Dorothy Garlock (24 page)

“Miss Radna.” Joe made a false attempt to get up. “I'd better come and keep an eye on Blue. He's been known to be grabby. He has as many hands as a centipede has legs when he's around a pretty lady.”

“Sit.” Blue's heavy hand settled on Joe's shoulder. “Stick your snout out that door and it will be amputated immediately, ”he threatened as he followed Radna out the door.

“Joe, did you ever hear Blue spouting such big words as he's been doin 'lately? ”

“He's showing off.”

“Well, it sure as heck isn't to impress you or me. And if he's got any sense at all, he knows that Jill's taken.”

“Jill's taken? She hasn't said anything to me about it. Who is he? I'll want to give that bird the eagle eye just like Pa would do if he was here.”

“Don't worry, little … brother.” Thad hit Joe on the shoulder. “I intend to see that our Jill gets the best man in this town, in the state of Oklahoma. Hell, in the whole United States.”

“And you know who that is? ”

“Damn right I do, and so do you.”

Chapter 16

I
DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR COMPANY
.” Radna sat on the dark end of the back porch smoking a cigarette.

“You didn't have to. I knew you wanted me to come out.” Blue sat down beside her, pulled a pipe from his pocket and packed the bowl with tobacco.

“Jesus, my beads! You're such an arrogant jackass. Know that? ”

“Yeah.” He spoke with the pipe between his teeth and held a lit match to the bowl, giving her a view of his classic Indian profile.

“Why did you come out? If you came thinking that I'm going to sleep with you, you can get that thought out of your head.”

“Horse hockey! ”he said with a chuckle. “You've got a big opinion of yourself. I'm choosy about who I sleep with. You're too bony for my taste. I like meat on my squaws.”

“Ha! Big brave chief hasn't the guts to say he doesn't sleep with coloreds! ”

He turned to peer at her through the darkness and saw that she had turned her face away.

“You hold that little dab of colored blood up like a damn shield. If I wanted you for my woman, it wouldn't amount to a dribble of shit if every drop of blood in your skinny body was colored.”

She turned to look at him. “Liar.”

“I'm a lot of things, but a liar isn't one of them.”

“Most of the time you sound more white than Indian.”

“It's a white man's world, little thorny rose. If you can't beat 'em, you join 'em.”

“Rose? Ha! Shows what you know about me.”

“It fits. I've seen scraggly vines growing along a fence line that were so thorny you couldn't touch the scrawny little rose …that is, if you wanted to.”

“Try touching me, you dumb Indian, and I'll lay a fist up alongside your head.”

Blue grunted a reply.

After a long silence, Radna asked, “How long are you staying around here? ”

“Long enough to see if you're as feisty in bed as you are out of it.”

“Then you'd better get a job. Before that happens you'll starve to death.”

Blue puffed on his pipe. Radna dropped her cigarette and smashed it into the ground with the toe of her shoe.

“What do you know about that loudmouth I tossed in the bushes? ”he asked.

“He's a lawyer.”

“What's he to Mrs. Byers? ”

“That's all you'll get from me. If you want to know more, ask her.”

“Where did he come from? ”

“What are you? A detective? ”

“No, dumb Indian.”

“Dumb like a fox.” Radna scoffed.

“I heard about a fellow like him over near Joplin. Crazy mean, they said. Hated Indians and coloreds.”

“I've not heard of Lloyd being mean to anyone. He's got some folks here in town eating out of his hand.” Radna stood up. “I'm going to bed.”

“Suits me.” Blue got to his feet. “Where'll we go? ”

“Forget it, Chief. You'll not use your war club in my bed.”

Radna flounced up onto the porch and through the kitchen door. Blue sat back down on the edge of the porch, a grin softening his Indian features.

It was going to be a hot, windless day.

From the doorway of his office, Sheriff Page saw Clarence Hurt, the Oklahoma City officer, coming down the street. A nattily dressed young man walked beside him. Even in the dusty Oklahoma heat he looked as if he had just stepped out of a bandbox. Wearing light gray trousers, a dark suit coat, a striped bow tie and with a gray billed cap sitting at an angle on his head, he looked as out of place among the booted, overalled roustabouts on the street as a tulip in a tomato patch.

