Mark raised his eyebrows. "One?"
"Yes. It was not a big lake, but it wasn't a pond either. It had a hill on one side. It ran East and West. Then--."
Mark held up his hand. "I'd like to hear all the details, JT. But right now I want to know——did you tell Eddie Ray?"
"Yes.” She glanced at Mark, then Crystal. "But you have to know Eddie Ray. He wouldn't hurt a fly. He acts tough and has these tattoos all over his arms and walks like he's stomping on somebody. But it's all show."
Crystal's voice was almost a snarl. "He tried to run Nana off the road. And probably tampered with her brakes."
"And somebody is dead, JT," Mark added. "The thought of gold can make people do things they wouldn't ordinarily do."
JT looked down at her hands, which had shredded the tissues she was holding.
"I think we'd better go talk to Eddie Ray,” Mark said. “Do you know where he is?"
She closed her eyes and swayed ever so slightly. She didn’t speak.
“JT? Will you help us?” Mark’s tone was soft and gentle.
"He should be at home with Luis.” She looked up. “I could call and check."
Mark shook his head. "I don't think we should call. He might run.” He turned to Crystal. "May be best if JT and I go alone. Might get more out of him if there aren't too many people there. JT, let’s go together in my truck."
Crystal sat there, stunned. This was crazy. These attacks on Nana were all because some fool believed a folk tale? Her Nana might have been killed because someone believed a buried treasure story? Bessie was killed. Suddenly, she jumped up, ran to her office and grabbed her purse. They’re damn well not going without me.
She caught them in the parking lot. “I’m going with you.”
Mark looked at Crystal but before he could say anything, she continued. “Won’t do any good to argue. I’m going—with you or in my own car. Which?”
Chapter 28
MARK, Crystal and JT sat in the front seat of Mark's Ram truck, JT in the middle. Mark asked a few questions: how long had she known Eddie Ray, how did she meet him, where was he from, what did he do, had she met any of his family. JT answered in as few words as possible, most frequently, "I don't know."
Crystal sat in stony silence, staring straight ahead, her mind rehashing the news of the last hour. While the IPPI program gave possibilities, led them in a direction, JT confirmed they were on the right track. Her boyfriend had gold fever and probably was the one snooping in Nana’s lake. The Park wasn’t a place he might accidentally pass by on the way to the store. Eddie Ray has been at Nana’s, tried to run her off the road, and probably tried to kill her, Crystal seethed. Mark should have fired JT on the spot. Or after we find Eddie Ray. That small thought of vengeance placated Crystal just enough so she quit grinding her teeth. But her hands were still clenched in tight balls. When she opened her right hand, she saw dots of blood where her fingernails had dug into her palms.
She listened as Mark tried a less threatening conversation with JT: what school did her son attend, did he like it, was she enjoying her job, did she like to cook. Each question got a polite, one-word answer. Most of the way, she seemed on the verge of tears. She looked straight out the windshield, both hands gripping her purse.
When they got near JT’s house, Mark asked her for directions. Again, she provided the information with great economy of words.
Her house was in a neat, middle-class neighborhood. Kids played soccer in the street; two women visited across a flower garden, and near the middle of the block a tough-looking character with tattoos up and down both arms was playing catch with a young boy. Crystal didn't need to ask which house was JT’s.
The grass was trimmed, if not very green. Perhaps it only needed more water. A mimosa tree, with long horizontal limbs, shaded much of the yard. Impatiens filled a flower bed that stretched across the front of the brick house, forming a wave of color from white at the corners of the house, through pale pink, to brighter pink, to shocking pink by the time it reached the small porch at the front door.
Crystal judged Eddie Ray to be over six feet tall, and in the neighborhood of two hundred pounds. Nondescript brown hair curled over his ears and down his neck, stopping just over his collar. His aquiline nose was slightly off-center. He was not a handsome man, but his expression was encouraging and smiling as he carefully tossed a tennis ball into the tiny hands. He wore a short sleeve knit shirt, jeans and boots.
