Carnal Innocence

Chapter Seventeen

  Caroline didn't even have to weigh her loyalties.

  Before Burns's dust had cleared, she was scooping up Useless and heading for her car. The keys were dangling in the ignition, right where she'd left them.

  Turning, she looked back at the house. She hadn't locked the doors. Hadn't even thought about it. Foolish, perhaps, considering the recent violence that had tainted Innocence. But to lock the doors without closing and latching the windows was even more foolish. And to do that meant trapping the heat inside.

  In less than a month, she'd picked up country habits.

  "I'm not going to be afraid in my own home," she told Useless as she set him inside the car. He immediately propped his front paws on the dash, tongue lolling in anticipation of a ride.

  "My home," she repeated, studying the house, the fresh paint, the polished windows, the scarred porch rocker. With a sense of satisfaction and purpose she climbed into the car. "Come on, Useless, it's time we took an active part in the grapevine. "

  She backed down the drive, unaware of the figure that stood, shadowed by the line of trees, watching.

  The Statler Brothers were wailing away from a four-foot boom box on the porch at Sweetwater. Keeping them company were Lulu and Dwayne. Lulu still wore her eagle feather and her combat boots. To complete the outfit she wore a splotched painter's smock over Levis and a pair of ruby earrings with stones as big as pullet eggs.

  She stood in front of a canvas, feet planted, body braced. More like a prizefighter going into round three, Caroline thought, than an artist. Dwayne was sprawled in the porch rocker, a tumbler full of Wild Turkey in his hand and the mild smile of an affable drunk on his face.

  " 'Lo, Caroline. " He gestured with the glass in greeting. "Whatcha got there?"

  Caroline set Useless down and he immediately streaked off to sniff the bushes Buster had marked. "My dog. Good evening, Miss Lulu. "

  She grunted, dabbed a little paint on the canvas. "My grandmammy ran a pair of Yankee deserters off her plantation in 1863. "

  Caroline inclined her head. She'd come prepared. "My grandmother's grandfather lost a leg at Antietam pushing General Burnside's troops off the stone bridge. "

  Lulu pursed her lisp and considered. "And when would that have been?"

  "September 17, 1862. " Caroline smiled and blessed her grandmother's carefully documented family Bible. "His name was Silas Henry Sweeney. "

  "Sweeney, Sweeney. Seems to me there were some Sweeney cousins on my husband's side-that'd be my second husband, Maxwell Breezeport. " Lulu squinted her eyes at Caroline and liked what she saw. The girl was fresh as a new quart of cream. And there was a sharp, stubborn look in her eyes, in the set of her chin, that Lulu approved of wholeheartedly.

  The Yankee blood was probably diluted anyway, Lulu decided, and besides, it was time Tucker settled down.

  "You come down here to sashay around Tucker, have you?"

  "Certainly not. " But Caroline found it impossible to take offense. "I have come to speak with him, though. If he's here. "

  "Oh, he's around right enough. " Lulu studied her palette, then plunged her brush into a pool of virulent green. "Come on up here on the porch, girl, don't be standing down there gawking at me while I'm working. Dwayne, where's that brother of yours? Can't you see this girl's come to seduce him?"

  "I have not come-" Caroline broke off and backed up a foot when Lulu leaned over to sniff at her.

  "Pretty cagey not wearing perfume. " Lulu shook the dripping brush at her. "When a man's used to women tarting themselves up, he'll fall flat for the smell of pure soap and water. "

  Caroline cocked a brow. "Is that so?"

  "You know it's so. You don't get to be. . . how the hell old am I, Dwayne?"

  "I think it's eighty-four, Cousin Lulu. "

  "Eighty-four? Eighty-four?" Paint dripped on her shoes. "You're drunk as a polecat, Dwayne. No southern lady would ever reach the miserable age of eighty-four. It ain't seemly. "

  Dwayne considered his whiskey. He was well on the way to being sloshed, but he wasn't stupid. "Sixty-eight," he decided. "What I meant to say was sixty-eight. "

  "That's better. " Lulu smudged paint on her cheek. "A dignified age. You go on in, Yankee, work your wiles on that poor, hapless boy. Just so you know I'm on to you. "

  "I'll keep that in mind. " Unable to resist, she took a peek at the painting. It was Dwayne, cocked back in the rocker, clutching a hugely proportioned glass of whiskey. The style was somewhere between Picasso and the caricatures for Mad magazine. Dwayne's face was green, his eyes cracked with broken red lines. Poking up from his head were long purple donkey's ears.

