by Dave Daren
But, before I could even cycle through all of the potential options for a course of action, I saw that Brody had already opened the passenger side door and swung one booted foot onto the asphalt.
I blinked in surprise and looked over at him with raised eyebrows.
“Well, we either sit here, or we go talk to the gardeners,” he said, as if it made perfect sense.
Much to my minor annoyance, it did make perfect sense, and I was remorseful that I hadn’t thought of it first. I simply hadn’t wanted to bother the people trying to do their jobs with our wild goose chase.
I shrugged my shoulders and twisted my key to pull it out of the ignition before I pushed open my own door.
Brody stepped the rest of the way out of the car and moved to secure his hat back onto the top of his head, He gave the brim a little flick to adjust its position and then turned to watch the nearest group of gardeners.
I stepped out of the car a moment later and smoothed out my t-shirt with the flat of my palm before I nudged the door shut with a thunk. Part of me regretted not changing clothes, but at least Brody looked the part.
A few of the gardeners had glanced over in our direction as we’d crept down the driveway, and I could feel their eyes on us as I walked around the front of my car to match pace with Brody as he headed over toward the nearest gardener. The man he’d picked out was tending to the azalea bushes in raised beds that lined the front of the mansion, and he hadn’t looked in our direction yet.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that I recognized the man in the tan coveralls, though. I watched as his gloved hands patted at the dark, peaty-looking soil around the base of the pink flowering bush, and I tried to come up with a name.
His skin glinted a warm bronzed shade under the heavy beat of the sun, and sweat beaded along the back of his neck and down toward the collar of his coveralls. A tattoo that looked like the tail of a snake poked up the back of his coveralls in unevenly raised blue-black ink. I realized that paired with his shaved head, the man reminded me of Jackson.
The scent of the azalea blossoms all but hit me in the face the nearer we moved toward the gardener. When we drew close enough that our shadows streaked across his hunched back while he knelt, he looked up and fixed us with his narrow blue eyes.
“Hello,” I greeted with a smile as I extended my hand toward his gloved one. “My name is Archer Landon, and this is Brody Lucas. Do you have a moment?”
The gardener warily looked between Brody and I before he turned his attention to my hand. He shifted back to rest on his haunches, tugged off one of his gardening gloves, and extended his bare hand forward to shake mine.
“Tim,” he said with a hesitant look still in his eyes.
When I released his hand, he pulled it back quickly and started the process of shoving it back in the glove. He looked a little skittish at our presences, I noticed, and kept cutting glances toward the driveway behind us.
It was strange, but I kept the smile on my face anyway.
“We’re looking for Sheriff Thompson,” I explained. “Is this his house?”
I tried to keep my tone as casual as possible. I didn’t know how loyal the landscaping company was to Thompson, but I didn’t want to set off any alarm bells if I could avoid it.
Tim pulled his focus from the driveway and met my eyes.
“Yeah?” he said.
I couldn’t help but wonder why he phrased it like a question. I was certain I hadn’t misheard the uptick of his voice at the end of the word, but I kept my demeanor casual and nodded.
“Do you know when he’s supposed to be home?” I tried another approach.
“Or his wife?” Brody added.
I hadn’t even thought about trying to speak to his wife, but she would be another good lead. I was glad that I’d brought Brody with me.
Tim the gardener gave a shake of his head and reached forward to brush one of the pink petals with his knuckle.
“Nah, he never says much to us when we’re out here working, and his old lady left this morning with somebody that looked like her sister or something,” Tim said.
I thought back to our conversation in the car about the cost of landscaping, and then looked around to take in the rest of the lawn now that I didn’t have to focus on my driving.
The lawn was just as immaculate up close as it had been at a distance. From the perfectly-lined flower beds and the delicately trimmed hedges, to the picturesque grove of dogwood trees that sat at the far corner of the house, it looked like a vacation brochure, down to the diagonal lined pattern of the mowed grass.
I looked back at Tim and slid my hands into my pockets to give my posture an easier, more relaxed look. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that I hadn’t changed after all. I could see Tim relax as soon as I did, and Brody took a step back so that Tim would focus on me.
“You do good work,” I commented. “What company do you work for?”
Behind me, Brody shifted from foot to foot and gave a sharp sniffle. I cast a small glance over in his direction just as he rubbed at his nose. I realized he was probably mildly allergic to the plants, a thought further supported by the sneeze he tried to bury.
But the apology I had been about to offer the older man was cut off by the burst of laughter from Tim.
“Oh, we don’t work for a company,” he said with a small shake of his shaved head. “Nah, that’s funny, but I’m glad you think we’re that good.”
He grinned and shifted in his crouched position on the ground while I tried to process what he could have possibly meant by that. I glanced at Brody, but all he offered was a shrug.
I turned back to Tim for an explanation, but the gardener grinned when he saw my expression.
“All of us are doing time,” he said in a way that didn’t actually explain much at all.
I looked back at Brody once again, who looked just as confused as I felt. I cleared my throat before I focused all of my attention onto Tim again.
