Sit! Stay! Speak! (23 page)

“I'm not suggesting you leave town. But I do think it would be a good idea if you come and stay with me. Just until things”—he paused—“blow over.”

“How could staying there help anything?”

“Redd will be arrested if he sets foot onto my farm,” Jasper replied. “Any part of it, whether it used to be his or not.”

“He hates you just as much as he does me.”

“I'm sure he does. And that's another reason I think you ought to come stay with me. He knows that we're connected. I don't want him coming after you in retaliation.”

“How do you know he didn't do this in retaliation?”

“I guess I don't,” Jasper replied. “But either way, you'll be safer where I can keep an eye on things.”

“I'd be safer if we went to the police.”

“Addie.”

“What?”

“Don't start this again.”

“Redd Jones can't scare me out of my own house.”

“Don't be stupid.”

“Tell me why we can't go to the police, and I'll go with you.”

“I can't.”

“Then I'm staying here.”

Jasper slammed his fist down onto the table so hard that his glass of tea toppled over and onto the floor. The glass shattered at his feet. Within seconds, Felix bounded into the room, barking frantically.

“Shit,” Jasper mumbled, pushing back his chair. “I'm sorry.”

“Felix, go to bed!” Addie pointed at his bed in the living room.
“Go!”

Felix whimpered and sulked back into the living room, heaving himself down. He eyed the kitchen warily.

Addie knelt down to pick up shards of broken glass off the floor. “We've both had a long morning. I'm tired. You're tired. I'm sore as hell. After we”—she swallowed—“after we bury the dog . . . why don't you just go home?”

“Please just reconsider.”

“I'm not leaving.”

“You don't even have a car.”

“I'll call you if I start to worry,” Addie reassured him. “Right now, all I want to do is take a long, hot bath and go to bed.”

“I'd stay here if I could,” Jasper said. “But I've got the farm to take care of. And Delilah and the puppies.”

“I know.”

“I'll come back by tomorrow and finish up with that door.”

Addie watched him walk down the steps and out toward the Bronco, her hands full of glass. So far, the first two days of the Delta Blues Festival had turned out to be disasters of epic proportions. Despite her best efforts to shake the feeling, there was something inside of her warning her that this was merely the beginning.

“J
E
-
SUS
.” W
ANDA LOOKED FROM
A
DDIE TO THE DOOR PROPPED
up against the side of the house. “Girl, if it wasn't for bad luck, you wouldn't have none at all.”

“I know.”

“And your poor face.”

“I know.”

“You think Redd did this?”

Addie nodded. “I do, but Jasper doesn't want me going to the police. Did you see anything last night when you checked on Felix?”

“Half the cops are probably related to him, anyhow,” Wanda replied. “But it does seem fishy that Jasper won't let you say nothin'. When I stopped by, everything was right as rain.”

“He's supposed to come back later to fix the door, but I want to go ahead and get it fixed, especially if I'm going to be alone here. Would you mind to take me to the hardware store?”

“How are you going to fix your door, sugar?” Wanda asked. “You need help putting on a shirt.”

“That's what I've got you here for.” Addie tried to grin, but her face was so sore that it came out as more of a grimace.

“Oh, great. We better get some vodka while we're out,” Wanda replied. “And don't go tryin' to charm nobody with that face of yours. You'll scare 'em away.”

As they drove to the hardware store, the town was ghostly quiet. Not a soul walked along the streets. There were no cars at the gas stations, and even the parking lot at Linstrom's was surprisingly empty. Addie guessed the men who usually frequented the place, like everyone else in town, were at the festival.

“Stay here in the car with Felix, and I'll be right back,” Addie said, unbuckling her seat belt.

“Are you sure?” Wanda asked. “I can run in for ya. You're walking around like Frankenstein.”

“I've been lying in bed all afternoon. I need to walk around a little bit.”

The inside of the store was just as empty as the parking lot. The store was almost always full of people milling around, looking for caulk, or whatever it was that people went to the hardware store for. Most of the time, Addie was in the minority. Most of the time there were men wearing boots and heavy belt buckles shooting the shit with each other in every aisle. She found the nearest salesperson and said, “I need a hinge just like this.” She held it up. “Do you carry this?”

The man squinted at the hinge. “If we do, it'll be over in aisle 6.”

“Thanks.” Addie hadn't told Wanda, but she was relieved to have something on which she could concentrate, even if it was something as menial as a door hinge. There were too many other
things going on in her head that she didn't want to think about. And she was scared, another thing she hadn't told Wanda
or
Jasper. She'd been scared since that night of the party at Wanda's. Jasper was right—she couldn't really help herself, but now she was in so deep that she wasn't sure how she was going to dig herself out, and she didn't even know what kind of a hole she was in.

