Long Holler Road - A Dark Southern Thriller (21 page)

  Daddy listened to Momma and then looked at me. I was almost in tears, which was very rare for me.

  “Well, I guess you two have a good point. And son, I know you must have been scared to death worryin’ about what the Bullards might do. I’m sorry you got caught up in something like this, but in a way I guess it’s good that you did. If you hadn’t, nobody may have ever known what happened to the poor girl.” He let out a long sigh and got up out of his chair.

  “C’mon,” he said to me, slowly walking toward the front door, “we better go see the sheriff.”    

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Sheriff White didn’t interrupt me a single time when I told him the story of what happened that day in the cave. I, of course, omitted everything Jake Bullard had said about him. The sheriff didn’t give me any furtive looks of disbelief or condescension like a lot of folks would have, hearing such a sensational tale from a young teenager. When I finished, he sat there for a few minutes rubbing both eyes with the heels of his hands.

  “Are you one-hundred percent positive that the men you saw and heard were Jake and James Bullard?” The sheriff asked this as he was looking through his desk drawers to find a legal pad.

  “I’m as sure as I can possibly be, Sheriff. I’ve known them all my life.”

  “Remember now, you were in a cave and that’s the hardest place on earth to see anything. And sounds can git distorted, too, especially when there’s water runnin’ like you said it was over that waterfall.”

  “I know, sheriff. But I could see the Bullard’s faces well from their flashlights and I know I heard them plain.”

  “I ain’t doubting him, George,” the sheriff said, turning his attention to my daddy. “But right now it’s just gonna be his word against Jake Bullard’s and his boys. The only other proof is the body which might not ever be found.”

  “I understand, Sheriff. It’s a very serious accusation and you shouldn’t take it lightly. But I know my son and I know he would never lie to me or anybody else. Especially about something as serious as this.”

  “I know he wouldn’t, George. Hell, I’ve known him since he was born and know he’s gonna be a good man just like his daddy is and his granddaddy was. But it ain’t as easy as him convincing me. He’s gotta convince a jury and them Bullards have got good lawyers and they will use everything you can think of, and a lot of things you can’t, to create a reasonable doubt.”

  What the sheriff just said struck me like a bolt of lightning. “You mean I gotta testify?” I asked incredulously. “I’ve gotta sit right there in front of those Bullards and tell  everybody what they did and what they said?” I could just see me sitting there squirming in a chair like a worm on a hot stove eye, while Jake Bullard was staring a hole through me. I should have thought of that before, but for some reason I hadn’t. The sheriff said what I already knew but had blocked from my mind.

  “You’ve gotta testify unless you want them to go free,” the sheriff answered. “You and them other two boys are the only case we got. And you said neither one of them really saw anything ‘cause of where they were behind them rocks.”

  “They didn’t see, but they heard. And when we came out from behind the rocks the body was gone. It don’t take a genius to…….”

  “Junior, don’t be a smart aleck,” Daddy said, in a semi-scolding manner, “I know it’s frustratin’ and you’re scared….”

  “It’s alright, George. The boys been through a lot and he’s got more to go through yet. He ain’t bein’ smart, he’s just a kid.”

  The sheriff walked into the next office and told Kate to bring him and George some coffee. “Do you drink coffee, Junior?” he asked me.

  “Yes sir, but I wouldn’t care for any, thank you.”

  The sheriff sat back down and looked at both of us seriously. “Now this ain’t gonna be as easy as just goin’ and getting Jake and his boy and cartin’ ‘em off to prison. First I gotta convince Riley Morris, the DA, that I got enough evidence for him to prosecute. And the only real evidence I got is sittin’ right here in this room. But Riley shouldn’t be a problem, ‘cause he knows you George, and he knows George Junior comes from a good family. He prob’ly knows old Roscoe Burt pretty good, too. Then he’s gotta git the judge to issue a warrant and a grand…….”

  “I know how the process works, Andrew. We have to get an indictment from a grand jury before there is a trial. It sounds like you’re tryin’ to talk us into just forgettin’ the whole thing.”

  The sheriff sat up straight in his chair, “That’s the last thing I want, George. You ought to know me better than that. That Reeve’s girl’s family is grievin’ as bad as I’ve ever seen anybody grieve in my life. When they hear their daughter is for sure dead it’s gonna be worse. But at least they’ll know, and will eventually be able to git on with things. I just don’t wanna sugar coat this thing. Them lawyers are gonna be hard on Junior here, tryin’ to twist his words around. And what if a grand jury doesn’t turn in an indictment? The people on that grand jury prob’ly won’t know who you are from Adam’s house cat. I really believe there
will
be an indictment, but I’d be lyin’ and you’d know it, if I told you we had a rock solid case.”

