Doing Time In Texas, Book 3

by James E Ferrell

  Marvin looked around the spacious living room. “So, this is the last place that the dearly departed Elmer Hayes spent his last few minutes of life. I bet he was hugging a bag full of money just before he decided to end it all!” Marvin said, giving the other two a sideways look.

  “Rayford you and Buford help me unload the car and trailer while Marvin here does some catching up with his family,” Sonny said.

  “Sure, Sonny,” Rayford said as he and Buford walked for the door.

  Giving them both hard looks, Marvin said, “Buford, have I missed something here? Are you boys getting really family-close to the lawman who sent me to prison and then married my daughter against all logic and my family judgment? Do you know what this does to our family’s reputation in the Valley?” Marvin said.

  Buford and Rayford squirmed a little and without saying a word followed a smiling Sonny Green out the door. Back over his shoulder Sonny said, “I hope Swift don’t have someone watching this place! If he does, we may all be murdered like Snake was!”

  Rayford and Buford broke out in a laugh which stopped Sonny cold. “Okay Uncle Buford, it’s obvious you boys know something that I do not know. Now spill the beans. What have I missed about the dead man found in my wife’s new kitchen?” Sonny inquired.

  “Well, Sonny, we can tell you that was not Snake. We met with him yesterday and got the story of who did for Odell,” Buford stated.

  Sonny stopped shy of walking down the porch steps and asked, “Buford, are you telling me that Snake is alive? The stiff sitting at the kitchen table was not him? Someone else murdered Odell and you have had words to substantiate all this recently with Elmer Hayes?”

  “Well now, Sonny, I’m not sure Marvin wanted to let you in on all we know. So, I guess anything I say you will have to keep under your hat. Marvin might get a bit upset, since he told us to keep this quiet. Now you’re family and all that should count for something,” Buford said.

  “It’s too late to clam up now! You two have spilled the beans! Now, we have a dead man probably murdered in this house to cover up for a live Elmer Hayes! I don’t know what you know, but you two sit down here on the tailgate of this truck and tell me everything you know. You better make it quick before Marvin gets suspicious and comes looking for us. Is Elmer dead or alive, and if alive, have you talked to him lately? Now Buford you start with where Elmer Hayes is located!” Sonny stated hurriedly.

  “Snake contacted us, and we met him at the Post Office back in the valley yesterday. He is now under the protection of the West family!” Rayford blurted out.

  “Wait a minute, let’s go back to the day Odell was killed. That will be a good starting place. Buford you start!” Sonny ordered.

  “Snake sent a message to Rayford and wanted him to meet him someplace of his choosing. He would pick the place. He was adamant he didn’t kill Odell, but he knew who did. Marvin and I agreed, and Rayford went to Newton and called a number in Houston. Anyway, Rayford made the meeting and brought Snake down in the valley with the full story,” Buford replied.

  “So how does the story go?” Sonny inquired.

  “Snake was working for Albert Swift but only on a contract basis. He didn’t like the idea of being in the Dixie Mafia, so Swift used him when he needed a job done that didn’t link the results to the Dixie boys. Snake was working with one of his old buddies, Bob Anderson, to help get control of Hamilton International. Anderson came down with cancer and was about to die before he and Snake could kill Drew Hamilton and his daughter, who was the only living relative to inherit Hamilton International,” Buford said all in one breath.

  “Well, that was a mouth full, but carry on,” Sonny said.

  “Things fell apart and Snake decided to do some blackmailing. He didn’t think Swift was paying him enough. Snake needed help so he called on his old friend Odell West. They pulled off a 200K heist. About that time Hamilton International’s security chief, Simon, was killed by one of Swift’s plants by the name of Nicholas Nance Bush; known by the Dixie Mafia as Needle Nose Bush. Needle Nose also figured out Snake was working a double cross and had already blackmailed the company for 200 grand. Bush showed up at Snake’s apartment one afternoon just about the time Snake would be getting off of work. Fortunately for Snake, he recognized Bush as he was leaving Snake’s apartment and dodged him. Bush wanted the money, but it wasn’t in the apartment. So, Needle Nose went on the hunt for Snake and almost succeeded at Snake’s home. Snake got the upper hand and did Needle Nose in. Elmer knew the local sheriff and they got a death certificate that done away with Elmer. The sheriff got the body parched and Elmer was officially dead. Elmer gave the sheriff a sock full of money and he suddenly retired and left town and that’s that!” Buford said.

