“Where were you going?” he said.
“I don't know. Just south. I panicked.” She took a large breath and steadied herself on the back of a chair. “I know I don't deserve your help.”
He paced by the window before he turned to her, his voice loud. “Lee, that has nothing to do with it. When you love someone and are intimate like we have been you tell them the damn truth. You trust them to help you out of messes. That's what people do.”
“I'm sorry. I didn't want you to get hurt.”
“I did get hurt. By you, not some criminal, Lee. By you.” He looked like he wanted to go to her but instead lifted the shade an inch and peered into the yard. He said, quietly, “I begged you to tell me the truth.”
“I'm sorry,” she whispered again.
“You're asking me for help?”
She took a deep breath. “Yes. I'm asking you for help. I don't think I can do it without you.”
“Lee, you remember that song we heard the night we came back from the coast? Boulder to Birmingham?”
Lee's eyes filled with tears and she moved towards him. “Tommy, I'm-”
He held up a hand. “Don't.”
She nodded and stayed, vulnerable, in the middle of the room.
He looked at the floor, his voice tight. “What do you want me to do?”
She wiped her eyes and tried to control the shaking in her voice. “I called the Riversong gang. They'll be here in a few minutes. If you'll stay on watch, I'll take a shower before they get here.”
He turned, pulled the curtain back and peered into the yard, his back like a wall.
Thirty minutes later, Tommy, Ellen, Billy, Cindi, Mike and Annie were all gathered in Lee's living room, sitting in the vinyl chairs from the kitchen, except for Tommy who stood at the window with his back to the group, and Mike, who was propped in a corner, his face rigid from worry. Lee stood before them and told them all the details about Dan's bad business deal, the debt it caused and the subsequent threat it caused to her safety. “After I buried my husband, this house and property was all I had left. I came here to repair it and sell it to pay the debt. And then an amazing thing happened. I found all of you. You took me in, rescued me - whatever you want to call it. I know Tommy and Mike would call it divine intervention and I'm starting to believe they're right. I fell in love with this town, with our restaurant, and most of all with you - my friends. Yet always in the back of my mind I thought, when will DeAngelo's people find me? When will I have to say good-bye? So I've held myself back a little, always with the idea that I might have to leave at a moments notice.” Tommy turned from the window and looked at her, swiping his hand under his nose. “This morning when I saw the article I knew without a doubt that my worst fears had come true. I knew they would find me within a matter of hours.” Her words strangled but she continued, determined to tell them everything. “All I could think to do was run – to save myself and my baby.” She smiled, her voice shaking, as she told them about driving out of town, crashing and being rescued by Mike. “Mike convinced me that all of you are both the reason to stay and the way to freedom.” She told them of the money she and Linus found hidden in her office that night months ago. “It's drug money, tainted with the residue of destroyed lives. That I understand. But it's the only answer to my problem.”
Cindy shook her head back and forth, lips pursed. “Lee, Zac will never give you that money.” She darted a look at Mike. “No offence, Mike, but Zac and these people he's involved with – they're as dangerous as this DeAngelo character. Lee, trust me, you can't take that money.”
“No offence taken. I know you're right.” Mike came forward, hands in his pockets. “I didn't know the truth about Zac until Tommy had the guts to tell me last night. I've been kidding myself that he's alright. I know you've all seen it for yourselves and have probably asked yourself what was wrong with me, giving him the restaurant to run in the first place.” He shrugged his shoulders. “He's my kid, and I was trying to do the right thing. I'm not saying Zac deserves any of your help, but maybe I do. And maybe Lee does.”
Annie sat forward on the couch. “What can we do?”
Lee, hand on her stomach, directed her gaze at Tommy. “I thought of a way to get Zac to give us the money willingly. But it requires help from all of you and a little bluffing.” Feeling like she needed a flipchart, Lee told them her idea in detail, including what parts they would all play. Cindi stared at her, mouth open. Annie looked like she might cry. Billy's cheeks were flushed and he rocked back and forth on the edge of his chair. Ellen glanced from face to face. Tommy looked at the floor. No one spoke for what felt like minutes, and Lee, cringing inside, thought it was too much to ask, she shouldn't have burdened them. After a moment Billy stood. “Lee, we don't want this man to hurt you.”
