“John was a stupid fool. He broke the propane connections in Sales’s RV after I’d searched the place and left. No good reason but spite. He gave those wood animals he told me had coke in them to McCrite, and said they belonged to Sales. What did he think that would accomplish? You know what happened. It got the attention of the sheriff, and the drug army was brought in. So, why did John act like such a fool in the first place? Jealousy. He was jealous of Milton Sales’s craft fair business. Milton always did beat John in dollar amount.”
The woman’s arm tightened painfully around Carrie’s chest, and she murmured an involuntary “Oooo.”
“Shut up. You may become more trouble than you’re worth, even as a hostage.”
The voice in the woods continued. “John was jealous of Milton Sales? Oh, I think it was much more than that, Lizzie. You know what I do think? I think John was tired of the drug business. By the way, it won’t take them long to break into your customer lists. A lot of people are going to be angry at you.”
“Those lists are coded.”
“No matter. The sheriff’s department has really, really good computer whizzes. Oh my, didn’t you know that, baby sister?”
More awful language. Between swearing, Liz made enough sense for Carrie to figure out that she had evidently thought her location here was invincible. While the two women talked, she glanced back at her cousin, who was now inching slowly toward the house. Liz still wasn’t noticing. She was turned half-way toward her sister, and wrapped up in conversation about events across the road.
“Where are Chet, Bobby, and Johnson? Did they get away?”
“No. They’re probably hogtied, wrist and ankle, and lying on the men’s room floor. My bet is that, once they get Bobby alone, he’ll make a deal and tell all he knows.”
“That son of a. . . . . Well, at least I can get away.”
“How, Lizzie?”
“In your car. Did you park it on the road? It’s getting dark now, and I’ve got a hostage if we need her. We can stay in the woods until full dark. I assume no one knows I’m anywhere near.”
“They know.”
“Well, maybe generally, but not that I’m right here. Let’s go.”
“No.”
Liz’s body jerked like Edie’s had when Liz called her Aunt Edith. “Don’t kid around with me Lindie.”
Some family members can be such a problem, Carrie thought and, in spite of her fear, a giggle tried to bubble out. She started gasping her breath in and out to stop it, and Liz said, “Stop that,” tightening her arm again.
“I’m not kidding. I’m through with you and your business dealings.”
“Don’t be stupid. You’re under suspicion, under guard, and in big trouble, even if you never were directly involved here. Tarred by association, right? I don’t know how you got away from them, but, however it was, you can leave with me. We’ll change our names and start over somewhere else. I have connections, and I always have kept my escape options open.”
“I am on leave from my job, but no one is guarding me. I came to look for you and tell you I’m finished with even a remote connection to your business dealings. My career here is wrecked, but maybe I can still salvage some part of a sane, worthwhile life.”
Liz said, “You can’t get by blaming me for your career problems, and don’t forget, I can put you in jail. You knew I set those fires and didn’t report it. There’s more I could tell them. The decisions you made are all on your plate.”
“Yes, I know that, and I’ll just have to deal with it. Sadly, I put too much importance on family ties. I’ve learned better.”
“Come on, Lindie, let’s get out of here before someone from across the road decides to have a look around.”
“Not a worry for us now, sister dear.”
Carrie wondered if Liz detected the growing menace in her sister’s voice as she continued. “You’ve forgotten one thing, Lizzie. You’ve forgotten those papers.”
Liz’s body jerked again. “You know about them? I thought you said you didn’t.” Her gun hand dropped away from Carrie’s head as she turned fully toward the woods.
Olinda Rosten said, “Well, I lied about that, partly because I was protecting Gran. The papers were supposed to be insurance for Grampa and Dad, so, after they were gone, why not the same for Gran and me? But she decided they were too volatile to hang on to. Dad told me where the originals were, and gave the copies to me. He told me to keep them safe. I did. Grandma and I burned all of them. You didn’t know because you and Mom had left us by then.”