“I’m sorry,” I started. “What do you mean by doing time? Is this some sort of community service for a shortened parole, or...”
My words trailed off as I freed one of my hands from my pockets and gave a small, rolling gesture to indicate he should continue.
Tim’s dark brow furrowed, and he looked up at Brody and I like he was really seeing us for the first time.
“What?” he started. “No, we’re inmates from Tarrant County Jail.”
His words all but punched me in the gut, and I nearly took a step back like I’d actually been hit, but Tim wasn’t done.
“We were told that we could come out here and do some landscaping work or whatever to knock a little time off our sentences,” he said like all of this was completely commonplace.
Based on the look he was giving me in regards to my reaction, he apparently thought it was standard practice. I didn’t even know where to begin.
Tim’s brow furrowed further as he looked between Brody and I’s matching stunned expressions.
It took me a moment to compose myself, and I feigned an unconvincing cough to give myself a second to come up with something to say.
“How long has this been going on?” I asked once I had my wits about me again.
“We’ve been doin’ it for a few months, since the sheriff mov-” Tim started to say before he cut off his words like he’d been shocked.
It was then that I heard a car door slam shut with such a violence behind the sound that I nearly flinched.
I hadn’t even heard someone coming down the driveway, but I reasoned that my horror at what Tim had informed us dulled my senses.
Brody and I both swiveled toward the sound of the slamming door while Tim quickly stood up and walked away before I could ask him to stop.
Parked in the outlet of the driveway was a much newer model squad car than the ones I’d observed in the department’s parking lot a few days before when Brody and I had spoken with Todd. It didn’t take a PhD to guess who would be driving the newest car in the
fleet.
Sure enough, Sheriff Thompson was marching toward us, his face contorted in a look of rage that chilled me to the bone.
I exchanged a quick, desperate look with Brody, but my partner looked as worried as I felt.
“Now, what the fuck do you think you’re doing here?” he drawled in that sugar sticky way I’d only heard him use when he had tried to brush off the attempt on my life.
I cleared my throat as I straightened my spine, and once again, I was glad to have brought Brody with me. I didn’t think that Thompson would try something violent, but the look on his face still sent a shiver down my spine that I couldn’t deny.
“We were just in the area and had a few questions,” I called back to him as cheerfully as I could manage.
I was certain that Thompson knew my statement was a lie, but I didn’t care much to convince him otherwise. There wasn’t anything this far out from town except the broad expanse of undeveloped land, and, apparently, Thompson’s house.
Thompson slowed to a stop only a few feet in front of Brody and I, and I could practically see the rage emanating off of him like it was a palpable thing.
The sheriff folded his thick arms over his chest, and they almost rested atop his beer gut. Still, I couldn’t deny the muscles he had, or the gun on his hip.
“And what sort of questions might those be?” he asked, but I didn’t get the feeling he was really ready to answer whatever questions I might have offered.
I painted a smile across my face as if this was the sort of thing I did every day. Despite that, I couldn’t shake the lingering sense of horror that had wormed its way into my mind with the knowledge that Thompson had literal prisoners tending to his yard, dressed up as landscapers. It felt almost akin to slavery and made my stomach roil in disgust, but I worked hard to keep those emotions tamped down while we were standing on the man’s property.
I rocked on my heels and then reached up to curve my hand along the ridge of my brow. The sun seemed especially bright suddenly, and I felt the need to shield my eyes from it as I looked at Thompson.
“I was wondering if there was some sort of registry for all of the items put up for auction earlier today,” I said.
I’d made sure to start off with the softball question Brody and I had agreed on.
A vein bulged in Thompson’s neck, however, and he squared his stocky shoulders.
“It’s on the auction website,” he answered with a sharp edge to his tone that seemed to warn me against pushing the subject.
I decided to push anyway.
“I checked the website, and almost half of the items up for auction weren’t listed,” I continued and worked to keep the casual, easy air about me. “Including that clock I won. Shame it was broken, but nothing a little glue can’t fix, right?”
I swore I saw Thompson’s eye twitch from behind his aviator sunglasses.
“Well, maybe someone didn’t update the website,” he said, and it sounded like he had to grind the words out through his teeth.
“Of course,” I conceded, but my tone made it evident I didn’t quite believe him.
I could tell that the window of opportunity we had to speak with him was rapidly closing, so I shot him another question before he could send us on our way.
“Recently, your department conducted a raid against Natalie Morgan based on the claim that her dealer ex-boyfriend lived at her apartment,” I said. “She just wants to get her things back that were taken because there was a mistake on the warrant. Turns out her boyfriend didn’t live at her apartment. It was just a mix-up with a piece of mail.”
I’d barely gotten the sentence out before Thompson’s face darkened even further, and he whipped off his sunglasses and stared at me like he could do damage with his eyes alone.
“Listen here, you upstart little shit,” he hissed out, and his cool demeanor was gone in the blink of an eye.
I knew it was childish, but I couldn’t help the small bit of glee I felt for having made him lose his composure.
