Dirty South Drug Wars (13 page)

I was unsure if her words were a simple statement or one of her terrifyingly accurate premonitions. I’d remain too terrified to ask.

“I’m calling you tonight,” Tanner said.

“I won’t answer,” I responded, crossing the street toward my vehicle.

“Then I’ll text.” He followed, wrapping his fingers around my elbow and spinning me around.

“No means no in all fifty states.” I wrenched my arm from the light grasp of his hand.

“You’ve still got my father’s gun and I want it back.”

Part of me had hoped stealing his gun would bring him back to me, although I’d never admit it to anyone. After returning home the night at the train station, I’d hidden it under my mattress.

“Why should I give it back to you? So you can finish me off?” I snorted.

Disappointment overshadowed his face. A strange heaviness invaded my chest. He cut his gaze and glanced down the road, pursing his lips.

Something inside me shifted. “If you text me, I might respond.”

A slow, dazzling grin replaced his weary, downtrodden expression. He squeezed my arm once before letting go and letting out a loud, impressive whistle. Bryce stopped arguing with Josie, nodding Tanner’s way. Bryce attempted to give Josie one last kiss. She pointed down at the smashed cake smeared over her bare legs below her shorts and then slapped him across the face. He let out a yelp before trotting across the street looking like a wounded dog.

“You better watch out, cousin,” Bryce joked as he rubbed his sore, red cheek. “These Monroe girls can get a little rough.”

“Yeah? Well, I like rough.” Tanner smirked at me.

His words caused excitement and fear to bud in my chest. Tanner gave me one last grin before he and Bryce slid into the car and eased down the street, heading in the direction of Birchwood.

Shaking my head, I tried to pull myself out of my Tanner-induced stupor. I turned to the Jeep and saw a box of Double Decker Moon Pies sitting on the driver’s seat. I picked the box up and frowned at it in confusion. A small smile spread across my face at the message written in black ink across the box. The scroll was wide and sloppy, all rushed boy.

“‘For a moon goddess who tastes like candy and smells like cake. Tanner,’” I read aloud.

“I don’t get it.” Lucy shrugged. “But I want one.”

“Back off.” I clutched the box of marshmallowy goodness to my chest. “These are all mine.”

“Whatever.” She waved her hand. “They’re probably laced with cyanide anyway.” She failed to hide the cynical scowl that crossed her delicate features.

Neither one of us spoke again during the drive to Nana’s house.

I didn’t mind the silence. My mind was too wrapped up in Tanner and fear. I was terrified of anyone else finding out about us. Tanner and Bryce were reckless with their actions. I wondered if they had made their family aware of their affections for Josie and me.

Nana’s white, two-story farmhouse loomed in the distance as Lucy and I pulled into the long driveway. My tires splashed through the deep potholes full of muddy water. The sun was dipping beyond the trees behind the house, coating the sky in a brilliant, fiery-orange glow.

Nana’s driveway was lined with the cars and trucks of our various family members. Some were parked in the front yard and I grumbled knowing the ground was still soft from the recent storm. Nana’s yard would be filled with ruts and upturned grass by the end of the night.

With her nose turned skyward, Lucy disappeared inside the big house, and I wandered around to the backyard. I sat at one of the three picnic tables scattered in the yard. A rowdy game of horseshoes was taking place. My uncles and male cousins were laughing and hollering at one another. Josie made her way outside and joined them. A large pile of cash lay stacked on the picnic table where I sat as they began placing bets.

The sight of Amos laughing and tossing horseshoes without a care in the world set me on edge. I was infuriated by the complicated mess he’d unknowingly made of my life. I blamed half of my troubles on my erratic, uncaring mother and the rest on Amos. How could he live with himself knowing he’d murdered a man in cold blood?

What would happen if I let myself get closer to Tanner? Would I eventually reveal what Amos had told me so long ago … that it wasn’t my father who’d murdered Tanner Senior, but Amos himself? I couldn’t imagine being in a relationship with someone and keeping a secret like that for very long, even if telling him would ultimately destroy the man I’d come to know as a second father.