  "Ah, an interesting concept," Caroline commented.

  "My daddy always said anybody who drinks for a living's bound to make an ass of himself. "

  Caroline looked from the portrait to the artist. In that single silent exchange she realized that Cousin Lulu wasn't as crazy as she pretended to be. "I wonder what reason anyone would have for choosing to drink for a living. "

  "For some, life's reason enough. Dwayne, where's that brother of yours? This girl's waiting and I can't paint with her breathing down my neck. "

  "Back in the library. " He took a comfortable swallow of whiskey. "Just go on in, Caroline. Third door down on the right of the hall. "

  Caroline stepped in. The house was so quiet, it immediately crushed her urge to call out and announce herself. The light had that mellow golden quality she associated with museums, but the silence was more like that of a lady's elaborate boudoir while the mistress was drowsing.

  She began to have doubts that anyone was there at all. She caught herself tiptoeing down the hall.

  The door to the library was shut tight. As she put her hand up to knock, she pictured Tucker inside, stretched out on the most comfortable flat, cushioned surface, hands cocked behind his head, legs crossed at the ankles. He would, of course, be taking his early evening, post-afternoon, pre-bedtime nap.

  She rapped softly and got no answer. With a shrug, she turned the knob and nudged the door open. She'd just wake him up, she told herself. She had things to tell him and the least he could do was stay awake long enough to listen. Because while he was busy sleeping away his life, things were. . .

  But he wasn't on the curvy love seat under the west window. Nor was he sprawled in the wing chair facing the stone fireplace. Frowning, Caroline turned a circle, taking a curious scan of the walls of books, an excellent Georgia O'Keeffe, and a dainty Louis XV side table.

  And saw him behind a sturdy oak desk, bent over a pile of papers and books, with his fingers skimming casually-no, she realized- skillfully over the keyboard of a sleek little office computer.

  "Tucker?" There was a world of surprise in the single word. He answered with a grunt, typed in some more data, then glanced up. The distraction on his face cleared instantly.

  "Well, hey, Caroline. You're the most welcome thing I've seen all day. "

  "What are you doing?"

  "Just running some figures. " He pushed back from the desk to stand, looking lean and lazy in a T-shirt and chinos. "Nothing that can't wait. Why don't we go on out on the back porch, sit, and watch the sun set?"

  "It won't set for two hours or more. "

  He smiled. "I've got time. "

  She shook her head, evading him when he came around the desk to reach for her. Holding him off with one hand, she moved closer to the desk to see what he'd been up to.

  There were ledgers, printouts with columns of figures, invoices, receipts. Eyes narrowed, Caroline ran her finger over files.

  LAUNDROMAT, CHAT 'N CHEW, HARDWARE, GOOSENECK

  UNIT 1, ROOMING HOUSE, TRAILER PARK.

  There was a pile of paperwork about cotton-seed, pesticide, fertilizer, market prices, trucking companies.

  Another pile consisted of various prospectus folders and stock reports.

  Dragging a hand through her h
air, Caroline stepped back. "You're working. "

  "In a manner of speaking. Are you going to let me kiss you or not?"

  She only waved him off, trying to think it through.

  "Bookkeeping. You're keeping books. "

  He grinned. "Honey, it's against the law only if you keep two sets. Which my granddaddy did, successfully, for twenty-five years. So I guess it's more accurate to say it's against the law only if you get caught keeping two sets, which he never did and lived to his dying day as a pillar of this community. " He sat on the edge of the desk. "If you don't want to sit on the porch and neck awhile, what can I do for you?"

  "You use a computer. "

  "Well now, I admit I was prejudiced about it at first. But these damn little things save buckets of time once you get the hang of them. I'm all for that. "

  "Do you do all of this?"

  "All of what?"

