Boss didn’t answer. Instead he said, “Where’s Billy?”
“In our custody,” Otis said, “and he’s gonna stay that way.”
Boss sneered. “I ain’t particularly interested in taking him by force. Things will get messy and loud. That kind of thing draws attention that I don’t want.”
“He ain’t leaving here,” Dani said.
“He is,” Boss said, tapping the pocket of his jacket. “Got something I wanna show you, Sheriff.”
Otis nodded his approval.
Boss slowly dipped his hand inside his pocket, pulled out a baggy, and held it out for Otis to take.
The sheriff hesitated and then snatched the baggy out of Boss’s hand. His gut tied in knots when he saw the contents: a ring with a small solitaire diamond. “How’d you get this?”
Boss held his smile.
“What is it?” Dani asked.
“I asked you a question.” Otis said.
Boss still didn’t reply.
“What is it?”
Otis pulled his gun and aimed it at Boss. “Don’t make me ask a third time.”
“Goddamn it!” Dani shouted. “What is it, Uncle Otis?”
The sheriff swallowed and said, “Your aunt’s diamond ring.”
Boss chuckled. “You can hardly call that a diamond. Diamond dust is more like it. She must love you, or you’ve got a huge pecker because she sure didn’t marry you for your money.”
Randle quickly stepped forward and placed the barrel of his gun against the base of Boss’s skull. “You son-bitch! You goddamn motherfuckin’ son-bitch!”
Boss, sounding impossibly cool said, “No need to get all undone. She ain’t dead or harmed in any way. She’s sitting in her kitchen drinking a cup of coffee with one of my boys.”
“Back off,” Otis said to Randle, trying to sound as cool as Boss.
“And no harm will come to her. That ain’t my desire. My desire is to get Billy Campbell back where he belongs.”
Otis struggled to keep his composure. Finally he said, “Campbell ain’t here.”
Dani gave him a confused and pleading look.
“I thought you might have him hidden.” Boss’s face soured. “This feels like a negotiating tactic. I don’t respond well to that sort of thing.”
“It ain’t no negotiating tactic. He just plain ain’t here.”
“Where is he?
“Gone. Released. We had nothing to hold him on.”
Boss examined the sheriff’s face for signs of deception. “I need confirmation.”
“Follow me,” Otis said as he turned and headed for the holding cell area.
Boss watched the sheriff waiting until he reached the door to the back room before he took his first step. The thought occurred to him that the hick might be stupid enough to think the answer to his problems was taking Boss out, but it was a fleeting thought. The fat little flatlander loved his wife. He’d keep his hands clean.
Kenny was standing with his fingers wrapped around the bars when the two men entered. When Dani stood just inside the doorway, he stepped back and placed his hand on the pistol shoved down the back of his pants.
“What the shit?” Boss said, red-faced.
“Kenny here has quite the gift of gab,” Otis said.
Boss chewed on his cheek to keep himself from yelling out a string of profanities.
“He’s already had a chat with Corporal Maggie Armstrong of the state police,” Dani added.
Boss’s nostrils flared as he stared down the chubby closeout king.
Kenny shrugged. “They pinned me down, Boss. Didn’t have no wiggle room ’cept the truth.”
Boss tightened his fists to crack the tension out of his knuckles. “You are by far the dumbest son of a bitch that’s ever worked for me, Kenny.”
“That might be true,” Otis said, “but he’s got shit on you that will guarantee you receive an unmarked grave in a Tennessee state cemetery. Hand Jeannie over, and he disappears. You ain’t got nothing to worry about.”
Boss absorbed the sheriff’s offer and then laughed. “I think you misunderstood my intentions, police man. I didn’t come to trade out your wife for Billy or Kenny or whoever else you got in this shithole station. That was part of the deal, but there’s more to it. I also come to trade her out for you and your deputies.”
Otis furrowed his brow.