  “Lord have mercy!” Sonny said shaking his head. “So where is Elmer Hayes now?”

  “As Rayford done told you, Snake is in Scrappin’ Valley back of the Boggins Slew where he can’t be found. Under the protection of the West family,” Buford said.

  ααααααα

  “Thelma, I take it you have no intention of coming back to Scrappin’ Valley where you belong, do you?” Marvin asked.

  “Marvin, I plan on filling out my time left here on earth loving and taking care of the grandchildren Christine and Sonny promised me. I have no intention on coming back even for a hog killing. You three pecker-woods can fend for yourselves. Besides the Cline girls was more to your likin' than I ever was. All the three of you need is a moonshine still and a bunch of hogs to fight the Schultz clan over. I’m through wondering if there isn’t something the good Lord made us for except mischief and heartache. Matter of fact, I’m going to church Sunday in the new clothes my son-in-law bought for me!” Thelma said proudly.

  C37 - Court Day 7---Sins of the Brother

  Court was convened the next morning and Mira was back on the stand. As soon as she was seated and comfortable, she began.

  ‘The sheriff’s deputy Rusty had high hopes for the sheriff’s daughter, but she was not interested. He had followed Willy back to Temple one night after he had left the sheriff’s daughter and knew where Billy Jack was boarding. Once they freed themselves, they promptly headed for Temple in a rage.

  ‘I don’t think he is stupid enough to go back there, but if he is, I will break his head for this,’ the sheriff said.

  They found the boarding house and knocked at the door. ‘Ma’am do you have a fellow by the name of Billy Jack Conner staying here?’ the sheriff asked.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. He just came in from work and is having his supper in the kitchen,’ The two looked at each other. They couldn’t believe their ears.

  John Baker sat eating supper when the sheriff and Rusty stormed in. They were not about to be man-handled by a boy again, so they came in swinging. John’s back was to the door and he never knew what hit him. In short order he was laying on the floor with cuffs and a splitting headache!’

  ‘Billy Jack Conner, you are under arrest for the robbery of the pack-and-go in Georgetown and assaulting a police officer!’ the sheriff yelled.

  It only took a minute to haul the semi-conscious body to the patrol car. Thanks to Willy and his practical jokes, no one knew that John was a twin or what his real name was. What is it they always say; ‘My sins won’t hurt anyone but me.’ That night innocence was at the mercy of the devil himself. A few days later the local doctor was summoned to look at John laying in the town’s jail. The doctor was so irate at the handling the boy had received from the sheriff he threatened to call the newspapers and Austin unless they allow the boy to be moved to the local clinic. This incident brought to head a long-time hatred between the doctor and the sheriff for his treatment of people he arrested. The doctor called the Texas Rangers in Austin for help. Captain Eastman, upon hearing of the condition of the boy, contacted one of his field agents in the area who was returning a runaway girl to Temple. Hearing how angry the doctor was, the ranger promptly headed for the clinic. Outside the clinic the ranger found a standoff
at the emergency room entrance. The old doctor stood with a rusty old shotgun threatening to shoot the sheriff if he tried to enter his clinic after the boy!’

  ‘Ranger, I am glad you made it so quickly. I have a boy inside who these two,’ the doctor pointed to the sheriff and his deputy sitting in their patrol car, ‘have almost killed. I don’t intend to give him up so they can finish the job.’

  ‘Doctor, put the shotgun down and I will take care of this matter,’ Jake Walker said.

  ‘Inside the jail, the ranger took one look at the terrible beating the boy had taken over the course of the days he had been in the hands of the sheriff and said, ‘Doc, I will take the boy on to Huntsville with me tonight and have him hospitalized under protective custody.’

  Upon hearing this the sheriff was enraged and stated, ‘That boy will stand trial here for the charges against him!’

