by Nick Adams
“I don’t know what I am.”
“Okay,” I said and went out to the porch.
Nerves were starting to kick in. It was almost time. I lit a cigarette and sat in my rocker. Kendra and Willie and Frank followed me out. The little porch was full.
“You good?” Willie asked me.
“Yeah. Let me finish this and we’ll go.”
28
“What about this guy?” Kendra asked.
“Tommy Brady,” I said. “He’s an asshole, plain and simple.”
She looked to Willie for clarification.
He said, “Evan hates Tommy because he killed their class bunny rabbit in first grade.”
“Snowball,” I said.
“Why’d he kill an innocent bunny?”
“He just likes pissing people off,” Willie explained. “He’s a stuck up little snot. A thumb sucker. A bed wetter. Evan had to go all through school with him in the same grade.”
“Twelve years,” I said. “Plus kindergarten.”
“I only hear insults,” Kendra said. “What exactly do you mean?”
“He’s got that spoiled rich boy attitude,” Willie said. “He’s an only child and his dad runs a big business. Makes good money. Has all this expensive equipment. There’s no competition in this little town for road agent, so they can charge whatever they want for whatever they want. That’s on top of doing side jobs. So they’ve got money, and Tommy struts around like he’s better than everyone. In reality, everyone else can see that he ain’t done shit but ride his daddy’s coattails.”
Kendra was nodding and listening. Sipping her coffee.
“It’s not just any one thing with him,” I explained. “It’s a thousand little things. A thousand little incidents over the years. Nothing I say will mesh well with your idea of being nice and hoping others return the favor.”
“Okay,” she said. Almost like a question. Like she wanted to hear more.
I said, “At school he made fun of kids that didn’t have all the fancy stuff he did. He’d smile if something bad happened to someone. At little league practice he tried to act like he was something special, when he wasn’t. I’m a mediocre athlete, and I got more hits than he did. And around town, with people, he’s just a prick. Won’t push over when you meet him on a narrow road. Can’t treat the older folks with any friendliness or respect. Can’t bring himself to act like the rest of us. Like we’re a community. He thinks he’s royalty. Really he’s just a shithead and I wasn’t at all surprised to hear that he’s involved with dogfighting. If he’s into the drug stuff, that is a little surprising. But not hugely.”
“I wonder if there’s another side to it all,” Kendra said.
I looked at her.
“Maybe he’s just putting on a show to cover his insecurities.”
“Don’t care if he is,” I said. “I still can’t stand him. And I’m not the only one. Plenty of people whisper about him. His father is moderately liked. But not Tommy. He’s the type of guy that you can tell just by looking at him that he’s a little prick.”
“I wasn’t defending him,” Kendra clarified.
I nodded.
“What did you tell me about E.T.?” Willie said.
I looked right at Kendra. “Get this. We watched that movie in third grade one day. It was the last day before spring vacation and the teachers were being cool. Guess what? Tommy was rooting for the government guys, not E.T. and Elliott. Just because he knew it would bother everyone. Just so he could take the fun out of it for the rest of us. Even the teachers knew he was doing it on purpose. But they all had to powder his ass to keep his daddy from complaining.”
“Sounds nice, right?” Willie said.
“What about his mother?” she said. “If he’s an only child, maybe she’s the one who spoiled him rotten.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “She keeps a lower profile.”
“Yeah,” Willie agreed. “You don’t see her around much.”
“Maybe he’s just one of those people,” Kendra said. “He’s full of misery inside. Doesn’t know why, so he has to make others miserable along with him.”
I said, “Asshole. That’s the simplest way to say it.”
Kendra sighed and said, “I just hope the jerk hasn’t hurt my Simon.”
It got very quiet.
“Wrong thing to say,” Kendra whispered.
“Yeah, let’s get going,” I said. “I might have to watch the place for hours before I can sneak over. Might as well get out there and see what I’m up against.”
I got up and went inside. Slid my vest over a long-sleeved shirt and packed spare magazines into the front pouches. Laced my boots tight. Got a black hat and black gloves. Got a bottle of iced tea and stuffed it into a cargo pocket on my thigh. I gave Frank a treat and shut him in the cabin. He wasn’t thrilled, but he didn’t complain much. Then I went out and we packed three-wide into Willie’s truck. Kendra was squished in the middle.
Willie chugged the truck quietly along the access road. Turned right onto the main road. Got it up to speed for nearly a minute and then slowed and turned left onto a side road. We moved down a gradual and winding grade into the darkness of thick woods. The pavement gave way to dirt. The hum of rubber on pavement was replaced by the louder crunching of tires on gravel.
“This is it,” Kendra said, breaking the heavy silence. “I remember this road.”
“Feels like the point of no return,” Willie said. “We’re in the tunnel now.”
“I’m scared but hopeful,” Kendra said.
I said nothing. I wasn’t scared. Wasn’t feeling terribly hopeful, either. All my thoughts were focusing on the task, the walk, the recovery. The likely confrontation.
“Now it’s hitting home,” Kendra said. “This is really happening. My heart is pounding.”
“Stay cool,” Willie said.
“I’m trying.”
“You good?”
