No Easy Solution (Crowley County Series Book 1)

by T. E. Killian

  They all waited for Bert to continue and when he didn’t, Floyd prompted him. “What did he say the message was Bert?”

  Bert looked at Gil and said, “He said that if you don’t leave town in a hurry, a lot of people were going to get hurt.”

  Floyd slapped Bert on the shoulder lightly. “That’s good Bert. You did real good.”

  Bert grinned back at him.

  Gil was about to ask Floyd what he planned to do now when Floyd looked straight at him and said, “Did you see Clyde lay his hands on Bert?”

  “Yes, I did. I heard Bert cry out and I looked over at them. That’s when I saw that Clyde had Bert by the shirt collar the way he did me Monday. Then he threw Bert into the bushes there beside the sidewalk.”

  Floyd stood, put his hat on, and said, “Well, that should give me enough to arrest him for assault.”

  With that, he stormed out of the office.

  Betty came in and sat next to Bert. “Bert, I called Daisy and she’s on her way over here to get you.”

  Bert looked upset. “No, ma’am, I’m okay. I don’t need to go home. I gotta stay and work today.”

  Betty looked at Gil who shrugged his shoulders and said, “Why don’t we let Daisy and Bert work that out together once she arrives?”

  After Daisy left and Bert stayed to do his job, Gil was sitting in his office trying to make sense of all that had happened since he’d come to Crowleyville. But that was the problem. None of it seemed to make any sense at all.

  Why would two men he’d never met before want to run him out of town so badly?

  He pulled a legal pad over and began to take notes on it. What possible reasons could they have for wanting him to leave town? The next question was what had the last pastor done that was so bad that Gil had apparently inherited?

  He thought about that for a few minutes then realized that all that was on the surface must only be a smoke screen for what was really going on under the surface. But what?

  Then he thought about what it would take to run the bars out of business like they thought he wanted to do. The quickest way would be if they lost their liquor licenses. They would almost have to do something illegal for that to happen though. But what? What reasons would it take for them to lose their licenses?

  That was when it dawned on him that they had to be doing something illegal that they could lose their licenses for and they were trying to cover it up by drawing all the attention on him and Jo.

  He picked up the phone and called her. When she answered, he said, “Hi Jo, this is Gil. How are you today?”

  “Oh, hi Gil. I was just thinking about calling you.”

  That was good. He liked the sound of that.

  “Well, the reason I’m calling is that I thought of some possibilities for why Earl and Clyde are harassing us.”

  “I’d be glad to hear anything you’ve come up with. I don’t have a clue right now.”

  He thought he caught a bit of reservation when she said that. It only made him more sure that he was on the right track.

  “Well, I was thinking that those two aren’t afraid that we’ll try to close them down. I think that there has to be something else going on, something that they may be doing that is illegal and they don’t want anyone looking at them, but at us.”

  There was a long pause on the other end of the line then she said, “Gil, I think you need to tell Floyd what you just told me. I know something that you don’t, but Floyd asked me not to tell anyone. But if you tell him this, he might talk to you about it.”

  * * *

  Jo finished all of her restocking Wednesday morning just in time to open up. For some reason, they’d been very busy the night before and she’d had a lot to restock.

  She turned on the open sign, unlocked the door, and just made it back to the bar when the customers started coming in. She stayed so busy through lunch that she didn’t even have time to think about anything besides filling food and drink orders.

  Finally, at about one thirty, the place was empty and she sat on her stool trying to rest and catch her breathe.

  That was when she started thinking . . . again. But she had so many things troubling her that she just didn’t know where to start. But then, when she stopped to think about it, weren’t they all interrelated?

  Of course, and didn’t everything revolve around Gil Turner, the new preacher in town? Was that all he was to her? When she forced herself to answer that question, she knew he wasn’t. She had grown quite fond of him. But what could she do about it? There were so many differences in their situations that they could never become more than casual friends. The biggest hurdle of all was that she owned a bar and he was the pastor of a church that hated drinking.