  “I know, Andrew, and I apologize. I know it will be hard on our whole family. But not nearly as hard as it will be on the Reeves family.”

*****

  Jake Bullard drove his truck down the little road that was very seldom used anymore for anything, except occasional teenage love and drinking. All of that usually happened in the dead of night and this was the middle of the day, so he felt they would be safe here from prying eyes. The road was on top of Lookout Mountain and came to an end less than a hundred yards from the edge of Little River Canyon. Jake stopped his truck and sat there with James, waiting. In a few minutes, Andrew White pulled up behind them in a borrowed car. Andrew got out and walked up to the passenger door of the pickup. James scooted over to the middle of the seat to let him in.

  “Well, what’s the story?” Jake asked.

  “It was George Patrick’s boy, George Junior, Glenn Burt, Roscoe’s boy, and Snake Williams that found the body,” the sheriff answered.

  “Well, hell. I wish it had been somebody I didn’t know so good. And ’specially somebody besides young boys. I like George Patrick. Like him a lot. Like his boy, too. And I like Roscoe Burt, but I don’t know his boy as well.”

  “That ain’t all, Jake,” the sheriff said with the sound of dread in his voice.

  “Well shit, Andrew. Did they have a whole damned slew of their friends with ‘em?”

  “No, it was just them three. But…they… they was hid out in the cave and saw you two. And George Jr. said he heard everything you two said.”

  Jake pounded his fist on the steering wheel of his pickup, then started rubbing his chin whiskers. “Them sorry-assed boys of mine is the cause of ever bit of this. They’ve already caused me more grief than their sorry hides will ever be worth. Now we gotta do something that I’m really gonna hate doin’.”

  The sheriff lit a cigarette and the other two followed suit. “I can hold off ’til tomorrow about goin’ to Riley to give him my story. But I’ll have to do it by no later than mid-morning so it won’t look suspicious. You and James could git lost…….”

  “Hell, Andrew. Git lost fer how long? This thang ain’t gonna blow over like it would if you caught me with a truckload of moonshine. I can’t leave my place with nobody to watch it. And whose gonna take care of the boys in Miami and Chicago? Do you think they’re just gonna shut down their operation ’til I git this thang straightened out?”

  “I know, Jake. I know what you gotta do and I don’t like it one damned bit. And I don’t need to know about it either. I mean, I’ll know about it anyway, but as long as you don’t ever talk about it I can at least claim ignorance.”

  “Of course you don’t need to know and you ain’t gonna know,” Jake said. “You never know when something like this has to be done and you never will.”

  The three sat there in silence again, none of them knowing what to say. The sheriff could hear a slight breeze ruffling the leaves of the trees. Off in the distance he could hear a crow cawing. He saw a flock of buzzards with their wings completely extended, gliding effortlessly over the canyon . He was thinking what an appropriate sight the circling buzzards were, considering the conversation they were having. Finally, he broke the silence. “If them boys disappear, everybody’s gonna know who did it, Jake.”

  “
Suspect
, you mean. If there ain’t no evidence or no witnesses, all they can do is suspect. You can’t arrest somebody and charge ’em with a crime ’cause you suspect they did somethin”.”

  “Well, I guess there just ain’t no other way, then.”

  “Yeah, there
is
another way,” James finally spoke up.

  Jake gave his son a hopeful look. “Well, do you want to let me in on it?” he asked.

  “Those boys might need a trip to the experiment station,” James answered. “Let the scientist and the nurse take care of ’em. They’ll know what to do.”

  Jake had a look of dread on his face, almost as if the mention of this “Experiment Station” somehow frightened him. The sheriff couldn’t imagine what James was talking about. He thought it must have something to do with some of their associates in Chicago. Those men were all business and didn’t play games and sometimes had very creative ways to get rid of someone and not leave a trace.

  “I know you ain’t gonna tell me what this experiment station is and I don’t want to know, anyway. I just don’t want those boys to suffer,” the sheriff said in a low, trembling tone.

  James looked at the sheriff. “You’re right, Andrew. You
really
don’t want to know about this.”

