The Killing King of Gratis (21 page)

He sat out there for a few hours, cursing at the rain but also glad for the cover it provided. The dogs couldn’t smell him and the people couldn’t see him. Around midnight he almost gave up and started to leave. Before he could push his boat from the bank, however, two figures, one taller than the other, came walking out to the dock.

The figures went to a small john boat, where the smaller figure went to the motor and knelt over it. After a few moments the taller figure came over to the first one and knelt as well. Both kept looking around and back towards the house. It was apparent that they didn’t want to be seen by anyone. Skipper smiled.

As the taller one stood up and looked into the sky a violent gust of wind blew off her jacket. The hood came off as well and there, only twenty yards away, stood Meg Jones. Skipper could have taken her then but was savoring the moment. Every second before he took her might be the last normal, boring second of her life. He wondered if she could feel it in the whipping wind.

He probably would have snatched her but wasn’t sure what to do with the other person, who had to be Peck. He could kill him now and take the sister, or he could take them both and kill the boy later. Skipper looked at his supplies, realized he might not have enough tape to secure two people, and decided that he didn’t want to leave Peck’s body lying on the dock. He wanted both children to go missing so the authorities who came to look, and there would be many, would split their resources searching for two kids. Keep the kids together and hidden, and the authorities wouldn’t figure things out for a long time. Given enough time, Skipper would become invisible.

He was startled when he heard Meg yell at her brother.

“Let’s go tomorrow night. It’s too rough tonight, and Mommy wouldn’t want us in the boat on the river when it’s this wild. Plus, Matthew is going to bed early tomorrow, almost as early as Cozette, because he’s leaving the next morning to go hunting with his football friends. He’ll be tired after hunting all day with you. We’ll be able to sneak out a lot earlier.” Although she was yelling the wind killed any sound from the dock before it reached the house.

Peck looked up from the motor in the dark. Skipper saw him look at his sister, put his head down, and then pull something out of the motor and place it in his pocket.
Son of a bitch
, he thought,
Cozette killed their motor by taking the plugs out and they found some more
. Despite himself he felt a small wave of respect for the two. They figured out how to outmaneuver their protectors.

“Don’t underestimate them, old Skip,” he whispered to himself.

The two clasped hands and ran back to the house. Skipper was still tempted to follow, but that would be risking waking the dogs and the defensive lineman. Anyway, he knew where they would be tomorrow, and he needed to plan for two. There was no reason to rush things so much now that he knew where Meg was keeping herself.

He pushed off the bank and puttered back into the channel toward the Bird. The wind got sharper as the tree cover fell away, and the waves in the river rocked his boat as he made his way back home. The wind cut into him, and the rain was surprisingly cold for the middle of summer. Although he should have been miserable, he wasn’t. Now he would be able to plan for his session with Meg, and put some real care into it. There would be no more looking, just catching. The thought warmed him as he motored through the rain and waves, oblivious to the chaos around him.

D
elroy made his way to Kero’s after he caught a couple of hours of sleep and washed up. He walked in and found Kero standing behind the bar, scrubbing the pockmarked oak slab. Steely Dan’s ‘Deacon Blues’ tumbled from the jukebox. Kero eyed Delroy for a moment and then went back to scrubbing.

“I tried to call your sorry ass five times last night, Delroy. All I got was your damn voicemail. You taking a vacation or what?”

“I went to the lake for the night. I just needed to clear my head and I got back here around seven this morning.” Delroy sat down at the bar.

“Your eyes don’t look that clear to me, and I heard you didn’t go to the lake alone. I guess it takes two people to help clear one head nowadays.”

Delroy grimaced. One thing Gratis folk did better than anyone in the world was gossip. He was sure that everyone knew he was at the lake with Amy at least an hour before he even got on the road to go there.

“She’s co-counsel on this case, and nothing happened.” He omitted the part that he hoped something would definitely happen later. Kero knew that anyway. The way Kero eyed him, though, Delroy wasn’t sure if he was disgusted that he went to the lake with Amy, or that nothing happened once they got there.

