an accident this morning on the interstate. It sounds like it was his vehicle.”

  “What kind of accident?” Rhonda asked.

  “Fatal,” Thomas responded.

  “Well, my goodness,” Lucas commented and began reading the report. Then he bowed his head.

  Rhonda joined him and read what was on the computer screen. Everyone waited to comment until Lucas lifted his face.

  “Does it say what happened?” Lucas asked.

  “Just that there was a crash. Looks like it was out of town on the interstate near the Barbecue Shack.” Rhonda was shaking her head.

  “Chariot knew him,” Rose volunteered. “He was one of the guys she thinks was with Jason.”

  “The one who was missing?” Lucas asked, recalling what he had learned about the group from Pierre.

  Rose nodded.

  “So, what did your friend say about this group of guys?” Rose asked. “Chariot said they wore jackets with a white lightning bolt.”

  Lucas shook his head. “I don’t know about that,” he replied. “I do know that Ray, my friend who tends bar out in Rapid, said that there was talk that three guys had robbed a big dealer and that the dealer was looking for revenge.”

  Rhonda moved over to the seat across from her mother. Rose stood behind her.

  “Did they give you a name?” Thomas asked.

  Lucas thought for a minute before answering. “Lincoln, I think,” he replied.

  Ms. Lou Ellen clapped her hands together. “So it is the president!”

  “What?” Rhonda asked.

  “There was an incident report in a Pierre paper that said a storage facility was robbed. The storage facility was owned by a man named Lincoln. The odd thing is that there was nothing reported to be missing,” Thomas said.

  “It should have probably read that nothing was reported to the police as missing,” Lucas commented. “Drug dealers don’t like telling anything to the authorities.”

  “So, this Snake guy was following Chariot trying to find whatever it is that Jason took from Lincoln?” Rhonda asked.

  Rose nodded. “Looks like that’s what happened.”

  “And now the third thief is dead!” Ms. Lou Ellen summed up what the group had figured out.

  “Maybe one of us should go check out this so-called accident,” Thomas noted. “Make sure it was our guy.”

  “Make sure it was an accident,” Rhonda added.

  The others nodded.

  “I can go visit Jimmy, find out about exactly what the scene looked like. I know that he pulled a shift last night.”

  “That’d be great,” Rose responded. She knew that Thomas’s cousin worked as a fireman for the city. If he had been on duty during the time of the accident he would certainly know the details.

  “All right, I’ll go check that out.”

  Thomas reached over and took Rose by the hand. She leaned over and the two of them kissed.

  Ms. Lou Ellen glanced in their direction and smiled. She started humming lightly. At first, Rose didn’t recognize it, but then it became quite clear that the older woman was humming the tune of a lullaby. Rose blew out an exasperated breath and walked with Thomas to the door.

  “Mother, what is that you’re humming?” Rhonda asked. She hadn’t heard the astrological reading that Ms. Lou Ellen had done, the one she shared with Rose that a baby was on its way into their lives.

  “Just a little song about love, dear,” she replied.

  Rose opened the door and said good-bye to Thomas. Neither of them commented about the song.

  “I told you Chariot isn’t pregnant,” Rhonda said to her mother. She figured that was the reason for the particular tune her mother had chosen.

  “I know, dear,” she responded to Rhonda. “But Chariot isn’t the only woman capable of bearing children at Shady Grove.” She glanced over at Rose as she walked around the counter.

  Rhonda rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  “Mock me, if you like,” Ms. Lou Ellen said to her daughter. “But my reading is clear. A new life is springing forth in our company,” she added.

  “Okay,” Rhonda said. “New life is springing.”

  Lucas smiled. He loved the banter between his wife and her mother. He took the other seat at the table.

  Rhonda turned to Rose. “Do you think Chariot can have visitors?” she asked. She was considering going by to visit the young woman sometime before lunch.

  Rose shrugged. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I don’t know what their policy is at the jail,” she noted. “But if you go, I have something for you to take to her.”

  “Well, maybe I’ll just call out there and see.” Rhonda got up from her seat and moved over to the desk where Rose was standing. “Do you have the number?” she asked.