  Oh, she’d fooled herself into thinking she could go to his church. She’d gone twice now, but no one there had spoken to her except Gil and Betty Lewis. But Betty probably felt she had to since her husband was Floyd’s chief deputy.

  So, where did that leave her? She knew it put her right back where she’d been two weeks ago, before Gil came to town. She was beginning to realize that things just weren’t going to go her way. They hadn’t for the last two years. So why should she expect that to change now?

  She turned toward the kitchen and the door burst open behind her. She knew without turning around that it had to be either Sue Ann or Floyd.

  Jo slowly turned around to see Sue Ann and she looked like she really needed to talk. Jo hadn’t seen Sue Ann looking this distraught since her divorce two years ago.

  Jo shook her head. That had sure been some year for both of them. First, her parents died and she had to take over both the bar and Carla then Sue Ann went through a bitter divorce. Jo and Sue Ann had both moved back to Crowleyville from Springfield at about the same time.

  Sue Ann trudged slowly up to the bar, sat on a stool, and leaning her elbows on the bar, placed her chin in her cupped hands. She drew in a deep breath and blew it out in a huge sigh, which caused her blond bangs to fly up.

  Jo knew that it was best to let Sue Ann begin when she was ready. She had a feeling that it all revolved around Floyd.

  “I can’t believe he lied to me like that.”

  When she didn’t continue, Jo prompted her. “Who, Sue Ann? Floyd?”

  Sue Ann continued muttering to herself. Finally, Jo said, “Sue Ann, are you going to tell me what happened to you or not?”

  Sue Ann looked up at Jo like she’d just discovered her there. “He lied to me.”

  Jo was getting frustrated now. “Yes, Sue Ann, we’ve established that fact, but who lied to you?”

  This time Sue Ann looked at her like she was crazy. “Well, who do you think? Mike of course!”

  Jo was beginning to think she might never get the whole story. “What did he lie to you about?”

  Sue Ann slammed both her palms down on the bar. “He’s married!”

  Finally, they were getting somewhere but Jo wasn’t sure she was going to like the destination. “Wait a minute. Are you saying that Mike Bates, the new history teacher is married?”

  “Yes, wasn’t that what I just said?”

  “But you’ve gone out with him several times now. When did you find out?”

  “Last night.” She grabbed the Coke Jo sat in front of her and took a big drink. “He said they were getting a divorce but that it wasn’t final yet.”

  Jo thought about that for a moment. “That still doesn’t make it right, especially since he didn’t tell you up front.”

  Sue Ann looked back into Jo’s eyes. “We sure don’t pick our men very well, do we Jo?”

  Jo felt like she’d been slapped. Sue Ann saw the hurt look on Jo’s face and quickly said, “Oh, Jo, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Oh, God, I’m so sorry.”

  Jo picked up a glass of Coke she’d been drinking and took a quick sip in an attempt to settle her shaky hands.

  Finally, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s okay Sue Ann, it’s just that I try not to think about
that.” She set the glass back under the bar. “I guess it’s fresh on my mind since I just told Gil and his mother and aunt about the attack on Monday.”

  That grabbed Sue Ann’s attention. “You told Gil?”

  Jo couldn’t help but smile at Sue Ann’s incredulity. “Yes, I really needed to in order to explain a panic attack I almost had.”

  Sue Ann was fully recovered now. Her anger had been diverted. “What did Gil do to you? I’ll go over there right now and give him a piece of my mind. He can’t go around messing with my best friend and get away with it.”

  She was actually off her barstool before Jo could stop her. “Wait Sue Ann. Gil didn’t do anything.”

  When Sue Ann sat back down, Jo explained. “I met him and his mother and aunt in front of the furniture store and they invited me to have lunch with them at Thelma’s. But the other women picked a booth and before I realized it, I started to slide in with Gil behind me. Of course, I popped up so fast that it startled all of them. And I guess I turned a little pale too, so I thought I had to explain it to them.”