“You . . . ”
“Burned them. The copies were never mailed, though that’s what we were supposed to do. They were to go to the people Grampa called his ‘First Family.’ He called them that once too often. Gran said why should we help them out or let them know anything?”
Both women were silent. Carrie heard a car start across the road, and a siren in the distance. Edie had disappeared into the house. Liz must have forgotten all about her, and Olinda, who would have seen her clearly, had chosen to say nothing. It sounded like everyone from the party was now in the big metal buildings across the road, and any danger had been neutralized. Edie would be running over there to get help.
For a minute she wondered why Henry and Milton hadn’t been more concerned about her safety and Edie’s, but then reason took over. Coming out here had been Edie’s idea, and she had agreed. They assumed the back yard was safe, and everyone else would have too.
A horrible thought struck her. If Edie was bringing help, that meant Carrie and Olinda needed to cancel the menace of Liz’s gun. If the two of them didn’t manage that, not only they, but anyone coming here to find them, would be in danger.
“I told you to put the gun down, Liz.”
“Not possible. I’m getting out of here. Whether you come along or not, my hostage and I are leaving. Where’s your car? I need the key.”
“I’m not giving you my car key.”
“Then I’ll take it from you.”
“How do you propose doing that? Are you going to shoot me?”
“Could, I guess, if you don’t shoot me first.”
“I don’t have a weapon, Lizzie.”
“No gun?”
“No gun. It’s locked up in a safe at the office.”
“Well, then.” Liz Harley began laughing as she turned the gun barrel toward her sister.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
THE REST OF THE PARTY
Olinda had begun staring at Carrie’s face, and then shifting her gaze back and forth to Liz’s feet. Finally Carrie thought she understood, gave a tiny nod, and got another in return. Carrie immediately bumped her rear end against Liz as hard as she could while Olinda dived for Liz’s ankles, attempting to throw her backwards. Instead, bent at the waist by Carrie’s bump, Liz fell forward with Carrie under her. They crashed to the brick patio, and the gun fired.
There was an instant of horrible silence while Carrie tried to catch her breath. Then Liz sat up, laughing wildly, and Olinda rolled away from her, trailing blood.
“Ah ha! Gotcha, Lindie. That’ll teach you to go against me. Now, I’ll have that key.”
Liz stood, pushed a foot against her sister, then bent over to search her pockets. With an exclamation of triumph she grabbed a key ring and ran into the woods.
Still gasping, Carrie pulled herself toward Olinda and stretched out an arm until she could reach the pulse in her neck. Strong. She was bleeding, but alive, and when Carrie touched her, she whispered, “I have a new car. Liz has never seen it.” She started a laugh, coughed, and was silent.
Carrie put a protective arm over the deputy and scooted close to her back. She needed to keep Lindie warm.
Why, oh why doesn’t someone come? As soon as this dizziness is gone, I’ll have to go find help.
Had she imagined hearing a yell of fury coming through the woods and a bustle of people suddenly swirling around the patio? Someone was touching her. A hand stroked her hair, then her f
orehead.
Carrie opened her eyes and blinked into bright patio lights when Henry said, “No, oh, no! Where are you hurt, Cara? That blood! I left you alone—left you alone again. God forgive me.”
“Quit that! I’m not hurt,” she said, though the place where her cheek had connected with patio bricks now stung enough to have erased all dizziness. “This is Olinda’s blood. Take care of her. Henry, she was so brave . . . ought to get a medal. Did you know she’s Liz Harley’s sister?”
“Well, doesn’t that beat all?” Shirley’s voice said. “Sounds like you and Olinda have quite a story to tell, and don’t you worry, she’ll help tell it before long. It’s her shoulder that’s shot, not her mouth. Rest of us have a story too. This has been some party.”
“Liz has a gun. She ran away.”
