Good Boy Gone: Mountain Justice (Buck Valley Mysteries Book 1)

by Joshua Erik Rossi

  Steve nodded. He was in bad shape. The last few miles had taken a toll on him.

  “Do you remember this place?”

  “Yeah. We came here once, a long time ago.”

  “Yeah. We did. I’ll be right back.” I stood up and with the rifle slung over my shoulder I moved quietly through the forest until I could see the house. I stopped and waited there, watching for any sign of movement. I wasn’t afraid of being shot. This time, I was afraid I’d lose control and shoot them both. After a while I realized Pa and Casey were gone. Ma was the only one home. I went to the back door of the cabin, and she came to the kitchen window. “Can I please have some water, enough for two people?” I searched her eyes for any sign of friendliness. They were blank. Always had been. Living with my Pa will do that to a person. “Ma, please?”

  She looked toward the treeline. “You going to hide him back there like you did when you were twelve? Good Lord, Seth. Go fetch him and bring him to the house.”

  My gaze narrowed on her. Steve was well-hidden. Did she know? How?

  “Go on. Don’t worry about yer Pa an’ Casey. They done gone hours ago.”

  “Are...you sure?”

  “What did I say?” Her chubby hands were resting on her wide hips. She was thick, sturdy and strong, like the trunk of an old Elm tree. I turned to go get Steve. “Nice gun you got there,” she said. She never has been anything like a TV mom. Her favorite past time was going ‘coon hunting. She loves Raccoon stew.

  “You wouldn’t like it, Ma. It’s a real powerful gun. Yours is better.”

  “You going to stand there until they come home?”

  “No ma’am.” I went through the trees and brush, lifted Steve up from the rock and he limped, walking beside me. He wasn’t in any shape to resist.

  Ma held the door open while I took Steve into her kitchen and set him on a chair. She poured some fresh well water in Mason jars and we drank it down, fast.

  I watched her move around the kitchen as she collected some clean cloths and a basin. “How did you know it was Steve?”

  “Just because I don’t go anywhere don’t mean I don’t know nothing.” She sopped the cloths in the water. “He got any bad wounds?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You dragged him all this way, and you didn’t look?”

  “No ma’am.”

  “Well, look!”

  “I’m...I’m fine Mrs. Keegan,” Steve said.

  “You don’t look fine. I heard the screams at night.”

  “You knew that man was living back there?” I asked.

  “Me and your Pa know everything that happens on this mountain and if we miss it, Casey don’t. If he does, Dog’s nose can get smell of a human thirty miles away.”

  I had a dog named Dog. The best I could figure, he was some kind of hound dog, a real mutt. I was never sure. I wanted to give him a real name, but Pa said he answers to Dog. That’s his name. Still, they knew where the killer was and they sent me to him. “Were they trying to get me killed? I ain’t bothered them for six years.” I was angry.

  “Weren’t you lookin’ for him?” She pointed at Stevie with a thick finger.

  “Yes ma’am, but they could have told me the killer was up there. A warning would have been nice.”

  “Your Pa ain’t the warning type. He said if you still have any sense at all, you’d find Steve and get him back to town. He wasn’t about to go play hero. You know what he’s like. He likes it when the town fears him.”

  “He sent me to find Steve?”

  “You found him, didn’t you?”

  “I thought he was trying to get me killed.”

  “Now you know Seth Keegan, if you got yourself killed after all your Pa taught you, you’d deserve it. He wanted that trash off our mountain. Can’t have nobody like that up here. If he would have stayed, the law would come around.”

  “So Pa had me chase him off?”

  “Is he gone?”

  “I don’t know. I shot out the tires on his car. Unless he has another vehicle, he’s walking to get away.”

  “You let him live?” She was angry.

  “I’m not a judge, Ma.”

  “Up here you are. This is yours and Casey’s land. He killed one of your friends and was going for another. You still got the heart of a fawn. All that manly muscle you’re blessed with and what for? Working in a kitchen doing women’s work and gossiping with the town’s folk.”

  “He killed more than Jimmy,” Steve said. “We found graves back there.”

  They both looked at me.

  “I own and operate a diner!”

  “You cook and wash dishes, same as me.”

  “It’s not the same,” I said, getting up. I picked up a cloth, squeezed the water out and wiped Steve’s face with it, cleaning off the blood.

  She picked up her hunting rifle.

  “Where you going?” I asked.

  “He can’t be far. I’m going to put him in the ground. He’s a killer, Seth. Can’t let that one loose.”

  “Ma!”

  “If you hadn’t let him go, it would be done already. You can’t bring the law up here. Your Pa will shoot you if you do that and you know it. Besides, Bobby Ryker can’t find his own pecker let alone arrest a real criminal.”

