by D'Ann Lindun
Jody dug a card out of his back pocket and handed it to her. “For Lindy’s sake, and that of Jimmy Ray Hunt, I hope you’re right. If you hear from her, call me at this number.”
“Sure thing.” Candy stuffed the card between her breasts without looking at it first.
• • •
Jace paced like a caged animal.
Lindy watched him warily. He hadn’t harmed her in any way, but tension radiated from him like heat waves off the sun. For several hours, he’d been surly and on edge. He’d left the house for a short time, and when he came back inside, he told her he’d lit the furnace and there would be hot water to bathe and the kitchen stove would work. He didn’t want her to turn on the lights, though, and the only illumination came from the moon.
Every bone in her body ached and all she’d done most of the day was sleep on the lumpy sofa. Now her stomach grumbled and she wished Etta were here with her mountains of food. “Do you have any more peanut butter crackers?”
“Yeah. You want a Coke, too?” He stopped pacing long enough to look at her.
“Sure.”
He tossed her a cold can of cola and a pack of crackers. “Ain’t much of a meal.”
“It’s fine.” She popped open the cola and drank deeply.
“Not like you’d have at home.”
Why was he pressing her? “Not the same food, but I’d be eating alone.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because the Chief would be at work and Mother would be in bed.” She fiddled with the pack of crackers, her appetite gone.
“I don’t follow.” He folded his arms across his chest.
“Things have changed since you’ve been … away.” Tears formed at the corner of her eyes and she blinked them away.
“How?” He straddled the end of the couch and stared at her with a cool expression. A faint smile crossed his face. “Are the debs wearing blue instead of white this year?”
“Mother has ovarian cancer. The doctors can’t do anything.” Her throat tightened too much for more words to come out.
“I didn’t know.” He didn’t sound sorry, but he didn’t sound happy either.
The tears threatened to fall and she swallowed them. “Yeah.”
“So why doesn’t Trey keep you company?” His tone went hostile.
Now it was her turn to stare at him. She didn’t think she would ever hear Trey’s name out of his mouth again. “A lot changed when you left.”
“You’re telling me.”
“With everyone.” She was getting sick of his pity party. “Not just you.”
“My heart’s breaking.”
“Trey went into the Marines, to Afghanistan. In fact, we haven’t seen him since you left.”
He didn’t reply to that. “Do you ever see my mama or Summer?” Longing colored his voice.
“Not your mother. No one sees her. But Summer works at the Curl Up and Dye. I bump into her sometimes.” She played with her crackers.
“Do you have her cut your hair?”
A test. She hesitated. There was no right way to answer this one. If she said yes — a lie — he’d think she had his sister wait on her. If she told the truth and said no, he’d think she thought she was too good. There was no way too win. “Not really.”
“No, I didn’t think so.” Spinning on his heel, he went to the window and peered out.
“My friends and I usually go to the mall. Or do our own hair.” There was no way to make this come out right.
He continued to stare out the window. “Yeah.”
She had to make him understand. “Look. I don’t have any problem with Summer. She seems really sweet, but my parents … they made Trey leave … ”
The look on his face when he spun around was ugly. “What do you mean? Trey ran off the first chance he got.”
Is that what he really thought? “Who told you that? Summer? You’re both wrong. He never wanted to go away. But the Chief packed him up and took him to see the recruiter in Jackson. The next thing I knew, he was gone.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that.”
“How’d your old man force Trey if he didn’t want to go?” He sounded dubious.
“I don’t know. The Chief said there were too many bad memories here and Trey needed a fresh start.”
“He probably couldn’t face what he did.”
“Did you expect him to lie?” Lindy held his gaze, but he refused to back down. “You know he wouldn’t.”
“I expected him to be a friend.”
“Even if that meant lying under oath?” Lindy couldn’t believe her guts. She didn’t know where her courage came from, but she wasn’t going to sit here and let him feel sorry for himself any more. If he got a chance to start over, he was going to blow it.
Jace ran a hand through his long hair. “Hell, I don’t know. All I know is I didn’t kill Deke Soloman. I thought someone would listen to me.”
“Your mama and sister believed in you.” So did I. Back then she had been convinced Jace couldn’t have done the crime. But she’d grown to realize there wasn’t any other logical explanation.
“Yeah, but they didn’t have any power to keep me from going to that hell hole called Angola.” Bitterness oozed out of him so strong she could almost smell it.
“Neither did Trey or the Chief,” she insisted. Trey wouldn’t lie, and the Chief might be a hard-ass, but he wouldn’t set anyone up to go to prison.
Her words hung between them. She held her breath until he spoke again.
“I didn’t do it and I’m going to prove it.” He jutted out his jaw in a fierce angle.
“So, let’s do it.” She arched her eyebrows at him. “How do you propose we go about it?”
He almost staggered. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” she said softly, “let’s figure this out and set you free.”
Under his frown she could see hope. “What’s in it for you?”
“I’ll help you.” Right now, she wasn’t going to examine her motives. If she could lend a hand and find the truth, maybe he’d forgive a little bit.