I scrolled through my phone until I found Tanner’s smiling, tired face grinning back at me. I couldn’t hold back the smile that crept across my face. For the first time in my life, I felt as though I truly belonged. Someone wanted me.
Tanner
wanted me.

“What’s got you all lit up like the fourth of July?”

I shoved the phone in my pocket and took a deep breath. Amos stood before me collecting his winnings. He grinned, looking so much like my father that it twisted my heart.

“Got you a beau, Rue?”

“Nah.” I shrugged, struggling to slow down my rapidly beating heart.

Mosquitoes attacked my arms and I swatted them away. The rest of our family had gone inside to fill their plates with Nana’s good, Southern food. The backyard was silent aside from the crickets singing as Amos shoved his billfold in his back pocket.

Amos stared at me like the snake he was: cold, dark, and unwavering. Eeriness washed over me.

“Buck Bridges stopped by the job site today.” Amos lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. “He said a bunch of Birchwood kids were down at the old train station a few nights ago causing a ruckus.”

I said nothing, swallowing the surprised gasp that threatened to escape my lips. Amos pulled his favorite pistol from the back waistband of his jeans and sat it beside me.

“Yup. He said Levi was called down there. You remember Levi, don’t you? He’s turned into a fine young man. Working at the county Sheriff’s department. Levi told Buck everyone ran like a bunch of scalded dogs before he could find out what happened.”

I nodded but remained silent. There was no reason for me to speak. I had a feeling Amos knew exactly what went down at the old train station, and maybe he knew Tanner was there looking for me as well.

“You know, Ruby,” he said, picking up the gun and sliding his thumb over the safety, “you hear just about everything living in a small town. It’s hard to figure out what’s real and what’s not sometimes.

“You see old Toby over there?” Amos nodded across the yard where the old, red barn stood.

Amos’ old Bluetick hound lounged under a tall, ancient oak tree. The lower branches sagged down close to the earth and swayed in the warm, gentle breeze. Toby’s ears perked up at the sound of his name leaving Amos’ dry, chapped lips, but his head never left the dirt.

Toby had wandered onto Amos’ property many years ago as a young dog. He’d been skittish and preferred to sleep in the old saw mill on the edge of the property. When someone would come near him he’d dart off. Amos slowly built his trust by feeding him every day at the mill. He’d bring the bowl of food closer and closer to his house each day until Toby was comfortable enough to approach the house. Toby had obviously been beaten by his previous owners because when someone raised their arm for any reason the poor dog would immediately hit the ground. Toby learned to love Amos, riding in the bed of his pickup truck wherever he went, including to our family meals.

“There’s no telling how many hundreds or thousands of hours I spent training old Toby to tree coons.” Amos smiled, a nostalgic, far away expression on his face. “He’s been like a best friend to me. Hell, he’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a kid besides you and Lucy. I’ve carried him hunting and fishing throughout the years. But he’s old now. He sleeps a lot and won’t tree a coon for shit.

“A few days ago I noticed he started snapping at the neighbor kids when they got off the bus. He’s turned into a traitor, Ruby. Do you understand? Do you know what happens to traitors?”

“Please don’t,” I whispered.

Amos gave me a menacing grin as he turned, whistled for his trusty sidekick, and cocked the gun. The dog raised his head with his ears still perked. Toby struggled to his feet, limping across the yard. Arthritis had set in over the years and his bones and joints frequently bothered him. He only made it a few steps when Amos pointed the gun and squeezed the trigger.

I screamed as the gun went off in Amos’ hand and the poor dog hit the ground. Tears welled up in my eyes as Toby’s sorrowful howls broke through the stifling heat. Pressing my hand over my mouth, I tried to mute out the choking sobs that threatened to escape as the poor dog didn’t immediately die. Toby’s legs twitched and he moaned as his paws dug into the wet ground, struggling to make his way to his best friend, his master. Even at the brink of death, Toby desired nothing but the love of the man who would eventually kill him.

