“I’ll always remember you the way that you were. I’m sorry; you don’t need me getting emotional. I love you unconditionally, Hank. I thought I was prepared for what I would see but I don’t know how you lived through that.”
“I’m not sure how or why either. I just know I’ve got the gang and we’re stockpiling all that gold, even without the gold you and Sterling are set for life, Caroline and the boys are too and any family that Jack and Ernest may have after our work is done.”
“And when the work is done, you’ll come back to me?”
“I would like to if it’s possible. I can’t promise it, but we can plan for it. So, despite all of this,” Hank says as he puts his hand over his face, “you still love me?”
“Of course I do, I’ll always be true. I’m sorry I reacted the way that I did, I didn’t mean to,” she holds her hand up to his face, she takes his shirt off and they make love on the bed, he keeps the black handkerchief on. Afterwards, she looks at all of the scars on his body; she rubs her fingers over them while he watches, her eyes well up again.
“When they patched you up, could you feel it?”
“Susie, I felt everything.”
“Once you’re done with your work, it can be like this all the time.”
“I hope that’s true, darlin’. I hope that you’re right.” It was the only time he physically went back, the risk was too great and because the location of his family was secret, they were no longer at her mother’s house; he needed to ensure that it stayed that way.
On the way back with the loot, somewhere outside of Des Moines, Hank stopped the caravan, he looked out at a frozen pond in the distance, away from the road, it was the end of January and the ice was beginning to thaw. “What are you doing? Hank, we need to get our haul back,” Jeremiah advised.
“I’m going to do what I should have done when I first found out,” Hanks says.
“Why are we stopping?” Ernest asks.
“Don’t you worry about it,” Hank tells him, he grabs Billy by his collar and drags him through the snow. “C’mere boy,” Hank says though he already has him in his grasp.
“Hank, what’s this all about?” Jack asks.
“He knows what it’s about,” Hank says as he continues dragging Billy.
“What the hell are you doin’?” Billy asks.
“You and I are fixin’ to have a talk,” Hank says, he pulls one of his pistols out. “Now you get up and walk on your own.”
“Where is we goin’?”
“Don’t you mind that, you just walk to that pond and we’ll talk.”
“If you mean to kill me then you can just do it right here.”
“Who said anything about killing you?”
“I’ve seen that look in your eye, I know that look.”
“I just want to find out what you told him, from your own mouth, now if you prefer to die in this particular spot I will oblige, but your chances of living are significantly better if you walk and you talk, now you might not have the wits to do both at the same time but let’s try it, shall we?” Hank asks, Billy begins walking towards the frozen pond.
“I didn’t tell nobody nothin’,” Billy says, his voice is higher.
“So you mean to tell me you met with the governor and you didn’t offer to turn on us?”
“He tried to get me to but I told him you couldn’t be caught or killed.”
“Boy, I can’t even see your face and I know you’re lying to me. Now walk out onto that ice, I’ll walk with you, we’ll make this fair.”
“I didn’t tell him anything.”
“You told him about the letters and you told him about my family, what little you know,” Hank says, they both are out on the ice.
“I don’t know what you heard, but I didn’t say shit.”
“Zeke works for me Billy,” Hank says, he lowers the black handkerchief over his face and raises his head so Billy can look at his face. “I took you in when you had no one, I trained you to handle a gun, I trained you to rob and you sought to betray me. Now you always thought you were quick on the draw, I’m gonna holster my gun and on three, we’ll see how quick you are.”
“No, Hank, I wasn’t, I didn’t.”
“One, now get your hand on that pistol. Two,” Hank says.
“They already know.”
“Nice try, three,” they both draw, Hanks fires two shots, one hits Billy in the hip, the other in his chest, Billy’s errant shot hits the ice at Hank’s boots. Hank walks forward and aims his gun at Billy’s head. “Now what was you goin’ to tell me? What do they know? Tell me and I’ll finish you quick, withhold and I’ll leave you out on this ice to bleed out slowly.”
“I… ain’t as dumb… as you think I am, I… intercepted… one of those letters.”
“You’re having trouble breathing, son. I wish there was something I could do for you. I hate to break it to you like this, but you’ve always been as dumb as a bag of rocks. Now you’re going to sink like one too.” Hank backs away from Billy and fires a circle around the ice that Billy is lying on until he falls in, Hank keeps his gun aimed at the hole but Billy’s head never pops up, Hank walks back off of the ice and walks back to the caravan, he holsters his weapon.
“What did you do with the body?” Jeremiah asks.
“He’s beneath the ice in that lake. If anyone finds the body, well by then it won’t matter.”
“What do you mean, Hank?”
“The game has changed. Let’s go boys!” Hank hollers out.
Once they make it back to Missouri they stash the gold but then Hank divides the money and jewelry up amongst the four of them. Hank looks at each of them; his black handkerchief is pulled up over his nose. “What were you sayin’ about the game changing?” Jeremiah asks.
“Billy got ahold of one of the letters.”
“How did that happen?” Jack asks.
