The Killing King of Gratis (11 page)

Delroy arrived at Anna’s around ten that morning. She was already packed and waiting for him on the porch when he pulled into the driveway. He was taking her to Dalton, up near Chattanooga, to stay with a law school friend who lived in a former carpet magnate’s home. There was plenty of room for Anna there, and he was glad to take her in. Delroy had bent more than a few elbows with him at Neighbors and the Highland Tap after study sessions at the GSU law library. Like Delroy, he was disgusted by the thought of a good mother going to jail for protecting her children.

Two sheriff’s cars came into Anna’s driveway, blocking Delroy’s just as he put his car into park. Tommy stepped out of one and started toward Delroy. Delroy met him before he could take two steps, immediately getting in his face.

“Tommy, you try to take Anna, and you’re gonna have to kill me. Keep your damn hands off of her.”

The deputies from the other car started to draw their guns. Anna shrieked at Delroy to calm down, telling him to keep it together. Tommy waved his deputies off and took a step back from Delroy.

“Look, nobody needs to get hurt. There’s an arrest warrant for Anna, whether there should be or not. I came because I’ve been knowing her since we were children.”

“Thanks for nothing, Tommy. You knowing her doesn’t change the fact that you want to put her in jail for something you know she didn’t do. Like you said, you know her.”

Tommy shook his head. He hated this and decided that Delroy, for all his self-righteousness, was correct.

“Look, I have to serve the warrants, but I control where I house the prisoners. Anna can stay in my personal office until this gets straightened out. I’ll have to book her in, but she won’t see a day in jail. She just won’t be free to leave the office, that’s all. My secretary knows her. She’ll bring her meals to her, and I have a television in there. She can sleep on the sofa, or we’ll bring a cot, whatever she wants. I’ll treat her like she was my sister, Delroy. You can even ride with us to the sheriff’s office.”

“Delroy, I can live with that,” Anna assured him.

Delroy knew when the best offer was on the table. He went to the porch, helped Anna with her bags, and walked her back to Tommy’s patrol car. Tommy opened the back door for her, but Delroy opened the front passenger door and helped her in. He walked back to where Tommy was holding the door and whispered in his ear before getting in the backseat.

As they drove to the sheriff’s office, the first part of Delroy’s whispered words kept repeating themselves in Tommy’s mind. “The killer drove an old green Ford pickup. Look for it, and you got your man.”

Tommy knew that finding an old green Ford pickup truck would be easier said than done. Many older trucks didn’t have a tag and were kept out at the farm. They stayed in the fields and only ventured out to the nearest country store or gas station. Hell, he didn’t know too many folks who didn’t have some old truck to peter around in.

It was a start, however, and something Motte could look into. Looking in the rear view mirror at Delroy, he wondered what else the son of a bitch knew but
didn’t
tell him.

Anna hummed softly as they drove into the sheriff’s office parking lot. Tommy looked again in the backseat, tempted to leave Delroy in the car.
Maybe he’ll melt in all this heat. That would solve a lot of problems.

Tommy parked and reluctantly opened the back door. Delroy got out and helped Anna out of the front. As they walked into the sheriff’s office, Tommy pondered the last words Delroy whispered.

“My family will be safe. Whatever it takes.” Tommy took this as a promise and a threat. All things being the same, he couldn’t blame Delroy, not one bit.

A
fter making sure Anna was settled in at the sheriff’s office, Delroy left to see the D.A. The thought of Anna getting fingerprinted burned his soul, searing him like a newly branded calf.

He walked into Broyle’s office, past the secretary who kept insisting he would need an appointment. Broyles was seated at his desk when Delroy came in and leaned across it.

“Delroy, you’re about to go to jail. You leave now or I’ll have my investigators drag you out of here.”

“I’ll leave soon enough, asshole. Just wanted to let you know that I am Anna’s attorney and she’s asserting her Fifth Amendment rights. She’s not talking to anyone but me about her charges or anything else. As soon as I leave here I’m filing a complaint with the bar. You might be immune from me suing you, but you’re gonna have to answer for your actions to somebody. I’ll help them all I can.”

