Fallout (Joshua Stokes Mysteries Book 2) (12 page)

Joshua had consumed half the bottle of whiskey and smoked nearly a pack of cigarettes as he meticulously went through each file. When he reached for the next folder in the box, the year 1937 jumped out at him; his mother had disappeared that year. Written on the label was, Annaleigh Stokes, August 1937 - Missing - Unsolved.

With shaking hands, he opened the folder. His mother’s face stared back at him. He lay the folder down but held onto the black and white 8x10 photograph. Slowly, his finger traced the outline of her hair. He traced her jaw down to her chin; his fingertip touched her lips, lips that would never speak to him again.

He did not know how long he sat staring the picture, but he had avoided looking into her eyes. When he did, they were sad eyes. He could tell that she was unhappy when the photograph was taken; his heart ached for her unhappiness.

The sting of unshed tears burned his eyes, then, suddenly burst forth. He cried much the same as he had when he was eleven years old and his mother failed to come home. He laid the photograph on top of the folder and then walked out onto the back porch. The night was cool, clear, and quiet. A hundred feet below him, he could hear the river flowing south; he stepped off the porch and began walking that way.

When he reached the sandbar, it glowed eerily white against the surrounding darkness; the moon was bright enough to illuminate much of the river. Joshua sat down on a driftwood log that had come to rest on the sand and lit a cigarette. He inhaled deeply.

The vague, indefinable sadness he felt slowly solidified into a precise, deep burning anger. If only he could turn back the hands of time, he would somehow save his mother. He knew there was no way to punish the man who took her; too much time had gone by for that. The man was probably dead. However, Joshua felt that if he could go back to
that
time, he could have somehow stopped him from taking her. His anger morphed and redirected itself from the senior Dixon, who he thought took her, to his own father. It was the same anger he had felt toward his father when he was around twenty years old.

A short while after his father passed away, he remembered the many times he questioned him about what happened to his mother. Each time he had asked, his father somehow avoided answering him. His father’s avoidance of his questions angered him. He realized that if his father did know something about where she was or any other details about her disappearance, he could never tell him now. His father was dead. Dead men do not answer questions. It was easy for Joshua to let the anger consume him.

Back then, his grandfather noticed his sullen manner and inability to talk about his father without practically seething and he had questioned him about it. Once confronted, Joshua had unloaded all of his pent up emotions over his father’s
lack of emotion
after his mother disappeared. He told his grandfather that he did not believe his mother had simply walked away from them and began another life elsewhere.

“You may be right, Son,” his granddaddy said “and we may never know the truth, but you shouldn’t feel so harsh toward your father; oftentimes, men feel inferior. Your father may have felt as if
he
was not a good enough husband, lover, or provider… we will never know for sure what he felt when your mother disappeared. He may have thought she left
him
and blamed himself.

We humans are inferior from the get-go, Hoss; always remember that. Don’t let hate consume you. Your father had his faults, we all do, but he is dead and gone and cannot defend himself. There is no use in hating a dead man. He loved you; he did the best he could with a bad situation.” It had been over twenty years since he last spoke with his grandfather but his grandfather’s voice was as fresh in his mind as if he were speaking to him right then; and, he knew he was right. Dead men don’t talk; there was no use in dwelling on what might have been, what was past was past.

He threw his cigarette butt into the river and stood. When he turned there was a woman standing behind him. At first, he thought it was Emma, but it wasn’t. This woman had a glow about her, much the same as the apparition that had come to him when Emma was missing. The woman standing before him appeared to be his mother!

Joshua could not believe his eyes. Why was she coming to him now? Was it because of his finding out the information he had and his visit with Vivian, or was it just because he was looking into her disappearance? He was not sure, but before he could speak, she faded away. He wondered if he had conjured up her image because his wished so badly to talk with her.
I must be losing my fucking mind
, thought Joshua as he lit another cigarette. He actually held his hand over the flame to make sure he was not asleep and dreaming everything. The heat told him he was awake.