“This ain’t gonna turn out well for you. Ima drive all y’all out to the woods and introduce your brains to a couple of rounds from my favorite Amigo.” He grinned. “I know what you’re thinking. A .45 caliber is a little overkill for point-blank range, but I just love the way it kicks.” He put his arm around Otis and whispered, “I’m gonna be completely honest with you. That little fucking sparkplug deputy bitch, Ima take her for a spin before I kill her. You understand, right? She’s just way too juicy not to.”
Otis stiffened, and every thought in his head froze in an instant. He didn’t know what to do.
“You took the man’s wife, Boss?” Kenny asked.
“Shut up, brick brain.”
“She ain’t in this.”
“Grown-ups are talking, Kenny!”
Kenny slowly pulled the gun out of his pants, but kept it hidden. “I know you don’t think a whole lot of me. You got it in your mind that I’m medically stupid and such, but I know more than you think.”
Boss rolled his eyes. “Jesus Christ, you just can’t keep your mouth shut, can you?”
“I know how you run your business, Boss. I know that much.”
“Enlighten me,” Boss said, throwing up his hands.
“You ain’t got the sheriff’s wife.” Kenny looked to Otis. “He ain’t got her, Sheriff.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Otis asked. He held up the baggy with the ring. “He brought her ring as proof.”
Kenny’s expression turned gloomy. “I’m sorry to say she’s most likely dead. Boss ain’t the type to leave things unbroken.”
Otis felt his heart flutter and then slow and then flutter again as he stared at the baggy in his hand.
“Boy, you’re right about one thing,” Boss said. “You are medically stupid.” He turned to Otis. “Don’t put no stock into what he’s saying. Your wife is alive. Whether she stays that way is up to you.”
“Call her,” Kenny said.
“Shut the fuck up, Kenny! Goddamn, you are getting on my last nerve!”
Otis nodded. “I’ll agree to your terms once I talk to my wife.”
Boss huffed and grimaced. “Fine.” He looked over his shoulder. “I need to talk to my men first.”
“No need.” Otis pulled out his cellphone.
Laughing, Boss said, “What is this, amateur hour? Radio silence.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dani asked.
“It means we don’t use phones at this point in the operations. We’re at face-to-face communication mode only.”
“Meaning?” Otis asked.
“Meaning, I walk out to my boys, instruct one of them to drive to your house and bring your wife here. You say your goodbyes, and we all drive off to a little secluded place in the woods and seal the deal.”
“That leaves you holding all the cards,” Dani said.
“That’s the point, little lady,” Boss said with a shit-eating grin.
“It’s bullshit,” Kenny said.
Boss scowled his way.
“You let him walk out your front door, he’ll unleash his boys.”
“Shut up!” Otis barked. “Do you know my wife is dead?”
Kenny was taken aback by the volume of the sheriff’s voice. “I know Boss…”
“Do you know she’s dead? Are you a hundred percent sure?”
Kenny considered his question and then shook his head. “I ain’t a hundred percent on it, no.”
Otis nodded to Boss. “Get on with it then.”
When the sheriff saw their guest step through the front door of the station, he quickly moved to the exit on t
he other side of the holding cell. He slowly pulled the door open just a crack. Satisfied the coast was clear, he whistled for Dani. She approached quickly.
“My cruiser is yonder, on the other side of the equipment shed.” He stepped back so she could map out the terrain between the station and the car.
“What about it?”
“You and the fat fella are to get to it, and get on after the Campbell girl.”
Dani stared at her uncle.
“Don’t give me no lip on this.”
“But I can’t leave. What about Aunt—”
Otis choked on the words as they came out. “She’s dead, sweetie.”
“You don’t know that,” Dani said, holding back the urge to slap him.
“I do. There ain’t no way they got that ring off her while she still had an ounce of life left in her. I thought it right off, but let myself believe otherwise until Kenny over there spoke up.”
The chubby closeout king looked away.
She gritted her teeth. “Ima kill that son of a bitch.”