She scanned the aisle for the hinge that was in her hand but didn't see a single one that matched. Addie walked to the end of the aisle, looking for the guy who'd helped her minutes earlier. That was when she saw someone familiar walking in through the sliding doors of the hardware store. The closer the person got to her, the more convinced she was that she knew it was him. She wouldn't be forgetting his glue-like skin anytime soon.

It was the man from the fair; the man from Jasper's yard. Frank, was it? She followed him to the back of the store. He pulled a list from his dingy pocket and began to read silently, his lips moving with each word.

“Hey,” Addie said, hurrying toward him. “Don't I know you?”

The man looked at Addie like the deer in front of her car had the night before. He wanted to run away but was caught. So he just stared at her, not saying anything.

“Frank, right?”

“I, uh, yeah.”

“I thought so.” Addie mustered a smile, but remembered Wanda's warning and allowed her face to fall. “You're friends with Redd Jones.”

Now his skin really was the color of glue. He looked back down at his list. Then at Addie. Then back down at his list. “I work for him.”

“Oh, yeah? What is it that you do?”

“Odds and ends.”

“Do you know much about door hinges?”

“Not especially.”

Addie took a step closer and held up the piece of metal in her hand. “I don't either, but I have to buy a new one. You think you could help me?”

Frank swallowed, clearly debating his odds of making a clean getaway.

“It won't take but a second.”

“I 'spose I can help ya,” he relented. His smile wasn't much better than hers.

Addie led him back over to aisle 6 and handed him the hinge. Frank looked up and down the shelves, but after a few minutes handed it back to her. “I don't see nothin' that matches it.”

“I didn't, either.” She closed her fist around it. “I think it might be an antique. Most everything in my house is.”

“Sorry I couldn't help ya.” He tipped his hat to her and started to walk away.

“Oh, wait!” Addie started after him. “I've got another question if you don't mind.”

“Go ahead.”

“You killed any dogs lately?”

“Huh?”

“Did you and Redd Jones leave a dead dog on my porch?” Addie clenched the hinge tighter. “You know, after you broke my door?”

“I need to be goin' now.”

“Yeah, I bet you do,” Addie called after him.

Frank didn't look back at her. He hurried out of the store without buying anything just as fast as his skinny legs would carry him.

A
DDIE HARDLY RECOGNIZED HERSELF IN THE MIRROR
. H
ER FACE
wasn't nearly as swollen as it had been the day before, but there were bluish rings around both of her eyes. Her top lip was bruised and puffy. She looked like she'd been on the losing end of a fistfight with a deer rather than a car accident. As she sat on the back steps and watched Felix trot through the dew-filled grass, steam from her coffee soothing her face, she thought maybe all things looked better in the morning.

Maybe sleep really was all that she needed, but she couldn't sleep. Not when she was afraid of who might be sneaking onto her porch while her eyes were closed. She knew Felix would bark at the slightest disturbance, but it wasn't the disturbance she worried about—it was what always came afterward. Addie heard someone stomping up the steps, and her heart leapt into her throat. She peeked through the curtains to see Augustus standing on her porch.

“What have you been telling people about me?” Augustus hollered at her through the window.

“What?”

“People! What have you been telling them?”

Addie opened the door. “I haven't told anybody anything.”

“That's a lie.” Augustus strode past Addie and into her house. “Those women from the restaurant told Magdalene that I'd been talking to you.”

“You mean Fannie Lou?” Addie asked. “That was before I knew . . . I mean, that was when I didn't know it was a secret.”

Felix began barking furiously, jumping up and down in place.

“Tell that dog to hush up.”

“I won't.” Addie crossed her arms over her chest. “This is his house. And you weren't invited inside. I'm tired of keeping secrets for everyone. I can't remember from one day to the next what's a secret and what's not. So you'll have to forgive me if I didn't realize that you were pretending to be crazy so that you don't have to deal with the fact that your wife is dead.”

The scowl on Augustus's face turned to one of pain. It was a look Addie hadn't seen him wear before. He began to wring his hands. “Forgive me. I've been acting crazy for so long that I sometimes forget my manners.”

“Here, sit down.” She took his arm and led him over to her couch.

“I used to be a good man.” Augustus stared down at his hands. “I used to be an honest man.”

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that about your wife.”

“It's just too hard to be without her.”

“I understand.”

“No you don't.”

“I do,” Addie said. “I lost someone. Someone I loved. That's why I moved here.”

“I doubt you loved him like I loved Eleonora.”

