Dark Waters (11 page)

‘Well, Dave, I'm sorry, but I gotta ask y'all where you were last night,' Emmett said.

Dave nodded. ‘No problem. I understand. Brittany and me were here watching TV until, what, honey? Ten, ten-thirty?'

‘Something like that,' Brittany said. ‘And Emma, our youngest, was here, too. But she's twelve and has a nine-thirty bedtime. So she was probably asleep and wouldn't know if Dave and I slipped out to go kill Darby Hunt.'

‘Honey!' Dave said.

Brittany laughed. ‘I'm kidding! Emmett knows I'm kidding, don't you, Emmett?'

‘I assumed as much,' Emmett said. ‘I know you got some older kids—'

‘Two boys,' she said. ‘All grown now. And you know our oldest! You were Stevie's boss when he worked here in Longbranch!'

‘Yes, ma'am,' Emmett said.

‘He spoke very highly of you, Acting Sheriff Hopkins,' she said.

Emmett couldn't tell if the ‘acting sheriff' business was a jab or sincere. He was hoping for sincere. To get back to business and his eyes off Mrs McDaniel's dancing ones, he said, ‘Your other son – he's living here in town?'

‘You want to know if one of my boys killed Darby Hunt?' Brittany McDaniel asked. ‘Only Stevie would even have reason to think about it. He's the only one who knew his Aunt Cheryl. And he and Beth, Cheryl's daughter, were really close. He was five when Cheryl was killed and he heard talk. I think all that might be why he went into law enforcement. And besides, he lives in Oklahoma City and it's been two weeks since he's been home. Grady was just a baby when Cheryl was killed, but of course he knew about it. But Grady's not the type to go killing anybody, even though he lives here in Longbranch. Well, outside Longbranch, actually.' She laughed. ‘In your actual jurisdiction! I take it you're not in your jurisdiction now, right, Deputy?'

He noticed acutely the change from ‘acting sheriff' to ‘deputy.'

‘No, ma'am, I'm not, but Police Chief Charlie Smith knows I'm here, ma'am, so everything is copacetic,' Emmett said.

‘Well, Emmett,' Dave said, ‘much as I hate to admit it, my boy Grady's a knee-jerk pinko liberal who don't even
own
a gun and never shot one since I made him try when he was ten. Didn't take to it then, and I doubt he'd take to it now. Chances are real good Grady might think, wrongly, I know, that old Darby Hunt'd been rehabilitated up there at the Oklahoma Penitentiary. 'Course, the boy's wrong at least every four years or so.'

‘I'd still like to talk to him,' Emmett said.

Dave and Brittany McDaniel shared a look, then Brittany got up and went into the kitchen where she wrote something on a slip of paper and brought it to Emmett. ‘Here you go, Deputy. This is Grady's address. When you throw him in jail please be gentle – he has a trick knee.'

‘Brit,' said David, his tone one of exasperation.

‘I'm just kidding, honey,' she said, looking at Emmett with those turquoise eyes. They didn't dance so much at that moment, more like icy heat boring a hole through his soul. She turned and sat back down next to her husband.

Emmett stood up. ‘Well, thank you, folks. I appreciate your time.'

Both Dave and Brittany McDaniel stood up. ‘I'll see you out,' Dave said, patting Emmett on the back.

‘Nice to meet you, Acting Sheriff Hopkins,' Brittany said, still standing by the sofa.

Emmett turned and smiled. ‘You, too, ma'am,' he said, more than ready to get away from those turquoise eyes.

He was in his car, heading for his next interview, when he got a call on his cell phone. Seeing that it was the shop, he said, ‘Hey, Holly.'

‘Sorry, Emmett,' came Dalton Pettigrew's slow-talking voice. ‘It's me, Dalton.'

‘OK, well, hey, Dalton. What's up?'

‘Ah, you coming in anytime soon?' Dalton asked.

‘I've got some more interviews about this Darby Hunt mess. You need me?'

‘Yeah, I heard about Darby Hunt. Huh. Well, I gotta tell you something. You driving?'

Exasperated, as he usually was with any discussion with Dalton lasting more than two sentences, he said, ‘Yes, Dalton, I'm driving! What the hell is it?'

‘I think you need to pull over, Emmett, is all I'm saying.'

There was a strip mall in front of him. Emmett pulled into it and cut the engine. ‘OK, Dalton, I'm all yours. I pulled off the road and cut the engine. What do you want?'