He jabbed a finger at me, but made sure not to touch me. As flagrant as he was of the law, he still seemed to know how to keep clear of it.
“I don’t need you and your little attack dogs to start pokin’ your noses where they don’t belong,” he said with a growl in his voice. “You understand me? This has nothing to do with you, and you’d be smart to wise up and realize that.”
I felt Brody tense next to me, but I kept my posture relaxed. The last thing I wanted was to give Thompson the satisfaction of having rattled me.
“I just want to help my client get her things back,” I repeated with a smile that I knew didn’t reach my eyes.
I made sure my tone was cool and level despite the anger that had rose up inside me. I didn’t care for men like Thompson, the sort of men who thought they could do whatever they wanted, just because they had power and influence. Just like Knox, Thompson was a bully, and I was sick and tired of bullies in my town.
“And I want you to get the hell off my property before I call for backup,” he snapped back.
I gave a small nod toward Brody and dropped the hand from my forehead back down to my side.
“It was great talking with you, Jethro,” I said with a tilt of my head in his direction. I couldn’t help but try and get a last jab in as Brody and I started toward my car.
I didn’t look back as we walked past Thompson, but I heard his feet shifting in the grass.
“You’d be smart to do as I say, Landon,” he called to our backs as we retreated. “The last thing you’d want to do is get even further on my bad side with the primary coming up again.”
My steps nearly faltered at his words. How had I not realized that there was an upcoming election?
“This is my town, and you’d be smart to learn what that means before you get hurt,” Thompson said as a parting shot before I heard him turn again.
This time I could hear his boots against the asphalt as I assumed he walked back up toward his McMansion. His words chilled me to my core, however, and I nearly had to suppress a shudder as I pulled open the driver’s side door and sank into the safety of my car.
I waited for Brody to get into the passenger seat before I turned the vehicle on. I cast one last glance back at the inmates masquerading as landscapers before I shifted into drive and started out of the driveway.
The pit in my stomach I’d felt begin to form when we’d pulled into the driveway had quadrupled in size, and I gripped the steering wheel to keep myself composed. My fingers were wrapped so tight that the thin scar across my knuckles stood out in stark contrast as my hands practically went white from the force.
After a few seconds, I finally found the voice to break the shocked silence in the car.
“That could have gone better,” I said with a thin laugh.
I didn’t know what else to say.
Thompson not only used prisoners as his personal gardening crew, but he’d threatened us in no uncertain terms. He had dodged the question about the auctions to boot. Any sentiments that I might have had toward Thompson just being a bad sheriff but not a corrupt one had completely disappeared into the ether after that meeting.
I glanced up into the rearview mirror to see Thompson standing by his car with his arms folded as he watched us drive away, and I knew he wanted to make sure that we actually left and didn’t loop around somehow to sneak back in.
It was only then that I realized there wasn’t a vehicle for the people I’d thought were landscapers, and I was shocked I hadn’t noticed how suspicious that was from the get-go.
Brody exhaled a deep, rattled sigh and removed his hat from his head so he could run his palm down his face.
“Think it has anything to do with the election?” he asked.
He didn’t need to elaborate for me to understand his question.
Did I think that the increase in Thompson’s scummy behavior had anything to do with the election?
I wasn’t sure, but it would certainly make sense. Maybe
he needed more money for the campaign, or maybe he just knew that people wouldn’t be paying attention to how much money he had floating in and out if he was in the process of running for re-election.
None of it made enough sense for me to have some steadfast, correct answer, but I knew it would be an uphill battle to get one, especially with how openly Thompson had been willing to threaten us.
I felt a shiver roll down my spine at the memory as I pulled out onto Palmer Road again.
The car had barely made it onto the street before the heavy, wrought-iron gates started to close behind us with a sickening groan.
I glanced in the rearview mirror again at the sound but saw no one manually closing them, and I realized that they must have been motorized. I didn’t want to stay near Thompson’s house any longer than necessary, so I pressed down on the gas to get us as far away as quickly as possible.
“I don’t know if it has anything to do with the election,” I said with a sigh. “I want to guess it does, but I can’t imagine that this is the only time that Thompson flouts and disregards the law in favor of himself.”
There were simply too many thoughts that fought for dominance in my mind, and none of them were particularly pleasant. Brody must not have had any guesses, either, and so we lapsed into silence again as we put some more distance between us and Thompson.
I didn’t know what I had expected when I visited Thompson, but his threats still loomed heavy in my mind as I drove, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that things were far worse than any of us could have imagined.
Chapter 10
The next afternoon, Evelyn stood in the doorway of her office with her arms crossed over her chest and a sour look painted across her face as she squinted at Brody and I as if we’d both grown second heads.
“Inmates,” she repeated the word as if she had misheard us the first and then second time we had told her what we’d observed at Thompson’s estate.
Because of her appointment the day before that she steadfastly refused to explain to Brody or myself, she hadn’t been in the office when the two of us had returned from Thompson’s which left us trying to explain everything a day later.
