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“What’s the matter with you! I just told you that my boy has been kidnapped! You’re the police, do something about it!” Fred Simple, pudgy little butterball of a man, stood on tiptoes nose to chin with Sheriff Barns.
“Calm down, Simple. That boy of yours disappears for days at a time in those woods, everyone in this town knows that. And he’s an adult. If he wants to camp out somewhere, that’s not a matter for the law.”
“No, I told you, a man named Dark took him.”
“You actually saw this Dark fellow take Dooley?”
“Not exactly. But Dark came to my shop late last night. He did something to me, he drugged me or something, and when I woke up this morning Dooley was gone.”
“What time?”
“What?”
“When did he come to the shop?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Well, did he knock on the door?”
“No, I don’t think so. He got in somehow on his own. We don’t lock our doors anyway; he probably just opened them and walked in. But what does any of that matter?”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing that I can remember.”
“OK, what did you say to him?”
“Nothing, I think. The next thing I remember is waking up.”
“You think? You don’t think? You don’t remember? Get the hell out of here, Simple. You’re wasting my damn time.”
His face red with anger, Doc Simple was escorted out of the police station by a burly deputy.
Barns was on the phone with Fenster immediately, telling him about Simple’s visit. “I don’t like it. Dark is out of control.”
“Dark was never in our control. But if he’s on anyone’s side, he’s on ours. He says he’ll help solve our Indian and Goth problems. Just stay out of his way and we’ll be there to pick up the pieces.”
“I still say we don’t need him.”
“And he doesn’t care if we need him or not. He’s involved, and we can take advantage of that. Don’t provoke him, he’s deadly; but keep your eyes on him. We have mutual interests but I don’t trust him.”
“What does our inside man think of Dark?”
“He’s amused, according to Frank.”
“Amused? He’s a pretty cool character for a damn redskin, ain’t he. Dark scares the piss out of me.”
“Frank has great confidence in his Indian friend, and despite his obvious shortcomings Frank is a good judge of poor character,” his uncle insisted.
“OK, I’ll grant you that Skunk is a pretty good judge of poor character, seeing how it takes one to know one, but I’m still not sure exactly what’s cooking on that Reservation. Our inside man is improvising, since Johnny Goth showed up.”
“As we all are, Barns. That’s how we will win.”
Barns shook his head in frustration. “I still don’t like it. There’s too many things happening and too many people involved. It’s getting all too fucking complicated.”
Fenster smiled. “Certainly. That’s what will make it impossible for Goth and the Tribe to handle everything. It’s like throwing a whole batch of rattlesnakes at them all at once. They’re going to get bit for sure. And we'll be there to give them an extra kick in the head and get what we want.”
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Secrets of Goth Mountain Page 26