“Christ, I hope he isn't the brainy sharpshooter Hurt was expecting. All I need is a smart-mouthed, duded-up kid to kick out of the way.” Muttering to himself, the sheriff went to sit at his desk. He was tired in mind and in body, and his temper was getting short. Pressure from all sides was on him to find Carsie Bakken's killer.

“Morning, Sheriff, ”Officer Hurt said when he entered the office.

“Morning, ”Page muttered, his eyes on the man who followed Hurt into the office.

“Meet Jelly Bryce, Sheriff.”

“Howdy.” Sheriff Page stood up and offered his hand.

Jesus, this wet-eared kid couldn't be the one Hurt said could drop a quarter from waist high and shoot a hole in it before it hit the ground. He looked like a goldfish-gulping college kid.

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Sheriff.”

“You might not think so after you've been here awhile.” The sheriff growled the reply and sank back down in his chair.

Lord, what was Hurt thinking of? The kid was still wet behind the ears.

“Call me Jelly, Sheriff.” The boy hung his cap on the hall tree in the corner. His hair was black and thick.

“Anything new? ”Hurt asked.

“The breed we were holding is clear. My deputy got a statement from Junior Fields at the pool hall that he was in there all night, the night the woman was killed. I let him out this morning and told him to get his ass out of town after he paid the doc for taking care of the finger he cut off, ”Sheriff Page said. “For all we know now, the woman walked out of Hunter Westfall's house and dropped into a well.”

“The colored woman said that she heard a car. I don't believe that she was killed in a car. It would have been too messy.” Officer Hurt sat down, lifted a booted foot to rest an ankle on his knee, then continued. “So she was taken someplace nearby and killed. But where? Where is her suitcase? Westfall said she had several pieces of good jewelry and had taken them with her.”

“I have verified that Westfall was where he said he was.” The sheriff shared this information with Jelly out of respect for the Oklahoma City officer. “He was at a town meeting, then on the street settling a dispute between his men and later walking out with the girl who runs the hotel. He returned home at around eleven o'clock. The colored couple who work for him verified that. They were too scared of me to lie.”

“Have you questioned Westfall's neighbors? Did any of them see anything or hear the car? ”Jelly stood with his back to the wall, one knee bent, the sole of his highly polished shoe against the wall.

Sheriff Page answered with an impatient look on his face. “It's been damn near a week since we found her. Of course we've questioned Westfall's neighbors. They claim to have seen nothing, and I believe them. We searched the area for the rest of the woman. Men who volunteered to help with the hunt have dwindled to zero. The only clue we'll get is when we find her head, if we find it.”

Jelly Bryce spoke to Officer Hurt. “Sheriff seems to be on top of things. Why did you want me to come up here? ”

“Because this is a bizarre case, and we just might need someone with your talent, Jelly.”

“Until then, I think I'll just mosey on uptown and see the sights.”

“Good idea.” The sheriff mumbled the words, but Officer Hurt heard them. Hurt waited until Jelly had left the office before he spoke.

“Don't be deceived by the boy's looks and sell him short, Sheriff. The officers in the city gave him the name Jelly Bean. It stuck. His name is D.A., but he's known as Jelly Bryce. He can draw and shoot faster than the eye can follow. The first day on the job he killed a man who had drawn on him.”

“Shitfire! I don't need a gun-happy kid mixing it up with the tough oil field workers in this town.”

“He can handle himself. He hits what he shoots at ninety-nine percent of the time.”

“He might be all right in the city. But here he stands out like a shithouse in the moonlight.”

“The shithouse might come in handy, ”Officer Hurt said irritably. “Now let's go over the information we have.”

Laura arrived to do the end-of-the week washing and had lifted Mary Pat over the chicken wire fence when Joe came out onto the back porch. The toddler, squatting in the yard, was spooning dirt into a tin cup. She grinned up at her mother for approval.

Laura clapped her hands. “You're a big girl to do that. Oh — ”she exclaimed and jumped back when Joe moved up beside her.

“Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Joe Jones. Jill's brother.”

Laura's large violet eyes stayed on him as she continued to back away, her mouth still forming an O. When the screen door slammed, she glanced at the porch and then back as if she expected the stranger to pounce on her.

“If there's a pretty woman around, I know where to find you.” Thad spoke to Joe, then came to bend over the fence where the child played. Recognizing him, the little girl laughed and lifted her arms for him to take her. “Come here, little sweetheart. You know a good man when you see one.” He swung the child up in his arms. “Isn't she a beauty? ”he said to Joe.

