Dark Waters (8 page)

So, we were all dressed up with someplace to go.

Joshua Weaver led his little band of misfits from the dining room, around the casino, past the shops, by the bars and auditoriums, to the open deck where the pool was located. There he sat them down at a large table.

‘Is this the children's pavilion?' the younger of the two Connelly boys asked. ‘I didn't bring my swimsuit.' Like his mother, he was exceedingly fair and had the same blue eyes, with hair so light that in Oklahoma they would have called him ‘Cotton.'

‘Who are you?' Joshua asked.

For a moment the child looked scared, until his older brother took over. ‘What's it to you? You're supposed to be taking us to the children's pavilion, right? This ain't it. Lead on, asshole!' Unlike his mother and younger brother, Trip Connelly bore more of a resemblance to his grandfather – tall, brown-haired, with a ruddy complexion and brown eyes.

Joshua laughed. ‘Got quite a mouth on you, huh, kid? Here's the deal. I think we can have more fun out here, playing some games – and I'm not talking Monopoly, 'k?'

‘Whatever,' the older Connelly boy said.

‘So what's your name, hotshot?' Joshua asked.

‘Baker Barnet Connelly the third,' he said. ‘But you can call me Trip.'

‘OK, Trip. And the kid, he got a name?'

The younger one said, ‘I'm Jacob.'

‘How old are you, Jacob?' Joshua asked.

‘Seven, but I'm pretty strong and I know how to play Monopoly.'

His older brother sighed. ‘We're not playing Monopoly, numb-nuts! Jeez!'

‘Hey, he just misunderstood!' Janna said.

‘Yeah,' Johnny Mac agreed.

‘You freaks want to play a game or not?' Joshua said.

‘Sure,' Trip said, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

The others nodded their agreement.

‘OK, here's what we do,' Joshua said. ‘I'll count to three, then y'all scatter. Everybody look for something someone left behind on a table or a chair. Grab it and bring it back. Best thing wins.'

‘But isn't that stealing?' Johnny Mac asked.

Joshua sighed. ‘Not if we give it back, silly!'

‘Oh,' Johnny Mac said, trying out this concept in his mind.

‘Now, one, two, three, go!'

The comedian was just stupid, and not that funny. Jean and I left and headed to the bar next to the auditorium. We were followed out by Lyssa's mom, Esther Monte, who joined us at the bar, with a tall, dark and OK-looking guy in tow.

‘I swear if he said the C word one more time I was going to throw something at him,' she said. ‘You guys, this is Lance. He was sitting next to me and had the good taste to hate that guy as much as I did.'

Lance took off his suit jacket as he sat down and I saw Armani on the label. I decided to keep my Sears best on. Didn't need any label comparisons going on. Though the comparisons of the ladies' dresses were quite obvious: Jean's red, one-shoulder dress looked fairly classy up against Esther Monte's black minidress with what they call a sweetheart neckline (Jean told me later) that showed way too much cleavage (she also told me this later – personally, I thought it was just enough), had a plunging back, and (again according to Jean) was entirely too tight. She looked fine to me. I'm just saying.

The new guy held out his hand to me and I shook it. ‘Milt Kovak,' I said.

‘Lance Turner,' he said.

‘My wife, Jean,' I said.

‘Ma'am,' he said, shaking hands with Jean.

Rose Connelly came out of the auditorium alone. She was wearing a gauzy dress of pale pastels, kinda like a kaftan. I thought she looked like a nun, but Jean told me later that it was a lovely gown. Women – totally different mindset, I'm telling you.

Esther called out, ‘Rose!' raising her arm to wave. Rose saw us and came over. We'd been at the bar, but with three new people we'd moved to a table.

‘I think “funny” is a generational thing,' Rose said as she sat down and introductions had been made.

‘Definitely,' Jean said. ‘My parents thought Bob Hope was funny; my generation had George Carlin.'

‘Personally, I'm an Andy Kaufman kinda guy,' Lance said.

‘Should I call John?' Jean asked, holding her hand out for my phone.

‘You never gave it back to me,' I said.

‘Oh, right!' She dug in her bag and came up with it.

‘Your son has a cell phone?' Esther asked.

