Chapter 46
Waylon Roque was up early that morning after a fitful three-hour night’s rest, overseeing the renewed search for this fugitive who seemed once again to have slipped maddeningly through his fingers. He was beginning to think this Hope was some kind of damn ghost or something.
Roque was watching the salvage crew hoist a battered Pontiac Firebird from the muddy bottom of Bayou Robicheaux when he received the urgent radio call summoning him back to base. ‘You’d best step on it, Sheriff,’ said the desk sergeant. ‘These people are real nervous and edgy. I don’t know how long I can keep them here.’
‘What people?’ Roque snapped back, irritated at being dragged away from more pressing matters.
‘Vernon and Ivy Tanner. Retired couple.’
‘I know ’em. Or of ’em, leastways,’ replied Roque, who had long made it his business to know most things about most folks in his parish. ‘Live up along the north end of Kadohadacho Creek. What of it?’
‘Can’t say for sure, Sheriff. They won’t tell me much, but it seems real important. I reckon you need to get over here to talk to them in person. Somethin’ tells me you won’t regret it.’
Roque trudged back to his patrol car, and forty-seven minutes later hurried inside the Sheriff’s Office building to be informed by the desk sergeant that the Tanners were still there waiting for him. He found the couple sitting in a little interview room, sipping paper cups of iced tea and looking every bit as nervous and edgy as he’d been told.
Roque shook their hands and greeted them with a ‘Now, Mr and Mrs Tanner, what can I do for y’all?’
‘Fact is we didn’t know what else to do, Sheriff,’ Ivy Tanner said, wringing her hands in agitation. ‘Bin talkin’ about it for two whole days, and we just couldn’t decide what was right. I still ain’t sure about it.’
Roque pulled up a chair and perched opposite them. ‘Talkin’ about what, exactly?’
Vernon Tanner’s face was blotchy and beads of sweat were breaking out all over his brow. ‘We’re God-fearin’ people, Sheriff,’ he blurted anxiously. ‘We’d never betray a friend. But, well, this is somethin’ else.’
Roque was beginning to realise that whatever this was, he would have to coax it out of them. He could only hope it was worth his while. Smiling his most patient smile he said, ‘All right, folks, why don’t we just take this nice and slow, relax and tell me in your own time what this is all about, okay?’
Vernon took a few deep breaths to compose himself. ‘Well, you see, Sheriff, it’s about the Heberts. Our neighbours.’
Roque pursed his lips and thought for a moment. ‘Heberts. Heberts. Now that’d be Tyler Hebert, the lawyer fella? Married a coloured girl, if memory serves me right. Let me see now … Kate?’
‘Keisha,’ Ivy Tanner said. She spelled it out for him. Roque nodded sagely, hiding his impatience. Ivy added, ‘They got two kids, Noah and little Trinity, plus there’s Caleb from Tyler’s first marriage.’
‘I do seem to recall somethin’ about him bein’ married before,’ Roque said. ‘So what’s the problem? Just that I have kind of a busy slate, folks.’
‘We dearly love the children,’ Vernon said. ‘Never had any of our own, see. Especially the little girl, Trinity. The Heberts sometimes ask us to take care of ’em for a few hours if they have to take care of things elsewhere, and we’re only too happy to oblige. Lately they been askin’ us to take care of the kids more than usual—’
‘Which ain’t a problem—’ Ivy said.
‘Just unusual is all—’ Vernon said.
His wife nodded. ‘And you see, couple days ago we were havin’ dinner with the kids when the little girl said somethin’ strange—’
‘Strange?’ Roque asked, interrupting the Tanner tag team and resisting the urge to pull out his revolver.
Ivy nodded harder. ‘Yes, Sheriff. Very strange.’
‘So what did the little girl say?’
‘Well, she said there was a man in their house.’
Roque frowned and leaned closer. ‘A man? What kind of man?’
‘Like a visitor. Said he talks funny, like he’s foreign. From England or someplace.’
Vernon said, ‘And when the girl come out with that, her big brother Caleb told her, “Quiet, Trinity, we ain’t supposed to talk about him.”’
