She smiled and kicked the dirt. “You mean that?”
He walked to the car. “Wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t. While you may not have a dick, you most assuredly have balls. That’s ninety percent of what it takes to be a cop.”
She stood motionless, soaking in her uncle’s odd compliment, and only rushed to the car after he honked.
Chapter 20
Step and Kenny sat on the tailgate of the truck, tucked away under the shade of a towering hemlock tree. The mountains climbed skyward all around them and ugly clouds left only specks of blue overhead. The air turned crisp and chilled them both enough to put on jackets.
Kenny kept his hat on his head, but couldn’t resist the urge to fiddle with the bill. His nose was no longer swollen, but the bruising around his eyes had gotten worse. He breathed through his mouth to compensate for the narrowed passageways of his sinuses. “You think I oughta buy Boss some kind of gift or something? You know, to say I’m sorry and whatnot.”
Step watched the dirt road that descended the mountain for signs of his cousin. “What the hell you gotta be sorry about? Boss hit you.”
“But it was me that set him off. Daddy always said I had a way of running my mouth into a fist.”
Step raised an eyebrow. “Your daddy’s right about that, but you ought not worry too much about Boss. He ain’t that mad at you.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because you ain’t dead.”
“Reckon there’s something to that,” Kenny said.
Step searched all his pockets for his pack of cigarettes. When he couldn’t locate it, he hopped off the tailgate and headed for the cab. He was two steps in when Kenny said, “Your cousin’s here.” Step turned and watched the police cruiser crawl down and around the bends of the dirt road.
The vehicle pulled to a stop and parked a few feet from the truck. Terry Randle climbed out of the car and stared up at the sky. “Looks like it’s about to spit on us.”
Kenny looked up past the bent bill of his cap and said, “It does that.”
Randle sat on the hood of his cruiser with one foot propped up on the bumper. “Why am I here, boys?”
Step approached his cousin. “You got a gal on your police force. Name’s Savage.”
“Dani Savage, sheriff’s niece. She’s useless when it comes to policing. Got no business wearing a uniform. You still putting it to that stripper from The Rat’s Tail?”
Step ignored his question. “What’s she into, this lady cop?”
“Into? Like sexually? Got no idea. She ain’t giving it up far as I know—”
“Goddamn, Terry, I’m talking about her job. What’s she looking into?”
“Looking into?” Randle scratched the back of his neck. “The Baptist Flats SD don’t look into shit, Step. About the most we do is write traffic citations. Dani sticks her nose into husband and wife matters. Not me. I never thought that was the place for the law. That’s between a man and a woman and the Lord, just like Jesus said.”
“Jesus said that?” Kenny asked.
“Most likely,” Randle replied. He quickly shifted his thoughts to the cigarette filter. “She did have an interest in Porter 100s, now that I think about it. Had this butt she snatched from a double homicide in town.”
Step and Kenny shared a glance. “You ain’t looking into that?” Step asked.
Randle laughed. “Shit no. Ol’ Otis don’t like to stretch himself any more than he has to. A thing like that gets turned over to the state police quick as a phone call.”
“Then what’s the lady deputy doing with the cigarette butt?” Kenny asked.
“Hell if I know,” Terry said. “She’s always making a pest of herself. I told Otis it was a mistake when he hired her. She’s five foot nothing and weighs as much as a twelve-year-old. What the hell kind of good is that on a police force? Might as well put a badge on a kitten.”
Kenny smiled. “She sure is pretty, though.”
“You get to know her and you’ll be rid of that notion. She’s mouthy as hell.” Randle spotted Kenny’s black eyes for the first time. “Damn, son, what happened to you?”
Kenny shrugged. “I can get a bit mouthy, too.”
“So, she ain’t doing any official business on this double homicide?” Step asked.
Randle shook his head. “Nothing official. She’s just playing cop like she always does. Never amounts to nothing. Why you so interested in Dani anyway?”
“She’s popped up in our line of sight a couple of times,” Step said.
