Sintown Chronicles I: Behind Closed Doors (97 page)

“No!” Billy cried out.

“Keep your voice down, Billy,” Leora cautioned. “All of you listen to me carefully. I've been involved with the investigation of Al Young's murder more than you know. It's a long story and I don't have time to tell it. You have to trust me. After Amos Stone died, Penny found an extremely large sum of money on the farm, apparently the result of a longtime illegal operation. Shortly afterwards Al Young came back into her life."

“Back?” Jo asked.

“Yes. They knew each other in Florida. Al was a drug dealer."

“Mom, your imagination is running away with you,” Randy said impatiently.

“Penny did find a lot of money,” Billy volunteered.

Leora nodded. “Al sort of took over Penny's life. He had underworld connections in Charlotte and took a large portion of the money for them to launder. Penny kept some of the money, however. We think Al was murdered for the money."

“We?” Jo asked.

“I have been working with Detective Borders on the case. When they found Al's body, he had obviously been tortured. We were afraid that he told the thugs of the money Penny kept before they killed him, but so much time has passed that we became overconfident. This morning, when I went for more boxes, there were two cars parked on Lumbermill Road on either side of Penny's house. There was one man in each car, pretending to read a newspaper. They were still there when I came back."

“Penny's alone,” Billy fretted. “Sean went to work this morning, but she has Sean's gun."

“She's not alone, Billy. Mr. Dollar's car is in the driveway. I've called Detective Borders and informed him of all this, but he says he is thirty minutes away. Somehow we have to keep those men out of Penny's house until the deputies can get there."

“Mother,” Randy said. “It's too dangerous."

“What's your plan, Leora?” Jo asked.

“If the men are still in their cars, we will simply go visit Penny and stay there until the deputies arrive."

“And if they're not?” Randy asked.

“There is an old logging road beside Penny's house out of sight of the gangsters. You can get to Penny's property through the woods."

“Is that correct, Billy?” Jo asked.

Billy nodded.

“The three of you will sneak to the back door and somehow pry it open. I will go to the front door as if I were visiting to create a diversion."

“Don't have to pry open the door,” Billy said, producing and displaying a key.

“Okay,” Randy said. “We slip into the house through the back door. Then what? If your imagination is anywhere close to accurate, these guys will be armed to the teeth."

“Billy,” Jo said. “You said Sean has a gun?"

“Yes. He keeps it in the bedside table in the guest bedroom and he keeps the bullets in the bathroom."

“Where is the bedroom?” Leora asked.

“Upstairs."

“Damn,” Randy exclaimed. “Mother, it's just too risky. We'll all get killed."

“I will go by myself,” Billy said as he jumped up and rushed towards the bathroom door.

Jo caught him by the belt. “No, Billy. We'll all go. We won't let anything happen to Penny."

“We must hurry,” Leora said.

“What about the movers?” Randy protested.

“For God's sake, Randy,” Jo fumed. “A woman's life is at stake here. Tell the movers an emergency has come up and they'll just have to do the best they can."

“God help us,” Randy sighed as he led the procession out of the bathroom door.

The bald, pickle-faced brute flipped open his cellular telephone and jabbed at seven numbers. “Spider, this is Bud."

“Of course its Bud, you idiot. What do you want?"

“Did you see that old lady that just drove by?"

“Yeah."

“I think that's the second time she's passed us. What if she calls the law?"

“You worry too damn much. Get off the phone."

“No, damn it. Let's get it over with. That's probably her boyfriend in there with her. He may not leave for hours."

“We don't know where the dummy is."

“Don't matter. We're gonna kill the bitch anyway. May as well kill ’em all."

“The boyfriend may be armed."

“Yeah, but it's probably just a popgun. He'll be no match for two AK-47's."

“Yeah. Okay. Front door or back?"

“I'd rather sneak up on ’em."

“Okay. Circle around the house from your side. I'll meet you and we'll slip in the back door."

“You got your tools?"

“You think I'm stupid? I don't go nowhere without ’em."

“Spider?"

“Yeah?"

“We could get twenty grand for that Mustang."

“How the hell are we gonna drive it out of here, you idiot?"

“We could tow it."

“Yeah. We'll see how things go. First things first."