Ivy said, ‘Then Trinity replied how it was true, though, and how this English visitor had saved Caleb from the snake and all. They was fishin’ in the creek when—’
‘Never mind the snake,’ Roque said, now fully engaged and anxious to know all they could give him. ‘Tell me about the stranger. Did the kids say anythin’ more, like a name or a description? How long’s he been stayin’ there with them?’
‘Can’t recall if they mentioned the fella’s name,’ Vernon said, scratching his head. ‘Don’t know for sure if he’s there no more, neither. All we know is, the Heberts were actin’ real peculiar for a few days. Dumpin’ their kids with us at a moment’s notice, not that we minded of course, and goin’ off places without wantin’ to say where. First time, they was away hours and came home real late at night, and even the kids didn’t know where they went.’
‘And this stranger, he went along with them on these trips?’
‘Can’t say for certain, Sheriff. But somethin’ ain’t been quite normal over at the Hebert place, that’s for sure. Then we saw on the TV how the police was huntin’ this fugitive and all—’
‘And we thought you oughtta know,’ Ivy said. ‘Just in case. Can’t be too careful these days, what with all the troubles in the world, foreigners and Russians and whatnot.’
‘I do declare, this country’s goin’ to hell in a hand basket.’ Vernon clasped his wife’s hand. ‘So, Sheriff, the TV said this fugitive feller was an English soldier. You reckon it could be the same man? Only thing is, how in God’s name could the Heberts have got mixed up with someone like that? I’d sure hate for those folks to get into any trouble.’
Roque stood up so fast that his chair toppled backwards. ‘We’ll certainly look into it. I’m most obliged to you good folks for comin’ to me. I just wish you’d told me this sooner.’
‘We’re sorry, Sheriff. We didn’t know what was best.’
‘You done the right thing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to make a call. One of the officers will show you out.’
The sheriff virtually sprinted from the room and down the corridor to his office. Within sixty seconds he was putting out a Code 35 suspicious person radio alert to all patrols in the vicinity of Kadohadacho Creek.
Deputy Mason Redbone’s voice came back, ‘Copy that, Sheriff, I’m on the road just twenty minutes out from the Hebert place. Gettin’ right on it.’
‘Watch yourself, Mason. Best wait for backup in case he’s still there.’
‘Don’t you worry about that, Sheriff. I won’t be takin’ any chances this time.’
Chapter 47
Things had been somewhat quiet around the Hebert homestead since the departure of their house guest, but it was hard to pretend that life had gone back to normal. Keisha had managed to get a few days off work, and she and Tyler had uncharacteristically spent a lot of time glued to the TV. The latest dramatic local network reports on the flight of Louisiana’s most wanted man from the clutches of the law had left them in fits of anxiety.
That morning KLAX news had shown a clip of the stolen car used by the fugitive to make his spectacular flying escape off the side of the Robicheaux Bridge being winched out of the water. Earlier speculation that the wreck might contain a drowned body had, to the Heberts’ immense relief, turned out to be unfounded.
Once again, the whereabouts of the suspected murderer were unknown. The state governor was calling it an outrage and threatening to call in the National Guard. Sheriff Roque announced to a yabbering cluster of reporters gathered outside the Clovis Parish courthouse that it was just a question of time before they caught their man. No further comment, folks. At which point Tyler had turn
ed off the TV in disgust, unable to look at Roque’s face a moment longer.
‘Where’s this gonna end, baby?’ Keisha kept asking her husband.
‘I fear for him, I truly do. He can’t go on like this.’
Now, as the sweltering mid-morning heat approached its peak of the day, Tyler had driven into Chitimacha to visit the hardware store for some tool or other he needed to fix the barn roof. Caleb was occupied with a homework assignment at the kitchen table while Trinity sat happily drawing with her crayons. Noah had been helping his mother feed the pigs, clean out the henhouse and collect their daily eggs, which he proudly carried in a basket, feeling all grown up and responsible.
Keisha and the boy were walking back towards the house when the police cruiser rolled up, lights flashing, tyres crunching on the dirt. She frowned uneasily at the sight of the approaching car. The sunlight reflecting brightly on the windscreen obscured the face of the solitary officer inside. She patted Noah on the head and said, ‘You go on inside, now. Put them eggs away nice and safe and check on your sister. Momma will be there in just a minute.’