Joshua began the uphill walk toward the cabin. He stopped at his cruiser to retrieve Vivian’s photo album and took it into the cabin with him. He wanted to compare the photographs. When he walked in, Emma was sitting at the table eating a bowl of stew and looking through the folder that contained his mother’s photograph.

“Sheriff, this one, the one you left out, is another missing person… her last name is the same as yours.”

He could tell that she was curious. Joshua hesitated a moment and then told Emma that it was his mother’s file. He saw a flash of pity in her eyes before she looked back down at the papers in front of her; he did not want her pity. He poured himself a shot of whiskey and tried to shake the nibbling anger that began to eat at him. He swallowed it as soon as he poured it.

“No wonder you were hesitant about looking through the box. You had to have been just a child when she disappeared. It says in here that it was not reported until she had been missing for several days. Her husband, your father, thought she might have run away with a man named Leroy Dixon. However, when they investigated, this Dixon man had also gone missing; that made them presume that the two had gone together. Dixon’s wife had not reported him missing. She said she was unaware that he was missing because he was a traveling salesman and was gone for weeks at a time.

According to the report, Dixon’s father was also a salesman. According to Detective Jernigan’s notes, he felt that the elder Dixon was trying to mislead them about his son’s whereabouts. He thought the old man
knew
where his son was. Jernigan thought the brother was lying too; he made note of it in his report.”

Joshua, who had been comparing the picture of his mother that was in the folder to the older ones in Vivian’s album, suddenly asked “Brother? I didn’t know he had a brother,” Joshua said it as if it was hard for him to believe.

“Yes sir, he did; actually, he had several. Leroy was the baby boy of a brood of twelve siblings. Jernigan’s attention focused on Leroy Dixon’s eldest brother, Early Dixon. It says here that Early Dixon was well known over in Green County, Mississippi as an undertaker in his funeral home business.”

“The Elder is the Cock of the Roost,” Joshua mumbled.

“Huh?”

“It was something a friend of my mother told me this morning when I talked with her concerning my mother’s disappearance. She told me that an old Negro woman, a psychic, or soothsayer as some call them, had read her and Annaleigh’s palms; she also read the leaves from the teacups they drank out of, and then told their fortunes.

My mother was concerned about Leroy Dixon because according to her friend Vivian, Dixon had been stalking her. The old psychic woman told my mother that Leroy Dixon was not as much of a threat as someone else was. That was when she said that ‘The Elder is the Cock of the Roost.’

“Well, the elder could mean either the father or the older brother.”

“Yes, it could… Vivian said that the old woman saw something else that day. She saw something so terrifying that it caused her to have a stroke. She died a short while later without ever telling them what she saw that scared her so bad.”

“That’s some weird stuff for sure, but after what happened to me while those Dixon brothers had me, I believe there
are
supernatural things in this world, things we cannot explain. Like when I fell into the cellar of the old Caledonia Plantation and traveled back to the 1860’s. I haven’t told anyone about that because I did not want folks to think I was crazy, but that happened as sure as I am sitting here. Ghosts
are
real, Sheriff; I can tell you that for sure. They know what is going on and they try to warn us when something bad is going to happen. Before I went camping over in the hollow, I had a dream. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but when I remembered it later, it made sense.”

As he listened, Joshua was reminded of his own dealings with the spirit world. He too, was a believer in ghosts, but the time travel thing Emma experienced, he chalked up to the drugs the brothers were giving her to keep her compliant. Acid and stuff like that cause you to trip out of your mind. He knew because he had tried it once; he did not like not being in control of his brain functions, and swore he would never do it again.

“I dreamt that Grandma Stringer was standing at the foot of my bed trying to wake me up. When I woke, she told me to stay put. ‘Stay put,’ that was all she said. At the time, I thought she meant for me to stay in bed. After what happened, I think she meant for me to stay put in the tent and not come out. I believe if I had stayed put and not come out of my tent, those boys would have killed those folks and then moved on.”