Both cars pulled into the logging road. Randy and Jo stood silently beside Leora's driver side window and Billy made his way into the woods to find a vantagepoint from which he could see Lumbermill Road as it passed in front of Penny's house.

“This is crazy,” Randy finally said as his mother lit a cigarette.

“Let me have one of those,” Jo said.

“Do you want to get back on cigarettes?” Randy admonished.

“I guess not,” she sighed.

“Damn,” Randy said as he kicked at the matted brown pine needles covering the old road. “What difference does it make? In an hour, we'll all be dead anyway. Give us both one, Mom."

The first puff made both of the younger Nickels slightly dizzy, but by the time they crushed out the cigarettes on the dirt road they were both recaptured by the nicotine habit and felt a little calmer.

“Here he comes,” Leora said softly.

“Couldn't see but one car,” Billy informed them. “It was empty."

“Damn,” Randy exclaimed.

“Okay, everybody,” Jo said soberly. “This is it. How long does it take to get through the woods to the house, Billy?"

“Don't know,” he replied. “Just a little while."

“It took me about ten minutes, but I'm an old woman,” Leora offered.

“You've done this before?” Randy asked incredulously.

“Don't ask."

“Give us ten minutes, Leora,” Jo said. “That should give us enough time to get into the house and find the gun."

“Mom,” Randy said with eyes watering, “try to avoid going into the house. Stay on the porch if you can. When you hear us in the room, find something to hide behind. There will probably be gunshots, damn it, and I don't want you to be a target or to get hit by a stray bullet. It's been a long time since I fired a handgun."

The trio disappeared from Leora's sight as she lit another cigarette off the burning end of the one she just finished. “God,” she said aloud. “If you let us get through this thing successfully I promise I'll quit cold turkey."

As silently as a limp noodle falling to the kitchen floor Spider inserted two slender instruments into the lock, skillfully maneuvered the tools and smiled smugly as the tumblers fell into place. Using skills acquired as teenaged housebreakers, the two men silently got their bearings. There were voices coming from the front of the house while the remainder of the building remained silent.

With assault rifle ready, Spider flattened his back against the wall next to the living room door while Bud slowly, silently, pulled it open. The two men quickly glanced through the small opening in the door, winked at each other and grinned.

Swinging the door open and bounding into the room, Bud bellowed, “Holy shit. Now ain't that a pretty sight."

Penny screamed and ducked behind Tim.

Spider jabbed his rifle into Tim's ribs as he sat motionless on the sofa. “Sit up, bitch,” he barked.

Bud squatted in front of the sofa, pointed his rifle at Penny's head and fondled her left breast. “Big titties, bitch,” he laughed. “No wonder Al enjoyed fucking you."

Spider backed away a few feet and commanded, “Stand up, mother-fucker. Put your hands behind your head."

Tim slowly obeyed, placing his hands behind his head as ordered.

Spider grinned and lifted his knee hard into Tim's scrotum. Tim rolled on the floor, clutching his groin and Penny tried to go to his aid. Bud grabbed her by the hair and forced her to stand up. Spider kicked Tim in the side, and when he rolled to his back in agony, Spider stomped his testicles, rendering the richest man in Dot helpless. He tossed the short barreled weapon onto the sofa and drug Tim's unresisting body to a wooden chair.

Bud, unable to control his laughter, tossed his companion a roll of duct tape and, while Tim was being bound, he poked his rifle into Penny's protruding stomach.

“Put your hands on top of you head, bitch,” he commanded.

The terrified woman complied.

He traced a circle around her belly with the tip of the gun and moved it to her breasts. “I ain't never fucked a pregnant bitch before,” he grinned as he slid the rifle tip down her body and forced it between her legs. “Get your clothes off, bitch."

“Leave her alone,” Tim managed to protest. “I have money, if that's what you want."

Spider grabbed him by the hair and smashed his fist into Tim's jaw.

Trembling, Penny pulled her shirt from her pants. She heard Tim moan and quickly glanced in his direction. Blood was spurting from his face and she saw the brass knuckles on Spider's right fist. She felt the rifle barrel crunch into her stomach. She doubled over in pain and he kicked her feet, causing her to tumble to the floor.

“Get them clothes off, Penny,” he demanded.

He knows my name, she thought as she struggled to remove her shirt. He knows Al. These have to be the guys who murdered Al.