The boy ran towards the house, clutching the basket. Keisha stood in the yard with her arms folded and watched as the officer stepped out of the patrol car. What was this about? She was glad Tyler wasn’t at home. Tyler struggled to hide his intense dislike of the police, all police, after what had happened in his past.
Mason Redbone was all smiles as he walked towards her. ‘Mornin’, Mrs Hebert. Sure is a beautiful day, ain’t it?’
In as steady a voice as she could manage, Keisha replied, ‘Mornin’, Officer. What a nice surprise.’ She kept her arms folded and mustered up the effort to keep her expression totally blank as her thoughts whirled and panic flooded through her. An unannounced police visit could only be about one thing. Someone must have reported Tyler and her for harbouring a fugitive. Was she about to be arrested? What would happen to the kids?
‘Oh, I’m just stoppin’ by for a social call,’ Mason said, still smiling pleasantly. ‘Is Mr Hebert at home?’
‘He went into town,’ she replied. She had visions of squads of police descending on Chitimacha to arrest her husband. Lord, what if he resisted and they shot him?
‘So you’re all on your lonesome, you and the kids, huh?’ Mason said. ‘Dearie me, ain’t that a shame.’ He stepped closer, to within a couple of feet of her. Which she felt was way too close. There was a weird vibe about him. She didn’t like the way he was looking at her, or the way his right hand rested casually on the butt of his pistol. Or the fact that the weapon retaining strap on his duty holster was unsnapped. Or the big, florid bruise that discoloured the whole middle of his face and meant, as she now remembered with a shock, that this was the same sheriff’s deputy who’d tried to kill Ben the night of the murder. She’d overheard him and Tyler talking about it.
Keisha moved back a step. Tyler’s absence suddenly didn’t seem like such a good thing after all. She swallowed. There could be no more hiding the fear and guilt that were etched all over her face. She wanted to turn and run, but where to?
‘I see,’ she quavered. ‘And how may I help you?’
Mason Redbone’s smile soured to an ugly leer. He quickly drew the pistol out of its holster and thrust it right into her face. She gasped.
‘Here’s how,’ he said. ‘Call your kids out here, right now. We’re goin’ for a ride. All of us together, ain’t that cosy?’
‘You can’t arrest me like this. What have I done?’
Mason laughed. ‘You hear me readin’ you your Mirandas? I ain’t arrestin’ you, you dumbass boot-lipped bitch whore.’
Keisha thought she was about to faint. ‘Where are we goin’?’
‘To see some friends. They’re just dyin’ to make your acquaintance. Gonna have ourselves a party.’
She yelled, ‘Take me, but leave my children out of it, you hear?’
‘Don’t work that way, nigguh. Now call them fuckin’ kids or I swear I’ll go in there and start shootin’.’
She wanted to scream, ‘Babies, run! Get away, and keep on runnin’!’ But he’d only go after them and hurt them. She was powerless to resist him in any way, and the realisation floored her. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she called their names. Caleb emerged first from the house and his eyes widened at the sight of the cop threatening his stepmother. Terrified he was about to defend her and get himself killed, she called out, ‘It’s okay, sweetheart. We’re gonna be okay. Come over here. Noah, Trinity, you too.’
‘Get in the car,’ Mason said, waving the pistol. ‘Them two filthy half-breed niglets piss on my seats, I’m gonna make you lick it up.’
The back of the police cruiser was like a prison van. The rear bench seat was low down and uncomfortably hard, and a steel mesh cage separated it from the front and covered the side windows. There was no way to unlock the doors from inside. It was a tight squeeze for all four of them. Keisha hugged the two crying young ones to her sides, trying to stem her own tears and be strong for her babies. Caleb was pale and shaking with impotent rage and kept shouting, ‘Jerk! Asshole! Leave us alone!’
‘Shut it, boy, or I’ll hit you so hard your ass’ll pop out your throat.’ Mason fired up the car and took off at speed. His police radio was off.
They were quarter of a mile down the old Kadohadacho Creek road when they flashed past Tyler’s battered Jeep Cherokee heading towards home. The kids began screaming, ‘Poppa! Poppa!’