“I’m also calling my friends with the media in Atlanta. You better go get a haircut because they’re gonna be on you like horseflies on a pile of shit. I’m going to be all over the news, helping them every step of the way, giving personal tours of Gratis and the crime scenes, whatever they want. I’m also giving them everything I know about your personal history. Those lights are pretty damn bright, Broyles, and your secrets are as nasty as anybody else’s.”

“Get the hell out of my office!”

“I’m leaving, but remember, once you lose your law license, that this is where it started. You have messed around with the wrong man’s family, and it’s gonna bite you on the ass. Tell the judge I’ll be at the bond hearing for Anna. If he denies bond I’ll go to the Judicial Qualifications Committee. This shit is gonna stop one way or another.”

Delroy left and nodded at the investigator standing outside of Broyles’ office as he walked by. They knew each other since first grade, and the investigator just nodded back and chuckled. He thought his boss was full of shit, too.

Delroy didn’t know whether he would do any of the things he threatened, but hoped their mention would have the desired effect. He got in the Suburban and, as he drove away, his head started to throb and his hands started to shake.

Then he started crying.

He didn’t know how much longer he could juggle everything. Meg and Peck were hiding at Cozette’s house, Anna was under arrest, Althea was dead and her son missing. On top of that he was investigating a murder he was sure would scar the kids for life, trying to keep his business afloat, and defending the main suspect, which was probably a conflict of interest since Delroy helped recover the ear. As far as he was concerned, his law license was more in jeopardy than Broyles’.

The tears streamed down his face as he drove. He turned down a country road and parked so he couldn’t be seen. Nobody wanted to hire a lawyer who went around crying in public.

He sat there, baking as the old Suburban’s air conditioner fought a losing battle against the Georgia heat, and sobbed. Red cows in the pasture next to him looked on as he cried, apathetically chewing their cud. The more he cried the less sure he was of what to do. Delroy didn’t know whether he could keep juggling everything. He didn’t even know if he wanted to.

The one thing he knew for sure was that he needed a drink to quiet his now aching head. He turned the Suburban around and rolled down the windows. The whipping wind dried his tears as he headed toward Daddy Jack’s, the coldhearted cows fading into the distance.

Before he arrived he got a call from Kero.

“Man, I was just on my way over there. Did you hear about Anna?”

“Yep, but we got something else cooking over here so hurry up.” Kero hung up without saying goodbye.

Great, like I need something else. No problem at all.

He was whispering “no problem” to himself when he tried to go into Daddy Jack’s. The door was locked, and he banged on it to let Kero know he was there.

Kero opened the door and looked at Delroy with weary eyes.

“I went by your office a while ago and saw a little problem sitting on your doorstep. Follow me.”

They walked downstairs into the Rendezvous, and Delroy noticed a small figure sitting at one of the picnic tables. He couldn’t make out the face, his eyes still not accustomed to the darkness after coming in from the bright summer sun. Then the small figure spoke to him.

“Mama said you my lawyer and that I should go to you if I ever needed help.” Delroy’s eyes started to adjust and Terrence’s tear streaked face came into focus.

My God
, thought Delroy,
I made this boy into an orphan
.
This is my fault
. By now Delroy’s head was splitting in two, but he managed to sit down beside the child. Terrence started to cry again. His tears fell, each one stealing a little bit more of his childhood. Delroy took him in his arms and started rocking him.

“I’ll make sure you’re safe.” Delroy didn’t believe the words as they came out of his mouth. He didn’t believe he could keep himself safe at this point. He couldn’t even keep his sister-in-law out of jail, and none of the people he loved the most were where they were supposed to be.

The three of them sat there. Delroy rocked the small child and Kero wondered what to do next. The answers wouldn’t come, and the only sound in the room was a child’s mournful sobbing for his mother. It rang in their ears.

F
or the second time in days Delroy found himself in a boat, this time one of Kero’s. He was going downstream to Cozette’s home again, and carried with him another child. The load felt even heavier than the first trip.

