R. E. Bradshaw - Rainey Nights (30 page)

Phyllis and Sheila followed Rainey across the room. Sheila sat on a stool, pad in hand, while Rainey stood near the dance floor.

Rainey asked Phyllis, “Could you stand exactly where you were that night?”

Phyllis moved to the end of the bar, leaning on it with her left elbow, one leg crossed over the other at the ankles.

“Now, close your eyes again. What song is playing?”

Phyllis smiled broadly, her eyes remaining closed. “It was ‘Redneck Woman’ time. We play it most nights when the crowd gets going. Everyone was singing and dancing with no one in particular. It’s one of those rowdy bar songs women go crazy over.”

“I want you to pick out one woman in the crowd, no one special, just really focus on that one person. Do you see her?”

“Yes, she’s young, too young. I’m thinking about checking her ID again.”

“What is she wearing?”

“She’s dressed like a teenage boy, long shorts, Rugby shirt, ball cap.”

Rainey had the woman focused. She was counting on Phyllis’ skills of observation, honed from years behind a bar.

“Zoom out, Phyllis. Take in the whole room… Freeze that image in your mind… Now, scan that photo. The women are into the song. What are the men doing? Where are they?”

Phyllis moved her head around as she examined the picture in her mind. “There are just so many people. I see some of the regular guys by the bar. I’ve known all of them for years.” She moved her head, indicating the southeast corner by the entrance. “A few guys are with the big birthday party in the back, most of them are singing. I can’t see much for the bodies in front of me and I was watching that kid. I just don’t see anyone that jumps out at me as not belonging.”

Rainey learned one thing. Whoever this guy was, he blended in here, or this woman would have noticed him.

“Okay, you can open your eyes. You did great.”

Phyllis blinked her eyes several times, adjusting to the light. “I’ve racked my brain, run through that night over in my head. I don’t recall a single thing out of the ordinary.”

Sheila spoke up. “When did you first see Lisa? Which direction did she come from?”

Phyllis swung her head to the right, pointing at a six-seat table, larger than the rest, placed near the end of the bar with a great view of the stage. “She came from Dara’s table.”

“Who was sitting there?”

“Dara was with her flavor of the month. Dara’s sister, Chelsea, and her boyfriend, and one of Dara’s exes and her new girlfriend were also there. A bunch of girls were around the table, but that isn’t unusual. Dara draws a crowd. That’s why it was odd when she and Lisa had that fling. They were too much alike to make it work.”

The information clicked in Rainey’s brain. Dara Thomas was Chelsea’s sister, the teacher who took over Katie’s classroom. Rainey let the thought pass and asked Phyllis, “Was anyone watching Lisa walk toward you?”

Phyllis smiled and shook her head from side to side. “You don’t understand, a lot of eyes were watching Lisa every minute she was in here. Just like they watched you walk in that front door. Women like you get noticed. It’s not about looks, although you certainly don’t fall off in that department. There’s something about you girls that women cannot resist.”

Before Rainey could respond, the big doors opened. Another woman, wearing a shirt like Phyllis’, stepped in the room. “Sorry to interrupt, but there are some FBI folks out here, said they were here to meet Agent Bell.”

The three women started moving toward the door.

“One more question, Phyllis,” Rainey said as they walked. “Did Lisa smoke? Would she have been out on the deck?”

“No, Lisa didn’t smoke. Didn’t like to be around people that did. She tolerated me, but I didn’t smoke around her.”

Sheila asked, “Does someone watch that door?”

“Yes,” Phyllis pointed at another door on the opposite side of the back wall, “and that one, too. When this room is opened those doors have to be unlocked. Same with the ones upstairs leading to fire escapes out back. Fire Marshals rules. But no one comes in without a stamp from the front door. We change the stamp slightly every night. My bouncers know what to look for only after they show up for work.”

“Sounds like you run a tight ship,” Rainey commented.

“Been corralling women for a lot of years. I’ve seen every trick in the book.”

“My…uh…” Rainey was suddenly at a loss for what to call Katie. She was certainly more than a girlfriend, wife didn’t sound right, and partner or lover just didn’t cut it. Rainey settled on simply using her name. “Katie and I planned to come here before all this. I hope the publicity hasn’t hurt your business.”