‘Well, I didn't see you yesterday, so I couldn't tell you in person, and I wanted to tell you right away, in person, but you aren't here again today, so—'

‘Dalton, if you don't spit it out I'm going to hang up,' Emmett said.

‘Well, I was somewhere yesterday morning and I couldn't take my gun in with me, so I locked it in the glove box?'

‘Why couldn't you take your gun in with you?' Emmett asked.

‘Ah, I don't want to tell you that part right now, OK?'

Emmett sighed. ‘OK, Dalton. Then tell me the other part.'

‘Well, I heard a crash, and when I came outside . . .'

After a long pause, Emmett said, ‘Yes?'

‘Well, somebody had busted the passenger-side window and broken the glove box and my gun was gone.'

‘Christ on a crutch, Dalton! Where in the hell were you?'

‘In a residential neighborhood,' Dalton replied.

‘Doing what?' Emmett demanded.

‘I still don't wanna tell you that part right now,' Dalton said.

‘Well, you're going to! God, Dalton, have you got any idea how bad this is? Jesus! Why does this shit happen on my watch? We go months with nothing happening around here; Milt leaves for a week and all hell breaks loose!'

‘Yeah, guess so,' Dalton said.

‘I'm not talking to you!' Emmett said, his jaw clinched.

‘Then who you talking to, Emmett?' Dalton asked.

Emmett hung up the cell phone.

V
ern Weaver joined us after about an hour. Good thing, too, because Mike and I were running out of things to talk about.

‘Hey, fellas,' he said, slapping us both on the back. I almost chipped my tooth on the beer mug.

‘Hey,' I said back without much enthusiasm.

‘Where are the girls?' Mike asked.

‘Ah, hell, with Crystal along they may never come back. I just gave her the credit card and came here.'

‘Vern, there are a lot of diamond shops here—' Mike started.

‘Yeah, she does like her a diamond, don't she?' He shook his head and ordered a draft from the bartender. ‘That's OK. I gave her a card with a $10,000 limit. She can't hurt me too bad.'

‘I take it Crystal's not the boys' mom,' I said.

Vern laughed. ‘Jesus, God, no! Their mama's my first wife, Lois. She's back in Houston waiting on her boys to come home. She's got custody of 'em, and I didn't fight that. Children belong with their mother, unless she's unfit or something, and God knows Lois is a good mama. 'Sides, me and Crystal need some time to get to know each other.'

‘I take it y'all are newlyweds,' I said.

‘Married at a JP's in Galveston the day before the ship sailed! Boys were our witnesses,' Vern said.

‘Wow,' I said for want of anything more meaningful to say.

‘That's not the half of it!' Mike said. ‘Talk about a whirlwind romance! When was it you met Crystal?'

‘Well, now you're just embarrassing me,' Vern said. Then he turned to me. ‘Met her on a Friday night, filed for divorce on Monday. Gave Lois any and everything she wanted, got a judge friend to rush it through for me. That was twenty-six days ago. The divorce was final last Friday. We were married Saturday morning.'

‘Wow,' I said again.

‘Hey, Vern,' Mike said, ‘guess what old Milt here does for a living?'

‘A poontang inspector?' Vern said, and laughed heartily at his own weak joke.

‘Now there's a job,' Mike said, a little wistfully. ‘No, he's a sheriff!'

Vern turned and looked at me. ‘No shit?' he said. ‘Where you the sheriff?'

‘Prophesy County, Oklahoma,' I said. ‘County seat is a little town called Longbranch.'

‘Now ain't that the damnedest thing!' Vern said, a look of shock and, yes, respect on his face. ‘I want you to know I'm a card- carrying member of the 100 Club in Houston. And I don't just pay my dues, either. I give righteously.'

‘That's nice,' I said. ‘What's the 100 Club?'

‘It's an organization in Houston, started back in the 'fifties,' Mike said. ‘It's to help the widows and orphans of police officers.'

‘Ah, hell, we do a lot more'n that now,' Vern said. ‘We've included fire fighters and state cops like DPS, and even prison guards. It's a fine organization, but all I'm saying, Milt, is I'm on your side, one hundred percent.'

‘That's good to hear, Vern,' I said.

‘Always wished I'd gone to the Academy,' Vern said wistfully. Then he barked a laugh, hit me on the back and said, ‘But then I'd never be the rich fucker I am and have that beauty sucking my dick!'

Mike and I turned in the direction Vern was looking and saw our women coming our way. The ladies were using my wife's scooter to pile up all their booty. I got up and met Jean as she drove into the open-air bar. I bent down, kissed her and whispered in her ear, ‘Help me! I'm being held hostage by the redneck from hell!'