“Deputy Rainwater got her as she was looking at cars along the road,” Henry said, “but not because he knew who she was. He went outside to . . . uh, for personal reasons, saw a woman looking closely at each parked car along the road, and thought she might be planning to break into one or more of them, or even steal one. He came up behind her, grabbed her, and was able to take her gun. Maybe you heard the resulting howl of rage. I think we all did, including the cows in the Marshall’s farthest pasture. Poor Rainwater got a few bruises and scratches, but he did manage to drag her, kicking and swearing, into the building where deputies are working. Milton identified her the minute they came inside.”
“Ah,” said Carrie.
In the background Jo Marshall’s voice announced, “I have coffee, brownies, and oatmeal bars ready for those who’d like a pick-me-up.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
WAS IT WORTH IT?
“Was it worth it?”
No one responded to Edie’s question. At the stove, Henry dropped the last hamburger patty on its bun, and Carrie added a stack of French fries to the plate. The two of them carried their plates to the dining table as Edie repeated, “Was it worth it?”
“Well now,” Shirley said, “Depends on what you mean by worth, doesn’t it?”
Once more, Shirley’s cut to the center of an issue, Carrie thought. Should we discuss this from a law enforcement angle, or on a more personal level? Probably it’s both.
“I set off a chain reaction the day I appeared at this house,” Edie said. “There was a huge, mostly negative impact on all your lives. Now I can’t decide how guilty I should feel. Was it worth it?”
“On a personal level,” Carrie said, “I gained a cousin and several new friends. I certainly had adventures, though, had I been able, I would have gladly omitted a couple of them.”
Edie shook her head. “And I’ll regret those the rest of my life. Okay, Henry, what do you think? Was it worth it?”
Carrie interrupted, afraid of what Henry would say. “Wait, I’m not through yet. There’s the law enforcement angle.”
“Right,” Roger said. “That was worth it. Cousin Norm is mighty pleased.”
“Yes,” Carrie said. “At least one major Ozarks drug operation is obliterated, its organizer and employees headed for prison. Their opportunity for distributing drugs through outlets like craft fairs and truck stops is closed down. That should be extremely satisfying for the County Sheriff’s Office overall, as well as for Edie and Milton, and,” she turned to the woman beside her, “you too, Olinda, if you don’t mind my saying so. Is that any compensation? Your sister is going to prison and you lost what I assume is a pretty good job.”
“My sister brought her problems on herself,” Olinda said. “I’m coming to terms with that. As for my job, well, who knows?” She started to move her shoulders in a shrug, thought better of it, and said, “We can get by on my husband’s salary while I sort out my life. I do love law enforcement. Maybe I can go back to it after a probationary period.”
Carrie nodded. “Then,” she said, “there is the question of redemption.”
“Redemption?” Edie and Henry asked in unison.
“I know what she means,” Shirley said. “Some folks got shaken out of bad patterns of action that might have led to worse things. ‘Scuse me, Olinda, but you did. Carrie’s Second Man sure did. The man they call Bobby told Norm’s deputies all he knew about Liz’s operation, even if it was mostly to lighten up on his own punishment. And,” she looked around the table, “some-a the rest of us may have better thoughts about a few things, too. We all learned a lot.”
Olinda, who was staring into space, said, “Yes. I needed to stop and think about family connections and right and wrong. My sister and I never were close, but that didn’t stop me from feeling protective toward her. After the two parts of our family split, and until she married John, she lived with Mom. Since Mom wanted to separate herself from the family business, I thought Liz would want the same thing. Obviously, I was wrong. Neither Mom nor I had any positive influence on her. I guess you could say I’ve given up on that now.”
She looked around the table as if testing the level of understanding offered there. “I have always felt I should do something to help make up for the sins of my father and grandfather. When I think of the lives that were probably ruined by drugs they sent out to vulnerable people, I . . . ” She turned toward Carrie as tears began leaking down her cheeks. “And now, Lizzie.”
