Chapter twenty

Chauncey sat in a tiny room at an equally tiny table shoved against one wall. He fiddled with a tin ashtray, but had no cigarettes to smoke, and nothing to light them with even if he did. They had taken away his Camels, and without them, his nervousness increased. Within moments the door swung open and two large men in suits crowded into the room, along with the deputy, whom he knew.

Behind her he was shocked to see Liberty, a smug look of triumph on her face. He had prided himself on being able to spot a border cop a mile away, but he hadn’t suspected his fellow tenant. Ah, well, he was growing old and had let his guard down after two years in the U.S. If they were going to send him back to Mexico, he had put enough money in banks there to live comfortably the rest of his life. He would try to find old friends and family, see if they were still around.

“Would you like a cigarette?” The agent who identified himself as Cheatham shook out one of his Marlboros.

“Si, thank you.” Chauncey slid one out and waited for a match.

“Ah, excuse me, but I prefer you not smoke while I’m in the room,” Liberty said.

Cheatham gave him a sympathetic smile. Man, being in jail sure wasn’t like he remembered the only time the border patrol caught him. It had been his first attempt to enter the country, so he had lacked experience. He had awaited deportation in smoke-filled cells.

“Tell us what you know about the reporter and the radioactive waste in the Chesapeake.” Liberty sat in the only other chair in the room, leaving the others to stand.

Chauncey blinked. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you are talking about.”

“Yeah, right, in a pig’s ear.” Liberty snorted.

“Pig’s ear?” Chauncey was becoming more confused. What did a pig and his ear have to do with being in the United States illegally? He had never stolen anything in his life. What would he do with a pig and his ear? While carnitas were his favorite, he had plenty of money and would never have to steal a pig.

“Come on,” Liberty snarled. “You killed that guy to cover up whatever you’re involved in with the radioactive material. We have a pretty good idea what you’re up to. You’re going to poison the bay and create chaos and terror on the East Coast. For what purpose? What’s the group you belong to, and what’s your political beef?”

Chauncey’s head swam. She believed he’d killed somebody? And what was this radioactive thing she was talking about? And what was political beef? What were all these animals she accused him of stealing? Were there cows and pigs in this country you were not supposed to eat?

“Miss McDonald, I know nothing about the poor dead man. I already told the police that I was playing horseshoes with old friends down by Mimosa Cove all that day. My friends can tell you. And I do not steal pigs and cows.”

“Pigs and cows?” the deputy asked. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Don’t try to change the subject,” Liberty said, her face red and angry. “Who’s in on this with you? Who’s doing the actual dirty-bomb work and what do you want? You’d better tell me now or else it’ll be worse for you.”

Chauncey looked to each agent in the room and the deputy as well for some help with all the strange questions Liberty was asking. They were not questions about his being here illegally, but something to do with this dead man they’d found on Miss Addy’s land. But he had nothing to do with it.

“My friends can tell you—”

“Forget your stupid friends,” Liberty shouted, rising out of her chair and slamming her hands on the table. “They’re probably all in it with you. We’re going to pick up those so-called friends of yours and haul them in. I don’t care how long it takes. We’ll break you all one by one until we find out what you’re doing and why. What are their names?”

“I don’t wish to get anyone into trouble,” Chauncey said.

“Screw that.” Liberty grabbed him by the arm. “Tell me, or I’ll break your arm.”

“Sheriff Taylor was there,” Chauncey finally confessed. He hoped the sheriff wouldn’t get into trouble because of him. He was such a nice man.

Karen dared to peek at Cheatham and Grassley, who were clearly trying to hide their laughter but failing miserably.

“Well, okay, then.” Liberty released Chauncey’s arm. “You should know that…uh, I’ll be talking to the sheriff immediately, and talking to him a lot.”

Liberty left the room and Karen followed her.

“I think a woman whose goat went missing filed a complaint the day of Vinson’s death,” Karen said. “I’ll double-check to see if she had any pigs or cows.”

“Shut up.”

“So Tommy just found him lying there,” Dee-Dee said, drawing another draft for Addy. “Big deal. I’m sure Karen will understand. But you need to go tell her and get this mess cleared up. Otherwise, she’ll keep thinking you’re hiding something, and it’ll continue to eat you up inside.”

