Renewal 6 - Cold (6 page)

“What are you asking us to do?”

“We’re asking you to round up as many neighbors as you can, anyone who is willing to fight against the rich Manchester families who abuse the people of our county and their cohorts in the armed convoy, and to help us stand up for the kind of world that Bill is trying to build.”

“You make pretty speeches, Terry, but you’re asking too much. You want us to risk our lives for someone I’ve met twice.”

“I do, but it’s not just for Bill. I think you can see that it’s for you and your family as well. You can sit out here and wait until the Manchester families draw a bead on you, or you can take a chance and stop them now.”

“Well...”

“I’ve known Bill for less than a month. I’ve known Seth for... What Seth? About ten days, and I would fight for either one of them. In fact, I’ve fought
with
them.”

One of Larry’s boys spoke up. “I think he’s right, Daddy. I think we should round up the boys and help them out.”

“Tate, you stay out of this. I’ll handle it.” Larry snapped at his boy.

“No, Daddy. We’ve been half-starved my whole life. We got a chance to change that, we oughta do it.” Tate stood firm and tall. “No offense, Daddy, but me and Gray have talked about it, and I’ve been meaning to ask you. Do you honestly think you’ve done everything you could to make things better, or did you quit somewhere along the way?”

Larry’s face turned a hard shade of red, and if it weren’t for the witnesses, he would have smacked his son to the ground. He looked at each face in turn, and forced himself to calm down. He waited fifteen seconds before he answered. “No, son. You’re right. I haven’t always done everything I should. I may have given up when I ran out of ideas. I may have given up when we started our little roadblock here. I’m not the smartest man in the world, or the best, but I tried my hardest, right up to the point when I thought I tried everything.”

“Well, I’m not saying I blame you for any of it,” Tate said carefully, “But I am saying that when there’s something to do, something that looks like a shot at something better, then we oughta take it.”

Terry stood quietly while Larry thought it over.

Finally, Larry said, “I should speak to my wife...”

Tate shook his head. “Mama’s been waiting for you to make the right decision for years. Here it is. Make it.”

“Ok, we’ll do it. We’ll fight.” Larry was defeated on all sides. He had risked too much over the years, and had fallen into a rut of gaining nothing by risking nothing, until he had forgotten what it meant to risk and to win. Luckily, his boys were young enough that they had missed the really hard lessons and still had the idealism to fight.

“Great, Larry. Thank you.” Terry reached over and shook the man’s hand. It was limp and shaking just a bit. “Bill also told me that you will be fed as long as you are there, ok?”

Larry brightened at the news. “Really? I hadn’t thought about that. We’re still working on the food you gave us.”

“Really. Bill told me that some famous guy once said that an army fights on its stomach. He wouldn’t ask you to fight without food, and he has plenty. Gather up your family, and anyone who is willing to come, and head out as soon as you can. Up the highway, and right on Blanton Chapel Road. Someone will meet you.”

“Is my wife supposed to fight?” Larry asked.

“No, but she will be put to work supporting the fighters. We do have women who fight, but they’re trained to it. Your women will be kept as safe as we can make them. Children too.”

“Ok. Well, hell. If nothing else, we’ll get to eat.”

“You’ll get a lot more than that, Larry. You do this and we’ll owe you. If we survive the fight, then you can rest assured that Bill will move mountains to get your farm up and running. He’s that kind of man.”

“I suspect that’s true.”

Chapter 6 – 13

Charlie Bell bounded into his office eight seconds after Terry and Seth took their seats. It seemed to be his standard method. Terry watched the Attorney General whirl through the handshakes and greetings at high speed, coming to rest on his big leather chair.

“What’s the word? How is Bill?” Charlie asked.

“He’s still laid up, “Terry replied. “He sent us up to ask a favor. How’s Mike doing?”

“Oh, Mike’s looking better. He’s even lost a few of those bandages. I figure another month and he’ll be able to get back to work. It’ll take a while before he goes back in the field. Those head injuries heal slowly.”

“Bill also said thank you for sending the Lieutenant and his men. Looks like we’re going to need them.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. We moved the Dragon away from Jenkins. They’ve already compared too many notes. I should have thought of that,” Charlie said with a frown.

