Unraveled (12 page)

Chapter Twenty-three

The Wraith took his dressing down without a word. It was the best way to deal with a boss, so he let the cussing roll off his shoulders and promised not to slip up again. It wasn't
his
fault that Cody Parker'd passed by. He couldn't help but follow him up to the new mayor's house where dumb luck turned into one more chance for a little revenge. The Wraith returned to his job when the boss finished, painted a smile on his face to satisfy the customers, and earned his meager paycheck thinking all the while how he'd outmaneuvered everybody he came into contact with.

***

Cody met Ned in his usual booth on the left side of Frenchie's café. Since O.C. wasn't with them, Ned took the seat facing the screen door after resting his hat crown down on the counter beside them.

Frenchie saw the sheriff come in and poured him a mug of coffee as he worked his way through the café, slapping shoulders and shaking the hands of customers seated at the counter and in the other booths.

He slipped a finger through the handle and Frenchie gave him a wink. He slid in across from Ned. “Where's O.C.?”

“Court date.”

“The doctor know you're eating pie?”

“He would if he was here, but he ain't.” Ned cut a bite and chewed. “My stomach's fine now.”

Cody sipped the coffee, then shook a few grains of salt into the mug to cut the bitterness. “Well, you nearly died from that infected bullet wound back before Christmas.” He sipped again. “You need to be careful.”

Ned chewed. “Here's how careful I am. I ain't never going back to Mexico again. How's that? Have you heard anything else about Hollis' murder?”

“Some. John went by and found out one of Hollis' gals dropped by the house to take him something to eat and found him dead, half in and out his front door.”

“Anyone see a Clay nearabouts?”

Cody shrugged. “That's all I know. I talked to some other folks, but that didn't help one little bit.” The bell over the door rang when a customer came in. Cody glanced over his shoulder to see who it was. “I remember that feud from years ago, but don't recall why they got crossways with one another.”

Ned told him about the mules, the truck with a flat, the pears, and the killings that ranged from shootings, to cuttings, to one lynching in the dead of night. All those dirty deeds were done in the dark, or on lonely roads with no witnesses.

“Everyone knowed who done what, but evidence was hard to come by in those days. I'd have a better chance at it today.

“So no one ever proved anything?”

“Naw. That's how those things work. People get mad at one another for good reason, or no reason at all, and then their mad takes over.” Ned shook his head. “Folks died over a damn lame mule.”

“How many?”

“More than I'd like to remember. I think there was a dozen in all, maybe more, scattered over about ten years. And now the same's happening over a car wreck.”

“Did any of the killers get caught back then?”

“Like I said, some was brought in, but remember this was back over twenty years ago. Most of them old lawmen are gone now. I remember there was a trial for one of the Clays. The jury sent him to the pen over the killing, and that's only because he lit a Mayfield house afire and a woman burned to death. He was bragging about it, and that's what got his goat.”

“Any of the
Mayfields
get caught at it?”

Ned studied the thick white mug between his hands. “They's colored, son. The law didn't catch them, officially. They usually found bodies, and that's all.”

The weight of what happened so long ago, and the badge pinned to Cody's shirt, settled on the sheriff's shoulders. “Now it's flamed back up.”

“Yep. Folks in both of them families have long memories.”

Cody drained his cup. “I gotta go.”

Ned's eyes flicked to Cody's empty shirt pocket. He thought about bringing up the pen, but decided it wasn't the right time. He once suspected Cody of a series of murders in their community, and still felt embarrassed when it turned out to be someone else. He hadn't said anything then, and he sure wasn't going to make those kinds of allegations now.

The sheriff left, and Ned stayed where he was, worrying.

Chapter Twenty-four

The Wraith was once a deer hunter. He knew how to stalk, and that's what he did best.

***

The phone on Cody Parker's desk rang. He was downstairs with Judge O.C. Rains. Deputy Anna Sloan answered it. “Sheriff's Office.”

“Can I talk to Cody?”

“Sorry, ma'am. He isn't here right now. Can I help you?”

“My husband's missing.”

Still standing by the desk, Anna picked up a pencil. “What's his name?”

“Joe Bill Haynes.”

“The acting mayor?”

The voice on the other end broke. “Yes. He got up before daylight this morning and took his coffee outside. He never came back in.”

“Maybe he walked over to somebody's house.”

“No. He don't do that.”

“And your name is?”

“Maybelle Haynes.”

Cody came in while Anne was writing. “The sheriff just came in the door. I'm gonna hand you over to him. Give me your phone number before I get off so I can have it and we'll start looking.”