“I need to find out who had a motive to kill Soloman, for starters. I was somebody’s flunky. But whose?”
“Who would want to kill him besides you for what he did to your mama?” She met his glare unflinchingly. “If we’re going to figure this out, we need to look at all the evidence.”
She got up, went into the kitchen and rummaged in a drawer until she found a piece of paper and a pencil. Coming back into the front room, she said, “Let’s make a list of suspects.”
“Don’t you get it? There are no other suspects. That’s why I took the heat. No one else had a motive to kill Soloman.”
“If you didn’t do it, then someone else had to have a reason.” She bit the end of the pencil. “We just have to figure out who and why. Soloman was new in town, right?”
“Yeah. It came out at the trial that he got turned down for a job as a custodian at the school where Mama taught English the same week he … raped her.” Jace looked like he might hurl.
Lindy made a note on her paper, speaking out loud as she did. “Soloman attacked MiLann for revenge?”
“That was her theory. But it doesn’t add up. She didn’t have anything to do with the school board’s decision.” He plunked down on the end of the sofa and looked over her shoulder.
“So, why pick her?” Lindy glanced up at him and their gazes held.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“Where was she found? I can’t remember,” Lindy admitted.
“Why would you? You were just a kid.”
“That was then. Times change.” She touched her dry lips with the tip of her tongue.
“Yeah.” He looked away. “Mama was found outsid
e the Blue Cat motel. In the alley. A maid spotted her and called the hospital.”
Lindy tapped her pen against her notepad. “How did she get there?”
“Nobody knows. Mama can’t remember. She blanked out everything after the party at LeFleur. They tried to make her remember at the trial, and it just made her freeze up worse.” He heaved a sigh and stood, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
“So, after your mama was attacked, Soloman was released, right?” Lindy made another note.
“Yeah.” He looked enraged. “The Chief said there wasn’t enough evidence to hold him. Mama was so badly beaten she was still in the hospital and couldn’t finger him in a lineup.”
“What about physical evidence?”
“There is none.”
“What?” The pen slipped out of her fingers, and Jace bent to pick it up.
“The rape kit was lost.” He said it as flatly as if he said the wind was blowing.
“What? How? I don’t understand,” Lindy cried. “Who lost it?”
“You tell me,” Jace muttered. “But it’s gone. Disappeared. The nurse on duty had it and by the time it got to the police it was gone.”
“My God.” Lindy stared at him. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
He met her eyes. “Yeah.”
“You can’t mean to say that the Chief did something to the evidence?” She shook her head. “No way.”
He didn’t answer.
“He wouldn’t do that,” she protested.
Jace held his tongue.
“Why?” she cried.
“You tell me. If I knew the answer to that one, I wouldn’t have been locked up like a dog in a pound.”
“You’re saying the evidence was lost by the Chief and he let Soloman go.” Lindy took a deep breath. “Then what happened? How did you find out?”
He smiled bitterly. “Trey. He was down at the police station. He called and let me know.”
“What did you do?” She reached for the pen. “I’ve heard the story, but you tell me in your own words.”
“I lost my head.” He paused and gathered his thoughts. “I left Mama’s hospital bed and tore over to the Chief’s office. It was late. Around nine-thirty. No one else was around and I told him he’d rot in hell. That I’d see to it.” He met her wide-eyed gaze. “I told Trey I was going to kill the fucker who hurt Mama.”
“Then what?” she whispered.
“I ran out.”
She leaned forward, perched on the edge of the couch. “To go after Soloman?”
“Yeah.” He looked lost in memories. “I went back to the Blue Cat on the hunch Soloman would go back to the scene of the crime. I was right. The door was unlocked and I went in. He was in his room.”
“Alive?”
He shook his head. “No. Dead. He was on his stomach. I hauled him over intending to give him a beating. I wanted him to confess to me at least. But he was dead. He had a knife sticking out of his chest.”
“You touched it? Why?” She breathed the word.
He whirled around. “I don’t know.”
“That’s when Trey showed up?” Her question was more of a statement.
“Yeah.” Jace laughed without humor. “He came to the rescue just in time to find me with a bloody knife in my hands. The rest, as they say, is history.”
“Who else could’ve done it? Who had a motive? Your Mama was still in the hospital. What about Summer? What did she do?”
Jace snorted. “You’re really reaching if you think Summer would kill anyone. Besides, she was with Mama.”
“I didn’t say she did it. I asked who had a motive, no matter how farfetched. If we’re going to do this we need to be open to all the possibilities.” She made another note.
“Fine. Summer was as mad as I was when your old man turned Soloman loose. But she isn’t capable of killing anyone.” He paced. “I can’t think of anyone who would want him dead.
Lindy leaned on her fist. “Who else? We have to figure out who else was as upset as you and your sister. Like your mama’s friends, for instance. Did she have any men friends?”
Jace bristled. “People talked trash about her, but she never even went out.”
“Okay, okay,” Lindy tried to soothe him. “What about colleagues?”