Once he got to Cozette’s dock Matthew came out of the boathouse, which was really no more than a shack straddling the bank and the swamp. He was carrying a twelve-gauge shotgun in one hand like it was a pistol. Delroy couldn’t help but think,
this is a man who could make me dead with no problem.

“My lawyer, you should’ve called,” Matthew said to him, the timber of his voice whipping Delroy like a gator tail.

“Right now, Matthew, I don’t want anyone to trace my phone. Lately, I haven’t been calling too many folks.”

“Well, my lawyer, looks like you got a passenger. Let’s go talk to Cozette.”

Before they could walk the thirty yards to the back of the house, the dog pack started barking. Cozette came storming out.

“Cozette,” Delroy started.

“Don’t say a word Delroy. Matthew, take that boy and get inside. I have something to talk about with this idiot.”

Matthew smiled, slightly, and led Terrence into the home.

“Wait,” said Cozette. She took the shotgun from Matthew. Eyeing Delroy she said, “I might need this in just a minute.”

Delroy just stood there, knowing he was about to ask more of Cozette than he had any right to. He wondered how a shotgun blast would feel about right now. Considering the circumstances, he thought it might not be so bad.

“Delroy, I took in Meg and Peck because you and them are important to me. Anyone in your family is always welcome here.”

“Cozette, you don’t understand.”

“Shut your damn mouth. I understand exactly what’s in your head. I knew that child’s mother was dead before you did. I suspect I know why you think she died, although, the way Althea lived, I can name any number of people who could have killed her, and with good reason.”

The more she talked the angrier Cozette became. She hoped she wouldn’t be tempted by the shells in the gun. They called to her.

“Now you bring this child to my house, this child without a mother, who might be a witness in at least one and maybe two murder cases, and you expect me to keep him. Really, haven’t you heard of DFACS? They’re made for this. How many laws do you reckon we’re breaking right here, Mr. Dumbass Attorney? I swear, the first thing I’m gonna do when this is done is upgrade my legal services.”

“Hell, Cozette, I’ll help you do that if you want, just hear me out.”

Delroy sat down with Cozette, spent after her tirade.

He told her that he believed Althea’s murder was connected to Millie’s. The coincidence was too extreme. He told her how he started to cry this morning and didn’t know if he might start again at any moment. He told her that he had a plan to drive the killer out into the open, but that he needed to hide Terrence. Finally, he told her that he needed her. All he could do now was ask and pray she would say yes one more time.

“Well, my God, you have been humbled, haven’t you?” Cozette looked at Delroy with eyes as black as the Neck’s water.

“Yes I have Cozette, but that is about to change. Now, I’m gonna be on offense, and to hell with waiting on what everyone else is doing. I need you on my team.”

Cozette stood up. “I’m on your team Delroy. Just don’t screw up the play. Even Bear Bryant couldn’t run the wishbone with a drunk quarterback. And, not to put too fine a point on it, you are one drunk-ass quarterback.” She walked away shaking her head, wondering which potion she could mix up to help her out of this mess.

Delroy thought about what she said and knew she was right. He got back into the boat and headed toward the Bird. His hands were shaky. He wanted a drink but thought he might go to bed early instead.

I promised Cozette a plan
, he thought,
I better come up with one
. He had no idea what he would do. The boat puttered toward the river as dusk settled all around. Even with all his worries, he muttered to himself as he watched the last of the day’s sun spark against the river’s water. “Beautiful. With all I’ve got on my plate, this is still beautiful,” he whispered, before turning his boat toward home.

M
eg was greatly disappointed in how the summer was progressing. She was thirteen, soon to be fourteen. Spending summer at a house in the Neck with her little brother was not what she had envisioned.

This was a summer to go to the pool, flirt with lifeguards, and start getting ready for high school. She should be going to movies with her friends, shopping at the mall, and practicing for cheerleading tryouts.

Instead she was surrounded by the swamp, watching reruns with her brother and checking in with a two hundred seventy-five pound behemoth every time she wanted to go outside. Cozette and her brother were nice to her, but she didn’t want nice. She wanted freedom. The Neck was starting to feel small to a girl curious about the rest of the world.