Checkered Past (A Laurel London Mystery Book 2) (12 page)

Cautiously I opened the door and let the sound of the country engulf me but the humid air got me instead. The twinkle of the stars reminded me of a million Christmas lights in the coal black sky.

“Not going to rain tomorrow and we sure could use it.” Willie stepped out into the moonlight making me take a few quick breaths. I felt dizzy.

“Yeah.” I laughed and made myself look up at the stars. “Trixie was always right.”

Trixie said if the nighttime sky was full of stars, it meant there was no rain.

“We definitely could use some rain.” I felt a couple sweat droplets roll down my cleavage.

“I’m glad you showed up. Late as usual.” He smiled. He gave me the bedroom eyes that had seduced me many times before.

“That is one trait I have yet to conquer.” I smiled and got out of the car. “I’m here to hear what you have to say before I turn you into Jax Jackson and his FBI buddy.”

He dragged a bale of hay out of the barn door. He sat on the ground, leaned his back on the bale, and crossed the ankles of his boots. He reached behind his back and pulled a piece of straw out of the bale and stuck it in his mouth.

“Damn, you still are pretty. And sexy.” His eyes watched every sway of my step.

“The pen hasn’t been bad for you either.” Did he think I didn’t notice the biceps when he reached behind him?

We were always good at foreplay, better at sex.

“If I didn’t need your brain to save my ass, I’d take you right here.” He patted the spot next to him. “Just like old times.”

“Thank God old times are in the past and the past is stored right up here.” I tapped my temple, ignoring the tingling in my body. It would be so easy to lie next to him and let him have his way. “And I can’t forget standing in front of Nashville Elvis. The smirking lip when he told me, after I insisted on waiting for you, that you weren’t going to show.” Tears gathered on the edge of my eyelids. “I waited four hours. Stood for four hours in front of Elvis because I knew you were going to come through those chapel doors. Four motherfucking hours.”

“I’m telling you I didn’t rob a bank or kill a cop.” He took the straw out of his mouth and replaced it with a cigarette. He sucked in a draw and blew it out his nose. “Curly told me she told you about my history with them. Sally Bent was like a sister to me. She cleaned Curly and Bo’s house for years. That’s where some of the vegetables Trixie got for the orphanage dinners when she did cook came from. Curly would pay Sally in food.”

I vaguely remember Trixie sending her over here. At the orphanage I only hung around Derek and Willie. Sally working here and getting paid in veggies made sense now.

I had a little side business in the children’s home myself. When I would go to foster families, I would stock up on things like good smelling soaps, shampoos, and other little items I could get in my knapsack. I’d take them back to the orphans and sell them to them. Sally always paid me in vegetables. I took them too. Food around an orphanage that didn’t involve a government handout was scarce.

“I did a lot of grunt work around here and learned how to garden. Curly and Bo became a family of sorts, only we knew they couldn’t show it in public.” Willie’s words stung.

Most citizens in Walnut Grove didn’t like the orphanage or the image it gave to their quaint city. Nor did they like us strolling the streets in fear we would be stealing something. They weren’t too far off the mark with me. I lived up to their expectations, but now I could blame my shortcomings on my blood relatives.

I let Willie talk. I sat a little distance away hoping to keep the chemistry, which was obviously still between us, as far away as possible.

“Bo had given me a key to a safety deposit box where he and Curly kept a few extra dollars. He gave me the key when I told him I was going to run off and marry you.” His voice cracked. “I was serious, Laurel. I went to the bank and did exactly what Bo told me to do. Tell the teller I had a key, show her the key and follow her to the room.” He gulped. He bit his lip. “I’ve only told Bo, Curly and Sally this because they have been trying to help prove it. I think that is why someone killed Sally.”

“Because she was snooping around?” I asked and put my hands around my neck. Was I next?

Slowly he nodded his head. He sat up. His face stern.

“There was another teller and two other men in there. The two men had guns. The other teller was dead. The two men were arguing, both tugging on a safety deposit box that was open. Somehow a gun fired. I passed out. The next thing I know I wake up with a gun in my hand and the police standing over me.” He stopped, gathered himself. “One of the guys had been beaten to death. The other guy was gone. The gun was in my hand with my prints all over it.”