Mark pulled his truck into the drive behind a reddish brown GMC Sierra. Eddie Ray walked over, Luis trailing after him like a friendly puppy. JT slid out of the truck and said something to Eddie Ray in Spanish, which Crystal did not understand. Was she warning him, Crystal wondered, telling him to be careful, or perhaps not say anything at all? JT introduced Eddie Ray, then took Luis by the hand and walked into the house.
Eddie Ray glowered at Mark, narrowing his eyes and tightening his mouth into a straight, hard line. "Juanita said I oughta talk to you. So talk.” He completely ignored Crystal.
She was tempted to laugh at his macho facade. But she remembered the dead woman and her own encounter at the lake. And she could hear her Nana insisting someone was trying to kill her. Eddie Ray didn’t look like the man who had shot at her; he was too tall. He might have been the other man, but she didn’t think so.
Mark wasted no time. "Would you like to tell us about your activities in East Texas, near Wooden Nickel?"
"Hell, no. I wouldn’t like to tell you nothing."
That was a dumb way to start. Crystal decided she could do better. "I was in favor of just sending the police out to pick you up. But JT——Juanita——asked us to talk with you first. So don't give us the stonewall treatment, or we'll call the police now."
For the first time, Eddie Ray looked at Crystal, glowering as if to intimidate her. "I jest tried to scare the old woman, that's all. Ain't police business."
Mark pointed a finger at the tattooed man. "A house was burned down and a woman murdered. That's police business. And you, Mr. Edward R. Dollar, are the prime suspect right now."
Eddie Ray shifted his glare back to Mark. The defiant look vanished. His face paled and his voice quavered. "I didn't know they killed nobody. They didn't tell me that. They said they burnt the house so's she'd have to go somewheres else to live."
Crystal thought Eddie Ray might pass out. His breathing became irregular and his eyes glazed over. Mark put a hand on Eddie Ray's elbow. "Why don't we go inside and sit down, get you a drink of water."
Eddie Ray nodded once and plodded toward the house. If he normally walked like he was stomping on people, as JT had said, the news of the dead woman had certainly changed that. Briefly, Crystal wondered if it was for show, to divert suspicion. If it were, Eddie Ray could get a job as an actor.
The front door opened into a small living room. It was simply furnished, neat and clean. Crystal noticed several children's books on the coffee table and was pleased to see that they looked well used. Mark and Crystal followed the sullen man with the tattooed arms into the adjoining dining room. The Danish-Modern table and chairs continued the style set in the living room. An open door led into the kitchen.
Eddie Ray sank down at a round kitchen table, taking a chair next to JT. She laid her hand lightly on his arm. Mark, not waiting for an invitation, pulled out a chair for Crystal, then sat next to her in the chair directly across from Eddie Ray. Luis was nowhere to be seen.
JT looked up at Crystal. Sadness flooded her eyes, where the tears no longer did. "Can I get you something to drink? Tea? A Dr Pepper?” Everyone at IRS knew that Mark rarely drank anything but Dr Pepper.
Without looking at the woman, Crystal said, "Dr Pepper.” She didn’t hide her anger.
In a minute, JT placed glasses of ice and soft drink cans in front of Crystal and Mark, a longneck Lone Star in front of Eddie Ray and a glass of ice water on the table at her own place.
JT broke the silence. "I've told Dr. O'Malley and Crystal about the information
I gathered and gave to you. But I don't know what you did with it or how it has anything to do with the house burning and a woman being killed. They photographed your truck out there.” Her voice had started out strongly. Now, it turned soft and pleading. "Eddie Ray, I know you wouldn't do that. So, please, just tell them anything you know about it."
For a long time, Eddie Ray played with his beer bottle. He made interlocking rings on the tabletop with the bottle’s wet bottom, then tilting it over until beer almost spilled out. Finally, he took a long pull on the amber liquid, set the bottle down and looked at Mark. It was all Crystal could do to keep from screaming at him to get on with it.