‘No, not one of his own,' Jean said. ‘We lent him mine to use when we're separated aboard ship. It seems to be working,' Jean said. She held up a finger. ‘Hi, honey,' she said into the phone. ‘Are you two having a good time?' She listened for a moment, then looked at her watch. ‘Well, it's almost midnight—' She stopped. Then, ‘Well, OK, one o'clock. But you and Early take care of each other, OK?'

Esther waved her hand at Jean. ‘Let me talk to Lyssa!'

Jean said, ‘John, put Lyssa on the phone for her mom.'

It took a minute, but Lyssa obviously came on the line and Esther spoke for a moment.

Rose Connelly asked Jean, ‘Do you think I could speak to my boys? How late does the pavilion stay open?'

‘John said it's open until one a.m., and of course you can talk to your boys,' Jean said.

‘Children's pavilion?' Lance asked me, an eyebrow raised.

‘Yeah, the ship provides daycare of sorts for the kids. Babysitters and a nice-sized play area. Our son and his friend who's traveling with us both enjoy it a lot.'

Lance was a little too pretty for me to want to engage him in small talk, other than ‘what do you do?' which would lead to him asking me what I do, which would blow my anonymity. So I was actually glad to see Mike and Lucy come out of the auditorium.

‘Funny guy!' Mike said, pointing with his thumb behind him.

‘If you like misogynistic assholes!' Lucy said.

‘Which you certainly do!' her husband said, kissing her on the neck.

Lucy laughed. ‘I guess you've got my number.' Jean's comments on Lucy's attire were nicer than those on Esther's but not as nice as those on Rose's. Lucy was wearing one of those cocktail dresses (difference being, I think, the length – this one hit her at the knees), black like Esther's, but with sparkly things on the top and the bottom made of some silky material. I thought she looked fine, but Jean said the dress wasn't that expensive. Well, she said it looked cheap, but I hate to report it when my wife sounds like a snob. Which she does, occasionally.

Since the women were all huddled around the phone, I introduced Lance to the Tulias.

The phone got passed to Rose, who spoke to one of her boys.

‘What's going on?' Lucy asked.

‘Everybody's talking to their kids,' I said. ‘Johnny Mac said the pavilion stays open until one o'clock and we told him we'd come get him then. Rose and Esther are telling their kids the same.'

‘Lord, I'm a rotten mother!' Lucy said, digging in her purse for her phone. ‘I didn't even think about calling Janna!' She dialed her phone and got her daughter on the first ring.

I ignored her conversation as Mike and I pulled up two extra chairs for our table. Finally, after all the mothers had secure knowledge of their children's whereabouts, we could relax and order more drinks. Except my phone rang in Jean's hand. She answered it, said, ‘Emmett, he's on vacation!' Then she sighed and handed me the phone.

I excused myself and went to the bar's bathroom where it was pretty quiet. ‘What now?' I asked.

‘Sorry to call so late, but I'm at a murder scene,' he said.

‘No shit?' I said. ‘Who got killed?'

‘Darby Hunt,' he said.

I sat down in a stall. ‘Is this a joke?' I asked.

‘I'm serious as a heart attack.'

‘What happened? I asked.

‘Somebody fired through his mama's front window, got him right between the eyes,' Emmett said.

‘Damn good shot,' I said.

‘Yeah, well in this state, that doesn't exclude anybody.'

‘I hear ya.' I sighed. ‘Shit, Emmett, there's not a damn thing I can do about this—'

‘I know that, Milt, for God's sake! I'm just keeping you informed.' He sighed too. ‘I talked to him late this afternoon. I noticed he had a new motorcycle and a new TV in the house, and wondered where he got 'em. He said a lady friend gave 'em to him as a get out of jail gift. Guess who the lady friend is?'

‘I have no idea,' I said.

‘The principal at Petal's school,' Emmett said.

‘Jesus H. Christ on a bicycle,' I said.

‘Guess who starts public school next week?'

‘Any leads on who killed old Darby?' I asked.

‘It was a rifle – we're getting ballistics on that now. No footprints in the packed dirt in his mama's front yard, no cigarette butts or candy wrappers or other shit. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to talk to the McDaniel family.'

‘It'd be hard not to. They're your most likely candidates. Keep me posted,' I said and hung up without a goodbye. I sat there on the toilet for a few moments, pants up, wondering why I decided I could possibly take a vacation. Then I remembered: I never decided that – Jean and Johnny Mac had decided it for me. When you're a cop for a big city, it's no big deal taking time off, but when you're the top cop in a small county, it
is
a big deal. A
very
big deal. I had to say, as much as I liked the food, I'd rather be home finding out who killed the killer.

