Dorothy Garlock - [Route 66] (10 page)

“Put your hands on the top of your heads. Both of you.” There was a ring of authority in Brady’s voice. “Jody, get the gun under the shirt first. The bastard thought to turn sideways and shoot me through his shirt. The laughing jackass was going to lie on the ground, lift his leg and shoot. Nice dinner guests you have, Mrs. Luker.”

Alvin urged the third man forward. “This one was creeping up on Kinnard’s camp.”

Sugar was wailing and hanging on to Foley. Brady gave her a look of disgust. When Jody handed him the gun he took from under the older man’s shirt, Brady checked to see if it was loaded, then holstered his own gun.

“Come here, Jody. Take his gun and shoot ’em if they make a move. I’ll get the gun off the braying jackass.”

Brady walked over and swiftly kicked the man’s feet out from under him. The would-be robber hit the ground. A stream of foul words came from his mouth.

“Watch your mouth. There’s ladies present.”

“Ladies? That hot tamale ain’t no lady.” He jerked his head toward Sugar. “She’s a whore if I ever saw one. Give me five minutes with her, and she’d be on her back spreadin’ and beggin’.”

“Hush your filthy mouth!” Foley snarled.

Brady palmed the small gun he took from the holster strapped to the man’s leg. “Turn over on your belly, put your hands behind you and keep them there.”

“What’ll we do with them?” Alvin, ignoring Foley, spoke to Brady.

“Tie ’em up. Got any rope, Jody?”

“Not much.”

“I have some. Keep them covered, Alvin. I’ll get it.”

“Don’t worry. This old scattergun would take all three of them down with just one little twitch of my finger.”

As Brady passed Elmer’s truck on his way to his car, Margie stepped out and confronted him. She had been standing behind the truck watching what was going on in the Luker camp.

“You were right,” she said.

“They’re a dumb bunch.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Tie them up for the night. Before we leave in the morning we’ll turn them loose or send the sheriff out for them.”

“What’d they do?” Elmer’s voice startled Margie. She hadn’t known he was near.

“They had robbery on their minds. Alvin caught one of them sneaking up on you with a gun in his hand.”

“Fiddlesticks! I’ve been keepin’ my eyes open. I didn’t see anything. They’re just down-and-outters wantin’ a meal.”

The man was an idiot.

Brady shook his head in dismay and moved so that his body blocked Elmer from seeing him pat the pocket on Margie’s apron to assure himself the pistol was there.

“I’ll talk to you later. Okay?” he whispered, then squeezed her arm and moved on.

Chapter 7

W
HAT WOULD THEY HAVE DONE
after they robbed us?” Jody asked.

The would-be robbers had been bound hand and foot and each tied to a wheel of their old car.

“My guess would be that they’d have disabled the other cars, taken mine and left with one of the women as a hostage, most likely Mona,” Brady replied.

“Why Mona?” Jody asked, glancing at his sister, who stood beside Rusty and Blackie. “Why not Sugar? She was the one playing up to them. She told them that Pa had sold his icehouse, letting them know he had money to start another business.”

“Your pa better put a muzzle on her, or he’ll never make it to California.” Alvin spoke firmly, and all eyes went to him. He moved to stand behind his wife, who had a sleeping Anna Marie cuddled in her lap. He put his hand on her shoulder, then said, “With shenanigans like that, she could get us all killed.”

“The young one flirted with Sugar,” Jody said, “but he was watchin’ Mona.”

Mona gasped and began to sputter. “Well … why, that gutter trash! I … I wouldn’t look at him if he had gold and silver hanging all over him!”

A nervous little laugh came from Jody. “Sugar would be mad as hops if she knew there was a man alive that preferred Mona over her.”

Elmer had let the campfire die down and had taken his blankets to the edge of the woods and bedded down. Margie was embarrassed that he hadn’t offered to take part in securing the would-be robbers. Not that he had been needed. Brady had been very efficient in handling the situation, giving Margie cause to believe that he had done something like this before.

“I’ll keep an eye out tonight,” Brady was saying. “Not that I think those fellows are going anywhere.”

“I’ll spell you in taking a watch.” Alvin’s statement was echoed by Jody.

“Blackie and I can take a turn,” Rusty offered. “Nothing moves that he doesn’t know about.”

“That’s makes four of us,” Brady said, accepting Rusty’s help. “Assign us two-hour shifts, Alvin.”