  "This!" Frustrated, she grabbed up a pile of papers and shook them at him. "Do you keep all these records, these books? Do you run all of these businesses?"

  He stroked a hand over his chin thoughtfully. Then he punched a few buttons, and the monitor winked off. "Mostly they run themselves. I just add the figures. "

  "You're a fraud. " She slapped the papers down again. "All that lazy-southern-wastrel routine-I'd rather sleep than sit. It's just a front!"

  "What you see is what there is," he corrected her, amused by the way she was pacing around the room. "It just seems to me that you have a different definition of lazy up north than we do down here. Down here we call it relaxed. " He gave her a pained look. "Honey, I sure wish you'd learn to relax. The way you stir up the air in here is tiring me out. "

  "Every time I think I've got a handle on you, you shift. Like a virus. " She turned back. "You're a businessman. "

  "I don't think that description suits me, Caro. Now, when I think of a businessman, I think of somebody like that Donald Trump or Lee Iacocca. All those fancy suits, messy divorces, and bleeding ulcers. Of course, there's Jed Larsson, and he wears a suit only on Sunday as a rule, been married to his Jolette as long as I can remember. But he does suffer from some bad heartburn. "

  "You're changing the subject. "

  "No, I was getting around to it. You could say I oversee some ventures now and again. And since I have a gift for figures, it doesn't take much effort. "

  She dropped down on the love seat and scowled at him. "You're not wasting your life. "

  "I always figured I was enjoying it. " He walked over to join her. "But if it'll make you happy, I could give wasting it a try. "

  "Oh, just shut up a minute. I'm trying to think. " She folded her arms across her chest. Hapless? she thought. Wasn't that what Lulu had called him? What a joke. The man knew exactly what he was doing, and he'd obviously been doing it his own way, in his own time, for years. Hadn't she seen it herself? The way he could give you that sleepy-eyed grin one minute, then drill right into your brain with a look the next?

  "The other day, before that business with Bonny, did you say that you and Dwayne worked in the fields?"

  "We've been known to. "

  "And you once mentioned that Dwayne had a degree he didn't use. But you didn't say if you had one. "

  "Can't say I actually graduated. I never could get the hang of sliding through school like Dwayne did. I studied some business management and accounting, though. " He smiled easily. "Didn't take much thought to figure out it's more comfortable behind a desk than sweating in a cotton field. Want me to dig up my college yearbook?"

  She only hissed out a breath. "I can't believe I actually came over here to protect you. "

  "Protect me?" He slid an arm around her shoulders so he could sniff at her hair. "Sugar, that's awful sweet of you. God, you smell good. Better than cherry pie cooling on the windowsill. "

  "It's soap," she said between her teeth. "Just soap. "

  "It makes me crazy. " He began to nuzzle her neck. "Dead crazy. 'Specially this spot right here. "

  She shivered as he nipped under her jaw. "I came here to talk to you, Tucker, not to. . . oh. " Her words trailed off as he began doing sneaky, seductive things behind her ear.

  "You go ahead and talk," he invited her. "I don't mind a bit. "

  "If you'd just stop that. "

  Okay. He switched from her ear back to her neck. "Go ahead. "

  As her better judgment began to dim, she tilted her head back to give him more access. "Matthew Burns came by. " She felt his lips pause, his muscles tense, then gradually, gradually, relax again.

  "I can't say as that surprises me. He's had his eye on you. A blind man on a galloping horse could see that. "

  "It had nothing to do with. . . It wasn't personal. " The hell with her fuzzy brain, Caroline decided, and turned her lips to meet Tucker's. She let out a quiet sigh as he pleasured them both with slow, nibbling kisses. "He was warning me off you. "

  "Hmmm. Much to my frustration, you haven't been on me yet. "

  "No, he was talking about the case. The murder. " A light flashed on in her brain and she jolted back. "The murder," she repeated, then stared down open-mouthed at her gaping blouse. "What are you doing?"

  He had to take a steadying breath. "I was just working on getting your clothes off. Seems I've been working on that for some time now. " He sat back again, studying her. "And it looks like it's going to get put off again. "

  She fumbled her buttons back into place. "I'll let you know when I want to be undressed. "

  "Caroline, you were letting me know just fine. Until you started thinking again. " To douse some of the fire, he got up to fix a drink. "Want one?" He gestured with the decanter.