Keisha pressed her hand to the barred window and caught a momentary glimpse of her husband’s face turning to stare as he passed by them, his eyes flaring wide with horror. Twisting around to see out of the back, she saw the Jeep swerve to a skidding halt in the middle of the road. Tyler U-turned so fast he almost rolled the car, then came barrelling after them. Keisha moaned, ‘No, baby, no!’ She knew that the cop would kill him if he tried anything.
Mason saw the Jeep in his mirror, threw a leer back at his passengers and just put his foot down harder. The acceleration pressed Keisha back in her seat.
Tyler tried, and tried hard, to catch them. But the police car was too fast for him to follow, and Keisha soon lost sight of him. She clasped Noah and little Trinity even more tightly.
Would any of them ever see Tyler again?
She closed her eyes and sobbed.
Chapter 48
After another coffin ride, Carl dropped Ben off at the abandoned gas station and was about to drive off when Ben tapped on his window. Carl rolled it down and gave him a curt nod. ‘Yo, whassup?’
‘Before you go, I have a question for you.’
‘Whassat?’
‘Do you and your friends in the woods actually possess any ammunition for those old guns of yours, or are they just a bunch of wall hangers you bring out to keep unwanted visitors away?’
Carl looked at him as though weighing up whether to reply truthfully or not, then shook his head and said, ‘Nah, man, they’s just for show. Got no bullets or nothin’. I ain’t never shot a gun in my life.’
‘That’s what I thought. See you around, Carl.’
The hearse departed. Ben watched it go, then walked over to where he’d left the Ford Taurus. It was oven-hot under the baking sun. He drove a mile and pulled up off the road, in the shade of some fragrant magnolia trees. He rolled open all the windows, lit up a Gauloise and sat for a long time studying the map that Sallie Mambo had given him.
The satellite image was zoomed in like an aerial view from about two thousand feet. Not close enough to make out individual details like the house or the bridge that Sallie had described, but the shape of the island was clearly visible. The piece of land, maybe a dozen or fifteen acres judging by the scale, was really just a prominence jutting from a sharp bend in the bayou shoreline. Over time the waters must have eroded away any land bridge connecting it to the shore, so that it stood isolated like its own little natural fortress surrounded by a mud-brown moat containing God-knew-what kinds of lurking reptilian dangers.
Now it be time to meet your fate. The old woman’s voice echoed in his ears as he pensively fingered the mojo bag talisman she’d given him to hang around his neck.
Fate or not, there was no turning back now from what he had to do. He didn’t doubt that Jayce and Seth Garrett, along with whatever force of men they had at their disposal, would be looking to find him and get their revenge for Logan and the destruction of their moonshine plant. But he had no intention of letting them come to him. He was going to meet them instead on their own ground, where he could be sure of getting both brothers where he wanted them. And this time, he intended to make sure they didn’t get away.
To storm an island crawling with armed men under the command of the likes of Jayce Garrett, single-handed and unsupported: it didn’t seem like Ben’s idea of a tactically sound plan. Going up against challenging odds, sometimes even crazy ones, was something he had plenty experience of. But walking into a certain death trap was something else again, and definitely not an option he was inclined to choose. They had all the firepower, he had none. His element of surprise was blown, and a superior enemy force was stirred up like a hornets’ nest. And he still had to take the Garretts down without killing them – a strategy that, so far, hadn’t quite gone to plan.
In short, Ben was heavily outgunned and facing a serious disadvantage. The more he thought about it, the more he realised he had no choice other than to call on outside help.
The only question was, whose? He might have been able to muster up a few men from Sallie Mambo’s little troop of guardians. But Carl’s admission about their lack of experience and equipment had only confirmed Ben’s suspicions. Camping out in the woods protecting an old woman nobody had any reason to harm in the first place wasn’t quite in the same league as declaring war on a band of ruthless killers. Even assuming that he could persuade Carl’s guys to help him, and that he could somehow magically procure an arsenal of decent weaponry to arm them with, he had no desire to lead a band of good, decent and woefully unprepared men to their deaths. The Garretts would wipe them out like swatting flies.
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