Authors: Mike Jastrzebski
I took a deep breath, thought calming thoughts about sailing away from Mobile, and stood to join my newfound family. “Now what?”
“Now we go see your buddy Fish,” Roy said.
“You know where we can find him?” I asked.
“Last I heard he moved into his daddy’s house. It’s not far from here, over in Bayou La Batre. I haven’t been there in years but I don’t think I’ll have any trouble finding the place.”
“When do you want to go see him?” I asked.
“Now’s as good a time as any.” Roy turned and headed across the room.
Jessica and I followed him to the gun safe. He pulled a ring of keys from his pocket, fit one into the case and opened it to reveal an extensive collection of weapons. I counted three hunting rifles, a military style rifle, a pair of Colt forty-five automatics, three smaller automatic pistols and four rather large revolvers, one of which I suspected dated back a century or more.
“We aren’t playing his game though,” he said. “I’m too old for fist-fighting, but I pretty much always hit what I aim at.”
I shot Jessica a questioning look and she shrugged. “This is why Gran didn’t want me asking Uncle Roy for help.” She turned to Roy and added, “We don’t want to kill Fish, Uncle Roy. We just want to talk to him.”
Ignoring Jessica, Roy grabbed one of the forty-fives and handed it to me.
“You know how to use one of these?” he asked.
I ejected the clip, checked the load, and slid it back in place. “I learned to shoot on one of these. Haven’t shot one in years, though.”
Roy grabbed its twin and tucked it into the back of his pants. “Don’t worry about it. It’s just like riding a bicycle. Once you learn, you never forget.”
“Kind of a cliché for a writer, isn’t it?” I asked.
“I’m full of them. Have to watch myself every time I sit down to write.” He started to swing the safe door shut and Jessica grabbed his arm.
“Hey. What about me?”
“You’re staying right here with Dwayne.” Roy slammed the door and turned the key to emphasize his point.
“Like hell I am.” Jessica grabbed Roy’s arm and tugged on it until he turned to face her. “I’m going. With or without a gun, with or without your permission. You know I can shoot, Uncle Roy. You taught me.”
“No.” Roy tried to stare her down, and then he wilted. He dropped his eyes to the floor, his huge shoulders slumped, and when Jessica held out her hand he handed over his keys.
Jessica reopened the safe, took out one of the small automatics, closed it back up and handed the keys back to Roy. Without a word she stepped around us and strutted across the floor and out into the night.
I followed Jessica, and when I got to the door I looked back at Roy. He hadn’t moved from in front of the safe and seemed to be trying to figure out what had just happened. “You coming?” I asked.
Roy slid the keys into his pocket and hurried across the room to join me. “She’s something else, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she is,” I said. I just hoped she didn’t get that cocky with Fish Conners.
Chapter 11
We drove along Highway 188 for about twenty minutes before Roy ordered Jessica to slow down. He rolled down his window and leaned into the wind and there was something feral about the way he shifted his head back and forth as he studied the terrain, as if he were sniffing out a trail. We crossed a railroad track and he pulled his head back inside the car and said, “Make a right at the next turnoff and turn off your lights, then pull over.”
Jessica did what Roy asked and as we climbed out of the car the first tentative drops of rain splashed on the hood. The woods around us had a damp, earthy smell, like a graveyard after a storm, and the temperature had fallen twenty degrees. The hooded sweatshirt I wore provided little comfort against the night chill that surrounded me. As I drew the hood over my head and shoved my hands into my pockets I was filled with misgivings.
Roy held up his right hand. “No talking,” he said. “Sound carries in these woods.” Drawing a flashlight from beneath his jacket he pointed it toward the ground in front of us. “Even a loud whisper could give us away.”
Falling in line behind Jessica, I kept my eye on the bouncing flicker of Roy’s flashlight as we slipped through the woods. For a moment I lost the bobbing light, only to spot it several feet to my left.
Around me I could hear the soft scrapings of animals I couldn’t see. Jessica jumped and let out a whimper when an owl screeched. Wood smoke drifted along the night breeze and my nose twitched as it picked up the offensive spoor of a skunk.