“I don’t know and I don’t know what he did with it either. If he gave it to Zeke, all’s clear, but if the governor has it, then we’re on borrowed time. It seems fitting that it happened after we retrieved the last of the gold. We each have a part of the code, just make sure it’s safe and not on your person. The map is nearly finished, we’ll meet at the dead sycamore at Pillaker’s Woods, we’ll decide what to do then.” The men agree and depart; Hank visits Zeke to see what Billy did with the letter.
“If he would have given it to me I would have burned it,” Zeke says.
“I know, so what does the governor know?”
“He knows where your family is and Jeremiah’s too. The first part he got from the letter, the second Billy was able to ascertain on his own. I have delayed the governor thus far but if you don’t step forward, he will act.”
“I understand.”
“What do you plan on doin’ Hank?” Zeke asks.
“I can’t risk my family and Jeremiah can’t risk his. I’ll meet with the gang and tell them the truth.”
That night, the gang arrives on horseback at the dead sycamore at Pillaker’s Woods. “We’re each set in this life and beyond, the gold will be left for our kin. Ernest you and Jack just get as far away from here as you can, raise families of your own. Change your names, trust no one, never speak about what we did. Jeremiah and I have to decide what we’re going to do. We’re the ones they have over the fire.”
“What did he tell them?” Ernest asks.
“He gave the letter to the governor and disclosed the locations of my family and of Jeremiah’s, I underestimated the boy.”
“We can’t just walk away,” Jack says.
“This is bigger than us, it always has been. I should’ve died that night when Betty died, but I didn’t and this was why. Our descendants, if they’re wise enough to piece it together, will be the beneficiaries of the treasure of a cause lost long ago. Jeremiah and I are the ones who have responsibilities to consider, family trumps all. It was an honor to serve with you and, even it they torture me, I will reveal nothing. The worst they can do to me has
already been done; keeping my family safe is all that matters now.” Jack hugs Hank, Hank doesn’t know how to respond, he pats him on the back.
“I love you brother,” Jack says.
“You be strong now,” Hank says. Ernest shakes his hand, he looks at Hank’s black handkerchief, he looks into his eyes. Then they both say goodbye to Jeremiah. Ernest and Jack ride off into the night.
“I guess I always knew it would just be the two of us in the end,” Jeremiah admits, he tips his hat up, Hank has his hat lowered.
“In this world, they’ll take what you love and they’ll turn it on you,” Hank says. “The only thing that will save us is, they can’t make me a martyr. Now, let’s go see Caroline and your boys.”
“What are we going to tell them?” Jeremiah asks.
“We’ll think of something. Perhaps we start with the truth and see where it goes from there.”
“Are you really willing to turn yourself in?”
“If it means Suzanne and Sterling will be safe, and if they agree to my terms, then it will be worth it. I told myself I never would but our work is done and they’re all that matters to me, well, besides your family and the gang.”
“My boys won’t let you do it,” Jeremiah says.
“Sure they will, they’re all ready part of the plan.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have something to give them along with a mission of paramount importance.”
“Do you plan on telling me what this is?”
“In time, Jeremiah, you’ll know, in time.”
CHAPTER TWELVE: THE ANIMAL KING
Outside of Springfield, Marshall looks at his map, he shows it to Chester and Princeton, “this is where the head was found,” he says as he points to a green circle on the map. “Based on the chemical and clastic sediments found in the previous caves, we need to determine which cave among these four would have housed the family, then we can proceed to find the cabin. Princeton, you looked at my findings, based on size alone, I would say our best guess would be these two. Each one is small enough to fit the profile of the other caves that have been used but which one would provide a similar sediment match?”
“I have been in both but I was young, based on my youthful recollection, I would suggest this one,” Princeton says as he points to the cave.
“Then we will start there,” Marshall says, they head to that cave and find no boulder blocking it like the other ones, Chester waits outside while Preston and Marshall explore the interior. “This isn’t it,” Marshall concludes, they ascend the slope and head back to the other smaller cave and there, they find a boulder blocking it. Chester and Marshall move it out of the way; Princeton and Marshall make the descent.
“The bats are stirring,” Princeton says.
“It’s a good thing Chester stayed outside.”
“He don’t like bats?”
“He hates rodents of any kind but yes, he’s scared of bats.”
“This could be valuable information.”
“Just remember, we’re all on the same side.”
“Whatever side there is, I’ve always been on the out.”
“Stop, right there,” Marshall says, he shines his light on a patch of silt.
“Well, I’ll be, them three was here all right,” Princeton remarks. Marshall takes photos of the footprints and takes out a container of white powder, he adds water to it and shakes it up, then he pours the mixture into the footprints. “What is you doing?”
“I’m making a cast, it will be dry by the time we leave,” Marshall assures him. Just like the other caves, they find a small recess that goes down and, in that chamber; there is a sigil on the wall. Marshall takes his rock and soil sample, then he tells Princeton to back up towards the wall.
“What’d I do?” Princeton asks.
“You didn’t do anything. But these are bone fragments here,” Marshall says, he bags them with his gloved hands. “Human bone fragments, an adult and a child.”
