“Mae what have you done,” Walter shouted. “I told you that you were not to mention it. That was too much to ask of the girl getting her all mixed up in that again.”
“No, wait. I didn’t. I didn’t ask her that. I never said a word, just like I promised.” Mae explained herself. “I just told her about the hospital and Dr. Stone. Emmie’s just got money she wants to get rid of. Money she don’t want.”
Wait. Get her mixed up, again? What was Walter talking about? What hadn’t Mae told her? She opened her mouth to ask what they were talking about but didn’t have the chance.
“She ain’t got money just laying around. She’s probably got money from them folks she’s been all wrapped up in. It’s trouble money Mae. It ain’t hers to be giving. Is that right Emmie? You offering us money you earned or money you’ve been given?” Walter frowned at her.
“Walter, what’s it matter where the money comes from?” Emmie asked. “It’s money I don’t want.”
“Yeah, well… nothing’s free girl. I’d think you’d have figured that out by now. Thank you kindly for the offer but we don’t want that money. I’ll not be in debt to that damn little rich boy,” Walter said.
Little rich boy? “Walter, it’s not from Silas. It’s from my father. My real one. And I want nothing to do with it.”
“Really, you got hundreds of dollars you want nothing to do with? Well I tell you something, that ain’t right. If you want nothing from the man it came from then neither do we.” He turned to walk into the den, pulling his pipe from his pocket.
“Walter Jones, have you lost your mind? That girl has the means to help Max and the heart to do it,” Mae shouted.
“Stop it,” Max said. “Stop fighting about me. I’m fine. I keep telling ya but you don’t listen. Just stop fighting.”
He grabbed Spotty’s fur and led the dog to the porch without another word. Max wasn’t a kid that acted out often. Emmie realized for the first time this was an argument that had been going on for a while. She also thought that Mae had probably been anxious to get her over here for dinner to bring it up. Emmie couldn’t blame her. She was looking for anyone to help get Max the help he needed.
Mae opened her mouth to speak but words failed her. Without another word she turned and headed into the kitchen. Emmie could hear her banging around pots and pans as she finished cleaning up dinner. She felt so awkward in the midst of the family argument but what could she do? She had to fight for Max. Emmie followed Walt into the den and sat on the couch across from him.
He spoke first, “Look Emmie. Your heart’s in the right spot. But you’re a smart girl. If you don’t want to be in debt to your father, neither do I.”
“Walter, I won’t tell him what I did with the money. For all he knows I spent it on the mortgage, or college, or shopping.”
“Can’t do it.”
“Can’t or Won’t?”
“Don’t you be pushing me on this, girl. I done made up my mind,” he answered, chewing on his pipe.
Emmie couldn’t believe he was being so pigheaded. “So, what were you and Mae talking about then? What did you not want to her ask or tell me about?”
Walter swore and stood from his rocking chair. It must be big to make the old man pace around the living room before he spoke. Emmie had a feeling she was about to hear more than she’d bargained for.
“You think I wanna see my boy limping around here? Picked on by other kids? This is about more than my pride. I’m not letting my boy be in debt to any of them. I don’t trust them. I can’t control you but I can be damn sure I don’t take their money for Max,” he said barely above a whisper.
“You know I don’t think you want to see him limping. And they are not all bad people…” She stood and met him in the center of the room. She kept her voice in a quiet rapport with his. “What was the other option Mae mentioned? The thing you don’t want me to know. Cause if the Del Grande money isn’t the answer, maybe that thing you don’t want to tell me is.”
“It’s not the answer. You can just trust me on that one,” he said a little louder.
“I have a feeling this is for me to decide.” She squared her shoulders.
Walter laughed. She was starting to look an awful lot like she did when she was in that cave a few months back. Like she had her mind made up about something she didn’t even know yet.
“I’m not telling you. There is no way in the world are you getting that outta me. So you can just march yourself back over to that couch.” He turned his back to her.