“You're probably right.” Addie looked down at her lap. More and more she was starting to realize that perhaps the guilt she felt wasn't entirely about the way Jonah died. Maybe it was about something more, something deeper that she hadn't quite fleshed out yet. “I did love him,” she continued. “And losing him was hard. It was so hard. For a long time I wanted to lock myself up and throw away the key.”

“You're too young to have suffered in that way.”

“But I didn't do that,” Addie continued. “And neither can you.”

“I can do whatever I want.”

“Neither one of us can escape life. It keeps on happening whether we want it to or not.” Addie shook her head and continued, “And if there's anything that living down here has taught me, it's that I cannot stop things from happening.”

Augustus took a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. He did this several times. “I don't want to be here without her.”

“Is this how she'd want you to behave? Like this? Shutting everyone out?”

“You can't go around telling people that we're friends.”

“I never told anybody we were friends,” Addie said. “Wait, are we friends?”

Augustus stood up. “Get some rest, young'un. You look like hell.” He turned on his heel and marched out the front door and down the steps, cursing as he crossed the street. Addie could still hear him even once he was inside.

There's a fine line between strong and bitter,
Addie thought.
A fine
line between sane and crazy, too.
Felix jumped up and trotted over to her, his body wagging back and forth. He settled himself on her lap, resting his head underneath her chin.

“Come on, buddy,” she said. “Let's go get you a treat.” Addie took out the last hot dog from the package and set it onto a plate. She then cut up the hot dog into several pieces and set it on the floor for Felix to eat. “There you go. I'm going to go and take a bath.”

Addie padded back to the bathroom and turned on the faucet in the tub. The only thing that sounded good to her was a hot bath with a warm washcloth over her face. She settled into the tub and tried to relax. When she'd moved to Eunice, she held out hope that something good would come of the nightmare she had endured in Chicago. At that moment, it was hard to tell if the nightmare had ever ended.

There were, of course, good things about Eunice. Jasper and Felix were two of them. Wanda and Bryar were two others. Addie was grateful that they had welcomed her so readily. If she'd never found Felix lying desperately down at the levee, chances were that she never would have met any of them.

Addie remembered Jerry's words to her:
No matter where you move, life is going to get complicated. It's going to get messy.

The people she loved were full of suggestions.

She just hadn't anticipated it would get
this
messy. She thought about what she'd just said to Augustus. Had she really not loved Jonah as much as she thought she had? For so long she'd felt guilty having the slightest negative thought about him, but when it came down to it, she hadn't loved him like Augustus loved his wife.

And that was okay.

She was okay.

Felix was once again barking furiously. “Felix! Hush!”

He ignored her. Addie wrapped a towel around her body and hurried into the living room. Felix was standing on top of the couch with his nose pressed up against the windowpane. Addie leaned over him and strained to see what Felix saw. “Felix, you scared me half to death. There's nothing out there.”

His barking became more intense. Before she could reprimand him, Addie's phone rang. She ran back to her bedroom to grab it while Felix continued to snarl.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Addie. It's me.”

“Oh. Hey, Wanda.”

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing,” Addie replied. “My dog thinks that there is something out in the yard, and he won't shut up about it.”

“Oh,” Wanda said. “Maybe it's just a squirrel.”

“That would be my guess.”

Wanda paused, breathing into the receiver. Finally she said, “I was just calling to check on you. I know you don't want to talk about it, but I just want to make sure you're okay.”

“Thanks,” Addie replied. “I really do want to talk about it. I just don't want to talk about it right now.” She closed her eyes. She sounded just like Jasper.

“I know. But I'm here when you do.”

Addie heard a dull pounding coming from outside, followed by more howling from Felix. “Hang on a second,” Addie said to Wanda. “I think I heard something outside.”

Felix was now standing in front of the door, his bark lulled to a low, guttural growl. Addie walked over to the window and strained to see outside in the impending darkness. There were
no cars parked outside that she could see. No animals scurrying through the bushes.

“What's wrong?” Wanda asked.

Addie crept closer to the window. Her eyes scanned every inch of the yard. Just as she was about to turn away, she saw a shadow move in the driveway. It was a human shadow, and it was headed toward her house.

“Wanda, hang up the phone and call Jasper. Tell him there's someone outside my house,” Addie whispered into the receiver.

“Addie, what's going on?”

“Just do it,” Addie breathed. “Please. Do it now.”

Addie hung up the phone and grabbed Felix by the collar. Her hands were trembling. “Come on,” she pleaded. “Let's go.”

Felix hesitated, more interested in what was happening outside. Eventually he relented and followed her back to the bedroom. She opened her closet door and coaxed Felix inside. She cradled the phone in her chest and listened for noises inside the house.