She wrote the information down and handed the phone to Cody. “The acting mayor's missing.”

“Joe Bill?” He frowned and they exchanged places. “Maybelle, is that you?”

Anna left to put together a missing person's report. She came back as Cody hung up. He didn't look good and she stepped closer to his desk. “You all right?”

“Yeah, just thinking.” He leaned back in his chair.

“Did you get any more information?”

“Probably not much more than you did. What'd she tell you?”

“Nothing much. He was there this morning and then wasn't.”

The phone rang again and Cody answered. Anna heard a woman's hysterical voice through the receiver. “I found him! He's dead! He drowned in that damned swimming pool!”

“I'm on the way.” Cody slammed the receiver down, snatched his hat off the rack, and slapped it on his head. Anna grabbed her own Bailey's straw that replaced the traditional deputy pillbox hat she wore when she first came to Chisum.

Bypassing the slow elevator, they rushed down the stairs and into the parking lot. Cody jammed the key into the ignition, started the big engine, and called dispatch before they rolled out of the parking lot. “Martha.”

“Go ahead, Cody.”

“Send an ambulance out to Joe Bill Hayne's house.”

“I was gonna do just that. Your desk phone rolled over to my desk. It was Maybelle again. She thought she called the fire department number. I did it for her.”

Lights flashing and siren shrieking, they pulled up at the house ten minutes later. Jittering with nerves, Cody led the way around to back, expecting to find people milling by the pool. Instead, the yard was empty. He walked to the coping and looked down to see a body just under the surface of the scummy water.

“Oh, Lordy.” A deep voice startled him.

“Didn't hear you come up, John. I'm getting jumpy.” Rubbing a hand across his mouth, Cody studied the body. “Let's get him out. Then you can call Buck to come pronounce him.”

“Can't stay but a few minutes. I was on my way out to Hollis Mayfield's house when I got this call.”

“Trouble?”

“Naw, Miss Anna. Goin' to talk to some of his family and see if they can tell me anything. Figured I'd see what you needed here first 'fore I go.”

Cody knelt and motioned for John to join him. The body was within John's longer reach. He dropped to one knee, got a good hold on Joe Bill's collar, and pulled him closer until he could and grabbed the corpse's arm. Cody took a leg and counted. On three, they pulled. There was nothing gracious about dragging Joe Bill's already stiffening body out of the pool and onto the concrete deck.

Cody's nerves jangled and it felt like everything was getting away from him and spinning out of control. “I'm going inside to talk to Maybelle. I need to wash my hands.”

“You go ahead on.” Always calm, John headed for the outside faucet. “I'll use the hose.”

John's comment meant that he didn't want to go inside. It wasn't because he didn't want to clean up, but mostly it was because black folks in white homes often made the owners uncomfortable and he was well aware of that. He was already rubbing his hands under the streaming hose when Cody and Anna stepped through the open sliding glass door to find Maybelle at her kitchen table.

She turned anguished eyes on the deputies. “I should have started looking sooner.”

“Don't blame yourself.” Cody laid his hat on the kitchen counter. “I doubt it would have done any good.”

Anna took a chair beside her at the gray Formica table and rubbed Maybelle's arm. It was the only thing she could do. “It's not your fault. You said yourself it was dark when he went out.”

“Just coming up light.”

“Well, that's too early to be out looking for somebody.”

“I might have heard him fall in. He probably called for help.”

“Could he swim?”

“Of course.”

“Was the sliding door open?”

“Yes.”

“Then you would have heard him if he was struggling.”

Cody listened to Anna ease the woman's anxiety as he washed his hands with the bar of Lava soap in the dish by the sink. He dried them with a damp dishtowel and joined them at the table. “I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say.”

Maybelle's voice choked. “You don't have to say anything, Sheriff. There's nothing that'll make it better.”

“We'll find out what happened. He coulda had a stroke, or a heart attack. You can't blame yourself for any of this.”

John knocked on the sliding glass door. He stayed outside when Cody slid it open. “Buck's on his way, but I can't stay. I need to get to Hollis'. Just came through on the radio he's been shotgunned. The family's gathering and there's already talk about some of 'em going over to settle up with some Clays.”

“He dead?”

“That's what they say.”

Cody's stomach sank. He rubbed the back of his neck as he studied on John's statement. “All right. Head on over there and let me know what you find out. I'll be there as quick as I can.”

John shifted from one foot to the other for a minute. “I need to tell you something else. Cody, step out here for a minute, will you?”

Cody saw concern in the face of the legendary lawman. John led him around the corner to the shade of a tall pecan tree. When they were out of earshot, John leaned close. “I got something to say, I hope you'll listen to me.”

