Chapter Twenty-Four
“Oh, Chief. S´cuse me.”
Stoeffel jerked awake. He must have nodded off over his coffee whilst sitting at the front desk. An old black man stood before him. Stoeffel recognized the man, it was Leban Griss, the witness who had first called in the girl´s murder.
“Mr. Griss. What is it?” Stoeffel looked at his watch, it must only have been fifteen minutes or so that he was asleep. Even so he felt better for it.
“Sorry to wake you, sir. But I guess you got a problem.”
The old man had lain something on the counter and was leaning across it looking keenly at Stoeffel.
“What is that you got there?” asked Stoeffel. “A dead rabbit?”
Griss looked down. “Sure is. It´s dead right enough. That´s my supper there, y´re lookin´ at.”
“Do you mind removing it off the counter, sir?”
“No problem.” The old man took the corpse by the ears and stuffed it into the deep inner pocket of the long raggedy coat he wore.
Stoeffel looked at his coffee, which was now cold and uninviting. “I got lots of problems right now, Mr. Griss. What’s your particular one?”
“Out there on Dead Fall Back.”
Stoeffel spread questioning hands. He was tired and scratchy and he did not want to play mind games with the old man.
“I was up there after brother rabbit here an´ I seen ´em. You got a coupl’a wrecks out there.”
“A couple?”
“Uhuh. One´s a police vehicle, the other some farmer’s pickup.”
Stoeffel leaned forward. “They had an accident?”
Griss raised his eyebrows extravagantly. “No way, man. They is blown to hell and gone. AP mines, brother. You been there, ain´t you, Chief? You seen the pattern. I know I cert´nly have. That ole zigzag layout with claymores along the side. Take out anything that rolls along, an´ then some.”
Oh my God! thought Stoeffel. Not Ayleen. “Were there any survivors?”
“Not a one. They is all KIA, jist like this here rabbit.”
Stoeffel clenched his fist and banged it down hard on the desktop.
“Damn!” he blurted out.
“You wanna tell me what’s going on, Chief. You got some sorta Para-military thing going on out there?”
Stoeffel looked hard at the old man for a long moment, an idea forming in his mind. “You know the woods pretty well, don´t you, Mr. Griss?”
“Reckon I do.”
“And you´ve seen some combat?”
“Platoon sergeant. Silver Star an´ a Purple Heart. Not that it means a damn thing, no more. They had me on point more times than I care to mention. `Cos we was black, yuh see. No offense but they did that to all us men of color back then.”
Stoeffel knew it was true. The high proportion of fatalities amongst the colored enlisted in Vietnam had often been cited as an example of racial homicide by the liberal cause.
“Well, we´re in a bind here,” Stoeffel went on. “I´ve got three deputies down and all communications are out. Right now we have a gang of ne´er-do-wells out there busting our chops. I need someone to go fetch help.”
“An´ your lookin´ at me, right?” the old man grinned.
Stoeffel nodded. “S´right. You up for it, soldier?”
Griss smiled thinly at the sideways compliment. He took a long moment of consideration.
“Okay, I´ll do it. Reckon I´m still good enough to slip through them woods without no one spotting me. I can make it overland to the Interstate quicker than going to Minerstown direct. Should be online over that way or I get a ride into town. One thing you have to do for me though.”
“What’s that?”
Griss tugged out his dead rabbit and flopped it on the counter.
“Keep this here safe ´til I get back.”
Stoeffel had to smile, he pulled out an evidence bag and while the old man dropped the dead beast into the bag he scribbled a note to the station chief in Minerstown.
“There you go,” he said handing the note to Griss. “And good luck.”
Griss waved a vague approximation of a military salute.
“Same to you, Chief.” And he was gone.
Stoeffel went over to the front window and spread the blinds with his fingers. People were on the move out there. He could see a few early risers in the street, commiserating about the power outage.
The two-way crackled. “Chief. Its Legrand.”
“Yes, Jason. I´m here.”
“Okay, I´m in. Had to bust a window to do it but I´m in. This thing is done up tight, Chief. And it weighs a might too much for me to lift alone. Can you get me some heavy-duty cutters up here to cut off the wire banding they got around it? I tried everything, short of a blast from my shotgun.”
Stoeffel chuckled. “No, don´t do that. Listen I’ve got a strong suspicion this is going to be some real important evidence you´ve got there. I´ll get a couple of the other guys up to you and we´ll bring it down to the station. We´ve got tools here, we can open it up then.”
“Right. I´ll wait on them. Out.”
Stoeffel knew he was breaking every law there was. Disturbing possible evidence. Unlawful entry without a warrant. Property damage. Even downright theft. It might prejudice his case later on or even lead to his own indictment but right now he was up against the wall and he needed every little bit of edge he could get. He called up Summersby and Jimmy Luke.
Summersby answered and promised to go on up and help Legrand. From Jimmy Luke there was no reply and Stoeffel hoped he was still okay. George, Leroy and now Ayleen. He was losing troops without even knowing what or how many he was up against. Stoeffel was desperate for more Intel. Somehow it all linked, he knew that much. The little girl, the dead man in the woods, the drugs and the isolation of the town.
Somebody needed the place shut down for a while and everything pointed towards Rose Moving and Storage. He was beginning to wonder just what Bubba Rose´s involvement might be. A shadow fell on the station doorway and Stoeffel jumped around nervously. Jenny opened the door and came in.
“Morning, Paul.”
Stoeffel relaxed and nodded distractedly, his mind still racing over possibilities.
“I wanted to get you early before the day started,” she said. “Look, I hope I didn´t seem too abrupt last night. I wouldn´t want you to go away with the wrong idea.”
“It´s alright, Jenny. Don´t worry about it. Can we talk later? I´ve got a major catastrophe building up right now.”
“You mean the power cut?”
Stoeffel shook his head. “That’s the least of it.”
“Okay,” she said, obviously a little disappointed. “I didn´t mean to bother you. But if we can talk I´d be grateful.”
“Sure thing. But listen Jenny, we have a serious problem in the town and I want you to stay inside today. Don´t open the store and advise your neighbors to keep off the streets. Can you do that for me?”
Jenny swept hair back from her face, a frown crinkling her brow. “That bad?”
Stoeffel nodded an affirmative. “That bad.”
“Okay,” she said doubtfully.
“Thanks. And we´ll talk later, I promise. There´s a lot to say.”
People were starting to come in behind her. Their faces showing signs of concern and worry. Stoeffel knew he was going to have his hands full.