Emmie didn’t even know Mae had entered the room until she heard her voice. “You may not tell her… but I will. She’s a grown girl with a right to choose.”
“Mae, don’t you start,” Walter said to his wife seriously.
“That man James and Mr. Johnson showed up here a couple of weeks back. Said they sold your apple pie hand over fist. That was their exact words, hand over fist. They want you to make them more. Pay you a lot. They’ll pay Walt too.” Mae spoke quickly. It was like she was afraid if she didn’t speak fast enough the words would get lost on their way out of her mouth.
Walter shouted at Mae but Emmie had no idea what they were saying around her. She stood there taking in Mae’s words. This was it. The answer. She could take care of Max all on her own, without a dime of Marco’s money.
“How much?” she asked.
“It was four digits, girl. Enough to change my boy’s life. I know Walter’s right. It ain’t even right for me to ask you. Cause I got a feeling they weren’t talking about baking no pies… but I need help and I can’t see no other way out.”
“Alright.” Emmie cleared the space between she and Walter. “No arguments. We’re doing it.”
The old man closed his eyes and swallowed hard. He opened them slowly and looked from his wife to Emmie. “You ain’t got no idea what you two are playing at here.”
“Yes, I do. My grandson’s future. Our grandson’s future,” Mae answered.
Chapter Eighteen
Walter had disappeared. She’d never seen him so angry that he just left. Mae assured her that he would come to terms with it all but Emmie had a sinking feeling in her gut. She didn’t like that Walt was so upset. Emmie’s heels sank into the mud as she cut through the fields on the way home. She lifted her dress as she was nearly ankle deep.
“We should have taken the road, Spotty,” she said to her dog.
He picked up, leading the way. Clearly he didn’t care about the mud. He seemed to love it. Spotty took off to the north, toward the creek.
“Spotty,” she called, patting her thigh.
He spun his head for a moment and wagged his tail, waiting for her to catch up.
“Oh no, you silly thing. We are not heading up there tonight. It’s getting dark.” She patted her leg again.
The dog rolled his long tongue out of his mouth and turned to head for the creek anyway. Clearly her opinion didn’t matter.
She sighed as she took off after him. “I’m crazy for letting you tell me what to do, you know.”
By the time they reached the thicker tree-covered woods it was dusk. What little bit of light peeking through the canopy of tree branches was fading. She knew where Spotty was going. Max was right. What was going on with the dog and the cave? By the time she caught up with him he was already in the mouth of the cave. His toenails clicked against the stone floor as he paced back and forth. He was moving so quickly, it was almost as if he was dancing. Her mouth dropped open as took in the sight of the cave. It wasn’t what she saw that caused her the shock… it was what she didn’t see.
“Come on Spotty. Back to the house.” She turned so fast she slid on a wet rock and slid in the mud. It didn’t stop her, she hopped right back up and made her way back to her house as fast as her feet would carry her.
When she entered the house, her phone was ringing. She ran to pick up the receiver only to find the caller was already gone. It was just as well. She only had one person she wanted to talk to right now
. She just hoped he had made his way home.
Walter answered on the second ring.
“Ole Maizy is gone,” she panted into the phone, still winded from her run down the hill.
Walter snapped. “You know my crazy old aunt’s been dead for years and I got no reason to talk about her now. Lock up and go to bed girl. We will talk about her tomorrow.” He hung up before she had the chance to utter another word.
Emmie rolled her eyes into the phone. She was sorry he couldn’t see it. Of course he wasn’t surprised the still was gone. It occurred to her he was probably the one that moved it. But why? And he couldn’t have done it by himself. Who would he have trusted to move his still? It had been his family for years. There was no way he’d gotten rid of it. Emmie locked the door and changed into her gown. What was Walter up to and why didn’t he want her to know?
**********
Silas swore as he slammed the receiver back on its base.
“Phone pissing you off again?” Trick asked from across the room. He had stretched out in a chair while they waited for their guest.