Otis gently placed his hands on her arms. “I’ll take care of that. You gotta get after that girl.”
“But—”
He tightened his grasp and unintentionally shook her. “Ain’t no other law looking for her. You’ve gotta go.”
She considered protesting again, but realized he was right. She wrapped him in a bear hug instead.
Otis absorbed her embrace and then released her. Turning to Kenny he said, “Ima have to trust you with my best deputy. I find out you turned bad on us, and Ima hunt you down and shove my favorite rifle up your ass and blow your brains out. You understand me?”
Kenny nodded. “I ain’t gonna let nothing happen to her, sir. I still ain’t had the chance to show her my two-step.” He exited the cell and joined Dani at the back door.
Otis handed Dani the keys to the cruiser. “Blast ass out the front. Don’t slow down for nothing. Get up the mountain and find that girl. Me and your fellow deputies will keep Boss occupied.”
Dani grabbed his hand, squeezed, and smiled.
He returned the squeeze and forced his own smile. “You’re the best goddamn deputy I’ve ever had.”
Chapter 58
Gunner sat half-asleep with his head propped against the passenger-side window. He’d fought Step on the notion of bringing Bones with them, but the skinny closeout king wouldn’t give up on the idea. The two men would’ve come to blows over it, but Gunner was too damned tired. Normally he’d lay money that he could out-brawl Step, but he was pretty sure the pencil-thin killer would get the best of him in his present muddled state.
“Your bitch stinks,” Gunner said as Step navigated the narrow roads through the mountains. “I think she shit herself.”
Bones sat between the two men with her head flopped back, chin up, and spittle streaming out of the corner of her mouth.
Step gave her a sideways glance. “She didn’t shit herself. She’s just rotted out her insides.”
“Well, she’s a fucking catch, ain’t she?” Gunner worked to find a comfortable position. “I vote we dump her on the side of the road, or put her in the goddamn truck bed.”
“She’s fine where she’s at.” Step looked at the fuel gauge. “Ima have to fill up first chance. How much more road we got?”
“Plenty more.”
“This place on the moon?”
“Moon would be easier to get to.”
“Ain’t this inventory watched over by anybody?”
“It is. What’s your point?”
“Seems like a phone call could get done quicker what needs to be done instead of sending you and me all the way out here.”
Gunner laughed. “You know Boss and his paranoid shit about phones.”
Step nodded. He was counting on it. “So, what is this place?”
Gunner groaned. “It’s a place.”
“Big? Small? What?”
“Why the fuck do you care?”
“I just do. I’m bored as shit and, according to you, we’ve got an assload of time to go yet.”
“It’s just a place. It’s big and small. A lot of land, with a couple of buildings: a barn and a shack. Old fucking couple and their daughter look after the whole thing, including the inventory.”
“Old couple?”
“Old as shit. Some ancient crank, and her crippled husband. The daughter’s a fucking prize, too. Bitch looks like Kenny ’cept with more chin hair. She’s a nurse or some shit like that.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Ain’t this inventory valuable? Seems like Boss would have an army looking after it.”
“An army draws eyes. Don’t nobody pay attention to an inbred hick family working their property.”
Step let a little apprehension slip away as he pictured the slobbering mountain trash that was guarding the inventory.
“Far as I know, them folks never leave the property. Boss has food and supplies brung into them. Takes care of them like they’re Thoroughbreds. S’pose it makes sense. They mind over the girls—inventory—whatever the shit you want to call them. Them inbreds take ’em in, groom ’em up, and send ’em off for delivery.”
“Delivery where?”
“Fuck if I know. Here and there. I ain’t the one that normally makes the drop-offs. I only seen one plane come and go the few times I’ve been. Some fucking illegal was flying it. Spoke Mexican, far as I could tell.”
“Plane?”
“Unloaded four bags of money, fueled up, strapped a little blond piece of inventory to the backseat and took off. If that fucker was there more than fifteen minutes, I’ll piss in my own hat.”
“How do you know it was bags of money?”
