Shine (Kentucky Outlaw Book 1) (4 page)

She had told her mother the truth to a point.
 
She wasn’t sad about Nick.
 
She was angry that someone killed him, and that anger was giving her energy to find his killer, but she wasn’t sad.
 
How could she be sad for someone she hated so much?

It was late when Ethan hit the city limits of Remington, Kentucky.
 
After spending the night with Carol Lynn he thought he’d drive straight home, but while driving through Asheville he decided to take a look around.
 
He hadn’t been to Asheville in a long time and even though he had a few friends still living there he ate lunch and had a quiet drink alone, then just drove for a little while.
 
He saw parts of the city he’d never been to before and wondered what neighborhood Carol Lynn had grown up in.
 
He should know that, but he’d never asked.
 

Ethan stayed so late that he debated getting a hotel room for the night, but knew there wasn’t enough in his bank account to cover anything even halfway decent so he got back on the highway and drove the final hour of his trip.

Not much had changed in Remington in the last two years.
 
There was the inevitable American homogenization, a new strip mall including a Wal-Mart, CVS, and Pizza Hut, but other than that the town looked pretty much the same.
 
He spent a good half hour looking around.
 
Most of the places were shut down for the night, but the bars were still open, including Traxler’s Saloon, probably selling his family’s homemade moonshine right at that moment.
 
F
inally, he turned towards his destination.
 
If he arrived any later they might be asleep and they’d be plenty mad at him even without being rousted from their beds.
 

The lights were still on in the two-story house when he drove up.
 
He threw the car into park, shut off the engine and sat looking at the damn place.
 
It had changed less than the town.
 
The front porch that wrapped around the house was still warped and in need of replacement, the house still needed a new paint job, and the same drab curtains still hung in the front window.
 
It was like the place had fallen asleep just waiting for his return.

He grabbed his gunnysack out of the trunk and headed in.
 
He didn’t knock, just walked right in the side door that led directly to the kitchen.
 
Just as he thought, his father Zeke was sitting at the table drinking moonshine with Ethan’s older brother, Ged.
 
Jackie was nowhere to be found, but unless he’d changed a lot in the past two years, he was in the backseat of his car with some girl.

Zeke and Ged said nothing as he shut the door behind him and put his bag in the corner.
 
He sat at the table, took the empty Mason jar, the one that had been waiting for him, and poured himself a drink.
 

“Boy, you got some goddamn nerve, you know that?”

“Yes sir,” Ethan said.

His father was a thin man, but had remained muscular into his sixties.
 
He had a high hairline, and he trimmed his mustache with military precision.
 
His eyes stabbed at Ethan, just waiting for an explanation.

“Jesus H. Christ, Ethan,” said Ged.
 
“You been gone for years and then we call to tell you Nick Butler is dead and it still takes you three days to get here.
 
Where the hell were you?
 
San Fran-goddamn-sisco?”

Zeke put out his hand to hush Ged.
 
“Well, Ethan.
 
Where you been?”

“I was in Streamwood,” said Ethan, “Illinois.
 
Least that’s where I was when you called.
 
I been moving around.”

Ged blew out a lungful.
 
“At least you never changed your number.
 
We weren’t too sure we’d get a hold of you when we called.”

Ethan let that comment go.
 
It wasn’t as if they hadn’t spoken the whole time he was gone.
 
He called once a month, well, maybe once every couple of months, but he would’ve told them if his number changed.
 
He wasn’t
that
big of an asshole.

“Well, I’m here now,” said Ethan.

He took a drink of the shine and felt the burn in his throat.
 
Zeke looked to Ged and the two of them gave a little laugh.

“Looks like Ethan got pussified drinking store bought liquor all this time. What do you say, Ged?”

“I been gone, but I can still drink you under the table,” said Ethan.
 
He took another drink and this one went down smoother.

Zeke rose from the table and said, “You look like you're OK to me.
 
Course if your mother was still alive she’d say you were a might skinny, but I reckon you don’t look like the world beat you up too badly.”

“I held my own,” said Ethan.

Zeke nodded and clapped him on the shoulder.
 
“It’s good to have you back, boy.
 
I’m going to bed, I suggest you get a goodnight’s sleep as well.
 
We making a run tomorrow night and we’ll need the help.”

“That’s if you still got it in you,” mocked Ged.

Ethan took his things upstairs and stowed them in his old bedroom.
 
He was shocked to find this was the one place in the house that had changed.
 
His stuff had been pushed against a wall and the room was full of boxes and other random stuff.
 
Apparently while he was gone they had turned it into storage space.
 
The room was cold from the door being shut and no one being in there for who knows how long.
 

He’d refilled his glass before coming upstairs and placed it next to the bedside table.
 