Annie put her arms around Lee. “We would do anything for you. We love you.”
“But, this could be dangerous, and you have Alder,” said Lee.
“We'll be fine,” said Annie. “And, I for one, would love to see Zac get the help he needs, even if what he's been doing was wrong. I was given a second chance at the life I dreamt of when Lee found me and I believe everyone deserves the same. Mike and Lee, you've both given everyone in this room a gift with your vision and intelligence and we're not going to walk away when you need us. That's not what friends do.”
Cindi leapt to her feet. “Oh, hell yeah. Anyway, this is a good plan.”
“We can pull this off, no problem.” Ellen got to her feet, gun in hand. “Let's do it.”
“Oh, hell yeah,” said Cindi.
After they left, Ellen watched the driveway while Lee called Linus. He answered on the first ring. “I've been trying to get you all day,” he said. “I saw the article.”
“I have a plan. Can you get down here by tonight?”
“I'm already at the airport.”
She hung up and called Zac's cell phone. His voice was hoarse, like she'd awakened him from a hangover. “What do you want?”
“Somebody left something for you in a big envelope. Thought you might want to come by and pick it up.”
“What time?”
“2:00?”
“Fine.”
She saved the hardest call for last. She dialed Von's phone number listed on the worn business card from all the months in her wallet. She almost hung up when she heard his chilling voice, but took a deep breath instead and caressing the bump on her stomach she believed to be the baby's knee. “Von, this is Lee Tucker, I mean, Lee Johnson.”
“You have our money?”
“I do. Meet me at 11:00 p.m. at Riversong.”
“Don't mess with me this time. Understand?”
“Yes. See you at 11:00.” She hung up, sinking into the couch, arms around her stomach.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Two minutes after eleven, the restaurant was almost empty. Tommy played without his band. The servers and busboys had all left for home. The remaining dinner guests, a young couple, were finishing the last bites of their desserts. Lee exchanged glances with Tommy and watched Cindi wipe the bar with a white bar towel. She turned back to her podium and played with the star necklace at her neck. She heard feet shuffle on the sidewalk outside and looked up to see Von limping by the window. He tipped his hat when he saw her and despite the plan, she froze until she saw him reappear inside the doorway. He slipped inside and hovered beside the fichus tree, blending into the shadow except for his eyes that glittered between the leaves. The young couple stopped at Lee's podium, grabbed a business card. They said something to her that she couldn't hear for the pounding in her head and then stopped at the door when they saw Von, hesitating as if they sensed something amiss. The young man glanced at Lee with a questioning look and she mustered a reassuring smile. “Thanks for coming in. We'll see you next time.” The couple smiled, grabbed each other's hands and walked through the door.
Von turned to Lee, his mouth turned up at the corners in a smile that didn't reach his eyes. “I'm in a h
urry, so let's get this done.” She smelled cigarettes and the pungent spice of his cologne. His white coated tongue flicked over his chapped lower lip as he reached inside his jacket, the glint of his gun reflecting in the light of her podium lamp.
Legs numb and shaky, she stepped from behind the podium, placing her hand on her stomach for courage. “Can you wait for me in the bar?”
He glanced at her mid-section. She thought she detected shock and perhaps even shame cross his face but he followed her in silence past the empty tables to the bar. “Have a seat here and I'll be with you in a minute,” she said.
Annie sat at the table next to the stage taking sips of white wine, her foot twitching under the table. Ellen was at the bar with her hands around a Bud Light draft. Billy pretended to read a newspaper at the table closest to the kitchen. Von chose a barstool in the middle of the row and Lee whispered to him, “Please don't make a scene in front of my customers. Just have a drink and I'll be right back.”
He looked around the restaurant, avoiding her eyes. “Make it quick.”