  “Ma.”

  “What?”

  I gave her the M16.

  She winked at me. “You always were my favorite.” She rubbed my head, messing up my hair.

  I chuckled and smiled.

  The screen door bounced on the frame a few times before it closed. It was quiet except for a fly buzzing around somewhere.

  “I can’t believe you,” Steve said.

  “What?”

  “You gave your mom an M16!”

  “She’d have done it with her hunting rifle. Her mind was made up. Let’s get you cleaned up and I’ll wrap this ankle for you. Then, we have to head back to town.”

  “Will your mom be okay?”

  “Dog went with her. If the gun jams, he won’t. He’s trained.”

  “Trained to do what?” Steve’s voice was weak.

  “You don’t want to know.” I wiped his ankle off and wrapped it.

  “Did you find any ticks?” he asked.

  I grinned. “You hate the woods, don’t you? I brought you up here when we were kids. You hated it then, too.”

  “I liked swimming with you.”

  “That was fun,” I agreed. “It felt like we were the only people on earth when we were together like that.”

  He looked up at me. “It can be that way again, Seth. Things change. People change. Your mom knows. She let us come in here. Look at us now. Me and you in your ma’s kitchen!”

  “If Pa finds us, he’ll skin us alive.”

  “He must care a little bit. He helped you to find me.”

  “Don’t bet on it,” I warned. “The only thing on Old Man Keegan’s mind was keeping the law off the mountain. We best get going. I’ll borrow Casey’s truck and return it later. You can’t walk on this ankle anymore.”

  “Seth.”

  “Hmm?” He reached for my hand, but I stood up and moved away from him. I felt terrible after I’d done it. My heartbeat was like a snare drum in my chest. “I’ll get the truck.”

  Steve’s chin lowered. “Okay.”

  Chapter 16

  Steve and I were in the truck, ready to head down off the mountain when we heard what sounded like a giant tarp ripping, a barrage of gunfire.

  “I guess Ma found him.”

  “He deserves it,” Steve said in a cold, monotone voice. “I can’t believe he followed me. I got poor Jimmy killed.”

  “You didn’t have anything to do with it. Shit happens. The guy’s been killing people for years. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I hooked up with him on the app. He followed me here. We don’t even know who’s buried in those graves.”

  I sighed and drove along the dirt road, taking it slow. The bouncing of the truck wasn’
t doing my ribs any good. “It was random. A lot of guys hook up on that app. If we knew Jimmy was on there, we could have warned him about it, but we didn’t know. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “We missed his funeral.”

  I glanced over, and he wiped the tears from his cheeks. It tore me up when he cried. I stopped the truck and leaned over, gathering him up in my arm. “Move on over here, closer to me.”

  “Are you sure? Somebody might see us when we get to town.”

  “You don’t have to be snarky. Just get over here.” He slid over and rested beneath my arm. It felt good. It felt so damn good, my eyes blurred.

  I drove the rest of the way with my arm around his shoulders. When people saw us coming, I could see them talking to each other, sharing the latest news. Us. I drove past the diner and the salon. Both shops had been closed for days. Everyone was wondering where we were.

  On our way to the hospital, we saw Ian and Dale protesting in front of the Police Department. They managed to gather quite a few friends, more than I thought was possible. Chief Ryker was hiding in his office, of course. I slowed the truck down and leaned out the window, motioning for Dale to come over.

  “What happened to you two?” Ian asked, wide-eyed.

  “Case closed,” I said. “Call off the protest, put your signs in the back and get in.”

  “Yes Sir!” Dale said. He was satisfied. “I knew he’d get something done,” he told Ian.

  They climbed into the truck and closed the door. All four of us were squeezed in the cab.

  “Whoa, Stevie, your ankle is as big as a softball,” Ian said.

  “Looks broken to me,” Dale added. “So, where you been? What happened?”

  “It wasn’t suicide. You were right,” I said.

  “You caught the killer? I knew it. Who was he?” Dale asked.

  “He was hiding up in the mountains,” I said. “Apparently, Jimmy tried to hook-up with him on a dating app. Steve saw the man kill someone else, and he almost got him, but I got there in time.”

  “Well, uh…” Ian said, “What happened to the guy? You didn’t go in to tell the cops about him.”

  “There’s no need. It was taken care of. We’re not going to be able to tell anyone else. Let the talk die down, all right?”

  “Yes Sir,” Dale said. “I’m just glad you guys got him.”

  I wasn’t about to tell him my Ma actually finished off the killer. Some things are better left unsaid. Besides, I wasn’t about to let Ma go to prison for murdering a serial killer. The guy got what he deserved, and she got a new gun. It was all good.