  "No. "

  "Well, I do. " He poured two fingers of whiskey.

  She lifted her chin. "You can be just as annoyed as you like, but-"

  "Annoyed?" His eyes flashed to hers before he lifted the glass. "Sugar, that's a mighty mild word for what you work in me. I've never had a woman stir my juices with less effort than you. "

  "I came here to warn you, not to stir anything. "

  "My point exactly. " He finished off his drink, thought about having another, and opted for half a cigarette instead. "Who's Luis?"

  Her mouth opened and closed twice before she managed to speak. "I beg your pardon?"

  "No, you don't. You just don't want to answer me. Susie mentioned that there was somebody named Luis you were pissed at. " He scowled down at the stub he was smoking. "Hell of a stupid name. "

  "Tucker's so much more dignified. "

  He relaxed enough to grin. "Depends on where you're standing, I expect. Who is he, Caro?"

  "Somebody I'm pissed at," she said lightly. "Now, if you'd like to hear what I've come to-"

  "Did he hurt you?"

  Her eyes locked with his. In them she saw patience, compassion, and, unexpectedly, a quiet, steady strength. "Yes. "

  "I'd like to promise I wouldn't, but I don't guess I can do that. "

  Something shifted inside her. A door she'd thought she'd locked tight was creeping open. "I don't want promises," she said almost desperately.

  "I've never been one for giving them. Dangerous things, promises. " He frowned down at his cigarette, then crushed it out. "But I do care about you. I guess you could say I'm about neck-deep in caring about you. "

  "I think-I'm not ready. . . " She rose and wished she had something to do with her hands. "I care about you, too, Tucker. And that's where it has to stop. I came here because I care about you, and I wanted you to know that Matthew Burns is looking for a way to prove you killed Edda Lou Hatinger. "

  "He's going to have to look pretty hard. " Still watching her, Tucker slipped his hands in his pockets. "I didn't kill Edda Lou, Caroline. "

  "I know that. I might not understand you, but I know that. Matthew's looking for the connection between Arnette, Francie, and Edda Lou, and you're the front runner. He also dropped some hints about Toby, and that concerns m
e. I know these are the nineties, but it's still rural Mississippi, and racial tensions. . . " She shrugged.

  "Most people around here have a lot of respect for Toby and Winnie. There aren't that many around like the Hatingers or the Bonny boys. "

  "But there are some. I don't want to see anything happen to Toby or his family. " She took a step forward. "More, I don't want to see anything happen to you. "

  "Then I'll have to see to it that you don't. " He reached out to lift her chin, his eyes sharp and steady. "You've got a headache. " Gently he rubbed at the faint line of stress between her brows. "I don't like to think I had a part in bringing that on. "

  "It's not you. " As always, she felt a trace of embarrassment at the weakness she associated with pain. "It's the situation. Not you. "

  "Then we're not going to think about the situation. We're going to go sit out on the porch and watch for that sunset. " He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "And you don't even have to neck with me. Unless you want to. "

  That made her smile, which was what he'd intended. "What about your work?"

  "Honey. " He slipped an arm around her waist to lead her out. "There's one sure thing about work. It doesn't go anywhere. "

  So they sat on the porch, talking idly of the weather, of Marvella's wedding, of young Jim's progress on the violin. And while the sun drifted lower in the sky, bleeding red over the horizon, while the frisky puppy tried to convince the aging Buster to play, while the Statler Brothers gave way to the Oak Ridge Boys, neither of them noticed the quick wink of light glazing off the lens of a pair of dented binoculars.

  Austin held them to his eyes in taut hands. He watched, his mouth moving silently in fervent and deadly prayer, his mind twisting deeper into madness, and two Police Specials shoved in the waistband of his Sunday trousers.

  When Cy reached the culvert the next morning, his father was waiting. He grabbed the boy by the shirt while he peered out at the white morning light.

  "You didn't tell anybody? I'll know if you lie. "

  "No, Daddy. " It was the same question, the same answer each morning. "I swear I didn't. I brought you some chicken, and a sausage biscuit. "

  Austin snatched the paper sack. "You bring the rest?"

