The Blight Way (26 page)

The deputies laughed.

“You're a funny guy, Bo,” Brian Pugh said.

Tully shrugged.

Dave said, “Tell you what. Who wants one of Dave's World Famous House of Fry Burgers?”

He got a unanimous round of applause.

Tully sat down next to Pap.

“Almost like the old days,” Tully said. “The only thing missing is no Deedee to fuss over you.”

“Win some, lose some,” Pap said. “Actually, Deedee was a bit young for me.”

“You're right about that. I doubt she was out of her twenties. More my speed.”

“What's your speed, Bo?”

“Anything legal.”

“I guess that Susan is legal. She apparently shows some interest in you.”

“A little bit. Of course I haven't had an opportunity to turn on the full force of my charm.”

“Probably a good thing,” Pap said. “Sooner or later that seems to wipe out your romances.”

“I don't think it's so much my charm. It's more a matter of my pants in the middle of the floor.”

“Yeah, that's a bad one.”

Chapter 49

Pap, Herb Eliot and Ernie Thorpe rode with Tully. Brian Pugh and Chet Mason rode with Dave in his pickup truck. Approaching the gate on the Last Hope Mine Road, Tully drove slowly ahead of the pickup, his spotlight playing back and forth through the trees ahead and on both sides. No signs of gunmen lurking there. Tully stopped in front of the berm. He got out of the Explorer. Lights came on to his right in the woods. A large truck was parked there. A D8 Caterpillar tractor was alongside it. The headlights of the tractor illuminated the berm. Tully walked over to the tractor. Amos Kauffman was sitting on the Cat.

“You ready, boy?” Amos said.

“I'm ready, Amos. Take out the berm, then back off and let us go through with the vehicles. Then drive the Cat up to the dam and knock down the gate across the road that leads down to the water.”

Amos nodded and started the Cat. A great plume of
smoke rose in the air. The yellow beast growled forward and wiped out the berm in one pass, then backed off to the side. Tully gave Amos a thumbs-up and then drove up the road followed by Dave's pickup.

They passed the gated entrance to the dam. Down below, the dark water of the reservoir stretched far up the narrow canyon. They went by the old entrance to the mine. Pap had the shotgun pointed out his open window. They came to a parking area. Among the vehicles parked there were a dozen ATVs and Lucas's old school bus. Tully pulled into the parking area and stopped. Dave's pickup turned in next to them. Dave, Brian and Chet got out.

“Doesn't seem to be any lookout up here,” Dave whispered.

“I sure didn't see or hear anything,” Tully said. “If there was one, maybe he slipped away into the woods.”

“Maybe,” Dave said. “I think, though, that they're just not expecting us.”

Pap said, “Lend me those bolt cutters, Bo.”

“They're in the back of the Explorer.”

The old man got out the bolt cutter, walked around and snipped one of the leads to the battery on each of the ATVs. The others stood in the darkness watching him, listening to the snip-snip of the bolt cutter.

“Not a bad idea,” said Dave. “That way if any of them gets past us, he's going to be on foot.”

“There's that,” Tully said. “And then there's the fact that the old man loves bolt cutters. I guess how this gang gets in here is they ride in over the mountain from Littlefield's ranch.”

“Has to be that way,” Dave said.

Pap returned from his snipping and put the bolt cutter in the back of the Explorer. He was smiling.

Ernie Thorpe came over.

“It's almost midnight,” he said.

“Yeah,” said Dave. “The new entrance is just over on the other side of these ATVs. Let's go.”

Tully didn't like the idea of being the point man through the narrow tunnel, but he couldn't very well send anyone else. There had been no volunteers. Pap would have been delighted to go first, of course, but Tully knew he would never hear the end of it if he let him.

“Herb, you stay outside and guard the entrance. We don't want to get trapped in there.”

“My pleasure, boss.”

Dave and Tully lifted the piece of shale away from the opening of the new tunnel. It was surprisingly light. Tully suspected it wasn't rock at all, but made of some kind of artificial substance that could be easily moved. He peeked over the edge. Below him was a shallow pit that had been blasted out of the rock. The tunnel extended at a downward slant from the pit to the old mine. He lowered himself into the pit and peered into the tunnel. It was dark from one end to the other. As his eyes grew accustomed to the dark, he could make out a faint glow of light at the far end.

He took a deep breath and started crawling through the tunnel on his hands and knees, the 9 mm Glock tucked back in its holster. Someone had laid several thicknesses of old carpet along the floor of the tunnel,
which made the crawling a good deal less painful. The tunnel opened onto the floor of the mine. He peeked around the edge of the opening. Far off down the mine he could see a light and hear the murmur of voices. He could make out rusted rails for ore cars still in place on the floor of the mine. As he and Dave had suspected, the old timbers were now accompanied by new timbers as far as he could see. Tully now knew the reason for the brief logging operation on Littlefield land.

He slid out into the mine. He directed his flashlight back into the tunnel and blinked it once. He soon heard the scuffling sounds of crawling.

Dave was first out. The others emerged one by one, Pap bringing up the rear.

“Just like old times,” Pap whispered.

Tully knew there was a big smile on his face, even though he couldn't see it.

“No killing unless absolutely necessary,” he whispered back.

Ernie Thorpe whispered, “Man, this is spooky.”

Chet Mason whispered, “I can smell the marijuana from here. You could get high just breathing the air.”