“Are you kidding me? I’ve had more business since this started happening. Had to turn people away last Saturday night. The women of this community are taking a stand against fear and hate. It’s like they are daring someone to come get them.”

They were almost at the door, when Rainey replied, “I can understand that feeling.”

“When this is over, you bring that pretty little Miss Meyers in here. I’ll make sure you have a good time,” Phyllis said, and then punched Rainey playfully in the arm. “Nice catch, by the way.”

In a moment of unusual personal sharing, Rainey replied, “Everyone thinks it was me, but I assure you, I was the one that got caught. Sweet, innocent, Little Miss Meyers is a handful.”

Phyllis slapped Rainey on the back hard, chuckling loudly. “Ain’t they all, sista’, ain’t they all?”

Rainey felt comfortable enough with Phyllis to say, “I had no idea.”

Phyllis laughed louder. “Welcome to the drama filled world of women, Agent Bell. Glad to have you.”

Rainey responded with, what she realized in that very moment was true, “I’m glad to be here.”

“Move only when there are advantages to be gained. Cease when there are no advantages to be gained,” Mackie loosely quoted Sun Tzu, while lowering himself onto the couch in the office.

Rainey sat on the other end of the couch, her feet up on the coffee table. Ernie pecked away on her keyboard at her desk. Rainey had just lamented to Mackie that she felt useless just sitting there. She was in the office rather than with the rest of the team, because she just didn’t want to talk to Danny. Rainey told everyone she had some business to take care of and she would see them all tomorrow, before she was to walk into Feme Sole in search of the man who wanted her dead.

Rainey’s tattered copy of “The Art of War” was on the bookshelf at the cottage. She retorted, “Sun Tzu also said, ‘Opportunities multiply as they are seized.’ I could be doing something, I just don’t know what.”

Mackie’s bass voice rumbled. “Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance.”

Ernie slapped her hands down on her desk. “You two stop spouting Chinese war strategies, or go somewhere else. Some of us are working.”

Rainey stood up. “Come on, Mackie. We’re not wanted here.”

“I never said I didn’t want you.” Ernie paused to add more drama and then added, sarcastically, “I want you. I want you to go through those files I sent to your inbox.” She turned to Mackie. “And I want you to turn in your receipts from last week.”

Rainey was in no mood for paperwork. “I’ll have the files done by noon, tomorrow. I promise. I’m going home, now. I need to think. You comin’ Mackie?”

Mackie hesitated. “Uh… let me get those receipts for Ernie and then I’ll be over.”

Rainey chuckled. “Big as you are and you’re scared of that little old woman.”

Mackie’s deep belly laughs shook the air. He winked at Rainey. “I seem to remember she’s armed and it’s almost legal.”

Rainey winked back. “Yeah, well that might be the biggest mistake I ever made.”

Ernie was not to be played with lightly. Her stinging tongue was legendary and usually had an element of comedy, but not today. “Stand around and joke if you want. You found a head outside this office last night. You’re trying to draw a maniac to you. Laugh it up! You only live once.”

Rainey exchanged looks with Mackie and he went out to his truck, leaving the two women alone.

“Okay, Ernie, let me have it. Everybody else has had their shot at me today.”

Ernie came out from behind the desk, arms crossed over her chest. “Henry was here earlier. He made it very plain and as my husband, he does have a say in this. Rainey, I’ve never been afraid of being out here alone most of the day. It was always kind of peaceful, after living in a house with five men. I looked forward to coming here, but today I’ve looked forward to going home every minute. Driving up this morning and seeing that blood on the dock…”

Rainey tried to interrupt, but Ernie wouldn’t let her.

“What came here last night was not human, it was pure evil. I’m a strong woman. You know I don’t back down easy, but I talked to Henry. Honey, I can’t stay out here anymore. Either we move in closer to civilization, or I’m quitting. Evil has found you, Rainey. Even if you catch this one, there will be another. You can’t protect all of us.”

She was too stunned to speak. Every piece of Rainey’s foundation was crumbling, brick by brick. Was Mackie growing tired of life with her and all that entailed, as well? His admonishment was sure to come next, the way things were going. Rainey grasped at the bricks, trying to hold everything together. It was no use. Life, as she had known it, was coming to a close. There were so many problems to solve, people to please, it was all just too much. She felt like George in “It’s A Wonderful Life,” about to jump off the bridge. She was waiting for the bell to ring. She needed her angel to get his wings.