  ‘Sheriff, you made an arrest in a city you are not an official in. That alone was your first mistake. Considering his condition, I will say, if he dies, I will make sure you and your deputy stand trial for murder. Now, Sheriff, how does that sit with you?’ Ranger Walker said.

  ‘The sheriff didn’t like his prisoner leaving town but was worried he and Rusty had gone too far this time. Later that night the ranger and doctor loaded John Baker in the back seat of the cruiser for the trip to Huntsville. Both of John’s arms had been fractured in several places fending off the night sticks. His face was battered and bruised beyond recognition and he had a broken jaw.

  ‘This is not the first beating I have seen at the hands of those two, but this is by far the worst. Whatever crime this boy committed, he paid for it twice over. If you need a witness against the sheriff, I’m your man,’ the doctor said. To transport the boy, the doctor had to bind both arms in slings against his chest to keep them demobilized and with a broken jaw his head was bandaged. ‘He will be drinking through a straw for a while and will need medical care for a long time,’ the doctor said.

  Sitting in the back seat of the cruiser John leaned his head against the seat and prayed. His life had unraveled and the last few days had been beyond belief. ‘Try and get comfortable, Son. You have a long ride,’ Jake said, ‘Doc, I will get him in the hospital at Huntsville as soon as I can. Don’t worry about him, he will be alright,’ the ranger said.

  Mira sighed and showed signs of fatigue, not a word had been said in the courtroom as long as she had been talking.

  George Ford rose and said, “Your Honor, from the testimony Mrs. Simpson has given us so far it appears that one of the charges that sent Willy Baker to prison, that he had robbed the sheriff’s stop-and-go, was trumped up and I ask the judge to consider striking that charge from my client's record. Mrs. Simpson is tired. Could we continue with her testimony tomorrow and call another witness for the defense at this time?”

  The judge had been taking notes and looked over the rim of his glasses and said, “The liquor store charges would not stand up in court after the testimony heard here today and will be removed from Baker's past records. If the prosecutor does not object, we will go to the next witness.”

  “None, Your Honor,” the prosecutor replied.

  Willy sat with his hands against his face, while Bonnie sobbed quietly to herself. She had never known the burden her husband had carried. The courtroom sat bewildered at what was unfolding before their eyes. Most were around when the ranger and boy had been killed. The ranger was a decorated war hero, but few remembered the boy. There had never been a name and his face was never recognizable. Just a trouble maker who robbed a liquor store a hundred and fifty miles north of Huntsville.

  This day Mira Simpson put a name to the grave in the cemetery. A boy who had been savagely beaten and killed. Now John Baker was a victim and their hearts went out to him.

  “I would like at this time to dismiss this witness and bring Ranger Lightfoot back to the witness stand. I believe he can help this story from this point. I would like Mrs. Simpson to return to the stand after she is refreshed,” George said.

  After Lightfoot was sworn in and seated, George stepped up to the front of the witness chair and began, “Ranger Lightfoot, you found Mr. Baker’s aunt, Mira Simpson, and brought her here. Please explain the events that brought this about.”

  Settling back in the witness chair Lightfoot began to speak, “It has been almost five years since the murder of Ranger Jake Walker. Sitting in this courthouse I revisited all the information I had acquired years ago in my mind. The newspapers were the best source to refresh my memory. I had all the papers in my files and last night went through the issues concerning the murders. At the library I found a story of the crime Baker committed. I did not connect Baker to Ranger Walker and the boy in his cruiser at the time. Because Baker’s problems occurred months after Ranger Walker and the boy were killed, I overlooked them and never made the connection,” Lightfoot said.

  “You helped investigate the deaths. Will you take us from where Mrs. Simpson left off as far as you can?” George said.

  Ranger Lightfoot began, “Ranger Walker left Georgetown and was about a hundred miles out of Huntsville when they were killed. The best we could discern, Ranger Walker had stopped at a stop sign when a car passed in front of him at a high rate of speed. Back-tracking the cruiser, it appears he took pursuit of the vehicle. A few miles down the road he overtook the car and pulled it over. He walked up to the vehicle and must have talked to the driver. He turned and was walking to the back of the car, silhouetted in his own car lights, when someone from the car shot him. There was glass all over the highway. We figured the shooter had shot through the back glass.” A murmur came from the court room.

