“You mean Elmer Lee?”
“Yeah, much as I hate to admit it. He’s a royal pain in the rear most of the time, but I’m pretty sure he’s honest.”
“So is Elmer Lee going to be the one to push them into a corner?”
“He can help,” Wanda Nell said, “but I’ve got somebody even better. Somebody they can’t—and won’t— ignore.” She got up from the blanket. “Come on, let’s go outside. I want some fresh air, and I need to make a couple phone calls. We’re going to get this mess settled today.”
Chapter 25
Wanda Nell and Rusty had to walk all the way back to the clearing where Wanda Nell had left TJ.’s truck before she could get a decent signal on her cell phone. She speed-dialed T.J. at the office to let him know she was okay and that she had found Rusty. She couldn’t take time to answer his questions, but instead she asked him to look up a phone number for her.
He was obviously annoyed with her as well as worried, but he complied with her request. She jotted the number down on a scrap of paper.
“Look, honey, I know you’re worried,” Wanda Nell said, “but Rusty and I are just fine. I’ll call you back in a little while to let you know what’s going on, but I’ve got to take care of some other things first. Just be patient, and don’t worry.”
She didn’t give him time to argue with her. She ended the call, waited a moment, then punched in the number T.J. had found for her.
The phone on the other end rang several times, and Wanda Nell was beginning to think she was out of luck when someone answered it.
“Thank the Lord, Ernie,” Wanda Nell said, enormously relieved. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there.”
“Wanda Nell, what’s the matter? Are you in trouble?” Ernie didn’t waste any time on preliminaries. “What do you need?”
“I’ve found my brother, and I need your help. He needs a safe place to hide for today, and I have a plan for taking care of everything, if you can help.”
“Bring him here,” Ernie said without hesitation. “Or do you need me to come and get him?”
“I’ll bring him there,” Wanda Nell said. “We’ll be on our way in a minute. Till we get there, you be thinking of somebody who can help us. Somebody who ain’t afraid of the sheriff and who’ll be willing to make sure he can’t cover this up.”
“Will do,” Ernie said. “Drive carefully.”
Wanda Nell ended the call. “Come on, Rusty, hop in the truck and let’s get going.”
“I can’t just leave Veenie’s car out here,” Rusty said, not moving. “Can’t we take it by her house and drop it off?”
“We don’t have time,” Wanda Nell said, her patience wearing thin. “If everything goes okay, we’ll be able to get her car back to her by sometime tonight. Now get your rear in this truck and let’s get going.” She didn’t wait for a response, she simply got in the truck and cranked it.
Rusty hesitated a moment, but evidently he saw no point in arguing further with his sister. He went around to the passenger side, opened the door, and climbed in. “All right. Let’s go.”
Down the old road toward the highway they went, with Wanda Nell driving as fast as she dared without shaking either the truck or their bones into a thousand pieces.
As they neared the highway, Wanda Nell said, “Can you get down on the floorboard, Rusty? I think it might be better if nobody could see you until we get through town.”
Rusty grumbled, but he did as she asked. He scrunched himself down in the floorboard and rested his arms and head on the seat. Luckily for him, the cab of TJ.’s track was pretty spacious, so he wasn’t too cramped from what Wanda Nell could see.
Before she turned onto the highway, Wanda Nell fished in her purse for her sunglasses, grateful that she hadn’t left them in her car. She also asked Rusty for the dirty gimme cap he had brought with him. With the sunglasses on and the cap jammed down on her head, she hoped she would have enough of a disguise, just in case anybody was watching for her.
Wanda Nell drove pretty fast on the highway, but she was careful not to go too fast. The last thing she needed right now was to get pulled over for speeding. Traffic was fairly heavy in Tullahoma because it was nearly noon. She kept a wary eye on the rearview mirror, watching for anyone who might appear to be tailing her.
“Where are we going?” Rusty said. “You ain’t told me yet, and I’d kinda like to know.”
“Sorry,” Wanda Nell said. “I forgot about that. You remember our English teacher from high school, Miss Carpenter?”
