Killerfind (26 page)

hetta
jolted awake when
the house phone on her nightstand shrilled at 5:30 in the morning about a foot
from her head. No one ever called on the house phone. Especially at 5:30.
Particularly on a Saturday morning.

The night had been a long one. After supper,
Randolph had gone to his studio to work, and she’d gone to bed with a book. After
finishing the mystery novel she’d started weeks ago, she had a terrible time
falling asleep. Randolph had come to bed, had fallen instantly asleep and was
snoring and she was still wide awake. When she finally did sleep, her slumber
was invaded by a jumble of dreams. In one, her father was dangling a locket in
front of her face. When she reached for it, he disappeared. Then she was
driving Cami down a gravel road and was engulfed by a cloud of dust, which
caused her to drive into a ditch. Then, quickly she was ten years old again and
cruising with her mother in her mother’s yellow ’76 Camaro. Then she was
fourteen and just received news that she’d lost a seventh grade spelling bee.
She woke up confused, but conscious enough to realize these dreams all pointed
to losing something precious. Her brain was trying to tell her something. She
didn’t have a clue as to what and rolled over in search of more sleep. The
house was quiet except for the whoosh of the air conditioning system when she
stole a one-eyed glance at the clock. It was 4:20. She didn’t think she had
fallen asleep until the house phone jangled her awake. Heart hammering, she
snatched it to her ear.

The caller ID revealed it was Woody.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered loudly, hoping to
prevent Randolph from waking. Too late. He had already stirred and was sitting
up, a puzzled look on his face as he squinted to read the clock display.

“I’m sorry to wake you up, but I got a call from
Ricky just now. She and Billy Dan are at Merc’s in Marble Hill. They want to
wait for you guys to eat breakfast.”

Wondering if she had forgotten a date made with
Ricky, Rhetta shook her head, trying to clear out the sleep bunnies. She
couldn’t remember making a breakfast date with Ricky.

Woody went on. “She tried to call you on your cell,
but you didn’t answer. So she called me, and I told her I’d call you. Her cell
phone battery is nearly dead.”

Rhetta leaned over to study the clock. “It’s
five-thirty. I didn’t answer the cell because I’m asleep. I don’t have any
appointment to meet Ricky, and by the way, is something wrong for you to be up
already?”

“No. Jenn has to work this morning, and I was
planning on going into the office.”

Rhetta’s lack of sleep overloaded her patience. She
didn’t want to hear about Woody’s day. Her day’s plans had included sleeping
in. So much for her plans. “Why does Ricky need to talk to me at
five-freaking-thirty on a Saturday morning?” She groaned and lay back against
her pillow. Randolph had already gotten up, visited the bathroom, and was on
his way to the kitchen. “Never mind, I’m sorry I’m grumpy. Not enough sleep. No
problem. We’re all up. Now.”

Woody ignored her sarcasm. In fact, she thought he
sounded worried. “She says she really needs to talk to you. Could you call her
at Merc’s right away?”

Rhetta swung her legs over the side of the bed,
fully awake and alert. “Is something wrong?”

“She didn’t tell me, only told me to have you call
her.”

Rhetta thanked Woody for delivering the message,
then headed to the bathroom. She splashed water on her face, and brushed her
teeth. She began to feel human. What would necessitate a call to Rhetta at an
hour when even respectable chickens weren’t up? If Ricky and Billy Dan were
getting along well, she wouldn’t be calling. If she and Billy Dan weren’t
getting along, she wouldn’t be calling. So, why was she calling?

Rhetta padded to the kitchen, found her cell phone
and a pair of glasses. She located Ricky’s number in her favorites. As soon as
it began ringing, she remembered Woody had said to call Ricky at Merc’s. She
was about to hang up, when Ricky answered.

“Rhetta, my battery is dying. Can you and Randolph
meet us at Merc’s? Billy Dan and I have something to show you. You’re not go—”
The phone went dead.

Randolph had already put on a pot of coffee and
slipped out to the deck in search of the felines. She smiled as she saw the
four cats curled together on a padded deck chair. They ignored him, obviously
not ready to start their day. He poured out their food and returned to the
kitchen.

“Do you feel like eating breakfast at Merc’s in
Marble Hill?” Rhetta asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee. She inhaled the
rich aroma appreciatively. She followed that with sweetener and milk. Coffee
was indeed the nectar of the gods. She couldn’t consider herself functioning
until she had her caffeine.

“Why not? It’s a great day to go to Marble Hill.” He
kissed the top of her head and headed for the shower.

*
* *

Rhetta
was waiting, two full coffee travel mugs in hand, by the time Randolph drove
the Artmobile around to the front door and picked her up. He’d already turned
the air on, although they could have driven with just the windows down, except
for the dusty county road. The morning hadn’t yet blossomed into a sauna,
although the weather girl had called for another hot, humid day. The sun rising
in the east was a giant orange ball peering over the horizon.

“What’s the rush about?” Randolph asked, as he
donned sunglasses and guided the truck out on to Highway 34, then westward to
Bollinger County.

“Not sure, Sweets. It’s not like Ricky to disturb
anybody, so for her to have called Woody so early to call me, it must have been
something she couldn’t wait to tell us.” She sipped her coffee, allowing the
events of the past week to tumble around her brain. She shook her head. “I
can’t imagine.”

“By the way, I found you and Woody an excellent
attorney for your Illinois court date on Thursday. I’ll go over everything with
you later. His name is Carlton Hightower, and he comes highly recommended.
Seems like he has plenty of experience dealing with the regime in Alexander
County.”

