Cold Black Earth (23 page)

“Mm, that’s too bad.”

“I got cut off from a lot of people, to tell you the truth. People shy away from a bad-luck family. They’re full of sympathy but the truth is, you scare them. They stop coming around and you don’t see them as often. They drift away and never come back.”

Rachel thought of Dan saying how many friends Matt had and wondered how good those friends could be. He was gazing at the tabletop and Rachel sat there thinking how much she loved him and how helpless she was to make anything better. “I’m sorry, Matt.”

He came out of his reverie with a shrug. “It’s OK. You learn who your real friends are. Dan, for sure. And Roger.” Matt laughed, shaking his head. “Shit, old Roger, the doofus. We were never really pals when we were kids, but he’s turned into a good friend. All this shit with my family, Roger’s been there. You have serious trouble in your family, it’s good to have a friend who can mediate with law enforcement agencies.” He shot Rachel a look with mischief in it. “Anyway, if you had to pick two guys to fight over you, you picked two good ones.”

“I didn’t plan any of this.”

“Nah, I know. I’m kidding.”

Rachel sipped her wine and said, “Did you tell Roger about me and Dan?”

“He asked. He’d heard about it from somebody. I guess somebody did notice you sneaking off yesterday.”

“Was he angry?”

“How the hell should I know? We didn’t really talk about it. You and I haven’t really talked about it.”

“Not much to say. It just kind of happened.”

“Your love life is your business, Rachel. If it’s what you want, I’m happy for you.”

“It’s a fling. That’s all it is.”

“Well, Dan’s a good guy. We been friends a long time, seen each other through some rough times.” When the silence stretched on, Matt’s eyes rose to meet hers. “Dan had a hard time with the divorce. There was a lot of anger. I pulled him off a couple of guys, walked him around the block to cool down a few times.”

“Do I want to hear this?”

Matt dismissed it with a flop of the hand. “Dan’s fine. He’s mellowed. He’s realized that fire that made him such a great football player doesn’t do much for you off the field. And he never took it out on Sandy, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I wasn’t. But that’s good to know.”

“Dan’s a good man. You could do a lot worse for a fling.”

“That’s my impression.” Rachel set down her glass. “Roger probably thinks I lied to him last night. I told him I was on my way home from the interstate, which was the truth. But he probably thinks I was coming back from Dan’s and just didn’t want to tell him.”

“Jesus, Rachel. Give yourself a break. He’ll get over it.”

She sighed. “I know he will. Poor Roger.”

23    

Rachel wasn’t entirely sure why she wanted to talk to Roger; perhaps just because it made her feel safer to have an armed officer of the law nearby. And while she knew she didn’t owe Roger or anybody else any explanations, her conscience was bothering her a little. At best she knew she looked awfully fickle. If there was going to be an ongoing friendship there, he deserved a little attention. She called Roger on his cell phone to see if he could meet her for lunch.

Roger was on duty but said he could meet her in Warrensburg for coffee at three o’clock. “Afternoons can get busy sometimes. I might have to skedaddle. But unless there’s a sudden outbreak of agricultural criminality I can probably make time for a cup of coffee.” They agreed to meet at one of the franchise family joints along the highway at the north end of town, famed for its pies.

Rachel got there first and watched as Roger came in and dallied by the entrance with the hostess and one of the waitresses. They evidently knew him and were pleased to see him; Rachel knew that for obvious reasons restaurant people loved having cops in the place, but watching body language and facial expressions she thought there was more to it than that. For all his homeliness Roger had a certain rough charm; he smiled easily and he listened. Women saw that Roger was not going to put the moves on them; he made them feel safe. Rachel felt a brief pang of remorse.

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting,” he said, laying his cap on the table and sliding into the booth.

“I just got here. How are things out there?”

“Quiet so far.” He was scanning the place, not meeting Rachel’s eye.

“No sign of escaped madmen?” She tried to make it sound light.

The waitress arrived with coffee and menus before Roger could answer. Rachel had already ordered coffee, and now following Roger’s lead she indulged herself and ordered a slice of pecan pie. When the waitress had gone Roger said, “If he’s still around, he’s laying low. He only comes out at night.”