  Sue Ann looked concerned. “How did Gil take the news?”

  Jo smiled. “He took it very well. I think he’d already guessed what had happened to me. He was very gracious about the whole thing and even apologized for almost pinning me in.”

  Once Sue Ann calmed down and was convinced that Gil had not done anything wrong to Jo, she left.

  * * *

  Gil left the church at five thirty to go home after putting it off as long as he possibly could. When he’d left the parsonage after lunch, he’d been trying to get his mother and his aunt to keep out of things. He’d asked them to stay there when he wasn’t able to go with them. They had wanted to go to the other two bars and “scout things out” as they’d called it. He hoped he’d talked them out of it.

  He didn’t get a chance to find out right away. As soon as he entered the kitchen, his cell phone rang. It was Betty who had driven Bert home for his protection.

  “I just wanted you to know that Clyde was waiting out on the street for Bert. He followed us to the home and then drove off. Before you ask, I’ve already called Floyd. It seems that he hasn’t been able to find Clyde to arrest him yet.”

  All he could say was, “Thanks Betty. I’m sure glad you drove him home.”

  When he disconnected, he looked up to find two curious faces staring at him expectantly.

  “What has happened now?” his mother was quick to ask.

  Gil frowned. “Nothing much . . . this time. Betty said that Clyde was waiting for Bert to get off work but since she drove him home, nothing happened. I guess she saved Bert from getting harassed again, at the least.”

  Eunice made a disgusted sound and said, “Well, if that man would just stay at his business all day like he’s supposed to then he wouldn’t be getting into so much trouble.”

  Gil laughed at her seriousness and said, “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” Then he thought about what she had just said and looked both women in the eye. “Did you two go to those bars today in spite of my asking you not to?”

  They both turned and headed back to the kitchen without saying a word. Gil wasn’t going to let them get away with ignoring him, which they were very good at. He was determined to get an answer, so he followed them.

  When he entered the kitchen, Eunice was stirring something on the range with her back to him and his mother had her head in the refrigerator.

  He waited for her to close the door but when she did, she still kept her back to him.

  “Mother!”

  That brought her around to face him. “Don’t you use that tone of voice with me, Gilbert Wayne Turner. That’s no way to speak to your mother.”

  Gil groaned. “All right, Mom, I apologize.” He placed his hands on his hips. “Now, did you two go to those bars today or not?”

  His mother put a pout on her face. “If you can’t be nice, then we won’t tell you what we found out.”

  Gil closed his eyes and mentally counted to ten. It didn’t do any good so he blew out his breath and tried to say very calmly. “Okay, Mom. Would you please tell me what you found out?”

  “That’s better.”

  She turned to her sister and Eunice grinned and said, “We had a lovely chat with this nice young girl who was working at one of those places.”

  His mother took over. “She was just the sweetest little thing. But I don’t know what a nice girl like her is doing working in a place like that.”

  Gil was getting impatient, but knew them too well to interrupt their verbal tag team.

  Eunice said, “Well, you know Flo that she said she’s only working there so she can make enough money to go back to college this fall.”

  Gil was getting dizzy.

  His mother said, “She said there was something fishy going on around that place.” She turned to her sister. “Didn’t she have just the loveliest blue eyes you’ve ever seen?”

  Gil gritted his teeth and tried one more time. “Did she say what was fishy?”

  Eunice looked back at him and said, “Darlene, that was her name. Well, Darlene said that she thought they were switching house for brand.”

  His mother piped in, “Whatever that means.”

  Gil wasn’t too sure himself, but he knew who could tell him. It was almost six so he thought Jo would be in her apartment by now with her sister.

  He grabbed the phone and called her. After she answered and he greeted her, he said, “Jo could you tell me what it would mean if a bar was switching house for brand?”