“Seen it. The crank and her daughter piled it into a broke-down old Brink’s truck.” He whistled in awe. “I’m telling you flat out, you ain’t never seen that much money in your life, son.” When Step wasn’t sufficiently impressed, Gunner protested. “You don’t believe me? That little blond girl must have brung in two million easy. And the truck was filled halfway with stacks taller than me.”
“Who the shit is gonna pay two mill for that kind of inventory?”
“Who?” Gunner asked, sounding shocked by the skinny closeout king’s ignorance. “Don’t you know what the fuck is going on in the world, Step? People hate the shit out of America.”
“So?”
“So, them fuckers that hate us will pay just about anything to own a piece of America just so they can shit all over it. Makes them feel like they’re giving a fuck-you-howdy-do to the ol’ red, white, and blue. It’s a status thing to them. Ain’t nothing more Americana to these assholes than a little white piece of ass. They don’t buy into that melting pot bullshit. They love the fuck out of blondes, but they’ll take brunettes. You won’t get shit for a redhead. Trust me on that one.”
Step white-knuckled the steering wheel. “How long this been going on?”
Gunner propped his foot up on the dashboard. “Fuck if I know. Ten years, fifteen years, hell, could be twenty. Long enough to make the fucking Pikes richer than shit. Whole fucking thing has made those shitkickers untouchable.”
“Why’s that?”
“Two words: client list. They got names. List is a mile-fucking-high, too, and they ain’t afraid to use them if they get jammed up.”
Step raised an eyebrow. “I thought these clients hated America. Why would they care about getting outed?”
“They may hate America, but we’re talking high-fucking rollers. Billionaires, son. You think they made their scratch in their backward-ass-third-world-shit-on-the-streets countries? Fuck no they didn’t. They made it right here in the U.S. of A., and they made it with a little help from some friends. Friends who make their living collecting votes from the dumb fucks that vote in this country. You understand?”
Step nodded.
“Harley…Hell, pert near any fucking Pike could walk up and bitch-slap the fucking president and the
Secret Service, and they wouldn’t do a thing about it. Me and you work for the redneck royal family of the fucking world.”
Step had heard enough. He desperately wanted Gunner to shut up. When he saw a sign for an exit with gas and food, he casually pointed ahead, and announced his intentions to make a stop. His mind folded around Harley and the things he had done for him. He hated himself for being a part of the Pike empire. He’d looked the other way because life had fucked his world all to shit. Performing closeouts was his way of fucking back. He knew he could never set things right, but he was determined to make it as right as he could.
Chapter 59
Otis waited until Dani and Kenny sped across the parking lot and raced down the road before he gave the order for Randle and Friar to fire.
Boss was caught off guard by the commotion. He ducked behind a truck and watched as one of his men fell ass-first to the ground, clutching his leg. A bullet had ricocheted off the pavement and lodged itself just under his kneecap.
Friar roared out a whistle. “Got one!”
“Lucky shot,” Randle said.
“Don’t make him any less got!”
“Both of you shut up and keep firing!” Otis barked.
“But they’s hid,” Friar said.
“And I aim to keep them hid,” Otis said after firing off a round. “They ain’t as much trouble that way.”
“Shouldn’t we save our ammo?” Randle asked after he hit the side panel of the truck.
“We got plenty. ’Sides, that Boss fella was right about one thing. Messy and loud will draw attention. I plan on drawing a lot of it.”
Randle popped off a couple of shots through the open window before asking, “Whose attention you trying to get?”
Otis fired off a shot and shrugged. “Anyone with a gun.”
“Don’t nobody around here give shit one about the law, Otis.”
Friar shot a round into the side mirror of the truck and hooted.
“That might be true,” Otis said, taking aim at a pair of boots sticking out from behind the back tire of a second truck, “but they ain’t got much use for armed strangers, neither.” He fired and watched as dust kicked up next to the boots.
Chapter 60
Savage Reckoning Page 22