by Bobby Cole
“Cooper, I swear, you don’t understand jack. Just let me take care of the kids. Will ya?”
“I also don’t understand why you want Botox.”
“They say it makes you look ten years younger. Don’t you think I’d look better without these crow’s-feet?”
“I think our bank account would look a whole lot better if it actually had some money in it,” Cooper contemptuously shot back.
“Well… when y’all sell our business, we’ll be rich… and none of this will matter.”
“Whattaya sellin’, Dad?” Ben asked.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Cooper said, widening his eyes at Kelly.
Cooper was about to lose his cool, but he held it in check. Kelly just walked away. He followed her into the kitchen and watched her open a drawer, pull out the Domino’s menu, and begin dialing their telephone number.
“So what are your plans for tomorrow?” he asked, trying to remain calm.
Kelly hung up the phone before it was answered. She turned around to look at him, her arms crossed. She glared and said, “I’m shopping and running errands all day tomorrow. But in the mornin’, you’re gonna need to take Piper to the church at five. I’ll take Ben to his party.”
“Okay. After I drop off Piper, I’m going to the Auburn game early… since we’re takin’ clients.” Thinking about Brooke, Cooper lamely continued, “Ya know, I oughta help set up the tent and grill and stuff. That sorta thing.”
“Sure. Whatever. Don’t be too late: you’ve got a long list of things to get done around here Sunday, so have your fun tomorrow,” she said, dialing the phone. “Want any pizza?”
“No. I’m gonna take a shower… I’ve had a rough day,” an exasperated Cooper replied.
CHAPTER 34
The small gang was huddled in room 236 of the hotel trying to make sense out of all the ideas that were being tossed around. So far nothing was sticking.
Jesse Ray wanted to wait; he didn’t think they had done enough prep to be able to safely snatch Kelly, hold her, and get away clean. Clarence appreciated the football angle and what a major distraction to the community the game would be, agreeing with Jenny that it was the perfect opportunity. Jenny was now arguing that she should go with Gates to the game in an effort to learn more about their Client’s motives.
“You know that what we learn will be ten times more valuable than me driving the getaway car,” she explained, directing her comments to Clarence.
“Well, who’s gonna drive?” he asked.
Jenny turned to face Jesse Ray. “Do you know somebody you could call to help us?”
“Sure. I got a second cousin that lives in Dothan. He’s more muscle than brains, which ain’t saying much. He recently did time for stealing manhole covers for scrap.”
“Doesn’t sound smart,” Jenny added.
“Yeah, but it does sound like he’s real strong. Those things are heavy,” Clarence commented.
“He told me he was gettin’ only five bucks each, and he had stole about thirty before he realized it was costin’ him more in gas than he was getting from sellin’ the covers,” Jesse Ray said with a laugh.
“Can we trust him?” Jenny asked sternly.
“With your life,” Jesse Ray responded without hesitation.
“No drug problems?” Clarence inquired.
“The only drug problem he’s ever had was as a kid when his gran’mama drug his narrow ass with her everywhere she went to keep him outta trouble. He hated that. Still bitches about it.”
All the team laughed.
“Okay. Call him. I’ll pay a thousand bucks for a week’s work,” Clarence offered. “But don’t give any details over the phone.”
Jesse Ray nodded and then began scrolling through his cell phone’s address book for the number. At the last family reunion, the two vowed to work together some day. Jesse Ray hoped that he wasn’t back in jail.
“Where do you think we should grab her?” Clarence asked Jenny while they waited for Jesse Ray, who had walked into the bathroom to finish his call.
“I still believe that her neighborhood is out. The mall’s an option; maybe grab her as she gets outta her car.”
“Too risky… and it sounds like the only places that she’d shop would have surveillance cameras.”
Jenny paused a moment and then said, “We could put a leak in her tire, follow her, and snatch her wherever it goes flat.”
“Nah. Too many variables. Keep thinkin’.”