  "Yes sir. " Cy handed over the plastic container of water, hoping his father would be content with that. Knowing he wouldn't.

  Austin unscrewed the top and took three long swallows before swiping his hand across his mouth. "The rest. "

  Cy's hands shook. His throat was too full of fear to allow any words through. He unbuckled the leather holder from his belt and held out the hunting knife.

  "Daddy, there's police still out by the house, but they got rid of the roadblocks on Route One. You could get clean over to Arkansas if you wanted. "

  "Anxious to see me gone, boy?" Lips peeled back in a grin, Austin unsheathed the knife. It caught the funnel of light and shone.

  "No, sir, I was just-"

  "Oh, you'd like me to run, wouldn't you?" He turned the blade, drawing Cy's terrified eyes to the gleam. "You'd like me to go, leave your way clear to sin and debauchery. To buddying up with niggers and kissing Mr. Tucker Longstreet's rosy ass. "

  "No, sir. I was just. . . I was just. . . " Cy stared at the knife. One swipe, one quick careless swipe of that knife and he'd be dead. "It's just that they're still out hunting for you. Not like they were before, but they're still looking. "

  "The Lord's my shepherd, boy. He does provide. " Still smiling, Austin ran his thumb along the edge of the blade. A thin line of red welled out of his skin. "And sharp is His sword. Now let me tell you what you're going to do. "

  Austin turned the knife on his son. For one dizzying instant, while his bowels turned to ice, Cy was certain the point was going to plunge into his throat. But it stopped a whisper away.

  "Are you listening, boy? Are you listening?"

  Cy nodded. He was afraid to swallow. Afraid that the blade would prick his Adam's apple if it bobbed.

  "And you're going to do just as I say, aren't you?"

  Cy looked above the blade, into his father's eyes. "Yes sir. "

  Cy worked hard on sweating out his fear. He hauled wheelbarrows full of mulch around the garden, dug holes for the new peony bushes Tucker had bought to replace the ones that had died off from being trampled. He scraped old paint and slapped on fresh. He yanked up weeds until his fingers cramped, but the fear stayed hot and hard in his belly like a bad meal that refused to digest.

  He didn't eat the meal Delia set out for him-not even the half he usually took for himself. Instead, he packed the thick pork sandwiches and generous slice of lemon cake into his knapsack.

  He couldn't even stand to look at them, but he figured his father would eat well that night.

  He'd have a rare appetite after he'd finished with Tucker.

  Cy wiped sweat out of his eyes and tried not to think of right and wrong or good and bad. All he had to think about was surviving. Of getting through one day and onto the next until he'd finished up all those days that made up four years.

  He looked around Sweetwater, the green fields thriving with cotton, the dark, still water, the splashes of color from flowers. Maybe it was true, what his daddy said. Maybe it was only people like the Longstreets who could afford to plant flowers to look at instead of food to eat.

  Maybe it was true that they didn't deserve the fine, big house, and all the land and the easy life they lived. Maybe it was their fault that his own family was poor as dirt and had to scrape for every penny.

  And Edda Lou had been his sister, his blood. Family took care of family. His daddy said it was Tucker's doing that she was dead.

  If he believed that, if he could believe that, then what he had to do wouldn't be so hard.

  It didn't matter if it was hard or not, Cy reminded himself as he walked to the side of the house to rinse off his hands and face with the garden hose. It was something he had to do, because if he didn't, his father would come for him. He would find him wherever he tried to hide. And he would come for him with more than a belt, with more than his fists.

  "If thy eye offend thee, pluck it out," his father had said. "You're my eye, boy. You're both my eyes. "

  And he'd held that honed silver point so close, so close to Cy's left eye that he'd been afraid to blink.

  "Don't offend me in this. You bring him here, and I'll be waiting. "

  "You done for the day, son?"

  At Tucker's voice, Cy jerked back and managed to soak his shoes. Tucker merely grinned and put a match flame up to half a cigarette.

  "Delia told me you were jumpy today. Better turn that hose off before you drown yourself. "

  "Yes sir. I'm all finished. " Cy stared at his hand, watched his own fingers curl around the metal and twist.