“Bill said you’d say that, and he told me to tell you that even though the Dragon’s men complicate things, he knew he would have to take on the Jenkins and their ilk sooner or later.”

“Well, he’s probably right. Some people take and take until there’s nothing left. Still, I could have made things a lot easier if I had just kept those assholes away from each other.” Charlie replied, shrugging until his shoulders hit his neck.

“We could think of it as killing two birds with one stone.” Terry said with a half-smile.

“Pretty tough birds, gentlemen. What can I do for you?”

“Three things. The first is that Bill would like you to send some standard aide shipments into Manchester, but instead of sending them through the county government, he would like you to deliver them straight to Dusty Baer. Bill has him stirring up the Coffee County citizens, hoping they will decide to fight the families when the time comes.” Terry said.

“Clever, that man. What’s number two?”

“If Dusty can’t get results, Bill asks that you come down to Manchester in your official getup, and do some stirring of your own. He said that he believes you can be quite persuasive. You could come down to make a public announcement of the case against the Judge, and do a little talking on the side.”

“I could do that, if my wife lets me leave town. She’s a little touchy right now, and she’s ten times meaner than I am when she gets riled up.”

Terry and Seth chuckled at that, not really knowing how tough wives can be. But having heard the stories, they got the joke.

“Ok, what’s the third favor?”

Terry hesitated before he spoke up. “Bill asked that you hang the Dragon and the Judge as quickly as you can.”

“Now we’re talking about the law. There’s nothing I can do except let the process work, especially with these high profile assholes. Every move I make will be scrutinized.” Charlie propped his elbows on the desk and folded his hands together.

“I’m just the messenger, Charlie, but I’m sure Bill has every confidence in you,” Terry responded.

“I’m thinking you were a politician in a former life, Terry.”

“Huh? No, I just read more than average.”

“It shows. I can see why Bill keeps you close at hand,” Charlie said with a knowing smile.

Seth reached over and thumped Terry on the back hard enough to knock the wind out him. “Nah, Charlie. Bill’s just looking for someone dumb enough to marry that mean-ass daughter of his. You’re looking at the poor bastard, right here.” Seth pointed at Terry with his huge thumb.

Terry blushed and smacked Seth’s hand away. Charlie leaned back and laughed until it looked like the chair might topple over. Even Terry joined in after Seth started his own bellowing laughter.

***

After the boys from Coffee County left, Charlie sat quietly for a long time. It was not like him to be still, and the silence eventually drew his secretary to the office door.

“Can I get you something, sir?”

“No, thank you, Becky. I’m just thinking.”

“All right.” She left as quickly as she had appeared.

The aide shipments were no problem. Charlie could call in a favor and have food supplies on the way by mid-morning. The other two favors were problematic. With the right bottle of wine, he could probably talk Judith into letting him go to Coffee County for an official trip, but she wouldn’t be happy about it. He could remember the last time he had denied her and the long weeks of suffering that had resulted. That was his punishment for marrying the daughter of a gentleman farmer in a time when farmers controlled all the wealth. She expected to get her way and generally did.

The third favor was the hardest one, by far. He wasn’t even sure it was a good idea to rush the proceedings. If both men were dead, it could take the wind out of their respective army’s sails. It could just as easily inflame both groups until they ran over Teeny Town like berserkers. He could keep the two criminals from talking to each other, but he was sure that train had left the station. He could not legally keep them from having visitors, which meant that all kinds of information could change hands right outside the jail, between party members, and there wasn’t a thing he could do to stop it. The only solution for that problem was to hang the bad guys before they received any more visitors. Legally, that was completely impossible.

Charlie realized he was going in circles. He was dedicated to his legal and moral obligations, and that was that. He got up from his chair and told Becky he was leaving early. He walked down the two flights of stairs to the main rotunda. He traveled the room in a slow circle, looking up at the depictions on the ceiling. He strolled to the center of the room and brushed his fingers over the stone monument to mark the geographical center of the state. He caught himself and strode rapidly out the main doors, ignoring the bemused look of the blonde girl behind the information desk.