The rain pelted us and the trees no longer offered protection. My clothes were soaked and the muscles in my neck and back took on a life of their own, twitching and tightening as they responded to the biting cold. Adding to my distress, the icy metal of the gun I’d earlier tucked into my belt rubbed against my hip. Overhead, a stunning lightning show jousted with the earth’s surface like a barrage of anti-aircraft fire.
Preoccupied with my misery, I almost stumbled into Jessica before realizing that she and Roy had stopped at the edge of a small field. Jessica was shivering too, but Roy stood motionless, listening or waiting for a sign. I suspected that his jacket was better designed for this environment.
Roy drew us into a huddle. “Looks like our boy is home,” he whispered. “There’s a pickup and a Caddy in the drive and lights on in the trailer.” He looked at his watch. “Nearly two a.m. I was hoping we’d catch him sleeping.”
“What do we do now?” I asked. “It’s your show since you seem to know the place.”
“Even if Fish is awake we have the advantage of surprise,” Roy whispered. “I don’t want to hurt the boy unless we have to, but if we catch him unawares maybe we can scare the bejesus out of him. If he doesn’t have the manuscript I’m guessing he knows where it is.
“Wes, you and I will work our way along the line of trees to the trailer. When we get there you hang back and I’ll find a window to peek into—see if I can spot Fish. Jessica, you stay here as our reserve force.”
“I’m not going to sit back and watch,” she said. “You keep trying to protect me and I don’t need protection.”
“Not true, hon,” Roy said. “You said it yourself. You can shoot a pistol. Up close we may have to go hand-to-hand and you’re just too small to be much help. Fish is big and he’s strong. I don’t want to be watching out for you if it comes to a fight.”
“Goddamn it Uncle Roy, I’m not going to stand out here all night waiting while you two have all of the fun. If I don’t hear from one of you in a half hour, I’m coming in.”
Roy gave me a light slap on the back and started forward. “Let’s go. Jessica, honey, you be careful, you hear?”
Roy and I jogged along the tree line toward the rear of the trailer. As we drew even with the side of the trailer Roy picked up his pace and ducked around the corner.
I had an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Long, wavering clumps of grass dragged across my pant legs and the mud underneath sucked at my shoes and caused me to slow my pace.
I stopped and looked around. Ahead of me Roy was crouched beneath a darkened window. To my left, a small decaying barn leaned towards the woods as if it were preparing to sprint away from its sordid surroundings. From inside the barn, a dim light cast its pale glow through a doorless entry and across the yard. Dozens of castoff tires, appliances and torn plastic garbage bags littered the landscape.
I decided we needed to know if someone was in the barn. Reaching down I picked up a small stone and tossed it at Roy. He glanced back at me and I pointed to myself and then the barn. When he nodded, I made a quick dash across the junkyard obstacle course. With exaggerated care I slithered along the rough wood barn wall until I was standing alongside the doorway.
A train rattling along a nearby track sounded its horn, causing me to jump. It passed with a dull roar, and then the night became as quiet as road kill. Despite the cold I was perspiring. Forcing myself to slow down, I took a couple deep breaths and waited until I grew calm. Drawing the Colt, I held it in both hands in front of me and assumed a shooter’s crouch, before creeping into the open doorway.
A single light bulb hung from the roof of the barn and cast shadows against the walls that seemed to move like crude cartoon characters. The only thing in the barn was a beautiful, restored Model T Ford resting on blocks beneath the light.
Outside, rain pelted the barn. Inside, wide rivulets of water poured through what was left of the roof, turning the dirt floor into a giant caldron of mud.
I stood and was about to turn back into the night when something heavy slammed into my head.
***
Someone called my name from a distance. The voice sounded urgent and became louder as my mind began to focus. I was lying with the right side of my face pressed against the muddy floor of the barn. My hands were tied behind my back and my feet were bound together. The mud smelled of age-old straw and bird dung, and was almost as disagreeable as the damp, frigid outside air that filtered in through a thousand cracks and missing boards.