  "Good, 'cause it damn near wears me out watching you. You want a Coke, another piece of that cake?"

  "No, sir. " Cy kept his head down as he rewound the hose. He felt something perilously like tears in his throat. Maybe it wouldn't work, he thought desperately. Maybe Tucker would just shoo him on his way. Lips pressed together, Cy limped toward his bike.

  "What's wrong with your leg?"

  Cy kept his back to the house and stared straight ahead.

  Make him feel sorry for you, boy. You see that he gives you a ride in one of those fancy cars. And you bring him down here to me.

  "It's nothing, Mr. Tucker. Guess I mighta pulled something. " He took another couple of limping steps, praying that Tucker would just shrug and turn away.

  "Why don't you come on back in here, let Delia take a look at it?"

  Cy closed his fingers around the handlebars of the bike and darted a look back toward the house. "No, sir, I'd best get on home. "

  Tucker caught the glint of tears in the boy's eyes and frowned. Adolescent pride was a touchy thing. "Well, I've got to run into town for some things. " He strolled off the porch, improvising as he
went. "That woman runs me ragged fetching this and picking up that. How come women can't figure out what it is they need all at once?"

  Cy stared down at the silver handlebars, focusing on the splotches of rust. "I don't know. "

  "One of the mysteries of the universe. " He laid a friendly hand on Cy's shoulder and felt him flinch. With a guilty start he realized again how thin the boy was, and how hard he'd been working. "Why don't you load that up in the Olds, Cy? I can give you a ride most of the way home. "

  Cy's knuckles whitened on the handlebars. "I don't want to trouble you, Mr. Tucker. "

  "I've got to drive right by your turnoff. Come on, let's get to it before she can think of something else to send me for. "

  "Yes sir. " Head down, Cy wheeled the bike over to the drive. His head was ringing like an anvil by the time Tucker had plucked the keys out of the ignition and unlocked the trunk.

  "God knows why she drives this old boat," Tucker muttered. "You could fit three dead bodies in the trunk. " He shoved some of Delia's debris aside. A cardboard box full of old clothes meant to go to the church. Three pair of shoes to be taken in for repair next time she was passing through Greenville, a box of mason jars and an over-and-under Winchester.

  Cy's gaze lit on the gun, then jumped away. Tucker noted the look as he hefted the Schwinn into the truck. "She's been hauling that thing around in there for months. Says she might need to shoot some crazed rapist if the car breaks down somewhere. "Tucker pulled out a length of rope and wound it carelessly around the bumper. "I can't quite picture Delia sitting on the hood with a shotgun across her lap, laying for crazed rapists, but there you go. "

  Cy said nothing, nothing at all, and climbed in the car. Tucker pulled one of his cassettes from the glove compartment. "I hide these in here," he told Cy. "A woman never goes in a glove compartment. How about some Presley?"

  "Okay. " Cy linked his stiff fingers in his lap. "Fine. "

  "Boy, Presley's not fine. He's king. " Tucker flipped in the cassette and revved the engine to "Heartbreak Hotel. " He sang the opening bars along with the King as they headed down the lane. "You getting along all right at home?"

  "At home?"

  "Your mama doing better?"

  "She's. . . she's getting by. "

  "If you need something-money or something-you can ask me. You don't have to tell her where it came from. "

  Cy had to stare out of the window. He couldn't face the concern, the simple kindness. "We're getting along. " He caught a glimpse of Toby's truck at the end of Caroline's lane and wanted to weep. How could he ever go whistling up to Jim again? After today, he'd be the same as a murderer.

  "You want to tell me what's on your mind, Cy?"

  "Sir?" Cy swiveled his head back. His heart bobbed up to his throat. "Nothing, Mr. Tucker. I've got nothing on my mind. "

  "I haven't been fourteen in a while," Tucker said easily. "But I remember what it was like. I remember what it was like to have a father with a heavy hand and a short fuse. " Tucker glanced over, and his eyes were so full of understanding, Cy had to turn away again. You weren't limping when you got into the car, Cy. "

  The ball of fear in his belly spread. "I guess, I guess my leg's feeling better. "

  Tucker said nothing for a moment, then moved his shoulders. "If that's the way you want it. "

  They were driving along the skinny trickle of Little Hope now. Cy knew that they'd be coming up to the culvert in less than a mile. "I-I keep the bike down by the stream. In the culvert. "

  "All right. I'll drop you there if you want. "

  "Maybe you could. . . " Help me take it down. Help me wheel it down off the road and into the culvert where my daddy's waiting for you. You'll help me take it down, because you're willing to help when you're asked.

