by Bill Crider
“We can’t carry him out of here,” Buddy said.
“Try your cell phone,” Rhodes said. “Call the EMS. Tell them to hurry.”
“They always hurry,” Buddy said.
He took his cell phone from his shirt pocket. It wasn’t too wet, and while he was making the call, Rhodes took off Gunnison’s belt and tied it above the wound.
Buddy ended the call. “They’re on the way. I hope they get here in time.”
“They can make it in fifteen minutes,” Rhodes said. “If they drive fast.”
“You sure do look a mess,” Buddy said.
Rhodes figured he looked like eight pounds of mud in a five-pound bag. He felt like it, too.
“It’s not the first time,” he said.
“You know what?” Buddy said.
“I probably don’t.”
“I don’t think Sage Barton has ever fought a crocodile.”
“Alligator,” Rhodes said.
“He hasn’t fought one of those, either. It’s not everybody who can fight a crocodile.”
“Tarzan,” Rhodes said, “but this was an alligator.”
“What’s the difference?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, there you are. You think Gunnison’s going to live?”
“I hope so,” Rhodes said.
“I wish he hadn’t called me Peewee,” Buddy said. “It’s made me kind of indifferent about what happens to him.”
“He needs to recover,” Rhodes said. “I have some questions for him.”
“I still don’t much care about him, but getting his leg nearly bitten off by a gator is bad enough punishment for him, I guess. Well, that and the fact that if he killed Melvin and Riley, he’s likely to get the needle one of these days.”
“He killed them, all right,” Rhodes said.
“A whole lot worse than calling me Peewee.”
“You got that right,” Rhodes said, “but we have another problem.”
“What?”
“We need the pistol. It’s evidence.”
“You want to flip to see who goes for it?”
“I’m the sheriff,” Rhodes said. “You’re the deputy.”
“Dang,” Buddy said, but he got up and handed Rhodes his cell phone and his revolver. He took off his duty belt and started for the creek.
“Watch out for the alligator,” Rhodes said.
“I’ll let you do that for me,” Buddy said. “If you see him coming, jump in and do whatever it is you did for Gunnison.”
“I jabbed it in the eye. You might want to remember that.”
“I’d rather you do it.”
“I will if I can get there in time,” Rhodes said.
He didn’t think the alligator would be back, but he didn’t know much about alligators.
“You’re a real comfort,” Buddy said.
“People tell me that all the time,” Rhodes said.
Chapter 25
Buddy got lucky and found the pistol on his second dive. He brought it out and put it on the ground beside Gunnison.
“You can enter it into evidence at the jail,” Rhodes said, looking at the pistol. It was a .32, which was what he’d expected. “Better do it before you clean up.”
“We both look a sight,” Buddy said.
“I’ve looked worse,” Rhodes told him.
* * *
Getting Gunnison to the ambulance after it arrived wasn’t easy, but the EMTs managed it with Rhodes and Buddy helping. The EMTs said that Gunnison had lost a lot of blood and was in shock. They didn’t know any more than that, but it was certain that Rhodes wasn’t going to be able to question him until at least the next day, if then.
Rhodes told Buddy that they didn’t need to do any searching at the moment. They could come back and get the jon boat, but for the moment what they needed to do was to go back to town and clean up.
“You can put Hack and Lawton in the loop when you go by the jail,” Rhodes said.
“They like to know what’s going on,” Buddy said. “I try to keep them up-to-date.”
“I guess somebody has to,” Rhodes said. “They couldn’t stand it otherwise.”
He and Buddy left together, with Rhodes following the county car. However, by the time he was halfway back to Clearview, Rhodes had decided he wasn’t going to clean up. He was still muddy and damp, and maybe some of the dampness was Gunnison’s blood instead of water, but that was all right. He thought maybe his appearance would work in his favor.
Before he got to town, he called Seepy Benton on his cell phone. The Tahoe had a Bluetooth hookup that allowed him to make hands-free calls.
When Seepy came on the line it sounded like he was outside, and he was a bit out of breath.
“Are you okay?” Rhodes asked.
“Yes. I’m out working the yard. You’ve seen my Golden Rectangle, and now I’m adding two more cabalistic yard sculptures. One is a Semiotic Tree of Life, and the other one’s a labyrinth created from the ten Hebrew letters that name the ten Sephiroth.”
Rhodes had no idea what Seepy was talking about, and he was afraid to ask. So he said, “I’m sure they’re wonderful, but what I need is some marijuana information.”
“You have the right man on the line,” Seepy said. “What do you want to know?”
Rhodes told him.
* * *
Nadine Bacon answered the door and gaped at Rhodes. He probably looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon’s first cousin.
“What on earth happened to you, Sheriff?” she asked.