  “We’re sorry we missed the funeral,” Steve told them.

  “It was sad, really sad. It was at the Hamilton’s place. They were real nice, but they didn’t let us stay too long,” Ian explained. He sighed. “So it’s over then. I still can’t believe Jimmy’s gone.”

  “I can’t believe some guy from a dating app was stalking him,” Dale said. “That’s crazy.”

  “The world is crazy. You boys be careful,” Steve told them.

  “I’m not…” Dale began, but he didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to.

  “Listen honey, to some men, it doesn’t matter to them if you’re gay or not. You be careful. If anything happened to you or Ian, I swear,” Steve sniffled, “I couldn’t take it. My heart’s already broken from losing Jimmy.”

  “We’ll be careful,” Dale promised.

  “Good,” I added. I parked in front of the Emergency Room doors. “Go in and get us a wheelchair. Tell the doctors we’re out here, okay?”

  They got out of the truck and went inside.

  “Are you sure it was a good idea to tell them that man is dead?” Steve asked.

  “There are some things you end up wondering about your whole entire life. It weighs on you every day. I couldn’t let them go through life like that. They’re so young.”

  “We were like them once,” he said, wistfully.

  “We’re not exactly old,” I grumbled.

  “I was so hot in my twenties.”

  I laughed and looked at him. “You still are.”

  “Like this? What is wrong with you Seth Keegan? Oh my God look at my hair! It’s matted and…”

  I leaned over and kissed his lips. It surprised and silenced him. He kissed me back and looked at me in wonder. “You’re still hot,” I said.

  He looked around. There were people coming in and out of the hospital. Dale, Ian and the nurses were grinning, watching us through the truck window.

  I kissed him again and smiled.

  Chapter 17

  People talked about us for a while. They talked about how I went over Steve’s house every day until his ankle healed. When he finally came to town in his little convertible, you’d think it was a holiday. His clients crowded into his salon, even though he couldn’t possibly cut everyone’s hair. They wanted to talk to their Stevie.

  I was busy in the diner. Everything had gone back to the way it was before, except Dale and Ian came in alone. They talked about Jimmy. We kept him alive in our memories. I wondered what he’d have been like if that man hadn’t killed him. His death gave me a lot to think about. I wondered why people like that had to exist at all. Some people say the bad exists, so you can appreciate the good when you see it, but I don’t have the heart to witness such horrible crimes, like a man who hunts human beings with one goal in mind, to kill them. Yet, my own Ma ended up being a hunter. She always was one to pull a weed out by its root.

  Seeing Jimmy’s life end also made me appreciate my own and I realized how much time I wasted worrying about what other people think of me. I guess I have always loved Steve Lark. I knew it when we were thirteen years old. I don’t know what took me so long to bring him back into my life.

  When he came into the diner a while back to tell me that Jimmy died, he was driven by fear. As the case went on, he wanted justice. We all did. I think we got it, but it didn’t bring Jimmy back.

  Steve, Dale, Ian and I had a secret that we kept. As far as I know, they never told anyone about the serial killer that never left the mountain. Or that there’s a woman up there with a stolen M16 who plans to defend that mountain and her family.

  Mountain justice. Summer is ending. The August heat is oppressive, and the air is humid. Crickets, Cicadas and the leaves rustling by the warm breeze is all you hear. On some days, even the people are quiet. Thunder rolls in from the mountains and it feels like more storms are coming. The town and its people are changing.

  I never thought of myself as a detective, although Buck Valley has many, many mysteries. Most of them are better left alone.

  I opened the diner on Labor Day morning and my customers came in. Steve was sweeping the sidewalk in front of his salon, and he looked up at me through the window, smiling. I think he’s happy that I was finally able to sort out how I feel about him.

  We make a good couple.

  I was in the kitchen when they came in. I heard sudden silence and that’s never good news. I went out to the dining area, and my heart went right to my throat. I was scared to death.

  Steve came over from the salon to see them. He stood in the doorway, stunned.

  Ma, Pa and Casey Keegan had come to my diner. They’d taken baths and were wearing clothes I hadn’t seen before. Casey combed his hair. His face was clean.

  “How long you have to wait to get something to eat in this joint?” Pa Keegan asked me. He picked up a fork.

  I went to the table, note pad in hand. I took their orders, and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. The people in the diner were worried. I wasn’t. I’d seen my family when they were about to cause trouble. They weren’t here for that. This was something else.

  This, felt like acceptance.

  *If you’re interested in the more private nature of Seth and Steve’s relationship, look for The Garden of Steven, an erotic spin-off from the Buck Valley series. And don’t worry, the boys will be back to solve another mystery soon!

&nbs
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