P. Parrish - Thicker Than Water

“Twenty years ago, your husband covered up the identity of Kitty Jagger’s killer and allowed Jack Cade to go to jail,” Louis said.

Candace’s eyes flickered and she put her glasses back on. Louis had the feeling that what he had just said was not a surprise to her.

“You’re nuts,” Candace said.

“I know how he did it and why he did it,” Louis said. “And I’m on my way to tell Jack Cade.”

“And why should I care?”

“Like I said, money. The Cades will sue your husband’s law firm. Then they’ll go after his personal assets, like this pretty house.”

Candace was sitting very still.

Louis moved around so he could see her face. “I might even suggest to them that you were behind your husband’s scheme. Then they can come after you too.”

“I committed no crime,” Candace said.

“You want to tell that to a whole courtroom?” Louis asked. “With your girlfriend sitting right there in the first row?”

Candace looked over at Hayley. “How much?” she said.

“Fifty thousand, and I promise you that you’ll never hear from me or the Cades again,” Louis said. “Think of it as a gift.”

Louis stared down at her. He was blackmailing her, but a part of him didn’t care. Blackmail would be the least of it, if the rest of his plan worked.

Candace got up and went inside. Louis glanced down at Hayley. She was looking at him with a small smile on her lips.

Candace came back with a check, made out to cash. “How do I know you won’t come back for more?”

“You’ll just have to take my word for it, lady.”

It was dark by the time Louis got back to J.C. Landscaping. Ronnie’s truck was gone, but Louis could see the blue light of the TV flickering in the window of the trailer.

Louis cut the engine and opened the car door. It was quiet for a moment, then came the buzz of insects flailing against the dome light. Louis looked down at the small blue gym bag on the passenger seat, then up at the trailer.

He grabbed the bag and got out.

At the trailer door, he knocked. The TV was turned up loud to a sitcom, the one about the alien Alf, and the shriek of the canned laughter pierced the night silence. Louis waited until a lull and banged hard on the door. It opened and Jack Cade peered at him.

“Louie. .”

“Come on outside, Cade,” Louis said.

Cade rubbed a hand over his face. “What you want?”

“I want to talk.” Louis walked away. Cade followed, closing the door behind him. He stood on the patio, bare-chested, old jeans riding low on his flat stomach. His sweaty skin gleamed in the blue light coming from the television inside.

“What’s up?” Cade asked.

“Where’s Ronnie?”

“Went down to the Circle K. Why?”

“Eric go with him?”

“Yeah.” Louis could see Cade’s eyes narrow. “What’s up, Louie? What you doing back here?”

“We’re going to strike a bargain, Cade,” Louis said.

Cade arched an eyebrow. “Bargain? What kind of bargain?”

“I’m going to give you money, Cade, and you’re going to walk away forever.”

Cade’s teeth flashed as he laughed. “Walk away? From what?”

“Your son, your grandson. And this place.”

Cade gestured to the desolate land. “This piece of paradise? Now why would I want to do that, Louie?”

“Because I have your Tokarev automatic.”

Cade froze. He was still smiling, but it had turned twisted in the blue light. Canned laughter drifted out of the trailer’s jalousies, mixing with the whine of the mosquitoes in the humid night air.

“That little shit,” Cade whispered.

Cade turned away. He walked in a slow, tight circle around the patio. “That little shit,” he said louder. “I knew something was going on with that-”

“Cade,” Louis said sharply.

Cade looked back at him.

“You’re going to take the money and you’re going to leave,” Louis said. “You’re going to leave Ronnie and Eric alone, you hear me? That’s the bargain.”

“Why should I leave? I’m going to sue! I got big money coming,” Cade said. “They owe me, goddamn it, they owe me!”

“It isn’t going to happen that way,” Louis said.

Cade’s jaw was clenched. And his fist was too. Louis could see it in the blue light. He braced for Cade’s swing, but then, suddenly, Cade seemed to go limp, almost swaying on his feet.

“You’re right,” he said, shaking his head. “It ain’t gonna happen. I knew it. I always knew it. That’s why I shot the fucker.”

He was talking about Duvall. “You knew about the statute of limitations, didn’t you? You knew you couldn’t sue?” Louis said.

“Not until he told me that day I went to see him,” Cade said. “He told me I would never get a dime.”

Cade cocked his head at Louis. “And then you know what he says to me? That cocksucker lawyer was just sitting there behind his big desk, sitting there looking up at me, and you know what he says? ‘I’m sorry this had to happen to you.’ ”

The blue light flickered over Cade’s face. “That’s why I went back and shot him. If I wasn’t gonna get money, I was gonna get some justice.”

A splash of headlights on the trees made Louis look out toward the dark road. But it wasn’t Ronnie’s truck. Louis looked back at Cade.

“Make a decision, Cade,” Louis said.

Cade had been staring at the ground. When he looked up at Louis, his face was slack. “How much money?”

“Twenty-five thousand dollars.”

“Twenty-five. . for twenty years,” he said quietly.

“That and your freedom.”

Cade stood there for a moment, his eyes taking in the dark grounds and the decrepit trailer. “So I go free and that cocksucker lawyer does my time?” A slow smile tipped Cade’s lips. “I like your style, Louie.”

“You going or not?”

“I’ll go tomorrow.”

“You go tonight, before Ronnie gets back.”

Cade shook his head sharply. “Fuck that. I’ll go when I’m ready.”

“You’ll go tonight. Right now. Go get whatever you need and get out. Now.”

Louis could see Cade’s muscles tense. Louis braced himself again. But then Cade’s eyes drifted down to the gym bag under Louis’s arm.

He turned and went back into the trailer. Louis waited, watching the dark road, hoping Ronnie didn’t come back. When Cade came out, he was dressed and carrying a small canvas bag and a jacket.

Cade held out his hand. Louis tossed him the bag. Cade caught it against his chest. He unzipped it, poked inside, and zipped it back up.

“It’s there,” Louis said. “Start walking.”

Cade slung the bag over his shoulder. “See you around, Louie.”

Cade started walking. Louis watched him turn down Mantanzas Trail and disappear into the darkness.

He was sitting on the ground, under a gumbo limbo tree, a few feet from his front porch. He was digging a small hole, scooping out the cool sand with his hand.

It was one of those perfect Florida days he had come to appreciate. Sun-drenched but humidity free, a fine, tangy breeze blowing in from the gulf. He could have given himself over to it, lost himself in the feel of the sun on his neck and the rush of the waves breaking on the beach, but his head was too full of things.

When he thought the hole was deep enough, he reached back for the Tokarev.

It was still wrapped in Jack Cade’s clear plastic bag. Louis picked up a second plastic bag, a thick-ply evidence bag. He placed the gun inside, then added an envelope. Inside, was a letter, explaining everything.

He put the bag in the hole and started pushing back the sand. He took his time, hoping that maybe he would begin to feel as if he was burying more than just the gun, but it didn’t come.