“Yeah,” Rusty said. “So that’s who you were talking to. I thought her name sounded familiar when you called her. What’s she got to do with all this?”
“She was a big help when I was looking for information,” Wanda Nell said. “And she said if there was anything else she could do to help, I should call her. Her family is pretty prominent here, and she knows a lot of people. I figure if anybody can help us spike the sheriff’s guns, so to speak, it’ll be Ernie.”
“Ernie?” Rusty said, surprised. “You call her Ernie?”
Wanda Nell laughed. “Yeah, pretty funny, ain’t it? Her name’s Ernestine, but she told me to call her Ernie.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Rusty said, laughing.
Wanda Nell was breathing a little more easily by then because they were now out of Tullahoma. In ten or fifteen minutes they would be at Ernie’s.
The rest of the short drive transpired without incident, but Wanda Nell insisted that Rusty stay down in the floor of the truck until they reached Ernie’s house, just in case.
When Wanda Nell pulled up in front of the Carpenter home, she had to go around to the passenger side and help Rusty out. One of his legs was cramping, and he was having a hard time getting out by himself.
Ernie had the door open and was halfway down the walk by the time Rusty could straighten his legs. She stuck out her hand. “Rusty, how are you? Wanda Nell’s told me about the trouble you’re in.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Rusty said, shaking his former teacher’s hand awkwardly. “It’s a mess, and I sure do appreciate you helping us out like this.”
“I’m glad to do it,” Ernie said. “Now y’all just come on in here. I imagine by now you must be pretty hungry, and I’ve got more than enough lunch ready for the three of us.”
“Good Lord,” Wanda Nell said, turning to her brother. “I never even thought to ask you if you needed something to eat. You must be starving.”
“I am,” Rusty said as he followed his sister and Ernie into the house. “I had some candy bars and stuff with me at the old house, but I could just about eat a horse right now.”
“You’re going to have to make do with vegetables and cornbread,” Ernie said as she showed them into her dining room. “Have a seat, and let me pour you some tea. Dive right in.”
Rusty didn’t wait for a second invitation. He pulled out a chair, sat down, and immediately began piling his plate with steaming creamed corn, field peas, and string beans. Wanda Nell passed him the cornbread, still warm from the oven, and then handed him the butter.
Ernie returned with glasses of iced tea, and Wanda Nell filled her own plate. She was just about as hungry as Rusty was, though she ate with less haste.
They all ate for a few minutes in silence, then Ernie turned to Wanda Nell. “Tell me what’s going on, and how you think I can help.”
Without going into too many of the horrifying details, Wanda Nell explained the situation to Ernie. Ernie didn’t say anything while Wanda Nell talked, but she did push her plate away, half of it untouched, before Wanda Nell finished.
“How horrible,” Ernie said. “Rusty, I am so sorry. I’ll do everything I can to help you and Lavinia and Lily.” She shook her head. “I always wondered why Lavinia never came back to school that fall. I had heard she moved away, but we all lost track of her after that.”
“I think her and her mama did leave town for a couple of years,” Rusty said. He pushed his plate away
too, but his was empty. Wanda Nell was glad to see him looking better. The hot food had obviously done him good.
“I have a very dear friend,” Ernie said, her face turning slightly pink, “an old beau, actually, who is a retired justice of the state supreme court. He still has quite a lot of influence, and I know he will be very interested in this story. With him on our side, I can assure you that justice will be done.”
“See, it’s like I told you,” Wanda Nell said, looking at her brother.
Ernie pretended not to hear that comment. Instead, she said, “Now, as I see it, we need to confront these vermin about what they’ve done and the steps they’re going to take to rectify the situation. Obviously, they can never make it up to Lavinia for what they’ve done to her, but they can save young Lily’s life. It’s the very least they can do.”
“And whoever it was that killed Reggie has to pay for that, too,” Wanda Nell said.
“Most assuredly,” Ernie said.
“But how are we going to do all that?” Rusty asked. “The sheriff ain’t going to do a damn thing about it. Pardon me, ma’am,” he added hastily, ducking his head in embarrassed fashion.