“I’ve been calling that house for two days and no will pick up the damn phone. What in the hell are those girls up to?”
“Girls?” Gabe asked.
“Ava and Emmie. Have you been able to get hold of them?” Silas asked.
“Yeah, well I talked to Ava this morning. I don’t think Emmie’s with her though.” Gabe frowned.
“What do you mean?” Silas asked, confused.
“Did Emmie go to Chicago?” Gabe asked.
“What?” Silas wondered what his friend was talking about. Chicago. He rubbed his jaw and looked up at Gabe as the meaning dawned on him. “Ava’s in Chicago?”
“Yeah, her parents were pissed about the arrest. Ava said she couldn’t convince Emmie to go home with her. I thought you’d have talked to her by now and that’s why you’d been in such a shitty mood,” Gabe answered honestly.
Without another word Silas picked up the phone and asked the operator for the Talbot house. It rang, and rang, and rang. Again no answer. This time more than the receiver slammed, it was the whole damn phone that came crashing to the ground. Trick jerked up his feet to avoid being hit by the debris that scattered as it made impact.
“I take that to mean there was no answer at her house either?” Trick asked, unfazed by Silas’s little fit.
Silas didn’t answer, he just stood and paced the length of the room. “Do you think we did the right thing to that Thomas man? I mean, she’s there alone now. Did we make enough of an impression he’s not gonna bother her if we aren’t there?”
And the truth came out. Trick finally understood. Silas was not angry at her so much as he was afraid. He had promised not to damage that man beyond repair and he’d kept his word to her. But it went against everything in his being to let that man walk the streets where she lived.
“Brother, I’m pretty sure you made your point with that man. Unless he’s got a death wish he’s not going to bother her. Relax. She’s probably just outside checking the chickens or milking the cows, churning some butter, or whatever it is people do on those farms.” Trick tried to make his brother laugh.
“Shut up, Trick.” Silas cracked a smile.
“Besides, I’m sure that ole farmer friend of hers is watching out for her. Especially if he knows you’re not around,” Gabe said.
“That’s comforting because the last time he watched out for her she sold me hundreds of dollars worth of stolen moonshine.” Silas clenched his jaw at the memory. At least he had the piece of mind to know she was out of that business.
And it was a good thing too. Moonshine wars in this part of the country were getting more and more dangerous as he found out on the drive over to Bardston. He was being sent to clean up a mess. And by mess, he meant take care of some local revenuer that had just taken two of his biggest suppliers out of business. That hadn’t been a pretty sight. Nothing to be proud of. But it was business—an ugly side of business—but it was business nonetheless. And the sooner he got finished, the sooner he could head back to Bowling Green. God, he never thought he’d be so eager to get back to that place. But then again, it wasn’t really the place he was so eager to see.
“Are we ready to get this done?” Silas asked the pair.
“Let’s go,” Trick said with a smile.
**********
If possible this blind pig was dirtier and smaller than the one over the shoe store in Bowling Green. But because it was the only speak in three counties it brought in nearly as much money, so it was important for business. This one was under a butcher shop. Convenient. There wasn’t an office in this joint, so they’d borrowed the store’s storage room. The three of them and the local butcher, Cain, waited for their visitors to arrive, surrounded by knives and hanging animal carcasses. Cain was a big man of few words. He was loyal, which is what really mattered, especially in this situation. Not only was he loyal to Silas’s family, he was loyal to his own. Cain’s brother was one of the suppliers for this pig. One of the suppliers who the greedy revenuer had just taken out by burning down his operation. The papers had made a big deal of it. There were pictures of police officers in shiny uniforms, the local sheriff, and a whole parade of men with axes chopping through barrels of mash. Silas opened up his suit jacket and pulled a folded newspaper with the images and laid it on the table before him just as two men entered the room.
“Welcome boys.” Silas smiled extending his hand.
“Mr. McDowell. We didn’t expect you to make this trip.” The older man spoke up.
