The next day at Garvey’s, Jackie had a morning meeting in the bar with all the employees. Jodi couldn’t be there because she was sick. She had gotten sick the day after her and Matt broke up. She could barely get out of bed to go to the bathroom. Jackie was afraid Jodi had the flu or pneumonia. Jodi wouldn’t take any medicine because she was afraid it would hurt the baby. She had said it was okay to tell George about the pregnancy. Other than George, the twins didn’t tell anyone else. Jackie couldn’t believe their luck when a nurse practitioner, who was a guest for the weekend, had overheard her and George talking about Jodi being ill. The nurse had been more than happy to examine Jodi. She had said Jodi just had a bad cold and the fatigue and weakness were symptoms from the pregnancy and the cold. What they needed to watch for was a fever. If Jodi spiked a fever, the nurse had said to get her to a doctor right away. More than likely a doctor would
Jesse hovered above Bonnie’s bare breasts. He dipped his finger in a mason jar full of moonshine. He took his wet finger and rubbed the shine on Bonnie’s pink nipple. He bent his head down and suckled. His nose was still a little sore, but he didn’t have to have the cotton up his nostrils anymore. He was grateful for that because he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the bodacious beauty that had come knocking on his door. There was nothing better than spending a sunny afternoon sucking moonshine off of a nice, big pair of tits. This was the life for Jesse and he hoped his life never changed. “Mmmm,” Bonnie moaned as she placed her arm on Jesse’s shoulder. “This sure is nice. I never had moonshine sucked off my breasts before.”Jesse raised his head an inch away from her nipple. “Give me time, and you’ll end up with shine all over you, girl.” She giggled. “That sounds relaxing.” “Are you sure this is okay? I mean -” “I know what you m
Matt parked outside of the DA’s house. He cut the engine and looked out the window. Lawrence stood outside the front door. Matt waved. Lawrence tipped his hat to him. Matt smiled. He was proud of his men. They’ve all gone above and beyond.He checked his watch. It was three hours and fifteen minutes before curfew. School was out, but he doubted Jacobs’s kids went to school today. Before he could get out of the car, his cell phone rang.“Kirby,” he answered.“Hi, Sheriff, it’s Williamson. Hope you don’t mind me calling your cell. Thought you could hear the information better that way.”“That’s fine. Whatcha got for me?”“Carter ran that guy’s mug shot. We got an ID on our John Doe. His name is Peter Francis Beauford, nickname Ghost. He just finished doing eight years at Florence State Prison for sexual assault.”Matt was surprised by the bio. “How did he go from assault to murder?”“It wasn’t that big of a jump. Before he went away for assault, he was arrested for killing a kid in a fi
The original plan had been for everyone to hunker down in the front lobby at Garvey’s Hotel. A visit from Deputy Williamson had shot that plan all to hell. After the deputy had shared that the assailant who attacked Bonnie and Jesse that afternoon had pictures of all of them, Jackie had given in and led a mass exodus out of the hotel.Bonnie invited them to stay with her. She didn’t want to be alone because of what had happened that afternoon. Jacobs couldn’t stay with her. Jesse was already at Bonnie’s when they got there. When he heard that there was more than one killer and the guy had pictures of all of them, he had decided to stay over. Being a moonshiner, Jesse kept an overnight bag on his bike at all times.Trina, Jackie, and Barb were laying down sleeping bags in Bonnie’s living room floor. Jesse, Tommy, George, and Daniel were doing a weapons check with Williamson. Bonnie was in the kitchen making sandwiches. Jodi laid on the hunter green sofa with a blanket over her and pill
Matt was coming up on Bonnie’s house. Williamson was walking down the steps of Bonnie’s porch. He was eating a sandwich and had two sodas stuffed under his arm. It looked like he was carrying an open Ziploc bag of chips.Williamson spotted the sheriff’s car and dropped everything he was holding. Matt stifled a laugh. What the hell, Williamson deserved to be fucked with a little before he dropped the bomb about Marty. Jacobs had been right, Williamson’s mouth had been full.Matt parked the car and cut the engine. He slowly got out of the vehicle, giving himself time to get the smirk off his face and convey the seriousness he wanted to portray.“Evening, Deputy Williamson,” Matt said as he put on his Stratton.Williamson didn’t move. He practically stood at attention. “Sir, what are you doing here?”Matt got closer to him. Was that lipstick on his lips? He wanted to laugh. “I know you said you had everything under control, but I wanted to see for myself.” Matt looked down at the content
Matt definitely went from heaven to hell as he stepped out on the porch and saw Williamson staring at him. His eyes were like steel. Matt took a deep breath and descended the steps.They stood in the sand, man to man – eye to eye. “All right, Williamson. What I am about to tell you, well, let’s just say if you don’t keep the information to yourself a whole lot of people will get hurt – including me.”“People have already been hurt because of whatever it is you and those folks in there are hiding.”“It’s not that simple, Williamson.”“I want, no, I deserve to know what the hell is going on,” he said sternly. “I’ve been loyal to you ever since you became sheriff. I have put my life in your hands during the past few weeks without question. Hell, when I caught you and Jodi together, I didn’t tell the guys – I didn’t dare tell anyone because I knew it would hurt your chances of getting re-elected. I’ve earned the right for you to be straight with me.”Matt knew he was right. Williamson ha