When she was nude, Spider wrenched her right arm behind her, wound tape around her wrist and fastened it just above her left elbow. He reversed the procedure, taping her left wrist to her right arm.

Holding the gun in his left hand, Bud lifted Penny to her feet by her hair. “I want your back on that coffee table, sweetie, with your legs high in the air and spread nice and wide."

As Penny assumed the required position, she heard Spider slapping Tim's face. “Wake up, you mother fucking bastard."

Spider circled Penny's breasts with the rifle barrel, guided it over her navel and to the apex of her legs.

“Wake up, damn you,” Spider barked as he lightly slapped Tim's face again.

Tim's eyes fluttered, then opened.

“Where's the money and the tapes?"

“Don't know,” Tim mumbled through swollen lips.

Spider pulled down Tim's pants, grabbed his testicles and squeezed. “Where's the damn money?"

Tim howled in pain. “There's a couple hundred in my pants,” he answered.

“Don't hurt him,” Penny cried as the rifle barrel parted her labia.

Spider squeezed harder. “I'll take your couple hundred, but I'm looking for a million, and the damned tapes too."

“For God's sake, man,” Tim cried, blood pouring from his face, “I don't know what you're talking about."

Spider stood up and made sure Tim saw the brass knuckles. He buried his fist into the pit of Tim's stomach. Blood spurted from Tim's mouth. “Don't know about tapes or money,” Tim weakly gasped.

The brass knuckled fist crashed against Tim's right rib cage and Tim screamed in agony. His sphincter muscle relaxed and he involuntarily emptied his bowels, filling the room with the putrid odor of an outhouse. “Look, you bastard,” Spider snarled. “Before we blew a hole in his stupid head and dumped his body in Lake Norman, Al gave us his complete life history starting from the time his daddy fucked his mama. We know the tapes and money are here."

“Leave him alone,” Penny screeched as Bud unfastened his belt. “He knows nothing about it."

Bud jammed the rifle into Penny's vagina. “Then you tell us, bitch."

The pain was excruciating. She begged for mercy as Spider laughed at his partner's expression of pleasure. Bud jerked the rifle barrel and forced it deeper inside her.

“I'll ... I'll tell you. Please take that thing out of me."

Spider watched Penny twisting in agony as Bud continued the torment and picked up and searched Tim's pants. He stuck the roll of bills into his own pocket and dangled a set of keys in front of Tim.

“These the keys to your Mustang?"

Tim nodded.

“Original equipment?"

Tim shook his head. “Not much original left but the body,” he lied.

“Shit.” Spider pulled a lighter from his pocket and flicked it. He knelt in front of Tim and, as the flame singed the pubic hair on Tim's swollen testicles, he leered, “Are you sure, old man?"

“Check it yourself,” Tim cried, trying to wiggle the chair away from the threatening flame.

Spider stood up. “Ram it up her cunt and get it over with, Spider. We gotta get outta here."

Bud knelt and rammed the barrel of his assault rifle deeper into her vaginal canal. “Tell us where the fucking money and tapes are or I'll blow your head off the long way, right through your baby."

“There's a couple of thousand dollars in a gray metal box in the bottom right hand drawer of my desk.” She nodded towards the study door. “It's the receipts of yesterday's produce sales."

Spider gripped Tim's swollen testicles, now a purplish blue color, and Tim shrieked in pain.

“So help me, God,” Penny pleaded. “That's all there is. I did keep the tapes and about a half million dollars, but the sheriff found out and confiscated it."

Spider pulled a knife from his pocket and knelt beside the tortured woman. He popped open the blade, grabbed her left nipple and stretched her breast. He lay the blade at the base of her breast and growled, “Enough of your lies. Another lie and I amputate this tit. Tell another and the other tit goes."

“Do what you must. I'm telling you the truth,” Penny pleaded, tears bursting from her eyes.

Spider grinned. “I warned you,” he said as he pressed the edge of the blade against her flesh.

“Guys,” Tim shouted. “I'm the one who has money. I'm Tim Dollar. Everybody knows I'm rich."

“Hold it, Spider,” Bud said as he painfully ripped the bloody gun from Penny's vagina. “I've heard of this guy. He's supposed to own the whole damn town."