Fraidy Hole: A Sheriff Lester P. Morrison Novel (53 page)

“
To tell the
awful
truth, it
was exciting is what it was,
and
knowing it was wrong
, so very wrong,
made it even more so.
A guilty pleasure at a level I’d never know
n
before
, not even close
. It
was
sooo good
I can’t describe it.
Maybe
exquisite
is the word I’m lookin’ for here. Then she
moaned
again, like she was
waking up
,
but her eyes were still closed.
She
started kicking out
and twisting and clawin’ at me
like a little tiger
,
her fingernails
digging into my chest
.
Still got the scratches. You’ll like that Sheriff, evidence and all. But
damn it, I was too far into it to stop then
. Any red-blooded American male can relate to that. But
she kept
fightin
’ and squirmin’
and trying to back away. If the far
door
hadn’t been shut, she might have slid out the other side.
She was about to ruin it
, the most amazing sex in my life
.
It couldn’t end like that, not with me
flying high and
about to come
in for a perfect landing.
I
had to do something. I
think I might have
hit her then
, lashed out, just the once
.
That took the fight out of her
real quick
.
About
a minute later,
it was
all
over…except for what came afterward
of course.

“
I knew about the
storm
cella
r.
Been down in it a time or two.
I always wondered if it might have been
intended as
a fallout shelter. Lots of talk about nuclear attacks
and bombs
back then.
Must have been state-of-the-art when it was built.
Last time I was there, I propped the door up to let it dry out a little. Meant to come back and shut it later on
,
but I never did.
There’s
an
old
bent and
skinny bolt
that I
use
d
to slip through
the hasp
and secure it
so some animal or kid won’t fall in it.
But
afterward, after the sex,
when I was finished with
my
business,
well
now
, t
hat’
s when I started thinking crazy
.
The preacher would call it the devil I guess.
‘
T
he devil made me do it
’
, the oldest excuse in the books
.

Bill made a small chuckling noise deep in his chest
.
“
Not much else explains why a man would do such a thing
though
. It seemed simple
enough
,
shove
her down there and
latch
the door. Leave her a few days and Plan B, with all its simplicity,
was
back in effect.”

Somewhere in the pump house, a timer with a lobe on a rotating shaft pushed against a switch and the pool went from an inviting blue to an ominous black where
evil
creatures might dwell.

Lester stood, stretched
,
and put his hat back on. “Stand up
,
Mr. Kingston and put your hands behind your back. You’re under arrest for
rape and
attempted murder.”

Big Bill
had
a little problem
moving his bulk off the lounge
chair
and
once he got to his feet, staggered a bit. For a moment, Lester thought he might fall in the pool
and drown. Save the county some money
.

“Oh, one other thing
,
”
Lester said,
snapping the cuffs.

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Folks might call you Big Bill, but
what you really are is
a moral midget.”

*****

At a few minutes past three a.m., Melissa Parker was sleeping soundly, her long dark hair spread across the hospital pillow, her breathing cycle normal and relaxed. A clear plastic tube ran from her nostrils to a regulator and a green oxygen tank while an IV unit performed its monotonous drip, drip, drip. The only sound in the room was the soft whir of an unseen electric motor.
A passing nurse hesitated at the door and looked in
on
her patient, quickly checked the LED’s, and moved on. Had she looked a little closer, she would have seen a man sitting in the shadows, cowboy hat in hand, a gold badge glinting from the reflected light of the instruments. The man sat there, very still, watching over the girl, praying she wouldn’t wake up in the darkened room, afraid, believing she was back in the cellar. In the event she did, he wanted to be there for her, to take her hand and talk to her, to tell it was all over, and if she wanted to cry, he would stroke her hair until the moment passed.
Lester P. Morrison stayed in the corner, watching,
waiting, until the morning dawn filled the room with warm sunlight.

Chapter 43

Three Days Later: Friday

The last of the supper dishes were dried and back on the shelves when Harley jerked his head up and trotted to the screen door. Billy Ray’s Camaro, dents and all,
had
turned in the driveway and eased to a stop. Lester opened the screen door and the dog trotted out to greet his friend as always
,
but hesitated when a young woman emerged from the passenger side. Harley quickly decided the female had the most interesting smells and changed course. The woman had short red hair and was wearing tan slacks with matching sandals and a white blouse. If she had a problem with a dog nosing around her clean clothes, she didn’t show it and patted Harley on the head while the lab continued his investigation.

“Evenin’
,
Sheriff,” Billy Ray
called out.

“Evenin’
,
Deputy. Your companion looks familiar.”

“She should. She was one of the EMT’s
that we’ve been seeing so much of recently.”

Lester stepped off the porch and extended his hand. “I do remember you now. You just look a little different without those coveralls. A mighty big improvement I’d say.”

“Why thank you, Sheriff. I’m Rio Bonner.”