After two minutes of silence, Clarence remarked, “We could deliver a pizza and chloroform her when she answers the door.”
Jenny said, “I’m tellin’ ya, there’s way too many eyes in that neighborhood.”
Jesse Ray walked back into the room as he disconnected the call. He appeared very pleased. “We have a driver. Maynard will be here tonight.”
“Maynard?” Clarence asked. “What’s a Maynard?”
“That’s his name. My second cousin. He’ll be here tonight.”
“Okay. That solves one problem. Now we gotta figure out how to get her where we want her, when we want her,” Jenny summarized.
“Obviously, easier said than done,” Clarence added as he bit into a cold chicken leg that he’d gotten from a KFC takeout bucket.
Everyone was quiet, in deep thought.
Jesse Ray looked back and forth between Clarence and Jenny, who were growing increasingly frustrated, and then he finally said, “Hello? What about me? We’ve got all this highly sophisticated electronic equipment, not to mention an electronic genius at your disposal, and you never axed me!”
“All right, Albert Afrostein, whaddaya suggest?” Clarence asked, smiling.
“While I was perusin’ Cooper’s endless supply of e-mails, I noticed a bunch from his wife. Since she’s using a cheap ISP, I can easily hack into her account, read her address book, and then send an e-mail from one of her friends, asking her to meet someplace because she has something so secret to tell her that she can’t discuss it in an e-mail or over the phone.”
Clarence and Jenny looked at each other with eyes wide open. They both started smiling.
“Jesse Ray, you’re brilliant. This just might work.” Clarence remarked as he stood up.
“Hang on. She’s gotta read that specific e-mail and follow the directions, without saying anything to anybody,” Jenny cautioned.
“Oh, she’ll read it. Give me an hour to worm into her computer. From what we already know about her, I’m willin’ to bet significant body parts I’ll find someone she e-mails that could motivate her to go exactly where we want her… at any time we choose.”
“But how do you know she’ll read it in time?”
“Easy. I’ll profile how often she logs on, and if I need to, I’ll call, posing as the customer service rep from her Internet service provider. I’ll tell her we are havin’ issues and that I need her to check her e-mails to make sure that they’re bein’ delivered. She’ll do it.”
“And when she types a response?”
“It’ll come right back to me,” Jesse Ray said, slyly smiling. “I know what I’m doin’.”
They were all smiling now, thinking of what they needed to do next.
Clarence reclined on the bed with his back against the headboard, laced his fingers together behind his head, and nodded his consent to Jesse Ray. Looks like a workable plan’s comin’ together, he thought.
Jenny said, “Okay, boys, it looks like I gotta go make a date.” She waved her cell phone over her head as she walked toward the door.
Jesse Ray didn’t hesitate firing up his laptop. He cracked his knuckles and got busy.
CHAPTER 35
SATURDAY—THE DAY
Cooper hung a pressed shirt on the clip behind the driver’s seat of his pickup. He then casually tossed a waxed cotton travel bag on the passenger side floorboard. He looked around, worried that he might be forgetting something or some detail of the story. He realized that he was being paranoid. He took a deep br
eath, steadied his nerves, and turned to walk inside to say good-bye to Kelly.
Last night’s dream was still fresh on his mind—sitting on a sandy beach at night, with a roaring fire, while Brooke, wrapped only in a robe, walks up and sits down on a giant blanket between him and the fire. Her robe falls off one shoulder. Cooper shook his head and stepped through the kitchen door—back into reality.
Kelly was watching the Food Network in the den while she sipped a cup of coffee. When she heard Cooper’s approaching footsteps, she slipped the remote control between the couch cushions.
“Do you need me to do anything before I leave?” he asked, afraid of the answer. It’d be just like her to ask me to clean out the gutters or the garage, he thought.
“Yeah, but go on. It’ll wait till tomorrow,” she replied, never taking her eyes off the television.
“Okay, then. Since it’s a late game, and we’ll be entertaining customers, I’m gonna spend the night rather than risk the drive… but I’ll be home early in the mornin’,” Cooper said, as casually as possible.