"I was at the Longneck. That’s a bar over in Deep Elum. I'd downed a few, and these guys was talking big and ... . Hell, I just got tired of them acting like they was such big shots.” He glanced at JT, then looked back at Mark, completely ignoring Crystal. “So I said I knowed where a hidden treasure was. Well, they all laughed at me. I got kinda mad and said they wouldn't laugh if they knowed it was a ton of gold. They kept on laughing and called me a stupid drunk. So, I went out to my truck and got some of the computer stuff Juanita had brung me."
JT shook her head slowly and looked away. Neither Crystal nor Mark moved a muscle.
"That got their damn attention all right," Eddie Ray continued. "But then somebody said it weren't no good if I didn't know where it was. I said I knowed where it was but I wasn't gonna tell them.”
He looked down at the table, and for a minute, Crystal thought that was all he was going to say. Then, without looking up, he started again. “Guess I was trying to play the big shot. Most time, I never got two dollars to rub together. Not for long, anyways. I wanted to shut their face from laughing at me.”
Crystal stole a glance at Mark, but his focus never left Eddie Ray.
After a few moments, Eddie Ray continued. “I had another beer and left. Well, two guys followed me out and grabbed me and banged me up. Said they ought to kick the sh.” He stopped in mid-word and cut his eyes toward JT. "Kick the crap out of me for lying and gettin’ people all upset. I told 'em it was true, the computer said the gold was there. They started punching on me again.”
He looked at JT, and this time Crystal thought he was trying to make JT understand. "There was two of them, Juanita. I thought they was gonna break me in half.” He kept his gaze on JT for several moments, then looked back at Mark. "So, I said I'd bring ‘em the location the next night, figuring I won't never go back to that bar no more. And I didn’t. But they must ‘a followed me home, cause a couple of days later, they showed up here and said if I didn't get ‘em that location, they'd snatch the kid."
JT's hands flew to her face and she gasped. Her body jerked. "You never told me that! Oh, Jesus, Mary and Joseph."
"That's when I tried to get you to send him to your mother’s."
She began to rock back and forth, as the tears flowed down her cheeks. She crossed herself and said “Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.”
"It's okay. It's okay," he whispered.
In spite of her anger, Crystal could not keep from feeling sorry for JT. She could only imagine the pain of hearing that someone was threatening to kidnap your child. And Crystal found it encouraging that this man, working so hard to appear tough, actually showed concern for JT’s feelings. If only he’d worried about Nana.
Eddie Ray wrapped his arms around JT and spoke softly in her ear. "They won't take Luis. I told ‘em where the gold was hid. I even helped ‘em search for it. They won't take him. I promise you that. I promise you, nothing will happen to Luis."
JT was crying now. "But what if there isn't any gold? Or I found the wrong lake? They'll come back. They'll try to take Luis.” Her entire body shook.
"I'll take care of him, Juanita. You know I will. I won't never let nothing happen to Luis. I love him as much as you do."
For a long time, JT cried and Eddie Ray held her. Finally, she pulled away, fished a tissue out of her pocket and wiped her eyes. "I'd better go check on Luis.”
"What happened next?" Mark asked as soon as she was out of the room. "You said you'd bring the location."
Eddie took another sip from the brown bottle, then frowned at it as if the beer tasted bitter. He set the bottle aside and seemed to be collecting his thoughts.
Crystal and Mark waited.
"I kept pushing on Juanita to find the location. She didn't wanna do it and I was purdy rough on her and threatened to leave. I couldn’t tell her about Luis.” He looked at Mark, pleading for understanding. "Them guys was serious. What else could I do?"
"You could have told JT. The police. They take kidnapping threats very seriously."
"It would’ve really upset Juanita."
"Her son was in danger. She deserved to know," Crystal said.
Mark put his hands on the table and leaned forward. "So, JT finally found a lake that she thought had the gold in it. Then what?"
"I told 'em where it was. They made me drive ‘em out there and we eyeballed it—found out it was a big damn lake. Not big like Tawakoni, or even White Rock, but damn big to search. And some old lady lived by it. They decided I was the one what had to search the lake for it and that meant I had to scare the old lady off. So I tried a couple of times. But she wouldn't leave.”
No, you wouldn't scare Nana off, Crystal thought.
"You told them which lake, but then you had to search for the gold?" Mark asked.