“She gave me her card,” Kenny said with a smile.
“Her card? What in the hell for?”
Step gave Kenny a cross look. “She was playing cop, like you said.”
“You think she’s got double-Ds under that uniform?” Kenny asked.
“Wouldn’t know,” Randle said. “Can’t remember a time I ain’t seen her in uniform, but I wouldn’t expect she does. She’d topple over like a stool missing a leg if she was that blessed.”
“We seen her in a dress today,” Kenny said. “Couldn’t get a good look at her tits through the binoculars, though.”
Step rolled his eyes.
Randle furrowed his brow. “What in the hell you boys up to? You spying on Dani?”
“This is business you don’t want to know about, Cousin,” Step said.
Randle cocked a half smile. “Holy shit! You boys are mixed up in that Son Crow business, ain’t you?”
Step’s face soured.
“Now don’t get all bent out of shape on me. I don’t give a shit. I’m sure you had your reasons. Never liked that Daryl Cartwright anyhow. Man was troubled. He sold dope to boys in his Bible study class.”
“Right there in the church?” Kenny asked.
“Nah, over to his house. He was probably diddling some of the boys, too, but wouldn’t none of them come forward on a thing like that. A few of the daddies beat the shit out of ol’ Daryl, though. He give up the Bible altogether after that. Still dealt in drugs. Couldn’t break him of that enterprise…” Randle shook his head and laughed. “It just come to me, Step. You smoke Porter 100s. I’m the one that turned you onto them.”
Step balled his hands into fists. “Won’t do you any good to remember too much more, Terry.”
Randle sensed the anger in Step’s otherwise calm tone. “I told you I don’t give a shit, Cousin. Blood comes before law work. I was raised by your momma’s sister, she brought me up right.” He leaned back and stretched out his legs. “Now, if you want to employ me, I’d be happy to keep a close eye out for you. Let you know what kind of mess Dani’s getting into. Hell, won’t cost you hardly nothing.”
Step studied his cousin. “That’d be acceptable.”
“Put in a good word for me,” Kenny said.
“What kind of word?” Randle asked.
“Talk me up. Give her the idea that I’m some kind of a catch. Don’t come on too strong. I don’t want her to think I put you up to it.”
Randle slid off the hood of the car. “That’ll be easy because I ain’t gonna say nothing to her about you.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’d be a waste of time for one, and for another, if it’s ever found out you two took out Cartwright and that other fella, how would it look if I was trying to make a love connection between you and my fellow deputy?”
“One ain’t got nothing to do with the other,” Kenny said. “And why exactly would it be a waste of time?”
Randle moved to the driver-side door of his cruiser. “No offense, but you’ve got all the appeal of ear wax. Even if Dani was looking for a man, you wouldn’t be him.”
Kenny sat dumbfounded before saying, “Now, why would I be offended by something like that?”
Randle buckled himself in and cranked the engine of the car. “I’ll bill you for whatever I uncover, Cousin.” With that he drove away.
Kenny worked his way off the tailgate and said, “You think he’s gonna put in a good word
for me, Step?”
Step shook his head. “Get in the truck. I got someone else I want to visit.”
Chapter 21
Dani changed into her uniform the second she entered her motel room. As soon as she strapped her revolver around her hip, she breathed a little easier. She wasn’t a fan of guns as a rule, but she was a fan of order. In the mountains of her Tennessee, they still practiced clan warfare. Families feuded with other families, brothers killed each other over cross words, daddies beat their daughters near to death for even talking to the wrong kind of boy. Drugs and moonshine were the economic foundation from peak to valley to peak to valley and so forth and so on. Order had a price in the mountains, and that price was usually a dead cracker or two. While she had never had to gun down anyone personally, she knew it was a distinct possibility someday. She’d drawn her weapon plenty of times, but the notion that she’d pull the trigger never crossed her mind. She told herself she was ready should the occasion call for it, but she didn’t tell herself with much conviction.
