Give Him the Slip (19 page)

Not likely.

A three-quarter moon rose in the night sky and was reflected in the
water below. Luke knew he should get back to town, return to his search. Still,
the memories held him shackled.

Drunk and daring and downright stupid, Mark and Matt had damn near
killed themselves here one day when they decided to play Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid and took a running leap off the cliff. Mark hit the water bad and
it knocked him out. If Matt hadn't been right there, Luke's twin would have
drowned.

Then there was the time they started shooting at beer bottles and
damn near killed Susan Parker. Stupid, reckless, feckless boys. In moments like
now, when he was being totally honest with himself, Luke could admit that
Branch deserved a clap on the back and a handshake of gratitude for saving his
sorry ass.

If not for John, he might have considered doing it.

Disturbed now, he turned away from the edge of the cliff and
retraced his steps to his truck, where Knucklehead had fogged up the window. He
didn't know where to search for Grevas next. Maybe he'd try the lake house
again since he was out here. Then Gus's house. Jerry's. Maybe the bastard was
on the move and felt himself safe once the cops had searched a place once.

Knowing small-town cops, he probably was safe.

Luke fired up his truck and made a big circle to turn around.
That's when his headlights caught the shape on the ground.

A still shape. A bloody shape.

"Son of a bitch." Luke knew a body when he saw one.

He called the police chief and described the scene before him.
Chief Harper instructed him to stay in his truck. Luke said he would,
disconnected the call, grabbed a flashlight from the glove box, then climbed
from the cab.

He had a sneaking suspicion as to what—or whom—he'd find when he
approached the body lying on its side, facing away from him. He vaguely took
note of the crickets chirping in the grass, the cicadas humming from the trees.

His attention was on the flies buzzing around the remains. Luke
circled the body. Shined a light on what was left of its face.

Jerry Grevas.

Luke dragged a hand down his bristled jaw and murmured, "What
the hell is going on in Brazos Bend?"

By the time the ten o'clock news came on, Maddie was feeling
better. What a day. Her headache had subsided for the most part, her aches and
pains manageable through careful movement. She'd showered, removed the itchy
Band-Aid from her forehead, and donned a smiley-face, seventies-era T-shirt and
pair of gym shorts from Luke's dresser drawer. She made her way downstairs to
the kitchen, where Branch had microwaved a Mexican casserole the Garza sisters had
left for him in the freezer.

They settled into his living room just minutes before the hour.
"Maybe the local news will have something about Jerry," Branch said.
"Surely they've caught him by now, although Benny Taylor did promise to
call me with news and I haven't heard a damned thing from him yet. That sumbich
is too old to still be working down at the station. He forgets to return my
calls half the time. I swear, I think he's got that old-timers' disease."

Maddie quietly sipped her water. She wouldn't think of commenting
that perhaps Benny Taylor "forgot" Branch's calls on purpose. Since
she'd started working for Branch, she'd noticed that while people seldom
opposed him outright, they often asserted their independence and resistance
through nonconfrontational ways. Like forgetting to return phone calls.

"So, which do you want to watch?" he asked.
"Channel Six or Channel Three?"

"Whatever you ordinarily watch is fine with me."

He snorted. "I can hardly stand either of them. You got Mr.
Good Hair and Ms. Perky-Pie on six, Ol' See My Teeth and his smarmy pal Big
Nose on three. Doesn't matter which I watch, I end up throwing a slipper at
them half the time anyway. They use this station as a training ground, you
know. The announcers stay for six months or a year, then if they're any good
they get shipped off to big cities like Waco and Wichita Falls. If you ask
me..."

I didn't.

"...they should leave us alone here and let hometown folk
like Joe Brown do the news. Joe knows what's what behind a camera. He's been
doing the 'Farm and Ranch' report for going on thirty years."

"I doubt a ten o'clock newscast would fit into Joe's
schedule, since his farm report comes on at what, five a.m.?"