For their own safety, Jacobs called a neighbor and asked her to watch his kids for a couple of hours. For all they knew this could be a setup to kill Jacobs and Matt. Blow up Jacobs’s house while they were in it. Matt tried to get Jacobs to leave and join his kids but he refused.It was two minutes before seven o'clock. Lawrence got Carter to bring over the phone tracing equipment. They were set up and ready to go.One minute till seven, Jacobs’s phone rang. Matt answered it on the first ring, “Kirby.”“Don't you mean, Sheriff Kirby? Be proud of what you got. I have to admit, you work good under pressure. I’ll have to turn up the heat so I can see what you're really made of.” the deep automated voice said.“What do you want? What will it take to stop all this?” Matt asked.“I want my life back,” the voice said.It was Marty all right. “What’s done is done,” Matt said.The deep automated chuckle echoed through the phone. The chuckle slowly turned into a natural male laugh. “So, you fin
The EMTs were attending to the injured when Jacobs and Matt made it back to what was left of Bonnie’s house.The fire department was overwhelmed. Two fire trucks from two other counties had responded, but it wasn’t enough. The people in the vicinity watched Bonnie’s house burn.Jesse was still out. The EMTs said he had inhaled a lot of smoke and the bullet passed straight through, but he needed blood and oxygen. They loaded Jesse in the ambulance first because George insisted. Daniel had inhaled a lot of smoke and had a nasty bump on his head. The EMTs insisted he get in the ambulance, too. He inhaled oxygen through a mask in the back of the ambulance. The EMTs wanted to take him to the medical center to make sure he didn’t have a concussion.George was on a stretcher in the front yard. He needed surgery. The bullet he took was close to his heart. George removed his oxygen mask. “Damn it, they took her,” George groaned, and then coughed.“Keep the mask on your face,” the EMT said.“N
Matt knew Billy acted too familiar with her. Suspecting it and hearing about it from Billy’s mouth were two different things. The sight of Billy lying on the bed with his hands behind his head and his chest puffed out next to Jodi made Matt’s blood boil. He didn’t know whether to just kick his ass out right or throw him out by the scruff of his neck. Once Billy got over the initial shock of Matt coming out of the bathroom, he had the nerve to smirk at him. “There’s no way in hell that thing is real.” “Billy, this is not the time for your cute zingers,” Jodi said with her head down. Her fingers pressed against her forehead. “Yeah, Billy. Take her advice,” Matt sneered as he approached the foot of the bed. “You said you two were just friends in college,” he said to Jodi. She lifted her head to look at him. “We were friends.” “With benefits,” Billy added. He was still in that same ridiculous pose on the bed.
An hour later, they were in the shower. Matt tickled her as she tried to wash his hair. She giggled so loud that she was afraid that everyone upstairs heard her if they were awake. Matt rinsed the soap off of her.Jodi got out and grabbed a soft towel. She was drying herself. She turned around and stopped when she noticed Matt watching her. The water beat on his chest as his head leaned to the side – checking her out.“Stop it,” she said and swung the towel at him.He let out a playful chuckle.“Wash the rest of that soap off before you turn into a prune,” Jodi said as she held the towel against her.“I will if you promise to get back in bed and wait for me,” he said with a smirk.“I promise,” she said and wrapped the towel around her.He winked at her.Jodi giggled as she left the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Jodi hummed as she picked up their clothes. She folded Matt’s clothes on a chair across the room and placed his boots under the chair. Jodi hung Matt’s black Stetson o
Jodi woke up with Matt’s arms around her. She looked up at his sleeping face. He looked so peaceful. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 5:03 a.m. Jodi sighed with regret. She had to wake him. He had to get back to his cabin.“Matt, Matt. Wake up,” Jodi whispered and lightly patted his shoulder.“Mmm,” Matt groaned and kept his eyes closed.“Matt, come on. It’s 5 a.m.” Jodi said and kept patting his shoulder. “Matt, it’s 5 a.m.”He groaned and slowly opened his eyes. “So,” he said hoarsely and tightened his grip around her.“So? You should go before the sun comes up.”“Bunny, don’t you think we’re safe out here? Everyone in both houses knows about us for Pete’s sakes.” He seductively growled.She smiled. “True, but I don’t want to shock them to death. As far as everybody knows you went back to your cabin last night. People have a way of flooding my bedroom in the mornings - whether I’m here or at the hotel.”Matt groaned in protest.“People are going to start stirring in an h