“I think so.”
“You sure?”
“I’m good,” she said.
A minute or so later Willie slowed and turned right into the trailhead where we’d stashed the Escalade. The headlights made all sorts of strange patterns on the low-hanging branches. Green leaves looked almost yellow up close to the lights. The trail had two established wheel ruts. Just enough room for a pickup truck to squeeze between the trees. As pines took over the hardwoods, the ground became soft with pine needles and the only sound was that of the truck’s motor idling and the occasional branch rubbing along the truck’s panels.
We went on in silence. Kendra had no idea what to expect. But Willie and I were both watching for the Escalade to come into view.
It never did.
We reached the spot where it should have been and there was nothing. Just an empty space. Up ahead in the trail I could see an obvious disturbance in the carpet of pine needles leading off into the darkness. Willie stopped the truck. We sat there in silence for a long moment with the truck idling.
“You kept the keys, didn’t you?” Willie finally asked.
“Yeah,” I said, patting them in my pants pocket.
“What’s wrong?” Kendra asked.
“Evan stole the Bensons’ Escalade this morning,” Willie answered. “We stashed it out here.”
“Right here?”
He nodded.
“Crap,” Kendra said.
“Super crap,” Willie said.
I said, “Brady or his dad must have found it. No one else has the equipment to drag an SUV. No way could someone fit a big tow truck on this trail.”
Willie cut the motor and the headlights and we all climbed out. It was pitch dark and our eyes took a minute to focus. The woods were silent and still but for spring peepers and crickets and small noises. Musical silence. We could hardly see a single star through the dense treetops. Evergreens and spring leaves.
I lit a cigarette and leaned against the truck to think.
“What does this mean?” Kendra finally asked.
I said, “Hard telling not knowing.”
“They don’t know anything,” Willie said optimistically. “They just found an abandoned vehicle. We’re okay.”
“Tommy bought Simon from Jared Benson,” I said. “He knows what he drives.”
“They’re not the only ones with an Escalade.”
“No. But clearly they didn’t think it was a random vehicle.”
“Maybe we should call Uncle Danny,” Willie suggested. “We’re amateurs, after all.”
“This doesn’t make sense,” I said. “Why would Brady go through all that effort to move a vehicle? Why would he even be out here, a mile from his place? He couldn’t see the Escalade from the road in passing.”
“Guilty conscience,” Kendra suggested. “He’s fighting dogs.”
“Tommy doesn’t have a conscience,” Willie said. “That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you.”
I nodded. Then got out my phone and called Uncle Danny.
29
“You busy?” I asked when he answered.
“Just reading. What’s up?”
“Quick question. What do we do if someone abandons a car at the campground?”
“Has it got plates?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“How long has it been sitting?”
“Not long,” I said. “I’m just checking ahead of time. We don’t know if it was left on purpose or if someone got lost or what. It’s been a hectic weekend.”
“Anything else suspicious?”
“No. It’s a quiet night. No complaints at all so far.”
“Maybe it’s nothing.”
“Maybe it’s just parked at an empty site because it wouldn’t fit in the spot at another site. I haven’t gone around asking about it yet.”
“That’s probably it,” he said. “Someone sneaking extra guests in for the price of one tent sight.”
I said, “Cheap bastards.”
“Keep an eye on it,” he said. “Let me know if you need me.”
“Will do. Later.”
I ended the call and looked around at Willie and Kendra in the dark. Let my eyes adjust after the light of the phone.
“Brady didn’t call Uncle Danny,” Willie stated. “He towed the Escalade on his own.”
“Right,” I said. “So what’s the motivation from their angle?”
“Sell it for parts.”
“They know they’re doing something wrong,” Kendra said. “What else can it be?”
“You’re right,” I said. “And you’re wrong.”
She said nothing. Just stared at me, waiting for an explanation.
“Brady doesn’t think fighting and killing dogs is wrong,” I said. “You think it’s wrong. You would have a guilty conscience. You’re right about that. But Brady wouldn’t feel bad. He likes causing grief and trouble. He smiled about the fact that he killed Snowball. His dad stuck up for him to the principal. Said it was all an accident. His girlfriend sticks up for him to this day. What kind of profile does that paint in your mind?”
“Holy shit,” Willie muttered. “Is he worse than we thought?”
“Could be.”
“He’s got to be hiding something bigger than dogs out here. Why else would they be monitoring the trails and towing vehicles away?”
I said nothing. I was thinking back to my conversation with Amy the previous day. About Lucy’s missing flyer.
“And it can’t be just him,” Willie continued. “The old man has to be in on it. Tommy can’t hide parties and dogs and whatever else he’s into. The old man can’t be that distracted with business. At the very least he’s aware, if not active.”
I pressed my back against the cab of the truck. Willie was right. And now my mind was racing. An idea was coming together, taking shape. It was simple and obvious and seemed way too good to be true.
No one else around could move an SUV without using a huge flatbed truck and a winch. No one else would have the motivation to move it. And no one else would care about its presence, even if they did happen upon it by chance. This is a town of nine hundred mostly old-fashioned people. They mind their own business. So something about it obviously concerned the Bradys. Seriously. And it hadn’t been reported to my uncle. He would have mentioned it. I knew that for a fact. He would have jumped at the idea of another abandoned vehicle in town on the very same day. So the Bradys had handled it themselves, quietly. As people tend to do when they’re keeping secrets.