Addy gazed around the bar, making sure no one was paying them any attention. The noisy room made listening in on conversations difficult, but not impossible. “I’m not hiding anything. I just don’t want everybody bothering Tommy.”

“He’s stronger than you think, Addy. The fact that he does come down out of that tree has to prove something. Maybe he’s getting better at dealing with life. Maybe he knows that people care for him and will always be around, and that it’s okay to trust again.”

“I wish I could be certain of that.” Addy sighed. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. I better go tell Karen the whole story. She can probably help keep the media at bay and the questioning to a minimum.”

Frank got up from the bar stool and limped to the jukebox in the corner of the room, where he dropped a quarter in and played Patsy Cline’s “Crazy.” His mind raced at what he’d overheard.

So someone had been watching them out in the inlet searching for Vinson’s camera, and now he knew that same person had probably seen them chasing Vinson almost two weeks ago. But what else had he seen? Why hadn’t he told the police or the feds?

What was he hiding? Or was he waiting to blackmail them? Could this guy be bought? Did he want in on the action?

He was already planning to take Abel and Clarence over to the Cooper property tonight to search for the camera in the inlet.

While they were there, they might visit this guy who lived up in that old oak. If they couldn’t buy his silence, maybe it was time to silence him permanently. He returned to his stool and ordered another beer.

“Hey, sweet cheeks,” a weather-beaten guy wearing a John Deere cap said. “How’s about another Bud?”

“You got it, Billie.” Dee-Dee drew a tall one and slid it across the bar.

“We still on for tonight?”

“I’m done by one thirty. I’m counting on it.”

“Geez, Dee-Dee,” Addy said. “Is there anyone you won’t sleep with?”

Dee-Dee laughed. “Probably not. But what else is there to do around here? And it’s a helluva lot more fun than going to the movies. A lot cheaper too.”

“I thought you’d be done with one-night stands by now.”

Addy sipped her beer.

“Oh, some are one-nighters, others longer than that. And some I wouldn’t mind spending a lot more time with. Like that Liberty. Whooee, she’s hotter than a bare ass on Harley chrome.”

Addy studied her beer.

“Oh, come on, now,” Dee-Dee teased. “It ain’t no secret you and Liberty have a little thing goin’ on.”

Addy snapped her head up. “How do you know?”

“She told me.”

“She what?” Addy was appalled that Liberty had been so indiscreet. What they shared was private.

“Hey, it’s me,” Dee-Dee said. “You don’t have to worry about me telling anybody. I could care less that you and her are having a good time. Lord knows there’s plenty to go around. And that Liberty sure has enough to share, don’t she?”

Addy’s face felt hot and she sneaked a peek again to see if anyone was paying attention to them.

“I don’t see how that makes it okay for her to kiss and tell.”

“Hell, people do it to me all the time. I don’t care.”

“Yeah, but that’s you, Dee-Dee. Everybody knows you sleep around.”

“What do you mean by that?” Dee-Dee’s voice rose in pitch.

“Oh, come on.” Addy laughed at the hurt expression on Dee-Dee’s face.

“Are you calling me a whore?” Dee-Dee had her hands on her hips.

The bar quieted down in their corner of the room as a few heads turned their way. Addy realized Dee-Dee was drawing attention to them, so she tried to cool her down.

“No, Dee-Dee, of course not. But even you have to admit you sleep with a lot of people, men and women.”

“Just because I enjoy sex doesn’t make me a whore,” Dee-Dee snapped. “And having a fucked-up relationship with a deputy sheriff for over six years doesn’t make someone a prude. But then again, maybe it does.”

The hair on the back of Addy’s neck stiffened and she rose from her bar stool. “I am not a prude. I slept with Liberty too, and quite frankly, she was a bit rough. But I suppose you like it that way.”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Dee-Dee stepped closer. “And I like it nice and gentle too. The way Karen does it.”

The room shrank around Addy, and somewhere in the back of her mind she realized that people had stopped talking. The only sound was someone on television advertising a Toyotathon at the local dealership. She was sick to her stomach and was afraid she might be ill any minute.

“Aw, shit, Addy,” Dee-Dee said. “It was a long time ago. Right after you left. It was just a one-time thing, I swear.”

Addy stumbled on her way to the door. She wanted to get away—to be anywhere but home, and Deale, and even the state of Maryland. She didn’t know where she was going, but she had to go somewhere and think. She couldn’t seem to think.