P Deutermann - Spider mountain

“Luke saw mention of Ms. Santangelo being treated, so him an’ me, we kinda figured y’all might still be around.”

“Is there news?”

He nodded solemnly. “Big trouble last night up in Robbins County,” he declared. “Big trouble. Seems Laurie May Creigh’s two boys, them twins? Made ’em a blood feud on Grinny Creigh late last night.”

“Oh, shit,” I said. I’d forgotten all about our promise to go back up there. “Nathan and his boys roughed up their mother,” I told him. “They said they were going to go do something about that.”

“Might you recollect when they said that?” he asked. As in, how do you know that?

I told him we’d gone up there on our way out of the area to check on Laurie May because, given how quickly Nathan had caught up with me that night, we figured she’d been coerced.

“On your way out of the area?” he asked. Bigger John wasn’t missing much this morning. Of course, he’d probably had his morning coffee, something I desperately needed.

I shrugged. “So: How’d it come out?”

He smiled ruefully and shook his enormous head. “Word is, they rode in on Grinny in that there old Bronco they drive and started shootin’ up everything in sight. The cabin, the barns, some’a them dogs, winders, doors, everythin’ and anythin’ what couldn’t take cover.”

“Let me guess-then they ran out of ammo.”

“It’s possible,” he said. “ ‘Cause what happened next was that Grinny and her boys did one’a them Bonnie and Clyde numbers on the Bronco. Then somebody, ain’t nobody knows for sure who, of course, went over to Laurie May’s place and throwed a bunch’a gallon bottles of gasoline into the house.”

“With Laurie May inside?”

“It’s possible,” he said. “Leastwise, that’s what it smelt like when the fire boys got to it.”

“Lovely,” I said. The same house where we had been planning to lay up while we figured out our next move. Bigger John was watching me and probably reading my mind.

“Sheriff Hayes know about this incident?” I asked.

He nodded.

“You suppose he knows we were out there earlier, before those boys went for their final ride?”

“Don’t believe he does,” he said. “Yet. He did ask this morning if y’all was still in Carrigan County, though. Called you the death angel.”

“All he has to do is read his own ER report,” I said.

“He will,” John said patiently. He was looking at me, as if he were waiting for me to get something important. I really needed my coffee.

“You telling me we should get our asses out of Carrigan County while the getting is good, Deputy John?”

He smiled. “There you go,” he said. “Sheriff’s in court until noontime. Then he’ll go to dinner, then back to the office.”

“And do his paperwork,” I said. “Okay, got it. We’ll get down the road directly. Now, let me ask you something. Did the sheriff mention having any kind of run-in with M. C. Mingo last night?”

He shook his head. “I ain’t heard that,” he said. “Why you askin’?”

I almost told him. I trusted the Big brothers, mostly because they had played fair and square from the git-go-and saved my ass from being burned up like Laurie May Creigh. But since I suddenly had an inkling of why Hayes might be consorting with the likes of M. C. Mingo, I changed my mind.

“You should mention to him, when and if he gets around to asking about us, that you did some checking after seeing that ER list. That you located us, talked to me, and urged us to get a move on. It’ll show initiative, and he’ll like that.”

He eyed me from that vast height. “And what else should I be tellin’ Sheriff Hayes?” he asked. Not missing much at all, I thought. Like many really big guys I knew, this one kept his brains quietly out of sight, a tactic that probably allowed him to surprise lots of people.

“Just that we are leaving the area,” I said, and then I paused.

“And?” he prodded.

“And that I was in the parking lot last night,” I said. “Behind the hospital.”

“Aw shit, what y’all gettin’ at now?” he asked.

“I do believe he’ll know what that means. Now: We will leave town, but not until I’m sure Ms. Santangelo can travel safely, okay? No more Marshal Dillon games. She was in a bad way last night and she’s still out. We’ll leave as soon as possible, but the more time we have for her to rest, the better, okay?”

He said he understood and asked if I needed him to get anything from the store or pharmacy. I told him I’d take care of it and he left. I poked my head back into the room, but Carrie was still out for the count. I went down to the motel office and cadged some coffee and a complimentary greasy doughnut. When I got back to the room she was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking shot at and missed, shit at and hit. I told her so and she thanked me sincerely. Then she swiped my coffee, so I figured she must be feeling better. I went back for more coffee. She was dressed and had both eyes open when I got back. I told her about my conversation with Bigger John. She was alarmed when she heard the part about telling the sheriff we’d been in the parking lot last night.

“Was that wise?” she said. “If he’s Mingo’s partner, we might get to do our own Bonnie and Clyde scene right here in this motel.”

I didn’t think so. “I guess it’s possible he might sic Mingo on us, but I think he’s mostly interested in getting us the hell out of here. I didn’t say we saw Mingo and his pet quack in the hospital doing their thing. Just that we were in the parking lot last night. He’ll have to wonder what we saw. That way, I’ve got leverage on him, just like he’s got leverage on me. That’s a good reason to just let us go away.”

“I don’t know, Cam-you might be outsmarting yourself there. These mountain people favor direct action most of the time.”

“I outsmart myself all the time,” I admitted. “So if you are ready to roll, let’s get out of Dodge.”

She sat down on the edge of her bed. “I’m physically better. I think my fever’s down if not gone. But I’m not ready to be run out of town or this county. I want to get those bastards, Mingo, Nathan, Grinny Creigh, and the honorable Mister Hayes if he’s really part of this. And I want to save as many of those kids as possible from what probably happened in that lab last night. I still want to know what happened to my baby sister all those years ago. I am determined on that point.”

Lots of I-wants there, I thought, but her expression evoked some of the more thunderous stuff I’d read in the Old Testament. You can take the girl out of the mountains, but you can’t take the mountains out of the girl. I did have the sense not to say that out loud.

“I ran out on you once already,” I said. “I’m not ready to do that again, just yet. Unless, of course, you start fooling around with other guys.”

She softened her expression for a moment, but then shook her head. “You’re the one who’s technically a fugitive from Robbins County,” she said. “The one who’s got bench warrants out, and the guy who removed Rowena Creigh’s least useful part. You’re the one who needs to get out of here. Hayes could solve his problem by handing you over to Mingo, and it would be perfectly legal, if not his sworn duty.”

I picked up the pages of my handwritten report. “I’m Fed-Exing this to the Bureau’s Charlotte field office today. I think you should do one, too, if you’re up to it.”

“Fine,” she said. “I will. And if I get into trouble, I’ll make sure Hayes knows that you’ve done that. But lemme tell you what: I want personal satisfaction here. And now I don’t have a career or anything else standing in my way anymore. I should have done this years ago.”