“I don't want any of you high,” Tully said. “Everybody walk quietly. The closer we get to the light, the better we'll be able to see. With any luck, we'll take them all by surprise, and there won't be any shooting.”

They moved off down the mine, three in front and three behind. The murmur of the voices ahead grew louder. There was an occasional laugh. Soon they could make out words. Two men were talking about fishing.

Tully heard the words “. . . maggots mostly.” The warmth and humidity increased steadily. Water drizzled down from overhead.

As they neared the light, they could make out a long line of tables containing hundreds of green plastic garden pots. The pots were empty. Beyond the empty pots, a heavy clear plastic curtain had been drawn between the rock walls. Shadowy figures could be seen moving about behind the curtain.

Tully and his deputies moved slowly along the tables, bent over as low as they could stand it. From time to time, Tully heard a moan from them. He felt like moaning himself. When at last he reached the plastic curtain, he stuck his Glock into a gap at one side and flung it open. He stepped into the light.

Chapter 50

A couple dozen men and women, residents of Famine, turned and stared at him. Tully in fact had seen some of them before, gray, flabby men and women, on the streets and in the stores and certainly at Ed's gas station, getting five gallons of gas in their tanks and their windows washed. Some of them wore bib overalls. Most were dressed in jeans. All of them wore T-shirts splotched with sweat. Tully recognized one man because of his earflap cap. He seemed to be supervising the work. Large pots of marijuana, some with plants reaching nearly to the rock ceiling, covered the tables stretching off into the distance. Some of the workers were cutting down plants, others were placing them in a contraption that compressed the stalks and leaves into tight bales and then wrapped them in heavy plastic sheets.

Lister Scragg leaned against a rock wall, a shotgun hanging by a sling from his shoulder. A cigarette dangled from the bottom lip of his gaping mouth. Old

Lucas, wearing his earflap cap even in the warmth of the mine, stood across from him, holding a rifle.

“Police!” Tully shouted. “Get your hands up!”

The workers continued to stare at Tully. No hands went up.

Pap, Dave and the deputies stormed in. Lister dropped behind a table, the weapon coming off his shoulder. An instant later, several plants flew apart and the rocks above Tully's head exploded as Lister fired from below the table. Workers dropped to the floor screaming and swearing as they crawled under the tables. Pap fired his shotgun into the rocks behind Lister's head. The rocks sprayed like shrapnel under the table. Lister staggered up and backwards, holding the bloody side of his head with one hand. He no longer held the weapon.

“Don't shoot!” he screeched. “Don't shoot! I been hit.”

Pap had his finger on the trigger.

“Stop!” cried Tully.

Pap moved his finger reluctantly off the trigger.

Tully was sweeping his Glock back and forth, watching for anyone who came up with a weapon.

“This is the Sheriff of Blight County,” Tully yelled. “Everybody in here is under arrest! Come out from under the tables with your hands up! Anyone holding a weapon will be shot!”

Bit by bit the workers, dazed and sullen, emerged from under the tables. Some of the women cried. They looked like housewives and farm workers, their hair wrapped in bandanas or covered with old felt hats or
fits-all caps. Most of the men seemed older, their bellies swelling out their overalls, their jaws covered with gray stubble. Several had the brown juice of chewing tobacco dribbling down their chins. No one in the crowd appeared to be a prosperous drug dealer.

Brian Pugh moved behind one of the tables, his shotgun at the ready. Holding the gun in one hand, he grabbed Lister by the arm and jerked him back to where Tully was standing. Dave slid behind the table and picked up the shotgun.

Except for the forest of marijuana plants undergoing harvest, Tully felt as if he had interrupted a Famine bingo party.

The room fell into a dazed silence, with only the sound of water dripping and dribbling from the rock ceiling. Then, off in the distant darkness of the tunnel, Tully heard someone running deeper into the mine. A lot of good that will do him, he thought.

Then Lister blurted out, “Wasn't me shot those guys down on the road. It was them. I'm not taking the fall for them.”

“Who's them?”

“Them!” He pointed off down the mine with a bloody hand.

What had bothered Tully since they had entered the mine suddenly came to him. The bales of marijuana both here and at the hotel were too big to go through the narrow entrance tunnel!

“Quick, Lister, and you'd better not lie or I'll turn you over to Pap.”

Pap grinned his evil grin at Lister.

“What?” cried Lister.

“Is there another exit from the mine?”

“Sure. Down there a couple hundred yards or so. Comes out down on the dam's reservoir.”

“Brian, Chet, Ernie!” Tully yelled. “You three search these characters here. If you find a weapon on someone, cuff him. Those with IDs, get the names and addresses and put them on the bus and take them home. Those without IDs go to jail. And cuff the guy with the earflap cap. I want him taken in. Take those rubber boots off of him, too, and sack them up as evidence.”

“You got it, boss,” Chet said. “How about this character?” He indicated Lister.

“Cuff him and take him to my vehicle. Have the medics wipe some of the blood off of him. Makes us look bad.”

The faint sounds of sirens drifted into the mine.

“I ain't going down for this,” Lister said.

“We'll talk, Lister,” Tully told him, “but not right now.”

Pap and Dave were already in the small entrance tunnel. Tully scrambled through after them.

As expected, the ATVs and the old school bus were still there. “You need help?” Herb yelled at them.