“I got into a little tussle in a creek,” he said. “Is Billy here?”
“He just got in from work, and he’s having some iced tea. Do you need to talk to him?”
“Yes, I do.”
Nadine gave Rhodes a dubious look. “Why don’t you go on around the house to the patio. We have a table and chairs back there, and it’s a good place to talk.”
“Good idea,” Rhodes said. Nadine and Billy weren’t going to be happy with what he had to say, and he didn’t want to add ruining their indoor furniture into the bargain. “I’ll meet you two back there.”
“You want to talk to me, too?”
“Yes, both of you.”
“All right. You go on back, and I’ll get Billy. Would you like some tea?”
“No thanks,” Rhodes said, and started around the house.
The lawn looked so good that Rhodes almost hated to walk on it, but he did. The concrete patio was covered with a metal roof, and a glass-topped table sat in the middle of it. Four white metal chairs with a lot of scrollwork stood at the table. Rhodes pulled one back. It was heavier than he’d expected. He sat down and waited.
In a minute or so, the sliding glass door from the house opened, and Billy and Nadine came out. Billy was holding his glass of tea in one hand. The glass was beaded with moisture.
“You look like you’ve had a bad day, Sheriff,” Billy said.
“You should see the other guy,” Rhodes said.
Billy set his tea on the table and held a chair for Nadine. When she was seated, Billy sat down, too. “Nadine says you wanted to talk to me.”
“That’s right,” Rhodes said. “Both of you. First thing, I want to tell you that we have Gene Gunnison in custody. I believe he killed Melvin Hunt and Riley Farmer.”
Billy had been about to pick up his glass of tea. Instead, he nearly knocked it over. He grabbed it with both hands to steady it and looked at Rhodes.
“Gene Gunnison?”
“That’s right. The man who was growing marijuana on your place.”
“Really? And a killer, too? It’s a good thing you caught up with him.”
“It is,” Rhodes said, “but that’s not the end of the story.”
“It’s not?” Billy said.
He reached for his tea and picked up the glass, but his hand was still shaky enough to rattle the ice cubes against the side.
“No, it’s not the end,” Rhodes said. “I think you kn
ew all along that Gunnison was growing the marijuana. You claimed you never went down to the creek, but you’d worn a path down there with your truck. I noticed that there were no weeds growing in the tracks you made. Now, I don’t know if you allowed Gunnison to grow his crop there or if you asked him to do it, but you knew about it.”
“I don’t know why you think that,” Billy said, “because it’s not true.”
“Oh, it’s true, all right. I’m not saying I blame you. I understand that Nadine’s been doing a little better lately. Right, Nadine?”
Nadine looked at Billy, who looked away.
“I’m doing better, I guess,” she said.
“Breaking away from the benzos isn’t easy,” Rhodes said. “Some people say that cannabis can be a help.”
“I … don’t know.”
“I do.” Rhodes looked at Billy. “I have a good source of information. Cannabis can help a man who’s under a lot of stress, too. More than iced tea can, and it might even relieve the pain from an old football injury for a little while.”
“Did Gunnison tell you I knew about the marijuana?” Billy asked.
“He’s not in any condition to talk,” Rhodes said. “He was the other guy.”
“I see.” Billy set his tea back on the table. “Is he dead?”
“No, not dead. Just a little torn up from his run-in with the alligator that he had guarding your cannabis patch.”
“It’s not mine,” Billy said.
“It was yours and Gunnison’s. Gunnison shot two men to keep it quiet. He would’ve shot you by now if you weren’t involved already.”
Billy relaxed a bit and leaned back in his chair. “It sounds to me as if you don’t have any proof of anything you’re saying.”
“That’s true,” Rhodes said, “but when Gunnison’s able to talk, he’s going to implicate you. I just wanted to warn you.”
That wasn’t true. Rhodes had hoped he might goad Billy into a confession, but Billy wasn’t having any of it.
“I thought from the start that you might have been the one who cut the lock on your gate,” Rhodes said. “Nobody had come there that day in a vehicle, but you didn’t want me to know that, so you had to do something to make it look like someone had. You hoped that would keep me from checking down in the bottom.”
“That’s not true,” Billy said.
“Don’t think I’m not sympathetic to your situation,” Rhodes said, ignoring him. “I am, but growing marijuana is still illegal in this state. Even worse is failure to report a crime. The good news is that you didn’t try to conceal it. Did Gunnison call you to let you know what he’d done, or did he just leave Melvin’s body there for you to find?”
“I’m not going to talk about this anymore,” Billy said. He stood up. “Come on, Nadine. We don’t have to talk to the sheriff if we don’t want to unless we’re under arrest.”
“Are we under arrest?” Nadine asked, looking first at Rhodes and then at her husband.