“Thanks for what you did,” Grace said. “I thank my lucky stars we ran into you, Brady Hoyt.”

“It’s a two-way street, ma’am.” Brady went to where Grace sat with Anna Marie. He lifted the child in his arms. “Thanks for looking after her. I’ll bed her down in the car.”

One of Anna Marie’s shoes slipped off. Margie picked it up, followed Brady to his car and opened the door. The space between the two seats had been filled with their belongings, and on them was what appeared to be a mattress from a crib. Brady placed the child on the bed and removed her other shoe and her stockings. After flipping a sheet over her he softly closed the door.

“I throw a bedroll down here beside the car in case she wakes up in the night. The first night, she woke up crying for her daddy. It about busted my heart.” He reached for Margie’s arm when she turned to leave. “Stay with me for a while. It isn’t late.”

“I could take a watch—”

“No. I don’t want you sitting here in the dark by yourself with everyone else asleep.”

“We can build up the fire.”

“Those fellows are puredee trash. They have filthy mouths. There’s enough men to keep watch.”

“Brady,” Foley Luker called as he approached. “I didn’t get a chance to thank you and tell you that Sugar is sorry for the way she spoke to you. She felt sorry for the men.”

“It’s quite all right, Foley. We’ve got them trussed up. Each had a gun, and I found a shotgun in their car. I think they were waiting here for someone to rob. Four of us were a little more than they wanted to take on all at once, so they thought to rob you and get a hostage.”

“I’da helped, but Sugar was upset—”

“Jody and Mona kept their heads and were a big help.”

“Hey, cowboy,” the voice of one of their prisoners came out of the darkness. Brady didn’t answer, and the man called again. “Cowboy, I gotta piss.”

Brady ignored him and spoke to Foley. “Maybe you should speak to Mrs. Luker and tell her that she should be more careful with the men she meets on the highway. Some of them are good, hardworking men down on their luck, but some are outlaws: bootleggers, thieves and hijackers.”

“I’ve already told her that and cautioned her about mentioning we were going to California to start a business. She’ll be careful from now on.”

Margie closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.
Dear God, never, please never let me fall so desperately in love that I make a complete fool of myself like this man is doing.

Brady’s thoughts echoed Margie’s.
You poor besotted fool.

“I’ve got to shit too, cowboy.” The voice was followed by laughter. “Can that pretty little gal take me to the woods?”

“Jody is taking one of the watches tonight,” Brady said to Foley.

“Is that necessary?”

“I think it is.”

“You’ve got them tied up, haven’t you?”

“We want to make sure they stay that way.”

“It’s goin’ to be a long night, cowboy. Where’s that pretty little brown-haired gal? How about lettin’ me fuck her to pass away the time? Trussed up like I am, she can give me a good ride.”

Brady’s patience came to an explosive end. “That came from one of your wife’s supper guests, and he’s talking about your daughter, Mr. Luker,” he said with heavy sarcasm, and placed his hand on Margie’s arm. “Stay while I take care of this. I don’t want Punkie to wake up and find herself alone.”

“Chester says he’ll fuck the blonde with the titties if she’ll help him get it up.” Raunchy laughter came out of the darkness.

Brady went swiftly to the Putman camp and pulled a long stick out of the blazing fire. Holding it like a torch, he carried it ahead of him to where the three men were tied.

“All right, smart-mouth,” he snarled. “Repeat what you just said. Come on, say it again if you’ve got the guts. Say it so I can shove this torch down your throat.” He swung the blazing stick so close to the man’s face it singed his eyebrows.

“Hey, cut it out! I was just … jokin’. Hey!” he yelled again. “Yo’re burnin’ me.”

“Not so brave now, are you, horseshit? Listen up. I’m saying this one time. If any more filth comes from your mouth, I’ll shove this fire stick up your ass. Understand?” The man silently cringed away from the blaze. Brady swung it back and forth in front of his face. “Understand?” he said again.

“Yeah! Yeah! Are ya crazy? Ya burned me!”

“I meant to. What’s your name? Give it to me straight, or I’ll burn every hair off that bump on your shoulders.”

“Persy. Homer Persy.”

“Homer Pussy. Suits you. You’re messin’ with a real hard-ass when you mess with me, Pussy. You think you’re tough. Where I come from you wouldn’t last five minutes.”