"Four thirty." Branch pointed his remote at the
television, and Mr. Good Hair and Ms. Perky-Pie's beautiful, though somber,
visages flashed on the screen.

"...breaking news," Good Hair was saying. "Police
have made a shocking arrest in the murder of longtime Brazos Bend citizen Jerry
Grevas, whose body was found tonight up at Lookout Point. The man in custody is
former Brazos Bend resident Luke Callahan."

Maddie's water glass slipped from her hand and spilled to the
floor.

"What the hell!" Branch leaned forward in his chair,
thumbing the remote's volume up button.

"Our reporter on the scene, Joe Brown, has the story."

As the phone started ringing at Callahan House, a skinny, rangy
elderly man wearing a summer straw Stetson took the microphone from someone
beyond the camera and grumbled, "I don't know what the hell is goin'
on."

"You're on live, Joe."

"Oh. Well." He grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck
with his free hand. "I was down here delivering a birthday present to my
grandson—he's Patrol Officer Bobby Joe Brown. He's a good man, Bobby Joe is.
His actual birthday is tomorrow, but his grandmother wanted him to have his
gift first thing since it's a new electric razor and she figured he'd want to
use it before the birthday party the family is throwing tomorrow night."

Maddie heard the cameraman say, "Joe! Get to Callahan!"

"Yeah!" Branch snapped at the TV, ignoring the trilling
telephone.

"Get the phone, Branch. It might be Luke!"

"Oh. Yeah." He fumbled with the receiver.
"Hello?"

He listened less than five seconds, then slammed the phone down.
"Damn cemetery salesmen, calling so late. I think they're vampires. Only
come out at night."

Maddie waved at him to be quiet and fixed her attention on the
television. "Anyways, a few minutes ago Larry Henderson, that's Officer
Henderson, brought Luke Callahan into the station with his hands cuffed behind
his back. It was like old times, I'm telling you. Why, back in the day, not a
week went by that one of those Callahan boys wasn't hauled into the station in
handcuffs. This was the first time murder was involved, however, so everyone
was pretty tense."

Maddie brushed absently at the water that had spilled in her lap
while Branch threw a house slipper at the TV and shouted, "Idiot Joe
Brown. Get to the point!"

"We're still trying to pin down just what happened," the
"Farm and Ranch" reporter said. "Lots of hubbub, but not much
real information. Hey, there's my grandson. Let's see if he has anything he can
tell us. Bobby Joe? Hey, Bobby Joe, what's going on with Sin Callahan?"

"Hi, Grampa. I'm not rightly sure just what's going down. I
hear somebody found Jerry Grevas with half his face shot off up at the lake.
Callahan was close by and he'd been looking for Jerry all over town on account
of how Jerry beat up Callahan's girlfriend. The lieutenant says that Callahan's
been sneaking into town to date Maddie Kincaid, but no one really knows how
long that's been going on. I know the DA is sweet on her, the librarian, too.
They're gonna be upset to find out she's been stepping out with Callahan."

"Oh, my God," Maddie murmured.

"Goddamned small-town television station." Branch
grabbed up the phone and shouted into it. "Hang up. I need to use the
phone." Then he slammed it down, picked it up again, and called 911. When
the operator answered, he said, "Janie, get me Chief Harper."

Since Branch held the receiver away from his ear to shout into it,
Maddie could hear Janie's put-upon voice responding, "Branch Callahan,
this line is for emergencies only."

"Good. Then get me the police chief."

A moment later, Chief Harper came on the line. "I knew I'd be
hearing from you."

"What happened? Did my boy really fill that dipshit full of
lead?"

Maddie's brows lifted. Surely he didn't think Luke really did the
crime!

"A small-nose revolver, you say?" Branch repeated.
"Well, that lets Luke off. My boy wouldn't carry a girly gun like that.
You need to let Luke go."