“No,” Rhodes said. “You’re not.”
“Then we’re going inside,” Billy said. “You’re welcome to sit out here and enjoy the evening if you want to, though, Sheriff.”
Rhodes stood up. “No, thanks. I think I’ll just go on home.”
* * *
Rhodes didn’t care that Billy hadn’t confessed. It had been a long shot, but it had been worth a try. Even if Gunnison didn’t implicate him, Billy was on notice. Rhodes was sure that all the puzzle pieces were in place now and that the picture was complete, or as nearly complete as it was likely to be. Gunnison might fill in some of the blanks. Will Smalls might fill in some of the others after he talked to his lawyer. Maybe even Billy would after he’d had time to think things over, but that was all in the future. For now Rhodes was satisfied.
When he got home he went in through the back door. Yancey ran to greet him but backed off almost immediately.
“What’s the matter?” Rhodes said. “You never saw a creek monster before?”
Yancey came up to sniff at the cuffs of Rhodes’s pants. While he was doing that, Ivy came into the kitchen.
“Oh, my,” she said. “It’s the Legend of Boggy Creek.”
“I saw that movie on TV,” Rhodes said. “The legend’s about a monster, not a sheriff.”
“I should’ve said the Legend of Crockett’s Creek,” Ivy said. “The sheriff is the legend this time, but beating the monster. You’re about the biggest thing on the Internet since Kim Kardashian.”
“Who?”
“Don’t try to kid me,” Ivy said. “You know who she is.”
“Barely,” Rhodes said.
“Doesn’t matter. You’re a true hero in the Tarzan style, fighting a crocodile barehanded and saving a man’s life.”
“It was an alligator,” Rhodes said, knowing for sure that Buddy had given Jennifer Loam the story.
“That doesn’t matter, either. The headline is ‘The Crocodile Fighter of Crockett’s Creek.’ I like the alliteration.”
“Clickbait,” Rhodes said.
“See? You know more about the Internet than you pretend.”
Rhodes decided not to mention that he’d never heard the word until yesterday.
“I wish those stories would stop,” Rhodes said. Yancey started to growl and bite at one of his pants legs. “Stop that, Yancey.”
Yancey stopped and went to sit under the table, looking sad-eyed.
“If you want the stories to stop,” Ivy said, “you’ll have to stop being so heroic.”
“I don’t feel heroic,” Rhodes said. “I feel like I fought an alligator.”
“At least you won.”
“I don’t feel like I won.”
“I know what you need,” Ivy said. “You need a day off.”
Rhodes thought about his most recent attempt to take some time off and all that had happened. He laughed out loud.
“You know what I think?” he said.
“No. What?” Ivy asked.
“A day off is the last thing I need,” Rhodes said.
ALSO BY BILL CRIDER
SHERIFF DAN RHODES MYSTERIES
Between the Living and the Dead
Half in Love with Artful Death
Compound Murder
Murder of a Beauty Shop Queen
The Wild Hog Murders
Murder in the Air
Murder in Four Parts
Of All Sad Words
Murder Among the OWLS
A Mammoth Murder
Red, White, and Blue Murder
A Romantic Way to Die
A Ghost of a Chance
Death by Accident
Winning Can Be Murder
Murder Most Fowl
Booked for a Hanging
Evil at the Root
Death on the Move
Cursed to Death
Shotgun Saturday Night
Too Late to Die
PROFESSOR SALLY GOOD MYSTERIES
A Bond with Death
Murder Is an Art
A Knife in the Back
PROFESSOR CARL BURNS MYSTERIES
… A Dangerous Thing
Dying Voices
One Dead Dean
About the Author
BILL CRIDER is an Anthony Award winner. His short story “Cranked,” which appeared in Damn Near Dead, was a finalist for an Edgar Award. Crider served for many years as chair of the Division of English and Fine Arts at Alvin Community College. He lives in Texas. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Ch
apter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Also by Bill Crider
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors’ imaginations or are used fictitiously.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS
An imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
SURVIVORS WILL BE SHOT AGAIN. Copyright © 2016 by Bill Crider. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover illustration by Ben Perini
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Crider, Bill, 1941– author.
Title: Survivors will be shot again: a Dan Rhodes mystery / Bill Crider.
Description: First edition.|New York: Minotaur Books, 2016.|Series: Sheriff Dan Rhodes mysteries; book 23|“A Thomas Dunne Book.”
Identifiers: LCCN 2016003503|ISBN 9781250078520 (hardcover)|ISBN 9781466890824 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Rhodes, Dan (Fictitious character)—Fiction.|Sheriffs—Texas—Fiction.|Murder—Investigation—Fiction.|BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural.|GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3553.R497 S87 2016|DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016003503
e-ISBN 9781466890824