The amber liquid sloshed and Ethan saw a bit of charcoal floating in the moonshine.
 
This was a batch for the family.
 
No way would Zeke allow something that sloppy to be sold under the Dalton name anyway.

Ethan took off his clothes and laid back on the bed.
 
The homecoming had gone smoother than he thought.
 
He wouldn’t say they were exactly happy with him, but he got the feeling Zeke kind of understood why he had left, even if he didn’t exactly condone it.
 
Ged, on the other hand, had ridden Ethan every day of his life, and that didn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

Ethan pulled out a book of Hemingway’s short stories and read until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.
 
Just before falling asleep, he thought of Carol Lynn.
 
Even though he’d just seen her that morning it already felt like years since they spoke, but he thought about what she had said.
 
That when he was back in Remington, he should just remember that he was good enough.
 
That was easy for her to say, but he appreciated it all the same.
 
He wished he could fall in love with Carol Lynn, it would be so much easier.
 
Hell, it would be easier if he could see in himself what she did.

Julie sat at her desk with a glass of water next to her.
 
It had only been three hours since she had taken the aspirin, but she was seriously considering taking another handful.
 
She had spent the night drinking too much of her bottle, and she had ended up turning up the stereo in her car and dancing by herself.
 
She’d enjoyed the freedom, but was paying the price for it now.
 
Fortunately the newsroom was quiet, not that the
Remington Press
was the
New York Times
, but there were usually people talking and milling around.
 
At that moment, most everyone was out on assignment.
 

Connie came up to her and sat on the edge of her desk, “Hey, hun.
 
How’re you doing?”

Julie lifted her head up and said, “I’ve had better mornings, but I’ll be OK.”

Connie gave her a kind appraisal and said, “If you need time off…”

“No,” interrupted Julie.
 
“I need to work.
 
You got something for me?”

Connie handed her an assignment sheet.
 
“Our esteemed mayor is proposing a new ordinance on parking meters along Main Street.
 
I need you to head down and get some quotes from parking enforcement.”

“Parking meters?
 
Come on Connie.
 
Give me something better than that.”

Connie said, “That’s the assignment.
 
You don’t want it, I’ll give it to Jerry.”

Julie snatched the information sheet out of Connie’s hand and said, “No, no, I’ll do it.”

Julie left her car parked in front of the newspaper, deciding she could use the twenty minute walk to city hall.
 
The day was crisp, and she buttoned her jacket against the wind.
 
By the time she arrived, her headache had mostly subsided and she felt a little more awake.
 
Julie headed into the parking operations and got what she needed in a few minutes.
 
She was about to head back to the paper when she made a quick turn.

Her brother, Austin, was behind the counter, looking very authoritative in his officer's uniform. He didn’t see her right away, and she stood watching him fill out his paperwork for a minute before coughing slightly to his attention.
 

Austin looked up.
 
“Julie, what brings you in?”
 

Julie needed to ask this question just right.
 
Out of her whole family, she was closest to Austin, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t run to their daddy if he thought he needed to.

“I have a few questions for you.
 
You got a minute?”

“Does this have anything to do with Nick’s murder?” he asked.

“It does.”

“Is this a story you’re working on?”

 
“Does that make it easier to talk to me?” she asked.

 
“Julie, you know as well as I do that all inquiries have to be made to the press office,” he said and walked away from the counter.

“Fine.
 
It’s for me.
 
Now can you talk to me?”

Austin shook his head.
 
“Let the police handle it. Whoever did this, we’ll find him.”

“Please, Austin.
 
I just need to know a few things.”

Austin looked around to make sure no one was listening.
 
In a low voice he said, “I’m taking my lunch break in just a few minutes.
 
Meet me at The Crossing.”

Julie exhaled, releasing some of the tension she’d been carrying.
 
“Thanks, Austin.
 
I mean it.”

Without saying another word he turned back to his work.

When Julie walked into The Crossing, Austin was already drinking sweet tea.
 
The Crossing was a big, brightly lit bar, given its name because it sat at the intersection of Main Street and State Street, the two main tracks through town.
 
Being so close to town hall, it was a popular place for city employees to lunch, with tables ranging from beat cops to administrative staff.

“A meeting at The Crossing,” she said as she joined him at the table.
 
“Aren’t you afraid your cop buddies are going to see you talking to a reporter?”

“If anyone asks I’ll just tell them I wanted to have a meal with my grieving sister.
 
And you said this was personal, not for a story.”

“It is personal.
 
I just have to know a few things,” she said.

Austin held his hand up, telling her to stop.
 
“First, I get to ask a few questions.
 
You give me an answer I like, I’ll tell you what I can.”