Ernie was losing patience with Rainey’s long pause of self-reflection. “Well, are you just gonna stand there?”

Rainey stammered, “I… I don’t know how to respond.”

“I’ll make it easy for you,” Ernie said, lifting a stack of papers from her desk. “You can either go through these ads for a place to move this business, or you can find another office manager. Rainey, you might be prepared to die out here alone, but I’m not.”

Rainey took the papers from Ernie’s hand. She looked down at the pages and all she could see were dollar signs. She raised her head and refocused on Ernie.

“Can I afford this? With the house and the baby, can I afford to move the office, too?”

“Honey, there won’t be a house or a baby, if you don’t move us away from here. She isn’t going to stay out here with you, don’t kid yourself.” Ernie let that sink in, before adding, “It’s time you touched your daddy’s money. It’s what he would want you to do. He never moved the business to town, because he always said, ‘Rainey can do that when it’s hers.’ He made the sacrifices so you didn’t have to. Don’t hold onto this place because of memories. Go make some new ones somewhere else.”

Rainey’s father left her a 350,000-dollar life insurance policy. She paid off his few debts, which wasn’t much, and put the rest in the bank. The business was in great shape. She didn’t need the money, so she buried it in an account, along with the pain it represented. It had crossed her mind to use the money for the house, but she couldn’t bring herself to spend it. Ernie read her mind.

She walked over and placed her hand on Rainey’s elbow. Calm and gentle now, she said, “Baby girl, you think holding on to that money lessens the pain of his loss. The real problem is you didn’t have the chance to grieve him, before you had to fight for your own life. You haven’t healed from either event. Let go of the past and begin again. That’s what Billy would have wanted for you.”

Rainey enveloped the small woman in her arms. She cried softly for a few minutes. Ernie held her and patted her back.

Rainey whispered, “I miss him, so much.”

“I know you do, honey. I know you do.”

The next whisper was barely audible, when Rainey said, “I can’t lose you, too. Promise you’ll stay. I’ll work this out.”

Ernie pulled out of Rainey’s grasp. She looked up into Rainey’s face and smiled.

“Well, Henry did say, if worse comes to worse, you can set up shop in the old barn on our place. I doubt seriously anyone would come on a place with five grown men totin’ shotguns.”

#

Mackie came over to the cottage, after he turned in his receipts. He saw the real estate ads on the kitchen table where Rainey had tossed them, before grabbing a beer out of the refrigerator. Ernie had also included a list of houses to look at. The hint was not subtle. Mackie found her standing at the sink in a daze. He opened the refrigerator, took out a beer, and joined her at the counter.

“Your daddy and me, we discussed moving into town several times. He worried about you out here, when you were younger.”

Rainey looked up at Mackie. “But I loved it here.”

“He knew that, but there were other things to think about. Being twenty minutes from help if there was an accident, you being out here alone sometimes, and no other kids to play with, he worried about those things.”

“I guess it never bothered me. I never thought about it much,” Rainey said, taking another swig of beer.

“Rainey, if you want to sell the property and move to town, I have no objections. I’ll tell you straight, if something like this had happened when you were younger, Billy would have moved to protect you.”

Rainey crossed the floor and stared out the back window. Very quietly she said, “This is all I have left of him.”

“That’s not true, baby girl. This place doesn’t hold your father’s spirit, you do. And whether you know it or not, you are Billy Bell through and through, more than’s good for you sometimes. Take care of your family, Rainey. That’s what he would have done.”

Rainey didn’t turn around. She continued to stare out into the coming darkness. “I never imagined living anywhere else. This was always the place where I planned to live out my days. When things were at their worst, I would close my eyes and come here.”

Mackie put his empty beer bottle on the counter and walked over to Rainey. He put his giant arm around her. “Baby girl, this is your decision. You have a lot to think about. I’m going home. If you need to talk or want me to come back out here tonight, you call me.”

“Okay,” Rainey whispered. She was already lost in the myriad of thoughts swimming in her head.