“My pleasure,” Lester replied. Turning to
Billy Ray
, “And just how did you two meet up again if I might be so bold as to ask?”

”Rio came up to Melissa’s room to check on her, and well…we got to talkin’ and…”

“I get the picture,” Lester said. “Let’s go sit on the porch.”

Rio said, “Let me get my sweater. The evenings are getting cooler now.”

Three chairs were aligned, facing south, and all found a seat. Harley, being well fed for the day and his curiosity of the stranger satisfied, lay down by Lester and closed his eyes.

“Ms. Bonner, I’ve been quite busy lately, transporting prisoners and catching up with paperwork.
I haven’t had much opportunity to talk with Billy Ray here about Melissa’s condition, especially how she took the news about her parents.”

“Please call me Rio, Sheriff. I can tell you from a medical standpoint that Melissa is doing remarkable well considering what she’s been through. The damage from the smoke inhalation was mild and she’s breathing normally now and without oxygen. Her doctor is monitoring her condition closely. However, I suspect she’ll be discharged any day now. As for her emotional well being, Billy Ray would know more about that than I do.”

“How did she take the news, B.R?” Lester asked.

Billy Ray sighed, “About like you’d think. I held off from telling her as long as I could.
She didn’t have much to say about Albert, but her mama, well, that’s gonna be hard for her to deal with for a long time to come.”

No one spoke for awhile. Harley whined a little and his feet twitched a couple times, chasing rabbits in his dreams. Rio smiled at the dog.

“She talk about any long term plans?” Lester asked.

“Yeah
.
Dora Wilson and Becky have been at the hospital every chance they
get
. It’s looking like Melissa might live with them long enough to finish out her senior year. Becky was really excited about that idea. It’ll be a good fit, I think. Mrs. Wilson is so nice.”

Lester nodded. “How ‘bout later, after graduation? Any talk along those lines?”

“A little. Imogene had that sister you know, lives in Tulsa. The two were never close
,
but Melissa likes her. Apparently the sister made the offer, somewhere down the line, for Melissa to come to Tulsa and live with her—see how it works out. Oh, and there’s this. Melissa tells me she hopes to go to college, Oklahoma State, and become a veterinarian.”

“I hope that comes to pass,” Lester said and grinned. “I would imagine that the sale of the farm would finance part of that education. Wouldn’t know about the Parker life insurance situation
,
of course. Might get sticky what with the murder and suicide.
Then again, Albert was probably too cheap to buy insurance in the first place.
”

The sun slid lower,
ducked
behind a single cloud, and lit the edges with a
glowing
crown of reds and oranges.
A sense of tranquility settled on the porch, the evening silence broken only by
the
flutter of bird
s
as they came and went from the nearby feeder, their last meal of the day. After awhile,
Billy
Ray asked Lester, “What about Earl and the Pirate’s Den? Any developments?”

“Not many. Earl is scheduled for a hearing soon. He can make his case to the judge. I hate to see the man lose his livelihood, but damn it, look at all the damage to human lives that started right there, that night
,
with boozed-up kids.”

“
Earl
didn’t
have a part in what Big Bill Kingston
did,” Billy Ray said.
“Or make Imogene kill Albert.”

“Yeah,
yeah, I know,
but the tequila was what set it in motion. Maybe Earl’s learned his lesson this time. He better have or I’ll have to deal with him personally.”

Rio looked at Billy Ray and the deputy nodded as if to say,
he would do that.

Billy Ray sai
d,
“As long as we’re catching up on things, have you seen J.O. Mecham lately? I suppose you noticed my car is still banged up.”

“As a matter of fact, I happened to drop by J.O.’s place just yesterday evening. He was home but didn’t seem very happy to see me. I couldn’t help but notice a fresh paint job on one fender of his pickup. Guess he couldn’t afford to
do
the whole thing.”

“And?”

“We talked.”

Then, nothing but silence.
Rio gave Billy Joe a quizzical look. Billy Ray shrugged,
wait for it.

Finally, “I told J.O. to pay for your repairs. To drop a check by the garage and leave the amount open.”

“And he
agreed
to that?”

“Not until I told him how I would arrest him for growing marijuana on his property
if he didn’t
.”

“J.O. is growing pot out there?” Bill Ray’s eyes got wide.

“Nah, I’d have to plant it on him somehow. I could have my friends down at the OSBI lab send me a few seedlings. Shouldn’t be much of a chore.”

Billy Ray laughed. “Sheriff, you do have some moves I admire.”

“Well
,
thank you Deputy.”

Rio spoke up. “Billy Ray, if we’re going to make kickoff tonight, we should probably go.”

“Friday night lights
,
huh?” Lester said. “How will the Bobcats do without their star QB?”

“Oh, about like they did before he came along. The boys will play hard and have fun. The crowd will cheer on the good plays and moan on the others just like they’ve always done. Things won’t change much.”