The four blocks to his home was an easy walk, but he was sticky with sweat before he opened his front door. He walked straight to his study and pulled out a rare bottle of original, pre-Breakdown Jack Daniels. It was much better than the stuff they made nowadays. He poured about five shots worth into a cocktail glass on the credenza and set the bottle down. He stared at the glass for a solid minute before he picked it up and took a long sip. He was hoping it would slow his brain’s whirling to a more palatable rate.

Judith walked in, took one look at the glass in Charlie’s hand and said, “Ok, what’s wrong?”

Charlie winced at her sudden presence. He was so far inside his head, he didn’t hear her on the hardwood floors. “Oh. Hey, Honey. How was your day?”

“Forget my day. Tell me about yours,” Judith said it as if it were an order.

“How’s Michael?” Charlie went for the stall tactics.

“Fine. I’m waiting.”

“You know me too well, My Dear.” Charlie prepared for the inevitable surrender.

“That’s right, and that’s why you’re going to start talking.”

“Ok. First, Bill Carter asked me to make a trip to Coffee County,” Charlie said, waiting for the lash.

“Why?”

“He’s got a fight coming, with the clans of both of our prisoners at once. Because I was stupid... The Judge and the Dragon connected the dots and as we speak, the Dragon’s people are down in Manchester offering to team up with Jerry Doan Jenkins’s family. Before it’s over, they will most likely drag the other wealthy families into it and line them all up against Bill Carter. I got him into this mess. I have to try to help.”

“Fine. You’re right. That man saved our son. You go do whatever you can to help.” Again, Judith made it an order.

“Really? I was expecting...”

“Yes, I know, but this is different. We owe that man our son’s life. We pay our debts.”

“Ok, well... Good... Thank you.”

“You said ‘first’. What else?” Judith demanded rather than asked.

“Damn, woman. Can’t sneak anything past you.”

“No. I don’t even know why you still try. The only time I ever catch you in here drinking that stuff is when you are in the middle of some impossible dilemma, so out with it.”

“Ok, Bill also asked me to speed up the process and to hang those men as soon as possible.”

“And?”

“And I’ve made my life about protecting that process. I can’t just call a trial tomorrow and rush it through. Things have to happen. My hands are tied.”

“Charlie Bell. I’ve never heard you say that. You’ve tackled everything that has ever crossed your desk, even the things that cause you to get out that bottle. Why is this any different?”

“It’s the process. I have no choice.”

“Aren’t you the one that says there’s always a choice?”

“Well, yeah...”

“I understand the problem, but I think you already know the answer.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t tell you what to do, even though I like to pretend I can, but I can say the same thing about this as I say about your trip to Coffee County. We owe Bill Carter more than we can repay. If you can help, you will help.”

Charlie took another long sip. He knew what she meant, and he was somewhat amazed to hear it. And as quickly as that, his dilemma was solved.

***

The Attorney General walked into the State Police Building at one in the morning. He found the only entrance to the jail guarded by a single State Police officer. It was simple statistics that caused that officer to be one of the men rescued from Nashville, but to Charlie, it felt like a sign from God.

“Evening, Jack. Are you mending up ok?”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Bell. I still have some ugly scabs and bruises, but I’m doing much better.”

“Good, good... Listen, I’m working this case, and I need to ask the Dragon some questions.”

“We’re not supposed to bother the prisoners after 10 PM.”

“I know. I wrote the rules, but I’m sure you’ll agree this is a special case, and there’s a ton of public pressure to move things along.”

“Well, I’d like to see the Dragon hang myself. I guess it’s your rule to break.”

“Thank you. I’ll be ten minutes at most.”

“You know where I’ll be, sir. Holler if they don’t cooperate,” the officer said, brandishing his night stick.

Charlie smiled at the implication, and waited for Jack to open the door. He stepped into the long hallway with its sickly golden paint and flickering fluorescent lights. A faint buzz emanated from a faulty ballast. He saw right away that Jerry Doan Jenkins was sleeping on the hard cot in the first cell on Charlie’s right. The Judge was using his duster as an extra blanket. Charlie walked past the first four pairs of cells and the concrete partition that separated that set from the second set of cells. He knew the Dragon, aka Gary Tucker, was in the last cell on the right.