“Who all’s going?” Kelly asked, leaning forward to set down her mug on the glass-topped coffee table.
“Uh, me, Gates, and the main guys from Lawler Chemical. That’s a big account for us. And Gates may have invited some others from the office. I’m not sure,” Cooper explained and tried to sound like it was no big deal. “Oh yeah, and he invited one of the guys from MidState Bank, but I’m not sure if he’s gonna show. We hope he does. It might help us with the sale.”
“Who?”
“A guy named Mark Wright,” Cooper responded as he checked to make certain that he had his wallet in his back pocket.
“Seems like I’ve heard that name. Where would I have heard about him?” she asked, making eye contact for the first time. She then reached for her coffee.
“I have no idea,” Cooper replied, watching someone on television panfry green tomatoes just like Millie did when he was a kid. It instantly flooded him with memories of sitting on the kitchen counter, watching her cook.
“Just curious,” Kelly said and then took an obnoxiously loud sip of coffee.
Between that and chomping ice, she’s buggin’ the ever-lovin’ crap out of me these days, he thought. He let out an audible sigh and said, “Anyway… I’m sure there’ll be some drinkin’, and I don’t want any of ’em drivin’ home loaded and the agency being held responsible.”
“Good ole Cooper. Always lookin’ out for everyone. What hotel are y’all stayin’ at?” she asked and paused a moment too long before continuing, “In case of an emergency.”
Cooper swallowed hard and took an unperceivable deep breath. “Uh… you know, I don’t know… Mrs. Riley made the reservations, and Gates has got all the info. Just call my cell if you need me.”
“Why you leavin’ so early?” Kelly asked, back to watching her show.
“I wanna go by Millie’s farm. I need to get the tractor ready to start plantin’ food plots. It’s that time of the year, ya know,” Cooper responded, hating to say anything to her about the land.
Kelly wheeled around to look Cooper dead in the eye. “It’s always that time of the year. You spend more time workin’ up there than you do on our house. You know the one. The one that we actually own! How many times do I have to say it? We. Are. Not. Buying. That. Land! We don’t need to own any hunting land!”
“It’d be a good investment,” Cooper spouted. It was his only comeback.
Kelly spun back to face the television again, indicating her displeasure with him and the topic. “We need things done around here, and this house won’t last us forever. We need more room.”
“What? Four thousand square feet isn’t big enough?”
“Not for entertaining. Besides I’d rather have a beach house.” She stood and without looking at him, walked to her computer, signaling that the conversation was over.
Cooper started toward the back door, yelling, “I hate sand, and I’ll never own a beach house!”
“Your job is to supply, not demand!” she yelled in response as the door slammed.
Standing on the porch steps, Cooper realized they had contempt for each other. This was dangerous. Love could be rekindled, angers would calm, fears could be faced, jealousy could be controlled, but contempt—it was the death knell.
Cooper rushed to his truck, jumped in, and slammed the door. He hurriedly backed out of the driveway, avoiding eye contact with his gawking neighbor, who was watering his azaleas. Cooper punched the accelerator in an attempt to put both physical and emotional distance between him, Kelly, and their failing marriage. After a moment, he eased his grip on the steering wheel when he realized that he would be free for twenty-four hours and that Brooke clearly wanted him. Tonight, my dreams are comin’ true!
CHAPTER 36
Clarence sat in stunned silence, watching Jesse Ray and Maynard interact. He moved into his own room before Maynard arrived, enabling the cousins to bunk together. This was his first time to meet Maynard Scruggs. Maynard was a skinny white guy who dressed and acted liked he was Larry King, the radio and television personality, and he had the whitest teeth that Clarence had ever seen.
Clarence had given Jesse Ray a list of last-minute details that needed to be performed, including stealing several local license plates. Jesse Ray, now with an assistant, delegated the job to Maynard and instructed him how and where to get it done.