“No one she was close enough to that would kill on her behalf. Your mama was her best friend. Can you picture Miz Emily Bouché killing anyone? Not hardly.” He continued to pace. “This is hopeless.”
“No, it’s not. We just have to keep thinking. Maybe we’re going at this from the wrong direction. Maybe Soloman was killed for something that had nothing to do with your mother at all. Maybe it happened because he said the wrong thing to someone. It’s a possibility he mouthed off to the wrong person and they did him in for it.”
“Too much time has passed. No one would know now.” He turned the other direction. “It came out at my trial that he had been seen drinking at Mugs-n-Jugs right before he was murdered. Maybe someone there would remember seeing him.”
Lindy shivered. “That’s a great idea.”
He shook his head. “That’s probably a dead lead. We’re sure not going to stroll in there and start asking questions. But I might be able to get some information out of old Jimmy Ray.”
“How?”
“If he’s in the shape I think he is, a little gentle prodding might persuade him to open up.” He stopped moving and grinned at her. “Give him a little of his own medicine.”
“You can’t hurt him.” Horror crossed her face. “Surely you don’t intend to use force, much as I’d like to see Jimmy Ray squirm.”
“Why not?” His expression mocked her. “Change your mind about screwing him?”
She froze. Then her hand snaked out and slapped his face. “Let’s get one thing straight, Mr. Hill. You don’t speak to me like that. Ever. And another thing. I never did, nor do I now want to be with Jimmy Ray Hunt in any way. Have I made myself clear?”
“Clear as glass.” He grinned. “You sure get riled up in a hurry.”
“Don’t forget it.” Picking up her paper she asked, “What do you think he’ll tell you?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. Probably less than nothing.”
“What time is it?”
He shrugged. “I guess around six-thirty. Why?”
“This is a perfect time to go see him.” She jumped up. “Let’s go.”
“No way. You’re not going.”
“You’re not leaving me here alone.”
Chapter Ten
Mugs-n-Jugs’ parking lot stood empty save for one classic pickup. Trey pulled in alongside it and turned off his engine.
At the door, Jody said, “Let me do the talking.”
Trey nodded and they stepped inside. A few early bird drinkers sat at the bar, but Jimmy Ray was nowhere in sight. A bleached blonde in a neon blue, skintight mini dress approached them and flashed a smile. Her upper teeth were crooked, but she was pretty in a harsh way. “What’re you boys having?”
Jody flashed his badge. “Jimmy Ray around?”
Her eyes went cold. “In the back.”
“Get him.”
“He’s busy.”
“That’s okay. I’ll find him myself.” Jody pushed by the blonde, Trey following. They walked into a room off the hallway marked private. Jody went through the door first, Trey on his heels. They both came to an abrupt halt. A man lay sprawled across a maroon sofa, his leather pants undone, a dark haired girl kneeling in front of him sucking his dick. He looked up, but didn’t seem to be terribly affected by their presence. “Hey! Get out! This ain’t the bar.”
The girl jumped up and darted by them, pulling her top together.
“We’re closed.” The guy made no m
ove to button his pants. His erection seemed to stare at them, mocking.
“Jimmy Ray Hunt?”
“Who wants to know?”
“I do.” Trey wondered what Lindy saw in the guy. Skinny, with a pockmarked face, Jimmy Ray wouldn’t attract a lot of girls on looks alone. The large purple knot he sported on his forehead and two black eyes didn’t help his position. A ragged scratch ran down his right cheek.
“Zip your pants.” Jody pulled a little notebook out of his shirt pocket. “I don’t want to see that little bitty thing.”
Jimmy Ray’s face flushed. “Fuck you.”
Trey fisted his hands. “I’ll ask again. Are you Jimmy Ray Hunt?”
“Yeah.” He tugged his pants together, but left the top button undone. He reached for a glass on the nearby table and poured himself a shot of tequila. Downing it in one quick motion, he poured another and stared at them belligerently. “Who wants to know?”
“What happened to your face?” Trey countered.
He shrugged. “Bar fight. I had to break it up.”
“Can anyone corroborate that story?” Jody asked.
“Why do you want to know?” Jimmy Ray poured another drink and tossed it back like water. “Cops don’t give a shit about my problems.”
“Did you see a girl named Lindy Bouché in here last night?” Jody asked.
“I saw a lot of chicks last night. What’s so special about this one?” Jimmy Ray downed yet another shot. “They come and they go … if you get my meaning.”
“This girl we want to talk to you about is Lindy Bouché. Maybe you recognize the name?” Jody met the other man’s eyes with a cold stare. “The police chief’s teenage daughter. Too young to be in this place, too young to drink, and way too young to run with your kind.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jimmy Ray’s gaze darted around wildly.
Trey jumped in. “Give it up, Hunt. You know who she is. Apparently, you allow Lindy and her friends to hang out in here. An eyewitness told me you were with Lindy last night. So why don’t you tell me what happened after you left here, and I won’t go to the Chief and tell him about the teenage crowd that hangs out here?”
“You always have your daddy fix your problems? I heard you run when the going gets tough.” Jimmy Ray grinned.