  Jake had been thinking fast since James had told him his idea and had formed a plan. “Okay, Andrew. Here’s what we’ll do. Go to the district attorney in the mornin’ and git your warrant from the judge. Bring three or four deputies with you when you come lookin’ fer me and James, you know, like you’re afraid we won’t go easy and you might need help. You ain’t gonna find us, of course. About four o’clock tomorrow evenin’, we are gonna turn ourselves in. We are gonna say that just as soon as we heard you were lookin’ fer us, we wanted to come in and clear our names and git to the bottom of this. Make sure the word gits around the county good, too. You know, newspaper folks and the like. If we’re in jail when something happens to them boys, they can’t charge us with it.”

  The sheriff looked at both men for a long minute and then got out and drove away in the borrowed car.

  “I hate like hell to git the doctor and nurse involved in this,” Jake said to James.

  “You got a better idea?”

  “No. No I don’t, but I wished to hell I did. It will work better than anything I could come up with. Them damned brothers of yours. I almost wish Miss Lena had shot ‘em that day in her store when that Patrick boy kicked Bruce in the nuts and put him on the floor. Now, I’ll never git a chance to thank the boy fer it.”

  “It would serve ‘em right if we got Andrew to arrest ‘em fer burnin’ the William’s house down,” James said. “Of course they’d be charged with murder too, since poor old Frank was in it. How much prison time do you think they’d git?”

  “A helluva lot of time. Everybody feels sorry fer that William’s family. ‘Specially that boy that’s left. Hell, I feel sorry fer ‘em. And now
we
gotta do away with the one that’s left. You’re right though. Burnin’ that house was just pure, downright meanness and it would serve ‘em right to have their asses thrown in prison. But it would kill your momma if that happened and I ain’t gonna cause her any more grief. Hell, she gits enough from me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Me and Daddy got the news the next morning that the search was on for Jake Bullard and his oldest son James. I hung around Aunt Lena’s store all morning because news came in there much faster than it did on any radio or television. The news was sometimes twisted and required some verification and a lot of revisions and editing when it arrived, but it usually had at least originated from facts. To my surprise, Daddy got somebody to fill in for him to do the evening milking. It usually took a death in the family, and they had to be pretty close kin, to get Daddy away from that dairy barn. We drove up to the sheriff’s office and waited. The place was packed with people from all over the county. It was like the circus had come to town. There was even a television crew from Huntsville there with cameras and equipment spread out everywhere. I figured if one TV station was there, all the other news media couldn’t be far behind. They couldn’t let their competition outdo them.

  Sheriff White would pace around nervously when he would emerge from his office. He didn’t look like he was enjoying all the attention at all. He kept telling everyone to please go home and that they were interfering with official police business. He knew he couldn’t get the TV or newspaper people to leave no matter how much hell he raised, but he was trying to avoid them at all costs. When a reporter did manage to corner him he did answer their questions cordially, however. He acted as though he wanted the media to hang around and at the same time wished they weren’t there.

  The crowd began to thin down some around the middle of the afternoon. I was standing with Daddy who was talking with Sonny Collins, the mayor of Fort Kane. Just as Daddy was in the middle of one of his animated stories, there was a big commotion outside in the parking lot. I pushed my way through the people and over to one of the new storefront windows that had recently been installed. It felt as though my stomach dropped completely to my feet when I saw what I first thought was a mirage. But I knew my eyes were not playing tricks on me, though I wished they had been. What I was seeing was Jake Bullard’s pickup truck surrounded by a mob of shocked people. A deputy was trying to push his way through the crowd but wasn’t having much luck. Jake and James couldn’t even open their doors there were so many people clinging to the truck. It reminded me of seeing famous celebrities or rock stars in their limousines on TV being mauled by adoring fans.

  A gunshot rang out and people scattered like a covey of quail that had been flushed out of a clump of sage grass. I jumped like I had been hit by the unknown gunman’s bullet. I looked and saw the deputy holding his service revolver over his head. Jake and James were finally able to get out of the truck and the deputy immediately told them to put their hands above their heads. They complied, and Jake yelled to the deputy and whoever was listening, that they were there to turn themselves in and get this misunderstanding straightened out. The deputy walked cautiously toward the two men as three other deputies quickly joined him. One of the deputies told them to put their hands on the truck and to spread their legs. They capitulated without any argument as two of the deputies quickly put cuffs on them and started leading them around the building to a side door. The TV crew sprung into action, maneuvering themselves through the crowd and toward the door that Jake and James were about to enter. 

  As soon as the door opened, microphones were thrust in front of Jake as the reporters pushed past the deputy who was leading the way, almost knocking him off his feet.