  "Could what?"

  Almost there. Almost there. Cy wiped the back of his hand over his dry mouth. It wasn't icy fear in his belly now, it was a sick green fist of horror. I just have to ask him, and he'll do it. And Cy caught the glint of light-reflected off the lens of binoculars. Or perhaps a knife.

  "Stop! Stop the car!" In panic he grabbed at the wheel and nearly sent them into the stream.

  "What the hell!" Tucker wrestled the wheel back and left the car diagonally across the road. "You lost your senses?"

  "Turn the car around, Mr. Tucker, turn around. Christ almighty, go back. " Sobbing, Cy leapt up and tried to turn the motionless car himself. "Please God, turn it around before he comes and kills us. He'll kill us both now. "

  "Just hold. on. "

  The Olds banked like a ship leaving port, then shot down the road. Cy huddled on his knees, sobbing against his clenched fists and staring out the rear window while the dead King sang about a hunk of burning love.

  "He's going to come. I know he's going to come. My eyes, he's going to cut out my eyes. " He doubled over, clutching his belly. Hysteria or not, Tucker veered to the shoulder. He yanked the boy out and held Cy's head while his body shuddered.

  When Cy was down to dry heaves, Tucker pulled out a handkerchief and mopped the boy's face. "Try to breathe slow. You think you're done?"

  Cy nodded, then began to cry. They weren't wild, wailing sobs, but soft, quiet ones that broke the heart. Baffled, Tucker sat in the open car door and patted Cy's head. "Get those out, too. I expect you'll feel better for it. "

  "I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. He'll kill me now. "

  "Who's going to kill you?"

  Cy turned his blotched miserable face to Tucker's. Tucker thought he looked like a dog who'd already been beaten half to death and was just waiting for the final blow.

  "It's my daddy. He told me to bring you down here. He told me I had to on account of Edda Lou, and if your eye offends you, you have to cut it out. I've been bringing him food every day. And I brought him his belt and a fresh shirt, the binoculars. I had to. And today I had to bring him the knife. "

  Tucker lifted Cy up by the shirtfront and shook some of the hysteria away. "Your father's back there in that culvert?"

  "He was going to lay for you. I was supposed to bring you. But I couldn't. " Cy's eyes wheeled around. "He could be coming right now. He could be coming. He's got those guns, too. "

  "Get in the car. "

  Cy figured he was going to jail for sure. He'd been aiding a fugitive and was an accessory after the fact, or something like it. But jail was better than having that knife carve out his eyes. "What're you going to do, Mr. Tucker?"

  "I'm going to take you back to Sweetwater. "

  "Take me back? But-but-"

  "And you're going to go inside, and you're going to call Sheriff Truesdale and tell him the whole thing. " He aimed a hard look at Cy. "Aren't you?"

  "Yes sir. " Cy wiped tears from his cheeks. "I swear I will. I'll tell him where Daddy is. I'll tell him the whole thing. "

  "And you tell him he better get out here, quick, fast, and in a hurry. " He turned through the gates of Sweetwater.

  "I'll tell him. I'm sorry, Mr. Tucker, I was so scared. "

  "We'll talk about that later. " Gravel spewed as he swerved to a stop. "Get on in there. If you can't get him at the office, you call him at home. Delia's got the number. You can't get Burke, you get Carl. "

  "Yes sir. What're you going to do?" He watched, wide-eyed, as Tucker popped the hood, tossed out the bike, then pulled out the shotgun. "You going back after him? Are you going after him, Mr. Tucker?"

  Tucker broke open the shotgun, checked the load. His eyes lifted and fastened on Cy's. "That's just what I'm doing. You'd best tell Burke I've just deputized myself. "

  Cy turned and raced into the house.