I sat there listening. He sure could tell a believable story. I was hanging on hook, line and sinker, waiting for the rest of the story.

“When I went to push myself up off the floor when the police screamed for me to get up, I saw two keys on the ground near my hand. I grabbed them, pretended to cough and swallowed them.”

“What?” I was confused.

“There was some sort of sting operation going on and the dead guy was an undercover FBI agent. The guy that got away was the bad guy and they were there to buy a very important key off the crook. When I came in, the sting went all to hell. The crook killed the tellers and the FBI guy. All I can figure is he didn’t have enough time to find the key under my arm, so he cleaned the damn gun and stuck it in my hand.”

“How do you explain the gunpowder on your hand?” I knew enough to know you don’t have gunpowder on your hand unless you fire a gun.

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. His sexy eyes dipped. His hair flopped when he lowered his chin, hanging his head. “Somehow, you have got to get the keys and figure this out.”

“You swallowed the keys,” I reminded him.

“When I was coming to after I had fainted, I heard them saying something about the keys and the sting operation. They had me ID’d as the person they were meeting and already tried and convicted me for killing the tellers and agent; I knew enough their key was important. Only I didn’t know how to tell them apart. With quick thinking, I swallowed them knowing they would come out through my shit.”

My face contorted and I turned my head in disgust.

“It took a couple of days for the keys to come out and a couple of days was all it took for them to send me to Eddyville.” His nose curled. “It was kind of nasty going through my shit, but I knew it was my ticket to freedom. Even a few guys in the pen beat the hell out of me because they were working for the thief that got away. I had to be careful. I told them I didn’t have it.”

“But you did?” I asked. He nodded. “Where is it?”

“In the binding of a book in the prison.”

“What book?” I asked.

“
Love in the Time of Cholera
.” The sound of my favorite novel of all time dripped out of his mouth. “When I found it in the library, I knew it was fate. It was shelved in the small romance section of the library and inmates didn’t read the romance section. They wanted to learn about the law books and how they could get around the system so I knew it would be safe in the binding.”

“And how do you expect me to help you?” I asked the most important question.

“I need you to get the key back and find out what the hell is in that safety deposit box and make me a free man.” His story was so believable I almost fell for it.

“This is crazy.” I jumped up and ran my fingers through my hair. “Too crazy.”

“I know. It could be a movie.” He got up and grabbed me by my arms to stop me from falling apart right there in front of him.

Once he steadied me, his large hand took my face and held it gently, forcing me to stare back into his eyes.

“I’m not lying.” He was so close to my face, I could feel his breath on my lips.

I wrenched myself away from my ridiculous preoccupation with his arresting face.

“No. No.” I shook my head. “No. This is preposterous.”

“It’s not. I have proof in that fucking book!” he yelled, stomping his boots in the dirt. “You can go to the prison. Get the book and get the keys.”

“And just how am I going to get into a men’s prison?” I asked the most obvious question.

“I’m sure you, of all people, can figure it out.” He put a lot of faith in me.

“Sally was working on this?’ I asked.

“Yes.” His voice lowered.

“And we see where that got her.” I pointed out the obvious. “But the craziest thing of all.” I paused. “I believe you.”

He rushed over and drew me into his arms. The touch of his lips on mine sent a shock wave through my entire body.

I pushed him off me. Only the burning desire, an aching need for another kiss hit like a shotgun had just pierced my heart.

“Let’s get one thing clear,” I warned him with my hand in the air. “This,” I gestured between us, “has been over since the four hours of me standing at the altar ended in my heart shattering. I’m smarter than ever and will never let you touch me again.”

“We’ll see,” he warned and looked over me seductively before I jumped back in the Old Girl and got the hell out of there.

“Where have you been?” Jax Jackson was sitting on the front porch steps of the house.

It looked like Trixie had already gone to bed. The house was dark, a faint light coming from the hallway had to be the night light Trixie always left on for the orphans so they could see if they got up in the middle of the night.