  “Mr. Bullard, what did you do with Gloria Reeve’s body? Mr. Bullard, why did you kill Gloria Reeves? Mr. Bullard, is it true you run an illegal whiskey still and sell illegal liquor? Mr. Bullard, how is your son involved?”

  The questions were coming rapidly from all angles and Jake wasn’t sure who was asking what or which one to address first. Finally, his patience ran out and he yelled in a loud voice that sounded like a bear roaring, “I am innocent of any wrongdoing concernin’ this poor girl. Me and my boy came here to clear our names as soon as we heard that the sheriff was lookin’ for us. We will cooperate in every way we can in tryin’ to help the sheriff find out what really happened to the girl and we want her momma and daddy to know how terrible we feel for what they’re goin’ through. We’re a-prayin’ for them and prayin’ that the girl is found soon, safe and unharmed.”

  Just as he finished speaking, Jakes eye caught mine. I had tried to get close enough to get a good look without being seen, but it was as if he could sense my presence and knew exactly where I was standing. To my utter surprise, he smiled at me. It was not an evil smile, or a condescending one, either. It was a pleasant smile. One like my daddy would give me when I had done something that made him proud. I couldn’t help shivering even though it was stifling hot in the building with all the bodies packed in around me.

*****

  It had been over a week since the Bullard’s had been arrested and me and Glenn decided there was no use in just sitting around and worrying about the upcoming trial or whether or not Freddy and Bruce would find us out somewhere and kill us. Or at least beat us within an inch of our lives. Daddy told us it would be a long time, maybe even months, before the trial began, anyway. To take care of any potential run-ins I might have with the Bullard brothers, he gave me one of his small pistols to carry. A .38 revolver with a snub nose that had a holster and fit neatly on my belt. Neither Daddy or Momma worried about me having it because I’d been handling guns since I was eight years old and had always been around them. Daddy told me not to even think about using it unless I thought I was really in danger. But if I really was in danger not to hesitate.

  “Try to shoot them in the leg or something if you can,” he said, “but don’t let them get the jump on you by hesitatin’ too long.”

  We thought a little night time fishing at the quarry pond would get our minds off our worries about as good as anything. Of course Snake would have to come along since it seemed he was my adopted brother now. I hated to admit it to myself, but I was actually starting to enjoy Snake’s company since Momma had had so much success in the short time she’d been educating him. She wouldn’t even allow Daddy to find many chores for him to do, saying his education was a lot more important and that she might even try to get him enrolled back in school when the new year began. I thought Snake might pull it off too, now that Momma was there to help him. Daddy too, of course. He was as well read as any lawyer or teacher in our part of the country. In fact, I’d wager that he was smarter than any man in Putnam County, although I might be a little bit prejudiced. Besides, that might not have been such a great compliment, anyway.

  We’d put our boat in while there was still a little daylight and we could see where we were going. That way we didn’t have to waste our lantern fuel. We got in and rowed to the far side of the pond where there was a small area that had a mud bottom. Catfish love mud. Snake hooked a monster before me and Glenn had time to get our lines in the water, and got so excited he almost capsized the boat. We guessed that it had to have weighed at least eight pounds. Me and Glenn had the same result as soon as our hooks with the smelly chicken livers sunk below the waters surface. We had lucked up on a good spot. All three of us couldn’t keep our hooks baited fast enough, and I was afraid we would use up all our livers in no time at this rate. We had brought some red worms along too, and Snake decided to try one of them. It didn’t work as fast as the chicken livers, but it wasn’t long before he pulled in another one that must have been a five pounder. We were already discussing getting Glenn’s family together with mine for a big fish fry, if this kept up. If we had enough bait, we’d be able to feed everybody in Long Hollow.

  After our stringers were about as full as they could get and we were down to just a few red worms, I looked at my watch. We had only been there a little over an hour.

  “I’m glad we’re havin’ good luck,” Glenn said, “but I hate to have to quit this soon. I ain’t ready to go home yet. Reckon your momma would let you go back out if we took these fish home?”

  “I don’t see why not,” I answered. “It’s only about nine o’clock and it’s Friday night. What do you want to do?”

  Glenn hesitated for a minute before answering, as if he wasn’t sure I’d go along with his plan.

  “Okay, Glenn. What have you got in that pea brain of yours?” I asked, knowing he was about to suggest something totally ridiculous that I probably wanted no part of.