Addie could hear someone at the front door as if they were trying to get inside. She heard the door crash into the wall as it flung open. She scrounged around the floor for something to wear, anything but a bath towel. She froze when she heard voices in her bedroom.

“I know she's here. I saw her looking at me through the window.”

Addie clapped her hand over her mouth. Felix began to bark. In a matter of seconds the closet door swung open and revealed them both.

“I found her.”

Addie looked up into Frank's pitted face. “Get out of my
house,” Addie said. She tried to keep her voice steady. “Get out or my dog will attack you.”

“Now, I don't think he'll be doin' that.” Redd Jones's voice pierced the bedroom. In one hand was his .38-caliber handgun. “Now, come on out of there.”

“No.”

“Get up.”

“I won't.”

“Get up or I'll shoot you and that fucking dog,” Redd growled, pointing the gun at Felix.

Addie stood and held up one hand; the other hand was wound around Felix's collar. The T-shirt she had flung over her head barely covered her. She'd never felt more exposed or frightened in her life. At any moment, she thought, her heart was going to beat right out of her chest.

Redd kept the gun on the dog and said, “Just you. He stays in the closet.”

“Stay,” Addie said to Felix, but Felix was no longer listening to her. He lunged forward and snapped at Redd. He caught the end of Redd's pant leg and tore it before Addie managed to get the door shut.

Redd stepped back, cursing under his breath. “That damn dog.”

“Please don't hurt him.”

“I'm going to shoot him if you don't shut up.”

Addie backed up until her back was against the closet. She could feel Felix sniffing and scratching at it inside. There had to be a way out of this. If she could just get her brain to think.

“I'd thought you'd be long gone out of here,” Redd continued, scratching his forehead with the barrel of his gun.

Addie turned her head slightly, trying to muster the courage to
look Redd in the eyes. “Felix would rip your face off if I gave him the chance.”

“Naw,” Redd said. “That dog doesn't have it in him. He never was prospect material.”

“How would you know?”

“I know.”

“Was he your dog?”

“He was never nobody's dog.”

“He's my dog now.”

Redd grabbed Addie by the arm and pulled her over to the bed, forcing her to sit down. He leered at her bare legs for a moment before he said, “My colleagues and I think it is about time you were movin' on.”

“Where do you expect me to go?”

“I don't reckon I give a shit.”

“I live here,” Addie said. “I own this house.”

“Maybe it's time to sell.”

Addie looked away from Redd. She couldn't figure out why she was arguing with him. Why couldn't she just say okay and beg for him to leave? She could pack a bag right now and take Felix and run. She could disappear. “And what if my answer to that is no?”

“You've got a lot of nerve, girl,” Frank said suddenly. Addie couldn't tell if the look on his face was one of awe or contempt. “Most days Redd don't give people an option.”

“I can handle this, Frank,” Redd replied. “I ain't asking you to get out. I'm tellin' you.”

“Was it your idea to kill a dog?” Addie asked. She looked away from Redd over to Frank. “Or did your boss over here order you to do it?” She couldn't leave it alone. Scared as she was, she wanted
answers. Maybe if she couldn't get them out of Redd, she could get Frank to talk.

“Come on, now.” A grinchly smile crossed Redd's face. “I can't be held accountable for that.”

The fear in Addie was spiraling into fury. The nerve of this man to think he could just come into her house and order her around. The nerve of him to pretend like he didn't know anything about anything. “Just like we both know that you're not accountable for leaving Felix to die in a trash bag. Just like you're not accountable for the dogs that die on your property. Just like we both know you're mad as hell that you won't make any money off of that pregnant dog that mysteriously disappeared,” she said all in one breath. Addie knew Redd could kill her before help came. She knew that, but it didn't matter. Felix mattered. Delilah mattered. Those puppies mattered. She wasn't going to let another living being die because of her.

Redd's free hand clenched into a ball. He brought the gun up under Addie's chin. “Tell me, darlin'. What else do you know?”

“Isn't that enough?” Addie could feel the cold steel of the barrel against her flesh. She couldn't breathe. He was going to kill her. This was it.

“Don't play stupid with me. Who are you working for?”

The question caught her off guard. “What are you talking about?”

“Are you working with that idiot DEA agent?”

“What DEA agent?”

“I don't think even the Floyds know they've got an undercover cop working for them.” Redd puffed out his chest. “But I know.”

“I don't know who you're talking about.”

“Clyde said you'd play dumb.” Frank threw himself back into the conversation.

“Clyde the farmhand?” Addie felt control of the conversation slipping away from her. She was lost.