“Name’s Persy. You … burnt me—”

“That little singe is just a start. I don’t mess around with piles of shit like you. I could sit here and whistle ‘Yankee Doodle’ while you burn to a crisp and warm myself at the fire.” Brady stood and looked down at the other two men. “That goes for all of you. If you want to see daylight, keep your mouths shut.”

“We’ve not said nothin’,” one of the men muttered.

“A word of warning. If this shithead gets me riled up enough, he’ll be greeting the devil before morning. And naturally I’ll not leave any witnesses. It’ll be to your advantage to keep him quiet.”

Brady gave each man a long, hard stare, then walked away before he allowed himself to grin. He returned the stick to the campfire.

“They’ll be quiet.”

“I don’t like what he was saying,” Jody said.

“Don’t let it bother you. It’s what you’d expect from their kind.”

“Rusty is going to take the first watch,” Alvin explained. “Mona said she’d like to stay awhile. When Rusty’s time is up, Jody will take a turn. He’ll wake me, and I’ll wake you near morning.”

“I’m sorry Pa isn’t … able to help.” Jody stumbled over the words. “He’s not been the same since he met … her.”

“Don’t worry about it, son.” Alvin put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Maybe it’s best that he stay and keep an eye on her. She might get to feeling sorry for them and cut them loose.”

Brady went back to his car. Margie had opened the front door and was sitting sideways on the seat, her feet on the running board. She slid out of the car as he approached and stood beside it.

“Don’t go.” It seemed to Brady that he was always saying that to her. “Rusty and Mona are taking the first watch. Then Jody. Alvin is next, and he’ll wake me for the early morning watch.”

“Then you’d better get some sleep.”

“I’d rather talk to you. Let’s sit in the car for a while.”

“I’m sorry about Elmer. I could take his place,” Margie said after she had gotten back into the car and moved over on the seat to make room for him.

“I thought we’d covered that.”

“We’re part of this caravan. We should do our part.”

“I’ll do your part. You’re helping me with Punkie.” He turned sideways to look at her. His arm went over her head to rest on the back of the seat behind her. “Tell me to mind my own business if I’m speaking out of turn. But you and Elmer don’t seem like a father and daughter to me.”

“He is my father! Do you and the others think that there’s something fishy about me being with him? You can ask anyone back in Conway, Missouri, and they will tell you that Elmer Kinnard is my father.”

“Hold on. I didn’t mean to get you riled up. It’s just … well, forget it.”

“No, I won’t forget it. My mother was Elmer’s second wife. She died when I was little. He sent me to live with my grandmother and had nothing more to do with me. We lived in the same town, but I might as well have lived at the North Pole as far as he was concerned.”

Once she started talking, the words poured out. She told him about her dream to go to California and about the disastrous trip the year before.

“Elmer’s third wife left him a month or so ago. He came to the café where I worked and said he’d sold his ice business and was going to California and I could go with him. Here I am. I didn’t know how much he disliked me until we were on the way. I want to see Hollywood. I’m determined to put up with him until I get there.”

While she was talking Brady’s hand had slipped off the seat behind her and gripped her shoulder. Neither one of them seemed to be aware of it.

“Then what will you do?”

“Get a job.”

“It may not be easy finding a job that will support you.”

“I’ll find one.”

“If Elmer dislikes you, why did he ask you to come with him?”

“I’ve wondered about that. It may be because he wasn’t sure if he would stick with Mr. Putman and Mr. Luker, and he’d rather have me with him than to go on alone. I just found out that he dislikes me because of my mother.”

“That seems unfair.”

“Not to Elmer. I don’t know what has made him so cantankerous, so cynical. I’m afraid that the others will get so disgusted with him that they’ll cut us out of the caravan.”

“If that should happen, we’ll find a place for you.”

“I have some money—” She turned to find his face close to hers and pulled back. “I’ve been running off at the mouth, haven’t I? You’ve hardly said a word.”

“It must be a long day riding in a car without someone to talk to. I have Punkie. I’m getting used to carrying on a conversation with a five-year-old.”

“It’s not so bad. I have plenty of time to daydream.”

“What do you dream about?” His hand now was stroking her shoulder and arm.

“Oh, this and that. Mostly about Hollywood. I just want to see it and … the movie stars.” Her heart was beating too fast. It was making her breathless. “Enough about me. What will you do when you get to California?”