“Delroy, right now is the time for Newt. Don’t get sideways. Don’t let that Amy get in your head about what to do. You have to keep your own counsel about this. She might be straight up and hell, I like her, but we still don’t really know her.”

Delroy nodded his head while Kero spoke. Some people would’ve been angry if a friend told them not to get too crazy over a woman, but Delroy knew that Kero was right. He also knew that Kero would take the same advice from him if the situation was reversed.

“I hear you, buddy. You’re right, and I can’t say that I didn’t want to go off with her. She’s pretty straight up, I know that, but you’re right. I can fully trust you and me, and after that it’s all about what we decide others need to know. It’s just that this thing is about to worry me to death. I needed to get away for a minute. I just wanted to be with a woman without Newt and everyone else seeming like they were there with us. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to do that.”

Kero straightened up and poured two cokes from the bar tap. He handed one to Delroy. They clinked their glasses, drank, and were square with each other again.

“I got you Delroy. I know it’s hard. With your kids you’ve got more skin in the game than I do and it’s about to worry me to death, too. I do have one good thing right now, though.”

“What the hell could that be?”

“Business is up this week. I mean it, lunch is full even though it’s usually slow in summer, and man, the nighttime crowds have killed for us. The news guys are always in here, and we even have tourists coming in to see where the crazy killer of Gratis use to work. I know, it’s total bullshit, but to my shame I’m not about to turn them away.”

“No shame in that Kero, money is money. You didn’t ask for this, it found you. Hell, you oughta be able to have something good happen. It’s better than somebody else making that money, anyway.”

Delroy didn’t tell him that he hadn’t brought in a new client in a month. His office phone would not ring, and money was getting tight. Representing the local serial killer wasn’t too popular in the law business.

Kero yelled at the kitchen to bring a couple of chopped pork sandwiches, and the two friends ate together at the bar. He turned on the television to catch the weather report on the Savannah news station. It was going to be “sizzling in the high nineties,” but one could always pray for the miracle of a cold front.

The weatherman assured Kero his prayers would not be answered. The next report confirmed that he would be zero for two when it came to prayed for results.

A young news reporter wearing a short skirt and high heels was standing “live” outside the Gratis County courthouse. Behind her was a podium set up on the courthouse steps. As she prattled on about breaking news in the Gratis serial killer case, D.A. Broyles walked into the frame. Directly behind him were his chief assistant on one side and Tommy on the other. The reporter finally shut up as Broyles began to speak.

“As you know, the murderer Newt MacElroy was caught in Savannah, Georgia, after killing yet again. Although we have not made our formal announcement in court, I have decided to inform the people of this county that we will be seeking the death penalty in this case. I do not do this lightly. However, the aggravating circumstances in this case are so profound and serious that to do less would be turning my back on the welfare of the people of this great county, and indeed of this state. At this time, it appears to our office that the evidence against Newt MacElroy is so great as to at least three murders, both here and in Chatham County, that I feel it my duty to announce the decision of this office to the people of this county at once. Thankyou, and I will take no questions at this time.” With that Broyles turned and walked away from the podium back to the courthouse, a look of extreme gravitas hardening his face. Delroy wanted to punch it.

“Well son of a bitch, looks like Broyles is using this thing to do some politicking. I don’t guess he gave you a courtesy call before he called channel twelve did he?”

“Shit no, that turd. I swear Kero, if my closet wasn’t so full of skeletons, I’d run against him just to watch him try to survive without a tax dollar paycheck. Damn, I hate the guy.”

Kero laughed. “Well, you earned your hate. I wonder if he’s getting any love off that news girl, giving her some stern prosecutor love, breaking some of those sodomy laws in the news truck.” Kero laughed some more and Delroy couldn’t help but to chuckle a little.