Dani exited the motel room and made her way down the stairs to the parking lot without giving rise to a thought that didn’t have to do with Laura Farrow and the other mothers. Mrs. Hart bothered Dani the most. The fifty-eight-year-old woman’s daughter had been missing for fifteen years, and according to her there hadn’t been anything beyond a one-page police report filed. There was no investigation to speak of, and just like with Laura, the police resorted to threatening her when she asked too many questions.
The deputy was so deep in thought she didn’t have a clue how she ended up sitting at the counter of Rafe’s Diner on Main Street. She was even puzzled when Ruby, Rafe’s wife and only employee, set a burger and fries in front of her. Dani had ordered it, but she had no memory of it.
“Damn, Dani,” Ruby said, “you high?” The waitress leaned her stout frame back against the sink. Wrinkles gobbled up the freckles around her eyes, and awkwardly applied makeup gave her the appearance of a poorly paid hooker.
“I wish,” Dani said, biting into her burger. “Just confused.”
“Who ain’t?” Ruby picked up the dishrag hanging over the edge of the sink and absentmindedly twirled it around. As Dani was her only customer in the past two hours, she was glad to have the company. “What’s got you all discombobulated on this day?”
Dani shrugged. “I suppose I’m mostly baffled by the shitty way of things.”
Ruby snickered. “Give it a few years and it won’t baffle you no more. It won’t piss you off, either. Hell, you won’t even take notice of it when you’re my age.”
“Well that’s depressing.”
“It is, but as I no longer give a shit, I’m able to make it through the day without killing Rafe and myself in a merciful murder-suicide.”
Dani held a French fry in her hand. “Are you suggesting that the secret to life is to outlast giving a shit?”
Ruby smiled. “It ain’t exactly a secret.”
Rafe stuck his blotchy fat face through the serving window. “Don’t you pay no attention to Ruby, little deputy. You won’t come across a more sour individual on this planet.”
Ruby shook her head. “Exhibit A: I married a handsome man that ate himself into ugly. Things just turn to shit naturally.”
“And I married a God-fearing woman that quickly forgot the tail ain’t supposed to wag the dog.”
“ ’Bout the only thing you just said that made sense is that you’re a goddamned dog,” Ruby said.
Dani dropped the fry back on her plate. “You two ain’t fooling me. You know you love the hell out of each other.”
The combative couple laughed in unison. “ ’Course we do,” Rafe said.
“Who else would?” Ruby asked. “That’s the other secret to life. Finding someone you can tolerate the bullshit with.”
“Finally, my wife has said something worth repeating. You need you a good man, Dani Savage. Hell, if a woman’s more your style, then get you one of those. I’ll even split my time with ol’ Ruby if she does it for you.”
“Ol’ Ruby?” his wife protested.
Dani chuckled. “I appreciate the offer, Mr. Rafe, but things are complicated enough at the moment. A relationship is the last thing I need.”
Ruby held up her hand and yelled out, “Ding! Ding!”
“What?” Dani said.
“You hear that, Rafe?”
“I sure did.”
“What?” Dani repeated.
Ruby stepped to the counter with a smirk on her face. “Honey, everyone knows that once you declare you ain’t got time for a relationship, a relationship is just what’s coming your way. My advice to you is to put your sexy panties on now because a man is in your immediate future.”
“Or woman,” Rafe said.
Dani stood and placed two fives on the counter. “You two have your fun. It’s time I go deal with the shitty world.” She stopped short of walking through the door. Turning to them, she asked, “Either of you know anyone with missing children?”
Rafe stiffened and cleared his throat. “Missing children?”
“Specifically a daughter,” Dani said.
Ruby stepped back to the sink and turned to it. “Why would you ask such a thing?”
Dani sensed their unease. “I was just cleaning out some old bulletins in the office. We get a handful from the state and feds every week. Just seems like there’s been a high number of missing girls in the surrounding counties over the years.” It was a lie, but Rafe and Ruby had no way of knowing that.
“Sounds like that’s business better off left to others,” Rafe said.