She heard Cindi ask what she could get him as Lee walked to the front door and locked it. As she walked back to the bar she gave Ellen a nod. Tommy put down his guitar, jumped from the stage and in tandem they all surrounded Von, except for Billy who ran to stand at the front door. Ellen and Tommy pointed guns into his back while Cindi pulled her pistol from under the bar and pointed it at his head. He reached to his belt but Tommy poked him hard with the butt of his gun. “Don't even think about it. Give me the gun, real slow.”
Von pulled the gun out of its holder and handed it to Tommy. Von looked over at Lee. “You don't know what you're dealing with here.”
Cindi wagged her gun at him. “I don't think you know who you're dealing with.”
Linus came in from the kitchen. Von stared at him. “You.”
Linus touched his forehead with his fingers and tossed his head. “Just little ol' me, only this time we have the guns.”
Von squirmed on his stool. “I told my boss I should've hurt you worse than I did.”
Tommy went to Annie, handing her Von's gun. Then he put his face next to Von's and said through clenched teeth, “We're going to get this settled.”
“What is this, the hick brigade?” said Von, his eyes on Cindi.
Tommy yanked him off the barstool and threw him against the counter. “Listen you piece of shit, I would love to beat you beyond recognition.” The scar on his cheek twitched. His free hand tightened around Von's neck. “Do you have any idea what you've done to this woman's life?” Tommy raised his gun in the air like he was going to bring it down on the Von's head.
Annie's eyes darted from Von's face to the gun in Tommy's hand. Sweat dripped down the sides of her face and she looked at Lee and mouthed. “Do something.”
“Tommy, stop. We don't want to kill him here,” said Lee.
Linus put one hand on his heart, while waving the other in front of his face as though he might faint. “Too much blood.”
The anger seemed to run out of Tommy as he let go of Von's neck, shoving him back onto the barstool and sticking his gun into his ribs again.
Ellen poked him with her shotgun. “We're gonna shoot you and feed your body to a bear.”
Von's eyes darted to Lee. “You think this is over if you kill me? I don't work alone.”
Lee went around the bar and stood next to Cindi. Her knees knocked together as she held onto the bar, thankful she didn't have to hold a gun. “Do you have another solution besides my friends killing you and feeding you to a bear named Clive?”
“It doesn't matter. If I come back empty handed, after letting you escape, I'm finished. These people I work for, they're not part of the humanitarian movement. So I may as well let you idiots do it.” She saw the fear in his eyes.
Lee nodded to Linus and Annie. “Go get him.”
Annie and Linus walked to the kitchen. No one spoke while they waited for them to come back. Lee trembled and couldn't bring herself to look at Von, instead focusing on the popping vein in Tommy's neck. In less than a minute, Annie and Linus came through the kitchen door with Zac. His hands were tied behind his back and his mouth was gagged. His eyes darted around the room in an expression between confusion and rage. Ellen aimed her shotgun at Zac and pointed at the barstool next to Von. “Put him next to the scumbag.” Linus lifted him up to the barstool.
Zac's eyes were wild, trying to talk through the gag. Lee directed her gaze on him. “We're sorry to have to bring you into this mess but I'm afraid you're the only solution to a very serious problem. You see, I owe this man money, thanks to a debt left to me by my late husband and he's threatened to kill me if I don't give him seven-hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Do you know anyone has that kind of money?”
Linus fluttered his hands in the air. “Say, lying around?”
Zac looked at Linus and back to Lee. He shook his head no.
Tommy kept his gun's aim on Von. “See, we know different. We know there's a whole lot of money from your little business. Blood money you've made hooking innocent kids on meth. So we decided you either give us that money or we kill you and blame it on this asshole here.” He poked Von again.
Ellen rested her gun on the back of Zac's scrawny arm. “Of course, if you cooperate, we'll just forget this ever happened and keep your drug dealing ways from the police.”
Cindi shook her head. “Unless you start up again, and then we're singing like canaries.”
Linus leaned over and took off Zac's gag. “Now, why don't you tell us your decision?”
“You're all crazy.” Bits of saliva flew out of Zac's mouth.