“Kendra,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“When you were out here that night, you said it was definitely a party in the field.”
“It was. Definitely. Guys were drunk and or high. Shouting like crazy.”
“Mostly guys? Not many girls?”
“Yeah.”
“Who the hell wants to go to a sausage fest?” Willie said.
“Exactly,” I said.
He stared at me in the dark.
“Guys looking to make quick money,” I said. “Jared Benson told me about these parties. They’re more about moving heroin than anything else, including the fighting dogs. The dogs are just a sideshow.”
“Holy shit,” Willie muttered.
“Rumors,” I said to Kendra. “You hear tons of them at work.”
“More than I can remember.”
“The Kurtz girls are into heroin. You told me that.”
“So I’ve heard. But like you said, they’re rumors.”
“Doesn’t matter. All rumors can’t be completely wrong. Don’t you see?”
She didn’t answer right away.
“I’m an idiot,” I said.
They both looked at me.
“This has all been going on right under my nose and I’ve been ignoring it. I never would’ve let myself suspect Brady, because it would’ve been too easy. He could cure cancer and I’d still hate his guts. No point in wasting my time accusing him of everything that goes wrong around here. No point in accusing him of kidnapping Lucy Kurtz.”
“We still don’t know anything for sure,” Kendra said.
“I know what my gut is telling me.”
“Why would any of the Bradys want that girl?” Willie asked.
“Not sure,” I said. “Not sure I care to know. But there’s too much pointing to him now to dismiss the idea. This trail we’re standing on, we can follow it both ways. The little trail behind my cabin hooks right into it half a mile out into the woods. Brady would know that better than some outsider. And we can follow it from there right by the end of his driveway. One paved road crossing and then four or five miles of woods. Easy getaway. And we know Lucy’s mother and aunt are users. And Tommy has been dealing with Bow Street bozos. That’s how he got Simon. He’s hosting dealers from Mass. and southern New Hampshire. Helping them distribute through different channels and settings on different weeks. Expanding their market. Moving their product easily out into the little towns. Maybe they’re giving him a little product in exchange for hosting. And he’s turning it over on Bow Street.”
“Guess we shouldn’t be shocked,” Willie said. “Heroin is all over the news.”
I nodded. Looked at Kendra. Asked, “What kind of vehicles did you see here?”
“Trucks and SUVs.”
“You probably didn’t notice the plates.”
“No. I wasn’t looking.”
“But they were all nice rides.”
“Yeah. Escalades. Navigators.”
I said, “Country boys usually drive pickup trucks to keggers in the woods. Older trucks, like Willie’s. Not new Escalades and Navigators. And girls go to regular beer bashes as much as guys. Your friend probably expected to see the country music and Bud Light crowd. She got freaked out because it was something else entirely.”
I looked at Willie. “Tommy’s every bit of the asshole we’ve always known him to be. And more. I’m not surprised at all. Just mad at myself for not putting it together sooner. Mad at myself for giving them a huge advanced warning.”
> “What warning?” he asked.
“Yesterday, at the store. I gave Amy some grief for taking down Lucy’s missing flyer. Tommy was right outside in the parking lot.”
“So she went right out and told him.”
“Bet your ass she did. And he started getting cautious. And then today he found the Escalade. Two strikes in less than twenty-four hours. If they have Lucy, they’re nervous as hell now.”
“Maybe the girls owe him money,” Kendra said. “Maybe Lucy really is collateral, like people were whispering last summer.”
“That’s a safe guess,” I said. “You’ve known it all along. Bar gossip beat out a huge investigation.”
She said nothing.
“Shit bags,” Willie grumbled. “We ought to drain the oil out of every piece of equipment in their yard.”
“Might be fun.”
“Please don’t forget Simon,” Kendra said. “I know he’s just a dog, but—”
“I’m not forgetting,” I told her. “He’s not getting away with any of this.”
She nodded in the dark.
“How do we play it now?” Willie asked.
“Same as before,” I said. “I need to sneak up on the place. See what I can find.”
“They might be waiting. Might have cameras.”
“Maybe. But by moving the Escalade they’ve inadvertently warned me to be extra careful. And they’ve shown that they’re nervous about something. Nervous people make mistakes.”
“Or shoot first and ask later.”
I said nothing. Pulled the charging handle on my M4, drawing the first round into the chamber. Flipped the selector to safe.
“Hold on,” Kendra said, the voice of reason. “What about your uncle? This thing is really blowing up. Can’t he help us?”
I shook my head. “I’m not getting him involved until I’ve gotten Simon out. That way you’re not attached to any of this.”
“Too late, Evan. I’m right here, attached.”
“What if things go bad? Want to be an accessory to multiple shooting deaths?”
“Would you really take it that far? Really?”
“Depends.”
“On?”
“If I find the slightest hint of a dead kid, they’re all done. All of them. No way are they getting a chance to hide evidence and hire lawyers.”