“You may be right,” Joshua said. “If you had stayed put, they might not have ever known you were there, but you can’t be sure. That, is something you will never know for sure… it has always seemed to me that things happen for a reason. We may not know for what at the time and the reason may not reveal itself until later, but when it does, we know.” It was as if a light bulb had suddenly gone off in Joshua’s head.

“You know, an undertaker in the funeral home business is the perfect cover for some weirdo that likes to mutilate people. I need to check into this Early Dixon some more, and see what I can find out about him.”

“Those men that had me, was into some real weird shit, Sheriff. Besides the cutting and dying of my hair, and keeping me drugged up. They…” Emma stopped short of telling him exactly everything they had done to her. So far, she had not told anyone of everything they did or all that had gone on while she was in their possession; not even the shrink they had her see at the mental health department. Of course, she had only gone once. He evaluated her and told her that she needed to come on a regular basis and talk about what happened in order for him to help her. Emma was a private person. She did not want people to know her most personal thoughts and feelings.

“If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here.”

“I appreciate that, Sheriff, honestly I do. If I need to, I will. But if it was God’s plan for me to be taken hostage and abused, I don’t know what that says about Him.” Joshua acknowledged her words with a nod of his head.

“Emma, I did not mean it that way. What I meant was… look at it this way, if they had not taken you, and you had not of escaped, they may have
never
been caught.” Joshua waited to see if she understood what he meant. Watching her, he knew she did; however, she did not speak. After a moment, he looked back to the pictures in his hands.

He could see a marked resemblance between the younger Annaleigh and the photograph that was in the folder. The one in the folder showed a mature Annaleigh, whereas the ones in Vivian Bradley’s album showed a younger, fresher, Annaleigh. There was no doubt that it was the same person. Joshua wondered why his mother was so sad when she was older. She was married; she had him and his father. She had friends in Vivian and Mattie; surely, she had other friends too. She probably had women friends from church, maybe others he did not remember. He remembered going to the church and to prayer meetings with his mother.

He definitely remembered how animated the preacher became while preaching. The preacher’s silver hair flopped around on his head as he held a bible aloft in one hand and from behind the pulpit, paced the width of the room from one side to the other preaching the gospel. He sang and danced up there until he had the entire congregation up out of their seats shouting and dancing around the room. Most of the flock would make their way to alter, fall to their knees, and then promise to give up their sinful ways in order to go to Heaven. Joshua remembered his mother doing that…

The wind was like hot breath breathing down Joshua’s neck. When it enveloped his head, the heat of it suffocated him. It’s unusual for it to be this hot, this early in the year, thought Joshua as he stood at the southern-most tip of Dauphin Island, gazing out into the Gulf of Mexico. The salty mist that rode the waves inland was a relief to the stifling heat.

The call had come early that morning about the discovery of a body that washed ashore overnight. A resident walking her dog discovered it just after daylight. She assured them that it was not there when she walked her dog just before dark the previous day. Joshua was almost certain it was the body of a drowning victim and that no foul play was involved; however, as a crime scene investigator, it was Metcalf’s job to access that and Joshua did not begrudge him his title one bit.

Metcalf and his duties as the crime scene investigator for the county actually took some of the pressure off him. Joshua admired Metcalf for knowing at such a young age what he wanted to do with his life and then pursuing it as he had.

Naturally, everyone still looked to
him
for answers. Those answers were mighty hard to come by at times and Joshua was tired. He had sacrificed many things in life to pursue his career as a law enforcement officer and at times, he regretted it, but he knew it was what he was meant to do. Otherwise, he would not have continued it all the years he had. Until recently, he had never questioned his lot in life.

He and Emma had read over files until after midnight, discussing each one in detail until she said that she had to go lie down and get some rest. She was tired after all the cleaning and cooking she had done and the heroin she shot earlier in the day had worn off. It had been a long day for him too; however, he was wide-awake.