“And what are the chances he’s still around?”

He grinned suddenly, his mouth twisting. “If I could answer that, they’d give me a medal.” The grin vanished. “Nobody knows, Rachel. And if they tell you they do, they’re lying. Just like after the first time, he could have left the area or he could be hiding out in somebody’s barn. He could be right here in Warrensburg. If he is still here, I don’t think he’s necessarily driving that truck anymore. I think he’s got himself another vehicle, or we’d have spotted him by now.” He took a sip of coffee. “I also think he’s got help.”

Rachel stared at him. “Somebody’s hiding him?”

“That would be my guess. I don’t think he’s living in the woods and eating rabbits. Somebody has to be buying the food, helping him keep out of sight.”

“That’s appalling.”

Roger nodded. “I think when we get this guy we’re going to find out some interesting things.”

“You mean . . .”

“I don’t know yet what I mean. I just think he has to have some help, that’s all.”

“Somebody he knows from before?”

Roger frowned into his coffee. “Possibly. Maybe somebody he can terrorize. An elderly person, for example. Psychopaths are good manipulators sometimes.” He raised the cup and looked at Rachel over the rim. “But it’s all guesswork. The only thing we know for sure is, two people are dead.”

The pie arrived in the depressing silence that followed. It wasn’t much of a consolation. Rachel washed down a swallow with coffee and despite a voice in her head screaming at her to keep her mouth shut said, “You probably heard about me and Dan.”

Roger stabbed at his pie, his face a blank. “I heard a rumor.”

“The rumor’s true. I just wanted you to know that I wasn’t lying when I told you I had no intention of getting involved with anyone. This thing with me and Dan just kind of happened, suddenly. It caught me by surprise.”

Roger shrugged. “It’s none of my business.”

“I know. But I didn’t want you to think I’d had my eye on Dan all along and was putting you off with excuses. It was just, I don’t know. Chemistry, the moment, whatever. It just happened. I hope it doesn’t affect our friendship. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

Roger chewed, swallowed and drank coffee, frowning faintly. He set down the cup, clasped his hands like a pastor about to deliver a homily and looked at her. “Rachel, you don’t owe me any explanations about your personal life.”

“It’s just a fling. I’m going to be leaving again in a few weeks anyway.”

“OK. Like I say, you don’t have to explain.”

Wretchedly, Rachel returned to her pie. She realized she didn’t really want it and shoved it away. “Thanks for understanding.”

He made a gesture of dismissal. “Dan’s a good man.”

“So are you.” Abruptly Rachel was on the brink of tears. Oh God, no, she thought. Don’t make a scene over this.

Roger was staring at her, apprehensive. When she had managed to stabilize herself he smiled again, the old crooked smile. “It’s all right, Rachel. Really it is.”

She flashed him a smile. “I don’t know where that came from. I’m a wreck.”

“You been through a rough time.”

“I’m so scared. This thing, these killings. I’m this close to just leaving, going back to Washington or wherever. But that would be running away from my family again.” She had to look away out the window, at an ugly commercial strip in a depressed town, under a lowering winter sky. “I just want to feel safe again. I want Billy to be all right. I want Matt to be happy. I want my childhood back. I want all kinds of things I can’t have.”

Roger shoved his plate away. “And I can’t give them to you. All I can tell you is, I’ll do what I can to help.”

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it, Roger. Matt, too. He’s very grateful for the support you’ve given him.”

Roger was frowning again, avoiding her eyes. When he looked at her the sympathy and the charm were gone, replaced by a hard opaque look. “I’m working overtime to help you feel safe again. We all are. But right now I have to tell you something that’s going to make things worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember when we talked about trying to predict who Ryle would go for next, from the quarrels his family had been involved in?”

“Sure.”

“Well, I been doing a little snooping, asking around among people who might remember that far back. I talked to Dick Thomas, Ed’s brother.”

“Yeah?”