Maddie closed her eyes at the realities of small-town politics and
small-town justice.
Oh, Luke. What in the world happened? See, you'd have
been better off not leaving me.

"It's not the mushrooms," she murmured, thinking the
matter through. Bet it was that mysterious box Grevas was so intent to find.
Maybe that's what happened. He found it and somebody else wanted it, too.
Wanted it bad. Bad enough to kill for it.

"This is just too much." First illicit drugs, now
murder. This wasn't how Mayberry was supposed to be.

On the television, reporter Joe Brown promised he'd report back
just as soon as he had more information, then he sent the broadcast back to the
studio. On the phone, Branch continued to argue with the chief of police.
Maddie wondered whether she should call a lawyer for Luke.

Branch let out a frustrated growl, then bellowed, "Listen
here, Harper. There's an election coming up and you'd be wise to remember
it."

Never mind that the police chief wasn't an elected official,
Maddie took some comfort from Branch's harangue of the man. From what she could
make of the conversation, the cops knew Luke wasn't guilty of murder. That, of
course, begged the question, who was?

The front doorbell chimed and Maddie glanced over at Branch. He
rolled his eyes as if saying,
What now?

Rising, she made her way to the front foyer and glanced through
the peephole. Surprise filled her as she opened the door. "Kathy?"

The older woman appeared frazzled as she stepped inside. "Hi,
honey. I had to come see if you needed me."

"I'm fine. I—" She broke off, wincing, when her friend
wrapped her in a big bear hug and held on.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I can't believe this happened. I
went home not long after you left the Princess, and I spent hours gardening in
the backyard. I didn't hear the news until Sally Jorgensen called to gossip
about it. So Jerry Grevas was in your house when you went home? Right after you
left my place? He attacked you?" When Maddie nodded, she added, "Oh,
bless your heart." Then she burst into tears.

"Oh, Kathy," Maddie said, attempting to comfort her when
the waterworks continued and her friend's agitation mounted. "It's okay.
I'm okay."

"It's just the most awful—" Her sentence ended on a sob.

Maddie eased away from Kathy and said, "Come on in and watch
the news with us. See if they have anything more about Luke."

"I can't believe they arrested him. I can't believe he's
finally come home. What happened? Why do they think Luke is guilty?"

Maddie explained what she knew from the news. "That's all we
know. Branch is trying to get more information."

"Of course he is." Kathy followed Maddie into the den, where
Branch was still on the phone. "That old coot will have his fingers all
over this. He'll make sure his boy's not punished for something he didn't
do." After a moment's hesitation, she asked, "He didn't do it, did
he? I mean, Sally said he'd been hunting Jerry all over town."

"No, Luke didn't do it." Maddie moved too fast and
gasped at the flash of pain. "If Jerry had been found beaten to a pulp, I
might believe he was guilty. Luke wouldn't have killed him unless it was
self-defense, and if that were the case, he'd have explained as much to the
authorities."

"Look!" Branch interrupted, pointing toward the
television. "Here's Joe Brown again."

He stood in front of a plain white wall. "All right, I've got
the interview you all want." The reporter motioned to someone off camera,
then to Maddie's surprise, an image of Luke filled the screen. "This here
is Luke Callahan, one of Branch Callahan's boys. One of the twins."

"Good Lord," Kathy muttered. "That's no boy. He is
all man."

Luke shoved his hands in his pockets and within the blink of an
eye, his demeanor changed. He wasn't the stern federal agent or the solemn
investigator. This Luke stood with his hip cocked, his grin a wicked challenge,
his eyes full of attitude. He was Luke Callahan, badass.

What in the world...?

"Luke, I think we'd all like to know what brings you back to
Brazos Bend after so long, but first, why don't you tell us in your own words
what happened tonight?"

"Jerry Grevas got his ass shot."

Maddie blinked, her mouth gaping open.

"Uh, this is live TV, Callahan," Joe Brown reminded him.
"Maybe you could watch your language a bit?"