He found the unsolved files completely lacking. They contained
less
information than information
and led to more questions than answers. The information they did have, was splotchy. As far as he could tell, no one had followed through or added much after the initial investigations.

Joshua took the bottle of whiskey and his cigarettes out onto the porch and sat down in his rocking chair. At least it was cooler outside. The woodstove produced a lot of heat and the cabin did not even begin to cool down until well after dark. He poured himself half a glass of whiskey, then kicked back in his rocker and propped his feet on the railing. He woke just before dawn and sat in the dark, listening. Joshua did not know what had awakened him at first and then, just as daylight began making its way through the trees, he heard them. He was sitting there listening to the field hollers and the songs of long forgotten slaves as they made their way into the fields some hundred some odd years in the past, when the call came about the discovery of the body on Dauphin Island.

Joshua had not thought of Josiah Long in a while, but as he stood watching the surf, Josiah came to mind. He wished many times that he had listened to the old Profit’s words concerning his mother, but hindsight is always twenty-twenty.

“Sheriff?”

Joshua heard Metcalf’s voice as he spoke, but did not immediately respond to him. He did not often get the chance to visit the island and stand along the shore; his senses felt heightened. He was enjoying the melding of his thoughts with the waves of the Gulf waters and resented the intrusion. He knew John was standing behind him. When he did answer him, it was just a perfunctory “Yeah?”

“You were right, Sheriff. The body has identification that identifies him as a longshoreman, and a call came in this morning that a worker was missing off a rig four miles out into the Gulf. I don’t see any signs of trauma. I will not know for sure if he drowned until an autopsy is done.”

“Are you done with me then?”

“Yes, sir; I’ll finish up here and when I get the results of the autopsy and the lab work back, I’ll let you know for sure.”

“Alright then, I am out of here; got places to go and things that need to be done.”

“Are you okay, Sheriff? You seem a little… far off.”

“Far off… Yeah, I reckon I was. Just been doing a lot of thinking, son, got a lot on my mind, but I’m fine.”

“I’ll see you later then,” Metcalf responded. “If you need me, just give a holler.” Joshua nodded his head. He turned and walked the four football field lengths across the sands to his patrol car. It was the most exercise he’d had in a while.

Joshua got into his patrol car, lit a cigarette, and then shoved his Steppenwolf tape into the 8-track player. It was a good 20 miles to his cabin, and that was where he intended to go, 30 miles if he went by way of the back roads. He’d had to leave before he could shower and shave. He needed a bath to wake him; he knew he would feel better too. As he drove off, he reached under the seat and pulled the bottle of whiskey out, took a good swig then replaced it. As the singer began singing, so did Joshua.

He turned onto Hwy 193, put the pedal to the medal, and was atop the drawbridge before the first song was half way through. He drove straight until he reached Hwy 188 where he turned left onto it. He had decided to detour through Coden and Bayou La Batre. He had a hankering for some seafood and there was no better place in the county than Mary’s Place down in the bayou.

Music always made Joshua feel better and this day was no exception. By the time Steppenwolf’s “The Pusherman” began to play, he was in a much better mood and sang at the top of his lungs cruising down 188 toward the Bayou and Mary’s Place. It was eleven fifteen when he drove into the parking lot; the place was already packed. He almost started to drive off, but the aroma of frying seafood led him in by the nose.

When he walked in, a fresh-faced young woman greeted him asking how many in his party. He looked behind him, winked at her and told her “Just one today, hon.” She smiled and said for him to follow her. She seated him at a small table in the corner, which suited him fine; he hated having his back exposed. Once seated, the hostess handed him a menu and asked what he wanted to drink. Joshua did not usually drink on the job, especially out in public, so he ordered a sweet tea.

“Karen will be here in a minute to take your order,” the hostess smiled sweetly, “and thank you for choosing Mary’s,” she said just as another young woman, one not so fresh of the face, but instead, looked exhausted, brought him a glass of tea. Joshua could not help but wonder why she was so tired so early into her shift.