“He told me about the feud between the Ryles and the Thomases. There was bad blood because the Thomases had wound up with land that used to belong to the Ryles. Dick said all that happened was, they bought it from the bank when the Ryles got foreclosed. But he said Otis Ryle, now this was the father, the one who went out to California, blamed Ed and Dick’s father somehow, accused him of scheming to get the land.”

“Yeah, I heard about that.”

“Well, what you didn’t hear was that your dad got involved.”

In the silence that followed, Rachel stared at Roger and felt the freeze creep up from her entrails. “My dad?”

“You knew he and Ed were friends.”

“Sure.”

“Well, Dick says your dad and Otis Ryle got in a fight once, just before Otis took off for California. Dick wasn’t there but Ed told him about it. He said your dad was basically just taking Ed’s side in the feud, but Otis had a nasty temperament and it came to blows. According to Dick, your dad gave Otis a thumping and Otis went away making threats. But then nothing happened and before too long Otis left town.”

Rachel had worked through the implications before Roger stopped talking. “And it probably means nothing at all. Except that Otis’s son grew up to be a psychopath. And there’s a possibility he’s going around killing people to settle old family scores.”

“It’s possible.”

“How would he know my dad was involved?”

“He probably wouldn’t. And it’s probably a stretch to think these killings have anything at all to do with things that happened before our Otis Ryle was born.”

“But two people are dead who had issues with his father.”

“There it is. The last thing I want to do is scare you for no reason. But I thought I ought to tell you. It wouldn’t be right to keep it from you.”

“No. I appreciate it.”

“Matt needs to know, too. You both need to be extra alert till we find this guy.”

Rachel suppressed a sudden urge to laugh. “This is not real. This is too stupid.”

Roger’s look was suddenly intense. “It probably is, yeah. But the stakes are real high. I don’t have to tell you that.”

“No, you don’t.”

“So even if it’s stupid, you need to be real careful. Lock the doors, all of that. Stick close to people.”

“Check the backseat before I get in the car.”

“That, too.” Roger waved at the waitress and reached for his cap. “We’re gonna catch this guy before too long, Rachel. Soon. But we haven’t yet.” He settled the cap on his head. “He’s still out there, and he’s close.”

Rachel sat by herself in the booth for a little while after Roger left. Outside, the light was going and along with it her morale. She floated on dark waters, fighting currents of depression and little eddies of panic. It was time to go out and get in her car and drive home, and she didn’t have the strength.

She was surprised by the force of the desire that took her at the thought that Dan would be off work by now. Suddenly her resolve to keep him and the romance at arm’s length was vaporized by the memory of his mouth on her body. Her fingers brushed the cylinder of the revolver as she dug in her purse for her cell phone.

He answered after the second ring. “What are you doing after work?” Rachel said. Suddenly she was sure she was being needy and shameless and pathetic.

“Whatever you want me to do,” Dan said. “I’m broad-minded.”

“Want to have a drink? I’m in Warrensburg.”

“Hot damn. Can you hold out where you are for a while? I just got off work. I’ll need to stick my head under the pump for a second before I break the land speed record getting down there.”

It had been a long time since Rachel had experienced this, having her spirits lifted so abruptly by the sound of a man’s voice. “Take it easy. I can kill time here. Just tell me where to meet you.”

“Give me an hour. You know where Duffy’s is?”

Duffy’s was a tavern just off Main Street that had been dingy and disreputable the last time Rachel had been around. Since then, it had been bought by somebody with deep enough pockets to redecorate and expand it into a beer-and-burger joint with multiple TV screens, a sound system playing generic rock music not quite loud enough to drown out conversation, three pool tables and two waitresses. It was moderately full, and Dan stopped a couple of times to shake hands and slap shoulders as he made his way down the room toward the booth where Rachel sat.

When he reached her he bent to kiss her, not making a production of it but lingering just long enough to show he didn’t care who was watching. “This is where the local yuppies and rich folks drink,” he said, sliding onto the bench across from her. “I damn near got in a fight with Sandy’s lawyer in here one night just after the divorce.”

“Good thing you waited.”

“No shit. If I’d run into him a week earlier I’d be living in a hog house.”