“He’ll represent us both?”

“Yes, unless something happens that indicates you
need separate counsel, he’s agreed to represent both of you.” Randolph turned
off the radio, which had been playing in the background. He normally listened
to talk radio, but this morning she found the political bickering too banal to
put up with. He must have agreed.

“What do you think is going to happen to Woody and
me?” She had been so busy that she hadn’t really given much thought about what
the outcome of their court appearance would be. She hadn’t thought about it,
and was probably blocking it out. In truth, she feared the worst, that they’d
be put back in jail for something they hadn’t done. “We didn’t do anything. We
truly were at the wrong place at the wrong time. What will we have to do to
convince the judge?”

“That’s what we’ll be discussing with Mr. Hightower.
We’re to meet with him on Monday. Need both of you to be there.”

“Of course. Will you go with us?”

Randolph reached over and squeezed her hand. “What
do you think?”

*
* *

Merc’s,
a converted Tastee-Freez built alongside Crooked Creek in the 70s, was bustling
with activity. Initially constructed as a small walk-up ice cream stand, Merc
(short for Mercury) Leadbetter bought the business fifteen years earlier and
added on a large dining room and full kitchen. He re-opened as a full service
restaurant. Being situated practically on the creek bank, the cedar sided
building had suffered through several floods. Each time high water had invaded
his building, Merc rebuilt and his loyal customers always returned.

The regulars were already guzzling coffee and
discussing serious issues, like the best ponds for catfish. Farmers and
politicians alike mingled for breakfast at Merc’s. This being an election year,
Rhetta guessed there were way too many politicians to suit the farmers.

Ricky spotted Rhetta and Randolph as soon as they
strolled into the smoking section of the dining room, and motioned them over to
the booth she shared with Billy Dan.

Rhetta slid in next to Ricky, while Randolph shook
hands with Billy Dan, then joined him on his side of the booth.

Krista, the waitress Billy Dan insisted on calling
Kathy, immediately appeared at the table with two cups and a steaming pot of
coffee. “Hi, Judge, Miss Rhetta. Goin’ to have breakfast this morning?” She
filled their cups, refilled Billy Dan’s and Ricky’s and found the stainless
creamer pitcher, sliding it toward Randolph. She waited, pad and pencil ready,
to take their order.

“Just coffee for me,” Rhetta said.

Randolph said, “I’ll have the bacon and egg biscuit.
And a glass of orange juice.” Billy Dan and Ricky ordered the same thing.

Krista nodded. “Be up in a sec.” She disappeared
around the corner to turn in the order.

Billy Dan’s hand snaked to the pack of cigarettes in
his shirt pocket. Ricky shook her head, and Billy Dan aborted the trip.

Rhetta knew instantly that Ricky was trying to keep
her from experiencing a nicotine craving, but with so much smoke in the smoking
section, there wasn’t much chance that the effort would succeed. Rhetta already
craved one. “All right, girlfriend, what on earth is so critical that you
dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night?” She settled for drinking
more coffee, hoping that would kill the urge.

Ricky glanced at her watch, then grinned. “Yeah.
Sorry about that. I guess it was a little early. But wait ’til you hear this.”
She turned to Billy Dan.

“I think you might want to see a place out on
Whispering Pines Lake,” Billy Dan said, and reached again for his pack again.
Whispering Pines Lake was a recreational area that boasted a fifty-acre lake
that a local developer built about thirty years earlier. He’d planned to sell
lakeside tracts for cabins, but only about half the lots ever sold, and only a
few of them had cabins built.

Billy Dan patted out a cigarette and offered the
pack around the table. Everyone declined. Rhetta ate one with her eyes, then
drained her coffee. Billy Dan lit up, inhaled and blew the smoke upward, away
from the table before he continued.

“About fifteen years ago, I wired up a cabin for
Malcom and Adele Griffith. I guess, now that I talk it over with Ricky here, it
was probably just before Mr. Griffith disappeared. Never thought too much about
it, until we were talking about how you girls found his remains.”

“Why exactly does that require me to sacrifice my
sleep this morning?” Rhetta held her cup up at Krista as a signal she needed a
refill. She’d need plenty of caffeine to fight the nicotine war.

Ricky leaned over and whispered loudly to Billy Dan,
“I told you she’d be like a bear just out of hibernation if we called her too
early.”

Billy Dan flicked ash of the end of his cigarette
and chuckled. “Not much, except that after I wired their cabin, Mrs. Griffith
never came back up here except one time that I know of. Folks in the area say
they never see her. She let that friend of Ricky’s, Jeremy Spears, use it occasionally.
Once in a while, I’ve seen a few other folks there over the years, mostly
during hunting season. Anyhow, that weekend, Adele was here by herself, and
called me to ask how to turn the power off when they weren’t here. I drove over
and showed her.”

Krista appeared with both arms stacked with plates
of breakfast. After placing everyone’s food correctly on the first try, she
snatched the coffee carafe and refilled everyone’s cups. “Why do you think
that’s so interesting?” Randolph asked, closing his hand over the fresh steamy
biscuit, which he guided to his mouth. Krista left to refill more cups around
the room.

Billy Dan took another drag on his cigarette, blew a
long trail of smoke toward the ceiling then stubbed it out and reached for his
biscuit. After chewing a moment, he turned his gray eyes to Randolph. “Nothing
all that interesting at the time, except she’s not ever been back, and when she
left that day, she had Jeremy Spears come and get her. He left the truck she
drove out here parked in the garage and drove Adele home in his car. No one
ever came back to pick up the truck.”