“What's the matter?”

John rocked back and forth on his heels to bleed off nervous energy from the uncomfortable conversation. “You need to leave here right now and let Miss Anna handle this. I believe you ought to stay either in your office or better yet, at home for the next few days.”

Shocked at the advice, Cody inclined his head. “Why?”

“I'm talkin' out of school here, but you need to listen. I'm pretty worried about what's happenin' with all this mess. Your pen with your initials on it was found where Merle was beat to death.”

Cody's breath caught. John held out his hand and talked in fits and starts, proving he was clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. “That axe handle cain't be used as evidence because Mr. Ned had it in his car and Top killed a chicken with it. And now you was the last person 'cept his wife to see Joe Bill alive right there beside that pool.”

“You don't know that.”

“I do. Mr. Ned told me yesterday you was on your way over here when I's looking for you for something else.”

Cody felt numb. “We don't know what killed him.”

“That ain't all.” As he continued, John's voice steadied. “If I's to investigate, I'd find out you was home the night Frank and Maggie died and only Miss Norma Faye could vouch for you. You stopped by to see Hollis yesterday evenin', and now here he is shotgunned. I know, 'cause Avon told me she saw your car in the yard from across the pasture.”

“Sure did. I been trying to get your people used to seeing me around, so they'll come to the rest of us and not just you when things are bad. He was fine when I left.”

“I 'magine he was. What I'm sayin' ain't what I think's happenin'. It's what I'm
hearin
'. You can't take ballistics on a shotgun, so some folks are sayin' that's why it was used, instead of a pistol.” He glanced down at the 1911 on Cody's hip. “Some of my people saw you talking to Wes Clay at the courthouse yesterday and said you slapped him on the shoulder when you left. You see how all this looks?”

Speechless, Cody gaped for a minute. “I saw Wes Clay going in to visit one of his cousins who's in jail and told him to keep his act clean or I'd throw him under the jail if any of this came back to him. You know him and Royal's the most dangerous of the bunch. Hell, I should have slapped his stupid face.”

“I wish you had, but no matter. None of it passes for right. See what I'm sayin'? Let me and Deputy Sloan and Mr. Ned take care of this. Something's wrong here, and I cain't put my finger on it. It's white and colored now, no matter how you look at it. Some of my people are mad, and they're lookin' at
you
. It'd be best if you stayed away 'til we figure out what's what.”

Knowing his experienced deputy was right, Cody wilted. “Fine. I see how it looks. Y'all handle it, but let me know what's happening. Step by step. I'm still running things, but you're taking the point now…you and Anna.”

“Sure 'nough.” John looked sad. He raised a big hand toward Cody, but lowered it, as if he couldn't bear to touch him, or simple contact wasn't enough. Without another word, he left and Cody walked back inside.

Anna was alone at the table. She saw his raised eyebrow. “She went to the bathroom to wash her face. What do you want me to do next?”

Cody took her arm and guided her into the living room. Brand new furniture covered in plastic protectors made the room look like something from the house magazines Norma Faye read. The fresh look registered with him, knowing Norma Faye came from dirt-poor parents and lived in a tiny, drafty, two-room house after she married Calvin Williams. It proved to be a dismal life of violence and pain before she left him and found herself with Cody. She filed for divorce and married Cody soon after.

Norma Faye often talked about buying new furniture for their house in Center Springs, though what was in Joe Bill and Maybelle's house would be dramatically out of place in the small country home they'd inherited from Tom Bell.

He leaned in and spoke in a soft voice. “Hollis Mayfield's been murdered and he's on his way out there.”

Her breath caught, but Cody went on. “There's more. John's concerned about what's going on.” He told her what he'd learned outside under the pecan tree. “You see how it is?”

Anna shook her head. “But we know you had nothing to do with any of that. It's this stupid feud.”

“No matter. It smells, so I'm gonna back off and leave it to you two and Ned to do the investigating. Here's what I need you to do. Get acquainted with the Clays. Start with Donald Ray, he's the most normal of the bunch that's old enough to make decisions now that Frank's gone. See what you can find out from him or his wife. Folks talk.” He glanced through the plate glass window to see the justice of the peace pull to the curb. “Buck's here. Follow any trail you can find in this and let me know. I'll talk with Maybelle for a minute, and then I'm gone. When you finish, make sure Buck goes on out to Hollis' place. John'll be there waiting on him.”

Maybelle was back in the kitchen, standing at the sink and staring out the window at nothing. Feeling heavy and dead inside, Cody gave her a hug and left, wondering about the right thing to do.