Ellen motioned at him with the barrel of the shotgun. “You're a very rude young man.”
Tommy's face was flushed. “You know, I'd love an excuse to shoot this guy. Let's just do it and get our other friend back on the road before midnight.”
Cindi cocked her gun. “I want to do it.”
Zac spit at Cindi. “That thing isn't even loaded.”
“Should we test it?” said Cindi.
Tommy prodded Von with his gun. “Why don't you tell us what you do when people don't cooperate?’
“We get people to do what we want, let's just say that,” said Von.
“Like what, cutting off fingers, stuff like that?” said Cindi, leaning on the bar as if the idea intrigued her.
“I haven't personally done that one, but yeah, like that.” He smirked and stared at Cindi. “We don't have a handbook so to speak, we just use our instincts.”
Cindi nodded and squinted, pursing her lips in agreement. “That makes sense.”
“Annie, go get your meat cleaver.” Tommy looked over at Zac. “I've seen Annie with a knife and she's good.”
Annie ran back to the kitchen and came back with the meat cleaver, the lights from the bar glinting from its shiny surface as she raised it in the air. She said to Cindy, “This'll be fun. A little revenge for all the men who've treated us bad.”
Cindi twirled her arm in the air like she was roping a cow with a lasso and whooped. “Say it again, sister.”
Zac's eyes blazed and he lifted his chin. “You guys are so full of shit. No one's gonna cut off my fingers.”
“Who wants to hold his hand up on the bar?” Annie raised the meat cleaver in the air.
Linus smoothed his hand along the surface of the bar. “Don't do it here and ruin the wood. Let's take him to the kitchen.”
Tommy shifted his stance, keeping the gun on Von, but looking at Zac. “Listen, these guys are having fun at your expense. Truth is we're not going to hurt you. None of us have it in us. However, Lee needs this money, so we're going to give Von back his gun and let you two work it out between you.”
Von raised an eyebrow and surveyed Zac. “You gonna keep him tied up?”
Linus put his hand on his hip, with a mock innocence in his tone. “Don't you think that's best?”
Von grunted yes and nodded at Zac. �
��What's it gonna be then?”
Zac's eyes widened and for the first time he looked frightened instead of just angry. He turned toward Von and spoke like they were old friends. “Listen, you and me, we could work something out. Between us, y'know?”
Von looked at him, his face stony. “You wouldn't last a day in the company I keep.” He turned to Tommy. “Can I get my gun now?”
Tommy moved like he was going to give him the gun but before he reached him, Zac jerked in his seat. “No, no, I'll give you the money but you'll have to let me go so I can pull it together.”
Linus titled his head, tapped the back of Von's stool and pursed his lips in a smirk. “I don't mean to be bossy but I wouldn't let him go before I got the money.”
Von glared at Linus for a moment and then turned to Tommy. “You gonna give me my gun now so this idiot can get me the money?”
“We have an even better solution.” Lee reached under the counter and placed a small suitcase in front of Von. “Zac, you needn't worry about getting the money together. We took the liberty of taking care of that for you.” Lee opened the suitcase, which held stacks of money.
Zac stared at the bills. “What the hell?”
Lee pushed it closer to Von. “This is all of it, in $100 dollar bills, but we'll wait if you want to count it.”
He nodded, picked up several stacks, and flipped the bills, his eyes snapping with what appeared to be silent counting. After a few minutes, he seemed satisfied and closed the lid of the suitcase and shut the clasps. “You people are crazy in this part of the country.” He nodded towards Cindi. “Let me know if you're ever looking for work.”
“I run the bar here and someday we'll be known as the best restaurant in Oregon, so no thank you.” She fluffed her hair-sprayed coif, flushing a little as if she were flattered.
Tommy kept his gun aimed at Von. “Now that you've worked it out with Zac here, we'd like to keep your gun, make sure you leave without any trouble.”
“Consider it a gift.” He got off his barstool, gave a slight nod of his head, and limped to the front door. Billy unlocked it and Von disappeared into the darkness.
Riversong Page 27
