Fraidy Hole: A Sheriff Lester P. Morrison Novel (54 page)

Lester waved goodbye as the Camaro pulled away, crunching gravel. When it hit the blacktop—and
just because the
S
heriff
was watching—Billy Ray mashed it, spinning the tires in a screech of rubber and
smoke. Lester shook his head and smiled.
Good match there
,
he thought
.
Kind of reminds
me of
Mary Alice and myself in our younger days
.
Wonder what it
would have been like to
have
a child, one like Meliss
a?
He
tried to picture it in his mind
;
a little girl,
frilly dresses,
slumber parties,
first date, first car, graduation, college, grandkids. He
shook his head.
Guess I’ll have to leave that up to good people like Billy Ray and Miss Rio.

Feeling the ache in his lower back,
Lester
shifted his position
in the chair and
absently
scratched
behind
Harley’s ears. The dog
moaned in
pleasure.

“
Harley, my boy, it’s been a hellava week hasn’t it? A rape, a murder, an attempted murder, and a suicide
,
all right here in Cimarron County, all in the space of, what was it…five, six days? More crime than most of folks in this end of Oklahoma have seen in their lifetime. We’ve had families destroyed, lives that are gonna be changed forever, and why?
Mostly
because
Melissa ha
d
the misfortune to be caught between
two egotistical men; one a manipulative, domineering, and controlling sorry excuse for a human being
,
and the other with the morals of
a tom
cat
that
wanted to
live his life vicariously through his talented but misguided son. You like that word dog,
vicariously
? It’s one I heard Billy Ray use, kinda liked the sound of it.
Lot’s of things could have changed the events you know. If Imogene had stood up to Albert sooner, been a stronger mother, and not let that cretin beat her down like he did, Melissa might still have a mother.
Are you listening to me
,
dog?

“
Boomer’s gonna lose his daddy for a while, a long while probably. Oh,
and
Boomer will
probably
serve a little time in jail himself, or should
, even
though I’m still not exactly
sure
what happened with Melissa and him out there on that old farm land
. He could be charged with attempted rape, or not
,
but a
boy can’t hit a sheriff, elude arrest, point a gun at a lawman
,
not to mention the reckless
discharge
of
a firearm
,
and then tiptoe through the tulips scot free.
No sir.
Wouldn’t surprise me if he got off easy though. He has his youth working for him, no priors, and I’m sure half the people in Boise City
, the coaches especially,
will testify to his good character. He might even be walking the halls of the high school before the end of year. Wonder how Melissa would take to that? Talk about awkward.

“
Then there’s Melissa
herself
. You know, she might be the bravest little girl I’ve ever known. Got gumption, that
young lady
does. Hung in there, down in that dark ol’ cellar, doing everything she could to stay alive. I expect her to go far in this world. Hope she becomes a vet like she’s plannin’. She’ll be a good ‘un. Runaway. Humph. I knew damn well she wasn’t a runaway, knew it from the start. This old man’s hunches and instincts are still working pretty damn good if you ask me. I’m bettin’ that there’s a few good years left in this skinny ol’ lawman’s carcass. What do
you
think? You got any comment on that Harley dog?

At the sound of his name, Harley opened one eye, glanced up,
but
quickly closed it again.
It was an excellent dream; a
wide
field of clover
filled with purple bloom
s
and
rabbits, dozens of
rabbits
. Some looked fat and slow. A thin stream of dog drool ran from Harley’s jowls and pooled on the wood. A paw twitched. The chase was on.