Ernie chuckled. “I’ve heard stronger words than that, Rusty, and even used a few myself. You don’t teach in a public high school for forty years without learning some vulgar language.”
“No, ma’am,” Rusty said, his face still a bit red.
“But you’re absolutely right about one thing,” Ernie continued. “The sheriff can’t be allowed to cover this up. The truth is going to have to come out, and in such a fashion that it can’t go back in again.”
“Exactly,” Wanda Nell said. “We need to corner those rats and not let them loose. We need to get them all together and hit them with everything we’ve got.”
“Yes,” Ernie said, “and I’d be delighted to help with that. What were you thinking, Wanda Nell?”
Wanda Nell shrugged. “I was just thinking maybe I could lure Bert and Marty somewhere where they thought Rusty was hiding, confront them with everything, and then turn them over to Elmer Lee Johnson. I believe he’s honest, and I don’t think he’d let the sheriff intimidate him, not over something like this.”
“I think your basic idea is a good one,” Ernie said, “but I do believe it calls for certain refinements.” She paused, thinking. “Yes, I think I know what we can do. My old beau, the retired supreme court justice, lives in Senatobia, and I’m sure he’d be delighted to join us. I think I might also invite a couple of other people, but more about that later. What do you say we invite the vermin, otherwise known as Bert, Marty, and Tony Campbell, to my house this evening for a little party?”
“Are you sure?” Wanda Nell said.
“Yes, ma’am, it could be dangerous,” Rusty said. “No telling what they might try to do.”
“Oh, I think we can take care of that,” Ernie said.
Wanda Nell nodded slowly. She was thinking of Mayrene, who would be mighty disappointed with her if she wasn’t included in this. “Yeah, I think we ought to have quite a little party.”
“Good,” Ernie said. “Now here’s what I think you should do.”
Chapter 26
Wanda Nell and Rusty listened carefully to the plan Ernie proposed, but there were several things about it that made Wanda Nell uneasy. For one thing, Ernie wanted to invite the three men to her house for the confrontation. Wanda Nell worried over that because Ernie’s house was so isolated. Her nearest neighbor was a half mile away. Besides which, Ernie was just plain taking over, although she meant well. Wanda Nell was grateful, but she didn’t feel comfortable with Ernie putting herself in that position.
After Ernie finished talking, Wanda Nell exchanged glances with Rusty. She saw her uneasiness mirrored in his face. For a moment, she felt like she was in high school again, about to talk back to a teacher. “I think the basic idea is a good one,” she said, watching Ernie carefully for signs of annoyance. “But I don’t like the idea of anything happening here in your house. It’s so far away from everything.”
Ernie nodded but didn’t reply.
“I think it would be better to do it in a public place,” Wanda Nell said. Then she laughed. “My first idea was to lure them out to that old house where Rusty was holed up, tie them up, and leave them there for a few days.”
Ernie grinned. “An eye for an eye?”
“Yeah,” Wanda Nell said. “And I thought about telling them we were going to send some friends out to visit them, some friends who didn’t take kindly to the way they had treated a friend of theirs.”
“Would you really have done that?” Ernie asked.
“No, but it sure wouldn’t hurt them to sweat it out for a few days,” Wanda Nell said.
“Amen to that,” Rusty said.
“But I like the notion of putting them in a corner, where they can’t get out, in full view of people who aren’t going to be intimidated just because the daddy of one of them is the sheriff,” Wanda Nell said.
“That’s why I think you should get them here,” Ernie said. “I think they’re more likely to come here than they would be to some public place in town. Here they would feel less threatened.”
Wanda Nell thought about that for a moment. Rusty shrugged, as if leaving the decision to her.
“I think you’re probably right,” Wanda Nell said finally. “I guess I hadn’t thought about that part of it. But are you sure it won’t be too dangerous for you? I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you because of this.” She really didn’t want to put Ernie in danger, but she also knew that, having enlisted the woman’s help thus far, she couldn’t rely deny her if she wanted to be there.