  “I, uh….was thinking, that we, uh…., we might could go visit Madge. She sure was a lot of help when we went and talked to her about the Bullards. We need to really thank her again.” Glenn’s eyes got as big as saucers as he suddenly had another epiphany, “Hey, we could give her a mess of catfish. You know, to thank her for helping us out so much and givin’ us such good advice.”

  “What if Carl’s at home?” I asked him, knowing what he was thinking.

  “He ain’t,” Snake chimed in. “He won’t be back for a few more days. She told me so when I was mowin’ her grass the other day.” Snake was excited because he really liked Madge and didn’t get to see her except when there was work for him to do. I knew his reasons for wanting to see her  didn’t remotely resemble Glenn’s reason.

  “You’d lose your nerve and somehow end up sayin’ it was my fault,” I said, looking at Glenn and grinning.

  “Why would he lose his nerve,” Snake wanted to know. “Miss Madge is real nice and she’d be glad to see us. She likes you two, especially you George. She told me so.”

  Glenn suddenly looked as mad as a hornet and snapped at Snake. “You’re crazy as hell, Snake. She don’t like George one bit more than she likes me. What makes you say such a fool thing?”

  “I don’t know. She prob’ly like you just as much. She just talks about George a lot, that’s all.”

  “Talks about him how?” Glenn was yelling at Snake now. I was trying to keep from laughing my ass off.

  “Shoot, Glenn, why are you a-yellin’ at me? She just says George is a nice young man and she thinks he’s handsome. Says he’s smart too. But I bet she thinks the same thang about you. Madge likes everybody.”

  “Well, let’s just haul our asses over to her house and we’ll find out who she likes the best,” Glenn said, as he started rowing the boat toward shore like he’d just seen a shark or some kind of sea monster.

  Glenn didn’t say a word to me while we were loading the fish in the cooler and packing up our other gear. I knew better than to try to talk sense to him when he was like this. The thoughts of some woman, or anybody for that matter, thinking I might be better looking, or smarter, or a better shot, or a better football player or anything else killed old Glenn. It would have pissed him off if Snake had said that Madge thought I might be a better golfer, and neither one of us had picked up a golf club in our lives. It was kind of amusing watching him sling stuff in the back of the truck and barking out orders to Snake, who couldn’t have cared less anyway.

  Finally I’d had enough and said, “I ain’t goin’ if you’re gonna act like this. It would be embarrassin’ to both of us if we got to Madge’s house and you made a scene over which one of us you thought she liked better. You’re the one that wants to get you some, anyway. You just want me around so you won’t be so scared and to help break the ice and talk to her.”

  “Git some of what? Snake asked.

  “Some of her damn blackberry jam, Snake,” Glenn shouted, madder than ever. “What in the hell do you think we’re talkin’ about?”

  “Well, shit, I don’t know.”

  Me and Glenn stopped what we were doing and just stood there, frozen with our mouths open. Glenn tried his best not to, but he started it under his breath to begin with. Then he burst out into a big, boisterous belly laugh. I couldn’t help but do the same thing. It was the first time either of us had ever heard Snake say an ugly word. I guess hanging around me and Glenn had a few adverse effects on Snake. His daddy had cussed like a sailor all of Snake’s life, but somehow that didn’t influence him one bit. But a few weeks with me and Glenn and he was morally corrupted. Just wait until he found out what “gittin’ some” meant. Snake had no idea what we were laughing about, but he joined in and was soon bent over double, laughing like a madman.

*****

  Snake was still bent over, leaning against the truck, his sides hurting from laughing so hard. He looked up at us and saw that we weren’t laughing anymore. The laughter that had lit up our faces just a second ago had been replaced with a look of sheer terror.     

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  The two men who were holding the guns on us were both dressed in solid black and wearing ski masks. For what seemed like several minutes they didn’t speak a word and only made gestures by waving their hands and pistols. Then the biggest one of the two said, “Just do what we tell you and you won’t be harmed in any way. Turn around and start walking and keep your mouths shut.”

  We did as they instructed, like we had any other choice in the matter. I remembered my pistol that was in the holster on my belt. I guess they thought because we were just kids there was no danger of us being armed, because they hadn’t searched us. At least not yet. I knew it would be suicide for me and certain death for Glenn and Snake if I tried to go for my pistol. I wasn’t that stupid and knew I couldn‘t draw with lightning speed like Clint Eastwood did in the movies. Not yet, anyway. I will say that up until this point I was more scared than I had ever been in my life.