“He’ll suffer for a while before he dies.” Amos tucked the gun back in the waistband of his pants. “Maybe he’ll spend what little time he has left remembering the fun the two of us had together over the years. Maybe he’ll wonder what he did to deserve his death. Maybe he’ll think about snapping at those kids. Maybe he won’t. It doesn’t matter either way. He’ll eventually die, Ruby. Because that’s what happens to traitors. They die.”

I sat at the picnic table in stunned silence and trembled. Tears streamed down my face. The sound of the gunshot lured my family out the back door and onto the wraparound porch. Wiping the tears from my cheeks, I slid off the bench. Amos watched my every movement. My family gazed at where poor Toby lay dying near the barn. My sister and Josie descended the faded white, wooden steps of the porch and jogged over to us.

“What happened?” Lucy licked her bottom lip. “What happened to Toby?”

“He was used to prove a point,” I muttered, dropping my voice as Amos joined us.

“You’d never betray your family, would you, Lucy?” Amos asked in a kind voice, ruffling my sister’s hair.

“No, sir.”

“That’s a good girl,” Amos cooed as though she were a small child. “Well, don’t just stand there like a knot on a log, Ruby. Let’s get some grub before the boys eat it all up. Brodie! Bury that mutt before he starts to stink.”

“Yes, sir,” Brodie called out from the porch in a bitter voice.

Brodie covered his disturbed expression quickly enough and lumbered away. I followed my uncle onto the porch. I cast one last look over my shoulder as Brodie dragged Toby to the woods lining our grandmother’s property.

I filled my plate with potato salad, coleslaw, corn on the cob, and fried chicken, but I’d long since lost my appetite. I just shoved my food around my plate and avoided the stares Josie, Lucy, Brodie, and Peyton shot my way. There was no way in hell the boys would keep what happened at the train station a secret from our uncles. Had they already told them everything that took place?

As soon as the dishes were clean and the men were gathered around the television watching some alligator hunting show, I discreetly gestured for my cousins to join me outside. Darkness had set in. It was a cloudy night and the moon was invisible in the sky. Not a star twinkled. Death hung heavy in the air.

“Did someone tell him that Tanner was looking for me?”

Brodie, Peyton, Josie, and Lucy all shook their heads slowly and solemnly. I gazed at each one of them, searching for any hint of deceit but found none. My shoulders slumped in relief and I tugged on a long, twisted strand of hair.

“Please, can we keep this to ourselves?”

Peyton gritted his teeth. “Why should we? Why should we protect the Montgomerys? Drew Kingsley said Tanner Montgomery has ‘dishonorable intentions’ with you. If he means what I think he means …”

Neither of them had seen Tanner drag me behind the old train station. For all they knew, Tanner wasn’t ever there the night of the fight. And I wanted to keep it that way.

“Look, Drew is nothing but a troublemaker. What if he was in town just to stir up trouble? Maybe he’s got some vendetta against the Montgomerys. Who knows? Why should we start a war with the Montgomerys over something some asshole said that probably wasn’t the truth to begin with?”

“I don’t know, Rue.” Brodie glanced at the door behind us. “Uncle Amos is a psychopath. If he finds out Tanner Montgomery has some sick obsession with you and we didn’t tell him, he’ll kill us like he killed that damned old dog!”

“Rue’s right.” Josie thrust her chin in the air. “Like Nana says, ‘Least said is the easiest mended.’ I’ll tell Amos that Drew was at the train station running his mouth. I’ll leave out the part about the Montgomerys. Hell, we sort of owe them, don’t we? They’ve had the past two years to come over here and infringe on our family’s stupid drug business, but they haven’t!”

“Fine.” Brodie pointed his finger in Josie’s defiant face. “You spin whatever tale you want, but let me make one thing clear. I don’t owe the Montgomerys a
damn
thing, and if I find out y’all are messing around with them, I swear you’ll regret it for the rest of your lives. Do y’all hear me?”

We all nodded solemnly. Josie hatched a story to feed Amos in case he brought up the night of the fight once more. Brodie and Peyton griped and complained about lying to our family.