“How can you tell just by looking at them?”
“I’ve been around more bones in my life than you’d care to know. If I couldn’t tell the difference, I wouldn’t be a good detective.”
“There was evil afoot here.”
“Indeed there was,” Marshall photographs the sigil, then he catches sight of a glint in the corner of the cave.
“What is it?” Princeton asks.
“I knew at some point they would slip up and it wouldn’t be on account of the man in brown,” Marshall says, he carefully lifts the hilt out of the mud and holds the instrument up, shining his light on it.
“Why, that’s a knife.”
“I know but it’s not just any knife. Look at the curvature. Have you seen a knife like this before?”
“No, sir, I reckon I haven’t.”
“I have, a long time ago. It’s a ceremonial knife.”
“Meaning what exactly? Is it what you use when you want to kill a man in a formal way?”
“It means it was used in a ritual, based on the hilt, it looks like it’s hand-made. Now we have a weapon and I do believe it was made by the man we seek.” Marshall picks up his casts of the boot prints they found and he and Princeton emerge from the cave, Marshall smiles at Chester.
“That’s a good sign,” Chester says.
“Yes, it is, my friend. They were here all right, and they’re getting sloppy.”
“What did you find?” Chester asks.
“Same boot prints, same sigil, same makeup as the other caves. This time there were pieces of human bone and a weapon. This may be the break we were looking for. We still need to find the cabin,” Marshall says as he pulls the map back out. “We will sweep the one-mile radius, I will head south and work my way clockwise, Chester you go north and clockwise, Princeton you come with me and work counter-clockwise, we’ll start on the outskirts and work our way in. If one of you finds it, call me, if I find it I will call you, here are the smoke flares; if you find the cabin, light it but do so at a distance from it.”
Marshall and Princeton begin their walk south while Chester heads north. “Usually in springtime, I’ve already found me a new woman, she’d be beggin’ me to marry her by May, if we still together, then I dump her in June to find a girl for summer.”
“How magnanimous of you,” Marshall says as he looks at the buds on the trees.
“I’m not sure what that means but I’ll take ‘er as a compliment. What about you, you a skirt-chaser in Kansas City?”
“No, I wouldn’t characterize myself that way, I was married once.”
“Was she pretty?”
“She was beautiful.”
“What happened?”
“She left for California shortly after I was kicked off the force.”
“Women can’t be trusted, they are like the moon, they have their phases.”
“My last partner was a woman, she could be trusted.”
“What happened to her?”
“She was killed by an enemy of mine, the same man that burned my business to the ground.”
“Did you get your revenge?”
“I killed him but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.”
“What was her name?” Princeton asks.
“Gina Allegri.”
“What was she like?”
“She was smart, she was beautiful, she was the whole package. When I retire, the plan was the agency would be passed down to her.”
“But then your enemy used what you loved against you.”
“How’d you know I loved her?”
“Again, I’m good at reading people. But an enemy using what you love against you, it’s the same thing they did to Hank.”
“Some things don’t change, I guess.”
“You’re too young to think about retirement though. You’re in your prime, just like me.”
“In my line of work, I could be killed any day. I had to have a plan in case that happened.”
“Well, detective, from one twenty-f
irst century man to another, any of us could be killed on any given day.”
“That is true, but what I leave behind will be my work and I had someone to carry it on, to fight for the cause, so to speak.”
“And what is the cause?”
“We seek out the truth wherever it may be. If people come to us for help, we help them. We find what is hidden, we return what is lost, we provide closure and justice to those who deserve it.”
“You say ‘we’ but it’s just you now.”
“Some habits, a man can’t break. In many ways, she’s still with me.”
“Did you ever tell her that you loved her?”
“I never got the chance. And even if I did, I probably wouldn’t have known how.”
“That’s a shame but at least now, you’re not completely alone. You’ve got the big guy and you’ve got me. I can’t speak for him, but I’ll be there until we see this through.”
“That means a lot, we’re here. This is where we have to part,” Marshall says, he begins his walk through the woods looking for the cabin, he scratches at his blonde beard which has just started to fill in, and looks back at Princeton walking in the opposite direction. About an hour later, Princeton calls Marshall.
“I think I found it, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
“What do you mean?”
“My skin started itching like I’d fallen into poison ivy and I felt a shudder. I don’t wanna go in there alone.”
“I thought you had balls of brass?”
“My balls is solid as ever but I ain’t enterin’ no voodoo house on my own. I ain’t afraid of no man, but this supernatural shit, I ain’t touchin’ it.”
“Light the flare, I’m coming to your location,” Marshall says, he put a tracking device on the phone he gave Princeton too, Marshall calls Chester. “Princeton found it, I’m heading towards him right now, he lit the flare, look for the smoke.”
“I will, why am I never the one that finds the cabin?”
“I’m sure you’ll get your chance,” Marshall says. “I’ll see you soon.” Marshall makes it to Princeton’s location, he looks at the cabin. “That’s his handiwork,” Marshall tells Princeton.
Detective Tumbler and the Man in Brown (Detective Tumbler Trilogy Book 2) Page 16