Delroy got his phone out while Kero was enjoying his own jokes and dialed Amy. Usually he wouldn’t call a woman so soon after a first date, but he kept telling himself that it wasn’t a date. He was only calling his co-counsel with news of an update on their case. A really good lawyer could lie to himself and believe it.

She didn’t answer, so he left a message for her to call him when she got the chance. Broyles’ announcement wasn’t really an emergency. Due to death penalty procedure, any trial of the case would be years away. He would contest everything Broyles had to offer and make the smug jerk regret walking up to the podium.

The problem was that the legal side of this would now fall more heavily on his shoulders. He was death penalty certified. He would now have to get appointed to the case, which was no guarantee. He would also have to get Amy certified, itself a difficult process.

The announcement just brought home that everything Delroy was dealing with would only get harder. Things were damn hard enough already. As it stood, his legal team was himself and a recent law school grad he lusted after.

Damn
, he thought,
I can’t wait for a death penalty case to resolve itself to be with her. That could be years
. He was immediately ashamed of himself. He was worried about getting laid or falling in love while Newt was facing the death penalty.
You are some fine attorney, Delroy, and some fine person, to boot.

He turned to his plate and started eating his barbeque, wondering what Amy’s hunch from this morning was. He hoped she would call him back to tell him about it. He missed her voice already, and wanted that voice to give him some good news.

A
my slept for an hour, woke up, and got dressed for the day. She absolutely could not wait to get started. Feeling refreshed, she jumped into her old BMW just before lunch and went to the clerk of court’s office.

The clerk of court was tasked with keeping all the records of the court, both civil and criminal, and making them available upon request of the general public. Most often the general public meant lawyers. Clerks had to deal with a fairly impatient group of end users.

The clerk of Gratis County, Mrs. LisaRae Johnson, had performed her duties for twenty-five years. She came to the clerk’s office out of high school and had worked there for five years when the sitting clerk died. Although she was junior to the other assistant clerks, she got appointed to the position. After all, she was Franklin Knox’s second cousin on her mother’s side.

LisaRae was no fool. Once the job was hers she safeguarded it with the tenacity of a bulldog. She didn’t drink and made sure her husband didn’t either. Voters noticed such things. She went to the First Baptist every Wednesday and Sunday and, most importantly, made sure to be seen at every women’s event in the county. It didn’t matter whether it was a Junior League meeting or some other charitable organization, she attended and got involved. Gratis women consistently showed up at the polls. They were a powerful group, and she made sure to know them all.

She was in her office during lunch, eating warmed over chicken stew brought from home, when Amy came striding up to the clerk’s window and rang the bell. LisaRae didn’t like her the first time she met her near the beginning of that summer. Amy was speaking with two local attorneys in the office, both men. The top button of her blouse was undone at the time.
Just a whore with a law degree
, LisaRae thought, regaling herself with scenarios of what little Miss Priss must have done to pass some of her more difficult law classes. She despised women who used sex to further themselves. That was too easy, and a slap to every committee or club she joined in the name of job security.

Even worse
, she thought,
Miss Prissy-Ass is so rude that she comes here and wants me to get up and serve her during my lunch hour. That little bitch
.

LisaRae carefully set her spoon to the side of her Tupperware bowl. After thoroughly wiping her mouth and checking herself in the mirror, she got out of her chair and strode to the clerk’s window.

“May I help you, Ms. Delahunt?”

“Why yes you can, Mrs. Johnson.” Amy wore her sweetest smile. She felt the Clerk’s disdain even as she smiled back.

“As you know, I am co-counsel on the Newt MacElroy case, and I need to research some old case files in this office.”

I wonder how you got that client
, LisaRae thought. She already knew that Amy rode into town early this morning with Delroy “in that convertible of his.” Drinking coffee with her Sunday School ladies at Le Café kept her on top of things.

“Well, tell me what cases you need, and I’ll try to get them pulled for you as soon as possible.”

“That’s the thing Mrs. Johnson, I don’t know what cases I need. I have some names of those I think may have been involved in some cases here in Gratis. I may need to check quite a number of cases.”