  “John Baker was sitting in the back seat of the ranger’s cruiser. He must have been watching the entire scene unfold before his eyes. His mouth was wired together, and he couldn’t alert the ranger of the impending danger. He saw Ranger Walker as he was shot and fell to the ground. At the scene we found how he managed to open the door of the police car and tried to get away, only to come face to face with the murderer. He was shot with the same rifle that killed Ranger Walker. We first suspected the Georgetown Sheriff and his deputy but soon saw they had solid alibis. Everyone knew and loved Jake Walker. The boy was an unknown and soon forgotten.” Looking over at Willy, Lightfoot said, “There was one boy who could not forget, the one made in his own image, his twin brother. Mr. Baker sees his brother’s face every time he looks in a mirror. He knew it was his actions that caused his brother’s death. From all we have heard today, John was a very good boy that cared for his prodigal brother. I believe that he was the kind of person who would gladly give his life for his brother and forgive him for anything he would do,” Lightfoot said.

  Looking at Willy, Lightfoot saw the pain in his face and continued, “I took Mrs. Simpson by John Baker’s grave yesterday with fresh flowers, and there is a new stone. It read, “In Fond Memories, Beloved Brother”. The stone had John Baker’s name on it. I remember visiting the grave at the time of the funeral and all that was there was a ‘stone cross’ that the city had supplied. With what we are hearing, the story of John Baker and his death will be told for years to come. God knows where all of His children fall, and John can now rest in peace. His young life was spent working on the bad nature of his brother. Now his story may bring many to the God John Baker loved. He may inspire many to follow a quality way of life instead of the fast and loose way that hurts us all. It is for certain our sins surely touch everyone we know!”

  Lightfoot sat for a moment gathering his thoughts. He then continued, “I went through the back issues of the local papers looking for anything that Willy Baker might have found. While in prison, he must have been searching for answers to his brother’s death. I found where two men had been arrested in a local bar when a fight broke out. They made the news because they were from Chicago and one had a prison record. The papers speculated they were in Texas setting up some kind of illegal operations. One of the men had broken parole by coming to Texas.
To keep from getting sent back to prison he let it be known he had information about the ranger shooting. Unaware to us, he was bailed out of jail and disappeared before we could get any information. The informant was the brother of a gangster from Chicago by the name of Gino LaSalle. The man was never found. He had indicated the other man, McDonald, was responsible for the killings. This could not be substantiated because the man was never seen again. There was bad blood between the two Chicago families from that time on. The man who made bail for the two men was Judd Smith’s brother who was a rancher west of Huntsville. A lawyer from Chicago had supplied the money to bail them out. Judd Smith and his brother had been suspected of rustling and selling stolen cattle. Nothing was ever proven on the Smith brothers. We only knew Judd’s brother bailed McDonald out of jail. Judd Smith enlisted in the army and served with distinction. In his absence no charges were ever proven. He was wounded and sent home from the war. He came home a hero. Six months before the end of the war he enlisted again and distinguished himself, was wounded, and sent back home, that time for good.”

  C38 - Court Day 8---A Horror in Waiting

  The next morning all waited patiently until Mira Simpson was put back on the stand and a hush fell over the courtroom, no one muttered a sound. All sat waiting for her to continue her story.

  ‘Months later, Willy figured things had cooled down and came back to Temple to fetch his brother and be on their way. He had grown tired of the fast life for a while. The first place he went was the lumber company where brother John had worked. When he entered the office, the secretary saw him and fainted dead away. Her supervisor came running over to help her but he too stood in shock at seeing Willy.’

  ‘Billy Jack, it’s you!’ he exclaimed.

  ‘The game was over for Willy, so to keep it simple he just said he was Billy Jack’s twin brother. ‘Where is my brother? he asked. 'I have driven close to a thousand miles to see him!’ Everyone was dumbfounded at his presence.