“My name is Karen; I will be your waitress today,” said the young woman. “Do you need a minute to look over the menu or do you know what you want to order?”

Joshua smiled at winked at Karen. She blushed. He already knew what he wanted but decided he wanted her to stand there a minute.

“I thought I did,” he said slowly, “but everything looks
so
good, I just cannot make up my mind whether I want to order just a ‘Karen’ or the seafood platter with a side of
Karen
.”

The young woman smiled exposing dimples, and then turned several shades of pink that turned red. Joshua could tell that he had embarrassed her but that he had also made her feel better.

When she finally spoke, she said “I’m sorry sir, but I am not on the menu.” the smile from her dimples made it to her eyes.

“What a shame,” Joshua replied with a shake of his head, and then said that he reckoned he would just have to settle for a seafood platter, with a baked potato and a green salad instead of fries and coleslaw. Joshua could feel eyes on him but the place was filled with patrons and it was hard to pinpoint exactly where the stare was coming from.

He sat and looked through the newspaper as he waited for his food. He did not want whoever was staring at him to know that he felt their eyes on him. After about ten minutes, Karen brought him his meal and refilled his glass with tea. He said, thanks hon; she blushed. Then, every time she came to see if he needed a refill or anything else, he would flirt with her. He saw her several times around the room and she was smiling; he liked that.

Joshua knew that women found him attractive and occasionally he used it as an advantage. He wanted to make the young woman feel attractive and better about herself and he felt he had accomplished that goal. He had no designs on her affections. He did not want to bed her. He just wanted to make her smile.

When Joshua finished his meal, he left a sizable tip on the table, paid for his food, and then headed toward his car. Before he reached his vehicle, he felt someone coming up behind him and then he heard their feet on the graveled driveway. He crouched and spun just as some young man took a swing at the back of his head! Joshua punched him in the gut and then shoved him up against his patrol car and twisted his hands behind his back.

“What the hell, son; have you done lost your cotton picking mind taking a swing at an officer of the law like that?”

“You come in here and put your moves on
my
woman, I’ll kill you for that!”

“
Your
woman? Son, slavery was outlawed a hundred years ago. You don’t
own
anybody! And, if you have a lick of sense left in that wooden noggin of yours, you’ll quit treating that young woman in there like she is a piece of property. There’s many a man that will treat her a lot better than that,” Joshua turned the young man around and looked him in the eye.

“I just wanted to see a smile on that young woman’s face; she looked miserable. Now, I
know
why!” Joshua used his index finger to get his point across by poking the man in the chest with it. “I’m gonna tell you something right now, hoss, and you had better listen to me. If I ever, and I mean,
ever
, come in here and see that young woman without a smile on her face, I am going to come looking for you; do you hear me, boy!” Joshua had gotten so mad he wanted to beat the boys face in; it was hard for him to control his temper and he was biting nails as he spoke.

“We all make sacrifices for the people we love, and if you love that girl in there as much as you make out that you do by wanting to bash my head in, then you had better sacrifice some of that pride and let go of that jealousy. Women are supposed to be loved and cherished son, not owned and made miserable. Take a good look at her. That is a good-looking woman in there and when those dimples are flashing, she’s even prettier. You had
better
treat her right, or next time, I will
not
be so lenient with you!” Joshua let go of the young man’s shirt but not without shoving him again.

The young man had not said anything during Joshua’s rant and did not say anything then. He just hung his head and started walking toward the back of the restaurant.

Joshua wanted to kick him square in the ass. Instead, he got into his patrol car, reached under the seat and pulled out the bottle of whiskey. He took a swig and then put it back where he had it.

He did not know if his talk done any good or not, he hoped so. If that girl Karen has any sense, she will get rid of him now while she is young enough to change her mind about the type of man she wants in her life. He had seen other couples like them and it almost never ended well. He hoped he at least showed her that she had options…