“Out.” I slammed the car door behind me. I flung my hair to the side, threw my hand on my hip and stared at him.

“Out where?” He stood up, legs apart in the stupid cop stance that I hated.

“I don’t owe you an explanation,” I informed him and trotted up the steps past him.

He grabbed my arm and flung me around, sending fire through my every nerve. My emotions jumbled within me. He was the polar opposite of Willie. Why couldn’t I be attracted to a normal everyday kind of guy that wasn’t attracted to danger? Willie and Jax, good or bad trouble was around both of them.

“You do when you work for me on a very serious case that I believe you know more than you are letting on.” He dropped his hand. “And I can’t let you get hurt.”

“Good night.” I turned back, but he grabbed me again.

“So?” His eyes snapped to me again. “Where have you been?”

“I really don’t think it’s any of your business nor Eric’s.” I pinched my lower lip with my teeth. I hadn’t planned on letting him know I knew the plan he and Eric devised.

“What does Eric have to do with this?” He gestured between the two of us. “Not that we are an item, but you know and I know there is something here.”

“You know and I know Eric wants you to use your charm on me to get answers about Willie Ray Bowman.” My words were sharp and by the look on his face, stabbed him exactly where I wanted them to. His heart. “I think it’s best I not work on this case anymore. You can tell Eric good luck. And any information I might have about Willie and our past is where it’s supposed to be.” I jerked my arm away. “The past,” I spit and used my key to get into the comfort of my home.

My chest heaved up and down in the quiet of the dark entryway. My back was planted up against the door, my eyes were closed. My heart sank. Willie was my past and he was only here because he needed me. Jax was here. In the present.

Tears stung my eyes.

“Screw you, Willie.” I wiped a tear dripping down my cheek. Willie was still messing up my life after all of these years and the only way to get him out was to get the key from the prison and get him out of here . . .forever!

Chapter Thirteen

Sweat dripped off my hairline when I sat straight up in bed. I looked at the clock. It was four thirty in the morning and probably too early to call Antonio, but I had to. Somehow my subconscious woke me up. Derek had asked Antonio where he worked and he said he worked for the jail system. It might not be the right jail, but it was a jail.

I flipped on the side table light next to my bed and grabbed my hobo bag off the floor, dumping its content on the comforter. Henrietta didn’t bother lifting her head. She stayed curled up on the pillow next to me.

I spread the gun, leather tobacco pouch, makeup, notebook and all the other contents around until I found my phone. I scrolled through the past call history and hit the green button when I saw Antonio’s name.

“What?” Antonio sounded like an angry bear from the other end. “What do you want?”

“I need a favor. And I’ll pay you five thousand dollars.” I knew it was going to take a lot of cash to get him to do what I needed him to do.

“I’m listening.” He sounded a little perkier.

“I need to get into Eddyville and I need you to tell me how I can.” Once I got in, I could easily get around. I had a knack for thinking quick on my feet.

“Five thousand dollars?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Easy.” He snickered. “Be at Friendship Baptist Church tomorrow morning around ten.”

“You mean ten as in a few hours or ten as in like tomorrow tomorrow.” I had to get it straight in my head since it was technically already morning of tomorrow.

“Laurel, you are a head case. Ten as in a few hours.” He yawned. “There is a bus with some of the local women from there and in Louisville. They go to the prisons and tutor, preach, counsel or whatever the fucking loser prisoners need.”

“Antonio, for being such an ass, you really are coming through for me.” I felt giddy, though it was going to be harder than I thought.

My past with Friendship Baptist Church pastor, Pastor Wilson and his wife Rita, wasn’t very good.

“I’m not sure whether that is a compliment or if I should be offended,” he said. “Either way, I’m going back to bed.”

“Yeah, me too. Thanks.” I hung the phone up, flicked off the light.

It seemed liked I had just closed my eyes when my alarm chirped. I groaned when I realized I had to do my community service. The sound of thumping made me pop up. I picked up Henrietta off the pillow and got out of bed following the noise downstairs to the kitchen.

Trixie had a long, thick stick in between her legs. She was using a knife as if she was whittling something.