Jesse gave Jodi a small jar of moonshine and an envelope with cash in it. She tried to refuse the money, but Jesse wasn’t having it. He told her to buy something nice for herself.When she got back in the cabin, Matt wasn’t in the kitchen. She wasn’t sure if he was still there or not. Jodi didn’t see him walk back to the cabin when she was outside, but it was dark. She looked around and she didn’t see his hat or jacket.She went downstairs to the office to check on Billy. He had on his gold wire-rimmed glasses. He was rubbing his head as he was pouring over information on his laptop. His next conference call was in thirty minutes. Jodi made Billy a fish sandwich and warmed some fried potatoes. They were leftovers from last night. She sat them down on the desk along with a can of soda. Billy looked up at her and mouthed the words thank you as a man was frantically talking on the speakerphone.“Going to bed?” Billy mouthed.She shook her head and leaned down to give him a kiss on the ch
Matt looked up at her. A tear came down her face. He lay down next to her and wiped it away with his finger. He propped his head up on his hand and looked down at her. “No, I’m sorry. I was an asshole two weeks ago. A monstrous asshole. I know you were taking care of yourself. I know you loved our son. I’m sorry for being stupid; for not seeing it before. You were sick before you had left town. Fainting in the diner, you were fatigued, how pale you were. In hindsight, it was obvious you were pregnant. I was too self-absorbed to see it.”“No. My god, you were working around the clock. You were dealing with all the awful things Marty, Paul, and Ghost were doing. There was no way you could have known.”“That’s another thing. You had to have been frightened during that time. You were sick and pregnant while bodies were piling up around you. Your sister was being threatened and your friends were being killed one by one. You didn’t tell me because I was stressed. You were trying to protect
Matt went outside. Billy stood next to Jodi on the deck. She held a small red cooler and the shawl Rita knitted her. A large wicker picnic basket was propped on a rocking chair.Jodi’s hair was tied in a ponytail with a sheer white scarf. It hung down her shoulder. She wore a yellow sundress that came above her knee. Her feet sported white flat sandals. Jodi smiled as Matt approached them. He smiled back.“There you are,” Billy said cheerfully. “The path is a few feet that way,” he said as he pointed to the far left. “You probably saw it when you pulled in on Monday.”“We did. You sure walking a quarter of a mile won’t be too much for you?” he asked Jodi.“No. I need the exercise,” Jodi said with a smile.“She’ll be fine, just don’t let her carry the basket. It’s heavy,” Billy said.“All right,” Matt said.“Have fun, Pussycat. I’ll see later,” Billy said and kissed her on the forehead.“Don’t work too hard,” Jodi said softly.Matt balled his fists in his pockets to keep from punching
Later that day, Jodi sat at the kitchen table with a wicker picnic basket and a small cooler in front of her. She was waiting for Billy to get off the phone so they could go on a picnic and watch the sunset.Jodi’s mind drifted to the service. She was glad she had invited Matt. It gave him peace. That’s what she wanted. Jodi was surprised Matt didn’t bring Mindy. At the town celebration, he had seemed completely taken with her. Jodi had figured he had confided in her. She had to admit that she was a little too gleeful when Mindy wasn’t at the cabin last night. Not that she had a chance with Matt anymore.Jodi let herself get caught up in the memory of how handsome Matt had looked this morning; the captain with his soldiers behind him in dark suits and ties. They all had looked good. Jodi put her finger to her mouth. Her mind drifted to last night. The sight of Matt – rugged and shirtless; his tan muscles proudly out for her to admire. Her lips parted, her tongue wetted the tip of her
Matt, Patty, and the deputies walked down to the lake shore. The deputies marched in formation behind Matt and Patty. They all wore dark clothing. Patty held a lantern and a white rose. Carter held a lantern as he walked in front of the deputies and behind Matt and Patty. Williamson held a lantern as he walked behind the rest of the deputies.Jackie had come over last night and gave them lanterns. She had given Patty a rose to drop in the water. And she had given Matt a bottle with a cork and a bag of blue sand. She had said it was for him to write a letter to his son. Matt was to put his letter in the bottle with the sand. When Matt was ready, he was supposed to drop it into the water. Once they got to the lake, Williamson stood next to Matt. The sheriff’s department stood perfectly still as they watched a row of lights come from the direction of the Garvey cabin. The clergy walked in front of them with a lantern.The two groups stood at the lake’s edge. The clergy stood in front of
Matt couldn’t believe how his men rallied around him. As soon as Jackie had left his house, Dalton had started making coffee. Williamson had grabbed trash bags to put all the beer cans, liquor bottles, and various other garbage in. Matt had drunkenly gone upstairs to take a shower.The deputies had insisted on coming with Matt to Lynx Lake. Patty, the switchboard operator, did, too. The three college students from Phoenix who worked the late shift had been happy to cover for Patty while she was gone. They needed the money. Williamson had been able to get six cops from surrounding counties to watch the town while they were gone. Williamson had told Mayor Walker that they were taking Matt away for some R&R. Walker had been ecstatic and had no problem with all the guys leaving town at the same time. Walker believed it would do Matt a world of good.They pulled up to the cabin late Monday afternoon. Daniel’s car was at the other cabin when they arrived. Matt assumed Barb was with him. The