  Rose nodded and pulled out the piece of paper she had used to write down the number earlier that morning. Rhonda picked up the phone and dialed. When Rhonda sat down at the desk, Rose went over and started making the coffee. She glanced at the clock and noticed that she had been at work almost two hours and had not gotten the morning brew going.

  “Mary would have my head,” she commented softly to Lucas and Ms. Lou Ellen as Rhonda began her conversation. “Here it is almost nine in the morning and I don’t have any coffee ready!” She rinsed the pot and began to rub it dry. “And I also haven’t entered in the receipts from yesterday or gone over the reservation log.” She shook her head.

  “What do you mean she’s gone?”

  Rose was at the sink and she turned around to face Rhonda. She was surprised to hear her friend ask that question.

  “Who authorized that?” she asked. She knew from her conversation with Rose from the night before that the sheriff had promised that there would be no extradition until he had confirmed that it was all legal and safe.

  There was a long pause.

  They all waited until Rhonda hung up the phone. She had a disappointed look on her face as she turned to look at the others in the office.

  “Chariot was taken from her cell and extradited twenty minutes ago,” she reported.

  As soon as she heard those words, the glass coffeepot slipped out of Rose’s hands and crashed to the floor.

  TWENTY

  He didn’t know anything about it!” Rose announced, after calling Sheriff Montgomery on his cell phone. “He was still at home,” she added. “He said that he had found out some important information about the murders and about drug trafficking in South Dakota. He was definitely not expecting Chariot to be moved.”

  “So, how did this happen?” Rhonda wanted to know. She and Lucas were cleaning up the broken pieces of glass that were spilled across the office floor.

  Rose shook her head. She knew that Chariot was probably in danger and that the police officer who had arrived with the extradition papers was more than likely the one Chariot had seen when Jason was killed.

  “He’s sending out his units to try and find the officer and the car with Chariot in it.” Rose was sitting at the desk, leaning against her elbows.

  Lucas finished sweeping and put the broom back in the small office closet. “Well, little sister, Rhonda and I can certainly help look,” he said. “We know some back roads and a few side streets that a lot of lawmen don’t know about,” he added.

  “He’s right,” Rhonda agreed. “We can take our bikes and help them search. We’ll go pick up the bikes and call the sheriff on our cell phone. We’ll make sure we’re not backtracking where he’s looking.” She turned to her husband. “We can even call for our backups,” she noted, referring to their biker friends in town.

  He winked. “Good idea.”
r />   The two of them headed for the door.

  “What are you going to do?” Rhonda asked Rose.

  Rose shook her head. “I’m not sure,” she replied. “I think somebody needs to stay at Chariot’s tent since somebody may still be looking for whatever it is that the president has been killing people for.” She thought for a minute. “And then, somebody should probably stay in the office to take phone calls from everybody.”

  “Well, my dear, I am happy to make my way to young Chariot’s tent,” Ms. Lou Ellen responded. She was getting up from her seat. “Lester Earl and I can take our places as guards. Maybe even Mr. Willie would join us with his very capable weapon.”

  Rose smiled. “I think that’s a perfect idea.”

  “Okay,” Rhonda said as she and Lucas headed out. “You have my cell phone number. Call me if you hear anything. We’ll be out looking for a South Dakota patrol car somewhere in this vicinity.” She turned to her mother. “And you, be careful,” she said sternly. “I don’t want another hospital trip with you.”

  Ms. Lou Ellen gave a compliant smile to her daughter. She knew that Rhonda was referring to the broken hip she had suffered almost two years earlier. She was finally completely healed from that fall, and like her daughter, she didn’t want to reinjure herself, either. “I do promise not to try and manhandle anyone.”

  “Good!” Rhonda said. And then she turned and left the office. She followed Lucas out to their trailer to get their bikes.

  Ms. Lou Ellen stood up. She turned off her computer and unplugged it. She removed the small card from her laptop and slipped it back on the table where Rose had left it.

  “Here’s your card, dear,” Ms. Lou Ellen said.

  “What?” Rose asked. She had forgotten that she had left it there. “Oh”—then she remembered and took it from her friend—“thanks.”

  Rose walked back over to the desk and had a passing thought to ask Ms. Lou Ellen to download the card when the phone began to ring.

  It was Thomas calling.

  “I found Jimmy,” he reported to Rose. “He was at the fire station and he was on duty this morning when they got the call about the wreck.”