Dani stood in silence for a beat or two as she saw Ruby make an effort not to look at her. The waitress turned the faucet on and cleaned some already clean dishes. Dani managed a smile and said, “Suppose you’re right.”
With that, she exited the diner deeper in thought of the shitty way of things than when she’d arrived.
Chapter 22
Step sat in a plastic lawn chair in the corner of Billy Campbell’s dark bedroom digging dirt out from under his fingernails with a pocketknife. The closeout king’s eyes had adjusted to the dim light, and he was disgusted by the filth that surrounded him. He was by no means a tidy person, but Billy seemed to take sloppy to a whole new level. The room reeked of sweat and various other odors created by the human body, not to mention the smell of animal blood that soaked into Billy’s clothes as he butchered deer, rabbit, squirrel, etc. day in and day out. Step imagined that hell itself didn’t smell nearly as bad as Billy Campbell’s bedroom.
The light came on and Billy was standing next to his bed before he caught his first glimpse of Step. He barked out a scream and backed toward the door only to be greeted by Kenny, who’d been hiding at the other end of the hallway.
“Howdy, Billy,” Kenny said, grabbing the terrified butcher by the chin. “Lordy, that spot on your forehead don’t look good. You put something on that?”
“What do you want?” Billy asked, rubbing the skinless patch on his forehead. “I settled things with Boss.”
Step didn’t look up from his hands. “Sit, Billy.”
“Didn’t Boss tell you? Me and him is square on my debt.”
“Sit,” Step said, examining the fingernails on his left hand.
Kenny nudged Billy toward the bed.
Billy’s entire body shook as he took a seat next to a pile of dirty clothes.
“First off,” Step said, “you gotta clean this goddamn place up, boy. I ain’t never smelled something so bad. Kenny could take a shit in here and make it smell better.”
Kenny patted Billy on the shoulder. “Step ain’t wrong about that. It’s intolerably messy in here. A thing like that can give you a bad outlook on life. You clean up and you just might feel better about yourself.”
Billy nodded.
“Second thing is,” Step said, putting his knife into his pocket, “I wanna know how you settled up with Boss so quick.”
Billy shrugged. “I come
into some cash soon after you two near skinned me alive.”
“Lottery?” Kenny asked.
“Something like that,” Billy said.
Step leaned back and eyed the butcher. “I need specifics, Billy. How did you pay Boss back as quick as you did? You was down to making an unsettling proposition with me and Kenny yesterday. Now you’re flush with enough cash to wipe out your debt. How can that be?”
Billy couldn’t bring himself to look at Step. “Boss know you’re here?”
Kenny sat next to him and patted his leg. “You ought not concern yourself with such matters, Billy. That’s between us and Boss.”
“I ain’t in the position to say—”
Step lurched forward. “That’s an unfortunate position for you to be in, my friend, because me and Kenny are in the position to find out how this debt got paid one way or another.”
Kenny put his arm around the butcher. “Billy, this is about to take a bad turn for you, and I’ll be honest, I ain’t happy about that. I like you. I do. I swear. You always got a funny story to tell, and you’re the finest meat cutter I know.” Billy smiled awkwardly. “But,” Kenny continued, “Step’s come into an idea that you followed up your time with us with a phone call to Boss, and in that phone call you made him that same…wha’cha call it, Step?”
“Unsettling.”
“Yeah, that’s it. Unsettling proposition. You know what that means, don’t you? It means disturbing. Now, I’m of the mind that you wouldn’t do such a thing. I am. I believe in you, Billy. A fella that tells funny stories like you just wouldn’t do such a thing.” Kenny gently grabbed Billy by his chin and turned his head to Step. “Tell my partner you wouldn’t do such a thing. Tell him that daughter of yours is over at her momma’s trailer playing with dolls or some other such thing.”
Billy choked back a tear. “I didn’t have a choice.”
Step felt his blood boil. “Talk faster, boy.”
Savage Reckoning Page 9