Carrie handed her a paper napkin, then said, “You’ll probably never know what positive impact you had on her. But, no matter. You are your own person, an individual who has guided her life by a different code than those family members. You broke the pattern, and that showed great courage. Now I see you as standing free, no matter what the sheriff’s department says at this moment. I’d bet no one here finds you tainted by past family connections.”
She looked at Edie and Milton, Shirley and Roger, and Henry in turn, saying, as if willing them to respond positively, “Right?”
There was affirmation all around the table, and Shirley said, “You will never be judged here for what others did. They alone bear the burden for their sins.”
Edie spoke up. “Olinda, don’t forget you and I share the same background. What applies to you applies to me, but I won’t accept that it damages me. Neither should you.”
Olinda blew her nose, looked at Edie, blew her nose again, opened her mouth, “But, I . . . ” then shook her head and was silent.
“Okay,” Carrie said, “sounds like we agree on redemption. Edie, as to worth, we know now that you had several good reasons for coming here. It wasn’t your fault we got tangled with drug dealing at the craft fair.”
“It is my fault. You wouldn’t have known about any of that if it hadn’t been for me.”
Henry cleared his throat. “Hmmm, I agree with Edie as to fault, but Carrie does seem to have a way of discovering people breaking a law or two.”
“I do not,” Carrie said. “I just notice people in trouble.”
Henry shrugged, then laughed. “Okay. So, Edie, Milton, what about you? Was it worth it for you? I think I know the answer to that already. Of course it was.”
“Yes,” Milton said. “Edie and I found each other, and we both accomplished what we came here to achieve—the closing down of a major drug pipeline into the Ozarks.”
“One negative though, and a sad one for me,” Edie said. “I found out my father really was a drug dealer using his work for the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control as a cover, and that Carrie’s father had justification for keeping his family away from mine.” She held up a hand as Carrie started to protest. “Remember, no pious protests, Cousin Carrie.
“Of course, that means Milton lied to me when he said my father was only an undercover agent for Drug Abuse Control. You knew better, didn’t you, dear man?”
Milton stuttered, said, “Well, uh, maybe there were circumstances we don’t know about.”
“No, no pious protests from you, either. I appreciate what you did, and I may even incorporate some of your story into what I eventually tell Mother.”
Olinda said, “I want my husband to meet all of you. For ye
ars he’s been telling me the same thing you are, that I shouldn’t bear the burden for what my family did. But he has no idea how much I knew about Lizzie’s business. Nobody does but Lizzie herself.”
“Well, as to if all these goings-on were worth it, have we figured that out now?” Shirley asked. “Things and people got shook up a bit, but what came out was good overall. That right?”
There were nods from everyone but Henry. Shirley, studying him thoughtfully, said, “O’course, Henry, more than maybe anyone here—even you, Carrie—had a rough time of it. For too long he had to wonder if Carrie was okay, or even alive. Y’all understand that? It’s the not knowing, living on hope only.”
“I understand,” Edie said, “because Olinda and I saw it. We were with him the whole time. In fact, it was so awful for him that, the minute he knew Carrie was safe, there was a dramatic change. Even though he couldn’t tell us she was okay I guessed it, and I suspect Olinda did too.”
Olinda said, “Yes, I knew. I never said anything, but I knew.”
Henry looked around the table. “If we’re confessing, well yes, it was rough. I don’t think I’ll ever get over how I felt when Carrie was abducted. Probably the worst time of my life. I wasn’t with her, and if I had been, I could have prevented it.”
Everyone stayed silent, even Carrie, who was wishing she and Henry were alone to talk this out.
“Well,” Shirley said, “I guess the main good thing is that both you and she got through it. Henry, none of us can be with the ones we love every single minute. We have to trust. It’s a hard lesson when things go wrong. Parents learn the lesson early. You came to it later than most. And, truth be told, all that happened—and I mean all of it—was like stuff shoved in a funnel. Maybe things were uncomfortably tight at times, but what came out at the bottom was the taking of that place on Marshall Road and, like Carrie says, redemption in some way for all of us here.”
A Fair to Die For Page 26