"Yeah. And I had to give ‘em half when I found it. But like I said, the old lady wouldn't scare. They was mad as hell. Worked me over again. Then they said they'd take care of it. They'd burn her house and she'd have to go somewheres else. Then I could find the gold. Honest, they didn't say nothing about killing nobody.” For the first time since sitting down at the table, Eddie Ray looked at Crystal. “Maybe it was an accident."
Crystal shook her head, her simmering anger again flashing to a boil. Her voice was like a hot poker. "It wasn't an accident. They crushed her skull before the fire burned her."
Eddie Ray swallowed and looked down at the table.
"So, what happened next?" Mark asked.
Eddie Ray let out a long breath. "They called me and said it was all clear, watch out for firemen or anything, but the old woman wouldn’t be there. So, I goes back out and looks some more. I don't know how I'm gonna find it."
"What can you tell me about them?"
"Names is Joe and Al. Never heard no last names."
Crystal and Mark waited for more, but there wasn't any. "What did they drive?" Mark asked.
"Don't know. Only saw their car once at night. It's black with fire painted on the hood, you know, like the engine's breathing fire."
"Ford, Pontiac? American, foreign?"
"Couldn't see. It was dark. Pretty sure it was American."
This is like pulling teeth, Crystal thought, impressed with Mark’s patience.
"What do they look like?" she asked.
Eddie screwed up his face and shrugged. "Just guys."
Crystal pushed. "One maybe five feet eight or nine, late twenties, dark hair, big nose? The other one almost your height?"
"I guess. Joe’s kinda short. You know 'em?"
"Not exactly.”
Mark asked, “Did they mention any other names? Did they hang around anybody else?"
Eddie shook his head.
"Just the two?"
"Once they said something ‘bout a boss. No name, just ‘the boss’."
For a while, they just sat there. The chances were overwhelmingly against any gold in Eula's lake. But just the possibility of a ton of gold—that small, tickly thought—could awaken a powerful greed in people who wanted something for nothing.
Mark leaned over and spoke softly into Crystal’s ear. “I don’t think sending Luis to JT's mother for a while will put him out of danger. But until we get this straightened up, it's probably a good idea.”
“I agree.”
"Go talk to JT. Tell her we’ll take Eddie Ray to get her
car, and she should give serious consideration to taking Luis to her mother’s. Or some place that can’t be connected to her.”
Crystal nodded and went to look for JT.
Chapter 29
AS soon as Crystal was out of the room, Mark leaned over and whispered softly to Eddie Ray. “We’ll drop Crystal off at her car and then you can drive JT’s car back here——later.”
Eddie Ray knitted his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side. “I can take JT to get it.”
Mark continued. "No. Because you and I have a little errand to run.”
The tattooed man still looked puzzled.
Mark glanced toward the door. “Once we’ve dropped Crystal off at her car, you and I are going to go see if we can find Joe and Al. But we can’t tell JT or Crystal about that. Okay?”
A few minutes later, the three left. Eddie Ray carried a small bundle.
At the parking lot across from the IRS office, they dropped Crystal at her car. They watched her drive off and once her car was out of sight, Mark pulled out and headed toward Deep Elum.
Eddie Ray unrolled the bundle. "This gonna be a little big for you, but it'll look better at The Longneck. Didn't think your feet’d fit none of my boots."
Mark looked at the shirt. He wasn't sure he wanted to blend in too well. It might be better if he were dressed a bit above the regular crowd.
"Won't nobody talk to you dressed like you are."
“ Okay. I’ve got some old ropers behind the seat.”
For a while, both men were silent. But Mark’s mind explored various aspects of this bizarre situation. What would a ton of gold be worth? He did a few mental calculations and raised his eyebrows. At today's price, over forty million dollars! One could live extremely well off the interest of that and never touch the principal.
Don't get sucked into that kind of thinking, he told himself. It doesn't make any difference what it would be worth. There isn't any gold there. But until Joe and Al and “the boss” realize that, they'll remain a threat.
“What’re we gonna do when we find ‘em?”
A Ton of Gold (Crystal Moore Suspense Book 1) Page 13