“Yeah. Hello, little puddin 'pie.” Joe held out a finger and a small hand came out to grasp it.

“Don't let this Missouri clodhopper scare you, ma'am, ”Thad said to Laura. “He's harmless. Joe, this is Mrs. Hopper.”

“How do you do, ma'am? ”

“I wasn't scared of you. Just surprised. Mama said you were here.” Laura watched the two big men with her daughter and marveled at how gentle they were.

“Fertile had her pups last night, ”Thad announced with pride. “Joe, get one to show Mary Pat.”

“Not on your life. That hound tried to bite me this morning. I'm not touchin 'her pups. I'll hold the baby, you get the pup. Come here, little pretty thing.”

“Coward.” Thad laughingly handed the baby over to Joe. She went to him willingly and patted his face with her dirty little hands.

Thad went to the end of the porch and knelt down. Fertile, in a nest of old blankets, was nursing six wiggly puppies.

“Let me show off one of your babies, girl. We won't hurt it and I'll bring it right back.”

Thad reached in and pulled out a bundle of white fur. Cradling it in his arms, he reached for Mary Pat's little hand. Very gently he stroked the child's tiny fingertips over the downy back of the puppy. The little girl squealed in delight. Suddenly her small fingers tightened on the puppy's fur.

“Be gentle, honey. He's a little baby dog.” Thad gently loosened the tiny fingers. “I'd better take him back to his mama.”

When Thad returned, he lifted Mary Pat from Joe's arms and swung the giggling child around before he set her down inside the fence.

“I saw a pile of sand at the lumberyard. I'll get some nice clean sand, darlin', so you'll not have to play in that old dirt.” Thad looked up to see Joe staring at Laura's profile. “Get the car, Joe. I'll get an old washtub out of the wash house.”

“It was nice meeting you, ma'am.” Joe put his fingers to the brim of his straw hat.

Laura nodded, then said to Thad, “You don't have to get sand. Mrs. Byers might not like it.”

“She won't care. All little girls should have a sand pile.” He went into the wash house. “Let me know if the washer acts up, ”he said when he came out carrying an old dented tub.

Laura stood in the doorway of the wash house and watched them leave. After being married to Bradley, she had been sure that she never wanted anything to do with men again. But after meeting Joe and Thad, she wasn't so sure.

“A tub of sand is mighty heavy. We'd have been better off getting a couple of buckets, ”Joe said as he started the car.

Thad grinned. “I can handle it if you can. Laura's been tying the little tyke in the wagon while she worked. I put up the chicken wire so the kid would have a place to play.”

Joe nodded. “That's a new one.”

“You think I was playin 'up to Laura? I did it for the little girl.”

“What happened to Laura's man? ”

“He fell off a derrick and was killed. From what Radna said, he wasn't much of a husband.”

“With her looks, I'm surprised men aren't lining up at the door.”

“Yeah, she's a looker.”

“You interested? ”

“Nope. I've picked out my woman.”

“Does Jill know it? ”

“Not yet.”

“We used to tease her about you.”

“I've got to change her way of thinking about me.”

Joe laughed. “Then stop calling her
little sister.”

“I've already done that.”

“If I was ready to settle down, it wouldn't be in a place like Rainwater. I've kind of got a hankering to go back home and farm. A farmer might not have much cash money, but he's always got plenty to eat.”

“Giving up the thought of our buying a ranch together? ”Thad asked.

“Pushing steers instead of a plow sounds good, but I know more about farming than I do about ranching. The one thing I do know is that I don't want to live in a city or in a boomtown like this one.”

“Getting homesick? ”

“A little, I reckon.” Joe grinned sheepishly. “What about you? ”

“You know the old saying: 'There's no place like home.' ”

“Does Jill want to go home? ”

“I think so.” Thad's green eyes, serious now, turned to those of his lifelong friend. “I've got six hundred dollars. Guess you know where to find it if something happens to me.”

“In the lining of your old brown coat? ”

“Yeah.”

“I've not got quite that much. We should put it in a bank someplace.”

“Not according to Blue. He believes money should either be in your pocket or in land.”

“I'm thinking of asking Evan to look around for some land up around Fertile.”