Jean started coughing to cover a laugh and almost choked. She patted my hand and whispered, ‘You probably had the better end of it.' Out loud, she said, ‘Any word from the kids?'

‘Nary a one,' Vern said, ‘but Josh'll take good care of 'em. At first he was acting like a shithead about Crystal and all, but he's warmed to her and been acting like a little gentleman, huh, Crystal, honey?'

‘Oh, he's a doll,' Crystal said. ‘They both are! Vern's got just the sweetest boys!'

Vern beamed.

‘Honey, help me with my packages,' Crystal said, going to the scooter that Jean had vacated for a chair at a large table that would accommodate us all. Vern started pulling off packages as his new bride directed and when they were done there were two small bags left.

‘Whose are these?' Vern asked.

‘The pink one's mine!' Lucy called out.

‘The brown one is mine,' Jean said.

‘What did you get?' Mike asked his wife.

She held up a small clown, one of those ones like the Christmas elf who sits on the shelf? You know, sits on the mantel or something. ‘I collect clowns,' she told me, I guess me being the only one who didn't know this fact about her.

‘What about you, honey?' I asked Jean.

She pulled out a cloisonné letter opener in a cloisonné sheath attached to a cloisonné base. (I only know it was cloisonné because she told me. I'm still not sure what cloisonné is, but it was sure pretty.) ‘For my office,' she said, and actually blushed a little. Jean's not big on geegaws, but this was real pretty.

‘That's gonna look nice,' I said, and smiled at her.

‘I ain't even gonna ask what you got!' Vern said to Crystal. ‘But I bet there's a diamond or two in there!'

Crystal put her arms around Vern's neck, looking up at him with googly eyes and said, ‘But baby, I like sparkly things!' And then she giggled.

‘Are you fuckin' kidding me?' Josh said to Johnny Mac, staring at the ballpoint pen Johnny Mac had placed in his hand.

‘All the jewelry was locked up,' Johnny Mac said, blushing a little as Early, Janna, Josh and his brother Ryan all stared at him.

‘Well, you lose!' Josh said, tossing the pen on the ground and smashing it with his foot. He looked at Johnny Mac and shook his head. ‘You disgust me. Go sit over there and stay out of my face.'

‘No way!' Johnny Mac said. ‘And you can't talk to me like that! You're not the boss of me!'

‘Gosh, Mr and Mrs Kovak, I told Johnny Mac he shouldn't steal this,' he said, holding out a small sailboat one of the others had stolen, ‘but he wouldn't listen to me.'

‘They won't believe you!' Johnny Mac shouted.

‘Early?' Josh said.

Early looked from Josh to Johnny Mac and back to Josh again. Finally, albeit grudgingly, Early said, ‘Yeah, Josh, I heard you tell him not to.'

Johnny Mac looked at his best friend for the past five years and couldn't believe it. Early had betrayed him, just like Harry betrayed his BFF Peter Parker, aka Spiderman.

Broken, Johnny Mac walked over to the short wall that looked out to the blue sea and sat down. This was the worst vacation of his life.

There was nothing Emmett could do about Dalton's gun at the moment so, as it was getting on toward three o'clock, he headed to the Christian school on the south side. A couple of churches had gotten together and bought a defunct grammar school the city had condemned, fixed it up some and made it a K-12 school. Classes were real small, which is why Jasmine wanted to put Petal in there, less than ten students per class, but the curriculum, as far as Emmett was concerned, left a lot to be desired. Emmett ascribed to the big bang theory, which he tended to keep to himself in rural Oklahoma, whereas the school, of course, taught creationism. There seemed to be religion in almost every subject. Helping Petal with her homework one night, Emmett read a math problem: ‘Noah brought in animals two by two. If he brought in elephants, zebras and monkeys, how many animals did he bring in?' He was drinking a cup of coffee when he read that, and almost did a spit take.

There were quite a few cars in the parking lot of the Christian school when he pulled in, but he found a spot fairly close to the door. He'd discovered that the older he got, the more he liked to park close. He was thinking about maybe getting one of those handicap stickers, but wondered if you had to be actually handicapped to get one, rather than just old and lazy. He got out and headed into the school. Some of the older kids were still in the halls, the younger ones having all been picked up. This school didn't provide buses, so you had to get your kid there and pick them up every day. Somehow Emmett and Jasmine had been able to work that into their schedules, even though it was on a daily basis.