“Don’t worry about me,” Ernie said. “I don’t think anything is going to happen to me. But I’m doing this of my own free will. I want to see justice done, and I think I can help. There is strength in numbers, after all.”
“What about Lily?” Rusty asked. “Do you think she should be there?”
“No,” Wanda Nell said. “The poor girl still thinks that maybe you’re her father. She obviously doesn’t know what happened to her mother, and I’d sure hate for her to have to find out like that.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Rusty said. “I guess at some point she’ll have to know, though.”
“Yeah, but I think her mama will have to be the one to tell her,” Wanda Nell said. “If she can.”
Rusty shrugged. “What about Veenie? Should I try to get her here?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea either,” Wanda Nell said. “Things could get out of hand if she shows up. Besides, would Veenie really want to see them all again?”
“No, I guess not,” Rusty said.
“I should get on the phone to Porter,” Ernie said. “Porter Tillman, that’s my old beau the retired judge. What time shall I tell him to be here?”
“I guess I’d better call Melvin first and tell him I’m going to have be off tonight,” Wanda Nell said. “May I use your phone?”
Ernie waved a hand toward the instrument sitting on a nearby desk. “Help yourself.”
Wanda Nell punched in the number and waited. She glanced at her watch. The worst of the lunch rush would be over by now.
“Hey, Ruby, it’s me,” Wanda Nell said. “Can I speak to Melvin, please? Tell him it’s important.”
“Sure thing, Wanda Nell,” Ruby Gamer replied. “Hang on a sec, he’s at the cash register.”
When Melvin came to the phone, Wanda Nell launched right into a terse explanation. Melvin heard her out completely before he made any comment.
His first few words almost blistered Wanda Nell’s ear. Melvin had always had a very poor opinion of men who abused women. “Those sons of bitches. We oughta just line them up against the wall and shoot ’em,” he said in a slightly less irate tone.
“Then I guess you don’t mind if I take off tonight,” Wanda Nell said.
“You’re welcome to,” Melvin said. “I just wish I could be ther
e to see those sons of bitches get what’s coming to them. You be careful, you hear?”
Wanda Nell promised she would be, then hung up. “Now I’ll call Porter,” Ernie said. “You two just relax for a few minutes.” She disappeared into another room.
“Are you okay with all this?” Wanda Nell said as she sat down.
“Yeah,” Rusty said. “I appreciate all this, Wanda Nell. I hate involving you in this mess, though.”
“I’m just sorry I couldn’t do something before,” Wanda Nell said. “I wish I had known about all this sooner.”
“Wouldn’t have made much difference,” Rusty said. “I don’t think it would have changed things much.”
“It might not have changed some things,” Wanda Nell said. “But maybe you and me wouldn’t have spent so much time not talking to each other. You’re my brother, and it’s not right for you and me not to know each other anymore.”
Rusty shrugged, not saying anything.
“Look,” Wanda Nell said, starting to get annoyed with him, “I know you were mad at me for a long time because you thought I didn’t care, or maybe that I was too involved in my own problems to worry about yours. And I guess I was. Right after Daddy died, I went a little crazy. I got pregnant, and then I got married, and I guess I just didn’t make time for anybody else. The last thing I ever wanted to do was push you out of my life, Rusty.”
“I know that,” Rusty said, his face reddening slightly.
“But I was real screwed up. I was so angry at everybody, but mostly I guess I was mad at myself because I didn’t do anything to stop them. After Daddy died, I couldn’t talk about it to anybody. I sure couldn’t talk to you and Mama.”
“We would have understood,” Wanda Nell said.
“You were going to have a baby,” Rusty said, “and Mama was grieving so over Daddy. How could I burden y’all with something like that?”
From the hallway came the sound of a throat being cleared, and loudly. Moments later Ernie walked into the room, a bright smile on her face.
“Porter will be happy to assist,” she said. “He was outraged, as I expected he would be, when I outlined the circumstances for him. He’ll be on his way here shortly, and we’ll be able to fill him in on the full picture.”
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