Maynard strut out of the room, obviously thrilled to be a part of the team and repeatedly promised to deliver. Clarence really didn’t doubt his skills, but he did have a few questions for Jesse Ray.
As soon as the door shut, he fired the first question, “That dude’s your cousin?” Clarence looked very confused.
“Second cousin, on my momma’s side.”
“He’s white!”
“No shit?” Jesse Ray replied, without even looking up from his computer. “I never noticed that. Is it a problem?”
“Not a problem. Just a surprise.”
“Dog, he’s real good at following directions. You’ll see. His only problem is… as you can see… he thinks he’s Larry King.”
“What’s up with that?”
“He’s obsessed with the guy. Worships the dude. Anyway, Maynard was born to a real young girl. The guy that got her pregnant was some pulpwood hauler that nobody knew. At any rate, growing up, Maynard always wanted to be on the radio. He loves the radio—worked his ass off as a kid to earn enough money to buy a little portable one. You never saw him without it stuck to his head. Early one morning he called the Larry King’s radio show—I think he said it was called “Open Phone America” or something like that—anyway they talked for about an hour. Since then, he’s been obsessed with the man.”
“And you don’t think it’s a little weird that he wears the same glasses and suspenders?”
“I guess I’m used to it. Like I said, he’s obsessed. You should see his trailer—everything’s Larry King. Even his livin’ room’s set up like the studio where Larry King did interviews—when you go to visit him, you don’t sit on the couch and talk. You sit on his set, and he interviews you.”
“What about his teeth, though? They’re so… white.”
“That’s one thing about him that doesn’t have anything to do with Larry King. He’s just addicted to teeth-whitening strips.”
Clarence laughed out loud. “And this dude’s a blood relative?”
“It’s a trip, ain’t it? But we don’t have time to get into all that,” Jesse Ray said, suddenly growing interested in his computer screen. “Look at this, Dog. I already got an e-mail from our Target, just like I expected.”
“No way. What’s she say?” Jenny asked.
Clarence moved to look over Jesse Ray’s shoulder to read the screen.
“She thinks I’m her sister, and she’ll meet me at eight o’clock tonight at Vaughn Road Park.” Jesse Ray smiled, gloating in his success.
“You da man! That’s perfect,” Clarence said and then clap
ped his hands.
“If you and Jenny are right, the park should be deserted with everybody watching football,” Jesse Ray said.
“It will be. But just in case, we need to study these photos Jenny took to make sure we grab the right woman.”
“I wanna grab her,” Jesse Ray said.
“Do what?”
“Yo, Dog, I’ve been workin’ out. I can do it. I wanna do it. You gotta let me.”
For years, Jesse Ray had wanted to break out of his geek role and saw this as a chance to prove his broader value to their missions.
Clarence looked Jesse Ray in the eyes. He had an idea of what was motivating him. Hell, why not? Kelly Dixon’s just some spoiled housewife, he thought.
“All right, but we gotta get you a wig this afternoon.”
“A wig?”
“Yeah, a wig. You gotta look like a woman so you can get close without freaking her out. Ain’t no tight-assed white woman’s gonna let a wormy-lookin’ black dude walk right up to ’em in a dark park. You’d get maced or shot.”
Jesse Ray nodded. I’ll do whatever it takes, even if that means I gotta be in drag, he thought. He smiled big.
“When Larry King gets back, y’all go wig shoppin’.”
“My dear sir, I will be acquiring the whole ensemble,” Jesse Ray said in his best British accent.
“Easy there, princess. Don’t be overdoin’ it. You don’t need to look like the long-lost black daughter of the Queen of England.”
CHAPTER 37
Don Daniels had two weekend-getaway properties, a cabin on Lake Martin and a small deteriorating condominium at Gulf Shores. His late wife inherited the condo, and his bank had repossessed the lake cabin. This weekend Mr. Daniels had intended to escape, alone, to his lake cabin, for quiet reflection and planning. Mark Daniels and his son, however, showed up at the cabin early Saturday morning, unannounced.