I finally got up and made my way back to the table. More chairs had been pulled up, leaving an empty seat between my wife and Rose Connelly. I pulled it out and sat down.

‘This is the first moment I've had alone since we came aboard,' Rose said.

‘Ah, Rose, you're not alone now,' I said.

The women laughed. ‘We know what she means,' Lucy said. ‘Alone in this instance means sans child.'

‘And in-laws,' Rose said.

‘Yeah, Rose, how is that?' Esther asked. ‘Vacationing with your in-laws? And your husband got out of it?'

Rose's face got a pinkish tinge to it. ‘My husband died in a car wreck three years ago – with no insurance. I've gone back to school to get a degree so I can get a job. Meanwhile, the boys and I are living with Mr and Mrs Connelly.'

‘I'm so sorry,' Esther said, putting her hand atop Rose's. ‘But that really sucks – having to live with them. Mr Connelly seems like a—'

‘Bit of a control freak?' Rose supplied.

‘I was going to say asshole,' Esther said.

Rose laughed. ‘Right on both counts. Thirty years in the air force, last ten as a colonel, makes for a tight ship. Did I mix a metaphor there?'

‘No,' Lucy said. ‘Only one metaphor. Just seemed like it because you mentioned the air force, then a navy metaphor.'

‘Right,' Rose said, giving Lucy ‘the obvious' Tulia a look.

‘Hey,' Mike said, ‘don't mind her. She's a teacher. And when she drinks she gets even worse! After two beers she not only corrects my grammar, she cuts my meat up for me.'

Lucy hit him on the shoulder. ‘I have to!' she told the rest of us. ‘His grammar is atrocious. And I'm sorry about the metaphor, Rose!'

Rose laughed. ‘Don't worry about it. But,' she said, turning to Esther, ‘speaking of husbands, where's yours?'

‘Never had one,' she said. ‘Met a gorgeous guy at a bar one night,' she said, glancing at Lance who sat beside her and slipping her arm into the crook of his. ‘I figured I had the smarts, he had the looks, we'd make a great baby. I was right about that – she's smart
and
beautiful. The guy doesn't know though. Never got his last name!' She laughed and finished off the Scotch in front of her. ‘God, I can't believe I just said that to you guys! I mean, you're my best friends, and all, but you're still perfect strangers!' And she got a good case of the giggles.

We all laughed with her. ‘I know. I can't believe what I said about my in-laws,' Rose said.

‘Your mother-in-law seems OK,' Lucy said.

‘Have you ever read that book,
The Stepford Wives
?' Rose asked.

‘Oh!' we almost all said in unison.

‘Is this what y'all do when you get together? And by y'all, I mean you hens. Just sit around and talk bad about people?' Mike said.

‘Ah, honey, if only you weren't here!' Lucy said and laughed.

‘By the way, Mike, I'm gonna get an earful about your use of the word “hens” when we get back to our cabin,' I said.

He doffed an imaginary cap. ‘My apologies, ladies. I'm sorry I called all you bitches hens.'

‘Now, that's more like it,' my wife said.

‘
Y
ou did what?' Joshua said, grabbing Johnny Mac by the arm.

‘I told her to pick us up at one o'clock,' Johnny Mac said, a little afraid of this big boy with the stranglehold on his arm.

‘You stupid shit! The children's pavilion closes at ten!'

‘But it's after midnight now –' Johnny Mac said, tears stinging his eyes. Don't cry, he told himself. Don't let this bully see you cry!

‘And I coulda told them some story! Now we're in big trouble!' Joshua tossed Johnny Mac and his arm aside and paced the emptying pool area. ‘So the rest of you, y'all told your parents the same thing?'

All the kids agreed and Jacob, the seven-year-old, teared up. ‘I just wanna go back to Mom!' he said.

‘Oh, man up, Jacob, for shit's sake!' his brother Trip said, punching him on the arm.

‘God, you're an awful brother!' Janna said, putting her arm around Jacob. Jacob leaned his head against the part of Janna's anatomy that would one day, God willing, sprout boobs. He snuck a peak at Johnny Mac and grinned. Johnny Mac did not grin back.