  He could hear excitement leap into her voice when she said, “Yes, that would mean that the bar was switching what we call house whiskey which is cheap for the name brand stuff which is much more expensive.” She paused and then said, “And that’s illegal by the way. Where did you hear this?”

  Gil looked at his mother and aunt who were trying to listen in. He covered the phone and said, “Which bar was it that the waitress told you this?”

  His mother said, “That one just outside of town past the Wal-Mart.”

  He spoke into the phone again. “It seems that my mother and my aunt went to Clyde Jenkins’ bar today and a waitress told them that.”

  “Gil, you’ve got to call Floyd right away and tell him who that waitress was.”

  He thought for a moment. “It sounds as if you knew something about this already.”

  She hesitated then said, “Yes, that’s what I couldn’t tell you about this morning. But Floyd will really want to hear what you just told me.”

  After Gil finished his phone call to Floyd, he was more confused than ever. Floyd didn’t really explain what was going on. Gil did gather that Floyd suspected both of the other bar owners of doing some illegal things but Gil wasn’t sure how that all tied in with them harassing him and Jo.

  When he looked over at his mother and aunt who were sitting at the table drinking coffee, he knew they were up to something.

  “Okay, what are you two planning now?”

  His mother smiled and said, “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

  He looked at his aunt. “Eunice, you have that look on your face. What’s up?”

  He finally gave up after five minutes of trying to get either them to tell him. He went to bed with the feeling that something bad was about to happen. He just hoped his mother and aunt would be okay.

  * * *

  Jo had just disconnected after talking to Gil when the phone rang again. She was a little leery of picking it up this time. About the only thing those goons hadn’t tried yet was harassing phone calls.

  When she did answer though, it was Grady, her bartender.

  “Jo, Earl Jordan’s down here and he says he needs to talk to you and that it’s real important.”

  Her first thought was to tell him to get rid of Earl. She certainly didn’t need any more harassment from him. Then she remembered the recorder Floyd had given her and what he wanted her to do with it. This could be the perfect opportunity to help Fl
oyd get Earl. She still had the recorder in her jeans pocket.

  When she met Earl downstairs, he immediately said, “Let’s talk in your office.”

  It irked her that he was telling her instead of asking, but she quickly realized that it would be better in her office without the bar background noise to interfere with the recording.

  She gave Grady, who was close enough to hear, a look and said, “I guess so. What’s so important that you have to talk to me in private?”

  Earl didn’t answer but came around the bar to where she was.

  Grady was standing behind Earl and he pointed at himself and then the back toward the office. Jo felt better, knowing Grady was going to be just outside her door.

  Even so, she was still extremely uncomfortable being alone with a man, especially Earl. She left the office door cracked and she saw Grady when he took up his position there.

  As soon as they were both seated on opposite sides of her desk, she said, “Okay, Earl what do you want to talk about?” She hoped Floyd’s recorder started when she said ‘Earl.’

  Earl ran a hand over his smooth bald head and smiled. She was sure that it was far from being a friendly smile though.

  “I’ve got two things I need to talk to you about. First, why won’t you join us in driving that new preacher out of town?”

  She had expected that question and was prepared for it. “Earl, how many times do I have to tell you and Clyde both that Gil Turner is not going to be a threat to any of us?”

  Earl snorted. “I guess Clyde was right. You’re sweet on that new city slicker. He’s got your mind all messed up so you can’t even see what he’s really up to.”

  Jo stood. “If that’s all you wanted to talk to me about, Earl, you’ve wasted your time and mine by coming here.”

  Earl leaned back in his chair and held up a hand. “Hold on now, Jo. That’s not all I came to talk to you about.”

  When she sat back down, he continued, “I have a proposition for you, one that’ll make money for both of us.” He smiled a crooked smile. “Are you interested?”

  Suspecting what was coming, she wanted to have him thrown out of the building, but for Floyd’s sake, she smiled and gave him a noncommittal answer. “Who isn’t interested in making more money Earl?”