“Wes, can you hear me?” the voice called again. I turned my head, groaned as a sliver of pain pierced my brain, and saw my cousin and Roy lying bound beside me.
“Jessica.” I called out. “Roy.”
“I’m okay,” Jessica said. “But Uncle Roy hasn’t moved since they brought me in here. I’m worried, Wes.”
As I pulled and twisted my bindings, I willed myself to stop shivering. It didn’t work. “How did you get caught?” I asked.
“I did something really stupid. When you and Uncle Roy didn’t show, I snuck up to the trailer but there wasn’t anyone there. I assumed you found it empty too and so I called out. I didn’t even have my gun out of my pocket when Fish and that Rusty guy you know showed up.”
“Are you sure it was Rusty?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “The son of a bitch tied me up and he wasn’t very gentle about it.”
“I wondered how Fish knew how to find me,” I said. “Or that I was interested in the manuscript for that matter. I told everything to Rusty and he must have relayed it to Fish. I don’t understand it though. I was told Rusty had a lot of money.”
“Had is the operative word there, Wes. I had a lot of money.”
I turned my head as Rusty entered the barn followed by Fish Conners.
“So this is all about making a quick buck?” I asked.
“Pretty much,” Rusty said. He turned his head, spit on the ground and walked over to where I lay. “I was self-employed when Elaine took sick and we didn’t have insurance. It took most of our savings just to pay her hospital bills.”
“How did you know about the manuscript?” I asked.
“After your Granddaddy died I stopped by to offer Fran my condolences. She showed me the book and told me she was going to try to return it to the original owner. I suggested she contact Sam Quinlin. He’s an old schoolmate of Fish’s. I’ve been around enough to know the book was worth some money, but I didn’t know how much until Quinlin started researching the damn thing. I figured that if Fran was going to give it away, it might as well be mine. I offered Quinlin a cut but he got all righteous on me so he had to be dealt with.”
“You’re a pig,” Jessica said. “Gran trusted you.”
“The way Fran felt about that book, I didn’t figure she’d try too hard to get it back from us. Now the only question is what to do with the three of you.”
“You could just let us go,” I suggested without much hope. “We’ll forget any of this happened. You can keep the damn book.”
“It’s a little too late for that,” Rusty said. “The three of you know about Quinlin and me. Can’t leave any witnesses.”
Roy let out a groan and tried to sit up. “You don’t have to hurt Jessica,” he said.
Rusty spit on the muddy floor by his feet. “I wish I could let y’all go. But truthfully, Roy, she’s too damn stubborn for her own good. She wouldn’t rest until she brought me down.”
“You got that right,” Jessica said.
“See what I mean.” Rusty turned toward Fish. “Wait until I’m out of here and have a chance to get home before you take care of them. I don’t want to be anywhere near here. Understand?”
“You bastard!” Jessica gave a sudden heave to her body, rolled across my legs and lashed out with her tied feet. She connected with Rusty’s right leg causing him to lose his balance and fall to the floor.
Fish was on her in an instant. Grabbing her by the hair he gave it a vicious twist and dragged her to her feet. She spit in his face and he cursed and tossed her across the barn where she landed with a dull thud. I cringed as she cried out in pain, but there was nothing I could do.
Rusty climbed to his feet and headed out the door without looking back at us. “She’s all yours, Fish. Why don’t you give the little bitch an introduction to hell before you kill her?”
“Rusty, wait,” I said, but he continued walking until he disappeared into the night. A moment later I heard his car start and drive away.
“Let us go, Fish,” Roy said. He was moving about, straining at his bonds. “You know your Daddy wouldn’t want you to hurt no woman.”
“You don’t know what Daddy was like,” Fish said. “When I was twelve I watched him rape two colored whores. Couldn’t have been much older than me. When he finished with 'em he made me help feed 'em to the gators. Bastard promised me I’d be next if I ever told anyone.” Fish gave a quick glance over his shoulder as if he expected his long dead father to step out of the dark, then he moved over to where Jessica lay.