“Well, this is our third distributor change we’ve had in two months. It’s been an unsettling time, as you can imagine.” Silas gave the man a crooked grin. “Have a seat.”
He pointed to the chairs that had been brought in. The men glanced at each other before sitting. A makeshift office surrounded by dead animals was bound to make them feel uneasy. Cain never said a word but never left Silas’s side. He kept his arms crossed over his white apron.
“So, I see you’ve brought us some samples. One box all you got?” Silas asked, bending down and lifting the crate to the table. He popped open a jar. The thump of the lid losing its suction echoed off the walls of the tiny room.
“Uh, well, we got a couple more in the truck under some hay,” the man answered.
“Good. And what about the quality?” Silas asked, smelling the liquid.
Ray, the older man, grinned before he spoke. “You know my family’s shine is good. Hasn’t it been selling good at your other two speaks?”
Silas struck a match and lit the moonshine on fire. The glow illuminated the dark room. The flame turned a deep blue as it burned. Ray snorted. “Told ya my stuff is good, why ya even testing it boy? Don’t ya trust me?”
Chapter Nineteen
“Well, it’s a dangerous business you know. Lot of money at stake here. Can’t ever be too careful. But you’re right. The shine seems to be good.” He blew the flame out.
“Does it taste like good shine to you, Cain?” Silas asked, passing the jar to the butcher.
He took a long gulp, swallowing it down without a flinch. He never took his eyes off Ray and the other man. “It’s alright. Ain’t as good as Chris’s.”
Ray turned to face Silas. “That’s a matter of opinion, I guess. But it don’t matter anyway, since your brother’s been put outta business. We was sorry to hear about that.”
Cain took a step toward the man. Silas put a hand out to stop him. “Which brings me to my last question.” He pointed to the two photos on the front page of the paper.
“Ray, what do these photos have in common?” Silas asked, pushing them toward the man.
The man leaned in for a second and then said loudly, “Hell if I know. Just looks like two busted up stills to me.”
Silas, standing over the man, reached out and grabbed his neck and forced it down to the table. “Look closer.” He gritted his teeth.
“I don’t know what you’re ta
lking about.” The man spit as he talked. Silas could feel his pulse pounding through the veins running up the side of his neck.
As the man’s friend stood to help him, the room stilled with the gentle click of a pistol being cocked. The man felt the steel barrel pressing against his skull. “Why don’t we let them work this out, eh?” Trick’s cool, calm voice asked from the other end of the gun.
Ray pushed his arms up in a show of surrender. Like a pup rolling over to a bigger dog. “Alright, Alright. It ain’t got nothing to do with us. I swear.”
“Why the sudden show of fear, Ray? Did you notice something in the photo you’d like to share with us?” Silas asked indifferently, still pressing the man’s head firmly against the table.
“He ain’t connected to us,” Ray shouted.
“He?” Silas asked in mock indifference. “Oh you mean this man?” He jabbed a long finger at the man smiling in both photographs. “Isn’t that odd Ray, that this man, I believe his name is Jim Parbour, should be in both of these photos even though they were taken on opposite ends of the state?”
The man said something but now his face was so firmly pressed against the wooden table his voice was muffled.
“And low and behold if you haven’t tried to take over distributing shine in both of these areas.” Silas said calmly. “Interesting coincidence. Tell me Ray. Did you think we were idiots?”
“No,” his muffled voice shouted and he attempted to shake his head.
Silas bounced his head off the table before he let the man sit up. He didn’t want the man to have time to think about pulling a gun before he retrieved his from his shoulder holster. By the time the man leaned back and his world came back into focus he was staring down the barrel of Silas’s gun.
“No, no,” the man stammered. “We didn’t think—”
Silas cut him off, shouting. “Did you think I couldn’t figure out it was your cousin busting up the competitors and then you show up to reap the payment, like a damn leach.”
Rise and Shine (Shine On Series, Book 2) Page 10